Tetsu no Kurage no Haka - Tomb of the Iron Medusa in Minkai (Inactive)

Game Master Dreaming Warforged

"We cannot just leave them here. I say we take them back out to safety."

"Or do we take them with us for now? If, by our presence, we have set into motions outside of this dark place, do we not owe it to the people of Minkai to resolve it as quickly as possible?"

Tihn quietly turns to Akiyoshi, their infallible morale compass, for his opinion regarding the girls.

"I too would be in favor of taking them from this place. Perhaps some food and rest back at the inn would bring them back to health. If Tihn and I were to work together we could teleport everyone back."

Akiyoshi turns again to the young ladies, taking stock of their faces to determine their current emotional state, and the presence of their mental faculties.
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 13 ⇒ (11) + 13 = 24
"Ladies, are you alright? How did you come to be with this creature? Regardless of what she has done, and what you have been through, do not worry; you are safe now. You have been cast free of her and we will see you returned to your families."
Diplomacy to provide confort: 1d20 + 29 ⇒ (12) + 29 = 41

Akiyoshi can only confirm that they are in a deep state of shock. From the look of them, they've been down in this mad hole for several weeks.

So you are teleporting back and forth? You have the spells memorized or need to rest? If you need to rest, let me know where.

"I think we need to get them food, healing and sleep Akiyoshi. Unless there is more here than meets the eye."
I don't have it memorized, but I was thinking of using arcane bond to recall it.

And then I could memorize it on the other end again.

"I agree. We need to get them out of here and to a place of safety and healing. One of the temples would be good, if they will take them in. Perhaps once the shock of this imprisonment has dulled, they can tell us who they are and where they come from."

You make your preparations and teleport, leaving a small vacuum behind, and the slain body of Lacara.

Your destination is a small temple you know not too far from the funerary complex. The priests there hear your description and accept to take the girls in and care for them, sending news of their return to the town and villages around.

**********************************************************

The next day, you make your way back to the Tomb. You are now very familiar with the procedure and quickly make your way from the sarcophagus to the great, domed chamber, home to hundreds of funerary urns.

In the room's center, you find the carving of a medusa’s face on the floor. You retrace with your fingers the elusive indentations and place in each the items salvage during your explorations.

Things turn to a blur for an instant and your ears pop slightly as you are teleported again, but to a new location.

The chamber’s twenty-foot-high ceiling is held aloft by pristine granite pillars. The walls are covered in murals depicting battle scenes.

At the far end of the great room rises a twelve-foot-tall aquarium, framed in iron and with thick glass. Four elaborate chairs of carved mahogany sit before this water-filled tank. A great Li Po rug of intricate geometric designs covers the floor.

Front and center in the aquarium floats a bloated, unusually preserved corpse, its arms and legs shackled with chains attached to floor and ceiling, clad in an extraordinarily wrought breastplate emblazoned with the cross-eyed medusa, and bobbing in the green-hued water.

The pommel of a sword protrudes from the body’s belly.

The floating cadaver’s dead eyes are wide open, and its black hair wafts back and forth, as though cast about by a gentle breeze. A bronze plaque, green with age, mounted on the glass above, reads:

‘Then Let Them Drink’
Hanado Barotome, 4496–4542

"When you all teleported out after my death, was it from a location like this or up above?"

Just to be clear, I've moved things along a bit, as you are very near the end. One of the main rooms allowed to be teleported below, where the crypts of the three clans were. That same room could also be triggered to lead somewhere else, which you hah deducted, but you needed "keys". You now have all the keys, which is why I've moved you back to that room and teleported you. You can retro-buff as you see fit.

Aha, cross post. Missed it.
"Well, there's a sight you don't see every day. I might be able to pick the locks if you want me to try to free that body...though I'm not sure we do."

"That may be the blade we seek, but first let us ensure there is nothing else secreted around the chamber."

"Of course..." Ukyou's eyes slowly scan the room, looking for any movement or signs of items in the room aside from the carpet, chairs, and aquarium.
Perception 1d20 + 28 ⇒ (12) + 28 = 40

And Tihn will start to scan the room and its contents with detect magic.

No signal from the others... I'm moving this along. You were very near the end. Instead of dragging it, I'll bring the conclusion home.

You carefully check your surroundings, but there are no signs of treachery or danger.
The corpse’s sword and armour you detect as enchanted. Carefull study tells you the armour has powerful enchantment (+5 lesser fortification breastplate), while the sword is clearly an artefact of great power with a dormant evil sentience.

You slowly and carefully retrieve the sword. This sword is of amazing quality and sharpness. You can see great activity in the steel and the grain has pleasing patterns, drawn from careful forge work. The pommel of the blade bears its name: Jigoku no Mucuro, the sword you were tasked to retrieve...

Along its edge is another engraving: “This Is Our Answer.”

As the sword is released. Mists surround you and you find yourselves in a dreamstate, watching a scene as though you were there, but unable to interact with it.

Braziers light a general’s command tent. The general himself—a towering man with handsome features, clad in elaborate breastplate armor—stands on the edge of an elegant rug. A gaggle of junior officers, priests, and aristocrats stand before the tent flap and an armor mannequin.

You can see the sigil of the Hanado clan everywhere, and the general looks to be Barotome, wearing the same breastplate you found.

“Well, let’s get it over with,” the general intones haughtily, gesturing to a priest bearing the sun and katana emblem of Shizuru and carrying a fancy cage containing two fine roosters. The general casts several types of honeyed grain on the ground to the waiting fowl, but to everyone’s chagrin, and the general’s fury, the sacred birds do nothing. After an impossible silence, one of the nobles mutters in an awkward tone, “They… do not eat.” To everyone’s horror, the general grabs the sacred animals by their feathered necks, storms over to an elegant bathtub and holds them under the soapy water, hissing, “Then by Shizuru’s damned eyes, let them drink!” The shocked gathering is paralyzed by the general’s hideous blasphemy. He stands seething at the edge of his tub, the limp, dripping carcasses gripped tightly in either hand, glowering at the witnesses to his monstrous sacrilege. Finally, a junior tribune blurts out, “Brother, I will fetch your warhorse!”

You recognize the junior tribune. You saw his ghost near the carriage in the courtyard of the necropolis.

The general rouses from his rage and drops the ruined birds on the rug, striding to the tent’s entrance. “Tribune!” he shouts to the nearest lieutenant, indicating the long map-covered table. “Gather my battle plans! We march on this Li Po rabble at once!” The military tribunes scatter to their duties. When the general attempts to plow past the collection of onlookers at the tent entrance, a red-haired prelate grabs him by his rich cape and speaks in a cold, furious tone: “I know not what will happen this day, Bartolomae, but be assured of this: the tree of thy family shall wither and bear fruit no more. This is the last of your blasphemies in the Emperor’s name. From this day forward your name will be cursed along with that of your whole arrogant brood!” The general shoves the indignant cleric to the ground, and shaking his blade hisses, “You may thank your damnable Shizuru that I have other blood to spill today, lackey; otherwise I would take Jigoku no Mucuro and run you through!”

Your vision gets blurry and your head hurts for a moment. The mists around you turn to a darker shade, laced with crimson ribbons of smoke.

The general’s tent is now empty. The mannequin lies on its side, the dead birds still heaped on the floor. The brutal cacophony of battle can be heard in the distance. Suddenly, the general bursts through the tent flap, gore-caked sword in hand, face smeared with dirt, blood spattered over his flamboyant breastplate. The military tribune who broke the silence earlier follows him, also splashed with the filth of battle. “All is lost, Cadamo,” he pants to the younger man. “Those damned raiders rolled up my left flank as though it were made of paper!” Cadamo’s silence is his assent.

The general shakes his sword before his own face, cursing, “You! You have done this to me! All of it! You have murdered us all!” He turns to Cadamo, nodding as though finishing a conversation. “‘Sheathe me in my master’s blood’ was the line, no? To put the damned thing back to sleep?” Cadamo nods back, still speechless. Staring into space, trancelike, the general whispers hoarsely to him. “Do what you can to salvage this, my brother. Matanabe would have our heads. Pressure
Higashiyama to aid us—he will be emperor before long and we must use what leverage we have. Perhaps you could prevail upon our dear sister to utilize her... relationship, with him? If not... ha! Maybe General Susumu will assist. I go to face the gods’ wrath. You are the head of our Clan now, brother. Bury me with sufficient irony.”

A strange look of calm comes over the general’s face as he gets to his knees at the corner of the rug. He plants the pommel of Jigoku no Mucuro and lifts his armor at the waist, allowing the blade’s point to taste his bare abdomen. With a suddenness that makes Cadamo gasp, Barotome springs forward, forcing the blade up into his chest—a torrent of blood splashes out onto the rug, the florid stain spreading as he collapses to the ground. A moment later, a vertiginous blackness sweeps everything away.

For a moment, you recover your sense and blink at each other. You’re about to say something when the pain in your head makes you bend again and mists surround you once more. This time, they are black as ink.

A fire burns in the hearth of this well-appointed room. Three men stand about a bed—a handsome man with rolled-up sleeves holding a crying newborn, and two others. In the bed lies a frightfully pale, sweat-drenched woman, her dark hair cascading over damp pillows. Her bedclothes are soaked with blood, and her eyes stare into space; she is not breathing.

You recognize Cadamo, and the other man you recognize as Hasimo from the vision near the carriage.

The man holding the newborn child is none other than Higashiyama Menoto, Emperor Shigure’s father!

The woman in the bed you easily recognize from the crypts of the necropolis. She is Lacara, the vampire you destroyed.

“Just as well,” the handsome man says, a single tear running down a cheek, “with all her ranting about seeing the boy grow up. She knew she could never have been a part of his life.” His attention turns to the child he holds. He nods approvingly, wipes the tear from his cheek, then lays three fingers on the squealing infant’s forehead. “Hitoshi,” he croons. “You’ll never know your destiny... This boy will be given for adoption. There will be no Higashiyama bastard!” “Our bargain, Menoto,” stammers Cadamo, almost absently. The other man’s eyes flash with grief, and then fill with anger as he whirls upon Cadamo. When he speaks, his voice is cold and grim. “Our ‘bargain’ died with your sister, Cadamo. You are the last of your damned line, and even that is too much. But I shall grant you one last mercy nonetheless—leave Minkai by dawn, and I’ll not send my army after you. The next time I see an Hanado face in my empire, it had best be in a grave.” He turns with the baby in his arm, walking regally for the door, oblivious to Cadamo’s trembling fury. “We go to meet our separate destiny. Let’s go meet your new mother. I think the innkeeper downstair will do just fine,” he coos to the squealing infant.

In the same bedchamber, now oppressively hot, the same woman lies lifeless in the bed, though someone has mercifully closed her eyes. Higashiyama Menoto and the infant are gone and Cadamo hands a baton to the apron-clad man. “Hide this downstairs before we leave, Hasimo. I know you saw it in the bastard’s eyes. He has no intention of honoring even his last promise—he’ll have his thugs on us within the hour. We must seek the only safe place left to us—the Tomb of the Iron Medusa. There we can rest and regroup and make plans for the future. The baton contains the key to finding the tomb—if I die before you, ensure that someone you trust knows where you’ve hidden it. Someday, someone will need to know the truth.” He looks over at his sister’s dead body. “And secure a coffin for my sister. I am not going to leave her here. She comes with us.” He turns to face the other man, who still seems frozen in shock. “Go, damn you!” Cadamo spits, and finally the other man turns and leaves the room.

“The Hanados are truly abandoned by Shizuru,” Cadamo says with dismal certitude to an empty room. “The gods laugh at us... but perhaps my brother was right after all... perhaps there is one left who might listen...” He pauses, a look of dread and determination washing over his countenance. He takes up his dead sister’s hand in his own, holds it to his brow, and then utters a prayer of blasphemy. “Black Daimyo! Susumo! I call on thee! Blood and my everlasting soul if you would but allow me to protect my family and bring my dear sister back to me!” A sudden light flickers in air, shimmering as if heated by fire. Then the shimmer grows more substantial, becoming a shapeless mass of tangible evil and immense power. A voice sweet as honey and sharper than any razor emanates from the malevolent presence. “A bargain? You would seek to bargain with me, mortal?”

You wake from the dreamlike state. As you regain your senses, you realize you are kneeling now, with hot tears flowing down your cheeks, and you feel as though you are being watched...

On the floor rests the ancient katana, and you hear it whispers in your mind: "Awake at last..."

Ukyou stumbles for a moment as the visions fade. "Oh, oh, oh, oh oh..." He stares with revulsion at the sword, then grits his teeth together and sends his senses reaching out, grasping in his memory for its nature.
Detect magic and Spellcraft 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (17) + 24 = 41

"Did you all just experience what I did? The Black Daimyo. Clan Hanado. The Emperor. Lacara. The boy. All connected. Is this what Master Luizo sent us to uncover? It could destroy Minkai. Was that the intent."

Shaking himself like a wet dog, Jiro stares at the others in the room.
"What are we to do? We cannot give that boy this sword. It is evil and will send the entire empire to war!"

"It is a damnable choice. Return the sword to the boy, and damn him to having to endure its evil; reveal the truths of the vision learned here and rock the foundations of the empire. Or, we betray our trust to Luizo and leave the sword here, or do what we can to destroy it. And we bury the truths we have learned, and allow an emperor who has no right to rule to remain unchallenged. Even if one were to choose the lesser of the evils here, which evil is least? I do not know that I could figure it out."

"Were we to walk the narrowest path, we would make enemies of all. Destroy the sword, and betray our friendship with our patron. Challenge the emperor and face the wrath of the entire country, and possibly doom it to war."

"This is no choice. If only we had never come here..."

Ukyou reveals what he learns of the sword finishing with "...it is dedicated to the Black Daimyo. The boy must not wield it. But wielding the boy against the emperor? Perhaps..."

"Others may oppose an undeserving emperor. I don't think introducing another evil, even to oppose an evil, can be justified. We have learned the truth; perhaps we can aid the opposition ourselves."

"I have heard of intelligent items of this sort before. One of strong enough will can suppress the evil, but do we risk thinking this young man has that sort of will?"

"That is not a risk I would take...but I would support helping him destroy the blade. If he doesn't see the wisdom in that path, we will know that he isn't fit to lead our nation."

"So, take the blade and hope the youth sees the wisdom and honor in destroying the weapon rather that succumb to the temptation to wield it?"

"I think that is the best path. If we leave it here, others may eventually find it. I also do not feel comfortable dissembling to the boy about its existence. Best to face it with him and offer our counsel on how to handle it. But, I think we should be firm in our view of the path forward. The blade needs to be destroyed, whether the boy is ready to do so or not."

"I agree. We must give the boy the chance to do the right thing. He should know and choose his own path. We will destroy the blade regardless, but let the boy make his decision."

"Very well then. If Akiyoshi also agrees, I think we are ready to return to the inn and share what we've learned and found."

"This does seem the wisest course. We will bring the blade, and tell him the truth, giving him the chance to do they right thing, with our assistance, and by so doing, giving us a chance to gauge his true character. However, should he fail to do so, are all others here committed to the pact, that we will see this evil blade destroyed, one way or another?"

They say that a tomb seals many secrets. The Tomb of the Iron Medusa held perhaps the most perilous.

The companions teleport on the shore of the lake behind the inn. The shift in pressure sends the last lazy cherry blossom down their stochastic path to earth. Flustered, a thrush sings a fluty song of warning.

The scene contrasts with the last few days. A sense of peace and purpose fills the old companions.

Harmony.

With perilous knowledge, the companions go in, to let an inn keeper know that he is in line to the throne of Minkai and convince him to lead the rebellion against the Jade Regent, but without his dark family heirloom.

Only time, perhaps also faith and courage, will tell what is to become of Minkai.

One thing is certain, the Black Daimyo will be watching...

--The End--