Onna succeeds in bypassing the guards as she escorts you to the offices. The main office door is not locked and no guards are posted inside. You advance upstairs making an effort to keep quiet and find 6 door. 5 of them open easily and seem to be teacher's offices. There is nothing of interest inside to anyone besides a teacher. The sixth door is locked.
The door unlocks and Onna looks inside.
The inside of this office is cluttered with calligraphy samples, brushes, and inkstones across every flat surface except a low table in the center of the room. The window on the other side of the room is open, and a shadow moves across the sill with a flutter of orange silk.
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From his vantage point across the courtyard Ikari sees the orange silk fluttering; but he hasn't heard Juzo's message, nor has he seen his companions returning. He flies into action...
... but struggles to keep the map-carrier in view as he hurdles hedges and benches. He decides to try a different tack, and assumes his kitsune shape. He calls to the map-carrier.
"Ah, that would be our map! So good of you to retrieve it. You don't want trouble from the whole skulk you know. Play nice."
The bared canines and levelled spear perhaps convey the wrong impression.
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Oh, why can't things ever be simple? Hoping to slow their quarry down, Onna casts a spell at the thief.
Onna then tries to confuse the body guard by taking on an appearance similar to his own. "Oh no! The CURSE! You've stolen my face. We need to get the map back to reverse it. If the sun touches our skin, we'll DIE! HURRY!"
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Hiiragi stands stunned for a moment, before letting out a yip and surging forward, hoping that her new armor is as agile as it claims to be.
Reasonably pleased with that, though noting that she's not nearly as quick as some kitsune, she surges through the window and out onto the grounds.
As Ikari's attempt at diplomacy comes off a bit hostile, Hiiragi decides to lean into it. Fur and muscle thicken as bones grow heavy and thick, and her limbs extend until she's standing at an eleven-foot-tall version of herself.
With a mighty bellow, she calls to the thief in Tien:
Hoping to close the distance, Hiiragi charges forward, half-climbing, half-vaulting over a wall that's not nearly so high at her size.
...Or trying to, anyway.
The group catches the thief and it turns out that you recognize him. It is none other than the tour guide from earlier, Jianghong. Ok, you caught me. What do you want to keep this quiet?
Jianghong looks ashamed. My family's fortunes are not what they once were. I was hoping to sell this map to ease the financial burden on my parents. However my disgrace for being found a thief would do the opposite, so please take the map and keep this between us. No-one else need know.
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"It wasn't a terrible idea, Ikari. I have heard similar stories of the Pathfinders...stealing things in the night. He should have waited till the strangers had left though." Juzo says with a smile while looking to the others.
"If the boy is telling the truth why don't we take the incriminating evidence and forget this whole debacle even happened. There are better ways to help your family if you decide to take a break from the books." he gives a handshake with a slip of paper.
The letter reads...
This is a formal invitation to join an organization that looks to strengthen noble ties across the whole of Golarian and in the process bring good fortune to all that join. You could do great things alongside us. If you are interested seek out the person who handed you this letter when they are alone.
J.M. of S.C.
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{ } Recruit a named NPC ambassador, aristocrat, noble, or similar figure to cooperate with the faction with a successful
Diplomacy or Knowledge (nobility) check (DC = 14 + your character level + 3 for each of this goal’s checked boxes).
{ } Fulfill one of the three goals above without revealing your faction affiliation to anyone other than a present member of the
faction or a prospective NPC recruit. Checking a box for this goal does not prevent you from checking a box for another goal.
The boy leaves, running into the night. The bodyguard is hot on his heels, having finally caught up to you as your exchange went on.
The night of excitement ends uneventfully. Dawn breaks, birds sing.
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Shortly after dawn, Itami rises from his sleep. And now for the "real" plan. Wandering down to Kenta's room, he wakes him if he finds him sleeping before making himself a small breakfast. "Suppose we should get a move on, eh? It'll be easier making that copy before all the students get there and we can get a move on our travels as well," he comments to anyone else in the kitchen.
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Itami finds no fox in Kenta's bed and it appears he has organized his space, made the bed and cleared out any personal possessions. The muscular kitsune is in the common room working through bites of breakfast while he sharpens his greatsword. He looks up at the old man, "Sleep well? I appreciate your urgency but I think we should wait for the others to get enough rest, I expect to travel today once we copy the map, so we must be fresh for that."
The group awakes in ones and twos. You break your fasts and head to the office to copy the map using magics. Once you copy is complete you pack your belogings and head back to Mai Chun to give her your map.
She is very pleased with your results. Thank you for returning this to its rightful country. She unrolls it and is instantly enraptured with the detail and begins to look for land marks and try to triangulate on the location of the palace. She is engrossed and you let yourselves out.
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"That went extremely well even after the unexpected turn of events. I say we get out of here quickly in case one of those students has an eye for detail on their new map." he says packing his things with the others.
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"It seems we are agreed! I can't wait to set my eyes on this bureaucrat." Juzo says as the corners of his mouth curl into a smile.
You reach Changdo without incident, enjoying the safety of the heavily patrolled roads of Po Li. As you approach the city, you take in the extraordinary sight of the Eternal Emperor, a colossal statue that has been under construction for over 3 centuries.
A busy trading yard just outside the city gates is populated by all manner of people from across Tian Xia. To one side of the yard stands a well encircled by a low stone wall. A young Tian-Shu man wearing a broad straw hat stands beside the well, the line of his bamboo fishing pole disappearing into its depths.
Once the PCs make themselves known to Yue Xin, he gives
the pole a brief, quizzical glance and unceremoniously dumps
it down the well.
The man looks at the pole is a puzzled way, then tosses it down the well. Turning to the group he speaks.
Doko e tsuri ni sakana ga inai no wa chie o shiru kotodesu.
The man just glares at Hiiragi and Ikari. He seems unimpressed.
After a moment he rifles within his belongings. You mentioned Mai Chun. I am guessing she wants a look at my research?
He passes the pages to Onna.
The pages are crowded with Tien characters, and Yue Xin elaborately gestures at one section outlined in red ink, saying, You see here why Mai Chun was so interested in my find.
You only have time to make out the phrase words written in fire before he snatches back his papers.
When Imperial Lung Wa controlled these lands, quick and accurate communication was of paramount concern to the Eternal Emperor and his servants. Relay stations formed a network covering much of the continent, speedily carrying imperial dictates to the farthest corners of the realm. In these dark days, those relay stations have fallen into ruin.
But into darkness comes light, as into memory comes charitable action. My researches indicate that some of the messages that passed through these redoubts were secretly recorded. A clue to the location of the palace Mai Chun seeks is certainly to be found in a ruined communications station just half a day’s walk to the west, down that road and left at the first crossroads you reach. Directions to the palace are said to be writ in letters of green fire. Surely heroes of your mettle will have no trouble traveling to the ruin, avoiding the soldiers who guard it by day, exploring it by night, and overcoming the ghosts said to haunt it. The restless dead offer no threat to he who sparks the tinder.
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What a miserable sod. "The guards will be quite diligent during the day, but they are notorious for being lazy come nightfall. The guards aside, it is said that ruins are typically haunted, so I expect we will have some resistance either way," Itami adds. "Undead don't always do the haunting, sometimes beings from other planes are tied to the area."
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Onna is slightly taken aback by the politician's brusk nature.
"Another night time excursion..." Onna's eyes shoot toward Kenta as she misspeaks in front of the holy warrior. "That is to say, it is similar to the time we camped out with Janira on the way to the gillman caves." Saved it!
You have no difficulty locating the ruined communications station. You find none of the guards, as they have gone to their camp two miles away for the evening.
A number of crumbling buildings make up this compound. Lit only by the stars in the cloudless night sky above, the ruins take on an empty, haunted aspect. An eerie silence pervades the ancient buildings—even the wind has died away to nothing.
Just off the central courtyard, a curious stone structure resembling an exterior hearth with narrow, twinned chimneys rises into the sky. These chimneys are far better preserved than the surrounding buildings.