Feeling lucky she can resist the music, Hotcha becomes invisible so the enemy (or confused friends?) won’t target her.
She bashes a wall down!
Hotcha's flurry shatters the imaginary wall, allowing the rest of the team to get to the malevolent musician!
It's a struggle to move through the piper's magic, a struggle to even pull my fire forth, but I manage it, and deliver a cut.
Yog'Moi succumbs to the chaos - why wouldn't he? - and breaks into laughter and dance as he conjures forth more lightning to strike the pied piper. Oh, isn't it hilarious how the bastard contorts when zapped?!
Hotcha batters down the invisible walls, allowing Esh to get in and strike the piper. Though caught up in the dance, Xin calls for the elf to slash the man again, while Yog zaps him with electricity!
Badly wounded, the piper plays a few notes to inspire defense in himself! Letting the dancing yokai continue to parade about by their own whims, the piper draws a fighting fan and slashes at Esh, scoring one hit.
Hotcha’s invisible fists and feet start punch-kicking like crazy!
Hotcha's furious flurry pushes the piper past his limits, and he collapses in a bruised and battered heap, the pipe falling from his hands!
With the music ended, the various enthralled yokai are free from the compulsion! Some let out ragged cheers, while others fall to the ground, exhausted.
“Wow, wow!” exclaims an enormous tanuki in a straw hat. “Thanks ever so much for getting rid of that terrible musician.” The tanuki pats his considerable belly with a laugh. “I’d usually say to join us in a dance, but after all that, I think we’re danced out. But just as well, we were getting hungry anyways. Sit down a spell! Name’s Rikanzo, and this is the night parade!” He gestures at the sea of creatures behind him. “Don’t worry, though some of us might look a bit rough around the edges”—at this, an emaciated woman with an impossibly long neck gazes at you from behind her mask—”we’ve been here long enough that we’ve learned to band together. Have a drink!” He pulls a ludicrously large drinking gourd from nowhere, takes a swig that lasts a full ten seconds, and offers it to you.
Hotcha giggles. ”Oh, I love dancing… but I also love drinking.” She could not possibly drink from that gourd without having to pee or die, so she drinks from her own fairy sized cup, which fills with Fire Nectar.
After gulping it down, Hotcha asks, ”While you’re all so grateful and we’re all still sober, would there happen to be a place we can all safely rest for the night?
“We’re trying to restore peace to this island… which sometimes means punching and kicking bad musicians. But he’ll live, and we only did that because it was necessary to free all of you. Well… faster. We didn’t actually try asking him to stop.”
The hobgoblin is the first to take the gourd from the tanuki and tries to one-up the giant of a yokai. If thrown any nervous glances or eyes full of worry, Yog'Moi raises a hand to wave them away. This is his domain, he's a professional when it comes to drinking copious amounts of gut-ruining drinks!
"Of course, of course! We intend to rest here tonight, and you are welcome to share in our shelter and safety!" Rikanzo says cheerily. "In the morning, we shall relocate to the Night Market, where you can trade with us if you like. But for now, we feast!"
The tanuki sits down cross-legged as the other yokai form a seemingly endless procession. They lay down skewers, buns, dumplings, and more, offering to refill your mugs with your beverage of choice the moment they get the slightest bit empty.
Xin bows and gratefully accepts the food and drink, though he avoids getting too full of either.
"Good Rikanzo, do you know your way around this island? We are engaged in the Tournament of Hungry Ghosts. We are seeking the guardians of the fragments of a key, like this one. Can you tell us anything about the other guardians?"
”Hmm, yes, yes,” Rikanzo says. ”Tell me which ones you have already faced!”
As you describe the guardians, the tanuki places a leaf on his head and transforms into s copy of each one in turn. ”It sounds like you have faced almost all of them! The final guardian is a dryad who lives in a massive jinmenju tree atop a large hill.” He changes into a copy of the tree before returning to his normal form. ”It’s a few miles east of here. I’d be happy to direct you there from the market tomorrow.”
Hotcha says rather dreamily, ”Dryads are very beautiful. And they’re connected to nature. If she’s the last guardian, we should talk to her after the battle.”
While a sprite can’t eat much, Hotcha takes small portions even by sprite standards, just so she can try a little bit of everything.
The yokai protect you as you rest overnight. The next day, you follow them to a large, grassy field. Dragonflies flit through the tall grass of this field, which is as warm as a late summer evening. Throughout the clearing, all manner of yokai go about their business from tent to colorful tent. In one section of the camp, a turtle-like creature with a basin of water in its head bargains for cucumbers at a produce stand run by a humanoid with a hundred eyes, while in another corner, a fish with three tails swims through the air, applying ointment to a scrape on a horned oni. While some of the creatures seem frightful, they’re all in good spirits and seem to get along quite well.
With the yokai’s help, Yoh also manages to wheel the grounded Solar Jian II here, reasoning that he’s better protected here among the yokai that oppose Syndara. Despite the Night Market’s ramshackle composition, the collection of beings and items collected from across the planes makes it a settlement whose variety of shops and services rival any city on the Material Plane. Among many others, the inhabitants include:
Ora, Hatsuo, and Riko: This trio of tsukumogami take the shape of a furnace, bellows, and hammer, and run a quaint smithy that also doubles as a treatment facility of sorts for the more object-based yokai. All three originally became tsukumogami when they were discarded as objects, and seek to spare others the same fate. They are happy to transfer runes, upgrade armor, and generally perform any item-based services.
Suri: This diminutive but foulmouthed creature, resembling a three-tailed fish with the head of a beaked humanoid, serves as the Night Market’s resident physician. In addition to providing normal medical treatment at no cost, they are also capable of removing curses, curing disease, and raising the dead, though they ask that the party provide a work of art in payment.
Rikanzo thanks you again for freeing the yokai, offering you a greater mask of the banshee shaped like an opera mask. You may buy or sell gear here--when you are done, the tanuki will direct you to the final conch fragment.
After finishing up at the market, you follow Rikanzo's directions across the island. Soon enough, you reach your destination. A large hill rises abruptly from the ground here, covered in pyramidal ridges. At the top of the hill is a massive tree with gnarled branches that droop under the weight of an overabundance of fruit, each shaped like the head of a humanoid—goblin, elf, human, and more. A cloying smell fills the air, as does a low drone issuing from the mouths of the tree’s many fruits.
I get the sneaking suspicion that that's not actually fruit on the tree. Not that I'm excessively surprised, but still. Gauche. At least dryad's are notoriously flammable. I trudge up the hill towards the tree, fire ready to be called up at any moment.
Yog rests by doing what he does best: drink, eat and make merry. What coin he has, he spends on rare liquor and booze, and what then remains is given to his companions to spend as they please.
As Esh draws near the tree, the sweet scent fills his nostrils and overwhelms his senses. Fascinated, the elf is compelled to approach the tree and bite into one of its fruits. The fruit is juicy but tangy, and Esh feels his mind wracked with pain!
At the same time, though, knowledge instantly fills his head, stories and legends about the Ruby Phoenix Hao Jin and her myriad exploits!
Wu Xin stays well away from the tree and observes the situation, looking for dangers.
Burdened with guilt over her role in the museum’s loss and her parents’ financial hardships, Hao Jin devoted her life to protecting the world’s culture from destruction. After several lifetimes of learning, the Ruby Phoenix created her masterpiece, the famed Hao Jin Tapestry. Woven together from her magic, creativity, and skill, the tapestry contained a demiplane that the Ruby Phoenix intended to use as a kind of museum world, allowing her to pluck places and people at risk of destruction from Golarion to preserve them forever within magically regulated biomes.
Her greatest creation complete, Hao Jin departed Golarion to explore the cosmos, eventually arriving in the Eternal City of Axis. Though she dreamed of collaborating with the brilliant aeons who resided there, Hao Jin instead found herself reprimanded. Aeons are beings of absolute order, and they considered the creation of the Hao Jin Tapestry callous, irresponsible, and a threat to the planar stability across all realities. Axis called for the tapestry’s destruction, but Hao Jin struck a bargain to save it: she offered to serve the Eternal City and relinquish her memories of the tapestry’s creation for study. Axis agreed, and so Hao Jin disappeared from Golarion in 4391 AR for over 300 years.
Assuming the Ruby Phoenix had perished, the city of Goka held a grand martial arts tournament at her estate as her will instructed, with the victor being allowed to claim a single item from Hao Jin’s vast treasury. Called the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, this competition was held every 10 years, starting in 4401 AR. In 4711 AR, a team of Pathfinder Society agents hand-picked by the Decemvirate were victorious, allowing them to claim the Hao Jin Tapestry.
In the years that followed, Pathfinders studied the Hao Jin Tapestry, exploring Hao Jin’s museum world while thwarting the cult of Lissala and the Aspis Consortium; all of them learned that Thassilonian magic could be used to tear rifts in the tapestry for quick travel across Golarion. This consistent abuse took its toll on the artifact, and the tapestry, already in decline due to Hao Jin’s absence, rapidly began to unravel. Through the sacrifices of dozens of Pathfinder agents and former Master of Spells Aram Zey, the Pathfinder Society staved off the tapestry’s destruction long enough to find Hao Jin, exonerate her in the eyes of Axis and the Boneyard, and recruit her help in returning the tapestry’s inhabitants to Tian Xia.
Hotcha becomes invisible and flutters over to the tree.
She asks, ”Are you a dryad? Why is your fruit shaped like people’s heads? Should I be worried?” then continues another fifteen feet before stopping, in the hope the dryad will guess her location from where she was when she first spoke.
There is no response from the tree. If this is the home of a dryad, there is no sign of her...
Hotcha takes advantage of her temporary invisibility and apparent immunity to the weird fruits. She flies around the tree, above, below, and she examines the trunk. If there’s a hole she can slip into, she might want to tell Xin before peering inside…
Xin advances on the tree, blade in hand.
"If you're here and you want this tree to survive, stop it from harming us. Otherwise, I'm in the mood for kindling!" he says.
There is no answer to Xin's challenge. The strange fruits continue their low droning sound.
Hotcha spots a few hollows in the tree she might be able to fit inside of, but all of them are empty. It doesn't seem that going inside the tree will accomplish much of anything.
Hotcha says, ”If a dryad is both nymph and tree, does one of these fruits have the face of a beautiful woman?”
Hotcha examines the faces. But even if there is one that is particularly youthful and beautifully feminine, she’s not sure what to do with that!
Hotcha notices all of the fruits are UGLY! So she considers a new idea, such as plucking fruits from the tree—using her jellyfish stance kick that slashes from afar!!
(To a fairy, five feet is afar.)
And hurling fireballs at the fruits!!
When the fire seems to work, Hotcha keeps doing the thing that works!
The fruits shriek as Hotcha incinerates them! Once all of them are gone, the tree’s trunk withers and crumbles to ash.
Once this happens, the hill you are standing on begins to shake and move! It rises up, and you quickly realize that it is no hill at all, but rather the shell of an enormous spirit tortoise! The great creature shakes off his slumber and opens his mouth to reveal a curious creature: an elephant-sized reptile with two tails and a row of pink spines down its back—the spitting image of the Final King, the kaiju Mogaru. This creature scuttles forward curiously, his tongue flicking in the air near you to take in your scent
”Thank you for freeing me, little ones,” the spirit tortoise rumbles. ”I had slumbered many years before he awoke to find this wandering creature: the newly hatched son of the kaiju Mogaru, the Final King. An evil dryad pursued the kaiju child in hopes of draining his power and using him to control Mogaru. I defeated the dryad in combat, but not before the dryad planted the seed of an evil tree on my back, which would prevent me from further hampering her master’s plans, even in death. But even weakened, I kept the child safe.”
The tortoise inclines his head to the huge kaiju child. ”Cute, isn’t he? I have taken to calling him Mokku.”
You notice the final fragment of the enchanted conch spell being worn around Mokku’s head.
Hotcha bows. ”My pleasure… and ohhhhh!!” She flutters to the big, big baby monster. ”Mokku is CUTE!”
She then introduces herself and the party, Three Men and a Fairy, to the tortoise spirit. ”I believe with that conch fragment, we can stop the evil that has overtaken this land.”
Mokku lets out a loud chirp as Hotcha flutters near him! His two tails wag behind him happily.
"If the conch fragment will aid you, then you should take it with you," the tortoise proclaims. Mokku scowls and steps back, seemingly reluctant to part with his accessory, but the much larger spirit tortoise gives him a stern glance. Mokku chirps again, then carefully plucks the fragment from his head with a claw and holds it out to you to take.
"This belonged to the evil dryad as well. Take it, with my blessings," the tortoise says. He raises a massive foot, revealing a true staff of providence beneath it!
The one time Yog'Moi has a bad feeling about carelessly destroying something turns out to be the one time it was the right thing to do. Like Hotcha, he too is overtaken by parental instincts when Mokku wiggle-waggles into sight. "Thank you, Mokku. We'll put this to good use and if we succeed, which of course we will, we'll tell everyone how important your help was. We couldn't do it without you."
Xin bows to the spirit tortoise and pets the enormous Mokku. "Thank you."
With the enchanted conch shell reassembled, you make your way to the farthest end of Syndara's island. Here, a simple promontory looks out towards the islet upon which the towering Glass Lighthouse stands. You bring the conch to your lips and blow a resonant note.
The dark ocean surrounding the island parts to reveal a sunken path along the sea floor. Two walls of black water fifty feet high remain to either side as if held by invisible walls. The shadows of trilobites, crustaceans, and other lost creatures flit through the primordial sea.
Nestled between the walls of water sits a cracked stone dais, rung with bleachers and seats, many of which are damaged by water or covered with outgrowths of sponges and coral. Two thirty-foot-tall statues stand on either side of the arena, or at least one does, that of the axiomite Syndara; his counterpart statue, of Hao Jin herself, lies in pieces on the arena floor.
Syndara has ensured that before Hao Jin’s champions can reach the Glass Lighthouse, they’ll face proper semifinalists. Four fighters wait in the center of the arena, almost unrecognizable as they have been transformed into monstrous versions of themselves. But as you draw near, you realize that you will be facing off against Tino's Toughest!
Tino himself has been changed into a hulking, four-armed oni wielding an enormous spiked club. Ji-yook the kitsune is now a menacing gumiho, nine tails spread out behind her and sporting menacing red eyes. Takatorra has become a daitengu, with large feathered wings and razor-sharp teeth lining their beak. And Yabin the Just is now a legendary white serpent, surrounded by magically generated poisonous floodwaters!
Tino growls an unintelligible challenge, and the twisted Toughest prepare to fight!
Your battle cries leave Tino and Takatorra shaken, but your opponents move first! Tino moves in and swings his fists at Esh, but the elf dodges the attacks.
Takatorra flies up towards Hotcha, extending the cutting surface of their gale blades with high-pressure airflow. They squawk angrily as they assault the sprite, but they narrowly miss!
Ji-yook darts forward, illusions swirling around her to make her concealed. She unleashes a blast of foxfire from her tails, launching it at Xin.
Yabin slithers forward and rattles his tail, casting a spell. Each of you feels the moisture being forcefully pulled from your bodies!
The inebriated hobgoblin withers away as what (non-alcoholic) moisture is left in his body is sucked away by the spell. Angered beyond belief by both the necrotic assault as well as the sight of the warped state of their friends, Yog'Moi lashes out. "Watch, Syndara, because you'll be next!"
He weaves a torrent of alcohol that lashes out at Tino's legs. Fall, you bastard, and make it easier for us to knock you out!
My rage is so so hard to control. Yet another example of Syndara's evil and corruption. My fire blazes, my eyes aching, but I keep it tamped down. I don't want to accidentally harm them for real.
Horrified, Xin nonetheless attacks, knowing what is at stake. He hopes Yog can heal their friends later.
Hotcha easily resists the poison. She follows Xin’s lead and ▶️flanks Extra-Tough Tino.
”Lemme knock some sense into ya, Tino!”
▶️
Xin inspires the group as he moves in to attack Tino, but the rogue fails to find a gap in his defenses. Tino resists some of Yog'Moi's harm spell, but the force of the divine wrath is still enough to drive the four-armed oni to his knees! Esh and Hotcha take advantage of the opening, flanking Tino and hitting him hard. Xin misses the opportunity to backstab Tino, but the oni is wounded and momentarily stunned!
Shaking off the stun, Tino gets back to his feet and lashes out at Esh again, managing to land a critical hit.
Takatorra flies to flank Hotcha with Tino, slashing at her with their blades!
Ji-yook dashes closer, illusions swirling around her, then she hurls a pair of darts at Xin.
Yabin continues to hang back, rattling his tail as he casts another spell and sends a disintegration beam hurtling towards Yog'Moi! Luckily, the hobgoblin is able to dodge the ray!
Yog'Moi throws a proper flask of fire wine at Esh and a tiny vial of some obscure overseas herbal concoction at Xin.
Not wanting to be targeted by whatever that spell was, Hotcha becomes ⏩invisible!
Yog'Moi distributes more healing magic! Xin inspires Esh to attack Tino, then follows up with a stab of his own. The elf delivers a critical blow that knocks out the four-armed oni! As Tino falls, Esh steps up to Ji-yook and attacks, striking the gumiho despite her concealing illusions.
Hotcha disappears and lashes out at Takatorra, pummeling the daitengu and stunning them!
Yabin moves up and tries to dispel Hotcha's invisiblity! He succeeds, rendering the sprite visible once more.
Takatorra shakes off the stun and strikes at Hotcha, badly wounding her. Yabin spits forth venom onto Takatorra's blades as he strikes, afflicting Hotcha with it!
Ji-yook changes shape, suddenly appearing like Hao Jin and throwing Esh off! She then gathers foxfire around her fists and strikes the elf, shoving him back!
Hotcha resists the poison and lays into Takatorra!
”Target number two?” she suggests as the tengu feels a burn from Hotcha’s corona.
With the tide swinging their way, Yog'Moi continues pouring healing energies and protective spirits into his companions.
The disguised kitsune is far more nimble than Tino was. Striking her is hard. I grumble in disquiet as I stride back after her.
Xin moves to help Hotcha, ganging up on Takatorra and attacking the tengu. He stabs the daitengu twice, then make an opportune strike as Hotcha pummels the winged warrior! Between the two of them, they manage to take down Takatorra, leaving the tengu unconscious on the floor!
Esh steps after Ji-yook and attacks, landing a good hit.
Yabin slithers forward quickly, moving to flank Esh with Ji-yook and bringing everybody within range of the poisonous waters surrounding him. As he bites at Esh, Ji-yook attacks with her claws, scoring two critical hits!!
Hotcha moves and strikes!
Tino going down seems to fill his companions with an (un)holy fire, and Yog'Moi is forced to continue aiding his friends with healing and protection, or else they might wither under the Toughest's assault.
Though the poison wracks him with pain, Xin manages to push through the floodwaters around Yabin to get to Ji-yook and attack her. Hotcha lands one powerful hit, allowing Xin to backstab the transformed kistune!
Both foes manage to twist aside and avoid some of Esh's dragon breath, but the damage is still enough to knock Ji-yook out!
Only Yabin is left standing. The serpent batters Esh with a barrage of magic missiles, but it likely will prove to be too little, too late!