"Jiggs, don't stand so close to the Mister Black!" Sal'era dashes around the table while Jiggo takes a Step back.
Jiggo then enhances Sal'era's strength. "Alright Black, let's do this."
"Now we're talkin." She grins as she pivots to just the right angle.
Thanks to the flanking that the Veiled Lady provides, Eddie’s first strike hits. The second doesn’t even come close.
Then Sal’era comes in and cuts off Bun the Black’s head.
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Eddie pokes the headless water spirit with their staff again for good measure "Ready for the compost bin. Won't fly out now." Then grin before bending down to pick up Bun Bun's loud staff.
"You dropped this, want some berries? You look.." Eddie pokes at the loose stuffing "Not right." They pull some out and sniff it before stuffing it back in.
Sal'era's grin wavers just a bit as Jiggo frowns in reaction to the gore. "What? He was trying to kill us. And he uh almost killed Bun Helsing. I had to defend us." She stands upright to project an air of nobility.
Then she crouches down to help Bun Helsing stand up. "You doing alright Bun? I'm certain you would have saved Jiggs if we had switched positions. No need to thank me. But it is appreciated."
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Eddie pokes the headless water spirit with their staff again for good measure "Ready for the compost bin. Won't fly out now." Then grin before bending down to pick up Bun Bun's loud staff.
"You dropped this, want some berries? You look.." Eddie pokes at the loose stuffing "Not right." They pull some out and sniff it before stuffing it back in.
The group heals thanks to berries and surgical practice.
Looking around the docks where Bun the Black was, water laps softly against the docks in this muddy subterranean cavern. Seven boats cluster around the dock, all usable and in good repair, and three tunnels lead back out to the Bunkatsu river. There are curving pictographs over the archways that lead to other parts of the complex. Along one wall is a frieze with several carved hobgoblin figures, each raising a hand in greeting.
Sal'era picks up the cursed naganata. "Don't you store cursed stuff in the Pathfinder Dark Vaults? Let's just hold onto this for now and get ready in case the wielder comes back."
Jiggo figures out from the pictograms that this room was built to be a trading post between the Rahk Lo hobgoblin community and surface dwellers.
As for Bloodmoon, it seems inactive right now but given it claims to be linked to Fumeiyoshi you suspect it would reactivate at sunset. It does look like a nice blade.
After you are done looking around the boat docks, you investigate the rest of the complex.
You find a back exit from the complex. Water-resistant waders and raincoats hang from garment hooks near this back exit.
The bodies of two young tengu men lie sprawled and broken in the entrance to this room, their black feathers scattered and mixed with a pile of mud, dirt, and broken tiles. In the center of the floor, a tiled mural of the moon has been ripped out and painted black, then splashed with blood.
Bun Helsing is able to determine that a long, slashing weapon (such as Bloodmoon) was used to kill the two tengu. None of the other weapons you have seen people use down here would match the wound. A wakizashi is too short and a filcher's fork is for piercing not slashing.
Although it is obvious that this shrine has been desecrated, you do not understand the religious connotations of what was done here.
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Jiggo closes the tengu's eyes and puts their bodies at rest. "Criminals or not, they didn't deserve this."
He frowns at the naginata. "If this is the most likely weapon, we definitely need to keep it near. I don't want this thing waking up and attacking anyone else."
"Where do we go next? Maybe the back exit will lead us somewhere? Otherwise we may need to sail down these boats. Is there a boat missing, like someone just used it?"
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"Oh... OH..." Eddie's mind finally starts to piece things together with Bun and Jiggo's help. "I think this Bloodmoon is very bad, it must be our problem here. So what do we do with it? Lock it in a box? Leave it out in the rain to rust away for hundreds of years?" Eddie starts listing off random, and often unhelpful possibilities.
Bun Helsing speculates that the murder was committed to desecrate this shrine, turning it to the god Fumeiyoshi by reenacting Fumeiyoshi's betrayal and murder of his brother Tsukiyo. Good thing the sword told him about some of that.
That would explain what was done with the tiled mural of the moon.
He also thinks that the shrine needs to be cleansed and returned to its former purpose, as a shrine to outcasts dedicated to Tsukiyo. You will need someone else to come in and do the dedication, but cleansing it is well within your abilities.
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Eddie listens to Bun's recollection "Oh, that is not good. The spirits would really be mad. I will talk to them, hopefully they will listen." Eddie helps clean up the shrine before reaching out to the souls.
"Forgive this place for what happened. We are here to fix it and restore the shrine. The end."
Eddie is able to sooth the spirits of the two murdered tengu.
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"Jiggs, I got this." Realizing the diplomats and the pious will be all over this shrine, Sal'era sticks to cleaning it up.
"Good thing that naginata kept bragging. That's why you stay quiet and focused on the mission."
Sal’era is able to balance herself well enough to get to some of the hard to reach spots that need cleaning.
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"Reminds me of the more benign tests Mother gave me." Sal'era reaches a cloth into a corner to scrub the blood out. "Hide and Clean, she called it. Sometimes I'd find a body part I shouldn't have." She sighs wistfully.
Bun does a good job of cleaning up other hard to reach areas.
Soddy has trouble finding the correct mixture of alkaline and base to create a proper cleaning solution. It tends to smear the blood around rather than clean it up.
Although she prays to a different god, Krinolyn knows exactly the right things to do in order to cleanse the shrine.
As the Veiled Lady finishes her chanting, Bloodmoon the cursed naginata crumbles to ash, unable to rise again.
Having cleared the secret base, you return to the village.
As you get to the center of the village, the fog begins clearing. This causes the villagers to cheer. The Risuchō leave one by one to deliver the mail from Silvertree to other villages.
Shortly after that, Mayor Kimi approaches and asks what you found.
"So long, chump." Sal'era drops the naginata as it crumbles. "We done here? I'm tired of smelling like rotting fish and soaked in sake." Sal'era falls quiet as the team leaves the base.
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"Hello, Mayor. This fish stall was used as a front for the Golden League. There are some boats in the basement. We cleared it out and found a desecrated shrine."
He sighs. "They smuggled in a cursed artifact, Bloodmoon. It drove the leader insane and they... killed... most of their own cell to make sacrifices for Fumeiyoshi. We have reverted it back to Tsukiyo's shrine."
Jiggo takes a deep breath and enjoys the clear air. "We should give them proper last rights so they can rest. Criminals or no, they didn't deserve that anymore."
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Eddie barely resists the urge to dip their finger in Bloodmoon's dust and taste it. BARELY. "I wonder what cursed sword dust tastes like?" They ask, more than once, on the walk back to the surface.
"Mmm sake smells good. I've had many friends that did fermenting pickle baths in the past. Odd though I haven't heard from them in a while." Eddie blurts out, completely oblivious.
"They have been down there a very long time, I'm surprised more people didn't know about it?" Eddie casually mentions to the Mayor, curious.
The Mayor asks for a description of the two tengu that were ritually killed. Her face shows sadness at the information. “Kenji and Daisuke. My nephews had just started working with the fishers, said it was a great opportunity.”
The mood turns more somber as the news spreads. Although few mourn the other fishers, the two tengu were a part of the community and will be missed.
Mayor Kimi thanks you for helping to cleanse the shrine and set the souls of the two young men to rest. The village invites your group to a feast that serves partly as a memorial to the two young men, and partly as a celebration that Silvertree has been cleansed.
The next day as you leave the village a Risuchō appears, delivering a single cherry blossom as thanks from Sakura before departing.
By the time your group returns to the Three Gates Lodge to report back to Amara Li, merchant traffic along the Spirit Road has resumed.
Amara Li takes great interest in the history of the former Rahk Lo trading outpost, and wonders if the Rahk Lo might be invited to return to their trading post given all the merchant traffic that now passes through Silvertree. As for the records of criminal activity from the accountant's office, her eyes gleam as she looks over the document. “Excellent work, Pathfinders. Studying this document will hopefully provide leads to tracking down some of the other Golden League cells throughout Tian Xia.”
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Eddie invites as many of the local creatures and kami to the celebration as possible, doing their best to get the creatures and villagers to mingle and communicate with each other, spending most of the time translating between the two to help. "People and the spirits must work together as much as possible, then when something is wrong everyone will know what to do!"
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Jiggo stands respectfully at the funeral and observes their customs. It's unfortunate what happens to well-meaning individuals who are caught in webs of deceit.
The feast is nice, though. It's great to see everyone come together. "We need to keep practicing. I feel like a little more and maybe we can prevent this from happening again..."
Sal'era sits next to Jiggo and gives him a hug before stroking his hair. "You're doing that thing again, with the greater good. Lovely..." She can't hide her smile. "You need to take a vacation."
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Bella is thrilled the vacation is at an end.
The Sidare Manor has become much more lively since the Rose Witch joined the estate. The assistants have done much to plant a new rose garden. The portraits mostly well, although Khiari has trouble standing still.
The Rose Witch's ingredients are quite eclectic. Rain water from a specific part of the forest, during sunrise, one minute after a rabbit dips their paw within. A smashed ceramic plate, dropped by an experienced assistant during a full moon. The least odd was a mound of dirt full of rainwater. She said that was where Father would return from.
The manor has argued back and forth on whether any of this makes sense, or if it's worth. it to restore the Lord. Mother Crissi has maintained a neutral stance, unwilling to upset anyone.
With the major ingredients gathered, Bella and Khiari are free to go again, and both of them are eager to see the world at large. A hug from her mother is all Bella needs before she boards the carriage and makes her way to the pier.
Her companions are waiting for her, she's certain.
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Tamran is a city that can only be described as "ramshackle." Built upon piers and pilings, it overlooks the marshlands where the Marideth River meets Lake Encarthan. While other cities—and even a great many towns—might be more impressive in terms of grandeur, Tamran has grit and tenacity. The Ashfall Lodge, too, displays this tenacity; being without a leader for some time, it still stands, balanced on three cypress trees.
As you stand in front of the Lodge, you get to know your new traveling companions or catch up with old ones.
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"This air feels familiar." A stocky mushroom speaks to no one in particular, standing on a dock. They bend down and taste the water, swishing it around their mouth before spitting it out with a less than happy face on "Yes, very familiar... when will they clean up this lake?"
Eddie approaches anyone else standing around the dock and offers a small handshake and enthusiastic well wishes "Hello! I'm Eddie, nice to meet you!" They stand in some fresh new studded leather armor and a well worn pirate hat that looks almost stitched to their own mushroom cap of a head. They hold a mossy wooden staff in hand, constantly dripping water.
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A deeply tanned elf with short black hair, goatee and mustache — all neatly trimmed — is adjusting the straps of his pack as Eddie approaches. He has a knife at his belt and a long bow strung across his back. He has a pendant depicting a hawk perched on a crescent hanging from his neck. He wears no armor.
With a smile, he turns to Eddie and says “Vardarel. A pleasure to meet you as well.”
Looking towards the lodge, he asks “Are we sure this lodge is still open?”