"G-get it off off me!", Jing stammers as he redirects the positive energy that was intended to blast the ghost into the nether into a shot of healing energy for himself.
"Hey! Leave them alone!" Sakura shouts, trying to intimidate the creature with a menacing glare.
She swipes at it twice, but seemingly can't figure out how to injure this creature!
◈
◈
◈
Ignoring the Yuzuki siblings' ineffective attacks, the dalgyal gwishin steps up to follow Jing-De again, scoring another hit.
Pagma ducks with a small cry, realizing she is way to close to this creature as it tries to kill her friend. "Why is it after you? Do you know her?" she asks Jing with loud somewhat anxious tones as she forces another healing potion in him.
Jing-De's pleas for help couple with Sakura's frustration at her inability to adopt her newly-learned inspiring marshal stance. Her earlier attempts to rally her friends with her presence and words might have faltered against the oppressive aura of the dalgyal gwishin, but her resolve doesn't waver.
"I said get off of him!" she blurts out loudly as she channels her frustration into focused aggression, attacking twice.
◈
◈
◈
"You can't treat us like this!"
Kamo finally spots a good avenue of attack and his staff glows as it swipes through the spirit.
for + +
x2: 20
Jing answers Pagma and instructs the accursed ghost when he shouts. "No! No no no!"
This time, both Sakura and Kamo manage to score good hits on the ghost. It remains undeterred and focused on Jing-De, flying after him and risking an attack from Sakura. It slams its head into the sorcerer once more, and Jing-De falls!
The dalgyal gwishin wastes no time, pressing its stony face to Jing-De's face, causing a ghostly imprint of the sorcerer's face to peel away and duplicate onto its own head! The spirit's jealous frenzy ends as it turns to rest of you, peering at you through Jing-De's eyes...
Sakura is horrified that her ineffectiveness has allowed this creature to take down Jing-De. Worse yet, she's almost frozen from the fact it's peeling his face from his body.
She unleashes a torrent of slash after slash, aiming to bring this creature down once and for all.
◈
◈
◈
◈
"Face stealers?! Not again!" Kamo shudders, "Jing-De is handsome, spirit, but he needs his face. Quiet down now!" Kamo gives chase to the spirit.
: 29 for , ,
Pagma falls to her bottom as the horror show unfurrows in front of her. The second the spirit releases Jing, she scrambles forward and pours another potion down his throat.
Sakura slices the spirit twice, then Kamo delivers a critical hit with his disrupting weapon! The dalgyal gwishin's form wavers and dissipates, the spiritual echo of Jing-De's face vanishing as well!
"Jing! Jing!" Pagma shakes him with worry flooding her voice.
Pain washes over Jing as the darkness makes place for bright light. He blinks, hoping it will make both the pain and the light more bearable, but his body screams with anguish when Pagma gives him a shake. "Au, everything ... hurts ... "
Eventually Jing manages to sit up straight. The urge to open the floodgates and drown his body in positive energy is strong, but what if there are more ghosts and monsters about? The alternative is to spend an hour fixing himself up ...
The sorcerer closes his eyes and balls his fists as part of his soul connects with the essence of life that's all around them. "That thing really had it out for me."
"Good work, Jing. She really came after you!" Kamo awkwardly reassures his friend. "But, you have your face back and everything's okay now."
Ho Jeong-hui is deeply grateful for your aid in defeating the faceless ghost that was stalking him. Rescuing him has earned you more respect with the people of Northridge as well.
Throughout the week after the battle with the dalgyal gwishin, Sakura is noticeably quieter, her usual vigor dimmed by reflection on the fight's outcome. She immerses herself in the harvest work, seeking solace in the repetitive tasks of gathering grain and rice. Her introspection is evident, distancing herself from her friends, wrapped up in a blanket of guilt for what she perceives as her failure to protect Jing-De effectively.
Her evenings are subdued, the lively banter that usually surrounds her now replaced with thoughtful silence. Sakura remains ensconced in her self-imposed isolation, making an effort to avoid her friends while continually reminding herself of the critical moments when she failed and faltered.
By week's end, Sakura starts to reengage with her companions, her demeanor softened by humility and a quiet determination to grow stronger and more capable.
Kamo spends a lot of the week selling the various bric-a-brac collected on theie adventures to people in the town who might need them. While he's visiting, he helps people shore up the defenses of individual houses, hanging heavy shutters on any house that needs them and fixing fenceposts.
"Look! It's a small fortune!" Kamo passes out 60 gp to each person.
He also asks the townsfolk about any strange stories their parents and grandparents may have told them, researching any uncanny history of the town.
Pagma heads to the fields in the morning, just in time to see Sukra. Thinking her friend was there to spend time with her. The alchemist waves wildly, and Sakura waves back, but much more reserved. Then instead of joining Pagma, she turned away to work.
After a confused moment, Pagma nodded, and went to help Kamo on a building. "Just felt like getting away from the dirt for a bit." she says, before bumping him on the shoulder to say Stop Asking.
, but when she waved, and after Sukura
Pagma spends her evenings on a new project, inspired by the crafter's eyepiece.
Leather, glass, gears, and a bit of chemicals... well more than a bit. Then poof, it all goes nowhere and not only does it not come together as she wished, they look Dumb.
Midweek, Pagma is down in the puddles, skipping stones, and sighing. Just a little, then she knows she has to get back up and work. Maybe doing something for someone else would be nice, and would help clear her head.
So Yuzuki siblings and Jing all have a nice wrapped lunch of savory meat buns and rice cakes waiting on their doorsteps that morning. And each one after that until the end of the week.
Tired and worn down by the feelings of incompetency and uselessness that plague him whenever he tries to help reinforce the town's buildings and defenses, Jing returns to the land. He can grow herbs and flowers in his moon garden, so surely he can help Willowshore's farmers! But the negativity he carries with him hamper his efforts.
During the time spent tending to the land, Jing's thoughts keep drifting to their encounter with the dalgyal gwishin. When it took his face, something inside him immediately registered the fact that something went missing. But now, with his face back, something still feels like it's missing. Whatever 'it' is, Jing can't figure out what it is.
Luckily for Jing, the flask of fellowship that Kamo gifted him knows exactly how to cheer him up. Sweet tea with a hint of citrus remind him that life isn't all bad.
Jing-De's spoiled harvest somewhat undermines Sakura's efforts, but the town still ends up coming out ahead in gathering food for the winter. Kamo and Pagma are quite successful in reinforcing the town's buildings!
Kamo also finally completes his research, devising a ritual that should allow you to bring down the Wall of Ghosts at your leisure! You've learned everything about the curse now that you can in town. More information surely lies beyond the Wall of Ghosts at the ruins of the Tan Sugi monastery!
This week, Yami brings Sakura the gift of a single platinum coin!
***
Before you have a chance to enact the ritual, however, another townsperson approaches you for aid. A fisherman named Goh comes to you, shaken and scared. Fifty years ago, Goh lost his only sibling to the Ceiba River when he left his younger brother unsupervised while he snuck away to play with his friends. Shame for his role in his brother’s accidental drowning has haunted Goh for decades.
Earlier in the day, Goh explains that he felt hands grabbing at his ankles after he got into the water to pull his skiff ashore. He’s convinced that these hands belong to his brother’s spirit, returned to Willowshore to carry him away for letting his brother drown.
As Kamo listens to Goh's tearful tale, the investigator realizes that it might be Goh's own shame that's causing the haunt.
Indeed, when Goh leads you back to the spot on the river near his home where the incident occurred, no new haunting manifests despite your attempts to investigate. Relieved, Goh steps into the river as well, only to immediately be attacked by the haunting once more! A shadowy figure that looks like a swimming child appears to grab ahold of Goh’s ankles and begins to pull him deeper into the water!
Sakura begins to pull out her katana, hand on the hilt as she prepares to make amends for her previous failure in protecting Jing-De.
She pauses.
Brute force will not alleviate the fisherman's torment.
Instead, she steps forward, her presence calm and commanding, to address not just Goh but the spirit of the drowned child as well.
"Peace." she begins, her voice steady and infused with compassion. "We acknowledge your pain and the tragedy that befell you. Your brother has carried the weight of your loss for fifty years, living every day with the guilt of what happened."
She glances at Goh, encouraging him to speak his heart. "Goh, tell your brother what you've carried in your heart all these years."
She pauses to let Goh speak his pain. Once he's done, she kneels by the water's edge, her gaze fixed on the shadowy figure. "Let go of this pain. Your brother's penance has been long and arduous. Allow him to live the remainder of his days free from this guilt. And you, dear spirit, it's time for you to move on, to find rest beyond these waters."
Though Sakura's words are directed to the shadowy figure, they are meant for Goh. The old fisherman sobs as he confesses his guilt and shame and begs his brother for forgiveness. And as he finally lets go of the darkness in his own heart, the manifestation of that darkness dissolves and fades away, releasing Goh from its grasp. Goh sobs with relief and thanks you for saving him!
***
You finally have what you need now to combat the curse over Willowshore. The ritual to open the Wall of Ghosts. The ritual requires a large amount of sanctified rice grains and incense, but the elders are happy to provide that for you.
Shinzo has arrived in town again, giving you an opportunity to purchase supplies before your expedition to the Tan Sugi Monastery. And the experiences of the past several weeks have strengthened your resolves and honed your might.
Secondary Casters 3
Primary Check Occultism or Religion (expert); Secondary Checks Deception, Diplomacy, or Intimidation
Range 40 feet; Target the Wall of Ghosts
Duration 1 year
Your research into the nature of the so-called Willowshore Curse has revealed a possible method of opening a doorway through the eerie Wall of Ghosts found west of town. By starting with a consecrate ritual and then applying Sangpotshi theories of the cyclical nature of life and reincarnation, along with insights gleaned from Zoudou’s notes, you’ve created a magical ritual that can quiet the angry spirits that haunt this misty barrier and allow other creatures to pass through into the regions beyond.
This ritual is unlikely to grant total protection from the ghosts or evil spirits within the wall itself, so once you open the wall, you and your allies might need to face additional dangers within before you can exit the other side. In addition, the ritual must be performed during a crescent or new moon (a time that equates to the second half of each month).
Critical Success: The ritual succeeds and offers unexpected protection while you’re passing through the Wall of Ghosts. While navigating the Wall of Ghosts, you and the secondary casters to the ritual gain a +2 status bonus to Armor Class and saving throws.
Success: The ritual succeeds.
Failure: The ritual fails.
Critical Failure: The ritual fails spectacularly, and two of the ghosts trapped within the wall tear free and attack.
Jing tells Goh that whenever he needs someone to talk to about this, he's welcome to visit him. And, if he feels the need to retreat and recollect himself, he's also welcome to come over and share a pot of tea with Jing in Jing's moon garden. "The time of healing can be tumultuous. That which hurts and torments can echo through long after it's gone, and I will be here for you, to help you remind you of that, that is it gone, in the past. You will have to find a place of acceptance for it, but you won't have to do it alone."
***
Once you have made your preparations, you head west from Willowshore, traveling to the site where you foiled Zoudou's ritual several weeks ago. As you approach the Wall of Ghosts, the sounds of wildlife, the rustle of wind through tree branches, and even the sound of your own footsteps grow eerily quiet.
Stretching as far as the eye can see to the north and south, a cascading wall of silvery mist rises fifty feet into the air and the surrounding woods. The mist seems to rise up from the ground, looking almost like a ghostly sheet of foamy water as it flows upward before fading away. Yet, this aspect is far from the most unsettling quality of the wall, for within the mist, ghostly shapes churn and float into and out of sight. Every now and then, one draws close enough to the edge to reach out an arm or to press a face against the mist—acts that distort those limbs and visages into feral, monstrous caricatures of humanity, before some unseen force within the mist yanks them back into the foggy depths.
Standing in front of the wall again Pagma has the proper amount of fear in her eyes. "We really are going in that?" she knows the answer but can't help asking it. "I guess this really does make us Heroes, doing insane things for a slim chance at saving something they care about." she sighs, then gets into position.
Pagma loves instructions, but sees them as advice instead of requirements, so rituals unfortunately fit the same idea in her head.
Sakura understands the gravity of their task and the importance of unity and focus among them. She looks to Pagma, offering a reassuring nod. "Yes, we are going in. Together, we've faced down everything this curse has thrown at us. This," she gestures towards the swirling mists, "is just the next step. Heroes or not, we're Willowshore's best chance."
Turning to Jing-De, she adds, "Lead us with your knowledge, Jing-De. We're all here to support you." Her tone is firm, but friendly.
As the ritual preparations begin, Sakura stands ready to assist in any way she can, whether through her own strength, words of encouragement, or her unwavering presence. Her thoughts turn inward for a moments she recalls practice sessions, the endless drills, and the moments of quiet reflection at Daikitsu's shrine. All of it has led to this point. She silently prays for Daikitsu's guidance, not just for success in their task, but for the protection of her friends and the town they all cherish.
"Look what I got from Shinzo, everyone!" Kamo shows off his newly-inscribed silver dagger.
Later, he is more somber, and even a little strange, as they approach the wall.
"No, Sakura, I know all about this!" There's a wild look in his eyes, and he lurches toward the wall."I spent all the time reading that book. I learned Abyssal for this!"
Kamo chants a grating language that seems to pull and tear its way out of his mouth.
Pagma cringes at the words. They are horrible enough, but coming from a bright soul like Kamo made them dreadful.
Kamo leads the lengthy ritual, which takes and entire day. Finally, at the completion of the ritual, an immense rippling effect washes through the Wall of Ghosts. This ripple pushes the swarming ghostly figures away, deeper into the mists, and removes the weird sound-dampening effect the wall had on the surrounding terrain. A 10-foot-radius tunnel-like gap opens in the fog bank. This tunnel allows you to see a somewhat overgrown road winding into the foggy forest beyond.
As soon as you step into the Wall of Ghosts and set foot onto the revealed road, the fog surrounds you again, cutting off your retreat and trapping you in what appears to be a fog-shrouded woodland—yet something about the woods seems strange. The terrain is all wrong, with the road appearing to wind through a small, forested valley rather than forested hills. In addition, the spiritual atmosphere of the forest within this area feels off. The sensation of being watched from the foggy undergrowth, the lack of any animal calls or even a soft breeze, and a pervasive feeling of impending doom make for an unnerving atmosphere all around...
"Well, that went great! See, nothing to worry about." Kamo seems back to his usual carefree self.
"Well...maybe a few things. This trail doesn't look as friendly as it used to."
Jing shivers when their ritual finally manages to breach the wall. The ordeal had taken them all day and every damned second of it felt as if a thousand wrongs that were never meant to be were fighting tooth and nail against being moved.
He wipes away the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand and then takes a sip from his enchanted flask. For once, not even the flask knows what he wants as the taste of ordinary lukewarm water washes over his tongue. "Good job, Kamo. If it weren't so accursed, I'd call what we did remarkable."
He then eyes what's ahead and squints. "Call me crazy, but isn't this where the monastery is supposed to be? That tree over there, it's where they'd burn candles in remembrance for those who had departed."
"I'm glad I brought cakes" Pagma grasps her satchel with provisions. Her voice has it barely controlled waver, showing how nervous she is at the moment the fog takes them again, cutting them off from their home.
As Jing points out the lack of the familiar, the mystery of it helps her a little. She finds the odd interesting. Not more than the anxiety of the potential of being lost in the fog for an eternity... but it helps at least. "I think you are right. Did it get taken like the governor's house?"
The dirt trail comes to an end at a fifty-foot-wide clearing. A smaller trail leads into the woods to the north, while at its center sits a large slab of cracked, crumbling stone. A woman’s corpse lies atop the slab, her chest a gaping, gory hole and her left arm extended, as if pointing toward the northern path. Curling coils of fog writhe up from the hole in the corpse’s chest, slithering up and merging into the fog that surrounds it. Under the body, deep furrows on the upper surface of the stone seem to form a word.
The corpse on the rock appears only recently dead, with the blood pooled in the crater of its chest not yet clotted. Her heart is missing. A close observation of the tendrils of fog rising out of the corpse's chest reveals distorted and silently screaming humanoid faces rising up from the hole before they fade and merge with the surrounding fog.
A faint voice whispers through the clearing: "Find the seed."
"Look what I got from Shinzo, everyone!" Kamo shows off his newly-inscribed silver dagger.
Sakura already did not trust Shinzo, but the more Kamo interacted and acquired items from him, the more it began to grate on her. She refrained from making a comment this time, but definitely gave Kamo 'the look'.
"No, Sakura, I know all about this!" There's a wild look in his eyes, and he lurches toward the wall."I spent all the time reading that book. I learned Abyssal for this!"
Sakura was taken off-guard by Kamo's comments and attitude, unsure what to make of his abrasive response. "Uh. Oh-Okay, Kamo. I didn't mean to offend you."
She narrows her eyes and asks "Are you okay? You are not acting yourself."
She, of course, blames Shinzo. Assuming it's his fault Kamo is all weird today.
"Does anyone recognize her?" she asks in a whispered voice.
Sakura tightens her grip on her blade as they approach the horrific scene before them. "Caution." she urges, leading the way.
When they reach the slab, Sakura can't place the woman. She does note that the grievous wound's source was a large, clawed hand that ripped through her chest to gouge out her heart.
"This is horrific." she says somberly, looking at the hand pointing northeast. With a solemn resolve, Sakura prepares to follow the path the corpse's arm dictates.
"Oh, yuck!" Kamo squints at the corpse.
"Well, I recognize that, now." Kamo points at the word carved into the rock. "It's 'Kugaptee,' that creature that the faceless ones were worshiping. Doesn't seem like a good sign."
"I don't recognize her, but you're right about the cause of death, Sakura." Kamo very lightly presses a hand against the woman's arm. "Not cold or still, yet. She hasn't been dead for long."
If he could, Jing would run. Where? Anywhere, because whatever this place is, it's twisted and foul. Nothing good can come from being here. "Are you sure we should be here? Maybe coming here was a mistake. That poor woman, whatever monster did that took her life and her heart. I bet it took her soul as well ..."
Part of Jing reaches out involuntarily when he says the word soul, but all he feels in this place is vileness. It's like swimming in a thick soup of the worst thoughts you ever had, congealed into a gelatinous substance that stains the soul.
Sakura shivers when Kamo mentions that name. She didn't want to hear those words ever again.
Sakura puts a reassuring hand on Jing-De's shoulder and says softly "Heroes or not, we're Willowshore's best chance." The echo of Jing-De's own words now reflected back at him through Sakura's resolve. She hopes her confidence in their mission and in each other will bolster Jing-De's spirit, offering him a momentary respite from the fear that threatens to consume him.
"We must stop whatever has done this before it happens to someone else, Jing-De. We must free her soul. There is no one else; it is up to us now."
You cautiously follow the path through the woods for a short time before reaching a clearing. A ten-foot-high deadfall of trees lies in a rotting mound in this forest clearing. Blood spatters several of the decaying timbers, and an opening in the center emits a foul, rotten stink.
An enormous vulture lurks here, hunkering in its nest while it chews and pecks at a human heart. The vulture snarls in anger as it notices you approaching. "Leave at once, lest you find yourselves added to my fine meal!" it demands in a raspy voice. It doesn't wait, spreading its wings as it prepares to attack!
As it lunges, three spherical clots of blood rip free from the heart and transform into shrieking fiends that look like distorted human faces—close inspection reveals the faces to be similar to that of the corpse, save that these faces possess glowing yellow eyes and mouths filled with sharp teeth.
Jing cowers when the fiend flies at them. As he conjures forth a magical shield to protect him from whatever the fiend is planning to do with him, a surge of energy rushes through him. It starts in his toes and violently, it swirls upwards until it reaches his eyes. He tries to blink it away, but it's too much, there's too much anger, too much power.
And then it bursts forward. A silver beam of light that cleanses all that it touches. Jing tries to avoid hitting his friends with it, so all he can do is face the fiend and stare at it until the outburst stops.
"Stop defiling her corpse, you monster!"
Kamo tries to draw a bead on the vulture.
He doesn't seem to be able to find a good angle of attack, so he goes after one of the shrieking fiends.
for
The young woman is silent at the corpse, not trusting herself to speak. Her ashen face jerks as the others speak, focusing somehow on them, until Sakura's words make her gulp and nod. "only us"
As the new horror, this one talking, appears, she frantically grasps vials from inside her bag and throws them at the oncoming clots.
Sakura positions herself, feet planted firmly on the ground, her stance wide and unyielding. With determination in her eyes, she draws upon her deep well of inner strength and the resolve that has carried her through countless battles; she channels her spirit, her very essence, into the embodiment of inspiration for her allies.
With a warrior's cry that pierces the heavy air, Sakura lifts her katana, the blade catching the scant light, its edge a promise of the swift justice she intends to deliver. Her muscles coil like a spring, and she charges forward to the vulture and unleashes a powerful swing at it.
◈
◈◈
Pagma's first bomb falls short, but her second one hits the mark, and the third is a critical hit! Two of the three strange blood creatures melt away into nothingness, then Kamo moves in to finish off the third with a powerful strike!
Jing-De blasts the vulture with searing light before Sakura charges in and scores a critical hit! The vulture is terribly wounded but it shrieks defiance! It lashes out, but Sakura avoids its attacks.
Angry and frustrated, the vulture projectile vomits onto the fighter!
"Oh Sakura, gross!" Kamo moves in on the vulture, but keeps as far from the vomit as possible (incidentally providing a flank).
for and
Kamo's strike takes down the vulture! The giant bird's body spasms and thrashes as it falls to the ground while red light begins to shine through splits in its flesh. Kamo and Sakura quickly move away before the heart-eating vulture explodes into a blast of red butterflies with razor-sharp wings and claws! The butterflies scatter, leaving behind only the heart the vulture had clutched in its talon.
In the sudden silence, you can hear the sound of a faint whispered voice calling out, “Save me.” The voice comes from the heart...
Cautious as always, Kamo goes over and picks up the heart. "Come, we'll get you back to your body."
Kamo brings the organ back to its body and places it inside the chest cavity.
"You know... we've seen many odd things since that camping trip, but this..." she nods to Kamo standing next to the dead giant vulture holding the heart which is speaking to him "..." she is about to say something, but then stops considers and then shakes her head "Probably will be normal in comparison to the next thing we see." Pagma lets out a resigned sigh.
As soon as Kamo picks up the somewhat gnawed-upon heart, the ambience of the woods shifts. Night falls, plunging the foggy forest into darkness, and the feelings of doom and of being watched intensify.
A thunderous roar ripples through the forest, followed by the sound of toppling trees and thunderous footsteps, as if some immense giant has taken notice and now slowly approaches...
Success: The character is unaffected.
Failure: The character is frightened 1.
Critical Failure: The character’s frightened condition increases by 2. If this would increase the character’s frightened condition value above 4, the character is instead fleeing until the end of their next turn.