The man with the sombre funeral mask continues to counteract the haunt by appealing to Tsukiyo to intervene. Perhaps Tsukiyo wants him to intervene.
---
Pagma keeps stabbing, slamming her blade down on one leech after another.
"Bah!" Kamo wipes the back of his hand across his eyes to clear the blood. "Step back!"
Kamo makes more rocks jump onto the leeches.
The leeches squirm to avoid Kamo's scree, but some die from the fear instilled by Jing-De's sepulchral mask. Between Pagma's and Sakura's efforts, though, they are able to finish off the second swarm.
After tending to your injuries, you settle down to rest in the Bridge Shrine. You awaken feeling refreshed and energized. Additionally, the dippers in the shrine have mysteriously filled with water from the river. You are filled with the strange urge to use them to fill the six delicate clay vials nearby; doing so causes each of the six vials to become a moderate ghost charge.
"Who would think that we'd feel so refreshed after sleeping in this place? I didn't even have any nightmares about hands dragging me underwater!" Kamo helps Pagma fill up the vials. "Let's continue down the path."
You leave the shrine behind as you continue along the Pilgrim's Path for the second day. As you walk along the shore of Mirror Lake, the overcast clouds begin to grow darker. It will likely rain before too long.
A few hours before noon, you are caught off-guard when a pair of twisted, broken burls of wood on the forest side of the path suddenly twitch to life as you approach, unfolding into vaguely human shapes. The creatures feverishly whisper the word "Kugaptee" as they move to attack!
The first creature lets out a piercing shriek as it lashes Sakura with a thorny vine! The other one hurls itself at Jing-De, its jaws tearing at his flesh as it latches onto the sorcerer!
Critical Success: The creature is unaffected.
Success: The creature is sickened 1.
Failure: The creature is sickened 2.
Critical Failure: The creature is sickened 2 and slowed 1. As long as the creature remains sickened, this slowed condition value can't be reduced below 1.
Kamo shrugs through the noise. He looks for an opening on the creature attacking Jing-De.
With the creature tangled around the sorcerer, he can't find an opening, so he closes on the one that attacked Sakura.
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Kamo recognizes the monsters as mandragoras! These insidious little plants typically form when a mandrake root is watered with a demon's blood. Upon absorbing the otherworldly properties of the demon's blood, the root animates and is forced to seek out blood to feast from, lest it die of thirst.
Always famished and in search for sustenance, mandragoras live haunted, pained lives and perform vile and desperate acts to acquire the blood they crave. While they prefer magically infused blood such as that of unicorns, fey, or sorcerers, and they can also feed off of potions, alchemical bombs, and other magical elixirs, a mandragora can subsist on the blood of non-magical creatures. They find the flavor of mundane blood to be bland and bitter, and they do not blanch at voicing these complaints to the creatures from which they drink.
Mandragoras resist bludgeoning and electricity, but they are weak to fire.
Sakura reels momentarily from the mandragora's piercing shriek, her ears ringing and her stomach turning. Despite the sudden wave of nausea that threatens to overcome her, she steels herself against the sickness and fights through the fierce shriek.
Sakura draws her blade and charges at the mandragora that had targeted her, closing the distance with swift strides before striking twice.
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Pagma had been a little reluctant about sleeping in the slaughter space of a hundred leeches, not to mention ghost hands by the thousands. Jing assures her, Kamo uses logic, and Sakura promises to protect, so with a long sigh she lays down and rests.
Morning has her feeling great. She cooks up her bombs, hands out some red bean mochi, and is ready to go.
Then there are screaming plants that want to eat jing and rip the rest of their brains apart with the nauseating shouts.
Pagma's stomach rolls, making her double over in ineffectual heaving, while her hands fumble in her pouch for potions to throw. Fire she hears Kamo yell to her, so she tosses two bombs at the one Sakura and Kamo are attacking in hopes they can end it quickly and get to Jing aid.
There's only thing Jing wants and that's to get away from the writhing mass of jaws and tendrils!
Pagma hurls two bombs at the mandragora that attacked Sakura, scoring one direct hit and splashing it with her second hit. As the creature burns, Sakura charges and slices twice, dispatching the vile plant!
Jing-De struggles free of the grasp of the one that bit him and backs away. Kamo moves into engage it, delivering a critical strike, though the monster resists the bludgeoning attack.
Still, it's enough to get the mandragora's attention. It bites at Kamo, missing at first, but then sinking its teeth into the investigator and grabbing a hold!
Pagma gives a big whoop as the plant burns in little pieces. Which is a big mistake when your brain still feels like it wants to split open and spew vomit like a geyser from the cracked halves.
Another moment is spent retching to recover from her unwise celebration. Green as can be, and a bit gross, Pagma finally looks up to see the plant on another of her friends. Swallowing, she grabs two more fire bombs, waiting as best she can for an opening, she chucks fire bombs at the screaming face.
"Youch! Let go of me, you weed," Kamo squeals. He pulls out his sword and looks for an opening. Finding none, he tries to pull away from the pesky plant.
Jing launches a ray of deadly cold at the mandragora. "We got you, Kamo! We won't let it eat you!"
Sakura tries to give her allies some inspiration to finish the fight before trying to knock the creature to the ground.
◈ +1 status bonus to attack rolls and saves against mental effects for allies within 10'.
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Pagma burns the other mandragora as Sakura moves in to help her brother. She delivers a powerful slice that knocks the plant off its feet! Jing-De finishes it off with an icy beam! As the creature dies, it cries out, "Kugaptee!" one last time before splitting in half to reveal a clot of crystallized blood at its core. The other mandragora died in a similar fashion. Each of these two clots is a fear gem talisman.
Uncertain about its effectiveness, Jing nonetheless performs a funerary rite for the slain mandragora plants. He homes in on the soul essence that animated both plants and requests the trifecta of Pharasma, Shizuru, and Tsukiyo to guide them to the proper afterlife. "May the Lady of Rivers take you to her so that life and death flows as it should."
With that out of the way, Jing aids Kamo with fixing up the group. The plants inflicted quite a bit of damage and while magic could undo it, Jing fears there might be more trouble yet to come. "It seems that we're stuck in a place where Whose Name I Won't Utter can't quite manage the rebirth it is looking for. Perhaps we can end it once and for all, and restore order to this madness."
"Unusual and dangerous creatures to encounter here. Come, I'll fix us up." Kamo takes out his bandages once again, making sure to clean any residual sap from the wounds.
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The healing session takes a bit less than an hour, and everyone is patched up pretty well.
"I wonder if that entity is the source of all of this strangeness? It would be wonderful to get the full Wall of Ghosts taken care of."
"Everything seems to want to say its name." Pagma says as she waits while Kamo cleans wound after wound. Soon they be mummies. "Maybe they are not calling for it, but warning us away... violently? Violently warning us to stay away from Kug--- Whose Name I Won't Utter."
You continue on along the path, moving from the shore of Mirror Lake to the northern bank of the West Sugi River. By noon, the clouds finally reach their limit, and rain starts to fall. The surrounding forest grows more and more overgrown as the path begins to wind upward in elevation.
A short time before sunset, you hear the sound of sobbing coming from a large hollow at the base of a dead tree at the edge of the road ahead, where a young human woman huddles. She is dressed in filthy clothes and clutches a string of beads. Her mournful sounds are interrupted by hiccupping sobs and cries of “Big sister! Where are you? Big sister, help me!”
Jing forces a smile when Pagma muses on why Kugaptee's name continues to be uttered by all the things they encounter in this twisted realm. "I wish I could share your optimistic sentiment, Pagma, but I feel the truth is much, much darker. Fret not, though! We carry with us the light, for our souls are pure and our cause is noble. and we shall drive away the darkness that taints this place. "
--
The young sorcerer welcomes the rain for it washes away the realm's unnatural sounds and replaces it with one he's intimately familiar with. For once, he can relate to this place. Or, forget about the place's unnaturalness.
When the sound of a woman crying reaches the group, Jing instantly perks up. The instinctive reaction to step forward and offer the woman aid is strong, but Jing reins it in. He eyes his companions, eager to see if any of them have an idea how to tackle this situation.
Pagma's heart is bigger than her sense, so she approaches the sobbing woman, talking as soothingly as she can "Are you okay, miss? Our friends and I are traveling to the monastery, and have seen many things. What does your Big Sister look like?"
The woman sniffles. "My name is Yeri. My big sister is Yuni. She looks like me, but older. She convinced me to sneak out of town to walk along the Pilgrim's Path on a dare to check out the abandoned monastery. But we got separated, and now I don't know where I am! Please, can you help me reach the monastery? I'm sure Yuni is waiting for me there!"
Yeri shivers and pulls her high-collared jacket tightly around her body, but not before you catch a glimpse of a faint scar that curls all the way around her neck.
"Yuri, I think I remember you!" Kamo tries to keep any trepidation out of his voice. "The good news is, you're on the Pilgrim's Path. You should stick with us, we're headed to the monastery, as well."
The sight of the scar causes Jing to shiver. Is this woman a sown-up trauma, reliving whatever moments she had in this awful place before meeting her end? Perhaps there's a more innocent explanation, but in this accursed place, no such explanations come to Jing.
"Yes, I suppose you should come with us. We can protect you."
"Thank you!" Jeri cries with relief. She shakily gets to her feet and moves out of the hollow of the tree to stand beside you. "Let's go. I can't wait to see Big Sister again! We should never have come to this place!"
Yeri huddles close to you as you make your way through the rain. As evening falls, the rain worsens into a downpour, soaking you and leaving you cold and miserable.
Finally, as the sun has almost finished setting, you near the second shrine, the Garden Shrine. The forested path reaches a break here, next to an ash-strewn clearing astride the path. A partially-burned wooden cottage sits near the path, while a five-foot-wide rock walkway winds around the ruins to a ruined garden beyond. Here, the scorched remnants of a burned oak tree loom tall, while at the far end of the charred clearing sits a small stone shrine. The rock pathway leads up to it, with this last stretch flanked by three pairs of unlit stone lanterns.
"This is cold and miserable." Pagma complains more than once as the pours down on them. Her muttered complaint is almost lost in the constant droning noise of the rain.
"Do we have to perform something, or can we huddle in the remains of the cottage and start a fire first?" she says, as her mind tries to remember anything about this shrine and cottage.
The incessant rain causes Jing to step and slip away repeatedly as they climb what by now feels like an enormous mountain they may never overcome. Fortunately, but not until Jing has given the climb all he's got, they reach their destination. Panting, Jing raises a hand to beg the group to stop. "I'm exhausted. Maybe we can take a short breather before we visit the shrine?"
Pagma recalls the story of the Garden Shrine. While traversing this leg of the journey, Master Zhi Hui was delighted to find a grove of wildflowers, berries, and wild radishes growing in an idyllic clearing here. The floral beauty and the delicious taste of the fruits and root vegetables made an excellent spot for a shrine, where pilgrims could enjoy a simple meal and contemplate the values of enjoyable repasts at the end of a day of travel while also ensuring that they did not overindulge in food or drink.
She also remembers that four caretakers dwelled here, shrine tenders who took great delight in providing travelers with a comfortable place to stay at the approximate halfway point to the Tan Sugi monastery. After the monastery was abandoned, the group opted to stay on, living as hermits who would periodically offer shelter to the odd trapper or hunter. There doesn't seem to be any sign of these caretakers now...
Pagma's face slumps a little into a sadness. Another loss from these trying times. They really should have worked harder to get up here earlier, and not abandon the nice people who lived up here.
She doesn't vocalize her guilt, instead suggesting "We should take cover. Look to see if there is any evidence of where the four people who lived here might have gone." she will relate the rest of the history of this shrine as she remembers it, as she starts to move to the cabin.
The cottage is badly burned, but enough of the roof remains intact to offer at least some shelter from the rainstorm. As soon as you enter the building, however, four charred, blackened corpses rise up from the ashes! The remains of the shrine's caretakers reignite, bursting into flames, and they cry out in agony as they move to attack! Yeri shrieks and clutches her beads as she cowers!
"Stay outside, Yeri!" Kamo cautions as he looks at the creatures.
Without a good avenue of attack, KAmo reconsiders charging the creatures. He speaks a brief incantation and rocks jump off the unkept floor to slam into the creatures.
A pang of sorrow strikes Sakura's heart for the curse's victims, but she knows that hesitation could endanger her friends and the innocent Yeri.
As Kamo warns Yeri to stay back, Sakura nods in agreement. She watches as Kamo skillfully manipulates the battlefield. Inspired by his tactical decision, Sakura shifts into her martial stance and charges into battle.
Ignoring the heat that sears her skin and the flames that lick at her armor, raises her katana and strikes.
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Pagma shares of look of mutual sorrow with Sakura. As her friend charges into battle, Pagma listens to Kamo then quickly gets the last two frost vials they had been given from the two armory.
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Jing channels his inner light to counteract whatever burning anger animates the four living dead. He taps into the river that flows through him and knows that if he could only cast the undead into that river, they'd find their way to the afterlife, into Pharasma's arms. Kugaptee has much to answer for.
The burning undead recoil from Jing-De's healing energy. Kamo pummels two of them with scree, then Sakura moves in to slash the most damaged foe. Pagma finishes that one off with her two frost vials.
The near mindless undead scream in pain as they stumble through the scree to get to Sakura, swinging their flaming fists and battering relentlessly! The fighter is set ablaze!
Jing continues to tap into the inner wellspring of power and more silvery light pours out of him, eating away at the foul substance that animates the living dead.
Seeing Sakura in danger, Kamo darts in behind one of her attackers, and smacks it with a mighty blow!
Crit! Damage (2x):
Sakura takes a beating from the undead. Despite being on fire, she focuses on attacking twice before moving into a defensive posture so that she doesn't get hit as much.
Thankfully, the fire goes out!
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Her friend burning, the dead walking, makes Pagma want this to end. She practically upends her collection of anti-undead bombs at the creatures.
Jing-De blasts the burning undead with more healing energy while simultaneously soothing Sakura's burns. Kamo delivers a critical blow to one of the creatures, then Pagma takes it out with a ghost charge before injuring another one of the attackers. Sakura is able to take down that burning foe, leaving one enemy left.
The undead pummels Sakura again with a flaming fist1
Jing-De gathers the tears of the moon and makes them rain down on Sakura.
Pagma's frantic unloading of her anti-ghost bombs continues as Sakura continues to get hammered and burned. She was about to run forward and pull her stubbornly brave friend away from the undead so she doesn't become one herself, but then Jing does something simply amazing. Making it rain.
Seeing the celestial waters wash over his sister, Kamo continues to concentrate on offense.
Attack: 11+15+1=27 for and
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The pain is too much. Can't continue. Must rest.
With her body screaming in protest and her vision blurred by the intensity of her injuries, Sakura's resolve wavers. She falls to one knee and fights to keep her eyes open and her hand on her blade. The weight of her katana feels like a mountain in her hands, her movements sluggish and drained of her strength. The heat of the flames licks at her skin and the smell of burnt flesh is in the air.
But then, Jing's gentle cascade of healing magic envelops her and it stirs the embers of her will. With effort that drains the last vestiges of her energy, she swings her katana in a feeble attempt to fend off her assailant. The movements are sluggish and the strikes lackluster, but she doesn't give in.
She positions her blade defensively, a barrier between her and the inevitable, her muscles trembling,
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◈Dueling Parry: +2 circumstance bonus to AC until the start of your next turn
Pagma's ghost charges and the Yuzuki siblings' confident attacks finish off the final fiery opponent. Yuri whimpers and cautiously pokes her head out from her hiding place. "I-is it over?"
A search of the shrine uncovers repair supplies, along with a clay pot containing a dozen cones of particularly fine lavender incense. Among other things, lavender incense is said to stimulate the appetite. Each cone of incense is worth 25 gp. You also discover a cunningly crafted silver and oak incense burner that shields the incense within from being extinguished by wind and rain. This incense burner is worth 50 gp and is shaped like a dragon’s head, so that the smoke wafts from its nostrils.
It looks like the incense will fit inside the six lanterns that lined the path to the cottage.