"Does anyone have some big robes? That would at least be something!" Kamo comments. He's never been that good at talking his way out of trouble.
"Let's wait for nightfall and sneak in," Kamo suggests. "That's the proper time for ghosts anyway."
Jing nods at Kamo as he mulls how to apply his magic to the situation. Is he too paranoid to think the fort might have means in place to combat magical prying eyes? Maybe.
"Alright. I can tap into my blood and see if my magic can give us an idea of what we can expect inside and around the fort. Please, I won't be 'here' while I concentrate on the spell, so keep an eye out for me while I'm gone."
Pagma winces as Kamo starts to be quiet. "We're ghosts but we can still break twigs when we walk on them." she teases before stepping on her own twig.
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Jing De receives a cryptic prophecy.
Blue fire burns within solid bronze. The bell's toll spells doom for those without its ringer. Seek the Lady's shrine for succor.
The sorcerer then creates a scrying eye to scout out the fortress. From high above, he can see that beyond the fortified exterior wall, a ten-foot-wide path of packed earth is open to the sky above. The path goes around the entire circular fortress. The buildings to either side of it appear to have been recently reinforced to be more militaristic in appearance but here and there, legacies of their prior use as shops and eateries remain in the form of a few golden tassels, hanging bells, or other mercantile adornments.
Beyond the inner ring of buildings, a beautifully tended garden occupies the fortress’s central courtyard, a covered well at the center. Several well-pruned cotton trees dot the area at aesthetically pleasing intervals. Their branches are currently bare, giving the impression of jagged spines reaching up toward the sky. A colorful canopy has been erected on poles in the southern part of the garden, under which rugs, a chair, and a table set with tea and snacks has been set up.
A burly, bearded man in lamellar armor relaxes here, reading a novel. A large axe lies on the ground nearby.
An otherworldly voice whispers prophetic words through Jing's lips. "Blue fire burns within solid bronze. The bell's toll spells doom for those without its ringer. Seek the Lady's shrine for succor." A hand then twitches and slowly, Jing returns to the here and now. "Huh, I had a confusing vision. I heard the voice of a woman calling us to hear her ..."
After recuperating from the experience, Jing sits down again and casts a powerful divination spell. He actively seeks out the shrine, but he's not an experienced diviner, let alone an expert on fortresses and where one might find a shrine in such a place!
" So, what do you make of this?", Jing asks his companions after sharing what he saw of the fortress.
"The flame from the lantern sounds to be in that bell, somehow," Kamo speculates. "I'm glad to get that message about the 'Lady's shrine.' I assume it means a shrine of Pharasma, and we have been getting rather mixed reactions from her followers. I might have been reluctant to enter in our current forms."
Kamo holds his hand up to the weak evening light, spying stars shining through it.
Sakura steps forward, trying to digest Jing-De’s vision.
"Blue fire in solid bronze... that has to be the bell? Doesn't it? And if it’s tied to the lantern, we’ll need to figure out how to take it... or at least its flame, without triggering whatever doom this ringer brings."
"And this shrine. If it really is dedicated to Pharasma, well, perhaps this might offer us a way to approach this without setting off alarms?"
Jing is glad that Kamo figured out this might be a shrine to the Lady of Graves, because he would have never figured that one out. "Let's go have a look."
Fortunately, it seems that the guards within the upper ring of the fortress's walls are lax in their duties. You are able to pass through the southern gate of the fortress unnoticed. This gate is painted gray and is decorated with a faded but majestic depiction of a white tiger.
You follow the path inside the fortress to the northeast, and go through the door into one of the buildings in the outer ring. A stone platform with a five-foot-diameter stone basin built into it sits against the far wall of this room. The basin is filled with clear water, and several bamboo ladles are arranged nearby. A painted ink scroll depicting a sparrow as it perches on the back of a throne hangs on the wall. A blue-skinned woman sits on the throne, her gaze ever watchful.
You recognize the woman as Pharasma. You know that the basin is used to purify one's hands by ladling water onto them before entering the Lady's shrine.
Kamo, impulsive as usual, plunges his hands into the basin to wash himself.
The water is cold as Kamo's ghostly hands plunge into the basin. An eerie chill fills the room for a moment. When he finishes his ablutions, though, the sound of sparrows singing fills the air. Kamo remembers the nosois who visited the teahouse several weeks ago, and realizes that they have arranged a boon for you. Indeed, in his freshly washed hands, Kamo finds several items have appeared: a moderate elixir of life, a pouch containing a dose of dust of disappearance, a rebound fulu, and a scroll of banishment.
"Well, would you look at that?!" Kamo hands off the elixir to his sister and presents the scroll to Jing-De. He tucks the fulu away and keeps the dust of disappearance tied to his belt.
"Let's go into the Shrine." He leads the way into the next room.
Pagma performs the ritual with Kamo, not expecting anything from it, doing it just because respecting Pharasma seems like a good idea here. "Hi" she waves to the bird as they get ready to move again
The next room is a stone antechamber lit by thirty white wax candles that burn along narrow shelves to either side. A raised circular dais sits in the center of the floor, with a carved decorative ring surrounding it. Hundreds of long paper talismans and shide hang like curtains around this ring.
Past the antechamber, you enter the shrine itself. This room is dimly lit by burning torches, and a massive bronze temple bell hangs from the center of the chamber. Five small, empty bird cages are placed around the sides of the room, and the bell’s mouth flickers with a pale, eerie radiance. You recognize this chamber as the room the exorcists summoned you into in order to converse with you during their seance. You also recognize the glow issuing from within the bell as the same glow emitted by Willowshore’s Eternal Lantern.
The eldest of the three exorcists who performed the seance, Cao Chen, is here, along with a shrine maiden. The shrine maiden busies herself with cleaning and meditation while Cao Chen kneels in prayer near the hanging bell. When the shrine maiden sees you, she cries out in alarm. "Evil spirits!" she shouts, reaching for her weapons. Cao Chen looks up at you, and his eyes widen in recognition. He holds up his hand to stay the shrine maiden's attack.
"Wait! I recognize these spirits," he says, then turns back to you. "Let us step into the antechamber to speak. I would know why you have come to this place."
Kamo sighs and followers her out, "We already told you! We are trying to save Willowshore, and you, from destruction by a great force of evil!"
Cao Chen steps into the antechamber and folds his arms. His frown deepens. "You mentioned this evil force before, when we called you forth. Kugaptee. Tell me more of him and the danger he poses."
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"Long ago, the fiend Kugaptee was rampaging across the region, trying to kill everyone and enslave their souls. A leader of the monastery defeated the creature, but was unable to kill Kugaptee, so he bound it beneath the monastery." Kamo explains as best he can. "The logging in the area is endangering everyone, cutting down trees and killing kodama that help keep Kugaptee imprisoned."
"I think Kugaptee is stirring within his prison, influencing the loggers to cut down the sacred trees and level the monastery."
"To add to that, Kugaptee is not like you or us, and Kugaptee definitely isn't like your standard spirit or extraplanar creature. Kugaptee is a closed circle, a cycle of its own, and death does not impact it the way it does us. We've been busy at work trying to break Kugaptee's cycle. In a sense, his cycle has become ours, and we won't be free until Kugaptee is dead, truly gone, utterly erased ... and if you allow Kugaptee to break free, you'll join us in this accursed state of never-ending limbo."
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Cao Chen's frown deepens. "This is troubling news indeed. I am sympathetic to your plight, but I fear it will be difficult to dissuade our employer, Mago Kai. Perhaps it would be more pragmatic to attempt to reseal Kugaptee in his prison rather than try to convince him to take you at your word to leave and just hope things work out."
Sakura finally steps up to speak, her patience gradually waning as Chen seems intent on pushing them aside.
"I do not know if resealing Kugaptee will be enough. You see, we’ve lived through it. Ddied through it. Over and over and over again. Every year we try to fix things, only for it all to collapse. We’ve seen the cost of just sealing him away again, and I refuse to let that cycle continue."
She takes another step closer "You talk about pragmatism, but there’s nothing pragmatic about letting a threat like Kugaptee fester. He doesn't sleep. He waits. He twists people, makes them doubt, poisons their resolve. That’s how he got to Governor Heh Shan-Bao, and that's how he’ll get to Mago Kai. And then you."
Subconsciously, her hand tightens on the hilt of her katana as she struggles to tow the line and avoid being overly aggressive. She pushes a bit. "You already know I’m right. You can feel it. It’s the weight hanging in the back of your mind every time you think about cutting down one of those sacred trees. It’s the whisper that says, this is wrong, but you’re too proud to admit it. Resealing him won’t stop that voice. Only one thing will.
"Help us break the cycle, Chen. Help us burn it all down. Not with fire, but with finality. Give us back the light from our Eternal Lantern, and we will end Kugaptee for good. No more seals. No more maybe next year. Just gone. Forever."
Pagma steps up behind her friend, a nodding supportive alchemist behind the steady warrior. "It is important. Please."
Cao Chen nods, seemingly making up his mind. "Very well. I will go fetch Mago Kai and bring him back here for you to speak to him. Please, wait here and do not wander."
The elder exorcist departs. True to his word, Cao Chen returns about fifteen minutes later with Mago Kai in tow. Mago Kai is the burly man who Jing-De saw earlier in the central courtyard garden. He looks at you warily.
"So, you are the spirits my exorcists conjured. Cao Chen has briefed me on why you have come, but I would have answers from you directly. If you answer to my satisfaction, then I will consider your request.
"Tell me, then. What is it that makes you cling to your ruined town so? Why do you not just move along to your afterlives?"
"We were ripped out of our own lives by an evil fiend, and we need to complete a complicated ritual to save our town, our friends, and ourselves." Kamo notes. "We also hope to stop Kugaptee from taking over this entire area and removing all of your souls from the cycle of spirits!"
"Hmph. Every ghost wants things," Mago Kai says, crossing his arms over his chest. "If we gave you everything you wanted, there’d be nothing left for the living. What makes you so special that I should care?"
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"You think you’re doing something noble here? Claiming wood and land for the living? These walls won’t protect you from Kugaptee. No amount of wood, no amount of stone, no amount of warriors will stop him once he breaks free. The same roots you think you can chop down are the chains that bind him. Cut them, and you might as well hand him the keys to his cage yourself."
She steels her gaze "We aren’t asking for pity, Mago Kai. We’re asking for the chance to finish what was started over a century ago. The chance to do what your exorcists and your soldiers can’t. You say you want to protect the living? Fine. Then help us do it. Because if you don’t, Kugaptee will come for you next. He’ll come for your soldiers. Your family. Your dreams. He’ll take everything, and he’ll never stop."
"But if you help us, you can be the man who stopped it all. The one who stood with the people of Willowshore and won. You want to leave a legacy? This is how you do it."
Mago Kai grunts but doesn't seem ready to budge. "The governor of Sze, Chou Mingxia, demanded these woods. If I don’t deliver, she’ll probably cut my head off. Is this legacy you mention worth risking my neck?"
"What good will obeying the governor be if your soul is destroyed. Don't you have a responsibility for all of the workers here? I assure you that they will die if you continue your plan," Kamo cautions the exorcist.
Pagma offers a few words to support Kamo, but it's unclear whether or not they have their intended effect.
"Hmm, I don't know. If I were to abandon my plans, how would I profit?" Mago Kai asks.
"You could certainly make a profit connecting the restored town of Willowshore back into the economy of the country. I can't imagine the new inventions that have come about since we have been gone!"
The fact this man want to PROFIT when they are talking about saving everyone's lives leaves her a little tongue tied and stammering.
Mago Kai scoffs. "So, if I allow you to use this ritual to come back to life, I’d be something of a hero to Willowshore, wouldn’t I? Would there be a place for me there? A role worthy of my gifts and position? Or would I regret letting you all come back to life?"
"You'd be a hero not just to Willowshore, but also be noticed by the divine servants of the Lady of Graves for doing what's right. We've met with some of them, and their approval is why we're here. It's a lot to take in, but know that I speak the truth."
Mago Kai considers the answers to all of your questions. Finally, he shrugs. "You know what? I don’t need this. I’ll have to rush a few plans, but I’ve got enough other profitable sites. I’m done. Here you go. Good luck with Chou Mingxia. The next person she sends will be a lot more desperate." With that pronouncement, Kai tosses the bell ringer at the your feet. He turns to Cao Chen. "Tell your exorcists to pack up their things. We're leaving." Then he walks away.
Cao Chen gives you one last look. "I hope we have made the correct decision," he says before leaving as well.
"Good work, everyone. I'm glad we were able to talk them out of confronting us; it seems like they are not terrible people, just greedy and misguided." Kamo picks up the bell ringer. "Let's find that bell and the lamp."
"Finally." Sakura says, her voice is quiet but sharp.
"No bloodshed. No more fighting. Just words." she looks proud, as she turns back to look over her friends with relief evident on her face. "Guess even stubborn fools like him can be reasoned with."
Sakura stares at the bell and says "No more delays. No more running in circles. Let's finish this. All of it."
You bring the ceremonial bell ringer into the shrine and strike it against the glowing bell eight times. As the eighth toll sounds, the glow transfers from the bell to the ringer. You feel an urge to return the bell ringer to the Eternal Lantern as soon as possible.
You quickly depart Karahai and return to the ruins of Willowshore. When the ringer is placed within the Eternal Lantern, the ringer instantly reverts back to its previous form as a receptacle and flares into light without the need for any offerings of coins. Your task here is done. You now need only wait until the first day of the lunar new year to begin your attempt to use the transmigrate to bring the whole town out of the mindscape and fully into the living world.
Once you abandon your phantom forms and return your spirits to the mindscape, you find Shinzo waiting for you. He gives you a smile. "Congratulations on finding a peaceful solution in Karahai. Even as a god of death, I apreciate when mortals find nonviolent solutions to violent conflicts. To prove my admiration, I shall grant each of you credit to shop among the items in my cart."
Jing inadvertently narrows his eyes at Shinzo. What would happen if 'he' underwent the transmigration ritual? Or is the sheer thought a heretical one? Whatever the truth might be, Jing knows that he'll be carrying some of Shinzo's wares with him when the time to transmigrate comes.
It is this line of thought that brings Jing back to their meeting with the nosoi psychopomps. The trio squawked three theories at them, each one claiming it could explain why Shinzo was punished by Pharasma. If he was even punished by Pharasma to begin with. Sometimes, people pay penitence because it's the right thing to do, not because they were forced or otherwise compelled to do so by outside forces.
"You have my thanks for your generosity, Shinzo. If you don't mind, may I ask you a question? We met with some loud-mouthed psychopomps before, and they loudly cawed about you. Is ... is it better if we simply don't know, and do not ask you about this? You've helped us so much."
Shinzo's smile fades from his face as he regards Jing-De. "The nosois like to gossip. There is more to my story that I may share with you, but not today. Take solace in that I am here to help you, and worry not why I choose to do so." As he speaks, Yix the raven hops back and forth on his feet and caws as if impatient, or perhaps in warning. Shinzo glances to Yix and nods solemnly.
As you finish your business with Shinzo, he regards you solemnly. "You are very close to finally being able to escape from this mindscape. But one more challenge awaits you. Some things play out the same here, regardless of the cycle. Just before the New Year, a version of the jorogumo princess Ren Mei Li will make her first visit here to force you to swear fealty. She isn’t the actual princess, but she thinks she is, and she can still kill you. You’ll need to convince her to leave without causing trouble or, barring that, kill her before she kills you.
"I am certain that you will be up for the challenge. I will be watching."
"We've been successful in convincing some people of our plight. Perhaps we can talk the 'princess' into leaving us alone," Kamo agrees. "If not, is there something that you can tell us about the jorogumo? You have observed her over many cycles."
"The princess is cruel and imperious, but vain. Playing into her perceived superiority will help you get into her good graces. That is all I am at liberty to say," Shinzo says. Yix cocks his head and eyes Shinzo warily.
"We've all been catering to Sakura's ego for ages, so that should be easy," Kamo quips as he ducks behind Pagma.
Kamo's quip gets a chuckle out of Jing. "Ha. Well, I suppose we best start our preparation for the coming storm. Perhaps we can find out more about this Ren Mei Li, other than what Shinzo has so graciously shared with us. If we can avoid unnecessary violence, that would be for the best."
Sakura's eyes bore into Pagma (as the choosen barricade) making Pagma squeak and then wave, before quickly stepping to the side.
Rumors of Lang Loi’s takeover of Shenmen have reached Willowshore, but from your perspective, this development only happened a year ago, and so far, the jorogumo queen hasn’t yet turned her attention to Willowshore. There's not much you can learn about Ren Mei Li, but you are able to learn a bit about jorogumo in general. Jorogumo despise tengu, hate cold iron, seek to ensure that the citizens of Shenmen are kept isolated and illiterate, and tend to eat beautiful young men and maim pretty women out of jealousy. To make a good first impression, you should prepare a gift worth at least 50 gp for Lady Ren when she arrives.
***
The next three weeks seem to drag on as the harsh winter continues unabated. Willowshore's potential salvation is close, but the people of the town struggle to maintain their hope. Fortunately, you are able to keep everybody's spirits buoyed, and your preparations during autumn ensure the town itself remains secure and there is enough food to go around.
At the end of the third week, Yami the cat brings Sakura a gift: a waterproof bag of saffron worth 100 gp.
***
At sunrise on the day before the New Year, a stranger arrives in town. This handsome young man wears a silver collar and seeks out Willowshore’s town elders to inform them that the town is now under the rulership of Lady Lang Loi; that one of her princesses, Lady Ren, shall be arriving this very evening; and that Willowshore should make itself ready to receive the new royalty. The strange messenger makes it clear that Ren Mei Li expects to receive a royal welcome, despite Willowshore being far too rustic and poor to provide such a thing on short notice. He then fades away, himself merely a precursor thoughtform of the jorogumo princess.
The elders are shocked, as confirmation that Shenmen is now ruled by a jorogumo is frightening indeed. Granny Hu makes it clear that the tea and snacks served must be both impeccable and seasonally appropriate, but she warns that Lady Ren will probably make a few unreasonable demands just to flex her power. Old Matsuki suggests getting the princess drunk or, failing that, making sure everyone greeting her is beautifully dressed while keeping their faces plain or obscured.
Critical Success: The PCs gain a +1 circumstance bonus to all Influence checks during this encounter.
Success: The PCs prepare the site but had to dip into the stores to get everything set up. Reduce Food Points by 1.
Failure: As success, but reduce Food Points by 1d4+1.
Critical Failure: As Failure, but the shabby job causes the PCs to take a –2 circumstance penalty to all Influence checks during this encounter.
The notion of simply undoing the princess does visit Jing's mind once or twice as they go through the arduous preparations to welcome this unholy interloper. They have come too far to let it all come apart now, and the easiest way forward surely is the least violent one. Whether true or not, it's fundamental for Jing to cling to it.
"Alright. I'll visit the townsfolk and see what fineries I can borrow to ensure the princess feels right at home. If there's anything else I can do, please let me know. This hosting of important guests is not quite my forte."
Pagma had been puttering around the tea shop, fixing this, experimenting with that, so she missed the entire handsome young man visit. Sadly. Sakura rushes in, almost gossipy about the entire thing, which Pagma listens too with rapt nods and Ohs until...
"This EVENING?!?" the alchemist shoots up. "We don't even know what she likes or is allergic to? What if she swells up like a frogs throat at our miso soup or... Hmm... we'll make several things, array it out like a fan, allowing her to make the choices."
Then the alchemist gets to work.
Pagma has to dip into the town's food stores a bit to finish her preparations, but luckily there is plenty of surplus supplies to go around. No sooner has she finished her task than the townsfolk shout that Lady Ren Mei Li is here! The jorogumo princess imperiously arrives in town in her true form. Eight spindly spider legs, flocked with coarse black hairs, stretch from the back of the otherwise beautiful and graceful young woman. She has long black hair and limbs that are a little too quick and slender. She wears her hair up in an elegant style, adorned with flowers and pins. She’s dressed in an embroidered robe. She rides in a palanquin carried by servants who wear silver collars around her neck.
"Greetings. I am Lady Ren Mei Li, the Silversilk Princess, Resplendent Daughter of Yin-Sichasi. I am here as an emissary of the mighty Lady Lang Loi, your new overlord. She has bid me to grace your little village with my glorious presence." The jorogumo smiles and looks at you expectantly...
Pagma knows when it comes to greeting beautiful entitled spider ladies, that she is not the lead in communications. At a glance at their own warrior queen, she worries the spider portion might not be her normal stalwart beacon of politeness and strength. But there is always Jing with his calm silver tongue.
Pagma sticks to polite ritual in greeting, bowing respectfully as one would to the most honored guest.