Kamo recognizes the creatures as hungry ghosts. Hungry ghosts arise from those who didn't receive proper burials or whose graves were neglected. They are not bound to a site or item but are compelled to see opportunities to commit good deeds in hopes of gaining favors that can aid them in achieving a final rest. Their need to feed on living energy often conflicts with this goal, however.
Jing-De's healing magic weakens the ghosts somewhat. Kamo's attack doesn't do much, but he gives Sakura an opportunity, and while she fumbles her first slash, her second one destroys another ghost. One foe remains.
Pagma whoops in spriteful glee seeing how effective her anti ghost bombs are, but then whines when her bag turns up empty of any more. If the ghosts had the ability to feel hope, it is dashed somewhat by seeing the sprite having plenty of other bombs.
Pagma's bombs shatter all over the room, everywhere but the ghost's location! The ghost manages to drain Sakura with another touch before the fighter retaliates, slashing it twice and destroying it!
Close inspection of the ruined fulus on the wall shows that they were torn off the posts by swipes of a large, clawed hand that left gouges in the wood beneath, and in one spot, a distinctive-looking claw with a bit of leathery flesh still attached remains lodged in the wood.
While all of the fulus on the walls of this room have long since been destroyed, a trio of Taljjae tassels still hang from one of the bunk bed posts, while to the east, a darkwood batsbreath cane lies on the floor of a small restroom.
"Let's rest a moment," Kamo suggests as he treats some of his sister's wounds.
Once you've rested, you continue moving clockwise around the governor's manor. The next set of rooms were once guest quarters. These elegant bedrooms used to feature all the comforts a traveling aristocrat expected, but now, the furniture is in disrepair. A musty stink lingers in the air, and a pair of skeletal remains clad in rotting vestments lie sprawled on one of the ruined beds.
Kamo recognizes the rotting robes as those worn by priests of the Senhang Monastery of Tianjing. Searching the area uncovers stumps of partially burned Tian-Jing incense cones in brass holders beneath the windows, and a single cracked crystal is clutched in the fist of one of the skeletons. This is a destroyed skyfang crystal, a magical item used to ward against fiends and undead; this crystal was ruined by a potent force beyond its power to shelter against and is now merely a curiosity worth 5 gp. The other skeleton still wears a moonsilver necklace around its bony neck.
"A useful necklace for these poor monks," Kamo says as he examines the bauble. "Either fiends or undead attacked them...or both."
He tucks the necklace away. "I imagine whatever killed them is still lingering, one way or another."
Continuing clockwise around the manor, you reach a storage room. Most of its contents appear to have crumbled and decayed into ruin. Crates have broken open as wooden slats decayed, spilling moldering contents over the floor, and empty barrels are surrounded by old stains caused by the leakage of their contents over the years.
You don't find anything valuable here, so you move to the next room. The entrance to this room is closed—seemingly the only doors in the manor that still function. You can hear the soft sound of a man chanting quietly in the room beyond...
Kamo raises an eyebrow at his teammates, then checks the door for traps. If all is clear, he eases the door open to see what it beyond it.
Pagma nods in readiness, hoping the chanting doesn't include horrors beyond comprehension. Then she remembers they have already seen many of those, so corrects her hopes to be no NEW horrors beyond comprehension.
The manor’s primary bedroom, as with the rest of the building, is in poor repair, but here at least the ceiling seems to have held up, resulting in a chamber that hasn’t been colonized by fungi and creeping vines. Nonetheless, the furniture lies in rubble, and a musty stink fills the air. Dozens of candles and sticks of incense burn in a circle in the middle of the room, as if a ritual were in progress here.
The source of the soft sound of chanting comes not from the silent human figure kneeling before the candles and incense, but instead from a thick clinging mass of red butterflies that cling to the ceiling above his head. The mass’s chanting can now be made out as a repetition of a prayer to Kugaptee.
“I offer thee my name, Great Kugaptee! Unbind me from those whom I called friends.
“I offer thee my blood, Great Kugaptee! Unbind me from those whom I called family.
“I offer thee my flesh, Great Kugaptee! Unbind me from the body I called my own.
“I offer thee my soul, Great Kugaptee! Unbind me from that which was my fate.”
The man kneeling on the floor appears to be none other than Governor Heh Shan-Bao, alive and healthy! As you enter, he rises to his feet and turns to greet you. "Ah, there you are. Thank you for seeking me out. I must apologize for my failure to protect Willowshore. If you would be so kind as to escort me out of my manor so that I can meet the new leadership in the town, I can inform them that I am ready to return to my duties."
"Not so fast, Governor," Kamo hold up his sword across the doorway to bar exit. "You need to disperse the ritual that is going on here. Look at those butterflies!"
"You sacrificed us" little Pagma yelled indignantly. "No one will ever follow you again." apparently the time for diplomacy is long gone.
Heh Shan-Bao narrows his eyes and hisses in anger. "Very well. You’ll do just as well for Kugaptee’s inaugural meal!"
Before you can react, the governor casts a spell, assaulting your minds with a phantasmal calamity!
"Gah, you can't cloud our minds, governor. It's time for your retirement."
Kamo clears his head, looking for a clear avenue of attack.
His sword flashes out of its sheath and he slashes at the governor twice.
for and
for
Pagma shudders to the ground as the room decays around her, her friends as well. She knows it is not real but it still makes her brain scream in pain. The sprite then empties out her bomb bag as fast as possible at the horrible governor "You Suck!"
A deadly cold assaults Jing and attempts to quell what love and warmth he has inside. What magic does Heh command that he's capable of such spells?! In reply, Jing taps into the source of his power and attempts to counteract Heh's deadly magics.
Sakura fails to brace herself from the mental assault. Gritting her teeth and holding her hand to her head, she decides to try and bolster her allies against further such attacks.
◈
Unfortunately, the pain is too much and throws her off. Gripping her katana tightly, she charges towards the source of their pain and attacks.
◈◈
Pagma hurls acid at the governor, hitting him with the first vial but only splashing him with the other ones. The acid swiftly melts away his flesh, which scatters into a cloud of red butterflies that swiftly fade into red mist! The hollow shell that looked like Heh Shan-Bao is gone, and the true monster emerges in a grisly display: a skin-covered skeleton with sharp talons on its fingers and tears of blood dripping from its lidless eyes. Its skull appears open like a bowl, and inside nest handfuls of crimson butterflies!
Thrown off, Sakura misses with her attack. Kamo slips around to flank the fiend, though, landing a hit, his silver sword exploiting its weakness!
The nindoru unleashes several overwhelming sobs of despair as it lashes out at Kamo with its claws! The acid stops burning it.
"Gah, we knew you were no mayor!"
Kamo looks for an opening in the creature's defenses.
There's a small opening, but Kamo tries to shake the creature with his research before attempting to hit it.
for and
The horror of the governor's transformation does not stop the pixie from flinging the same array of toxic vials to kill it quickly.
Too angry to be disgusted by the vile being's appearance, Jing launches a volley of holy light at its accursed cranium. Seeing those butterflies triggers something deep within him.
Pagma splashes the fiend with her bombs while Sakura scores a critical hit, leaving the false governor off-guard. Jing-De blasts him with searing light, then Kamo confuses the fiend with disturbing knowledge as he drives his blade into its back!
The confused fiend lashes out at the Yuzuki siblings with its claws!
Kamo continues to team up with his sister, slashing at the creature.
for + +
for +
Seeing his friends being hurt, Jing taps into the wellspring of his power and reaches out with it to offer comfort and aid.
Pagma is out of her most special bombs so starts flinging her normal ones.
Pagma burns the false governor with her bombs, then Kamo and Sakura each deliver a powerful strike to finish off the fiend! Red butterflies pour from its sundered corpse before dissolving into red mist. With his death, Kugaptee's hold over the ruins vanishes in an instant. The manor remains in shambles, but the oppressive feeling of dread dissipates.
Searching the ruined rooms here turns up several objects of value, including a dented red-and-gold chamber pot worth 150 gp, a gold-rimmed monocle worth 100 gp lying amid a shattered nightstand, a fan of falling words stored in a cherry wood case decorated with images of fish worth 90 gp, a lumber lord's axe, a lacquered waist drum, and a wooden potion holder carved to look like a coiled dragon worth 50 gp that currently holds the following: a panaceatic salve, a potion of quickness, and a greater healing potion.
"Ah, some salvage for us," Kamo admires all of the interesting loot. "But I am more grateful that we've dealt with the lingering presence of the mayor. Hopefully we can successfully save the village now."
With the governor's manor secure, work on repairing and rebuilding the structure can begin. The town elders thank you for once again coming to Willowshore’s aid and encourage you to keep any treasure you found in the manor, then asks you to travel east to Karahai at your earliest convenience to make contact with the villagers there and begin the process of reintegrating Willowshore back into the living world.
***
A few days later, a familiar face stops by the teahouse to visit you: Shinzo the merchant. He greets you with a warm smile, the raven Yix perched on his shoulder and bobbing his head. "Hello there, my friends. What a long, strange trip it's been. As you have finally returned to the natural cycle, the time has come for me to move on. This will be my final visit. If there's any items you wish to purchase from me, now is the time to do so."
"Thank you for your help to use during this unusual time," Kamo gives the merchant a grateful bow of the head. "If there anything you would recommend for us? I'm sure things at Karahai are different than when we last saw the place."
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The merchant's smile is mirrored by Jing, but when Shinzo announces it is to be his final visit, the smile disappears. Are they friends? No, not quite. Are they bound by a thread of fate? Surely. Lost in a sea of turmoil, Jing isn't quite sure whether this farewell is the result of auspicious events or something he is yet to fully comprehend.
"Since this is to be the last time we meet, may we offer you some tea, Shinzo? We are experienced in hosting and serving a wide variety of guests, and for once, we are offered the opportunity to serve someone we genuinely like." And like that, the smile returned to Jing's face.
Shinzo bows to you. "Thank you. I think I would like that very much," he says.
Shinzo sits quietly and respectfully during the tea ceremony. Afterwards, he makes small talk as he sips the tea, remarking on its flavor.
Eventually, the time comes where the psychopomp must say goodbye. But before he goes, he has a final round of gifts for you: a phoenix fulu holder, along with four fulus: an anathema fulu, a needle thousand-pains fulu, a rebound fulu, and a greater spirit-sealing fulu.
"Farewell, my friends. Until our next meeting..." Shinzo and Yix fade from view, and then they are gone.
Pagma did her very best to prepare the perfect tea for the merchant/psychopomp. Ending up with two different choices, a light flowery tea hinted with honey and a dark rich tea doused with cinnamon. She hovers with anticipation as he decides, sips and then tries the other.
Both seem to please him making her mile so bright it can be seen at the tips of her wings.
The final statement though makes her wings sag "He means when we die... again, doesn't he?"
"Ah, we all must eventually! We saw what happened when those fiends tried to upset that cycle," Kamo comforts Pagma. "At least now we get to live out our allotted time. And look how well the repairs are coming along!"
Although Willowshore has been restored, the area beyond the village remains in disrepair. The most pressing problem is that Karahai Bridge, which connects the Willowshore hinterlands to the coastline and the fortress village of Karahai, was destroyed decades ago by mudslides.
All that currently remains of the original bridge that once connected Willowshore to the lumber markets of Shenmen are six of the eight massive wooden supports that used to hold the bridge aloft over the gorge. The two supports that once stood to the southwest were destroyed by the mudslide, which caused the rest of the wooden bridge’s planks to tumble into the water and float away to the north, downstream and out to sea.
A set of five enormous planks has been placed across the southern pilings, held in place by supports and ropes. You can use this to visit Karahai as soon as you wish, but until the bridge is repaired, Willowshore remains cut off from its most important trade partner.
Critical Success: The PCs hit upon a brilliant plan for the project, and the town’s workers prove to be particularly skilled and exuberant. The bridge takes only 1 month to rebuild.
Success: The plans are solid and the project proceeds quickly without any major setbacks. The bridge takes 2 months to rebuild.
Failure: The plans for rebuilding the bridge take longer to complete, and the project suffers several minor setbacks and delays. The bridge takes 3 months to complete.
Critical Failure: While the plans seem solid, disaster strikes several days into the job, resulting in several deaths. The PCs must start over, taking the Rebuild Karahai Bridge downtime activity once more to get the project restarted, but the roll suffers a –4 penalty to the check as a result of the later start.
Kamo goes out to the bridge site and helps to draw up plans for the repair.
Oh, Pagma has a plan. That she does. The Sprite sees it all before her like floating pictures that fit together somehow with whirling chaos. It does take a little bit to understand her through her very excited explanations, so much so many workers start to ignore her. But if Pagma has one thing it is persistence.
And persistence prevails.
The workers get started on Pagma's brilliant plan. About a week after work on rebuilding the bridge gets underway, though, you are approached by a nervous and out-of-breath messenger. "You must come quickly! Bandits have come to Karahai Bridge and are claiming they're in charge!" The messenger describes the bandits as a half dozen rough-looking men and women wearing bloodstained bandages around their necks.
When you arrive at the bridge, you're greeted by the worried workers, who have spent their time gathered in their work camp a few hundred feet southwest of the bridge since the bandits arrived. Bravely refusing to fully abandon the site, these workers haven’t engaged with the bandits yet other than to continue to promise that those with the authority to pay their fines will be here soon.
The bandits have set up camp on the road, pitching a pair of tents on the west side of the gorge. As soon as the bandits notice your approach, one, a man armed with a shortsword and sling instead of a greataxe and longbow, steps out of the tent to greet you with a broad smile.
"Welcome to my bridge! I’m sure you know who I am?" When it becomes clear that you don't, he expresses shock but recovers quickly. "I am Lo Kuon, patron of the people, foe to those who spin their webs of deceit, and legend to those who have earned my mercy. Now, who are you, and why do you think that you're the ones who get to make the calls for this here bridge?"
"We're the ones who made the plans to repair the bridge, that's who!" Kamo states. "No, leave 'the people' doing the work alone and push off. We don't need any bandits around Willowshore."
Lo Kuon laughs heartily, the bloody kerchief around his neck bobbing with the motion. "Ha! Look at you! You people just show up out of nowhere and think you can run the country! Where did you come from, anyway?"
"I told you: We came from Willowshore," Kamo insists. "We're not trying to run the country, we're just trying to repair the road."
"Willowshore!" Pagma shouts "We're making the way to Karahai safe again so we can open up trade. And you cannot own what isn't yours, Lok Noun!" the sprites high pitched argument is accompanied with darting flying and a raised fist. "We Will Not Let You."
Lo Kuon sighs in apparent disappointment. "I was afraid that’d be your response. Well then... no bridge for anyone, I suppose!" He draws his shortsword, while his two companions heft their greataxes.
Sakura bellows, raising her katana high in the air as she following Pagma's shout but in a much louder, Sakura-like way.
◈◈
◈
Kamo tries to size up the axe-wielding leader, and seeing an opening he closes in to strike.
for plus
Jing spreads his arms and draws the tension that's in the air towards himself. Loudly, he yells, "You!"
Anger whirls within Jing's eyes as he stares the man down. He balls his fist and calls upon the magic in his blood to make Lo Kuon do as he commands. "Kneel!"
Both Sakura and Kamo land hits on Lo Kuon, wounding the bandit leader. Then Jing-De demoralizes him and commands him to kneel. Lo Kuon immediately drops prone, the compulsion preventing him from doing anything else!
The other two bandits become enraged as they step up and attack Kamo with their axes!
On the far side of the bridge, four more bandits emerge from their hiding spots in the dense forest on the far side of the gorge. They nock arrows which begin to glow with bright red runes, then fire them at the bridge supports!
Two of them hit, bursting into balls of fire that damage the structure. The other two arrows explode harmlessly on the lower west bank of the river. The detonations blow apart the planks crossing the bridge, preventing easy access to the other side.
Kamo decides to try to take down the leader while he is in the grip of Jing-De's spell.
for plus
for
"Any ideas to take out those archers?!"
The only idea that hits Jing is to bestow the gift of flying upon Sakura. He lacks the offensive reach to deal with the archers and simply does not have any defensive spells that could block or otherwise thwart their arrows from hitting the bridge.
Pagma considers flying at the archers trying to destroy their bridge. But you can rebuild a bridge, you cannot rebuild your friends. So she concentrates her bombs on the enemies close.
Then she flies toward the archers.