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Sakura's hand is extended as Pagma begins to disrobe and hand her clothing. Sakura is busy looking at the baths and not her friend when her eyes widen in sudden horror as she feels the ticklish sensation of many tiny legs crawling up her arm. She turns her head, already knowing what she's about to see, and there it is: Tik, Pagma's unnatural-looking, pus-filled white spider. Sakura freezes for a moment, every muscle in her body tense, her skin crawling as though a thousand insects are scurrying over it.
Her first impulse is to shake her arm violently, to rid herself of the spider in the quickest, most efficient way possible. But she holds back, her grip tightening on Pagma's garments. Tik is Pagma's familiar, after all, and she wouldn't want to harm something important to one of her companions, especially in such a precarious situation.
However, her overprotective and impulsive flaws clash within her, fighting against her will to maintain a composed appearance. It's a testament to her willpower that she doesn't shriek and fling the spider away. Instead, she does her best to steady her shaking hand, looking toward Pagma with a look that could be interpreted as, FORGET THE BATHS, PLEASE DEAL WITH THIS RIGHT NOW!!!!. Unable to find her voice, she whispers through gritted teeth, "Pagma. Tik is...exploring. Can you please call him back? Pagma? PAGMA COME BACK."
As her friend walks away towards the bath, she gasps and holds her breath. Despite the internal turmoil, she remains standing, garments in one hand and a live spider on the other arm. But it's clear to anyone looking that she's close to the edge, her frequent foot tapping now escalated into a rapid jitter. Every fiber in her being is screaming to get the spider off, but she holds on, hoping this will end before she loses her composure completely.
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Kamo shruggles and averts his eyes as Pagma goes in the bath, though he doesn't feel particularly embarrassed about it. He saw lots of flesh that month when he convinced Dr. Domi he was going to be a surgeon--until he became more interested in growing chrysanthemums. Or was it catching fish?
It's just bodies!
He give more interest to Tik; with his eyes off the baths, he easily catches sight of the spider as they crawl out of Pagma's cloths and onto Sakura's arm.
"Oh, you have a new friend, Sakura! How sweet." Kamo's smirk barely contains his laughter. "Maybe Tik will nibble on your ear like that merchant from Quain tried to!"
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Sakura feels the crawl of tiny legs on her arm, and her heart rate continues to spike. Her eyes dart to Tik, the spider moving off her arm to her shoulder, and her expression turns to one of pure dread.
"Kamo! This is not the time for jokes!" she hisses through gritted teeth, doing her absolute best to remain still. "My ear?! It's going to crawl in my ear! Smash it now!"
Sakura's eyes shoot daggers at Kamo, her fear momentarily eclipsed by a flash of sheer disbelief and irritation which quickly turns to pleading and beggin. "Kamo, if you don't get this thing off me right now, I swear I'll. I'll! ... I'll do anything! I'll—" she starts, her voice quivering for her brother's help. The idea of the spider nibbling her ear is so revolting, so intensely uncomfortable, that she can't even finish her sentence. Her hands shake, but she keeps them well away from her katana, the weapon suddenly feeling like a useless piece of steel.
Her mind races with worst-case scenarios—what if the spider bites her? What if it actually crawls into her ear? Her heart hammers against her chest so loudly that she thinks it might burst out.
Her hand hovers over her weapon, but she's acutely aware that swinging a katana at a spider on her arm is probably not the wisest course of action.
Though she briefly considers it.
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Kamo reaches out a hand toward Sakura and makes a soft clicking. "Come Tik, let's go find some flies." He hovers his hand just over Sakura's shoulder and ushers the arachnid aboard.
"Let's check on this corner, Tik. De-ge never cleans it like he should." Over his should he reassures his sister. "Tik wouldn't bite you unless Pagma told them to--and she's seldom that cranky."
Jing pulls up his trousers and then takes off his boots so he can sit down at the side of the bath, and merely dip his feet into the soothing waters. He really isn't feeling a bath right now. Not while these menaces are around.
Sakura's shoulders visibly relax as Tik obediently crawls onto Kamo's hand and away from her. The immediate threat gone, she takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly to calm her racing heart.
"Thank you," she says, looking over her shoulder just to make sure is actually gone. She trusts her brother, but the tension of the day, coupled with her unexpected arachnid encounter, had stretched her nerves taut.
She turns her attention back to Pagma, who is now easing into the bath with the kappas.
Breathe. Focus.
"How long do we intend to soak, you ask? A while yet, I think," one kappa answers. The others nod in agreement.
"We have been bathing, and we have been talking," another says. "What has happened here in Willowshore is unfortunate, but we are not the source of the problem."
"We here on the invitation of Mo Douqiu," a third kappa says. "He asked for help taking over your town. His jinkins killed the horses in the stable and offered us their innards to eat. A bribe, yes, albeit a tasty one."
"But as he have bathed and talked, we have begun to regret things," the fourth kappa says. "Particularly, we have begun to realize that such an invasion can only bring woe and harm to ourselves once the town’s defenders rally." They give you polite nods.
"But Mo Douqiu is strong. We do not wish to incur his wrath. It is a conundrum, you see," the first kappa concludes.
Sakura's suppresses her rising urge to take immediate, violent action against the kappas and smash two of their heads together. Her fingers twitch near the hilt of her katana, itching to draw the blade and exact justice. But she knows better; impulsivity has cost her before. It's a flaw she's keenly aware of, and one she's trying to manage.
She watches Pagma converse with the kappas, hoping that diplomacy can solve what her instincts scream should be solved by force. Her overprotective nature screams in her head; they're discussing things too calmly, too rationally, given what these creatures have been part of.
Pagma hums a little in thought, her chin hovering just about the deliciously hot water. After a moment she repeats "A conundrum, yes. Perhaps there is something you could tell us about this Mo Douqiu that would help us make the conundrum go away. Something either way he would never need to know was spoken?". Pagma was rarely this subtle or cagey but she fell into the kappas own speech patterns.
”Perhaps,” the kappa says, nodding. ”Mo Douqiu is a rokurokubi, a mortal man cursed for some misdeed. His neck can extend to incredible lengths, and he is as cruel and mischievous as they come. He and his animal pets have chosen the nearby tea house as their headquarters. You will find him there.”
“But beware, too, of his lieutenant, Gray Butcher,” another kappa chimes in. ”They are an ittan-momen, a yokai formed from the union of a kami and an ancient butcher’s apron. They have been parading through the streets with their swarms of animated cookware. You will likely have to defeat Gray Butcher to get to Mo Douqiu.”
Pagma's eyes go wide with all the information the kappas are giving them. Yes, she didn't understand most of it, but she is still happy she didn't chuck all for frost vials into the baths with them, just because it was that kind of day.
The horse innards was still gross though.
The alchemist simmers in the water as she listens, turning a quick hopeful gaze at Jing-De and Kamo, thinking they are both rather well versed in things like yokai and rokuwhatever.
The Grey Butcher sounded neat at least. Something made out of a leather apron deserved at least a glance. Not to mention Animated Cookware!
"Thank you!" the dark haired woman exclaims when they are done, and grins at the kappas "Are you all going to wait here, while we see to the bad guys?" she figured it might be safest. "Oh! I apologize, my name is Pagma. Jing-De, Yuzuki Kamo and Yuzuki Sakura." she points to each of her friends. "May I ask what yours are?"
The kappas introduce themselves as Tanaka, Hada, Ishiwata, Hiraoka, and Machi. ”We are happy to remain here and soak until it is safe for us to depart.”
Pagma recalls several tales of rokurokubi. Rokurokubi come into being when mortals are cursed for some misdeed, though often the one who bears the curse is not the one who committed the offense, but instead their child or spouse. The curse slowly transforms the individual into a rokurokubi as they sleep. At first, their neck extends, or even detaches altogether, to let their head roam freely and engage in simple mischief like scaring neighbors or animals. The sleeper may awaken the next morning from a hazy dream of drinking the oil from nearby lanterns, only to find them indeed empty.
Over time, the bizarre acts progress to increasingly mischievous or even violent crimes. There's only a brief period during which the nascent rokurokubi might still be saved by dispelling the curse, but before long, they are fully consumed, never to sleep again.
While an encounter with a real rokurokubi is terrifying, many are familiar with them in a less chilling form as the subject of ghost stories and plays, often told by a wandering storyteller at the side of a road or at a festival. An especially common performance involves two performers against a black curtain—one with a black hood covering their head, the other covered in black tights from the neck down—portraying one creature, with a length of cloth or string between the two giving the illusion of an extending neck.
Clue In! Kamo offers his own insights, including the fact that a rokurokubi’s long neck gives it tremendous reach and makes it difficult to approach without being bitten. Additionally, they can catch alchemical bombs thrown at them and consume them for extra vitality!
From the corner, Kamo is clearly eavesdropping. "Pagma, don't throw any of your concoctions at that rokurokubi. They like to drink that stuff!"
Sakura begins to relax when it becomes clear that there is not going to be bloodshed in the bathhouse. She tries to listen to the information on rokurokubi, knowing that they will likely be engaging with one very shortly.
Sakura doesn't wish to interrupt, so she leans in close to her brother and whispers "I am thankful for this new information on the Gray Butcher and Mo Douqiu. It seems you all are knowledgeable about these creatures and perhaps this time we took here will help us turn the tide of the battle to come."
Sakura sniffs twice and then pinches her nose. She makes a face at her brother and adds "It's a shame we are to battle animated cookware and not animated smelling soaps."
Pagma frowns, in utter disbelief. "Concoctions? They are exploding fire bombs... and acid. How could they like to drink that stuff?" The alchemist stands up turning to Kamo as she is about to list all the various alchemical reactions that made that really hard to digest.
Then she realizes wearing her shift into the bath might have been good for getting into the water, but it isn't for getting out. She colors, lowers herself back down slowly, and mutters about the information about rokutokubi being "insane"
Sakura flicks her wrist subtly but definitively, signaling to Kamo and Jing that they should turn their backs once more. Assured they've complied, she scans her own shoulders to make doubly certain that Tik has not decided to reacquaint himself. Finding no spider, she picks up Pagma's clothes and flings them over her shoulder. She then grabs a towel that's hanging nearby and strides to the water's edge. Holding the towel open like a makeshift screen, she waits for Pagma, ready to offer her some semblance of privacy as she exits the bath
Kamo knows that an ittan-momen is a type of tsukumogami. Tsukumogami are intelligent, mobile objects formed from the union between a 100-year-old object and a kami. Tsukumogami range from harmless to malicious, each individual personality a result of how the object was treated before its awakening. Well-cared-for objects tend to birth helpful, friendly tsukumogami, while mistreated or abandoned objects twist into malevolent and violent beings. Most tsukumogami are, by nature, mischievous, and oftentimes want nothing more than to occupy the attention of living creatures.
Ittan-momen can awaken from any sufficiently large cloth. They are resistant to bludgeoning weapons but weak to slashing weapons.
Pagma looks gratefully at her friend. As she pulls off her underclothes, she admits "Sometimes, I don't have the greatest ideas." the nakedness in front of the kappas doesn't seem to phase her. In truth in front of Kamo or Jing in most cases wouldn't bother her either, but for some reason today it did.
She hurries to dress, then bows deep to their potential new allies, no matter their culinary habits. "Now where?" she asks when they are leaving the baths.
Once Pagma is properly clothed, she tells the boys they can look once more. She asks them both "If you have anything to say to them before we depart, now is the time."
Sakura waits for Jing-De and Kamo to ask any questions they may have before leading the group out and toward their next location. "I think we visit the grain store next. It is only the next building over. Apparently there is an army of cookware hunting us, so stay vigilant everyone."
"Your sword will be useful against that Gray Butcher, Sakura. We'll have to come up with something creative for the silverwear." Kamo doesn't sound terribly concerned. "Jing-De, anything good against forks? Do animated objects even have souls?"
Across from The Happy Kappa is one of Willowshore's busiest stores, Treesparrow's Rest. None of the sacks or chests of rice, millet, or buckwheat on display in this storefront appears to have been damaged. The pots and vases of fermenting bean paste, rice wine, or pickled vegetables on the shelves also remain untouched. The doors are unlocked. This looks like it might be a safe place to take a breather.
Next to the store is the Sanmi household, the family that owns and operates Treesparrow's Rest. This family home has been thoroughly robbed of nearly everything of worth, from all their cookware to whatever clothing or valuables they had in their antique drawers.
Searching: Kamo discovers a stack of letters hidden in a compartment beneath a dresser drawer. Reading the letters reveals a secret and blossoming relationship between the youngest generation of the Sanmi and Hu families, Yuli Sanmi and Hu Lelong. The highly traditional Sanmi family would not approve of this relationship!
Adjacent to the Sanmi household is a house with a double-layered mud wall that regulates heat, cold, and sound—though it isn’t up to the task of dampening the rabble of high-pitched voices within. Inside, a half-dozen jinkins are making a mess of the place! They laugh and cavort, stumbling about drunkenly. Two jinkins in particular are playing a game of catch with a collection of stolen jewelry (more accurately, a game of “toss, drop, and then scramble to pick back up”). Two young villagers cower in the corner of the room--Yuli Sanmi and Hu Lelong.
When the jinkins notice you, they grin and immediately begin vying for your attention. "Ooh! The oni are here!" one calls.
"Hey! Look at me!" shouts another as it smashes a plate over its head.
"Watch this!" a third cries as it swings from a chandelier and crashes into a cabinet!
Jing nods at Kamo. "I can call upon the cold that lingers in the vast space between Tsukiyo and Shizuru's hearts."
--
Jing feigns a smile at the sight of the jinkin being 'silly' and attempts to keep them busy. Perhaps that might buy Yuli and Hu an opportunity to slink away. "Ha! You won't see tomorrow if you keep acting that recklessly. You should help each other do the things you do. What I mean is, let your friend smash that plate over your head, or swing the chandelier from left to right while you hang from it."
"You got it, oni-boss!" a gremlin says with a half-hearted bow to Jing De. They follow his suggestions as they continue to wreck the house, giving little room for the trapped youths to escape.
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"Who has that chunk of cold iron? May I borrow it?" Knowing its inimical to the gremlins, Kamo advances on them waving the chunk. "Get out of here, or I'll make you juggle with this."
Sakura watches as Jing-De and Kamo's attempts to manage the situation falter. Realizing that a more direct approach is needed, she strides up to her brother. "Kamo-chan, may I borrow the cold iron, please?" she asks, her tone polite but edged with urgency.
Kamo hands over the chunk of cold iron without hesitation, understanding the gravity of the situation. Holding the lump of metal that the gremlins inherently fear, Sakura advances on the creatures. Her presence alone seems to command the room, and as she gets closer to the gremlins, her eyes lock onto theirs with an intensity that could melt steel.
"Listen well," she says, her voice a low growl. "This is cold iron. I think you know what it can do to creatures like you. Now, you have two options: you can leave now, or I can shove this so far down your throat you experience firsthand what unpleasant really means."
Staring at the creatures, she narrows her eyes and raises the cold iron as she says "Open wide."
The gremlins may be drunk, but the threat of cold iron is enough to cut through their haze. Shrieking in anger and fear, all of them quickly scurry out of the house, fleeing into the streets!
Yuli Sanmi and Hu Lelong sigh with relief and bow gratefully. "Thank you," Yuli says. "The gremlins forced the rest of my family into the shed in the backyard. They kept me and Lelong here as their servants. We had been giving them rice wine in the hope that they would pass out and allow us to escape, but the drinks only made them rowdier and more destructive!"
Lelong points to the jewelry they were playing with. "I think most of those are stolen. Would you allow me to take one of those necklaces, though?" he asks hopefully. "I, uh, want to take it to my uncle Zheng Peng sort out who the rightful owner might be." He and Yuli share a look.
As Pagma eyes the ruin of the room and listens to the request, she bluntly asks "why wouldn't they approve of your relationship?"
Zheng Peng is the captain of the guard and the nephew of Granny Hu.
"R-relationship?" Lelong blurts. "I don't know what you mean!"
Jing raises his hands palms down. "We know that you know that we all know what we mean, and that's ok. My friend is a little," and a short pause follows as Jing searches for the right words. "Straightforward. She's straightforward."
Yuli puts her hand on Lelong's arm. "It's okay, Lee. Yes, the two of us are together, but we have kept it quiet. My family are staunchly traditional Southbankers. For me to be involved with the grandson of Northridge's leader... If they knew, they would disown me in an instant."
Lelong squeezes Yuli's hand and turns to you. "We've already decided that we're going to elope. Hopefully our families will think we simply died in the monster attacks. That's the only way we can be together and not bring shame on ourselves or our families. But we need funds to make it out there on our own. So... the necklace?"
"I am straightforward" Pagma nods along with Jing's assessment. That is simply her nature, curiosity demands her to as such. The politeness from the baths is a learned trait, almost painfully so.
"On the necklace, of course." she agrees at least, and Pagma also opens the pouch at her hip, looking through her meager funds and pulls out most of it. Five silver and ten coppers. "It isn't much, but you'll need something until you can sell the necklace."
"But..." as she hands the money over she looks at the two with sadness shrouding her eyes. "... how is letting them think you are dead is somehow better than bring shame?" her mothers' 'deaths' still confuse and hurt to this day.
"The situation is complicated. If either of our families knew about us, they would constantly try to drive us apart. We just want to live our lives in love unimpeded," Yuli says with a sigh. "It will hurt them, yes, but it's just... easier this way."
"That does seem complicated." Kamo says. "Perhaps you could leave them a letter or something? Maybe a riddle? People love riddles!"
Sakura finds herself struggling to grasp the intricacies of romantic love being discussed. Her understanding of love is limited to the bond she shares with her brother and her friends, which she knows is a different beast altogether. The idea of eloping or marrying for love confounds her.
"Hold on, just hold on a second," she finally interjects, visibly frustrated as she turns her head back and forth, trying to keep up with everyone's varying opinions. "Let's put the matters of love, family, and societal expectations aside for a moment." It turns out, she's as straightforward as Pagma. "What you need to understand is that escaping Willowshore doesn't mean you'll be safe. The world outside is fraught with dangers far worse than mischievous gremlins."
"We understand that. But we will be alright. By the moon and stars above, I will ensure no harm ever comes to Yuli," Lelong proclaims. Yuli blushes and swoons slightly beside the young man.
Sakura can't help but feel a surge of skepticism. Lelong's poetic vows ring hollow when she recalls how he had cowered in the corner, unable to fend off even a band of rowdy gremlins. How could he claim to protect Yuli from the myriad dangers that lurk beyond their town? She shoots a glance at her companions, her eyes practically screaming her incredulity, as she restrains herself from voicing just how unrealistic and naive she finds their plan.
Pagma listens to Sakura, even her unspoken words easy to read fromage the furrow in her brow. So she gives that furrow words, at least part of it "You should wait. There are huge talking centipedes, an animated stone spider, something called the butcher, and who knows what else. Several people are Really dead, not faking it, and it is not over. Keep the necklace, keep the money, just wait a few days until it is safe"
Yuli nods. "Okay, we will. Thank you. I suppose you should let the rest of my family out of the shed now. Oh, don't tell my mother!"
The other Sanmi family members have been stuck inside the small backyard shed. They are grateful for the rescue, and matriarch Nadoya Sanmi is pleased to hear Yuli and "the other young man" are safe. She offers you a crying angel pendant talisman in thanks.
"I think you're being foolish," Kamo bluntly tells the children. "The town is very haunted right now. You should hunker down until we figure all of this out. Spend your time coming up with a good riddle for your families to figure out." He shakes his head.
"And do you think we'll let you just steal this necklace? We're going to return it to the rightful owners."
”Okay,” Lelong says, mollified by Kamo’s chastisement.
After escorting the Sanmi family to safety across Dawnbridge, you return to downtown Willowshore. You haven't made it very far through the district, though, when you hear the clamor of hundreds of pieces of cookware clattering together, combined with off-key humming and singing. From around the corner comes a fluttering, blood-stained butcher's apron with the semblance of a face, leading a swarm of animated cleavers, meat tenderizers, kettles, pans, chopsticks, and more on a clattering procession.
This can only be Gray Butcher. When they notice you, the ittan-momen orders a stop to the parade and shouts a stern "Who goes there?"
Sakura steps up, her voice resonating with authority. "We stand as the guardians of Willowshore. Cease this chaos and leave our town be. No more blood needs to be spilled tonight."
Though she extends this offer of peace, her grip on her weapon tightens involuntarily. The reputation of the Gray Butcher, as relayed by the kappas, leaves her little hope that this confrontation will end without a fight.
Gray Butcher bristles at Sakura’s words. ”Such impertinence! I will not abide it.” They flutter back behind the animated cookware, then they thrust a tendril in your direction. ”Attack, cutlery! Teach them some manners!”
Sakura freezes for a moment as the kitchen utensils mobilize in their direction. "What are we supposed to do, wash them?!" With uncertainty, she looks over at Pagma and asks "I can't believe I'm about to ask this, but do you have a soap bomb?"
She waits to see if Jing has any more fancy spells for her, but if not she does not delay and moves into a quick prayer. Her blade at the ready, she declares "By Daikitsu's nine tails, may our strikes be true!"
She shakes her head and charges headlong into the army forks, swinging her larger-bladed weapon at the smaller ones.
◈◈
◈
Jing weaves protective magics and attempts to shield Sakura from the Gray Butcher's ill intentions.
"It will take more than soap to get rid of these spirits. Daikitsu save us from haunted homegoods."
Kamo considers the swarm for a moment, then runs up to swipe at them with his staff.
and
Kamo recognizes the swarms as animated objects. They have hardness and enhanced armor, but when sufficiently damaged or struck with a critical hit, the armor shatters and they are easier to destroy. Kamo moves in and delivers such a critical hit, annihilating one of the swarms in a single blow!
Not to be outdone by her brother, Sakura moves in to follow suit. Her first strike does only light damage, but her second blow shatters all of the remaining cookware before her!
As the remnants of the swarm clatter on the street, Gray Butcher sighs in frustration. "Fine. I'll do it myself!" The ittan-momen swoops down at Sakura, attempting to envelop her! Whether or not they are able to do so, they slam into her with great force!
A creature that fails its save is pulled into the monster’s body. It is grabbed, is slowed 1, and has to hold its breath or start suffocating. The creature takes the listed amount of damage when first engulfed and at the end of each of its turns while it’s engulfed. An engulfed creature can get free by Escaping against the listed escape DC. An engulfed creature can attack the monster engulfing it, but only with unarmed attacks or with weapons of light Bulk or less. The engulfing creature is flat-footed against the attack. If the monster takes piercing or slashing damage equaling or exceeding the listed Rupture value from a single attack or spell, the engulfed creature cuts itself free. A creature that gets free by either method can immediately breathe and exits the swallowing monster’s space.
If the monster dies, all creatures it has engulfed are automatically released as the monster’s form loses cohesion.
Remembering what he learned about the Butcher, Kamo draws his shiny new dagger, runs to flank with Sakura, and attacks.
for
The force of Gray Butcher's attack slams into Sakura with such violent intensity that it steals the breath from her lungs and sends shockwaves of pain coursing through her body. The grim realization that several ribs may be broken flashes through her mind as she struggles to regain her composure. Gasping for air and wincing with each inhalation, she digs her feet into the ground, setting her jaw in a defiant grimace.
As the ittan-momen attempts to envelop her in its bloodstained folds, Sakura uses every ounce of her remaining strength to resist, her muscles straining against the force pushing her backward. Her fingers tighten around the hilt of her blade, knuckles turning white as she battles not just to hold her ground, but to maintain her consciousness. Her vision blurs at the edges, yet she forces herself to stay focused, determined not to become another victim of the malevolent spirit before her.
Sakura spits out a mouthful of blood onto the ground, her eyes locked onto Gray Butcher with a fiery intensity. "Get out of my town!" she snarls, her blade singing through the air as it aims to strike the malicious entity before her.