Kwan Tai curses as he finds himself enshrouded in the ghost's hair. "Hinode Akari, cease this madness! Your killer is long since past, and vengeance upon him awaits you in the ghostlands, not here."
Xiung-Lau is locked in place by the locks of hair.
The Nagaji Tumbles, flips, summersaults, spins, twirls and evades ..
...and begins cursing about people using too much product in their hair!
The Alchemist begins exploring the possibilities of her being better off moving on...
The Alchemist then orders Blue to Quick Brew an Elixir of Life and dump it down his throat!
Delicious Blue! Grape and butterscotch this time, eh.
Hinode resists Lie Jie's and Kwan Tai's efforts to calm her spirit. She floats over to the nagaji alchemist and begins to strangle him with coils of her hair while she claws at his head where hair would be on a mammal!
The Alchemist begins to bleed from his serpentine ears...
But not nearly as much as I thought...
The Alchemist begins exploring the possibilities of her being better off moving on...
The Alchemist then orders Blue to Quick Brew an Elixir of Life and dump it down his throat!
This time, Li Jie's conviction proves to be strong. Hinode Akari's spirit wails once before all of the hair retracts back towards her. The spirit crumples in on herself and vanishes!
Xiung-Lau is pleased to be released from the bindings and nods to Li Jie. "Well done." He considers what he just witnessed.
Mama Bao breathes a sigh of relief when you tell her that Hinode's spirit has abandoned her haunting. Still, she vows to see Hinode's memory honored to atone for her grandfather's cruelty.
DOWNTIME PREPARATION
You spend the week lending your labors to the efforts to repair and reinforce buildings to prepare for the upcoming winter. Alternately, you could lend your skill at crafting to help direct those efforts or to handle delicate repairs or improvements. Finally, you could use your knowledge to come up with solutions to bolster the town’s infrastructure or to suggest unexplored methods of winter preparation. To Reinforce Buildings, attempt a DC 17 Architecture or Engineering Lore, DC 19 Crafting, or DC 21 Athletics check.
Critical Success: The work went better than you expected! The party gains 2 Security Points.
Success: Work proceeds on schedule without any accidents or setbacks. The party gains 1 Security Point.
Failure: While reinforcements continue, the work has revealed underlying and unexpected damage or other unanticipated repair needs. The party gains no Security Points.
Critical Failure: An accident hinders progress, be it a collapsing roof, a twisted ankle, or a painful mistake with a tool. The party loses 1 Security point from the damage caused by the accident, and the character who attempted this check must now attempt a DC 20 Fortitude saving throw to avoid becoming enfeebled 1 or clumsy 1 for 1 week (or until the condition is healed magically); the PC chooses which affliction they gain. If the Fortitude save is a critical failure, the PC gains both conditions.
The Alchemist begins his work!
Blue even Aids him!
Kwan Tai focuses his efforts in the fields, working tirelessly to allow others' expertise to shine on more knowledge-intensive tasks, and as darkness falls, the relentless hobgoblin still manages to turn some time towards other projects.
Xiung-Lau grows concerned about having enough food stores for the winter. He suggests to Hooli that she could perhaps help aiding in the harvest or the hunt. He chooses to help in the harvest.
Alas, he does not help at all. In the evenings, he turns his attention toward studying alone.
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Lie Jie finds great success reinforcing the town's buildings.
Hooli gets some insights on the curse afflicting Willowshore from Great Willow, while Xiung-Lau makes some further progress researching the curse on his own, reaching the limit of what he can learn solo. The name Kugaptee is associated in certain old texts with the Tan Sugi monastery and was the name of a powerful nindoru fiend defeated hundreds of years ago by a hero named Tan Sui-Jing. The old legend says Tan Sui-Jing also perished in the battle and that she reincarnated into the towering sugi tree that served as the focal point of the Tan Sugi monastery. Perhaps more information about Kugaptee—including the possibility that the curse might be associated with the fiend—still resides within the abandoned monastery walls? Unfortunately, the monastery lies beyond the mysterious Wall of Ghosts...
***
This week, Yami brings Hooli with a piece of parchment. On it is written a haiku:
Hooli slips through night,
Shadows dance with whispered feet,
Secrets in the dark
***
One morning, Elizeth Candora, the head priestess of Her Fluvial Lady of Souls, requests a moment of your time in private. An elderly villager died from the flu the previous night; the corpse went missing sometime ater that same evening, “as if it just walked away on its own.” She suspects that You So-Jin, the elven herbalist who minds Graveside Manners, animated the body with some sort of “alchemical concoction” but doesn’t have any proof one way or the other. She wants you to investigate what happened to the missing body and offers gifts from the temple in exchange for solving the mystery.
Xiung-Lau nods. "Where was the body found, and where was it when it went missing?" Once given guidance on places to check out, he goes to investigate those locations.
"Why do you think You So-Jin would have done this? I have not heard any tales of them acting so before."
Li Jie frowns. The Nagaji shrugs.
Willowshire hasss really gone down hill ever since we let those fey, Oni and fog around, oh my.
The Alchemist follows Hooli 's lead....
The Alchemist hands out drinks when they begin.
|
Hooli grins. Now this is a good prank. Unless the body got up and walked away on its own. Then it would be a great prank ... unless the body really was dead, in which case it would be more concerning.
"Maybe we should see if they went back home?" she suggests, hoping Elizeth knows where the villager's home was.
The body was found in the woman's home, and it was inside the shrine here when it went missing. Elizeth doesn't have anything to base her accusation on other than what you surmise is a personal distaste for You So-Jin's practices.
Searching around outside the temple, Xiung-Lau discovers what appears to be a set of shambling footprints leading north from the temple of Pharasma.
"No, I think they head this way ... is this toward Great Willow?" He looks around, rather confused about where he is.
"Hmmp. I cannot say. We may need someone who can actually read a trail."
The Nagaji flickers his tongue as he also has his serpentine face to the ground.
Anyone else suddenly think how we survived this long living around here?
As the group quickly loses sight of the tracks and disagrees about which direction they head in, Xiung-Lau glances at Crawler of Night. "I suppose I could prepare him to follow these tracks during my preparations in the morning, if needed, but that doesn't help us now." He considers. "The body was found at her house. Perhaps there is some evidence there?"
"As good a place as any to begin."
Please tell me that you got good directions?
You find no tracks nor other evidence at the home of the villager, Chuntao. Without anything else to help, you return to the temple and try again to follow the tracks. It takes a couple of hours, but eventually, Kwan Tai lucks out and is able to follow the shambling footprints.
The trail leads to the south bank of the Ceiba River, about 200 feet west of the Dawnstep Bridge. Investigating the opposite shore, Kwan Tai picks up the trail again; the prints emerge from the river into mud and head northwest. The prints lead through town to, of all places, the Cerulean Teahouse, just as Hooli guessed earlier!
Indeed, in the bushes behind the treehouse, you see the zombified corpse of the elderly woman crouched down in the shrubbery. Chuntao glances up at you when discovered but doesn't move.
Xiung-Lau gives talking a try, speaking in a broken, moaning language toward the zombie. He tries to leverage his knowledge of the afterlife and the undead to figure out what he can about this particular zombie.
"If it doesn't answer I'm splitting its skull."
The Alchemist is actually struggling to believe that they found any trail....
At seeing Chuntao as a zombie just waiting for something, he nods at Kwan....
The zombie does not respond to Xiung-Lau's overtures. However, as you eye her warily, Yami the cat emerges from the teahouse and walks over. She sits down next to the zombie, then looks up at you. "I suppose I have some explaining to do," the cat says in a silky voice!
"But I am talking! You see, I am not an ordinary cat," Yami says. "I have lived a very long life, and as the years have passed, my intellect has expanded and my magical powers have awakened. I am what your people refer to as a bakeneko. Despite my abilities, I have a fondness for the people of Willowshore, and so I continue to live among you.
"My magical powers trend towards necromancy, and I've had urges to experiment with them. I've been resisting those urges for many months, but I couldn't hold back my curiosity any longer. Chuntao was always kind to me, leaving food out for me to eat. So when she passed on, I wanted to return the favor. I knew some of the locals might not see things the same way, so I hid Chuntao here behind the teahouse."
Yami slowly blinks her eyes, her tail wiggling behind her. "Can I keep her? She is a lovely zombie, and she dances well in the moonlight!" The cat looks to the animated corpse, which begins to shimmy and sway.
The Nagaji just stares incredulously at the talking cat.
What the secret sauce was in that tea!?
"So... You are a... cat. That makes zombies." Kwan Tai looks baffled and disturbed, but willing to hear the bakenoko out.
Xiung-Lau considers whether he knows anything about bakeneko, and whether the cat's claims align with what he would expect.
"Does she require ... any sort of sustenance? Many zombies feast on the living, and we cannot abide that, you understand."
Xiung-Lau has heard stories of bakenekos. Bakenekos typically have a playful and mischievous demeanor, and while they aren’t inherently evil creatures, they’re still feared for their ability to animate corpses and command fire. Bakenekos enjoy dancing above all other pleasures and can’t resist nodding their heads, tapping their paws, or swishing their tails in time to music. They often animate corpses simply to watch them dance. Bakenekos mostly see their animated but mindless zombies as amusements, though they do their best to ensure that undead they animate aren’t left to wander free.
"Chuntao is not a flesh-eating zombie," Yami says, standing on her hind legs and crossing her arms in a humanlike gesture. "She can subsist without sustenance. I'll take good care of her, I promise. She won't hurt anybody."
The old lady's corpse continues to shuffle back and forth.
Xiung-Lau nods. "There are a few abandoned areas, like the lumber camp. Maybe there is someplace near the village that people avoid where she would be able to stay."
Kwan Tai still looks quite off put. "Just keep her away from any food. Or wells."
Yami purrs happily. "Of course! Thank you!" The bakeneko walks up to Hooli and rubs her body against the kitsune's leg affectionately.
Since you've allowed Yami to keep the zombie, what will you tell Elizeth? Surely the Pharasmin won't be very happy with your decision...
"If I may be so bold, Hooli, of all of us, I believe you would be the most adept at weaving a story for Elizeth. It should clearly indicate that You So-Jin is innocent, of course, but also explain why there is no body remaining for burial rites." He shrugs. "Good luck."
The Nagaji laughs.
Oh, yesss, Hooli. Best be a really good ssstory.
Hooli dances around the truth enough to satisfy Elizeth that Chuntao's body will be properly taken care of. In exchange for solving the mystery, the priestess rewards you with four lesser healing potions and a disrupting property rune. Perhaps more importantly, you have preserved your friendship with Yami. The bakeneko will remain at the teahouse, enjoying your company.
Shaking his serpentine head at the weirdness of it, the Alchemist decides to get a shot before picking up his hammer and loosing himself in the moment...he owns it...never letting it go....
DOWNTIME PREPARATION
You spend the week lending your labors to the efforts to repair and reinforce buildings to prepare for the upcoming winter. Alternately, you could lend your skill at crafting to help direct those efforts or to handle delicate repairs or improvements. Finally, you could use your knowledge to come up with solutions to bolster the town’s infrastructure or to suggest unexplored methods of winter preparation. To Reinforce Buildings, attempt a DC 17 Architecture or Engineering Lore, DC 19 Crafting, or DC 21 Athletics check.
Critical Success: The work went better than you expected! The party gains 2 Security Points.
Success: Work proceeds on schedule without any accidents or setbacks. The party gains 1 Security Point.
Failure: While reinforcements continue, the work has revealed underlying and unexpected damage or other unanticipated repair needs. The party gains no Security Points.
Critical Failure: An accident hinders progress, be it a collapsing roof, a twisted ankle, or a painful mistake with a tool. The party loses 1 Security point from the damage caused by the accident, and the character who attempted this check must now attempt a DC 20 Fortitude saving throw to avoid becoming enfeebled 1 or clumsy 1 for 1 week (or until the condition is healed magically); the PC chooses which affliction they gain. If the Fortitude save is a critical failure, the PC gains both conditions.
The Alchemist begins his work!
Blue even Aids him!
Glad of the increased morale, Kwan Tai continues to labor at the harvest by day, and keeping the forge lit well into the night.