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"An...infinite time loop?" Auntie Wu takes another deep swig from her gourd. She tries to remember if there have been any clues. Maybe inexplicable repetitions of a certain number? No... I don't know how we could get a message to the next time...
She shakes her head to clear it. "Look. Sigurd's right. It's do or repeat at this point. Maybe along the way we can figure out how to get a message to the next time loop in case we don't quite succeed. Give them--us--a running start. For now, let's finish cleansing this Monastery." She cracks her knuckles, then hiccups. Oop. Too much to drink. Welp. Hair of the dog! She chugs from her gourd of liquid courage again.
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"It's like trying to recall what I did last week." Sigurd keeps his shield raised. "I was probably fixing something. Or reciting the rites of Shizuru. But what, exactly, was I doing? The details are lost to the past."
The party head north. Or fake north, since they recently realized their entire world was fake. Whatever.
The air in this chamber feels humid and unusually warm. A row of four twenty-foot-long wooden planter boxes filled with earth sit in the middle of the room, each overgrown with diseased-looking weeds, damp-looking fungi, and glistening vines. A low table with moldy cushions around it sits to the east, near a small wooden door to the northeast; a statue of a stag covered with damp, diseased vines stands near this door.
There are also stairs in the northeast corner that lead downwards...
Sigurd keeps his Shield Raised as he approaches the statue. "A stag... is there religious significance here?"
He turns to his teammates. "What are these weeds? They don't look healthy. Be careful. We'll have to clean this statue, the weeds will have to go."
Placing one hand on Kazuki's shoulder, Auntie Wu wordlessly offers him her alcohol gourd. After taking a hearty swig of it herself, that is.
Kazuki guzzles almost the entire contents.
"Sorry, Auntie. I needed that." he says, wiping his chin. "No use worring about it now. Let's cleanse this place of its evil and try to get back home. There's got to be a way."----------------------
"Look," Kazuki points. "A statue. We need to cleanse it somehow. Do we just pull the vines off of it or consecrate it in some way?"
Lan will survey the plants on the statue. Any way to un-disease the growths?
A system of Desecrated Statues pervade the Monastery, corrupted by Kugaptee's influence. The party, seeking to further liberate the trapped ghost, Zhi Hui, combine their skills over spiritual, life, and matter essence, as well as masonry and trapbreaking...
➤ Level: 6 (Base DC 22)
➤ Complexity: 1 round, Aided Group Check (highest modifier to lowest DC is Lead)
➤ Timeframe: 30 minutes
➤ Synergies: a Focus spell with the Vitality trait adds it's Rank to the caster's check as a circumstance bonus; a Slotted spell with the Vitality trait adds it's Rank to the Leader's check as a circumstance bonus (even if they are not the caster)
➤ List of Skills: Religion (easy), Crafting (moderate), Nature (hard) or Thievery (hard)
It's not Erastil, if that is what you were thinking.
Just: Reverance for a Stag.
A moment in the room is all it takes - foul-smalling spores enter into the lungs of our party as they contemplate how to deal with the statue.
DC 20
Lan and Sigurd are stricken with a coughing, trouble-breathing sickness!
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Placing one hand on Kazuki's shoulder, Auntie Wu wordlessly offers him her alcohol gourd. After taking a hearty swig of it herself, that is.Kazuki guzzles almost the entire contents.
She shrugs. "Eh, no worries. It refills on its own." She takes another hearty swig and sets off into the next room, whereupon she almost immediately begins coughing. "Hack! Gak! Kukh! ... Whew! Got something stuck in my throat for a bit there. Lots of spores in here or something." Another swig from the gourd of never ending alcohol washes it down.
Approaching the statue of the stag, she turns thoughtful. "Hmm... Yes, there is a way to cleanse it. Let'sh get the slimy stuff off and then shtand around it." Was that a little slur at the end? Oh, well. She reaches for the diseased vines, stops just before touching them, then grabs her dagger to use so she doesn't get her hands all nasty. Her hands seem a little unsteady. Surely it's not the drink, right?
Once that task is done, she assembles everyone around the statue and instructs them to place a hand on it. Closing her eyes, she sways slightly, then casts Guidance on herself before beginning to pray in a standard call-and-response rhythm.
"To all the gods who value goodness: hear us...
To all the gods who abhor undead: hear us...
To all the gods who honor the natural flow of time: hear us...
Help us take this step to undermine Kugaptee...
Help us cleanse this statue of his influence...
Release the portion of spirit bound within...
To all the gods who hear and help us: Thank you for your aid...
We honor you...
We will continue to fight...
Until we succeed..."
By the end of the prayer, she's standing straighter, taller, all signs of drunkenness sloughed away.
Vekka figures there are members of the group with more religious expertise than he, so he begins cutting away vines from the statue with his katana.
Sigurd takes in a deep breath and quickly regrets it. "Once we are out of here, I will ask Shizuru for a >Sound Body<. Hopefully that will purge these spores from me."
"But for now... let us cleanse this state." Sigurd prays to Shizuru.
*cough, cough, hack, hack*!
"The air is very foul in here."
Drawing on the lessons he’s learned from Sigurd over the past few weeks, Kazuki lowers his head and begins to chant—a solemn hymn that trembles with conviction. His voice wavers at first, uncertain, but then steadies, growing stronger as he calls out to the gods.
I have to be careful of how the physical cleaning of the statue leaves room for the spiritual practices.
Lan fights through his sickness to Aid.
Lead by Auntie Wu, who is nearly overcome, the party carry the purufication through, and Zui Hui emerges again!
..."It's working..." she ghost flickers back into alignment "I can answer another question, I think..." she assumes a meditative pose, as if to gird the temporary lapse in wards "Seek the hidden library... my friend, Yen Rui, can help...”
"I do not know what happens if the Curse is Broken"
A ripple of energy reaches out for the monk, but she dodges with a sideways somersault.
“If anyone does, it would be Heh Shan-Bao, your Governor. Once Kugaptee’s influence has been diminished, there will be trails to follow and clues to seek that will surely lead you to where your governor has gone. Find Heh Shan-Bao and you will get closer to understanding what is happening now and how to escape from this cycle of malice.”
A second ripple snags Zhi Hui, and just as she is pulled back, faintly she reminds:
"Seek Yen Rui..." ... "...library..."
...and is gone once more...
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"Well. Now we have a clue about why his residence disappeared. ... Why would he have caused all of this?! If this is a case of a small town politician wanting to wield more power, I swear..." Auntie Wu grumbles. "I vote we go back to the library. Zhi Hui seems particularly insistent about it, and while I'm no fan of...that type of being, it seems she's intent on resolving whatever's keeping her here so she can pass on to the Boneyard as she should. I'd like to help her do that, for sure."
"Yes, the library seems like the best bet." Sigurd bows to Zhi Hui for her wisdom and resilience to carry on her duty, even as her life is gone. "I pray we can put Zhi Hui to rest soon."
Once they leave the garden, Sigurd turns to Lan. "The pollen got to you? Let me see if I can help you."
Sigurd coughs. "My apologies, Lan. You will have to to endure." He raises his Shield and Defends himself as they continue to explore.
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"Oh, sorry Lan. Maybe I can help." Auntie Wu lays her hands on Lan. Golden light emanates from them briefly.
Sigurd's sound body spell fails to relieve Lan, but Auntie Wu's works.
Arriving shortly at the library, the party inquires for Yen Rui, seeing the two creatures they had encountered earlier still busy browsing...
...one of them is reading a book entitled "My Trip to The Davenport and Back"...
...the other, a book written by an author of last name "Cho"...
Sigurd keeps his shield raised as they enter the library. These two creatures are making a mess, but it's nice to avoid a fight if he can.
"Greetings. Have you seen any statues around here that may need to be cleaned? Maybe a mention to Heh Shan-Bao?"
With his sickness, Sigurd realizes he is better off Aiding someone.
Before...
The governor... Vekka repeats out loud, thinking.
What woiuld motivate him to enact all of this?
He doesn't expect answers, at least not right now.
He watches Auntie Wu and Sigurd converge on Lan, and offers a token
Any way I can help? I don't suppose so.
Straightening out the straps that fasten his sandalwood ring of spell drums to his back, he concurs
Relief for spirits always moves things towards balance. We shall head to the library after you've tended to Lan.
--------------------
Now...
Vekka follows on Sigurd's question with
Or perhaps... Yen Rui?
and looks around in the air as if the spirit may apparate at any moment.
Kazuki's eyes go wide in shock.
"Hah! So it is the Governor! Why would he do such a thing? He must have made some sort of a deal with Kugaptee. I wonder if his manor got transported to this... place."
Kazuki follows the others to the library.
"Which one of you is Yen Rui?" he asks the messy ghosts.
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Sigurd's sound body spell fails to relieve Lan, but Auntie Wu's works.
As the guys pester the horrid readers, Auntie Wu begins searching the room more closely, hoping to find a statue or other sign of Yen Rui. Is that the full name? Her voice was fading out at the end there. In an attempt to deflect attention from what she's really doing, she "casually" calls over her shoulder: "I can bring you another volume, if you like. Maybe in exchange for information on the names they asked you about?"
Lan coughs up a large ball of phelgm, and thanks Auntie Wu. He declines any beverages she offers to help stop his coughing.
Back at the library, Lan will try to gain the trust of the idja.
"I'm so glad you found Davenport and Cho. You guys are so good at finding things! Can you find Yen Rui?"
"Yen Rui?" pronounces one.
"Yen Rui" confirms the other.
"Yen Rui!" together in unison and revelation.
Dropping the books they had only moments ago been obsessing about - as easily as discarding a fishbone stripped of meat - the two Idja begin their search anew...
...it is then that the party notices a "ghostly light" faintly illuminating a crack in the wall at the end of the library...
...a secret door!
Open it and look inside?
Shelves line most of this room’s walls, while a low round table sits in the middle of the room, surrounded by sitting cushions. A skeleton lies slumped over the table, a writing quill in hand and an open book under the skull.
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A gleam catches the corner of Auntie Wu's eye. Cocking her head, she approaches cautiously.
"Huh. Guys, there's a door here." She pushes it open... ...and gasps. "Uh, guys? There are some remains in here." She gives the skeleton a piercing look, trying to discern if it's truly dead or has been tainted with unlife. Once she's ascertained that, she begins searching the room, starting with the open book beneath the skeleton's head.
Sigurd breathes easy as no violence is needed once again. Hopefully they will find out more about Yen Rui.
But for now, a skeleton. Sigurd decides to Investigate the area for any Religious significance.
Bow ready with arrow nocked and keeping in the shadows, Kazuki follows Auntie and Sigurd, ready for any trouble.
Lan will also Investigate, staying firmly nestled between people with big swords.