"Silence! You cannot Escape!"
Weaker in volume, but piercing nonetheless!
"Just look..."
"...for my name. My name is..."
"..."
With a fading note, the ghost disappears!
From the information the ghost gave, the party is able to infer that a simple Detect Magic sweep of a room with a statue should be sufficient.
With the ghost - and Kugaptee's influence! - gone for the moment, the party decides how to proceed next...
Sigurd maintains a polite bow. "Does this statue have a magical signature?"
Once their investigation is complete, Sigurd suggests moving East. He will keep his shield raised and Defend.
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"I'm so sorry for what has been done to you." Auntie Wu mournfully speaks to the vanished ghost. "We will work to put things right. And try to discover your name." She realizes now that the pings she was getting from her Detect Magic spell were far more important than she initially realized.
As she patters after Sigurd, she can't help but glance out the north windows, catching glimpses of a massive tree. Is that *the* tree? If so, Kugaptee's presence may be even more potent there. Perhaps it's best to cleanse the other statues before facing that. ... Poor tree.
Vekka makes a mental note. "Just look" and readies his arcane eye.
He's happy to take the suggestion of heading East.
Since Auntie Wu will be looking out for the statues, Lan will Search.
Kazuki sticks to the shadows, letting the others take the lead.
Several ruined tables and broken benches lie in heaps within this refectory. The chamber might have once been a fine and relaxing place to take a meal, but now it feels cold and empty...
...except for 3 more Monks - different three, presumably - whom are rifling around with the cutlery. There is a broken teapot on the ground. One looks up, and exclaims
The other two look to be trying to make tea. With no tea. No water. No pot (it's broken, on the floor). They seem consumed with the task. None of the three look to present any immediate threat.
No signatures nearby.
Certainly no cursed statues.
"Do we have a way to make them some tea? We can get water from the stream outside. We just need some tea leaves and a pot to boil it in."
"There might be a kitchen beyond that door over there." He says as he points to the door on the south wall. "We might be able to find a kettle in there."
Sigurd sits down to look at the remains of the tea. "Hmm, I wonder if I can rebuild this." He frowns. "I would need a lot of plaster though."
"Yes. I do."
"That is WONDERFUL!" you believe this is meant non-sarcastically!
"There might be a kitchen beyond that door over there." He says as he points to the door on the south wall. "We might be able to find a kettle in there."
"Oh YES - that is a Kitchen!" the one monk points south "Oh Yes - there is a Kettle! But it's in the Pantry!" he points, then curls his finger, as if to indicate adjacency.
Sigurd sits down to look at the remains of the tea. "Hmm, I wonder if I can rebuild this." He frowns. "I would need a lot of plaster though."
"And YOU! A Ceramicist! Oh Kugaptee!" using the fiend's name not to "call" upon him per se; more of a "curse word" to express joy.
Turning back to Auntie Wu "Tell me: What are Your FAVORITE FOODS!?"
While the talkative one talks, the other two bring their attention towards the party - and as if seeing the cracked pot for the first time, advance towards it with outstretched hands...
Sigurd furrows his brow as the monk cheers using the demon's name. Still, maybe he can put the pot back together.
If this can pacify them long enough to cleanse this temple, good. Two of them almost bludgeoned Sigurd to death before.
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Turning back to Auntie Wu "Tell me: What are Your FAVORITE FOODS!?"
Aware that there's likely a trap in here somewhere, Auntie Wu chooses not to share her *actual* favorite foods, and instead chooses something she likes well enough. "I'm fond of the crispness of tart apples," she states guardedly, her hand itching to grab her shield.
"Imma go get the kettle!"
Kazuki darts to the kitchen door. He keeps an eye out for anything cluttered on the floor so he doesn't trip over it...
Lan moves in. "Perhaps we can offer you some other drink? Water perhaps? Won't keep you up at night?"
Lan will try to distract them, as he doesn't have many other skills, but his mind is really on shielding Sigurd.
"Do we have a way to make them some tea? We can get water from the stream outside. We just need some tea leaves and a pot to boil it in."
Tea? No... I wouldn't know anything about that.
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Vekka casually approaches the broken teapot to inspect it, but he's hoping they didn't hear his mutter and would prefer to not be noticed amidst the ongoing nonsense.
While the rest of the party scrambles to assemble a de-facto Tea Party - with Sigurd beginning at quick-fixing the broken pot, Lan suggesting water instead ("No thank you"), Auntie Wu lying about loving apples ("Not particularly delicious, No"), and Vekka acting shady - Kazuki breaks into the kitchen!
E7) Kitchen
A long clay furnace occupies the southeast portion of this simple kitchen. A large cooking pot atop the furnace bubbles beneath under a stained lid, a fire burning in the hearth below it. Elsewhere, ruined tables and shelves lie scattered on the floor.
The three monks all gather around the pot, watching intently as Sigurd plies his trade.
"Well then. Looks as though this is underway. So. You will host for us a Tea Ceremony?"
It is only respectful. Sigurd was not trained directly in the fine arts of tea ceremony, his sister is much better at it. But maybe his love of the fine arts will come in handy here...
Lan will move up to the table and begin setting it in the traditional Willowshore fashion.
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Are you actually *kidding me*?! Auntie Wu is utterly flabbergasted that the guys are genuinely putting on a tea party for these...malevolent beings. She sends a sarcastic thought up to Mogu on her head:Oh, this won't end badly, for *sure*!
As she's not about to share her special (and expensive) tea with these...*malevolent beings* who are incapable of truly appreciating it on account of being *supposed to be dead*, she decides to "help out" by propping open the door through which they entered with a large chunk of debris. "Tea should be enjoyed with fresh air, not stale air. An open door is a good policy."
She can hardly contain her shudders. This whole place feels so very wrong. If only she had enough power to expunge the undeath that has permeated it, and return the temple and its environs to the nature cycle of life and death!
Vekka sighs and decides that he should speed along the proceedings.
Here... I have some tea mixtures on me.
He pulls out something quite basic, readily available to travelers or soldiers.
I may as well see how this ends.
Sigurd works to assembles the teapot back together in a way that lends it character - the three Monks allow him time and space to concentrate. Lan begins arranging furniture so as to give the Tea Ceremony an energy in the room that matches the Intentions of the ceremony itself - Red Monk helps him do the lifting and dragging. Auntie Wu urges that a door be open - Orange Monk goes to do just that. And Vekka pulls out some actual teas from his person - Pink Monk goes to inspect his teastuffs.
"Yes, this table should be 90 degrees this way!"
"Yes, I will open the door to the Dormitory!
"Yes, those teas look very fragrant very tasty!"
Kazuki turns and calls out to his group after seeing what's inside the kitchen.
"Hey! There's a big pot of something cooking on a big fire in here!"
"I don't know about you all, but I'm starving! I can't remember the last time I ate."
Kazuki is more interested in food rather than tea right now.
This is a Perception check!
Does Kazuki have Scent!Kazuki's mind is on food.
But the rest of the party is in full swing of preparing a Tea Ceremony! But unless someone has a heat source, no hot water = no hot tea...
Kazuki attempts to discern what is cooking by the aroma.
"We will need some firewood..."
Kazuki mentions food is cooking, and Sigurd hopes it isn't people.
"Would you be so kind as to get us some firewood?"
Lan tries to convince one of them to leave.
Sigurd identifies two sources of wood - one of the other broken tables, and the Tan Sugi itself, just outside.
But they will need an axe to chop it.
And then there is the matter of a receptacle capable of holding liquid and transfering the heat from the fire into the water...
Lan makes his request, but the monk refuses to leave the room "No. I can't"
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Barely preventing herself from rolling her eyes, Auntie Wu mutters: "Don't folks usually boil the water in the kitchen before pouring it in the teapot and bringing it out?" At this rate the monastery will never be cleansed, but if she starts attacking these abominations now, the guys will be unprepared. What do they hope to gain from this?
Vekka wonders if his katana could be used to cut... at least smaller pieces of wood. It would probably dull the blade...
These ghosts are quite taxing. But I will continue to play their game. Hopefully I can bring them to rest without violence. Or at least provide a final meal.
Sigurd wonders if he can break up the table into firewood.
"This will do as a heat source. I have flint and steel, we can at least start a fire and boil the tea water."
"Hey! Why are you talking about making a fire? There's a fire raging right here in the kitchen underneath the boiling pot!"
Unable to chop the table into pieces with two katanas (well, it's possible, but would take hours, and blunt the blades...), the party proceeds to light it's entirety on fire. Perhaps they can set the kettle in the center?
Oh wait, there is no kettle. They wonder how they can boil water, and then steep tea, without a kettle or container of some kind...
"Oh, right... Kazuki, can you get the kettle from the pantry?"
Lan will stay close to Sigurd, shielding him as soon as this gets ugly.
Kazuki decides what to do...