The whimpering and shuffling intensifies, everyone can hear whoever it is trying to stay squeezed in the Locker. When Kwan goes to open it, he finds it stuck fast.
"Relax. Whoever you are, we're not here to hurt you. We're going to get you safely out of there and then to a place of real safety," says Xu Jiang, waiting for one of his stronger or craftier associates to open the door.
"Yes. Here to help. Had to fight the whole kitchen, which was rather odd, trying not to become food. Now I know what veggies feel like. But here to help" she adds with a smiling voice
Kwan tries to pull the door open in spite of the lock.
Kwan gives the locker door a couple of hard tugs, on the second pull he is able to rip the door off its hinges entirely. Inside you see the Happy Kappa's proprietor, De-Ge, the small male halfling stuffed inside, crying.
Though his sniffles lessen when he sees who it is, "I thought it was more tricks and that my guests had come to finally eat me!" Looking around frantic, "Ya gotta get me out of here! I've been trapped, so many people are dead, where are you guys coming from? Is somewhere still safe? Can you take me to the Hand of Spring Clinic? It isn't far from here"
Kwan urges De-Ge to stay calm and explains that the party seems to have cleared out Southbank. "We saved Elizeth from strange ravens and contact Old Matsuki at his estate. Then, we dispatched a leader of sorts at the bridge and have had a few fights here downtown. We aren't sure if the rest of downtown is safe. Let's check the rest of the rooms here and then we will escort you to the bridge. Then, head to Matsuki's."
Kwan looks around to the others for their input as he doesn't want to make unilateral decisions.
Yuranosuke nods politely to Kwan's explanations to De-Ge. Then he pauses.
"You mentioned "guests" that you're afraid are going to eat you. Who are these "guests" and do you need our help to evict them?"
Upon hearing Yuranosuke's question, Kwan realizes that he didn't grasp what De-Ge said. Then, the words come back to him.
"Guests? What guests? Why do you think they would eat you?"
"I dont think guests are supposed to eat their host! How many were here? The other room smells like its been cleaned recently. do you know where the guests went?" Ayane says, trying to stay calm, its been a hetci day so far.
"I don't think it will be a problem for us to help you get safely to the Clinic, buuuuuut" she sounds out the vowel sound in a sing songy way. " Like Kwan said we can escort you to the bridge, and head to Matsuki's that where all the other survivors we found have headed."
De-ge clambers out of the locker with much effort than throws his hands in the air starts pacing around, "Well they just came in, covered head to toe in blood and guts, tracking who knows what and more all over the floor," wagging his finger now too "Now everyone knows I keep a clean bathhouse, cleanliness is what brings us closer to the gods, so of course I had to clean up after them, though they've completely soiled the water, it's going to take ages to cycle the dirty water out and clean water in, no one is going to want to bath here anytime in the near future, these monsters just think cause their name is on the building they can just do whatever they want," He is really starting to get frantic as he seemingly is working himself up before continuing, his pitch getting higher as he continues trying to fit more words in without taking a breath, "But am I going to argue with a bunch of blood soaked monsters, I think not, likely think of me as some sort of snack to be had with their bath, a post dinner desert! I think not, I wouldn't stand for it, I treated them like any other guests and they were amicable enough, for monsters, but I'm just happy they didn't eat me but goodness knows they would and I wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop them," Taking a large gulping breath as his eyes were starting to bulge, before he continues to lament about the guests ruining his bathhouse, his pacing and muttering more to himself than anyone in general
"Where are your 'guests' now, De-ge?" asks Xu Jiang.
looking sheepishly at Xu Jiang, "Well naturally they are still in the Bath, I swear there never gonna leave, they think they own place, I'm sure"
After confirming the way with De-Ge, Kwan leads the way to the bath area with shield raised. "Careful now, they could be dangerous."
De-ge stands stupefied, "Wait, you're not gonna take me to safety, what if you anger them, they kill you and then come to eat me!"
Pressing on though and through the building you step outside to a pair of stone-lined baths of steaming water sit within this open-air, hedge-walled yard where you find 5 turtle-like humanoids with beaked mouths, webbed hands and feet, and slimy scales that range in color from bluish green to pale yellow.
Pictured here At first glance you immediately identify the creatures as Kappa's, after the aptly named bathhouse you're currently in.
"Ahh, guests at last!" croaked one, waving lazily with a webbed hand. "Come, join us, there is room enough in the water."
Another kappa chuckled, flicking droplets at the first. "Don’t be rude, Kenzu. Not everyone has the sense to bathe after such chaos."
Yuranosuke follows Kwan into the baths, after blinking in surprise at very real kappa in The Happy Kappa, does the polite thing and bows low.
"It is an honor and a pleasure to meet you," he says. He doubted they'd be foolish enough to return the gesture and in doing so empty their head-bowls. Enough people had told the story of that old trick that the kappa had to be wise to it, but those same stories taught that good manners was still one of your best defenses against a bored kappa looking for an excuse to make mischief.
Xu Jiang joins Yuranosuke in a polite bow, never taking his eyes off the turtle-like creatures.
Bowing along with the others she pipes up "Wow! ive never met a Kappa before this is VERY exciting! How long are you going to be in town?
The nearest kappa gave a snorting laugh, slapping the surface of the bath so water splashed his neighbor. "Ha! See that, brothers? Polite ones. Respectful ones!"
Another leaned back against the stone rim of the pool, his beak curving in a sly grin. "We’ll stay until it’s safe, or until it’s too dangerous. Depends which way the tide turns. But perhaps," he said, tilting his head slightly at Ayane’s question, "if Willowshore’s defenders prove themselves stronger than its invaders, we might be persuaded to. . . retreat."
"Or stay," interrupted a third with a low chuckle. "If someone offered us reason enough." His dark eyes gleamed, mischievous and calculating.
At least slightly distrustful of these kappa, Kwan asks after the kappas' part in the invasion.
"Coming to Willowshore during this invasion is not likely to be a coincidence. What was your part in it? Did you fight alongside the jinkins and the others?"
Kwan then weighs the truthfulness of their responses.
One leaned forward on the pool’s edge, speaking with polite gravity. "It is unfortunate, what has befallen this place. But know this, we are not the source of the trouble. We were invited by Mo Douqiu, the long-necked one, to lend our aid."
"Promised food, too," another interjected with a guilty chuckle, rubbing his belly. "The jinkins killed the horses… but their innards were a feast. Too good to refuse."
A silence followed, broken only by the ripple of water and the lazy hum of steam. Then, with a solemn nod, the first speaker went on:
"We begin to think perhaps we chose poorly. This invasion cannot end well—for the people, or for us. When the defenders rise, we will be the first to suffer," He says with a polite nod, inclined in your groups direction.
"That's a bad no no, to fight innocent people because you got given some grub. Could just ask, dad makes a mean fish pie, happy to have shared" she crosses her arms and pouts
"Not to put to fine a point on it, Master Kappa, but we are the defenders and we are rising. But you do not need to suffer. Swear to offer no more offense to the people of this village or the owner of this bath and you may enjoy the bath until we return. Tell us all you know of this invasion and this Mo Douqiu and after you finish your bath and after we have retaken the village, we will escort you with honor back to your homes."
Xu Jiang looks squarely at the first speaker, awaiting his answer.
"If not, I'm willing to add some spice to your bath" she smiles, and as to emphasize, crackling of electricity dances about her hair and fingers
”you mentioned a name, uh Mo Douqiu, who is that? Are they here in town? I’d love to meet them?”
Yuranosuke folds his arms and lets the more eloquent members of the group speak.
Confident that Ayane's cheerful nature will convince the kappas, Kwan stays quiet. He isn't sure his stern nature will work well with the kappas.
Ayane's bright tone and easy charm loosened the last of the kappas’ resistance. The eldest bowed his head, ripples spilling over the edge of his head-bowl. "Very well. We will swear it. We did not wish for blood, only for full bellies. But Mo Douqiu. . . he is the one who invited us. A rokurokubi, a hedonist, a creature of long neck and longer appetites. He holds court at the Cerulean Teahouse."
Another kappa chimed in, voice low. "We do not know his full purpose, only that he promised indulgence. Yet it will end poorly for all of us. Better we return to Gourd Lake and wash our hands of this folly."
The others nodded in agreement, shame coloring their beaked faces.
The eldest raised his eyes again to Xu Jiang. "You have our word. No more offense, no more part in this invasion. When the time comes, seek us at Gourd Lake—bring cucumbers, if you would, and we will receive you as friends."
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.
Most rokurokubi despair at their state, seeking to drown their sorrows in drink or simply stay out of sight. A nefarious few rokurokubi embrace their fate and seek to enhance their power by completely giving in to the curse. This grants them the ability to cast potent occult spells but inevitably twists them even more toward evil. They are immune to sleep and some Rokurokubi that have embraced evil are ale to extend their necks to great lengths to be able bite people.
"I appreciate your honesty and believe you speak true. Since you have given your word that you will not harm any resident of Willowshore, I think that De-Ge will be okay with you continuing to enjoy the waters of the bath."
Kwan excuses himself to return to De-Ge to explain the compromise that was reached. "They promised to not harm anymore and gave us valuable information about the invasion. In return, they will be allowed to safely return home once we have dealt with the rest of the invaders. You are safe to stay here, but I understand if you would prefer to shelter somewhere else for now."
Kwan also considers what he knows of rokurokubis, but he is only familiar with the usual childhood stories.
"This is honorable," says Xu Jiang, bowing to the kappa's wisdom. "We shall leave you to it, then. Good day."
The priest shares his knowledge of the lore of rokurokubis with his team.
"From what I understand, such cursed ones are not necessarily damned by their curse. If one were to act swiftly enough, one might reverse the curse and same the person. We should go to the Cerulean Tea House."
Bowing again Ayane thanks the kappas and promises to bring lots cucumbers when she comes to visit.
”let’s head to the Tea House! Thanks again kappa friends!” she hums a cheery song as the group leaves the bathhouse.
"I agree we should head to the tea house quickly. But, there are a few other nearby buildings we should clear first. I'd hate to have enemies on both sides of us."
"Kwan is right, don't want bad guys sneaking up on us. That's no fun at all" she puts her hand on his shoulder to show agreement
The only area of note to search is the rice, millet and buckwheat storefront, the Treesparrow's Rest owned by the Sanmi's, crossing the road, careful to look for any additional danger that may have cropped up, your group quickly rushes into the Treesparrow's Rest, the front doors are unlocked.
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.
Finding nothing of note in here, you guys proceed onto the connected Sanmi family house. A completely different scenario presents itself here, the house has been thoroughly robbed of nearly everything of worth, from all their cookware to whatever clothing or valuables they had in their antique drawers.
Finding no sign of the Sanmi's, you guys continue onto the last connected structure, a smaller, mudwall house, where Nadoya Sanmi, a widow, lived. Standing outside though this house has 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.
The sour-sweet reek of spilled rice wine hit their noses before the group even pushed open the battered door. Inside, chaos reigned. Six jinkins sprawled across overturned stools and shattered crockery, their tiny bodies flushed a sickly ruddy color from drink. They shrieked and cackled in their high-pitched voices, tossing scraps of food and splinters of wood at one another as though it were a grand festival.
Two of the gremlins had turned a pile of stolen jewelry into a clumsy game of catch, though more often than not they fumbled the glittering trinkets, sending themselves scrambling after the spill like drunken children.
In the far corner, two figures cowered—Yuli Sanmi and Hu Lelong, little more than children themselves. Their eyes flick to the door as you all enter entered, hope and fear mingling in their faces.
One of the jinkins staggered upright, squinting hard. Then a wicked grin split his tiny face. “Oooh! The oni are here!” he cried, flinging his arms wide in a wobbling bow.
“Oni, oni!” another sang out, nearly tumbling off the table he stood upon. “Bring us more wine, eh? More food, more fun!”
The rest took up the chant, sloshing half-empty bottles, knocking over what furniture still stood, and shrieking for attention.
“Watch this!” one squealed, tripping over his own legs and landing face-first in the rice wine puddle.
“Look at me, mighty oni! Bet you never saw a dance like this!” another howled, spinning in dizzy circles until he crashed into his companions, setting off a squabble of drunken limbs and curses.
HEY! You aren’t supposed to be in here! This isn’t your house! You need to leave!” she throws her hands on her hips as she scolds the drunken creatures.
Very few things could make the Sylph angry, but this was one of them. Seeing the children cowering, dark clouds begins to form, her very skin darkening like a thunder storm, as her normal happy static begin to sound like rather ominous weather. Her hands clenched as they too sparked, ready to unleash Weathery wrath
Yuranosuke bows to the kappas again as they depart and just nods at the others' discussions, following to the next building to search. Seeing these jinkins have captives as well, and children at that, makes him as angry as Shandari.
He plants the butt of his shuan-ji on the floor with an audible thump and gives them a glare no less stormy than his sylph friend.
Kwan chimes in to convince the jinkins to leave the children alone and flee Willowshore.
"We are not Oni. We are villagers of Willowshore - who defeated two of your leaders. Leave this house and Willowshore, and never return."
One of the Gremlin's throws some wine, splashing it around, saying "Oooh, big fancy words from the tall ones! You hear that, boys? They think they’re too good for our party! Har har! Bring us more wine and maybe we’ll listen to your boring speechifying!"
This causes the other 5 to break out in hysterical laughter, at what was clearly a funny joke. Another one pipes up, through its laughter, "We’re the kings of this place now! And kings don’t take orders!"
"I said you aren't supposed to be in here and that you need to leave!" she waits a moment and stops her little foot, "NOW!"
She starts to charge up her electricity, ready to blast them if they so much as flinch to make an aggressive action towards the children
Yuranosuke twirls his shuan-ji and ends in a ready stance to emphasize Ayane's point, his glare unflinching as he stares the jinkin's down and waits for them to blink.
The jinkins froze mid-laughter, their sharp-toothed grins faltering as Ayane’s shout cracked through the drunken haze like thunder. For a moment, the only sound was the slosh of spilled rice wine and the faint crackle of electricity rising from Shandari’s hair.
That was all it took. Panic—or perhaps survival instinct—finally cut through the fog of drink. The jinkins scrambled for the door, tripping over one another in their haste, squealing and cursing in their shrill, nasally voices.
As one tries to squeeze by Yuranosuke, he bumps into his him and drops a well made necklace on the ground.
For a moment after the gremlins fled, the only sound was the echo of their retreating shrieks fading into the distance. Then, from the far corner of the ruined room, two figures stirred—a boy and a girl, both perhaps sixteen or seventeen, faces pale beneath the grime and fear. The boy(young man) turned to the party, bowing deeply, first to Ayane and then to the others. “Thank the gods you showed up when you did. We thought those little monsters were gonna start a fire—or worse.” He moves to pick up the necklace that dropped, looking at Yuli.
Yuli Sanmi also steps forward softly, her eyes are red and puffy from crying, "You have to save my family, the rest of them are out in the back, those creatures locked them in the shed and made us tend to them. We thought if we got them drunk enough they'd pass out but they wouldn't pass out no matter how much they drank! We were nearly out of wine,"
Kwan nearly strikes one of the fleeing jinkins. "Keep running until you are past the bridge" he mutters under his breath.
Noticing that the two villagers are Yuli Sanmi and Hu Lelong, Kwan considers why Hu Lelong would be sheltering in Northride. But, rescuing the others is more pressing at the moment. "I'm glad you are both safe. Let's get the others out of the shed."
Leading the group, Kwan heads out the rear entrance and tries to open the door to the shed.
Yuli Sanmi exchanged a quick glance with Hu Lelong, nervous, guilty, and hopeful all at once. When Kwan turned to usher them toward the shed, she stepped in front of him, bobbing her head too quickly.
Y-Yes! Yes, please, go help them right away!" she said, wringing her hands. "They’re trapped and scared and, and they need you. We’ll just—uh—stay here and. . . clean up!"
Hu Lelong nodded vigorously, a little too eagerly. "Yes. Cleaning. Very important. We don’t want the uh the gremlins to come back and uh slip on something." He paused, visibly regretting the words as soon as they left his mouth.
Yuli elbowed him then flashed what she must have thought was a convincing smile. "Right! So you should hurry. Really. Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine here, very safe. Totally fine."
Hu attempted a reassuring thumbs-up.
"Maybe we should stay here, we can help you clean up, its the least we can do"
Ayane whispers to Kwan "for some reason they really dont want us in here, seems fishy, and I LIKE fish!"
Ayane goes to start helping pick things up, going towards the strew about travel supplies and stashes of jewelry she spotted.
Kwan nearly heads out of the room, but something in the back of his mind tells him that something isn't right. And, Ayane's whispered words help as well.
"We'll get the rest of your family out of the shed, but first we must secure this room and its content. That jewelry especially. We must return them to their previous owners."
Kwan picks up some of the pieces of jewelry that are closest to him. Once the rest of the party has picked up the others, Kwan nods his head. "There's better. Let's go to the shed now."