Yoshimi's page

A pensive expression passes Yoshimi's face for a moment before she bows her head slightly. "Please accept my apology for my boorishness and lack of consideration. Humor isn't exactly my strong suit. But I do hope to try your new candy, and I'd love to come back and try it."

Yoshimi pays for her candy and thanks Keeks before putting away one of the packets and opening up the other. She tries a bit, and her eyes light up. "Delicious! I'll have to share some of this around and recommend your store to my friends. And thank you so much for the extras! Heh...have you tried making rock candy?"

Freeze Meister wrote:

I am here to freeze "stuff" accentuating stuff with finger quotes.

"Oh, I knew I'd run into this problem. I have sherbet not sherbert. I have the dry powdered candy, I don't serve frozen delicacies here."

She produces a powder from behind her counter.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherbet_(powder)#

A young woman with a blend of Kellid and minkaian features pauses and frowns as she approaches the stand. "Ah, what if I was hoping for sherbet, the icy treat? No? Hmm..."

She pauses and considers the available wares. "Well, this should pack better, anyway. Two...units, please."

"I escaped Starfall when I was still pretty young, after the Technic League's mechanical monstrosities murdered my family and burned down our inn just because a few guests turned out to be Pathfinders investigating the Silver Mount. Luckily I had some friends in town who helped get me out...but trouble found me again recently. But my training since then paid off. I became strong enough to fight them, and now I take the battle to the robots."

"Oh my! Thanks!" Yoshimi skims over the first page, then looks up and sees Yumiko waiting at a table with a rose in hand. She reaches into her pack and pulls out two candles, lighting them with a cantrip. She then floats them over to the table with mage hand, sending a wink with them before tucking into the report in earnest.

"Mm. So this isn't a case of multiple spirits haunting a person, then."
She jots down a few more notes, then looks up and catches Heather's eye. She mouths "Is it?"

Yoshimi takes a drag from the tankard and starts to flip through one of the many books piled in front of her when something from the earlier conversation seems to occur to her and she looks back over to Caitlyn with a surprised look. "Wait, others? You said there are others who might know why you can't let go?!"

"Oh, I'm well aware. I've spent half my life honing my skills to protect people from robots then doing so. It still won't make up for what the Technic League did to my family. Everyone's got their reasons for doing what they do, but it's not every day you have the opportunity to ask that of the dead."

She drains her ale, looks into the bottom of the stein briefly, then holds it up and tries to catch Heather's eye.

Tanbaru yelps and becomes invisible when the mass of tentacles lunges at him. Yoshimi's eyes go wife and she flips over to a new page in the notebook and her scribbling hastens considerably. Seemingly oblivious to how rude the question is, she blurts, "So why can't you let go?"

"Tanbaru, shush." Yoshimi absentmindedly chides her familiar as she gets out a notebook and starts furiously jotting down notes and making sketches while also staring intently at Caitlyn. "So this is manifesting ectoplasm?"

Yoshimi tut-tuts at Tanbaru as he comes back to her, puts a protective hand on the top of his head, and casts an annoyed glance towards Reinart. "Golarion would be a much better place if everyone weren't so quick to judge. Aside from robots, of course. Tanbaru may still be a little rough around the edges, but he's learning. And he isn't evil, although many oni are. But hey, many humans are too. Shall we smite you, just to be sure?"

She settles down a bit and shrugs at Nisha. "Maybe they have an organized way of assigning confirmations these days, but any suitable exploration or research project should qualify. I'd talk to a VC about it if you're curious."

A voice pipes up from behind a stack of books and scrolls, soon followed by the face of a young woman showing a mix of Kellid and tian-min features. "Y'know, TECHNICALLY that was still your confirmation. That project can vary, from agent to agent. What's important is that one of the Masters signs off on you and you get your wayfinder. I went on a very important research trip for Master Zey for mine, to a strangely snowy area in...HEY!" The lecture is interrupted as she yells over towards Shelby, where a small strip of meat is floating through the air off towards Yoshimi's stack of books. "Tanbaru, put that back! It's not yours, and you did NOT rightfully steal it! Apologize to the nice dinosaur, and next time just order some meat if you're hungry."

"Perhaps, as a field agent, you aren't privy to the communication that goes on between her and other Venture Captains and the Decemvirate? That aside, what you just said is a far cry from your earlier comments that she's only a liaison to the Society now and not a Venture Captain."

"Satomi, when did Amara Li step down as a Venture Captain? I spoke to a few pathfinder about a year ago who recovered an artifact for her from Wanshou, and she was still very much engaged in Venture Captaincy then."

Yoshimi stifles a chuckle at Satome's quip. "I've never heard of Gullinkambi either. Surely I'd remember such a beast if I had."

"Hey Whistles, do you have some sort of direct line to this Shizuru? Could you tell me what sort of relationship my father had with her?"

"I caught him skulking about an enemy encampment during an expedition into the Hao Jin Tapestry and after a bit of a tussle he volunteered his assistance. I saw a pitiful soul in need of protection and in DIRE need of guidance. So here we are. He does proove useful now and then, however. For instance...Tanbaru, show these nice people what a great mask you make.

The fiendish face appears over Yoshimi's like a fearsome samurai mask, but clearly alive. Her eyes shine through, and while she speaks with her own voice, its mouth forms the words. " Now I'm seeing through his eyes, which are better than my own. He's a great scout, too, with his invisibility. Alright Tanbaru, that's enough."

The oni promptly floats off her face and disappears again.

"Oh! Well welcome, then. Don't go to Numeria, it's awful."

"Don't mind him too much. Although a good scolding wouldn't be out of place. He has a long way to go, but his worst tendencies as an Oni were stamped out a while before I met him. But he's still in the process of learning good manners."

Yoshimi swings her scabbard around a few times until it *thumps* into an unseen Tanbaru. "Cut that out, you little gremlin! Manners!"

"Last I checked. Have a seat, have a drink. Where'd your last mission take ya?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, cap'. It's a little more casual when we're all relaxing here. Have a drink."

"Cultural specifics are beyond me. I KNOW a lot of them, but I'm a terrible judge of when to apply them. But my dad taught me to bow to my elders and that's never really steered me wrong, so that's what I try to do. Past that...well, I can present a hell of a logical argument but pleasantries have always seemed pretty pointless."

"My father never talked much about his past, and I think I'm beginning to figure out why. He was originally from Minkai, and he made the dangerous trek across the crown of the world following Shizuru, who I have a sneaking suspicion was NOT an old lover, to Mendev and the Worldwound. He taught me everything I know about my sword, and everything but the blade was originally his. I had the blade made from the adamantine I scavenged from the robot that killed him. My mom was a pathfinder and originally from Numeria, but she kept her affiliation pretty hush-hush. She spent a lot of time researching at the lodges in Nerosyan, and met my father there. They settled down in Starfall and opened the Starbird Inn, which was a nice layover for a lot of "foreign travelers" until the League got suspicious."

"Research IN the Silver Mount? How long were you around Starfall? Did you ever stay at the Starbird Inn? My folks owned it, that's where I grew up. Name's Yoshimi, by the way."

"I don't recall seeing anything quite like that, no. I was the one explaining the horrors of the Technic League, though, and their robot thralls. I grew up in Starfall so I'm all too familiar with their depredations. And here I was fool enough to go BACK to Numeria a few weeks ago. That was a disaster. We did our research, retrieved our objective and a stash of skymetals besides, but our warpriest didn't make it back."

"My HOMELAND is to the north, tucked between Mendev and the River Kingdoms. It's overrun by robots, barbarian tribes, and the Technic League. All, to varying degrees, answering to a despot calling himself the Black Sovereign. All of the advanced tech that the Technic League controls came from a number of crashed...ships, from another world. Possibly yours."

She seems to calm down a bit. "And intellectually, I understand that most of it amounts to, as you said, tools. But in Starfall, they're tools of oppression and domination."

Yoshimi accepts the blade and offers her own. She takes a few test swings with it before handing it back. "That's a fine weapon you have, it's a shame you don't know the smith. I'll have to ask Master Z...Farabellus if he has any leads.

"Robots are a type of construct from another world, you'll find them mostly in Numeria or supporting the Technic League. They're smart, unlike most constructs, and they can learn. But they certainly don't have souls, or consciences. They're the most cold, uncaring, soulless things you'll come across and the bastards in the Technic League hide behind them. Which tends to be effective, because the robots can dish out a lot of damage at any range, and they're highly resistant to anything you can throw at them. Except...

She picks up her sword in one hand and casts a spell with the other, and electricity arcs between her fingers.

"...for electricity and adamantine. This sword will cut through their armor like butter, even as they turn away normal weapons and fireballs. Put the adamantine and the electricity together and you a bevy of blown up robots."

At Temπ's explanation, she grips her sword with white knuckles and turns on him in a flash. "You...you BUILD these ABOMINATIONS?!"

Yoshimi looks at Misaki's weapon with some interest. "Was this made locally? I've been wanting to commission at least one more blade, possibly more, from some skymetal deposits I've discovered. If you know a good smith, I'd be in your debt. I don't want to entrust this work to someone who won't do it justice. I'd like to have back-ups for my blade."

She takes the opportunity to show off her own katana, a heavy adamantine blade with less curve than most. The dark metal gives off a blue light, and the handle and phoenix-shaped tsuba are obviously much older than the blade itself.

"As well as it's been serving me, I don't ALWAYS find myself fighting robots, so other capabilities would be nice. Would you mind if I try yours?"

Yoshimi looks up from her rabid study of Yuan-Shi's instructional scrolls at the talk of Shizuru. She appears to take a moment to put things together in her head.

"I heard my dad mention a woman named Shizuru a few times when I was growing up, but it always seemed like he was talking about an old lover or something. Someone who'd been taken from him before he'd settled in Starfall. I think she'd traveled with him over the crown of the world and down into Mendev...but that's where he met and fought beside my mother...."

Yoshimi tromps back in and drops her spellbook and sword down on to a table with a loud thump. Her clothing is showing many more scorch-marks than it had been previously, along with a multitude of tiny holes and cuts.

"I just got back from kicking some more robot ass, this time back to Numeria. Just reminds me of why I left. Did you know some of them shoot fireworks that explode harder than many fireballs? I found that out."

She waves to Yuan-Shi. "Oh, hey! How has your adventuring been?"

A tanned woman hustles by with an armful of books and a katana strapped to the hip of a dusty explorer's outfit. She lets out an exasperated sigh at the group gathered in the entryway.

"Coming through, I'm late for my appoint to study that jetpa-- Oh, fresh blood? Welcome, don't let the crushingly sanctimonious vibe in here get to ya; they all mean well."

"The Technic League's robots killed my father, when he tried to defend my mother from them. They're dastardly, uncaring things. So cold."

"Yeah...watcha reading?"

Yoshimi looks back incredulously before patting her katana and her spellbook. "These and my companions have always pulled through for me."

"Is that a blessing I'd want? I try to avoid her notice as much as possible."

"I'm Yoshimi. And this here...hey, buddy, show your face!

Yoshimi starts prodding the air around her shoulders until she hits something, and suddenly a floating demonic mask appears in mid-air with a surprised and disgruntled look on his face.

"This little mongrel is Tanbaru."

"...I think some may be beyond the help of education."

"Tenets, Rhon, the word is tenets. We're the tenants, so to speak, in that we occuppy this property. We uphold the Crusade's tenets through our deeds. Well, we're supposed to anyway. I guess you aren't the only one to confuse those, Yuan Shi."

"I learned that Iroran monks are full of...anyway, my body is strong and my mind is as keen as they get. Their tests were rigged. You can't trust those shifty monks."

Yoshimi looks at her untouched drink, picks it up, and walks it over to Yuan Shi.

Yoshimi looks up from her stack of books and casts an incredulous look at the newly arrived half-orcs and shakes her head. Then she turns to Bo. "Hey, sounds like you could use a language refresher, fella."

"Watch your back, but enjoy your time there. I was stuck on support duty babysitting a team of initiates and missed the big party."

Yuan Shi wrote:

A tallish man of obious Tian descent walks in, removing a strange pair of goggles. He is talking to someone outside in Minkaian.

I've never seen any sources that list more than one language from Tian Xia. What source is Minkaian from?

Dragon Empires Primer/Gazetteer feature a slew of languages from Tian Xia.

A saving grace may be to turn this into a running gag, and have a different assertion as to the true location of the founding of the PFS appear in every season.

.

That sounds familiar...

I bet if you ask Aram Zey he'd tell you it was founded at the Unicorn's Unibrow. Who can say? I'm more surprised Drendle Drang didn't claim it was founded on the moon.

Yoshimi brings her mug over to Avelina."If you don't know what to say, maybe say something nice? Nothing to be bashful about. Congratulate her on a job well done! I'll drink to life, to love, and to a good recumbent frolic!"

"Well, Master Aram can certainly be a bit prickly here and there, and he's not particularly patient, but I've found that we agree on quite a lot of things. He doesn't let much slip by him.

"Master Farabellus IS a particularly good sparring partner, but he has a bad habit of calling my spells "cheats." I always get my time's worth in exercise though."

Yoshimi orders a tankard of mead and returns. "Thank you for the drink! Are you having troubles with Master Aram? He's been a fantastic mentor to me since I came to Absalom. It helps if you go to him with informed questions. Good enough questions that he'll respect your inquiry, but then play to his ego when he starts to dump his intellect on you. Might help smooth things over if he gets cranky. It's worked for me when he's helped with my research, in any case.

Yoshimi shakes Brew-Bran's hand and smiles. "Hello, I'm Yoshimi. I'm beginning to think I'm the only one around here that doesn't have a holy symbol...