Zhēnzǐ's page

reference post

"Ugly Cute's legs are wobbling trying to support her weight. I can create some trees that we can cut to make some splints to help her walk or a sled she could rest that the four of you could use to drag her back to Willowshore."

"Between the ropes Denkō, Jing and Lady Lao have, there should be enough to make a sled with pull ropes."

Zhēnzǐ looks at the weapons that the group has, "None of us have axes to cut the trees."

He then looks at Senko's naginata, "Senko, you slash with that. Do you think you can cut trees with it?"

DC 15 Perception (sense motive): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (19) + 6 = 25 critical success! :D

"Maybe Senko's return to town altered what would have happened if she did not return?" Zhēnzǐ muses and asks the stone guardian.

Did Ugly-Cute ignore Zhēnzǐ's question asking her what name her friends call her?

A bit of nervousness can be heard in Zhēnzǐ's voice, "I am sorry if you felt it was wrong to sleep on you. I always felt safe when I rested that way."

"We will escort you back to Willowshore to ensure you get back safely. Thank you for helping defend the town."

Zhēnzǐ looks at his companions before answering Ugly-Cute's question, "By working together is how we stayed alive."

Then a thought occurs to Zhēnzǐ..."What name do your friends call you?"

Upon seeing Ugly Cute is hurt, Zhēnzǐ rushes to the stone spider guardian, not paying attention to Denkō's words that indicate that Zhēnzǐ's healing abilities might not be able to heal Ugly Cute.

Zhēnzǐ creates a (Fresh Produce) plump peach and holds it up to Ugly Cute's mouth, "Eat this. It has healing magic."

Fresh Produce: 1d4 + 1 ⇒ (4) + 1 = 5 ...if she can be healed/mended this way...

Zhēnzǐ then creates some dirt in his hand and casts Healing Plaster and starts to spread the mud over the cracks of Ugly Cute's form.

He prays to The Great Willow as he tries his best to pack the healing mud in all the cracks and over the chips of Ugly Cute's form, "Great Willow, heal the injuries of your fellow protector of Willowshore."

(DC 15?) Nature (Treat Wounds): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

hit points healed from Treat Wounds: 2d8 ⇒ (7, 4) = 11 ...if she can be healed/mended this way...

One of the first pleasant memories Zhēnzǐ has after arriving in Willowshore comes to the surface of his mind...one of the more clear memories from his pre-awakened state...while the other squirrels would chase him away from their territories, the first time he felt safe after arriving in Willowshore was when he climbed up the stone 'tree' of the guardian statue, which the other squirrels did not climb up after him...and Zhēnzǐ thinks might have been the first time he slept since his family was killed that he did not have the recurrent nightmare of replaying that tragic day of his life.

"You are going to be alright. We won't let you die."

"It is unlikely to rain again for a few days by the looks of the sky. The gorge will not dry up for at least a few weeks, so there is no apparent danger of the town not having fresh water. I think we should follow the tracks, as they continue past the source of the creek. We still might come across a barrier before reaching whoever left the tracks."

As the others decide whether the group is going to continue following the tracks, Zhēnzǐ starts to imagine what each of the four of them would look like trying to walk on stilts.

Zhēnzǐ looks up at the sky, turning his head to check all directions for signs of potential rain at some point during the rest of the day.

(secret) Nature +6 check

Hey gang, I know the term water source is used, and for the gorge I try to simplify in my last post that you would be able to see the source, coming from several water holes, and maybe a small lake, something not unusual for places of high altitude. Like what would you specifically like to do? Just see it? Swim in it? Estimate the remaining water flow if it doesn't rain? Is there something more than just reaching the source?

When we get there, Zhēnzǐ will Nature (Recall Knowledge) checks to see if he can figure out stuff you menetioned.

"Here you go," Zhēnzǐ says to Jing as he makes a plump lychee appear in Jing's waiting hand.

Zhēnzǐ waits for the others to indicate which option they want to take, continue towalking towards the source of Dragonfly Creek to see if there is a barrier preventing them from walking past the source and investigate the tracks on their way back, or to first investigate where the tracks lead before resuming their trek to the creek's source.

Our group's plan is to discover if the 'barrier' that prevents us from getting to Karahai is preventing us from reaching the sources of the three rivers....as in can we walk farther from Willowshore than where the sources of the three waterways are.

Looking at the hinterlands map...

There is a fourth river close to Willowshore (which does not merge with the three we are investigating/already planning to investigate ==> Sugi River (and Mirror Lake) west of Willowshore. Mirror Lake has two other rivers connecting to it (West Sugi River and North Sugi River).

Everyone, after we finish investigating Dragonfly Creek, I suggest the next waterway source we investigate is Duyue River (which Hunter's Hut is near the source) we could also see if we can travel east from the source of the Duyue River and are able to reach Canary Inn.

After discovering if we can get to the source of the Duyue River (and potentially Canary Inn) we have two ways we could investigate seeing if we can reach the source of the Ceiba River...following along its shore from town or walking north and west from town via the Pilgrims Path to get to see if we can reach Mirror Lake, then traveling south from Mirror Lake along the Sugi River and turning east to take the wood trail that goes to the Lumber Camp by the source of the Ceiba River.

Sorry, I didn't realise at first it was a crit, and then I had assumed that I would only regain HP equal to half of what I damaged them by. As in, I can't absorb more health than what they had left. For example, if I did 11 damage, but they only have 5HP left, they only took 5 damage, and I could only regain 3HP (2.5 rounded up). But the text for drink of my foes doesn't make that clear. I should have probably put the feat text in a spoiler tag under my post

I am unsure how the spirit works in the formula. It's a +1, I thought it just gets added on top, and not multiplied by the crit

so the damage with the crit would have been 9x2(crit)+1(spirit)+3(deadly)=22. By that, I would regain 11HP, or half of whatever it had left

Even though in PF2E we do not track negative hit points, there is a significant distinction between the 'absolute value' of 'normal hits' & 'critical hits' when used to drop a foe (or damage an already dropped but not dead foe) which is used to determined if the creature's Dying value increases by 1 or 2.

Hit Points, Healing and Dying

Getting Knocked out

Taking Damage while you have the Dying condition

The amount of 'negative hit points' someone has in PF2E is using the Dying Value to represent how much damage is needed to outright kill someone.

Also, for quicker gameplay, the Dying values are not used for most foes of the PCs.

To demonstrate from the other end, a foe killing (or nearly killing a PC).

A wolf that is aleady in melee with Senko when Senko only has a few hit points remaining, and the wolf scores a regular hit (with its first action) that drops Senko to 0 hit points, which also gives her the Dying Value of 1.

The wolf then successfully attacks (the now unconscious, helpless) Senko...as Senko was already at 0 hit points and has the Dying 1 value, her Dying Value increases to 2.

The wolf then successfully attacks Senko again, causing Senko's Dying value to increase to 3 (one away from being dead).

It did not matter what the damage dice result of the wolf's second and third strikes were, just they they succeeded in hitting Senko.

Now if any of the three successful strikes the wolf scored on Senko were a critical hit, the wolf would have killed Senko (characters without the Diehard general feat (or something similar) die when they reach Dying 4.

So, although (most) foes PCs face 'skip over' the Dying Value stage of dying, the amount of damage that dropped them does count towards the damage it took to kill them, even if all the damage rolled was not required to kill the foe.

I hope the above makes it clear that it is best simply to use half of Senko's damage roll for determining how much she heals when she uses Drink of my Foes, regardless of how many hit points the foe had remaining before the strike.

As for calculating critical hit damage. You double all damage unless specicifically told not to, so the bonus spirit damage Senko's ikon deals is doubled on a criticlal hit.

Critical Hits

Note: It will always require at least two successful strikes to outright kill a concscious PC (unless other effects like certain spells might adjust this)...and it is possible to outright kill a PC (that was not already helpless and Dying) with only two strike actions.

PC has less hit points left to withstand the first critical hit ==> Dying 2

The (Dying 2) PC then gets hit by a second critical hit ==> Dying 4 (dead for most PCs).

A creature that is already in melee with a creature that successfully strikes with all three actions only needs one to be a critical it to out-right kill the PC, as long as the intial strike dropped the PC to 0 hit points.

Some have made the illogical argument that creatures would not strike the same PC again in the same round if they already dropped them.

The counter to such an illogical point I use:

i.e. a big cat that pounces onto prey they were stalking and drops the target via the initial bite does not stop completing the pounce assault (by not attacking with its claws on the prey that the bite attack killed/dropped the target).

@Senko (& GM): See discussion tab shortly regarding Drink of My Foes. short version: Drink of my Foes heals you of half the damage you rolled for the strike that triggered the option to use Drink of my Foes.

I take it Lady Lao mentioned her writing set during the discussion where we discovered the unusual fungi.

"Lady Lao, may I borrow one of your pens to add our discoveries to the map?"

At the current scene...

Rolling for both Knowledge checks due to characters not knowing what other characters know before any of them share what they know (which could include 'facts' that are gained via a critical failure...and critically failing Recall Knowledge checks I think is the best way to demonstrate Zhēnzǐ's Int flaw. Also gives Lady Lao oporuntunities to educate Zhēnzǐ when he says something she knows is foolish/not factual.

DC 16 Occultism (untrained): 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (12) - 1 = 11

DC 15 Survival (trained): 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19

"Over here! I found some odd tracks." Zhēnzǐ calls out to the others.

As the others approach, Zhēnzǐ is surpised that aside damage to her clothing, Senko appears to not have any wounds from the attack he saw the rock aberration creature do to her, "Senko, I did not know you could magically heal yourself. How did you do that?"

Zhēnzǐ creates a healng peach for his friend he saw get hurt "Senko, here you go."

Zhēnzǐ looks at the others to see none of them show signs of fresh wounds from the encounter they just had, "Would any of you like a fruit as well?"

Once all the others are close enough to see the tracks, "It looks like someone heavy was walking on stilts. The tracks of the stilts are deeper than normal tracks so I could probably still track them on our way back from Dragonfly Creek's source instead of us following the tracks now."

@Seeker Senko: Roll a d8 to add to the damage you dealt (due to the deadly d8 trait of the naginata), to determine if your Drink of My Foes restores 11 hit points back to you or 12+ back (which would put you back to full hit points).

@GM: Was the creature already 'bloodied' (no more than half its hit points left) before Senko made her critical strike? If yes, she is as full hit points from Drink of My Foes, due to the spirit damage she dealt being 6 spirit damage (instead of 2 spirit damage) for the crit hit).

@Seeker Senko: As you had one action remaining, did you use use it to:

Stride towards Lady Lao

use Shift Immanence to get your divine spark back into the naginata?

or for a different single action?

@Seeker Senko

You did even more damage than 18 piercing and 2 spirit damage with your critical hit.

Naginata's have the Deadly d8 trait, meaning you did an additional 1d8 piercing damage with the critical hit.

Which means when you used Drink of my Foes you regained 10 hit points plus half the the result of the additional 1d8 damage you did not roll yet. Since you were 12 hit points down from your maximum before you used Drink of My Foes, roll the 1d8 die (to see if you are back at full hit points or 1 hit point shy of maximum hit points. Roll a 4 or higher! :)

The Deadly weapon trait and Fatal weapon trait has the potential to cause some confusion.

The difference between the two traits are:

Deadly trait: Roll critical damage normally, then roll the deadly damage die and add the result to the damage total. The lowest-tier striking rune (striking rune) does not increase the number of bonus damage dice; each tier upgrade of the striking runes increases the number of bonus damage dice by 1.

Fatal trait: Change your weapon's damage die size to the higher die size (of the Fatal trait) before you roll for critical damage, and then roll a single die (of the fatal die size) and add it to the damage total.

edit: GM & Senko You might not need to bother rolling the additional d8 damage if the creature already had no more than half its hit points left before you made the critical Strike against it, as that would have increased your spirit damage from 1 to 3 (which would be from 2 to 6 for the critical hit).

You are welcome.

You both posted in here while I was adding the spoiler with the chronological order of events. :)

Zhēnzǐ wrote:

@Lady Lao: the (red bordered) creatures are the ones that are attacking you and are are still a threat; the blue ones are the ones that Seeker Senko was fighting and were defeated due to Seeker Senko's critical hit.

@Zhēnzǐ, Jing's hit. Blue was down before I hit.

@GM, I would need to move at least 35ft (70ft in difficult terrain) to get in range of red, so I'll just use my three actions to move. But I swapped the naginata damage for that strike to piercing. I put it in the dice roll, but when I copied to he formula I forgot to get rid of the reactive strike so it might not have made sense. Either way, I'll move instead.

There is some confusion.

Seeker Senko's strike with the naginata is what damaged/dropped the blue enemy.

The following is what our GM relayed to us with his post:

Jing's slashing damage did no damage to either enemy, due to the resistance to slashing. Jing rolled higher damage against the red foe than the blue foe. So if the red foe took no damage from the slashing damage due to resistance to slashing, the blue foe also took no damage from Jing's slashing damage.

Senko's piercing damage naginata strike is what dropped the blue enemy.

Denkō had damaged, but not dropped, the blue enemy before Senko finished it off with her (18 piercing damage & 2 spirit damage) critical hit.

@Lady Lao: the (red bordered) creatures are the ones that are attacking you and are are still a threat; the blue ones are the ones that Seeker Senko was fighting and were defeated due to Seeker Senko's critical hit.

Zhēnzǐ extends his right arm out towards the rock-like creatures attacking Lady Lao, and a small boulder seems to emerge from his right palm and flies towards the swarm of creatures.

Protector Tree by Lady Lao; AC 10; HP 10/10; 8 rounds remaining

◆◆ 2-action ranged elemental blast (earth element, bludgeoning damage; 30 foot range) targeting red: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (17) + 8 = 25

bludgeoning damage: 1d8 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9

◆ Raise Shield; AC 17 ==> AC 18

basic saving throws

"There!" Zhēnzǐ points towards the rippling surface of the ground headed that is getting closer to Lady Lao. "I can only feel the vibrations in the earth that are as close to me underground as my hazelnuts are on the ground" he adds, indicating the rolling hazelnuts that surround him and roll along the ground as he moves.

Fear then creeps into his voice, "What if these boulders start moving on their own too?" indicating the boulder he is standing on and the boulders some of the rest are using for cover.

"Lady Lao, look out!"

Zhēnzǐ wills a hazelnut tree to appear in front of Lady Lao, to block the direct line of travel the rocks are moving towards her.

◆◆ Timber Sentinel (30 foot range); AC 10; hp 10/10

Not able to think of anything else that might help fight rocks, as Zhēnzǐ thinks water or cold wouldn't hurt rocks...(Due to the chaos and confusion of what is going on, Zhēnzǐ has yet to think of the possibility of using water to turn the sand/dirt of the ground into mud, that might delay the rocks' ability to move...might...)...he raises his buckler.

◆ Raise Shield; AC 17 => AC 18

Here is the formula for calculating level-based DCs.

Level 0: 14
next highest level (add 1):
next highest level (add 1):
next highest level (add 2):

repeat +1, +1, +2

The above formlua works from level 1 to level 21.

After level 21, the DC increases by +2 (up to level 25, which is how high the table goes).

If you do not like doing math, here is a link to the Level-based DCs table.

Also just realised - I don't know how reactive strikes work in pbp!

Do I just jump in with a post if an enemy comes within reach and triggers one? or is there some prep I do beforehand?

Here is an example of me doing something similar.

my first Guardian PC doing his very first Intercept Attack!

Unexpected stressful day added to by a very unusual stress factor:

A rumour (I found out about today) that some in my extended family thought I was dead.

My older brother passed away near the end of last year, which is the cousin someone was talking about (without naming my brother).

Due to some extended family drama that resulted from one of adults of the generation below me doing something disrepectful as well as him being hypocritical, which wound up treating me as a 'family pariah' when I did nothing wrong.

Instead of the person (one of my cousin's eldest child, who has two little ones of his own) disrespected me (which his own mother and older sister scolded him for, and his mother (my cousin) and her eldest daughter both told me I did nothing wrong) as well as him being a hypocite, somehow resulted in me (not him) no longer being invited to extended family holiday gatherings.

For many years I was the cousin that most of the children in my extended family got the most excited about seeing again (as, unlike most of the adults, I would play games with them, organize fun sports, etc....once I got us to play ultimate frisbee in the water at the beach).

It was because most of my extended family has not seen me for the past few years (for the reason above) which led to someone making the mistake that the 'cousin who died' was me (and not my older brother).

Jing is on the intiative track twice, which one should be for Denkō?

"Did you see that? Those rocks over there just dug themselves into the ground!" Zhēnzǐ calls out, then scrambles up the boulder he is beside, tries to recall if he knows anything about rocks that move on their own (not aware of the irony that he himself can make rocks appear to move on their own) creates his signature wooden long bow and fires a vitality-imbued wooden arrow to where the rocks just were before they disappeared into the ground.

◆ Climb 20 feet to get on top of the boulder (not bothering with roll to try for critical success)

◆ Occultism (Recall Knowledge) +1 (untrained) (secret check)

◇ Weapon Infusion (range incrementg 100 feet; volley 30 feet)

◆ Elemental Blast (vitality arrow): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (16) + 8 = 24

vitality damage (if anything in the targeted square (where the rocks disappeared/burrowed?) is affected by vitality damage: 1d8 ⇒ 6

The plan is to see if the PCs can reach the souurces of the three rivers, starting with Dragonfly Creek.

No one has countered Zhēnzǐ's point about priority being to try to reach the source of Dragonfly Creek, then investigate the things we discovered on the way to the source more fully on the way back to Willowshore.

"Don't touch any of it! Don't go near them!" Zhēnzǐ warns the others.

"They are unnatural...they should not exist...spores do not spread so fast..."

Taking a few moments to compose himself, "We can make a sketch of them on the way back. Let's continue our trek to the source of the creek."

Zhēnzǐ accepts the proffered feather turned ink pen, "I think using juices from any fruits or vegetables I can make as ink would just soil and ruin the map instead of marking it clearly."

Zhēnzǐ then looks at Lady Lao with excitement, "Lady Lao, you must have pens and ink so you can write in your tome!"

Then Zhēnzǐ thinks about what Senko just did and turns to look at her, a look of sadness on his face, "Senko, we should make sure we use your plucked feather as a pen so you did not hurt yourself for nothing. Maybe Jubei can enchant it into a magical pen that does not require ink."

Then his eyes start to get glassy as tears start to form, "I am sorry I did not think of Lady Lao's tome sooner." he tells Senko as he wipes his eyes with the back of his right forearm to remove the excess moisture before they escape his eyes as teardrops.

"Lady Lao, it might be wiser for us to first discover if we can reach the source of Dragonfly Creek, then investigate the unusual things we discovered on our way back to Willowshore."

Zhēnzǐ retrieves one of the maps from his side pouches and unfolds it, "We will mark the fungi on the map."

His snout scrunches up, "Um, does anyone have anything to mark things on the map with?"

Rest at our homes tonight, then yes, it is off to Dragonfly Creek tomorrow.

Zhēnzǐ looks at Denkō, expecting him to tell Matsuki the troubling news.

"There might be a hazelnut dragon?" Zhēnzǐ asks excitedly.

He then looks around at the trees, a bit of trepidation in his voice, "Are forest dragons friendly?"

As Denkō, Senko and Zhēnzǐ make their way to the Matsuki estate...

"Denkō, how many different kinds of dragons are there?"

Zhēnzǐ ponders Senko's question about what they might need.

"What about spools of string, that we tie to trees so they unwind as we walk? That way if what made yuu forget time happens to us." Zhēnzǐ shivers in trepidation at that possibility before continuing, "It might help us find clues afterwards of which direction we were traveling during time we can not recall afterward."

Granny Hu: Lady Lao, Jing

Old Matsuki: Denkō, Zhēnzǐ

@Senko: which group are you going with? From your post sounds like Old Matsuki since Granny Hu terrifies you.

Zhēnzǐ listens to Senko explain what happened and revealing her trepidation about telling the elders, "Senko, thank you for sharing with us. I will not tell anyone about what you do not want them to know."

"Lady Lao, that is what I was thinking too."

He then moves over and strecthes an arm up to touch his friend's hand, "Starting with Dragonfly Creek may help us learn what happened during your missing memories."

"Lady Lao, I thought it was obvious we would be speaking to the elders about what we discovered when we get back into town, since that is who asked us to go to Karahai. Maybe we should split into two groups when we get back to town. Lady Lao can speak to Granny Hu while I go with whoever wants to speak with Old Matsuki."

"Do any of you have any preference in the order of the waterways we check out over the next few days?"

Zhēnzǐ detects the way his recently returned friend said the words, 'I mean, it's not like anything strange happened.' then looks to Jing to see if he picked up on that too before asking Senko, "Senko, that is a strange thing to say if nothing strange happened. What happened, strange or not, on your trip home?"

As the group makes their way back to Willowshore Zhēnzǐ let the others know what he is thinking.

"We can not reach the mouth of the Duyue River. I think we should rest at our homes tonight and over each of the next few days walk along one of the rivers to see if we can reach the source of each of the waterways. Duyue River to the north, Ceiba River to the west and Dragonfly Creek to the south. Getting ourselves a couple maps so we have one to show us what should be where and the other map to add what we discover during our exploration. Senko which way did you return to town from? Did you see anything that you did not recoginize on your way back to town?"

Zhēnzǐ shivers at the suggestion of checking out the path with the dangerous flora in it. A trivial-sized flower to most of the others that tries to bite them is much more of a threat to his tiny form.

Fright shifts to confusion as Jing's words register more, "Jing, the shortcut is behind us now. How would walking into a dangerous area we have already passed help us?"

As the group starts look for things to help them survive the night, 'I can create trees as a perimeter so we do not have to be moving around where there might be dangerous fauna." He looks to the circle of willow trees he created that have taken root, "Should I create us a circle, square or rectangular perimeter with the trees? How large of a sleeping and eating space should the trees be surrounding?"

After the others have indicated size and location they would like Zhēnzǐ to create tree perimeter he creates a mix of oak, maple and willow trees for the perimeter.

He then looks at the river, "Fresh water we have. Any particular fruits, nuts or vegetables anyone wants me to create for them beside your favorite fruits?"

"We should not try that again. The effect is getting stronger. There was no fog that time. Maybe we should test to see if other directions from town also prevent us from getting any farther than we currently are from home."

"I am now that I know the rest of you are still alive."

"I think the fog is preventing us from leaving Willowshore, Senko. We could test it by two of you walking ahead while the rest of us watch you and see if we see you disappear from ahead and reappear here."

Zhēnzǐ peaks his head out from behind the trees, "Which two of you want to walk ahead to find out if that is what will happen? I am good if we decide not to test the fog and return to town instead."

Zhēnzǐ gets startled by the movements of his companions, and moves away (one stride) and spends the better part of a minute conjuring a ring of willow trees all around himself.

A few seconds after he has finished creating his 'ring of trees' all 8 adjacent spaces to the square he is in have a timber sentinel willow tree he created) the primordial sense of fear starts to fade. Still fearful of looking out from behind the barrier of willow trees he calls out, hoping the others are nearby and were not taken by the thing that killed his family, "Jing? Senko? Denkō? Lady Lao?"

Zhēnzǐ's whole body is trembling. His pupils, which are fully dilated by a feeling of dread, are darting left, right, up and down as if he expects some horror to appear from out of thin air.

Zhēnzǐ's survival instincts cause him to conjure a willow tree (◆◆ Timber Sentinel), "Great Willow, protect us." and raises his buckler ◆ Raise Shield.

Reminder that Zhēnzǐ's kinetic aura and Geological Attunement stance has been active while the group have been traveling, so he has imprecise tremorsense (10 foot range).

"If someone went out of their way to post signs about dangerous fauna, I think we should avoid walking through what otherwise could have been a short-cut. Let's continue walking along the shore of the river."

Reminder to everyone: Update your exploration skill modifiers (on Slide 3) for being level 2 instead of level 1.

When Senko took out a knife to cut the peach...

"You have to each that larger peach fast before.." Zhēnzǐ tells Senko as Senko swallows the fourth slice she cut from it, and the remaining peach in her hand quickly withers down to a smaller-sized peach.

re: Fresh Produce: With GM's approval, as long as you eat some of it on before Zhēnzǐ's next turn starts, you gain the healing and Void Damage Resistance benefits.

@GM: for the 'wither's away (using the losing importance/vitality part of the definition for wither) is it good to go with the fruit/nut/vegetable simply shrinks down in size to a typical normal-sized version of the food?

Zhēnzǐ looks up at Lady Lao's suggestion of a route that will added needless travel time to reach Karahai, "Lady Lao, why do you want us to take a longer and more dangerous route to get to Karahai?"

Zhēnzǐ then looks up at Jing when his words make it seem as if he has never met Senko before, "Jing, you know Senko. Like you, she was there the night the Great Willow woke me up from being a regular squirrel. Maybe you don't recognize her because she has been away from Willowshore for a long time."

In response to talk of some of the party coin going to make Senko's weapon even more potent, "Sounds good to me."

"Lady Lao, I am sure Jubei will transfer the rune from the spear to your warhammer. Senko, Jubei can etch the rune we purchase onto your naginata," he tells the front-liners of the group.

He then looks back at Senko, "Jubei give me some metal which Tian-Zhe is using to craft some metal hazelnuts I can practice juggling with." He then gets a mixture of sadness and guilt on his face, "Jubei told me she does not want me creating normal hazelnuts in her study anymore."

He conjures up three hazelnuts and starts juggling them, but fails in his attempt to juggling more than two of them, so he eats one of the two he was successfully juggling, then picks up the dropped one and resumes juggling with just two hazelnuts. Anyone looking at the gnawed nut shavings by his feet can easily grasp why Jubei told him to stop creating hazelnuts in her study.

The website has been not functioning properly more times than not over the long weekend, and it became more frequent (for me) since last night.

I think we should take a different route.

Travel east across Spider Gate and instead of traveling north then through thick forest to get to Karahai, we go south and east from Spider Gate, following the river until we get to the considerably wider-cleared forest path that ends at Gourd Lake on the eastern side of the wider cut-through forest path, and continue along the river until Karahai.

Which, barring encounters, would be a shorter route to get from Spider Gate to arrow indicating the direction to Karahai, as it has less backtracking and does not include traveling a considerable length through heavy forest terrain.

To get to the heavy forest path to the north would take about the same amount of time to get to Gourd Lake via the southern widened forest path.

We now have who assisted Jubei with the ritual that awakened Zhēnzǐ five years ago: Jing, Senko and Yuli.

Minor retro now that we know Senko was one of the chidren that helped Jubei with the 'bond familiar' ritual Jubei thought they were doing instead of it actually being an awaken ritual.

Zhēnzǐ looks up at Senko and smiles at her as she approaches. He raises his right hand up towards her, as a large ripe (placeholder for Senko's favorite fruit) (Fresh Produce) appears in his hand, "Welcome home, Senko! More help would be foolish to decline, and even more foolish to decline your skills. How did your training go? Glad we were able to help Nadoya."

Zhēnzǐ does not know the names of the victims that the long-necked man killed, but not wanting to suggest Yuli might be one of the victims, (Zhēnzǐ's Int flaw: during this moment in time he forgot the victims were already identified) he adds, "We will find Yuli so she can tell us what happened to her."

Zhēnzǐ notices Senko's polearm is...trembling? He wonders if Senko has a familiar on her that is climbing up the weapon that is causing it to move some. "Does your new friend prefer fruits or nuts?" he asks Senko, his eyes looking at the naginata expecting to see what or who is apparently making her polearm appear restless, and wondering if Senko has acquired another squirrel friend...