As they rode onwards, they saw more of the monoliths. One morning, Azu-Bemphi returned from a scouting flight. “Are you interested in a really big monolith?” he asked. “Or maybe it’s a building. It’s hard to tell, beneath the storm.”
Soon afterwards, a tall black tower came into view on the horizon. Storm clouds whirled around the tip of its spire.
Tomoko and Lahja slowed down the sleds, and the travellers approached the tower cautiously. They were still taken by surprise when figures emerged from hiding places beneath the fresh-fallen snow. These beings had frost-blue hair, withered grey-blue skin and glowing red eyes. They surrounded and attacked the travellers, who identified the creatures as frost wights.
During the brief battle, Skygni dragged several of the wights down onto the ice so that Tomoko could stab them, and Olaf trapped another in a pit so that Shinji could shoot it leisurely. Their equipment and the style of their ragged clothing suggested that the wights had once been Minkaian.
Once the wights had been defeated, the travellers climbed back onto the sleds and continued towards the tower. When they were close, they could see an oval-shaped entrance to the tower. Olaf also glimpsed a spectral figure flying in the storm above. The figure looked like a human man of Tian origin, but not Minkaian. However, he had clawed fingers and black-feathered wings. Around his neck, he wore a shard of black stone on a chain - the shard looked solid even though the figure seemed to be incorporeal.
The figure started to cast a spell. Olaf thought it might be call lightning.
The only shelter nearby was the tower. The travellers urged the dogs to head towards it at full speed.
When they were just about to reach the entrance, the dogs seemed reluctant to continue and were about to turn aside. Skygni snarled at them. The dogs kept going straight ahead.
The sleds passed through the entrance into a dark space. The dogs skidded to a halt just in time - they had arrived on a large landing that did not have railings.
All of the travellers apart from Lahja experienced a sense of something ancient, uncanny and horrifying, existing in an oppressive presence all around them. Most of them were shaken by it. Olaf panicked. He turned around and started to run towards the doorway. Shinji and Lahja leapt forwards and grappled Olaf to the ground before he left the tower.
A voice spoke inside Olaf’s mind. “Welcome, master,” it said. “What is your wish?”
Olaf immediately felt calm.
Silvery veins began to glow in the black walls, lighting up the large interior space all at once. This startled the already shaken Tomoko, who jumped and stumbled forwards. As she landed on the floor, her shape suddenly changed - she now had the head of a fox and a large bushy tail. “I’m so sorry,” she said, covering her muzzle with her furry hands.
She stood up, and explained that she was a kitsune. “Is that why you refused to join Ameiko’s family?” Shinji asked.
“The people of Minkai would never accept one of my kind as a member of a ruling family,” Tomoko said.
“Maybe it’s time for change,” Shinji suggested.
Olaf did not seem to have noticed Tomoko’s transformation. “What can you do?” he asked. “Can you block that entrance?”
A door slid downwards, closing the oval-shaped entrance.
“Olaf ...?” said Shinji. “What’s going on?” He slowly reached for an arrow.
“It’s fine,” said Olaf. “Can you speak to my companions?”
“If you wish us to address your servants,” said the voice, “then we will do so, master.”
Shinji and Tomoko heard the voice in their minds, asking them what they wished.
“Can you make it a bit warmer in here?” Tomoko asked.
“Do you wish us to obey your servant’s request?” the voice asked Olaf.
“Yes,” said Olaf.
The air inside the tower gradually became warmer until it was comfortable. Then Olaf asked the voice to stop, and the temperature remained steady.
The travellers looked around. They were standing on the landing at the top of a spiral staircase that went downwards around the edges of a large hexagonal room. Olaf, Tomoko and Shinji cautiously climbed down the stairs. While they were on the staircase, they felt somewhat lighter than usual, as if there was a force supporting them and keeping them from falling. (Skygni stayed on the landing with the sled-dogs, who still seemed frightened.)
At ground level in the hexagonal room were six white stone slabs, also covered with silvery veins. There were six hexagonal doorways, and also two black stone plinths at opposite sides of the room. One plinth supported a black shard. On the other plinth were two small black stones holding down several strands of longish black hair.
Olaf found that he could understand the patterns formed by the veins quite well now. The patterns on the plinth with the two stones and the hair seemed to indicate strong enchantment magic that used the hair as a link.
The travellers discussed what the enchantment could possibly be. Tomoko remembered Chief Nalvanaq saying that Tunuak’s hair had rapidly turned white after he had returned from the journey during which his two teachers had died in a blizzard. The travellers decided that the hairs most likely had been taken from Tunuak, and were being used as part of the enchantment that influenced the shaman’s dreams.
Olaf cast mage hand to pull the strands of hair free, and Shinji destroyed them with fire.
Olaf then turned his attention to the plinth holding the black shard. The patterns there indicated powerful enchantment magic, and the shard looked like the one that the spectral figure flying in the storm had been wearing.
“What are the shards?” Olaf asked.
“They are keys, to control the storm,” said the voice.
“Who is the person outside?”
“He is another master.”
“What happened to him?”
“He overreached,” the voice said. “He was killed by a storm he was controlling and flying in, while he was trying to drive it to the limits of its power.”
Olaf picked up the shard. White glowing arcs of light appeared in the air around him.
“Come here, Azu!” said Tomoko.
Azu-Bemphi flew away from Olaf and landed on Tomoko’s shoulder.
The arcs of light surrounded Olaf and reached up towards a bright sphere that appeared at the very top of the room. Olaf’s blond hair stood on end. Slowly, he began to sense the storm outside and understand how he could control it with his thoughts.
“I had high hopes for him,” Azu-Bemphi said to Tomoko. “He’s not going to turn into some sort of lightning wraith or electric golem, is he?”
Olaf put the shard back on the plinth. The white arcs faded (although Olaf’s hair still stood on end).
Olaf looked at the large slabs of white marble. The patterns on them suggested powerful abjuration magic keeping something contained. Olaf explained this to his companions.
“What’s inside the slabs?” Shinji asked.
“We are,” said the voice.
“Who are you?”
“We were masters. Now we serve.”
“Do you wish to be free?” Olaf asked.
After a pause, the voice replied, “Yes, we do.”
“What will happen to you?” asked Shinji.
“We will ... travel onwards.”
“And what will happen to the storms?” Olaf asked. “To this place?”
“There will be nothing left to channel the power. This land will return to the control of natural forces.”
The travellers then looked through some of the doorways. Olaf found a short, hexagonal corridor with white walls. There were some hexagonal indentations that moved aside when pushed. Inside four of the small spaces beyond, Olaf found four more black shards.
The next doorway led to a very long hexagonal corridor. It seemed to be straight, but the end point simply vanished in the distance. The black stone walls here were patterned with metallic green veins. “Where does this go?” Tomoko asked.
“East,” said the voice.
“How far?”
“Some distance. Not as far as it did. There was an earthquake.”
“Were there vehicles to travel along this?”
“Look through the next doorway.”
In another white-walled short corridor, Tomoko and Olaf found a platform with railings on the front and back. It was large enough for half a dozen people to stand on it comfortably, but light enough to carry. Tomoko and Olaf took it to the long black corridor. When they stood on it, it lifted into the air slightly and seemed very stable. They thought about moving forward. The platform began to move forward, but it was so steady that they could not feel any motion or rush of air. But the walls of the corridor turned to a blur of green-on-black.
“Are there emergency exits?” Tomoko asked. “If I was building something like this, I’d put in emergency exits.”
The platform slowed and halted next to an alcove that contained a spiral staircase leading upwards through a shaft. Tomoko climbed up to a hexagonal metal hatch. At first, she couldn’t move it, but after several minutes, she was able to push it open. Above her was a vertical tunnel through the ice. The air was filled with water vapour.
Tomoko climbed up to the surface. On one horizon was a mountain range that she would have expected to see in a different direction. Apparently, she and Olaf had travelled hundreds of miles in minutes.
Tomoko and Olaf then asked the platform to carry them to the end of the tunnel. There, the way was blocked by rocks that had fallen from above. Olaf thought it might be possible to dig a way upwards through the rubble, but they decided not to attempt this at the moment.
They returned to the main room of the tower. “You should try it,” Tomoko said to Shinji. “It’s fun.”
“This place is an artifact of great power,” said Shinji. “Not a toy.”
“You will not obtain true mastery,” said the voice, “until you recognise that there is no distinction to be made.”
“Go on,” said Tomoko. “Take Skygni with you.”
“Very well,” said Shinji. Skygni and Shinji stood on the platform and disappeared into the darkness.
The sound like a distant echo of someone shouting “Wheeeee!” was presumably just the wind outside the tower.
About half an hour later, Shinji and Skygni returned. “That was a most singular experience,” Shinji said gravely.
The travellers discussed what they should do next. Perhaps the best plan would be to use the shards to wrest control of the storm from the ghost, fight the ghost and then free the entities from the marble slabs.
- Tomoko has revealed herself to be a kitsune (a shapeshifter whose natural form resembles an anthropomorphic fox). Her true nature is the reason why she has not joined the Amatatsu family - she believes that her kind would not be accepted in Minkai as a member of a ruling house.
- The caravan has left Iqaliat and is travelling along the southern path towards Tian Xia. Meanwhile, the PCs have gone north on dogsleds to investigate the monoliths and blizzards.
- A particularly unnatural blizzard seemed to be trying to herd the PCs northwards. The PCs went in that direction anyway and found a tall black tower with hurricane-force stormwinds swirling around the tip of its spire. Flying inside the storm was a spectral figure of a ghost who wore a solid shard of black stone on a chain around its neck. When the ghost seemed to be about to cast call lightning, the PCs took refuge inside the tower (it took them a few will saves versus fear effects to get through the entrance).
- Inside the tower, Olaf was greeted by the telepathic voices of entities who claimed to be held inside the white marble slabs on the floor of the main room. They addressed Olaf as “master”. They explained that the ghost is another “master”, who died when he “overreached” while flying on the stormwinds. The PCs found other black shards (known to the entities as “keys”), and these can be used to control the storms.
- The PCs also found what seemed to be the source of the enchantment on Tunuak, and destroyed it.
- The main tower room has a doorway to a very long straight tunnel leading towards Tian Xia. Tomoko and Olaf travelled as far as they could along it - it was blocked by a rockfall that perhaps had been triggered by an earthquake. It may be possible to dig a way upwards. (The caravan wagons would fit into this tunnel with a bit of carpentry to lower their roofs. Getting the horses in and out of the tunnel may be a more difficult challenge.)
- That ghost is presumably still flying above the tower.
In which the travellers arrive inside a magic circle
In the remaining white-walled corridor, Olaf found several pieces of paper. Perhaps they had been neatly stacked once, but now they were scattered around the space as if they had been blown about by erratic winds. While Olaf was studying these pages, Tomoko, Toshi and Shinji decided to investigate the other two long black-walled tunnels.
In about half an hour, the platform carried them to a set of wide stairs that led up to a cavern with a hidden hexagonal door. This opened out to a dry, rugged landscape. The peaks around them were snow-capped, but there was no ice on the ground where they were standing. Shinji concluded that they were probably somewhere in the north of Iobaria.
They returned to the main room of the tower, then travelled along the third black tunnel. At one point, it was partly blocked by a rock fall, but the travellers could lift the platform over the obstacle. The platform then continued on its way, at a somewhat reduced speed. This tunnel ended in another mountainous region, which Shinji identified as the northern border of Irrisen. They did not stay long there. As they travelled back towards the tower, Toshi speculated about the opportunities for trade and profit that these tunnels offered.
Meanwhile, Olaf had translated the papers. They were letters written in a form of Tien that was a few centuries old. The paper seemed quite new, however. The content of the letters was repetitive. The writer kept reminding the recipient of “everything we have done for you”, and gave instructions to prevent all travellers - especially large groups – from crossing through the region. There were no names or dates.
“How were these letters delivered?” Olaf asked.
“We believe the other master receives them from someone who meets him outside,” said the voice in Olaf’s head. “He has not allowed anyone else into the tower.”
Olaf remembered the reference in Kimandatsu’s notebooks to an entity named Atiyan, who was an ally that the oni had in the north.
Toshi, Shinji and Tomoko returned from their very rapid journeying. “Why do all the tunnels end in such isolated places?” Tomoko asked.
“The masters wanted their dominion to be subtle. They could teleport as they chose, but the tunnels were useful for servants to transport items quickly, without their origin becoming easily known.”
Koya took Olaf aside. “How much do you know about these entities? What exactly are they?” Lahja was also looking concerned (as well as somewhat confused).
“How did you come to be trapped here?” Olaf asked the voice.
“Crimes were committed. Disloyalty to the Council. Or disrespect. It is hard to remember. Our lives were ended and we were kept here to serve.”
Olaf asked the voice for the names of the Council, but the only answer was “the masters”.
“So what are we dealing with here?” Koya asked Olaf. “The enslaved ghosts of executed wizards?”
“It seems like that,” Olaf said.
“I’d advise you to accept as little of their aid as possible.”
Olaf, Toshi, Tomoko and Shinji each picked up one of the black shards, and they gradually became aware of the storm whirling around the tower’s spire. They could sense each other’s awareness of the storm, and they also started to understand how they could control the storm and still it. They called a powerful downdraft of cold air into the centre of the storm, and then used their aligned thoughts to pull back against the winds. It was hard to tell if there was anything consciously resisting them, but they could certainly sense the power of the storm they were trying to subdue.
Eventually, they knew that the storm had died down. They prepared to face the flying ghost outside – they gave themselves protection against electricity, and Olaf cast fly on Lahja. Then he asked the entities in the marble slabs to open the door of the main entrance to the tower.
The flying ghost was still circling the spire, now in bright sunlight. The ghost looked enraged and seemed to be preparing to cast a spell. Lahja flew upwards to attack and managed to strike a blow with her warhammer against the ghost’s strange ice-blue heart. The ghost responded by channelling negative energy, and after Lahja’s next blow, it commanded her to flee. She hurried down to defend her companions.
Meanwhile, Shinji shot many arrows with the intent of disrupting the ghost’s spell-casting. Tomoko also tried to shoot the ghost, and Olaf attacked with magic missiles and acid darts. Toshi had a bomb ready to throw if the ghost came within range. Lahja decided that her companions were not in urgent need of defence, and flew back up to strike the ghost again.
The ghost made a few more attempts to cast spells, and was interrupted each time by Shinji’s arrows. The ghost swooped past Lahja, hovered next to Shinji and swept its incorporeal clawed hand through Shinji’s throat.
Lahja, Tomoko and Skygni surrounded the ghost, who channelled negative energy again. Finally, Tomoko’s rapier pierced the ghost, striking its heart. The chain holding the ghost’s black shard fell through the ghost’s neck. As the ghost began to fade, it clutched desperately and ineffectually at the shard. The ghost disappeared.
Lahja and Koya quickly healed their companions. “The ghost’s touch has stolen part of my life span,” Shinji said grimly.
“You look fine now,” Lahja said, and Koya confirmed that Shinji was completely healed.
“My life is destined to be shortened by years.”
“Hm,” said Toshi. “It seems like Shinji won’t be his usual cheerful, happy-go-lucky self for a while.”
“I can fly!” Lahja announced excitedly.
After Lahja had flown around the spire to search for any clues left behind by the ghost, the travellers went back inside the tower. From their discussions with the entities in the slabs, it seemed that all the magic in the tower and the tunnels would cease to work if the entities were released. “We should keep the magic for a while,” Toshi said. “We’ll be able to save a lot of travel time.”
“Nothing in this life is gained from taking shortcuts,” Shinji said.
“Except for lots of things,” said Tomoko.
They decided to go back to the end of the tunnel that led towards Tian Xia, to find out whether there was a way up through the rock fall. Shinji studied the rocks for a while and concluded that it would be safest to build a supporting framework to hold up some of the rocks while they removed others.
The travellers did not have much wood with them, so they used the moving platform to go along the tunnels all the way to Irrisen. They cut down a pine tree and brought back several sturdy poles.
After about an hour of careful work, Shinji and the other travellers had cleared an opening through the broken ceiling of the tunnel. Tomoko was the first to climb up. She arrived in a large dark cavern. By the light of her lamp, she noticed symbols carved into the ground in a circle around her.
Olaf, Shinji and Toshi joined Tomoko. They studied the symbols, which seemed to mark out something like a permanent magic circle against evil, although Olaf was not sure how effective it would be. The symbols looked as though they were part of a different tradition from any magic Olaf was familiar with.
Olaf heard the faint sounds of footsteps somewhere nearby. A large white-furred humanoid creature walked slowly into view from a corridor at the far end of the cavern. The creature had pale glowing eyes and long claws. It stopped more than thirty feet away and started casting. Olaf recognised the first spell as detect undead and the second as detect evil. Shinji and Olaf both guessed that the creature was a yeti.
The yeti began to speak in a language none of the travellers could understand. Tomoko used gestures to try to explain that the travellers meant no harm. Toshi used gestures to try to explain that the extract he was about to mix up would be harmless. It was not clear how much of this the yeti understood.
Toshi drank his extract and then used gestures to try to explain that he could now understand the yeti even though it still would not be able to understand him.
“Do you need aid?” the yeti asked, speaking loudly and slowly. “The tunnels are dangerous. They are haunted.” It wiggled its claws in a gesture that may have been intended to indicate spookiness. “Stay here. I will bring someone who can speak your language.”
A few minutes later, the yeti returned with another of its kind, who could speak halting, uncertain Common. The travellers explained again that they meant no harm, and introduced themselves. The yeti also introduced themselves - the one who spoke Common was named Borvundsarganethrim, and the other was Tielvarinkalliasah.
The yeti explained that they were “susceptible”, and so they avoided the tunnels. When Tomoko showed them one of the black shards, the yeti backed away and asked the travellers not to bring the shards any closer. The travellers apologised and dropped all four shards into the tunnel below.
“You have travelled through the tunnels,” said Tielvarinkalliasah in her own language. “There are dangerous ghosts there. This one is most tainted.” She pointed at Olaf with one claw.
Toshi translated.
“I’m fine,” said Olaf. “I think they’re trying to create distrust and dissent among us.”
“Forgive us,” Borvundsarganethrim said. “We are being ... unhostlike. Please join us for food and rest. But a warning first. Our gaze can be troubling to others. Perhaps it is best if you become used to it now.”
The two yeti stepped forwards. At close range, there was something disquieting about their pale, intense gazes. But none of the travellers were harmed.
Tomoko went back to the main room of the tower to fetch Lahja, Koya and Skygni. Meanwhile, the yeti explained that they were under siege from above by allies of the ghost from the tower. The yeti believed they had angered the ghost when they had offered sanctuary and aid to merchants from the east. The travellers offered their help against the besieging forces, and asked if they would be able to bring others through these caverns. The yeti agreed readily.
When all the travellers had arrived in the cavern, they followed the two yeti up some sloping natural tunnels to another large cave. There, the yeti offered them a meal of strange fungi sliced into intricate shapes, and also some arrangements of rocks to sleep on. Other yeti watched, their pale eyes glowing from the dark corners of the cavern.
- The flying ghost who was controlling the storms has been destroyed (for the time being, anyway).
- It seems that all the magic of the tower and tunnels will cease to function if the entities trapped within the white marble slabs are freed.
- The PCs are now guests of yeti who live in caverns above the end of the tunnel to Tian Xia. The yeti claim they are under siege by allies of the ghost from the tower.
In which a tunnel starts to seem much longer
Before going to sleep that night, Koya dealt out her cards and studied them for some time.
The next morning, she said that if she was interpreting her dreams correctly, releasing the entities from the marble slabs should not have harmful consequences. By “travelling onwards”, the entities probably meant travelling on to the next world.
After a breakfast of fungi and water, the travellers followed the yeti along more tunnels. They reached a sequence of large rectangular rooms and straight corridors. At one point, the yeti asked the travellers to wait. One of the yeti disarmed an ancient-looking pit trap. Finally, they arrived at a set of double doors, which were closed, barred and bolted. According to the yeti, these led outside.
The yeti said that the besieging forces included several undead creatures and a saumen kar. The saumen kar were usually solitary people, and the yeti did not know why a saumen kar would be keeping company with undead.
Olaf cast fly spells on some of his companions, and the yeti opened the doors. This revealed a view of an ice-covered valley sloping down from the cliff-face where the doorway was. Four beings that looked like headless corpses stood in a large semicircle around the doorway. Lahja had heard tales of such creatures - they were undead known as ‘headless wardens’. Further down the valley was a pair of tents.
One of the headless wardens picked up a rock and threw it at the cliff above the doorway. The loud thud echoed down the valley.
Lahja, Skygni, Shinji and Toshi went outside to confront the wardens. Toshi took to the air, and his fiery bombs proved highly effective against the undead. Olaf contributed some magic missiles to the fray. Lahja and Skygni fought the wardens at ground level for a while, but found that the creatures could do a surprising amount of damage with unarmed blows. Lahja and Skygni retreated to the doorway before they were surrounded by wardens, and they accepted some healing from Koya. Then the travellers told the yeti to close the doors, to make sure that none of the wardens would be able to get into the caverns. Olaf, Koya and Skygni were shut inside with the yeti. Lahja, Toshi and Shinji remained outside to continue the battle.
Meanwhile, an ogre mage wearing samurai armour had emerged from one of the tents. He pointed at Lahja. “I challenge you to single combat!” he said in Common. He drew his katana, rose from the ground and started flying towards the doorway.
A few moments later, a large white bear stepped into view from behind the other tent.
Shinji imbued his arrows with magic to chill and slow the ogre mage. Shinji also shouted instructions at Lahja. “Move back! Keep moving back! Now stay close to him!”
Lahja and the ogre mage exchanged blows. The ogre mage wielded his blade skilfully and hit Lahja a couple of times, but it was Lahja’s warhammer that ended the combat, and the ogre mage fell to the snow-covered ground.
Toshi had dealt with the remaining headless wardens by then. The white bear had an aura of evil, so Shinji and Toshi attacked it with arrows and bombs from the air. As soon as the bear fell, it vanished - it seemed to have been a summoned creature.
The travellers explored the tents. They did so cautiously, because there were two tents and they had seen only one creature among their opponents who seemed likely to appreciate a tent.
The tents were sparsely furnished and contained no other creatures. The travellers looked for tracks further down the valley. A figure stood up out of a hiding-place in the snow - it was a large horned humanoid whose white fur had dark rune-like patterns branded into it. This creature matched the yeti’s description of the saumen kar. It began shouting, and Toshi drank an extract to help him understand the language.
“You have slain the bear!” the saumen kar said. “You have brought destruction upon this land.”
Shinji was not impressed. “We’ve heard all that before.”
It occurred to the travellers that they had indeed heard something like this before, during their first meeting with Tunuak.
Their attempts to reason with the saumen kar were not successful, so the travellers backed away and left it ranting in the valley.
At a prearranged sequence of knocks, the yeti opened the doors and let the travellers back into the caverns. In one of the largest caverns, the yeti served a celebratory banquet of water and intricately sliced fungi. “The visitors have freed us,” said the yeti in unison in their own language, while they sat in a wide circle, watching the travellers with unblinking pale eyes. “Praise them.”
The next day, the travellers went back outside. They found footprints in the snow - it seemed that the saumen kar had wandered off. If it had been enchanted at one time by the winged ghost, then the effect was presumably no longer active. The travellers hoped that the saumen kar would regain mental equilibrium now that it was away from the influence of the ogre mage.
The travellers then confirmed that the yeti had no objection to the caravan travelling through these caverns. There would be a number of challenges and difficulties, but it was clear that the journey through the tunnel would save so much time that all the extra work would definitely be worthwhile.
So the travellers said a temporary farewell to the yeti, went back through the tunnel to the tower, then set out on their dogsleds to find the caravan.
After a bit over a week, the travellers caught up with the caravan. There were plenty of overjoyed greetings. Zaiobe told Shinji that the caravan’s journey had been fairly quiet so far, with no storms and only one encounter with gargantuan white tarantulas. The young coffee plants were thriving in their greenhouses.
“We’ve found something rather interesting,” Toshi told Sandru.
“There are dead people in rocks who make people travel fast through tunnels that are the wrong shape!” said Lahja.
As Toshi gave a more detailed explanation about the tunnels and the extremely fast platforms, Sandru’s eyes widened. The travellers could almost see the calculations in his mind as he deducted the salaries and provisions that the shortcut could save him.
Sandru directed his caravan to leave the current path and head northwards. When they reached the tower, they began a complex logistic exercise. The wagons were disassembled, the horses were calmed and lowered into the tower, and trade goods were placed on the platforms to be carried swiftly. At the other end of the tunnel, the opening in the roof needed to be widened, and the horses were lifted into the yeti’s caverns. Sandru purchased quite a lot of potions of ant haul from Toshi.
Once all of the people, animals, equipment and goods of the caravan had been transported to the yeti’s caverns, a few of the travellers went back to the tower to free the entities who were controlling the magic there.
In the main room of the tower, Toshi spoke to the entities and asked if they still wished to be freed. “Yes, we do,” the voice replied in Toshi’s mind. The entities believed that breaking the slabs should be enough to release them.
Lahja struck one of the slabs with her warhammer over and over until cracks appeared on its surface. Toshi filled the cracks with magically created water, and Shinji cast ray of frost to freeze the water. This forced the cracks wider, slightly. Lahja started hitting the slab again. The travellers repeated this process many times. At last, one of Lahja’s blows split the slab into pieces. A flash of blood-red light pulsed along the veins in the marble, and then the veins lost their glow and turned an ordinary dull metallic colour.
A spectral figure rose from the broken stone. It looked like a woman with very dark skin and very pale hair. She was dressed in plain robes. Her hands were blurred and slightly misshapen, as if she had begun to forget some of the details of what she had looked like. She bowed to the travellers and faded.
The travellers broke the remaining slabs. Each time, a ghost dressed in plain robes drifted out of the rubble. Some were men and some were women. They had either very pale skin and very dark hair, or very dark skin and very pale hair. Most of them had some haziness in the details of their appearance. They all bowed and then faded.
When the last ghost disappeared, the glowing veins in the walls went dark. The only illumination came from the open doorway above. The travellers created light and lit lamps. They tested the platforms, but as they expected, the platforms no longer moved. The green veins in the walls of the tunnel had also stopped glowing, and the tunnel was now completely black.
To rejoin the caravan, the travellers began a much slower trip along the dark, empty, straight tunnel.
- The forces besieging the yeti’s caverns have been defeated.
- After a lot of complicated logistics, the caravan has been transported to the yeti’s caverns.
- The ghosts have been released from the marble slabs and all the magic of the tower and tunnels has been shut down. Some of the PCs are now making the journey back along the featureless tunnel at non-magical speeds, with only each other’s conversation providing any variety.
In which an unusual combination of spices leads Toshi to meet one relative and hear about some others
When Shinji, Toshi, Lahja and Skygni finally reached the end of the tunnel and climbed up into the yeti’s caverns, the wagons had all been reassembled outside and the caravan was ready to depart.
Lahja, Toshi and Shinji reported that they had released the ghosts from the marble slabs. “No more fast travel, then?” said Tomoko sadly.
As he stood near the caravan, Olaf heard a voice in his mind. “Master,” said the voice, “we have reconsidered and returned. We will serve you if you keep our presence secret from the others. Also, master, we believe you should keep a close watch upon your companions. Some of them ate too much of the yeti’s fungi. They may begin to act strangely. Especially the one called Lahja.” The voice in Olaf’s mind became more expressive. “And we think you should dye your hair blue. It would really suit you!”
Azu-Bemphi became visible in front of Olaf’s face. “Just experimenting!” the faerie dragon said to Olaf telepathically, then fluttered away.
The caravan began travelling down along the mountain pass. The travellers saw their first complete sunset for weeks.
After a few days, they reached an area where the pass opened out into a large circular space between two rising slopes. Three huge plants stood in the circular area. Some of the travellers went ahead of the caravan to investigate. The plants uprooted themselves and started moving towards the travellers quite quickly (especially for plants).
These moonflowers proved to be stubborn, troublesome and somewhat resistant to warhammers and arrows. Two of the moonflowers tried to grapple Skygni and the third succeeded in wrapping Lahja up in a cocoon.
Eventually, the travellers defeated the moonflowers and hastily freed Lahja. Toshi considered ways to include moonflower on the menu. As he was cutting the plants open, he discovered a number of items embedded in the bulbous stems. Some of these items were magical (although their owners had apparently not been well-equipped to fight moonflowers).
“Perhaps we should have tried feeding Sandru’s coffee plants to them,” Shinji suggested.
“Yes, that’s exactly what we want,” said Toshi. “Huge hungry athletic plants on caffeine.”
One morning, Koya said that her dreams had given her another warning - the caravan was approaching a land that was close enough to Minkai for tales of strangers to reach their enemies easily. Even though the Amatatsu heirs were protected from divination magic, they looked distinctive enough that gossip about them could be sufficient to reveal their identities. The travellers decided there was no need for them all to pretend to be Tian - they could pass themselves off as ordinary members of a caravan that had been lucky enough to make the journey across from the west. Lahja was persuaded to put on a hat of disguise, alter her appearance to look like a brown-haired Varisian woman, and answer to the nickname of ‘Lulu’. Shinji decided to call himself Tenaka for while. Skygni’s fur was clipped and dyed with a pattern of brown stripes (after Tomoko convinced him that the lessened wind resistance would make him a more effective combatant).
A few days later, the travellers spotted a lone horseman, who quickly rode southwards away from them. Not long afterwards, two groups of riders approached from the south and then travelled with the caravan at some distance on either side. Gormundr told the other people in the caravan not to be concerned - it was a Hongali tradition to escort caravans when possible, to deter bandits. He did note that this was a larger escort than usual (and there had been no sign of any bandits).
A rider approached the caravan. She was dressed in leather armour with insignia of gold and brown. She welcomed them to the city of Ordu-Aganhei and invited them to attend a banquet as guests of Her Radiant Highness Princess Batsaikhar. Sandru accepted on behalf of the caravan.
Olaf asked Gormundr whether there were any particular local rules of etiquette they should know about. Gormundr explained that Ordu-Aganhei made money as a centre of trade, and its citizens were generally accepting of foreigners and strange customs. However, they did have a tendency to act oddly around people of Ulfen descent.
The caravan arrived at Ordu-Aganhei and stopped in a caravanserai just outside the city walls. The travellers quickly changed their clothes in preparation for the banquet.
As they walked through the city, some of the people ran out to touch Olaf. One young woman approached him, apologised (saying that she had experienced a lot of bad luck recently) and kissed him. Toshi muttered something about creating a concoction to bleach his own hair.
The banquet was held at the Great Tent (which was actually a solidly build permanent palace with some vaguely tent-like architectural features). Princess Batsaikhar was there. She turned out to be the rider who had spoken to them earlier - now, she was dressed in robes of yellow and red silk. She was a short, plump, muscular woman with a lovely oval face, flawless golden skin and long black hair. She presented them with jewellery (Olaf received a particularly fine cloak pin set with gemstones that matched the colour of his eyes). Fortunately, Sandru had thought to bring along a vase from Ameiko’s glassworks as a gift for the princess.
The first course of the banquet was a pungent-smelling and rather horrible-looking dish containing pale lumps of something in a thin greenish-yellow sauce. However, Toshi could tell that the pungent smell was mostly from the garnish (which could be set aside). The green and yellow spices in the sauce combined to make a subtle and delicious flavour that was familiar to Toshi - his father had often cooked a similar dish until his supply of those spices had run out.
There was entertainment - juggling of swords and firesticks - and many very sweet desserts. Lahja watched the princess carefully to see how she treated her servants (no one seemed particularly terrified).
After the banquet, Toshi went to find the cook who had made the first course. In the palace kitchen, he was introduced to the head chef, who turned out to be Toshi’s uncle Enlai. Toshi quietly told Enlai about the death of Toshi’s father. Toshi then asked after other members of the family. “My parents went back to Minkai years ago,” Enlai said. “But my wife and daughters are here in the city - they’d be happy to meet you.” Toshi and Enlai made plans for a discreet funeral service, where the ashes of Toshi’s father could be scattered in the one of the beautiful public gardens of Ordu-Aganhei.
Enlai warned Toshi to be careful if he planned to travel onwards to Minkai. “Things are ... troubled there. Emperor Shigure hasn’t been seen in public for seventy years. And the regent’s rule is harsh and controlling.”
Enlai started asking about Toshi’s mother, whom he had met years ago when her caravan had visited Hongal from Varisia. “She’d taken an odd foreign name with lots of silent letters, as I recall,” Enlai said. “But her original family name was something impressive.”
“Soto,” said Toshi.
“That’s it. Which family was she from? There are two well-known families of that name in Minkai, completely unrelated. There’s the great merchant clan, headed by Soto Yodo. Last I heard, he was still alive, over a hundred years old, brilliant as ever. Or was she from the noble family? Many of them were pledged to serve members of the five ruling families as samurai, although there was apparently a strong heritage of arcane power in the Soto line as well. Their influence has waned in recent years, but the head of the Soto family is of course still very influential indeed.” Enlai’s tone implied he was assuming Toshi knew which person he was talking about.
Toshi shrugged.
“Soto Takahiro?” Enlai said. “The Jade Regent?”
- The caravan has completed its journey over the Crown of the World and has reached the city of Ordu-Aganhei in Hongal. The PCs have been welcomed to a celebratory banquet by the ruler of the city, Princess Batsaikhar.
- The Amatatsu heirs have taken some measures to hide their identity - Lahja is disguised as a Varisian named Lulu, and Shinji is now known as Tenaka.
- Toshi’s uncle (on his father’s side) works as the head chef in the palace.
- According to Toshi’s uncle, Emperor Higashiyama Shigure of Minkai hasn’t been seen in public for seventy years, and his regent has ruled harshly over Minkai ever since.
- Possibly, Tomoko’s original letter of introduction to the Soto family in Sandpoint referred to a connection with a member of an entirely unconnected Soto family.
- And it’s also possible that Toshi and Shinji are related in some way to the Jade Regent of Minkai.
In which one of Sandru’s coffee plants is allegedly eaten by a snail
After the funeral service for Toshi’s father, Sandru found some of the travellers and told them he had learned that they were invited to four more nights of feasting. There would also be sporting competitions and entertainment, but Sandru had the sense that something was missing from the descriptions he had been given of the celebrations.
The travellers asked around, and Toshi learned from his uncle that on the second-last night of the feasting, the guests of honour were expected to provide the meals and the entertainment. The staff of the palace kitchens would assist, but the travellers would need to plan the menu and instruct the cooks. Toshi’s life suddenly became very busy.
The competitions were held on a field just outside the city. The atmosphere was festive and the events seemed to be at least partly made up on the spot - when Tomoko was overheard suggesting sheepdog trials, one of the locals went to fetch a small flock of tough, angry-looking sheep. Meanwhile, Tomoko took part in a very dextrous wrestling match and deliberately lost, to avoid attracting too much attention. After some careful instructions from Tomoko, Skygni came second in the sheepdog trials. The final - and clearly most prestigious - event was a mounted archery course. Shinji planned to enter.
Toshi quietly warned Shinji to be careful. “Our enemies are aware of your abilities.”
“Why don’t you borrow my hat of disguise and take my place?” Shinji suggested. “It’s the perfect solution!”
“You do the riding. I’ll do the cooking,” Toshi said firmly. “By the way, we may be related to the Jade Regent. Hold on to your hat!”
Shinji entered the mounted archery contest and did very well - perhaps rather better than he had planned.
One of the other competitors was a young, finely dressed Minkaian man who appeared to be another guest of the princess, although the travellers had not seen him at the previous night’s feast.
Dressed in riding leathers, Princess Batsaikhar also took part in the mounted archery and gave an impressive display of shooting from horseback without needing to slow down to aim. At the end of the contest, she awarded the winner’s ribbons to Shinji. When Shinji complimented her on her skill at mounted archery, she offered to give him some lessons.
After the competitions, some of the travellers visited the marketplace. There, the young Minkaian man approached them and praised Shinji’s mounted archery skills. “May we speak privately? Jiro is ... the name that I am currently using.” Jiro had heard that the travellers had recently arrived from the west, and he had some advice to offer. He seemed reluctant to reveal too much about himself, but he mentioned that he had been a guest at the princess’s court a month earlier, and he had returned a few days ago after travelling through the region. He answered some of the travellers’ questions about Minkai. The reason why there had been no caravans from Minkai for decades was that the current regime had decreed that merchants needed permission to leave the country, and none had been allowed to travel over the Crown of the World. The regime was led by a Regent claiming to rule on behalf of Emperor Shigure, who had not been seen in public for seventy years. Officially, there had been three Jade Regents during that time. “But they’ve all had the same name,” Jiro said. “And in both cases, when the son has inherited the role of Regent, it’s been said that he looks almost identical to his father, except with less grey in his hair...”
Jiro also warned Shinji to be careful in his dealings with Princess Batsaikhar. “She likes to play games with people.”
As she was visiting a small shrine to a particular god, Tomoko met a silver-haired stranger who introduced himself as Mateyo. He was also somewhat reluctant to reveal too much about himself, but he gave Tomoko some news from Minkai and mentioned his suspicion that oni had secretly taken control of the regime there. Tomoko asked if there was any organised resistance. “All I will say at this time,” said Mateyo, “is that any organised resistance keeps itself well-hidden. The Jade Regent has servants who are very good at locating and suppressing dissent.”
Some riders found Shinji in the market and delivered a gift from the princess to him. The gift was a set of shining horseshoes, which Olaf identified as horseshoes of a zephyr. Shinji later joined the princess outside the city for the mounted archery lessons she had promised.
At the feast that night, one of the servants spilled sauce onto Tomoko’s dress, and another servant hurried over to help clean up the mess. They were both very apologetic, but Tomoko suspected that this incident had not been an accident. She followed the servants out of the hall and asked them what was going on, but the servants only apologised again and looked frightened (not particularly convincingly).
Once the feast and the puppet show were over, the princess stood up and left the hall abruptly. Tomoko stealthily followed Batsaikhar to a corridor near the kitchens, where the princess spoke to the two servants involved in the sauce-spilling. The conversation was in Hon-La, a language that Tomoko did not understand... until she remembered that she was carrying one of Toshi’s potions of comprehend languages.
“…case, we can just use cosmetics,” the princess was saying. “See one of my maids about it tomorrow.” That was the end of the conversation.
The following day, Tomoko bought some tea from a Minkaian merchant in the marketplace. She asked him how he got permission to trade, and he said he had bribed the border guards. Tomoko took a note of the amount that the merchant said was sufficient.
During the third feast, the two servants involved in the sauce-spilling were back, now wearing cosmetics that did not completely hide the vivid bruises on their faces. Tomoko and Lahja could both tell that the bruises had been created by cosmetics.
After the feast, the guests were invited to watch another entertainment - the performers gave a dramatic display of swordplay and fire-breathing while dancing over hot coals. Drinks containing crushed ice were served. Lahja confronted the two mysterious servants. “Why are you wearing makeup to hide that you’re wearing makeup to look like you’re hurt? It doesn’t make sense. I’d heal you if it was real!”
“Please forgive us,” said one of the two servants. “We must have caused another misunderstanding.”
At the end of the festivities for that evening, Princess Batsaikhar wished her guests good night in a chilly tone, as if they had failed some sort of test.
“I don’t understand what you want from us,” Lahja said to the princess.
The princess smiled. “Tell your friend the archer to visit me tonight.”
“Do you like him?” Lahja asked.
“I do.”
“You understand women,” Shinji said to Tomoko.
“Do I?”
“Well, you understand men as helpless playthings. How should I respond to the princess’s invitation?”
“I think you should find a gift for her,” Tomoko said.
Shinji did not have to think for long before he decided what sort of gift would be suitable. He asked for assistance from Tomoko, who helped him to dig up and replant one of Sandru’s young coffee plants into a small pot. Tomoko then found a large snail and placed it carefully on the soil where the coffee plant had been.
Holding the purloined coffee plant, Shinji returned to the palace and approached the princess’s quarters. In the doorway, he presented the plant to her and explained that Sandru planned on being the only person selling coffee in Minkai. Apparently, the princess understood the potential value of this gift, and after an exchange of compliments and proverbs, Shinji was able to leave the palace without stepping through the doorway into the princess’s quarters.
(The next morning, Sandru was shocked to discover that one of his plants had apparently been eaten by a snail. He spent a lot of time building miniature defensive fortifications out of toothpicks around the remaining plants.)
Jiro found Shinji again and invited him to his guest rooms in the palace. “I have a few things I’d like to tell you. I arrived here with presents. Betrothal gifts. I have not yet decided whether to offer them to the princess. But I believe I need her support. You seem to me to be an honourable warrior. If it should be proved that Emperor Shigure is dead and the Jade Regent’s claims are false... would you support someone who wishes to replace the regime with a leader who has more right to rule?”
“I would.”
“Then there is something I wish to show you,” said Jiro. “As long as you promise not to tell anyone else about this.”
“You have my word.”
From a hidden compartment in a travelling chest, Jiro took out a wooden box, disabled the needle trap in its lid and unlocked it. Inside was a smaller box, enamelled with designs of clouds. When he opened this box, glowing greenish-white symbols appeared on his forehead, hands and chest. The box contained a small statuette of a dragon made from pale jade.
From the design on the smaller box, Shinji guessed which family Jiro was from. He bowed. “My Lord Sugimatu.”
Jiro nodded. “My full name is Sugimatu Jirosu. The last surviving descendent of my house. And, I believe, the last living member of any of the ruling families. You should go - it is perhaps best if we don’t spend too much time together here. But I would like to speak with you again soon.”
Meanwhile, Toshi’s days had been filled with making fireworks for the entertainment and planning a menu for the feast. “These items you call ‘sausages’...” said Toshi’s uncle. “They’re not some sort of test invented for naive foreigners, to see what concocted delicacies they can stomach?”
“No, they’re real food,” said Toshi. “Very popular in Varisia.”
Toshi’s uncle did not seem wholly convinced. But he kept on diligently constructing sausages, and under Toshi’s instructions, the kitchen staff put together all the courses. The feast was about to begin.
- The PCs have met some people who may be new allies. Mateyo is a handsome silver-haired gentleman who may have one or two things in common with Tomoko. Jiro, aka Lord Sugimatu Jirosu, claims to be the last surviving member of one of the ruling families of Minkai (and he has a statuette of a jade dragon that would seem to confirm his identity).
- Conversations with these travellers from Minkai suggest that the regime there has indeed fallen under the control of oni.
- Princess Batsaikhar of Ordu-Aganhei now has a coffee plant in her possession.
- A feast of Varisian/Minkaian fusion cuisine is about to be presented to the princess’s court.
In which there is panic in a marketplace
The princess’s guests all seemed to enjoy the food, and after the feast was over, Princess Batsaikhar called Toshi forward and presented him with a small polished cauldron. “This is simply a reward for your services,” she whispered to Toshi. “Nothing is expected in return. I only say this because some of your companions seem to be easily flustered.”
Lahja performed some traditional Varisian songs while Tomoko accompanied her on a borrowed samisen. Olaf then created an image of a spectral guide to lead the guests outside, where Toshi’s display of fireworks was staged. These entertainments received polite applause from the guests.
The travellers returned to their caravan. Olaf identified Toshi’s gift as a cauldron of brewing. “Handy...” said Toshi. “Most handy indeed.”
Shinji then told his companions that he had found a new ally.
“Are you sure you can trust him?” Olaf asked.
“I’d trust him with my life. He is a man of honour.”
“I’ll trust him with your life too.”
“I believe our interests align. Align more closely than... I’ve already said too much.”
The next morning, Lahja and Olaf found Jiro outside the palace - he was about to walk to the market. He invited them to join him.
“Do you believe in coincidence?” Jiro asked as they walked through the streets of the city. “The regime in Minkai seemed to become more confident just a few months ago. As if some danger or impediment to them had been dealt with. That’s one of the reasons why I decided to come here now.”
“Are you a good person?” Lahja asked him.
“I hope that I am a man of honour.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I try to keep my promises and act with courage... and help people in need, although that one is a longer-term goal at the moment.”
“Some people talk a lot about honour,” said Lahja, “but they’re horrible.”
“Well, my upbringing was somewhat... provincial,” said Jiro. “My manners may not be of the highest courtly standards.”
“I don’t mean manners.”
“Then I think you won’t like the people who are now running Minkai. Perhaps we should continue this discussion back in my rooms. Do you like tea? I’ll buy some and serve it to you in the palace.”
Jiro led Olaf and Lahja to a tent in the marketplace where a Minkaian merchant was selling a range of teas, spices and scented soaps.
“I have some special teas set aside for connoisseurs,” the merchant said, and ducked down behind his stand.
Olaf’s hawk was flying overhead and sent a mental warning to Olaf. A moment later, Jiro gasped and staggered back, clutching at his leg. A small dart had struck him.
Olaf and Lahja tried to get Jiro away, but two black-clad figures stepped out from hiding-places on either side of the marketplace and closed in to attack. Moments later, a third black-clad figure ran from the direction of the tea-merchant’s stand. Jiro drew his sword and defended himself, although he seemed to be moving less gracefully than before.
Lahja called on divine powers to protect herself and Jiro, and she began to glow with light. She knocked down one of the ninjas with her warhammer, then turned to face another. Toshi had been visiting a shop nearby and heard the commotion - he arrived on the scene and started throwing bombs at the ninja who was attacking Jiro. By then, people in the marketplace were screaming, shouting for the city guards and running.
Olaf was warned by his hawk that someone was sneaking up behind him. He hastily cast slow on two of the ninjas, and then turned around. A silver-haired man dressed in Minkaian clothing stood behind him. “Can you do something to get him out of there?” the man asked.
Olaf cast aqueous orb, and one of the ninjas was briefly caught in it. When the ninja escaped from the rolling water, a hammer-blow from Lahja knocked him unconscious.
The third ninja swallowed a potion and vanished. Toshi swallowed an extract of see invisibility and pointed out to Olaf where the glitterdust spell should be directed.
Shinji arrived just in time to shoot at the glittering outline, but the ninja quickly disappeared among the tents and stalls of the marketplace. Lahja attempted to track the ninja with Skygni’s help, but the scent trail ended when the ninja seemed to have climbed onto the roof of one of the nearby houses.
When Olaf looked around again, the silver-haired man had gone.
Some city guards finally arrived, took the fallen ninjas into custody and told Olaf, Toshi and Lahja not to leave the city.
Shinji quietly suggested that Jiro return to the palace to retrieve his belongings, and Olaf cast invisibility on Jiro. Not long afterwards, Jiro met the travellers at the caravan. The only thing he was carrying was a wooden box.
The travellers went with Jiro into one of the wagons. “There’s something I’d like to show you,” said Jiro. He opened the box.
Olaf saw the smaller enamelled box inside. “Stop, don’t open it!”
“Why not?” asked Jiro.
“What’s inside?”
Jiro described a small jade statuette of a dragon.
“If you open the warding box,” said Olaf, “the oni will be able to track you.”
“Forgive me,” said Shinji to Jiro. “It was remiss of me not to warn you - it simply didn’t occur to me.”
“It wouldn’t have made a difference,” Jiro said. “I’ve opened the box before, a month ago. To show the princess. How do you know about the Seal?”
“We have seen-” Shinji began.
“We have read about these artifacts,” Olaf said quickly, “and we know something of their properties.”
Olaf had been studying Jiro closely. Perhaps there were a few more questions to be asked...
- An assassination attempt has been made against Jiro (aka Sugimatu Jirosu). Jiro said that he had opened the warding box to show his jade dragon statuette to Batsaikhar a month ago. This may have led the assassins here.
- At least one assassin is still at large.
In which Toshi, Olaf and Lahja spend some time in prison
The travellers continued speaking with Jiro until some of them noticed a faint smell of lavender and lantern oil. A moment later, there was a whumpf noise from above - the roof of the wagon had been set on fire. As everyone rushed out of the wagon, a black-clad man became visible and attacked Jiro. Olaf summoned water elementals to put out the fire, while others of the travellers surrounded the ninja, and Shinji loosed arrows from a short distance. Two more ninjas emerged from hiding and attacked Shinji. However, a nauseating bomb and a sudden pit soon dealt with the new ninjas, and Tomoko’s rapier eventually struck down the first one, who turned out to be the tea-merchant in disguise. Jiro had been affected by poison on the assailant’s blade, but Koya stated that he was out of danger from it.
Lahja sent Skygni to search for more hidden attackers. A short time later, Lahja heard growling, and she hurried after Skygni. He had cornered a silver-haired man against a couple of the wagons. The man was not carrying any obvious weapons, and his hands were raised. “Hello, Mateyo,” said Tomoko, who had followed Lahja.
“Well done, Skygni!” said Lahja. “But don’t worry - he’s a friend! We think!”
Skygni kept growling, but a bit more quietly.
Mateyo seemed relieved to discover that Jiro had not been killed, but he rapidly gave the travellers some advice: they should try to make it seem that Jiro was now dead. Otherwise, the oni would continue trying to kill him. Tomoko used her skills with cosmetics to disguise one of the dead ninjas as Jiro.
It seemed that Mateyo and Jiro knew each other, although Jiro hadn’t been aware that Mateyo was in Ordu-Aganhei. “I suppose Hatsue sent you to watch over me,” Jiro said, with a trace of resentment in his voice.
Mateyo suggested that the ninjas may have chosen the marketplace as the site of the first ambush and attacked with their faces uncovered so that people would assume Minkai was responsible. The attack on a guest of the princess would be seen as an affront to her honour, and she might decide to declare war on Minkai in retaliation.
“The warriors of Hongal are skilled and courageous, but they would be cut to pieces,” Mateyo said. “I’ve seen the Minkaian military. The oni surely want war, but I believe they also want to be able to deny that Minkai struck the first blow. How well are you getting along with the princess?”
“Uh...” said Shinji.
“She’s very confusing!” said Lahja.
“You need to persuade her not to start a war over this,” Mateyo said. “And there’s another thing...”
Mateyo explained that Toshi, Lahja and Olaf had used their skills in obvious and memorable ways to defend Jiro during the marketplace attack. “Of course you did the right thing, but you’ve become well-known in the city. This may lead to awkward questions for your caravan leader when he arrives in Minkai...”
Tomoko went to the palace and sought a private audience with the princess, who was now wearing armour and a helmet and carrying a scimitar. Tomoko tried to persuade her not to make an immediate declaration of war against Minkai.
“Why should I take your advice?” Batsaikhar asked. “Your caravan is just a collection of fools and scoundrels and sausage-makers. This is a matter of honour!”
But Tomoko diplomatically hinted that perhaps the leaders of Minkai were trying to use Batsaikhar in a scheme, and perhaps a better form of revenge would be to counter that scheme with one of her own. Batsaikhar was eventually persuaded, and she listened to Tomoko’s suggestions.
Soon afterwards, city guards arrived at the caravan to arrest Toshi, Olaf and Lahja. The three travellers were taken to a fortified building and thrown into a dark, dusty cell that looked discouragingly like a place where prisoners were sent to be forgotten.
Sandru hired some new guards from among the locals, and the caravan departed Ordu-Aganhei quickly.
A few days later, the princess visited the prisoners. “I hope you’ve enjoyed your stay. My guards can escort you outside for some exercise at dusk and give you a chance to escape. Or would you prefer your heads on spikes atop the city walls?” Batsaikhar paused for a few moments. “We have some people who could mock up fairly convincing replicas.”
The prisoners thanked the princess for the offer but said they would take the first option. Once they were outside the city, they caught up with the caravan and adopted new disguises as caravan guards from the region. (Tomoko had been busy redecorating Lahja’s armour.)
Jiro had been travelling with the caravan and had stayed hidden in one of the wagons. The caravan was met on the road by three weather-beaten, dishevelled Minkaian riders summoned somehow by Mateyo. Jiro left with them and said he would keep moving through the wilderness, in the hope of staying ahead of any pursuit if the oni worked out that he had survived. Mateyo offered to journey with the caravan and help with crossing the border. “The caravan will be good cover for you. It gives you a reason to be strangers travelling through Minkai. But along the way, I can put you in contact with Hatsue and other members of the resistance.”
Mateyo advised the travellers not to attempt to bribe the border guards (the travellers noticed that this contradicted advice given by a certain tea-merchant... but they concluded that the tea-merchant had probably not been a particularly trustworthy source). Entering Minkai at the border crossing would have an advantage: foreigners would be issued with identity papers, which could be very useful if they wanted to do any business in Minkai. But the caravan members would need to be careful not to attract suspicion. Alternatively, Mateyo could guide some of the travellers around the border crossing, by taking a longer route through the forest.
“I presume it’s called the Forest of Spirits for a reason,” Olaf said.
Mateyo shrugged. “The oni dislike the place and avoid it.”
“Maybe we can find allies there!” said Lahja.
“Maybe.”