Session 10: Once in a blue moon... Report

General Summary

After winning their duels that morning, the party had some time before they began their first training sessions. Astrea used this time to visit the library and try to find a bathhouse. Unfortunately, she had little luck, being told only of one outside the city walls.
Meanwhile, Seto and Jerry were getting to work at the smith's shop, forging a new helmet for Jerry from the pieces of his old armour. Aien watched them work as he placed an order for a custom set of blades. The design he suggested seemed to excite the blacksmith who seemingly revels in crafting unique weaponry.
Once their business was complete, our heroes made their separate ways to the various schools they were choosing to attend. Astrea made her way to the Archer's school where she quickly discovered the difference between the short bows she was used to and these incredibly long "Yumi". After struggling to hit a flying coin, Astrea met a friendly new face offering to help her get to grips with the new weapon.
Whether it was her advice or merely the young woman's refreshing presence, Astrea soon found herself hitting the target with a new friend by her side. The girl, calling herself "Kit", seemed to recognize Astrea as having some connection to Lady Sumehime and asked if she could be introduced at some point. Astrea agreed and the two made fast friends.
Just outside the city walls at the Gaijin Bushi School, Seto and Jerry were listening to their new trainer spouting off about death, bushido and why the two are connected. Though it seemed like he might have had a small obsession, his long rant gave our heroes time to arm themselves with basic weaponry as provided to the students.
After readying themselves and splitting into pairs, their new master, "Shujinki Shi" released a horde of skeletons to face his students. The battle ensued and it looked like Jerry and Seto were going to wipe the floor with these skeletons, easily taking them down one after another, until suddenly, one of the undead warriors struck a lucky blow and lopped Jerry's hand clean off. Naturally, once the battle was over, Seto helped Jerry as he cauterized the wound with divine energy and they both headed for the medical tents inside the city.
Meanwhile, at the shinobi school, large monopoles had been set up for a "Tree climbing" exercise. Aien was one of the first in line to attempt the challenge as each participant was given a kunai and told that the first to reach the top of the pole would earn a ninja scroll. With that the students charged and climbed with everything they had, falling back down to the ground, again and again, making a little more progress with each attempt.
Just outside the school, Astrea was passing by after finishing her training and was admiring her handiwork from the previous night's vandalism. Her joy was short-lived, however, as she found a boy scrubbing the wall with all his might, trying to get rid of the message. Due to it's magical nature, this was, of course, impossible, so Astrea helped a little whilst also giving the boy some Miyagi style advice to leave the boy inspired... "Wax on, wax off, Daniel-san."
Inside, Aien was getting closer and closer to the top of this monopole and on his final attempt, Astrea watched him launch into the air and slash at the wood with his kunai to mark his progress. At this moment she saw an opportunity, and she took it, casting 'shatter' and causing the top of the monopole to explode in spectacular fashion.
As Aien fell back down to the ground surrounded by splinters of wood, the Grandmaster approached him, looking extremely impressed with his newest student, before handing him yet another ninja scroll. A scroll that would come in handy sooner than expected...
Speaking of hands... Jerry and Seto had arrived at the medical tent to see about reattachment only to find almost every bed occupied by soldiers and peasants alike, all appearing to be very ill. Two nurses rushed between patients, clearly overworked and in desperate need of more help. Eventually, one of them came to help Jerry. She told Seto to hold the mouse down while she exhaustedly attempted a reattachment.
As she started the process a pain surged through Jerry's arm and he thrashed out, surprising the nurse and almost knocking Seto off his feet as he failed to restrain his ridiculously strong friend. This unfortunate timing meant that the poor mouse's hand was reattached... backwards. Jerry was not having a good day.
Around this time the sun had begun to set and the party made their way back to the tattoo parlour to report for guard duty. General Mak was there waiting and seemed to appreciate their punctuality as well as Aien's arrival despite him not being involved in the previous night's incident.
"Alright lads, glad to see you can keep time. Tonight you'll be on city watch. I must emphasize the word watch. You will not be given any weapons other than those you already carry. Instead, each of you will receive a torch and a seal. This seal is not a coin for trading. That will prove that you are in service to the daimyo. Do NOT lose it. Loss of this coin will result in serious repercussions. Understand? Now. Seeing as you're new to the city, I have some tasks for you to complete around town. They should help you get familiar with the layout.
First, go and get some dinner. A guard on an empty stomach after a full day of training is useless to me. When you are done, tell the cooks to start closing up shop.
Then I want you to head to the bell near the tattoo parlour. Ring that to let the town know it's time to pack up and go home. Then head to the library and ring the bell there too. Don't worry about the sake den. They are allowed to stay open late. And the shinobi school too, of course.
Once that's done and assuming you don't run into any trouble, head to the wall and relieve the guards of their duty. Then all you have to do is stand watch until the next shift comes to relieve you. Simple as that.
If you need anything, I'll be in my quarters. Don't disturb me unless it's urgent."
After a brief discussion, General Mak took his leave and the party headed off to procure dinner nearby.
The food was fairly well prepared, though the tea served with dinner left plenty to be desired. Once they were done, their shift began and our heroes went to work closing the city down for the night.
Things were going smoothly until they came across a pair of old women arguing and accusing each other of poisoning their food supply. Astrea stepped in to settle the dispute and uncovered certain rumours regarding the town healer and herbalist. Aien, who had been listening closely to the conversation whilst in hiding, decided to investigate.
As Jerry used more of his holy power to cure the old woman of her disease, Aien slipped away and headed for the medical tents. When he arrived, the situation was starting to take a turn. Literally. The guard from the night before was there and was thrashing around on a table as the two tired nurses fought to hold him down. One of them took a bite to the wrist before the situation was resolved but as thanks for his help, she directed Aien to the building where the herbalist worked.
Upon entry, Aien noticed a myriad of potions, herbs, tea leaves and spices for sale, but there was no herbalist to be found. He crept further into the building, finding it mostly empty save for a trap door hidden on the floor. Curious, he opened the hatch and headed down the ladder.
At the bottom of the ladder Aien found himself in a dank, dark tunnel. In the distance, echoing through the hallways, he could hear strange, groaning sounds. Closer was the sound of bones being broken and flesh being torn, which he soon discovered was coming from a table at the end of the corridor. There stood a woman in white robes, tearing apart a humanoid corpse with some kind of surgical tool.
Aien used his new skills to turn invisible and sneak up behind her, seeing her pull a bloody scroll from inside the corpse. As she unfurled it, he read over her shoulder:
"The bloodscrolls are ready. We can now move on to the second stage. Come to the cave on Mt. Kougen when you have conquered Toto. Do not fail me."
Sensing that this woman must be involved in the zombie attacks, the poisoning, or both, Aien revealed himself and attempted to take her prisoner. Though utterly surprised, she seemed not to resist at first, instead following her captor's instructions until they reached the ladder.
At this moment she turned her head and let out a banshee-like scream, the sound reverberating off the walls and inside Aien's head like a gong being struck. Disoriented, Aien looked up just in time to see the woman close the trap door behind her and the light from above disappear. Then, as his hearing slowly returned, he heard movement in the hallway behind him followed by angry, snarling groans. 
Outside, the others had just finished ringing all the bells and sending everybody home. They were now headed to relieve the day guards from their posts along the outer wall who all seemed quite happy to be ending their shifts.
Realising that they'd be settling in for a long night, Jerry asked Astrea to help him put the final touches on his helmet which required a little more magic and a little less brute force. She happily obliged, granting Jerry the ability to actually see during the night's watch.
As the trio settled into their watch, a glow appeared on the horizon. Just over a nearby hill, several torches were being carried by a fairly large group which was headed directly towards Toto. As they drew closer it became evident that they were not coming for the tea and Seto made the call to notify General Mak.
It had already been a long day and Astrea was unable to send a message so Seto decided to take care of it the old fashioned way. Taking to all fours, the tabaxi monk leapt from the wall onto a nearby rooftop and embarked on a fantastic display of feline agility as he bounded across the rooftops towards the main keep.
General Mak was busy working in his quarters, going through the party's confiscated belongings when Seto knocked at his door. As the monk burst into the room and explained what he'd seen, General Mak jumped to his feet and gathered his weapons as well as a few signal flares. 
"If they intend to siege we must be ready! Gather the second guard near the medical tents and meet us at the main gate. I will head there now and assess the situation. Go, NOW!"
The pair split up as Seto headed for the medical tents again. When he arrived, chaos was erupting. The sick guards from before were attacking each other, tearing one another limb from limb as a nurse's scream echoed up towards Seto.
With panther-like reflexes he assessed the situation and jumped into action, weaving his way through the masses of undead, grabbing the surviving nurse and leading her to the door of the herbalist's shop. After getting her inside and telling her to barricade the doors he scrambled his way up to the roof and away from the murderous horde below.
With a few more feats of acrobatics, Seto arrived at the second guard unit's post. It quickly became apparent that he would find no help here, however, as the guards that remained were also now nothing more than shambling corpses. The ones below must have been a part of the same unit... Were they all poisoned?
With no time to spare, Seto made his way back to one of the bells and initiated his warning. Meanwhile, General Mak had reached the main wall and received the news from Jerry and Astrea that the approaching group looked eerily similar to the attacker from the previous night. 
Clearly distressed by this information, he handed each of them a blue firework which they sent up into the night sky with a spectacular explosion followed by a giant blue dragon made of light and smoke to signal that something bad was coming... Or that it was already there...

Campaign

Kiga Shogunate

Protagonists

Seto

Level 9 Tabaxi Monk - Way of the Kensei

/ 66 HP

Jerry Abershaw

Astraea Karasu

Chaotic Neutral Thylean Satyr (Astraea) (Anhropologist)
Bard 13
Warlock 6

122 / 122 HP

STR
12

DEX
18

CON
14

INT
14

WIS
16

CHA
22

Aien

0 / HP

Player Journals

Kit by Astraea Karasu

Report Date

06 Nov 2020

Primary Location

Kiga Shogunate