Session 18: Set in Stone Report

General Summary

Our session begins with Seto waking on the grounds of his new bath-house and deciding to spend the morning clearing up all the corpses it contained. Meanwhile, the others were gathering in the kitchens for breakfast, briefings and the best tea in Toto, courtesy of Sakura.
With Seto at the bath-house, Aien at his Shinobi school and Mary at her factory, breakfast remained relatively uneventful on this particular morning. The mood still dour after the previous night's wake as Kit's funeral was fast approaching.
Zhi instructed everyone to meet at the bath-house in the late afternoon where they would join the funeral precession as it made it's way up Mt. Kougen. Before then, the party would have the day to train and complete whatever errands they needed to. At noon, however, Aien was set to publically execute his uncle in the town square.
With that, Jerry headed back to the 'Gaijin Bushi School' to undergo basic kata training whilst Sakura joined Zhi at the 'Women's Bushi School' but it was soon time for the execution.
Upon arrival at the makeshift gallows our heroes saw a small crowd already gathered to see the beheading of the elf. General Mak was in conversation with a guard from the gatehouse, exclaiming, "What do you mean he's GONE?!" as the party approached.
The guard explained in a panic that there had been a fire the previous night in the stables. Somehow, the prisoner managed to escape in the chaos. Zhi and Astrea confirm the story, claiming to have seen two flaming horses fleeing the city as they were returning from the wake. The guard confirms that they helped douse the fire as Sakura sends her familiar soaring into the air in search of the prisoner.
Unable to locate him, Aien and Sakura headed for the gate-house holding cells next to the stables to investigate. There, they found the prison cells to be locked tight. Wondering if he may have gone invisible, they cast a bag of flour into the cell before stepping inside to look for clues. Finding almost nothing, Aien took the opportunity to lock the door behind Sakura, trapping her in the cell as revenge for stealing his booze.
Sakura, being a smart kid, immediately produced her water flask and with a few arcane gestures andzdsws froze the lock, using the change in temperature to snap it open. Searching for tracks proved useless as well. It seems his escape was planned, or at least well executed.
Jerry and Seto took this time to visit the library, being shown into an underground treasure trove of books. Seto was looking into owning property as a samurai whilst Jerry delved into the history of gnomes and dwarves in Kiga. Meanwhile, Astrea had finally made her introductions to the archery master. Using Kit's bow she trained until it was time to get ready for the funeral.
After gathering at the now clean (mostly) bath-house, dressed in their finest funeral garb, our heroes joined the precession and began their hike up Mt. Kougen. Priests sang sutras as families of both samurai and peasants alike carried the coffins of their loved ones up the mountain. Those lost in the attacks were to be cremated, however Kit's remains were already contained in a finely crafted urn made by Astrea.
Approaching a bridge near the monastery, the party spotted two duelists looking for challengers. A road leading away from them seemed to go towards the forge marked on Jerry's map. The paths leading into the mountains could be wrought with danger, but the party made a note and continued on with the funeral.
Arriving at the monastery our heroes were guided to the cemetery where a haka (family gravestone) stood bearing the name "Mak" One name had been freshly carved into the stone while the other seemed to be marked with red ink. The small crypt beneath the grave was open, awaiting a new urn beside Kit's mother and General Mak's late wife. Solemnly, the funeralgoers paid their final respects to Kit and one by one retired to the tea house. Mak stayed behind, speechless. 
The party stayed with him before deciding to give him some space and starting to explore the mystical gardens in which they found themselves. These beautiful gardens were clearly well-maintained by the monks, one of whom stood watching them from the giant stone hand holding up his shrine.
He smiles as the heroes approach.

Campaign

Kiga Shogunate

Protagonists

Seto

Level 9 Tabaxi Monk - Way of the Kensei

/ 66 HP

Sakura Sasaki

Lawful Good Human (Cloistered Scholar)
Wizard 9

48 / 48 HP

STR
12

DEX
14

CON
13

INT
22

WIS
16

CHA
10

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

Failed Execution by Sakura Sasaki
The Funeral by Sakura Sasaki
Goodbye... for now beloved. by Astraea Karasu

Report Date

22 Jan 2021

Primary Location

Kiga Shogunate