Session 36: Get Those Cherry Bastards
General Summary
Arriving on the mainland, the group heads off looking for Akira Ozawa. Heading through a neighborhood, the party encounters a group of very young children, a few that begin pointing and laughing at Sikander. Turning to respond, Sikander acts like Godzilla, scaring a few of the children and a couple boys take a kendo stance, ready to attack. One gets a solid hit in, shouting "You foreign devil! How dare you scare these little children!". He retaliates lightly but still knocks one of the kids down in the process. Anya heals the them while Silas steps in to convince them that all is fine. Offa meanwhile raises Sikander into the air, to remove him from the situation.
Seeing him lifted, the boys try swinging at him, prompting Anya scooping one up and holdng him high enough to get a hit in, quietly hoping this would help make the point not to attack kids here.
Silas and Sense, working in tandem, manage to convince most of the crowd this was actually a kind of show put on for the neighborhoods benefit. A small group to the back remains unconvinced and slowly comes to the front, confronting them all about knocking the child down. Sikander and Anya quickly notice the tattoos of flowering trees and recognize the group as Cherry Blossoms. The leader, Gunto, continues, saying they are responsible for keeping this neighborhood safe. The taunting continues until Silas tries convincing Gunto to agree to a one on one fight, which quickly turns into one on all the Cherries, which the party quickly repsonds to.
During the fight, not willing to take any of this, Sikander steps up, declares his name and demands to know where is sister is. This leads to the expected "I had your sister last night" , infuriating him even more. Anya is poisoned with Bloat from one of the daggers, but manages to fight it off and heal herself, while Offa demolishes one of them and brings him back as a zombie.
Silas attempts to get information about Samyra, to no avail, and brutally takes him out while two make their escape. Sikander throws Skybreaker at one, and just missing as he slinks into a manhole cover.
Coming back together, they go through the remaining Cherries, finding 20sp and a piece of electrum with an engraved chrysanthemum, which Anya knows to be related to secrets. Coming out of the alley, the party is met with several excited children impressed with the fight. While the kids chatter, they all notice a tall thin man with red face watching them. Commenting that the streets are cleaner now, Silas (with Sense's help) agrees with him. Tendi, as he introduces himself, is here to meet a friend at the sumo house.
Tendi invites them to lunch and, on the way, find a very expensive robe shop to cover "Granny" to the tune of 400gp. The tielfing assisting them appears insulted at the price offered, but accepts.
Tendi is a wonderful host and invites them to ask him all kinds of questions about the area. During their conversation, the party learns:
the Cherries are in control of various areas of town as the law enforcement is spread thin
Unfortunately some are controlled by criminals and collect protection and keep an eye on petty criminals
Akira would know about stronghold or safe house locations
Tendi shares that he is worried about Akira given his connections and that he is much more than a gold smith. Silas asks if Akira ever worked with sand. Tendi, appreciating the cleverness of the question, shares a haiku:
"What price is comfort, when the world is unjust, yet the sands protect us."
Silas promptly replies with:
"Sands you can protect, Fear not those that eat the gods, Where is Oban now"
Tendi tells them Akira's shop is over near the arena and leads them over, learning the Haka-ho fights tomorrow, but that no one has seen Akira in a few days and everyone is growing concerned as he never misses a match. Leaving Tendi at the ticket window, the party heads south to Akira's house and notice the doors and windows are open. In the backyard, Tal finds footprints indicating a struggle - Anya heads for the house while Tal chases a little black cat into Offa's arms, and Silas and Sikander check out the forge, finding high gold used in kintsugi creations.
The forge is cold, well made for a human, and meant to generate high heat in quick bursts, allowing him to melt the gold to create is kintsugi creations. While searching, Sikander finds 500mL of extremely rare high gold.
Inside, they find few signs of struggle inside, the rest of the space is meticulously kept and cleaned space, with nothing out of place except for the desk along the wall with a candle stick that has fallen on its side. Checking the candle, Silas finds a broken wire inside and fixes it, opening a secret chamber revealing an additional 1,000gp worth of high gold. Looking closer at the puzzle box, he finds that it is trapped with the Bloat poison. Solving the puzzle to reveal the image of a tsunami, they find:
A tiny golden cat statue with its hand raised
A very ornately written invitation to the weeding of the queen of foxes in Edo
Another piece written in a code
In the silk back is what appears to be a mummy of a monkey with its mouth stuffed with dried cherry blossoms, an odd gold coin in its hand, and its left foot missing.
The black cat is scratching at the corner of the bottom of the box, revealing another puzzle. Once solved, a hidden compartment reveals a nasty dagger with a glass bulb containing Bloat on the base with an injection mechanism, along with the component of a device or control unit that is missing pieces. Silas become Gunta and suggests he hold onto the dagger and they all agree. Sikander is excited about the wedding and downs on of the vials of liquid gold, thankfully to no ill effect, other than drinking VERY expensive gold.
The little black cat, wearing a red bow, is still around, so Anya, on a hunch asks if it can help them. After a very unconvincing meow, Jiji introduces himself and shares what he knows, including:
Gorohashi is the Cherry who runs the stable to the north
Akira hasn't been seen in two days and is a former Cherry himself
He could have been taken to their headquarters, the Emperor's Palace, or to Dragontooth Castle
There is a highly positioned courtier, man or woman Jiji isn't sure
When asked about the monkey, he explains it was his masters spirit animal, like a totem or promise
In the forest, there are hot springs with monkeys who bath in the water
At the gates of the forest, Jiji share they will find the king of the forest underground, beneath the giant camphor tree and that it is a troll and a very simple spirit
When shown the golden cat, he tells them it has something to do with luck
Growing tired of the interrogation, Jiji wanders off, wishing them luck in finding his master. As he wanders off, Offa sends Vlad searching the sumo house and is crushed by Gorohashi. Knowing they needed to tell Tendi what they found, they head out and take him to a nearby teahouse.
Silas convinces him to share more about Gorohashi, learning he is a kintsugi fancier and sumo that is vain, vicious, and powerful. He is also a master of poison and the trainers give it to the sumo training there.
Tendi also shares about the Brewery of the Golden Poo, a sake brewery that houses a Cherry Blossom hub.
Seeing him lifted, the boys try swinging at him, prompting Anya scooping one up and holdng him high enough to get a hit in, quietly hoping this would help make the point not to attack kids here.
Silas and Sense, working in tandem, manage to convince most of the crowd this was actually a kind of show put on for the neighborhoods benefit. A small group to the back remains unconvinced and slowly comes to the front, confronting them all about knocking the child down. Sikander and Anya quickly notice the tattoos of flowering trees and recognize the group as Cherry Blossoms. The leader, Gunto, continues, saying they are responsible for keeping this neighborhood safe. The taunting continues until Silas tries convincing Gunto to agree to a one on one fight, which quickly turns into one on all the Cherries, which the party quickly repsonds to.
During the fight, not willing to take any of this, Sikander steps up, declares his name and demands to know where is sister is. This leads to the expected "I had your sister last night" , infuriating him even more. Anya is poisoned with Bloat from one of the daggers, but manages to fight it off and heal herself, while Offa demolishes one of them and brings him back as a zombie.
Silas attempts to get information about Samyra, to no avail, and brutally takes him out while two make their escape. Sikander throws Skybreaker at one, and just missing as he slinks into a manhole cover.
Coming back together, they go through the remaining Cherries, finding 20sp and a piece of electrum with an engraved chrysanthemum, which Anya knows to be related to secrets. Coming out of the alley, the party is met with several excited children impressed with the fight. While the kids chatter, they all notice a tall thin man with red face watching them. Commenting that the streets are cleaner now, Silas (with Sense's help) agrees with him. Tendi, as he introduces himself, is here to meet a friend at the sumo house.
Tendi invites them to lunch and, on the way, find a very expensive robe shop to cover "Granny" to the tune of 400gp. The tielfing assisting them appears insulted at the price offered, but accepts.
Tendi is a wonderful host and invites them to ask him all kinds of questions about the area. During their conversation, the party learns:
Tendi shares that he is worried about Akira given his connections and that he is much more than a gold smith. Silas asks if Akira ever worked with sand. Tendi, appreciating the cleverness of the question, shares a haiku:
"What price is comfort, when the world is unjust, yet the sands protect us."
Silas promptly replies with:
"Sands you can protect, Fear not those that eat the gods, Where is Oban now"
Tendi tells them Akira's shop is over near the arena and leads them over, learning the Haka-ho fights tomorrow, but that no one has seen Akira in a few days and everyone is growing concerned as he never misses a match. Leaving Tendi at the ticket window, the party heads south to Akira's house and notice the doors and windows are open. In the backyard, Tal finds footprints indicating a struggle - Anya heads for the house while Tal chases a little black cat into Offa's arms, and Silas and Sikander check out the forge, finding high gold used in kintsugi creations.
The forge is cold, well made for a human, and meant to generate high heat in quick bursts, allowing him to melt the gold to create is kintsugi creations. While searching, Sikander finds 500mL of extremely rare high gold.
Inside, they find few signs of struggle inside, the rest of the space is meticulously kept and cleaned space, with nothing out of place except for the desk along the wall with a candle stick that has fallen on its side. Checking the candle, Silas finds a broken wire inside and fixes it, opening a secret chamber revealing an additional 1,000gp worth of high gold. Looking closer at the puzzle box, he finds that it is trapped with the Bloat poison. Solving the puzzle to reveal the image of a tsunami, they find:
A tiny golden cat statue with its hand raised
A very ornately written invitation to the weeding of the queen of foxes in Edo
Another piece written in a code
In the silk back is what appears to be a mummy of a monkey with its mouth stuffed with dried cherry blossoms, an odd gold coin in its hand, and its left foot missing.
The black cat is scratching at the corner of the bottom of the box, revealing another puzzle. Once solved, a hidden compartment reveals a nasty dagger with a glass bulb containing Bloat on the base with an injection mechanism, along with the component of a device or control unit that is missing pieces. Silas become Gunta and suggests he hold onto the dagger and they all agree. Sikander is excited about the wedding and downs on of the vials of liquid gold, thankfully to no ill effect, other than drinking VERY expensive gold.
The little black cat, wearing a red bow, is still around, so Anya, on a hunch asks if it can help them. After a very unconvincing meow, Jiji introduces himself and shares what he knows, including:
Growing tired of the interrogation, Jiji wanders off, wishing them luck in finding his master. As he wanders off, Offa sends Vlad searching the sumo house and is crushed by Gorohashi. Knowing they needed to tell Tendi what they found, they head out and take him to a nearby teahouse.
Silas convinces him to share more about Gorohashi, learning he is a kintsugi fancier and sumo that is vain, vicious, and powerful. He is also a master of poison and the trainers give it to the sumo training there.
Tendi also shares about the Brewery of the Golden Poo, a sake brewery that houses a Cherry Blossom hub.
Report Date
25 Feb 2024
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