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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 6766484" data-attributes="member: 9546">The Master of Shadows10 Calistril, 4716 The rest of the companions rushed up the stairs from the cellar when they heard sounds of shouting coming from above. When they reached the reception room, they found Ameiko and a prostrate Boris surrounded by a quartet of broom-wielding housekeepers, shouting and pointing at them. "That's enough!" Zula shouted, silencing the cacophony instantly. "Now, if you ladies do not tell me, immediately, where to find the master of this house, I will instruct this large gentleman," she gestured towards Haroldo, "to remove your arms from their sockets. Do I make myself clear?"The women  stared wide-eyed and agape at her, but hastily nodded."The Master is downstairs," one of them babbled, "but he is never to be disturbed there.""Is there a young woman with him?" Zula asked. "A geisha?"The woman nodded."Good, then you will take us to him," Zula instructed."Oh no!" the woman shook her head violently. "We are not allowed, and he is in a secret place! We do not know the way!"Zula studied her and the other women intently for a moment, but she did not sense that they were lying to her."Very well," she said. "Then I suggest you make yourselves scarce. There may be much violence here soon."_______________________________________________________________Lucian tended to Boris and Ameiko, restoring their strength with his prayers while they described what had transpired."It's a safe bet that the wizard knows we're coming," Sandru said."Since when has that ever deterred us?" Haroldo laughed.Once the goblin and the empress were back on their feet, the group retraced their steps to the cellar, and started down the second passage they had seen there. The walls of the dark corridor were engraved with dense patterns  of arcane graffiti. A fine dust covered the stone floor, diffusing into the air when stirred by their footsteps. Everything looked a little blurry, as if a shadowy duplicate of the corridor had been superimposed onto the passage. The companions' light sources seemed muted, illuminating only a fraction of what they had just a few steps away in the cellar. The passage twisted and turned, and then began to branch at regular intervals. At the first such juncture, after another sharp turn, the hallway passed through a perfectly round archway composed of orange agate. "Wait," Zula said as Boris moved to examine the gate."Why?" the gnome asked. "Boris no think it trapped.""There's something...," Zula's voice trailed off and she looked thoughtful for a moment. Then she snapped her fingers and drew out the inro O-Hakami had given them. She opened the middle compartment and stared at the interlocked rings of yellow calcite and blue lapis lazuli. "Don't touch it," she told Boris, indicating the gate. "I think it's the wrong color."They moved on, and when they turned down another side passage they came upon another gate, this one framed in violet jasper. Again, Zula had them backtrack the way they had come. The next gate they found was not stone, but wood, with a curtain of wooden beads hanging from it. "What kind of wood is that?" Zula asked Lucian.The oracle peered at them."Mulberry, I believe," he replied. "Why do you ask?"Zula opened the upper compartment of the inro and drew out the bracelet of wooden beads."And what are these again?" she asked. "Camphorwood," Lucian said.They continued through the maze of corridors, Zula directing them away from more gates they came across, until finally they found one that held a curtain made of silk strands."This is the right way," Zula said, taking the silkworm cocoon from the bottom compartment of the inro. "O-Sayumi was leaving us a clue to follow after all."They passed through the gate, with no obvious effect or change. After several more dead ends, including some that contained fogged mirrors that Boris did not feel comfortable peering into, they found another stone-framed gate, this one of green jade."This one," Zula nodded. "Why this one?" Boris asked. "It green. We no have green things from shiny box.""No," Zula answered patiently, "but we do have a yellow ring and a blue ring.""So?" Boris asked."So," Zula went on in a long-suffering tone, "when yellow dye is combined with blue, it makes green."Boris looked perplexed, and then his eyes widened in utter amazement."You very smart lady!" he exclaimed.Zula just smiled and led the way through the gate. Again, nothing happened. Finally, they came to one last gate, again hung with wooden beads. These Lucian identified as camphorwood, matching those in the inro. At Zula's behest, the companions passed through.__________________________________________________________The maze ended shortly after the final gate. The corridor led to a simple wooden door. Boris stepped towards it, slipping on his gloves. He pressed his palms to the portal and bowed his head in concentration, the magic of the gloves allowing him to look through the barrier. On the opposite side, he saw a large room, illuminated by a lantern, and furnished with carpets, tapestries and cushions. A life-sized statue of an eight-armed female humanoid sat in the lotus position on a platform in one corner. It held a strange string instrument and several sets of hand cymbals. Near the middle of the room, two women knelt on the floor facing each other, as immobile as the statue. One of them looked mature and elegant, wearing a rich, multi-layered kimono that spread on the floor, as did her very long hair. The younger woman was equally graceful and very beautiful, dressed like a geisha. A strange mist covered the floor. "Boris see painted lady," Boris said. "And her mom.""Her mom?" Sandru asked. "I thought her mother was dead."Boris shrugged. "Boris not know about mothers. Boris's mother tried to eat him when Boris born. Boris only know that there two ladies in room. One painted. One look older. Not painted.""What are they doing?" Haroldo asked. "Are they guarded?"Boris shrugged again. "They just staring at each other. Boris not see guard.""What are we waiting for then?" the blood-rager asked.They opened the door and found the scene just as Boris had described...with one exception. As the door swung completely open, the mist on the floor began to move, rapidly coalescing into something...massive. Materializing out of the noxious black cloud was a beast with the head of a fanged monkey and the body of a tiger with a viper as a tail. To their credit, the companions didn't let their surprise slow their reactions. Sandru, Boris and Ameiko moved quickly into the room, splitting to surround the creature on three sides, and then striking in unison. The beast roared, rearing up on its back legs. It rushed forward, straight at Sandru, sinking its teeth into his leg as its claws raked at his chest. Sandru felt the burn and sting as the pain washed over him, but he also felt something else...a lessening of himself, as if a little piece of his soul had spilled out with his blood. He braced himself for another blow, but then the creature looked up abruptly as a great-sword suddenly sprouted from its mouth. Haroldo gave the blade a twist as he withdrew it, and the beast fell heavily to the floor. ___________________________________________________________Throughout the short but violent fight, the two women had never moved. As a matter of fact, they had never even opened their eyes. Ameiko approached the pair and looked them over, snapping her fingers in front of their faces, and even shaking them roughly by the shoulders. There was no response. She studied them carefully for several long moments, and then straightened and turned to her companions. "Their souls are gone," she said. The others just blinked at her, uncomprehending."Their spirits have been removed from their bodies," she explained. "These are just empty shells.""Where are their souls now?" Zula asked."I do not know," Ameiko replied, her eyes wandering about the room. "However...,"She walked to one corner, where a beautifully carved samisen stood propped. "Didn't O-Hakami say that O-Sayumi's instrument was enchanted, and could help her see the future?"She began strumming the samisen's strings, plucking out a mournful tune. As she did, her eyes glazed over, staring somewhere beyond. In her mind's eyes, an image appeared. It was the same wizard she and Boris had met upstairs, and he stood holding a single, flawless black pearl in his hand. A moment later, the vision faded. "I think I know where they are," she said.__________________________________________________________There was no obvious exit from the lounge, but it didn't take Boris long to find a hidden one. Beyond it was a small study, and beyond that another corridor which ended at another door. Boris approached that one quietly and pressed his gloved hands to it. The colors of the large room beyond had completely faded. Panels of gray wood lined the walls, imitating the lattice of rice paper shoji walls, and the floor was paved in marble. An ornate archway stood in the middle of the north wall, opening onto a short tunnel that ended in a stain of inky darkness. Four braziers burned in the corners, dimly illuminating the room with shadowy light. The wizard Boris had seen upstairs stood at the far side of the room, sipping a cup of tea. "Bad wizard inside!" he hissed quietly to his companions behind him. "Then what are we waiting for?" Haroldo asked again as he kicked in the door.Yugureda Shosaito regarded the heroes calmly from across the room. As Haroldo prepared to rush towards him, he calmly lowered his teacup."I wouldn't be so hasty if I were you," he said in a whispering voice. "You want to save the girl, don't you?"He smiled and reached into a vase full to the brim with pearls, letting a handful fall back in from between his long-nailed fingers."Of all the pearls in the world," he said, "she is the most beautiful. But I'm afraid my wife is gone for good, and without her soul, O-Sayumi's body is just an empty shell. You see, something went wrong with the ritual when I tried to transfer my wife's soul from her aging body into the more youthful and desirable one of my daughter. She looks so much like her poor mother. O-Sayumi can still be saved. Her soul is inside a pearl...you just have to find her."At that point, Yugureda toppled the pearl-filled vase, and scores of pearls spread out across the floor, bouncing and rattling on the marble. At the same time, three black-cloaked, translucent shadowy figures stepped out of the walls.The shadows moved quickly towards the companions. One of them reached out and touched Haroldo, and the big warrior felt his limbs grow weak. Another one reached its hand into Miyaro's chest, and the kitsune nearly collapsed as her strength was pulled from her body. Behind them, Lucian was nothing if not prepared. The oracle drew several arrows from his quiver, salted with a special alchemical mixture that would affect the ghostly apparitions as if they were flesh and blood. He fired off a volley of four of the arrows in rapid succession, each one striking true, causing one of the shadows to dissipate with an unearthly wail. Sandru, Ameiko and Haroldo moved forward to engage the other two. Their strikes were spot on, but their blades met little resistance as they passed through the wispy bodies of the undead. Yugureda watched the battle with a quirk of amusement on his lips. He raised one hand, and waves of dark power poured from him, washing over the companions, leaving them physically exhausted and panting. He then pointed one slim finger at Lucian, and a bolt of black lighting arced into the oracle. His smile faltered a moment later, however, when Zula stepped forward and centered a blast of her thundercall upon him, leaving him momentarily stunned and gaping. Seeing their master's plight, the two remaining shadows changed targets, heading straight for Zula and Lucian. Lucian quickly loosed another barrage of his ghost-salted arrows at one, destroying it instantly. Haroldo, Ameiko and Boris converged on the last one before it could reach Zula, and though their blows were not nearly as telling as they would have been against a corporeal foe, they added up, and the creature quickly succumbed. Haroldo, with the way clear, hefted his blade and charged across the room towards Yugureda, just as the mage shook off the effects of Zula's assault. At the last possible moment, he raised his hands and spoke a spell, and in that instant, Haroldo simply vanished. Sandru stepped into the void which the blood-rager had just occupied, and slashed with his scimitar, opening Shosaito's abdomen. Lucian's bow sang from behind the swashbuckler, and a pair of arrows sank into the wizard's throat. Gurgling, his eyes wide in disbelief, Yugureda Shosaito sank to his knees, then to the ground. __________________________________________________________ A few moments later, Haroldo reappeared. He looked around in confusion."Where you go?" Boris asked him. "Not sure," Haroldo said. "It was like I was in some sort of labyrinth. Everywhere I turned I found a dead end until finally there was an exit, and here I am again.""A maze spell," Zula said. "Very effective against...," she trailed off."Against what?" Haroldo asked."Never mind," she said."The weak-willed," Lucian muttered under his breath. Across the room, Ameiko stood from where she'd been searching through Shosaito's robes. She held in her hand a single black pearl."Let us return to O-Sayumi," she said.They found the two women just as they'd left them in the lounge. Ameiko approached them, then placed the pearl on the floor and stomped her boot upon it. As it crumbled, a faint, glowing mist rose from it and rapidly flowed into the geisha's mouth. A moment later her eyes fluttered open, and she drew in a deep, gasping breath. She looked around in bewilderment, and the broke down into wrenching sobs.</blockquote>

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