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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Black Omega" data-source="post: 427895" data-attributes="member: 79">The group found the cave Nezu had holed up in was rather comfortable.  There was a pit where the fire had burned low, food and water for a number of people laid back.  There was even a stable at the back of the cave with room and fodder for several horses.  Obviously a hide out of some sort.Nezu’s lean features were damp with sweat despite the chill of the evening as he gazed anxiously at the group.  Their questions were blunt and to the point.  “What happened to the Witchhunter?  Where is he?!”“I did everything he asked!”  Nezu protested quickly.  “He visited me late at night and just started asking questions.  Then he told me I’d be his guide, what could I do??”Nezu didn’t get any further than that before a noise was heard outside the cave.  The sliding of soot down the slope and then movement close by.  Someone coming closer and not being subtle about it.  Katana were readied, spells prepared…and then Hiruma Toshiro walked into the cave and looked around “About time I found you….I’ve been just behind you for the last day it feels like.”[DM Note:  Toshiro’s player’s time away was finished.  The group had lost a day or two at that first village resting to heal and recover spells.  So I let Toshiro catch up to them at the cave.  No doubt the guidance of his ancestors helping Toshiro along, since he’s nor exactly wildness skilled.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />]There was little time for reacquaintances, though.  Just minutes after Toshiro entered, there was the sound of movement outside once again.  There was just time for katanas to be drawn again and the group to get into position before new visitors arrived.  Zombies.  A couple of the zombies were cute down quickly and a blast of positive energy from Mindra reduced more to piles of dust, while Mir forced the other zombies to flee with her own turning.But the group heard chanting below and didn’t pursue, waiting for the next attack and forcing whoever it was to come to them.  A couple of minutes pass before from above the cave came a rush of black rock and soot.  And again.  Someone starting to seal the group inside the cave. Verick peeked out and had just enough time to see the pale bony skeletons further down the slope before the undead fired their arrows at him and forced him back under cover.  Another minute passed as the group debated what to do and the mound of volcanic dust grew higher at the mouth of the cave, up to waist level.  Whoever was directing the undead seemed quite willing to wait, seal up the cave, then go in later after everyone had suffocated.But that was not to be.  Impulsively, Verick bulled through the mound of rock and soot, taking an arrow in the shoulder but clearing a path for the others.  Mindra cast a spell to make he and Kaz invisible to undead, While Volar, Toshiro and Mir were brought under the protection of an Invisibility Sphere.  Yukiyo peeked out to start taking shots at the skeletons, but to no effect against the bony forms.  Verick was struck by two more arrows as he charged, then a shugenja appeared in the darkness behind the skeleton archers.  Languidly he gestured, blood splattering from his cut hand.  And Verick felt his body weaken, strength draining away.  Even so, he didn’t pause, charging right into the midst of the archers and bulling one out of the way so he could get in a slash to the shugenja.  Kaz was right behind him, his invisibility to undead dispelled as he started hacking around him into the skeletons.Yukiyo was the last out of the cave and as she exited, three skeletons from above the cave attacked with swords.  But even more sinisterly…as Yukiyo fended off the skeletons she heard a gleeful cry from behind “Hug!”  Yukiyo avoided the playful Pekkle no Oni, but just barely, his talons nearly catching on her leather armor.Mir charged forward as well, lifting her oak staff high as she called upon the Oak Father to turn the skeletons around Verick and Kaz.  The skeletons wavered a moment but then fought on, unaffected by the turning.  But the attempt did draw the attention of others to Mir.  From the darkness on the groups flank, three emaciated figures came into view, faded tattoos showing over their pallid flesh.  Ghoulish monks.  Two of them focused on Mir as they entered the fray and a Dragon Claw attack drew blood from the young woman.  Worse yet, Mir felt her body stiffen, a curious paralysis taking over.Mindra followed Kaz into the battle with the skeletons but veered off as he saw the ghouls.  Calling upon the spirits, Mindra forced one ghoul and one skeleton to flee the battle.  Toshiro found himself toe to toe with the other ghoul, matching his sword with the ghoul’s bizarrely agile martial arts.  And Mir’s situation went from bad to worse…as the group was busy elsewhere with their battle, the ghoul who had paralyzed her drew in flow, and his clammy flesh started to flow over Mir’s body, ribs wrapping around her torso...his arms melding to her’s…Hard pressed by the skeletons and playful Pekkle no Oni all at once, Yukiyo reached into her bag of tricks, a potion of levitation drank and quickly she lifted into the air, out of reach of the swords and talons.  Once safe she started to relentlessly shoot arrows into the Pekkle no Oni as the little fellow stomped his foot on the sooty ground and cried “Not fair!”With Kaz taking much of the pressure off, Verick was left to relentlessly pursue the shugenja, his katana soon drenched with the spell caster’s blood.  But he had a few tricks of his own, a fast step back followed by a muttered spell and another splash of his own blood to complete the spell.  And in helpless fury Verick watched as the shugenja lifted up into the air out of reach, a sinister grin spreading over the Shugenja’s face as he prepared his next spell.  Then from out of nowhere Volar popped into view, hands held out as a lightning bolt crackled upward, engulfing the Shugenja.  The Shugenja wavered in the air for a moment then fell, landing heavily, his body twisted and smoldering from the lightning’s blast.Toshiro managed to cut down the ghoul opposing him but then he stopped short as he approached Mir, unsure how to attack the creature without striking his teammate.  Then with a howling cry the ghoul forced Mir’s body into combat, a fast leap and a sweeping kick rocking Toshiro back.  Meanwhile the Pekkle no Oni had escaped Yukiyo’s line of sight, the poor boy in rather poor shape from all the arrows.  And then Verick popped up, jade etched katana at ready as he snarled “No way we’re letting you escape THIS time!”  and with a violent sweep of the sword the miniature oni was cute down, disappearing in a flash of flame.With no target left, Yukiyo took careful aim and let fly, an arrow sinking into the ghoul and into Mir, blood and ichor mingling around the wound.  Badly wounded by now, Kaz was still working to finish off the skeletons, getting help from Volar’s magic missiles and Mindra’s turning.  Thinking quickly, as the ghoul moved to attack Toshiro once more, Volar cast levitate on Mir and she lifted into the air, ghoul and all.  With the Shugenja dead, the other ghouls gone or slain, and the skeletons turned, all that was left to save Mir, without killing her to kill the ghoul.  Volar cast Grease on Mir but the undead was too firmly latched onto the silver haired woman.  Mindra took the time to heal much of Kaz’s damage.  Volar expended his last magic missile on the ghoul but still it and Mir thrashed in mid air as the group searched for ideas on how to hurt it.  Mindra continued on healing, fixing up Verick then Yukiyo next.Toshiro tried jabbing the ghoul/Mir with a torch but just got a foot to the face for his trouble.  Mir tried to turn the creature surrounding her, but to no avail.  The group could just not find a way to hurt it without hurting Mir as well.  Mindra went on with his healing, fixing up Volar’s arrow wound next.  Finally at Mir’s urging, Toshiro and Verick through caution to the winds and striking as precisely as they could, they killed the ghoul.  Luckily, Mindra was right there to heal Mir quickly once the ghoul was taken care of.[DM Note:  I have a firm rule not to give the group ideas for tactics.  I kept waiting for someone to suggest a Cure Wounds as a way of dealing with the ghoul without hurting Mir.  But the group was so caught up in the moment, it never seemed to come to mind.  It made things much tougher than I’d originally planned.]With the battle over and snow falling in the night, the group retreated to the cave once more.  Nezu was firmly tied up to be questioned in the morning, when multiple Zones of Truth could be put up to help Nezu with his memory.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Then the group set up a watch in case trouble returned and then settled in to rest.Well, that was the idea at least…  An earlier discussion on searching for the Shugenja’s horse in case there was gold or other valuables there weighed heavily on Yukiyo’s mind.  And finally she set off out of the cave and into the night, holding an arrow with an Ever Burning Flame cast upon it.  Toshiro was the only one who noticed and he frowned, leaning out to watch as well as waking Mindra to let him know what was going on.Yukiyo’s trip into the night was short, as she moved in among the trees at the base of the slope there was movement from up ahead.  Her bow held at ready she creeped forward.  Finally the flickering light brought into view a skeleton.  But Yukiyo’s keen senses saved her, the young archer rolling to the side to escape the arrows that flew where she can been standing.  Running back toward the slope, she heard the sounds of pursuit, growing closer quickly.Toshiro held his watch at the mouth of the cave, his eyes training to pierce the veil of night as the flickering flame came back into view, bobbing up and down as the person ran.  Then suddenly the flame fell and there was no more movement.  Turning to Mindra, Toshiro sighed “Wake the others, I’ll try to help her.”  Then he started down the slope as quickly as he could, pushing his pace faster as he saw movement near the light and heard a pained, hoarse moaning.  But as he arrived at the tree the light lay beside, the ambush was sprung, a ghoulish monk leaping from the darkness t rake his claws into Toshiro’s back as a couple more arrows fly from the night, one scoring a blood hit through Toshiro’s armor.Meanwhile, Yukiyo was annoyed.  As far as she was concerned the situation was under control and her dropped light had drawn the undead to her own ambush.  Though in truth her arrows did little damage to the skeletons.  As Toshiro retreated hastily up the slope Mindra roused the others.  Out of spells, Volar used a scroll to cast an acid arrow at the ghoulish monk as he came into view.  The skeletons chased as well, swords replacing the bows as they closed in on Toshiro.  Clad only in his kimono, Verick heroically rushed out to join the melee, taking on the ghoul.Mir, Volar and Mindra started shooting arrows from the cave as Verick kept the ghoul busy, the skeletons cutting Toshiro off from the cave as they surrounded him.  Having trouble with the attacks from the cave, the ghoul moved to get out of the line of fire, suddenly cart wheeling past Verick, so suddenly the surprised young man had no time to swing at it.  The monkish ghoul went into a forward leap then rolled to his feet, claws raking into Toshiro and the Crab felt his body freeze, the paralysis taking hold.Verick wasted no time, however, throwing himself after the ghoul and knocking Toshiro out of the way of the attacks.  As the group got their act together and finished off the fight Toshiro lay paralyzed on the freezing ground, the snow falling lightly over his unmoving face.  And through it all he could not help but think “This was a really bad idea…”The aftermath of the battle was filled with tension and frustration.  Yukiyo insisted she had everything under control and the group had ruined her ambush.  The others, especially Mir and Verick, more or less replied “Fine, next time we won’t help.”Come the morning, Nezu’s time was up.  Still bound, he was brought to the middle of the cave and two Circles of Truth were cast around him.  Volar calmly explained, “These spells will ‘help’ you tell the truth.  But if you lie, they will detect it instantly and kill you!”A stone faced Toshiro added “Tell us the truth and you won’t be killed, Nezu.”And faced with soulless foreign magic and certain death if he lies, Nezu’s meager courage crumbled.  Under questioning from the group he revealed all he knew.  And not only about the Witchhunter.  He confirmed something many in the group had suspected, he had killed the one bandit he was guarding for Toshiro.  The man had threatened to reveal Nezu himself had been a bandit, if Nezu did not free him.  He had been blackmailed into joining the bandits attacking the gold caravans by the ronin, who had known Nezu had used to be one of Rodrigo’s men.The Witchhunter had found him late one night and woken him from a deep sleep, asking him about the undead attack on the village, and had then pressed him into service as a guide while hunting down the Bloodspeakers.  Then one night a woman had awakened him.  He did not see her face, but the voice was unmistakably feminine.  Her command had been simple and straightforward, lead the Witchhunter into a trap or something memorable and unpleasant would happen to Nezu’s family.  Caught between a rock and a hard place, Nezu had agreed at first.  Then switched sides again, warning the Witchhunter about the trap.  Kuni Noriaki had decided to try to turn the trap around on his foes.  When last Nezu saw him, the ground had erupted with undead attacking the Witchhunter while a woman laughed in the background.  Nezu had not waited to see what happened, he had fled at once.  Something the Witchhunter had been agreeable with, since it meant he did not have to bother worrying about protecting Nezu.Nezu had later found the Witchhunter’s horse and saddlebags, but had not seen the Witchhunter since that fateful night.  But he had feared he would be next in line, which was why he’d arrange for his wife and child to stay with someone else.  He’d sent a message to Bugaisha, but somehow, it had never gotten through.While the questioning was going on, Verick and Volar had started to search the cave.  The saddlebags had revealed Kuni Noriaki’s belongings.  Several surgical looking implements.  And a journal in some cryptic code.  The search also turned up a large amount of gold, which the group split among them as poor Nezu looked on in stunned despair.  When he was asked if there was more gold, he had to admit they had found all of it.After the questioning was done, Volar and Verick were quite ready to finish Nezu off but Toshiro looked the thin man over then growled “Now you work for us.  You guide us.  Do a good job and I’ll let you go after we are done.  Betray us and you will die.”Nezu managed a weak smile and a nods “Toshiro-sama, my dear good friend.  Whatever you wish of me, I will do.”  “Good.”  Toshiro answered “then take us to the spot where Kuni Noriaki was ambushed.”[DM Note:  The storyhour continues to be time compressed, like those annoying TBS movies where they cut stuff out for no apparent reason just to make it fit a time slot.  I'm sure Verick and Mir's players at least will have a little to add to this.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />]</blockquote>

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