Author: thebrazenwolfe

Doorich cottage

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Welcome to Tuesday where we look at the NPCs of this week. This week we look to Doorich cottage, a small establishment that serves as a home away from home for passing through dignitaries. In particular we will look at Yulve, the caretaker and her husband Peruve as they help Kyoko, the party and co.

Doorich cottage

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“Make yourself comfortable. You seven have been through quite a lot” Yulve said in soft tones as she busily hurried around from person to person.

“There is no need to fuss Yulve. You have done more than enough” Kyoko said as she accepted the hot tea that was handed to her. Glancing towards Kuang she could see that the venerated general was regaling stories of past conquests and battles with Yulve’s husband, Peruve – one of the first foreigners who Kyoko had met all those years ago. Hana busily tried to help Yulve who just as quickly tried to shoo the young Harimasu family member back to her seat.

“Now we don’t have much,” she explained, “but we have some venison stew”. The stew itself may have been plain but it was delicious and hearty and the party could not refuse a warm meal. After explaining what they had encountered on the streets, the shape shifters, Peruve looked up at Yulve.

“Wasn’t there an old folk tale that your folks used to tell me about?” he asked. “You know, the one about the monk who refused any offers of help on the road or something.”

“Yes, you’re right. The Quaigin. A race of cheeky shape shifters who take the form of any they touch. They are immortal spirit folk who unfortunately serve the Shadow.” she continued to explain as she collected cups and plates. “I say unfortunately as the legends say that they once stood against the Shadow but because of their nature no one trusted them to keep their word. They dissolved all ties and retreated back into the mountains I think was the last we heard of them.”

Night fall

After supper and the last of the light had faded from the sky the party retired to the three rooms that were available with Kuang opting to sleep in the hallway outside of Kyokos room. As Peruve walked through the building he heard a scratching on the wood. Moving to the front door with a short blade in his hand he opened the door. Outside the nights sky was cold and contained no clouds whilst guards and refugees walked outside. Closing the door behind him and locking it he didn’t notice the glyph scratched into the door or how it glowed slightly.

Mugrave watched the Doorich cottage from across the road as she ate some bread. Transforming her finger down from its Oni sized to a form more fitting a humans she waited for her pets to visit the house.

“The plan is in motion. We have tested them and found that they are formidable but none have survived the four of them before.” She mumbled to the dark, a cold tendril of shadow touching her arm. “We will have our answers soon, from their living lips or driven out from their dead flesh.” she said after chewing through a chunk of bread and salted meat.

“You there. Miss.” a guard said as he approached Mugrave.

“what can I help you with guardsman?” Mugrave asked in a cheerful sweet one.

“I want to warn you that some refugees have been reported to be going missing. So I wanted let you know that we have placed extra guards around the refugee camp in case you need protection.”

She smiled – humans had the potential for great kindness and great malice. “That’s very kind of you. I shall send my thanks to the guards tonight.”

The guard smiled and shook his head, handing a flask of liquid to her. “No need to thank me, Lady Kyoko ordered it and we are happy to oblige.” he said before walking off down the street.

Closing thoughts

Well as Mugrave makes her second move we can only sit back want wait for the party to react to what lies in wait. As I mentioned last night in our Night prowlers post this week is about the next move. We see a bit more around the tactics, see different creatures and see a different side to Mugrave – well maybe.

Having an enclosed “safe spot” with confined rooms and areas help sets up for a interesting combat encounter later this week. It also gives some questions around how to get the creatures into the house, or the party out. Much more to work on in the last days of this week.

Thanks for once again joining me tonight to read through the happenings in Ryokughan. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for our mid week twist as we uncover more of Mugraves plans. Also, don’t forget that we have a new breed of creatures to look at, ones that may appear familiar from those encountered in Faerun. But finally, don’t forget to keep coming back, following along this journey and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Night Prowlers

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Welcome to Monday night where we look at the plot and drivers that push our adventure onwards. This week we will be experiencing the terror of night prowlers. What is that I hear you ask? Well you will have to come back each night to find out.

Night Prowlers

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Mugrave passed the guards at the gate and smiled at them, giving a little wave as she walked with a bucket in hand towards the stream. The guards waved back and cautioned her to be careful of the stream as it wasn’t safe at night. Little did they know.

As she approached the stream she placed the bucket down at the edge of the water and continued past the edge. Striding through the waist deep stream was effortless for her being an Oni in the skin of a human and soon she was standing at the edge of a small orchard.

Growling echoed forth from the trees as four feline like shapes stalked forth from the trees.

“Hello my pets,” Mugrave cooed as she patted the first large scaled head that nuzzled her. “Yes you are hungry things aren’t you?” she asked as she patted a second.

A third and fourth waited their turn and she approached them and patted them affectionately, all four creatures reached out with tentacle like appendages and caressed her in return.

“I have a job for you four. There are some people that pose a threat to us. They don’t want us around and master has ordered their deaths. You four are going to give that to them aren’t you?” she cooed as she patted the first two creatures again. The feelings of hunger, acceptance and thrill of the hunt resonated from the creatures like pulse.

“Tonight you will find a mark on the door to where they stay. Find it and kill all who reside within. Leave before daybreak” she said as she stood to leave. The creatures patted her as she left them, their hissing snarls greeting the heels of her feet as she strode back to the village.

Closing thoughts

A nice short one tonight to set the scene. The next few nights content will be going over the scenes that play out as the night prowlers come out to play. Mugrave’s making her next move and only time will tell if it will be successful.

Thanks for dropping by tonight. Don’t forget that this is just the beginning of the weeks adventure and I will have more coming. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for NPCs and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Form Shifters

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Welcome to the first of the end of week writeup for August. This week saw the party moving through ruined villages and towns as they head towards Heavens Reach, Kyoko’s castle. While moving through the refugees of the ruined villages the party come under attack from form shifters.

Form Shifters

After the party had found some horses that were in need of some new, living owners they continued north. The hope of a warm bed and hot meals quickly fades when they passed another village that was in the wake of violence left by the Shadows minions. As they passed through the village they noted that only some of the houses were destroyed whilst others looked like they had sustained minimal damage. But regardless of which of the villages along the northern road they travelled there were always bodies in some stage of mutilation or being devoured.

About three days travel from the Kunagi Ranges the party came across a village that was untouched. In fact as they asked around they quickly became aware that many of the people in this village were refugees from the previous village or some to the East.

“What’s east?” asked one of the players.

“The wall, our last defence from the shadow and the hordes of creatures that it commands in the mountains” Kyoko replied.

“We best make haste to your home Lady Kyoko, I fear that we spend too much time on these roads” Kuang said as he analyses the buildings and faces nearby.

Begging

As the party left the Village and headed north she watched from the side of the road. Posing as one of the refugees from an earlier village she had made it to this small town without any real issue. Now that she was seen as one of those who drifted, one of those in need it was easy to move from place to place without questions being asked which suited her purposes.

“Soon we will be rid of that princess. Once she leads me to the light.” Mugrave muttered quietly to herself as she moved to get some food. “Once I have taken care of the light then our plan wont fail” she said to the voice in her head. The Shadow was pleased with his servant and retreated back from the busy street.

“We won’t stay long in this village on our way to Heavens Reach.” Kyoko explained as she moved down the street, greeting villagers and guards like she was an old acquaintance of some. “I don’t like the idea of that spirit harming these innocent folk because we stayed a moment too long.”

“I agree. It’s best for your safety and the safety of others if we can return you home.” Kuang said as he uncharacteristically bent down and handed some food to a few small children who were begging for it.

Without warning one of the guards that had approached Kyoko drew their sword and lunged at the princess. The party sprang into action and within moments the guard lay at their feet. After a few moments of looking for other threats the body of the guard shuddered once and a gargling wheeze came forth from the body. As the shuddering stopped the body separated into finger length slugs that crawled into the ground leaving nothing behind.

Staring at the creature, the place where it was to be more exact, the party were unable to identify the creature. Kuang, Hana and Kyoko stared at some of the fleshy slug like creatures as they buried in the ground. Scooping one up and putting it in a glass bottle Kyoko examined the creature.

The skin of it appeared to take on the texture and colour of what body part, clothing or item it was imitating before it was reverted back to this fleshy slug form. After a few moments of it being captured in a bottle it slowed its twitching and writhing before stopping all together and appearing to be dead. “Gross little creature,” Kyoko muttered as she stared at it, “some of the studied men back home may know what it is.”

Walking down the road once more, this time more cautious they met with no difficulty or hostility for quite some time. The group even let their guard down as they approached a vendor selling breads and street food. As they went to hand over the bartered for coin a knife dashed out from behind the counter and after another intense fight another mass of fleshy slugs wormed their way into the ground.

“These attacks are not enough to get past us.” Kuang mused as he looked at one of the slugs he had impaled on his sword. “They die quickly, inflict little to no damage but its the same type of creature attacking us in different ways. There must be a plan or intent behind these attacks.”

Walking through the streets trailing the foreigners and the Harimasu princess was easy. Dressed as she was, with the skin she was wearing she could blend in any where. Mugrave moved through the streets, appearing hungry and confused, a look of fear and a touch of despair tugging at her voice helped to sell the act.

As she moves from door to door, vendor to vendor she asks for food, spare coin or clothes to keep her warm. Her comely appearance, soft voice and youthful skin draw more than one glance from the men but that doesn’t concern her. She watches as one of her agents moves closer to the party, glancing back knowingly towards the her and receiving a signal from Mugrave before lunging at Kyoko.

The panic that ensued was sheer bliss. Mugrave relished in watching the streets erupt into chaos as the adventurers and Kyokos guard erupted into action easily cutting down the would be assailant. As she pretended to scream and scramble to safety as the violent response came Mugrave studied them. She watched their moves and the assessing their capabilities as was her plan. She could not attack the group without knowing what she was up against and now she knew.

As the day went on more of her agents attacked the group and she learnt more about their strength. She would need to be careful with this lot.

Settling down in a refugee camp for the night she enjoyed the comforts of poverty. Free food, blankets and different faces, emotions and personalities to learn and perfect. For a skin walker such as herself having a supply of inspiration and a list of faces and voices to use was of most importance.

NPCs

Kyoko Harimasu

Kyoko is a bit of a celebrity in the villages as she moves through and helps those she can.

Captain Kuang Ping

Kuangs warmer now he moves amongst his people. Helping families and people and even sparring with some refugees to demonstrate his skill. As the captain of the Harimasu guard he is well celebrated. Once the attacks start he is in his element and not a single blow lands on kyoko as he intercepts them all.

Sasha (Hana Toshio-Harimasu)

Hana is much like Kyoko without the celebrity status. She helps where she can and people celebrate her passing along with Kyoko and Kuang. The three are well loved and despite the trauma the villagers and townsfolk have endured these past few weeks they try and protect and help the harimasu heir where they can.

Mugrave – Human form

Mugrave is a skin walker, a form shifter like none before her. She is here to find the light, the one they call Liz but she found something more. Kyoko and the adventures. Not wanting to let go of a chance to gain further Intel she launched into action using her Quaigin’s to test their strength.

Environment and running the adventure

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Encounter

The panicked streets is an easy enough gimmick with people running around and looking for a place to hide. This means that for our party they now have to deal with this movement and shift of potential threats. As DMs we need to really sell this. Describe the moment that the panic sets in or just simply emphasise that these people, refugees or farmers are just trying to get away from the spark of violence.

These small details can help drive the narrative of the encounter and enrich it from just being “Combat” to being “roleplay”.

The actual encounter should be one or two Quaigin attacking at once. Trying a different approach or tactic each time as they test how the party react.

Lore: Skin Walker

Legend has it in Ryokughan that under the right circumstances one can become a skin walker. In fact the ability to shape shift and assume any form, voice and personality is not something that is unobtainable but in some cultures, it is something that is routine.
The Oni and those who are born tied to the shadow are frequently blessed with the ability to shift appearance, taking a new form and voice to help reach their goals. These Skin walkers form the strongest and most prized of The Shadows champions and are frequently the cornerstone of its plans.

Skin walkers – Quaigin

Made in Tetra-cube

As she moved forward across the wet grass her anticipation fluttered in her chest. It wasn’t because she liked these creatures, they were below here, far, far below her but they were loyal and obedient. She appreciated their skills, the abilities that made them formless, that gave them an edge when interacting with the real world. These spirit-folk, the fey as the foreigners had called them, were not evil or malicious by nature but they respected their place in the world and did as they were told. The squirming prisoner, a guard that had strayed too far away from their post, looked up at Mugrave with horror in her eyes as she tried to back away from the Oni.

“Hush child,” the Oni said through sharpened teeth, “I wont harm you”.

The faceless creatures near by moved backwards a few feet away from the huddles guard. “Thank you.” she stuttered as she looked around at the creatures around her. “What are you going to do with me?”

“I will release you once I get some information from you.” The Oni said as she squatted down in front of the human, the sheer difference in size enough to make the warrior pale.

“What do you want to know, I’ll tell you anything” the guard caved quickly.

“I don’t want you to tell me anything. I want you to show me everything” Mugrave said as her arms darted forwards. Wrapping her hands around the head of the smaller humanoid she began to extract the information from her memories. Orders for movement of guards from the wall, the size and strength of the battalions and a titbit about Kyoko being spotted coming through the Kunagi ranges. The final piece of the puzzle was the reports of a fair foreigner who could heal wounds and the earth having appeared at Heavens Reach castle.

“The light. She has arrived. Interesting” Mugrave said dropping the human like a dirty dish cloth. “You are free to go” Mugrave said as the quivering human rose to her hands and knees and began to run off towards her barracks.

“Get her.” Mugrave said as the faceless shapes ran after her and dragged her silently into the earth.

Well here we are, at the end of another week. Thanks for joining me as I continue this journey across the Ryokughan continent. Now don’t forget to come back for the next week of content where we watch Mugrave get more aggressive. Oh, and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

30 Minute Challenge – Image edition

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Hi all and welcome to a 30 Minute Challenge evening. Now it has been quite some time since I have done something like this. In fact I haven’t I dont believe I have done something like this as tonight I will be using a randomly created image.

That’s right tonight a single image will inspire and generate tonight’s adventure and, lets hope, that its good. So using a random image as the base I then cross-bred it with two more images and then tweaked it until it looked, somewhat real. The trouble with Art-breeder sometimes is that the noise from over-breeding can take away from details you want to keep or enhance. But tonight I am happy with what we have so if you want to look at the original, or tweak it, you can find it here.

The rules:

  1. 30 minute limit.
  2. The them must be inspirited by the “randomly generated” image.
  3. Grammatical and spelling checks are allowed outside of the 30 minutes but the content must be there.
  4. At the end of the challenge the produced adventure should be able to be used for a D&D one shot.
  5. Must have some form of NPC, a creature, and a goal.

I have kept it nice and simple for tonight, no forced weird things or restrictions but if you want to see something like that feel free to suggest it.

30 Minute Challenge – Image

30 Minute Adventure challenge - Image edition: Revealing a green jungle with a river running through the centre.
Green Jungle

Time started: 8:25pm

As the party moved out from their tent the thick heavy curtains of fabric brushed against them leaving damp on their skin. Apart from the the sheer humidity of this jungle the second thing that hit them after being in a muffled tent was the noise. In fact the noise of insects and creature calls was the predominant thing about this jungle so far and it kept the party on their toes.

“Ah, good morning! Right this way when you please.” said a cheerful voice the sponsor, guide and seemingly jungle enthusiast declared. “We have much ground to cover before we reach the ruins but if we leave now we should make it there by noon.”

The party moved onwards through the sticky ground, the clouds of insects and the hardy and thorny plants. The trip over was easy in comparison to the journey on foot. The island that they are exploring, or paid to be body guards for, is several months travel away from Faerun. In fact the only way that they made it here was the marvels of both science and arcane powers. An airship. The double storied vessel was big enough to transport them, supplies for a month and even materials to set up a base camp on the island. This man came prepared , he was foolish or both it seemed.

A rustle in the bushes to the left of the path had the party draw swords and create a protective circle around their benefactor. “Oh its probably nothing… It’s nothing right?” the man asked through a twitching white moustache.

Before the party could respond to him the bushes rustled and something head off away from the party. A few tense moments later and the party began to move on, all except the one who was at the front – he was staring into the eye of something and it wasn’t backing down. “Are you coming or not! If you dally we will miss the right time and it will all be for naught!” called the scholar. Looking back to give a reply the mercenary looked back to where the eye was to see nothing.

Sheathing their sword, but not taking their hand off the hilt they rejoined the group. “As I was saying,” the old man was saying as the party member caught up. “The sun at the right angle at the right day hits this ancient gem at the precipice of the temple and it shines a light on the way through the doors. Fascinating stuff it really is. And to think we will be the first people to report back what lies within the temple. Many have come before but they weren’t as prepared as me. No-sir-ee they didn’t come with hired muscle or having completed half as much homework before coming along. And look where they are now. The jungle took them and holds them under its roots.” the man was nearly incapable of being quiet.

Scaled feet

As the creature returned back to its master they exchanged a few short, sharp chirps and purrs before it shot back off into the bush. The broad and lean body of the hunter stood watching his companion dart off to regain his quarries trail.

“Sek’eth.” a voice said from behind him. Turning with a mixture of annoyance and respect Sek’eth knelt before the wiry, small lizard-folk that stood next to him on a Pterosaur. “Some would think your hesitation to engage in these invaders is cowardice. I spoke up for you I really did but the others of the counsel have concerns. They believe that you don’t have what it takes to complete the mission. That you alone will be the reason that our sacred sites are invaded.” the corner of the lips of this runty lizard spoke otherwise to his support.

“They are different from the others. They have warriors this time unlike those who were un-worthy combatants. The scaled ones tell us that patience is how they sculpted the land to their will, not haste. I am merely practicing what our sacred ones have preached.” the larger reptilian humanoid said before standing up taller. “I will need more troops. Another flight at minimum. These are no ordinary scholars or insignificant warm bloods.”

The smaller lizard man seemed to broil under its fine scales but before that anger and pressure could escape its lips a larger clawed hand appeared on its shoulder. “You will have your flight Sek’eth. But if you fail in your task you will face banishment. Do not fail us” the larger counsel member said as he stepped up into the saddle of his monolithic Pterosaur.

Bowing deeply he waited for the counsel and their handlers to leave before he sprinted off towards the temple. Quietly as he leaped over a log he hoped that his companion could reign in its wild fury and wait for support from the rest of the brood.

Plot

The party has been hired by an eccentric scholar who needs mercenaries to help him explore a lost temple on an ancient island. What they don’t know is that the temple is a sacred site to a ferocious lizard-folk who have tamed reptiles from a bygone age.

The scholar, Cedrek Peetee – who claims to be a half-gnome, is more or less unknown in Faerun but has inherited a lot of wealth from his late parents and his previous master – a fanatic for lost temples of old. In one of the handed down books it was revealed that this mysterious temple was seen in the island – but they didn’t go any closer to it a they were running short on supplies and needed to reach dock.

The lizard-folk come in a few shapes and sizes and any colours imaginable. Sek’eth is a large crocodilian like beast of muscle and cunning. His companion, Rep, is a bipedal therapod with elongated claws used for gripping, ripping and tearing.

The temple will only open if the right rune is pressed, which is revealed by a gem mounted in the roof. And, you guessed it, the sun only hits the gem just rightly once a year. The inside temple contains the bodies of deceased lizard-folk who died from a terrible disease. Its both a sacred site due to the reverence that they hold over the dead, but also because they fear the return of the disease.

If the party make it to the temple and open up the door they will find bodies within its halls and rooms. Each body looks like they were just dumped in there but the truth is that they were alive when they were sealed up and died some time after their entombment. However, some survived. These creatures are ghouls with a lizard-folk body and possess a hunger that is beyond the norm. The party must fight to survive and perhaps convince the lizard folk to help them fight the undead.

Time finished: 8:54pm

Well I think I did ok with that writing challenge. Heavily inspired Warhammer (Serephon/lizardmen) as well as the Chult island it goes without saying that there must be other islands like that one out there.

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow night for the end of week writeup and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Formless

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Welcome back to another Friday-fightnight where our party encounter the formless Quaigin. These shapeshifters are known as the scouts and minions of the dreaded skin walkers who serve the Shadow. In fact these shapeless beings take on the shape of others as a way of interacting with the world after all its not easy having no face. In fact its not that they don’t have a face that gives them a bad reputation its that they consist of thousands of finger-length slugs that does the trick.

Formless

231FrFo

Quaigin - the formless ones who use their inherent magical abilities to take the form of other creatures.
Made in tetra-cube

As she moved forward across the wet grass her anticipation fluttered in her chest. It wasn’t because she liked these creatures, they were below here, far, far below her but they were loyal and obedient. She appreciated their skills, the abilities that made them formless, that gave them an edge when interacting with the real world. These spirit-folk, the fey as the foreigners had called them, were not evil or malicious by nature but they respected their place in the world and did as they were told. The squirming prisoner, a guard that had strayed too far away from their post, looked up at Mugrave with horror in her eyes as she tried to back away from the Oni.

“Hush child,” the Oni said through sharpened teeth, “I wont harm you”.

The faceless creatures near by moved backwards a few feet away from the huddles guard. “Thank you.” she stuttered as she looked around at the creatures around her. “What are you going to do with me?”

“I will release you once I get some information from you.” The Oni said as she squatted down in front of the human, the sheer difference in size enough to make the warrior pale.

“What do you want to know, I’ll tell you anything” the guard caved quickly.

“I don’t want you to tell me anything. I want you to show me everything” Mugrave said as her arms darted forwards. Wrapping her hands around the head of the smaller humanoid she began to extract the information from her memories. Orders for movement of guards from the wall, the size and strength of the battalions and a titbit about Kyoko being spotted coming through the Kunagi ranges. The final piece of the puzzle was the reports of a fair foreigner who could heal wounds and the earth having appeared at Heavens Reach castle.

“The light. She has arrived. Interesting” Mugrave said dropping the human like a dirty dish cloth. “You are free to go” Mugrave said as the quivering human rose to her hands and knees and began to run off towards her barracks.

“Get her.” Mugrave said as the faceless shapes ran after her and dragged her silently into the earth.

Closing thoughts

Developing the Quaigin is an interesting one. Being formless by nature makes their description sway easily from useful (for a DM) and horrifying which can only enrich the stories we can tell.

These creatures being able to mimic, perfectly, those that they touch make them perfect spies and assassins and I look forward to using them in the future.

Thanks for joining me tonight. As always the stat blocks are created in Tetra-cube, a great little web application for us DMs to make life a bit easier. In fact this whole week is about making life easier by answering the simple question. How do I get an Oni inside a fortress. The ability for Mugrave and her Quaigin to shapeshift makes this process an easy one – but more on that next week. Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for a creative writeup. I am excited to bring another one of these back to the table as I haven’t really timed myself in a while since I have been focusing on improving my writing. So, don’t forget to come back this weekend and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Panicked Streets

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Welcome back to another Thursday night of maps! This week we are travelling through a village where the quiet country streets suddenly become panicked streets as violence erupts. The party is under attack from mysterious creatures and well, that means an encounter (or two) may need to be made.

Panicked Streets

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Rural village streets which go from passive to Panicked streets in the blink of an eye, or a flash of a dagger.
Made with Inkarnate.com

I decided that taking a look through the farm collection on incarnate, dirtying up the stone and even putting a sun-set like hue over the top was a good start.

The decision to have work out grass was pretty easy – no farm or village where they have live stock has perfectly green grass without spots of brown. This is due to people walking, animals laying (or eating) and even grubs in the ground destroying plant life. So I wanted to reflect that this is a rural sense, yes it has buildings and market tents (or at least fabric shades) but its still rural.

Closing thoughts

The panicked streets is an easy enough gimmick with people running around and looking for a place to hide. This means that for our party they now have to deal with this movement and shift of potential threats. As DMs we need to really sell this. Describe the moment that the panic sets in or just simply emphasise that these people, refugees or farmers are just trying to get away from the spark of violence.

These small details can help drive the narrative of the encounter and enrich it from just being “Combat” to being “roleplay”.

Thanks for dropping by to look at a little encounter in a sleepy village in Ryokughan. As I say every night don’t forget that we have more content to come as the week goes on and tomorrow we investigate the encounter! So don’t forget to drop by then and this weekend for more content. As such this weekend I want to do another writing challenge so please submit suggestions for a theme in the comments below! Oh, and as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Quaigin

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Hello and welcome to the middle of the week, Wednesday, where we look at the twist of the week. Yesterday in Skin Walker we looked at the creature called Mugrave as she had her agents, The Quaigin, launch a series of attacks towards the party. Tonight we reveal some of those attacks from the point of view from the party and get a closer look at these creatures called the Quaigin.

The Quaigin

231WeThQu

“We won’t stay long in this village on our way to Heavens Reach.” Kyoko explained as she moved down the street, greeting villagers and guards like she was an old acquaintance of some. “I don’t like the idea of that spirit harming these innocent folk because we stayed a moment too long.”

“I agree. It’s best for your safety and the safety of others if we can return you home.” Kuang said as he uncharacteristically bent down and handed some food to a few small children who were begging for it.

Without warning one of the guards that had approached Kyoko drew their sword and lunged at the princess. The party sprang into action and within moments the guard lay at their feet. After a few moments of looking for other threats the body of the guard shuddered once and a gargling wheeze came forth from the body. As the shuddering stopped the body separated into finger length slugs that crawled into the ground leaving nothing behind.

Staring at the creature, the place where it was to be more exact, the party were unable to identify the creature. Kuang, Hana and Kyoko stared at some of the fleshy slug like creatures as they buried in the ground. Scooping one up and putting it in a glass bottle Kyoko examined the creature.

The skin of it appeared to take on the texture and colour of what body part, clothing or item it was imitating before it was reverted back to this fleshy slug form. After a few moments of it being captured in a bottle it slowed its twitching and writhing before stopping all together and appearing to be dead. “Gross little creature,” Kyoko muttered as she stared at it, “some of the studied men back home may know what it is.”

Walking down the road once more, this time more cautious they met with no difficulty or hostility for quite some time. The group even let their guard down as they approached a vendor selling breads and street food. As they went to hand over the bartered for coin a knife dashed out from behind the counter and after another intense fight another mass of fleshy slugs wormed their way into the ground.

“These attacks are not enough to get past us.” Kuang mused as he looked at one of the slugs he had impaled on his sword. “They die quickly, inflict little to no damage but its the same type of creature attacking us in different ways. There must be a plan or intent behind these attacks.”

Closing thoughts

Tonight is a relatively easy one as it was setup over the last few nights. Having inspiration from a D&D 5e creature, the Quaggoth, I hope the Quaigin will be interesting creatures to encounter. In fact I hope that they will be seen in a few adventures to come.

I am looking forward to the next few nights to see what else I can add to make this adventure feel.. more? So stay tuned for it.

The Quaigin are just the tip of the iceberg in regards to what Mugrave will use against the party. I will make sure that we can all be best prepared for the future to ensure that we have fun each week.

Thanks for joining me tonight. As normal Wednesday nights are for twists and turns and this week with slug-creatures I think I pulled it off again. Trying to blend the Asian influence, D&D and my limited exposure to the combination of these things is a challenge and its rewarding to see how many people read these daily posts. As usual don’t forget to come back the next few days for the last pieces of this weekly puzzle. And, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Skin Walker

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Hello and welcome back to a Tuesday NPC post. This week we follow the party as they follow the trail of destruction and havoc left by the minions of The Shadow. In particular, we are following the plots and ploys of Mugrave the Skin Walker as she tries to complete her mission to prevent the party, and Liz, from stopping her masters plans.

Skin Walker

231TuSkWa

Mugrave the Skin Walker
Created in Artbreeder

Walking through the streets trailing the foreigners and the Harimasu princess was easy. Dressed as she was, with the skin she was wearing she could blend in any where. Mugrave moved through the streets, appearing hungry and confused, a look of fear and a touch of despair tugging at her voice helped to sell the act.

As she moves from door to door, vendor to vendor she asks for food, spare coin or clothes to keep her warm. Her comely appearance, soft voice and youthful skin draw more than one glance from the men but that doesn’t concern her. She watches as one of her agents moves closer to the party, glancing back knowingly towards the her and receiving a signal from Mugrave before lunging at Kyoko.

The panic that ensued was sheer bliss. Mugrave relished in watching the streets erupt into chaos as the adventurers and Kyokos guard erupted into action easily cutting down the would be assailant. As she pretended to scream and scramble to safety as the violent response came Mugrave studied them. She watched their moves and the assessing their capabilities as was her plan. She could not attack the group without knowing what she was up against and now she knew.

As the day went on more of her agents attacked the group and she learnt more about their strength. She would need to be careful with this lot.

Settling down in a refugee camp for the night she enjoyed the comforts of poverty. Free food, blankets and different faces, emotions and personalities to learn and perfect. For a skin walker such as herself having a supply of inspiration and a list of faces and voices to use was of most importance.

Skin Walker

Legend has it in Ryokughan that under the right circumstances one can become a skin walker. In fact the ability to shape shift and assume any form, voice and personality is not something that is unobtainable but in some cultures, it is something that is routine.

The Oni and those who are born tied to the shadow are frequently blessed with the ability to shift appearance, taking a new form and voice to help reach their goals. These Skin walkers form the strongest and most prized of The Shadows champions and are frequently the cornerstone of its plans.

Closing thoughts

Tonight was more about setting up tomorrow and this weeks encounters. Having Mugrave reveal some of her pawns and test the party may become evident quite early on to the party, and I would hope it would be evident, and they would perhaps become more suspicious of their environment.

The use of these micro-encounters. These mini flashes of fire in the pan is to really make the party feel like they are being tested, each attack should be coming from a different angle or approach. But.. I probably reveal too much about tomorrows twist so I will leave it here.

Thanks for another night with you dropping in to read up on the happenings in Ryokughan. Don’t forget that we will be adding to this weeks adventure each night this week, as normal so you need to come back tomorrow night. And the night after on that note. But most importantly, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Wake of Violence

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Hello and welcome to another Monday that starts off the month. This month I need to get a move on and progress the story towards the finale of the adventure. So as the party move northward through Ryokughan they now have to witness the wake of violence the Shadows minions have left. But are they recovered enough after their terrifying combat with the Laelóng? Only time can tell.

Wake of Violence

231MoWaVi

Wake of Violence - ruined towns on the way to
Created in Artbreeder

After the party had found some horses that were in need of some new, living owners they continued north. The hope of a warm bed and hot meals quickly fades when they passed another village that was in the wake of violence left by the Shadows minions. As they passed through the village they noted that only some of the houses were destroyed whilst others looked like they had sustained minimal damage. But regardless of which of the villages along the northern road they travelled there were always bodies in some stage of mutilation or being devoured.

About three days travel from the Kunagi Ranges the party came across a village that was untouched. In fact as they asked around they quickly became aware that many of the people in this village were refugees from the previous village or some to the East.

“What’s east?” asked one of the players.

“The wall, our last defence from the shadow and the hordes of creatures that it commands in the mountains” Kyoko replied.

“We best make haste to your home Lady Kyoko, I fear that we spend too much time on these roads” Kuang said as he analyses the buildings and faces nearby.

Begging

As the party left the Village and headed north she watched from the side of the road. Posing as one of the refugees from an earlier village she had made it to this small town without any real issue. Now that she was seen as one of those who drifted, one of those in need it was easy to move from place to place without questions being asked which suited her purposes.

“Soon we will be rid of that princess. Once she leads me to the light.” Mugrave muttered quietly to herself as she moved to get some food. “Once I have taken care of the light then our plan wont fail” she said to the voice in her head. The Shadow was pleased with his servant and retreated back from the busy street.

Closing thoughts

This week was another easy one. The deadline for moving the party northward to Heavens Reach Castle, Kyoko’s home, is fast approaching and I need to move the plot along. Bringing Mugrave back in at this time allows me to bring in an earlier story hook as well – remember the guards that were attacked in the field? No? Well I do and its time for some reinforcements to Kyoko’s retinue.

As we get closer to the end of this years adventure I cant help but looking backwards at the journey we have undertaken. Starting with strange happenings in a small marker port town, sailing over the seas and then trekking inland towards certain danger sounds like something you would get in a novel. This certainly makes it easier to write for.

But bringing in these obscure but already thought out plot hooks helps tie things together and can help cement in the grand scale of the adventure for us DMs.

Thanks for dropping by tonight for the kick-off of another month of travelling, actually that’s a joke. This month promises to be filled with opportunity to have combat, cloak and dagger as well as all out assault style combat. There will be some intrigue and a little bit of drama, I hope. But in order for you to keep up to date on the plot as it unfolds don’t forget to come back each night and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

The Laelóng of Lanidaye.

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Tonight we continue our journey through Ryokughan and encounter a Laelóng and the town of Lanidaye. This week is a level 7 (if not 8) adventure so our party of adventurers better be up for the task in travelling through the Kunagi ranges.

As with last time Pages 1, 2 and 3 are content pages, the description, flow, random tables, etc. and such that you’ve previously seen.
Page 4 contains all NPCs and portraits to help the DM describe them and a bit about them to help play them out.
Page 5 will be stat blocks and map(s) – all that D&D encounter goodness that you want.

Now I will assume you have read the entire post which has had some bits modified over the months content. Now including the original content, and some bits added this is a mere 11961! words long. I really do appreciate the time you take to read through these end of month adventures.

All Maps were made in Inkarnate using their Pro license, Art was created in Artbreeder and the statblocks were created in Tetra-cube.

Don’t forget to come back next week and, as always, don’t forget to roll with advantage,
The Brazen Wolfe

Part 1 – Desecration – 227MoWaRo

Moving forward was slower going since the attack from the Onikage and undead wolves but they were finally seeing less and less snow settling on the ground as they progressed further east and towards the Kugani Ranges.

“About half a day ahead we should reach a village, they are not part of any family but they usually have an Inn to stay at and are normally friendly to strangers and those who need help” Kuang announced as he finished drinking from his water skin. “And I hope they have some supplies for us as that river was a quite some distance back”.

The ground descended slowly which made the the walk some what easier and soon they found a well worn path that head off towards two peaks at either side of the ranges that created a valley between them, a highway for travel that was frequented by merchants and the like so finding a ride through should be easy. Not more than a mile after joining the road they heard the sound of approaching horses and a wagon approached them heading towards the ranges.

After some discussion the party and Kyoko, Kuang and Hana jumped on and for the first time in what felt like days they were able to rest up and relax as they marvelled at the views of nature. Still descending towards the valley the grass was green and littered with specs of snow with infrequent trees dotting the landscape. Strange elk-like creatures walked through the lands here but the long fox-like tail that trailed behind them spoke of something more mystical than the mundane elks that the party would encounter back in Faerun. Pointing out something odd one of the parties noticed a few deep furrows in the land, like something had dug up a large patch of grass, earth and dirt in a straight line heading in the direction that they were going. Kuang nor the merchant Jason Keening, who happened to also be from Faerun, knew what had caused them or could even make a wild guess.

As the sun began its descent and the afternoon was well on its way the horses of the wagon slowed down as Jason urged them to slow with repeated ‘woo’s’. “You, uh, lot. You better see this.” he called back towards the party and as they climbed out of the comfortable wagon – much to the protest of their bodies – The village up ahead looked as if it had been through a war, or an attack of some sort. Continuing on their way but having the party ready for combat they saw that the people were not dead as feared and were walking around but they shied away from the visitors and even the children did not run out to greet them.

“Normally this village is happy to see my wagon, excited even. I don’t understand what could be the cause of this but these are good people.” Jason said as he moved his wagon over to the inn. A few houses either side of the road looked like they were in the midst of repair and there was a chill to the town that was unlike the meadows a few hours before.

Walking into the inn a nervous and skittish man stood up abruptly from behind a desk “Welcome to the Will’o’wisp inn” he said before a long pause, “We don’t have much room at the moment so I would suggest travelling until the next Village on the other side of the valley” the man said to the party, his posture and demeanour changing as Jason walked in.

After a few moments of talking to Jason quietly and the exchange between Jason and the inn-keep ‘yeah, not good Jason, were’ empty here but I cant take you. I cant risk it‘ were overheard Jason clasped him on the shoulder and walked to the party.

“Well we can get some supplies here but that’s about all we can do unfortunately. As you heard the man, they don’t have rooms for us” Jason smiled but his heart wasn’t in it before he walked back to his wagon to fetch a few supplies to go about his business.

As the morning sun rose the party stretched and were thankful for the warm, comfortable mattresses that were underneath them and the filling meals they received at the house that they were granted rooms to rest in. Kyoko’s families reputation and the tales of the parties bravery and prowess spreading during their quest up the mountain, and the night before, were resulting in the adventurers from across the sea becoming well known, idols to some and for others the targets for scrutiny and ill intended gossip.

The reception back into the city of Shuimu was a mixture of relief, amazement of the tales that they and Takeo told, keeping Shiku, the scroll and the state of the monastery a secret, and unknown to them, the revelation of the kappa cave and the remains of travellers before them were creating concerns and alarm bells of what damning items could’ve been found amongst those remains. Kyoko, Liz and Siu, who was sometimes visible and other times appeared out of no where – a result of Liz’s prayers and charms no doubt, were excited to be filled in when the party returned.

When the party finally found a moment of peace and quiet with Kyoko they revealed the cure for the Shadow Bruises first.

“Interesting, Lotus flowers hold a mystical connection to our ancestors and the dragons that bonded with our families. Some families the dragons took upon other forms but their spiritual essence was always the same and they all had some connection to the lotus leaf. The Harimasu lotus’s have not bloomed since before I can remember,” Kyoko said before wincing, Siu looked ashamed before drifting to the corner of the room towards a small statue of their ancestral guardian Huangdi. “There is but one place where we can receive the waters of the Lotus flower within any amount of reasonable time and it is with the Toshi family, I believe you received some horses from them as a way to return to the city quickly. Although this bothers me that I am in some form of debt to them I do have someone looking after the horses to ensure that nothing foul goes a foot whilst they are in our care. The value of the horses is negligible but to be in debt to another family, small or large, can cause strife within our tight knit communities and that is something we must avoid. What was the second thing you had to show me?” Kyoko asked as she reached for the scroll which revealed the plot on the Harimasu family.

“Ah, this is interesting and potentially damning evidence if we can seek an audience with the head of the family. As long as everything goes fine in our visit there we should be able to request some of the water from their lotus pond – a strange and audacious request but something we can probably navigate around.” She continued as a knock on the door came urgently, rolling up the scroll and placing it by her side she allowed the visitor to enter.

“Lady Harimasu. Urgent news,” it was the one of the men she had requested guard the horses, “One of the Toshio mares has fallen ill suddenly, and died. Our shamans did not make it in time but they have yet to detect any poison or foul intentions on the beast.” the man said bowing to Kyoko. “Forgive us please lady, we did our best but we have failed you.”

“Nonsense – you are not to blame for this. Ensure that no one else finds out about this and we will investigate the mare. You did your best and that is all we can ask of you and your men. Thank you for the news although I wish it was more pleasant tidings” Waving her hand she dismissed the man with mercy before waiting for the door to close. “This is bad timing, a coincidence I think not however. Can you take Siu, Takeo and Lady Liz to check on the mare to ensure that there as no foul play. I don’t trust the shamans as they hire themselves out to the deepest pockets these days. It does not add up, the omens are not good and as it stands we are both in debt to the Toshio family and hold damning evidence of their people committing open hostility against our own. This could have gone a lot better.” Kyoko concluded as she sighed and poured herself a small cup of a strong distilled alcohol.

“please be discrete if you can. The less people that know about this incident the better.” Kyoko said as she started to fetch some parchment, ink and a quill.

As the party left the room where Kyoko sat and headed towards the stable where the fallen mare lay Takeo rushed ahead to make sure that the area was secure and Liz strode next to Siu who hung back with the others, his presence still flickering in and out of peoples perception.

As the party reached the stables they were stopped at the door by several men dressed in Reds and greys.

“You five seem to be out of place here,” a older and serious Ryokughan man said as he stepped in front of the door – his hand moving inside of the sleeve of his robe. “I’ll ask you politely to step away as my lady does not want any disturbances to befall these animals.”

The man waits for the party to introduce themselves before turning to Liz “you don’t seem to be with these four, who are tasked by Lady Kyoko to visit these stables. What business do you have?” The man asked as the other Red and grey dressed men walked purposefully around the building.

“I am here to examine the horses to make sure they are in good health” said Liz, careful to not reveal too much to ensure that the man could be trusted.

Sighing and smiling a toothy grin the man withdrew his hand from the robe “Apologies lords and ladies, I had to make sure I could trust you. Please, allow me to get the door for you.” he said as he moved towards the door, a mixture between a stride and a waddle – the movement almost purposeful to the trained eye. “A mystery it is, the shaman couldn’t tell what was the matter and we were asked to quickly seal up the area and not allow anyone other than those entrusted to enter. I don’t even quite know myself what is going on as I have come at the change of the shift and been told to show the authorised people into the building.” the man said, a small change in his tone as he spoke almost undetectable.

Knocking on the door and stepping to the side a small wooden panel was opened and Takeo’s eyes were revealed. Moments later the door was unlocked and the door opened – Takeo walking deeper into the stables “come in, towards the back” he called in a carefully measured voice so that only those by the door could hear.

Moving through the red robed man closed the door behind them, or so it sounded like it, and carefully walked in behind them. Moments later the sick mare was revealed, her hide was normally brown with patches of white was now a dark grey, the hair slowly falling out in great patches as the body of it lay unmoving.

“I can’t detect any poisons, curses, wounds, cuts, bruising. Nothing.” Takeo said as he looked down at the mare, crouching down. “there is a build up and a large amount of mucus near the mouth as if the horse spat up as it collapsed but that is all I have found that is odd. Strange..” he said as he turned his head towards the party, his eyes following a moment later “Liz, maybe your divine magic can identify what is going on here…” he stopped as his eyes met the man in the red and grey robe.

“What is he doing in here. None of the hands were meant to enter the room.” he said standing abruptly. Just as quickly as he stood he started to shake, his legs wobbling as his shivering hands reached up to his neck and plucked a tiny fluff covered spike from his neck. His eyes lost focus as they moved between the party and the man at the back of the room then to Liz as he fell to the ground.

Liz shrieked and dashed forwards, a prayer already on her lips as she met his side and a golden glow covered his body, a greenish tinge flowing from a minute puncture wound on his neck flowing through to his limbs. The glow spread down and focused on the puncture which seemed to stop the tinge and slowly it receded.

“Interesting..” they heard on the wind as the door behind them slammed shut – whirling around the man in grey and red had gone, disturbed hay the only evidence that he had been there at all.

The plains were just as beautiful on sunset as they weren’t hours earlier and as the sun turned the sky the colours of autumn the party set up tents that they adorned with a charm that supposedly would keep spirits and the fey away from them. Sitting down to a meal cooked over the coals the party made small talk with Jason who had joined them to camp out on the plans as the town had shunned him just as they did the party.

Jason revealed more about his past, about how he had lost his father early in his life, a mercenary fighting for gold and glory whilst his mother had worked hard to give him the opportunities in life and now he was selling wares on a distant land so that he could provide a comfortable life for his mother who lived in Shuimu.

Saying goodnight to the party Kuang went to his own tent while Kyoko and Hana went to separate tent leaving the party and Jason to organise watch rotation for the night – just in case the night and light from the fire brings the creatures that hunt in the dark.

It wasn’t until after the moon reached the cusp of its travels across the night sky that the first signs of something amiss appeared. A vibration through the ground that the person on watch noticed first before waking the others. Gathering around the firelight heartbeats turned into the vibrations continued and gradually increased as the moonlight shone across the plains catching movement across the plains like a drift of snow moving in a straight direction – but the light from the fire, distance and how the moonlight trickled through clouds above made it difficult to see what was going on. Soon though the ground began to shake with such ferocity that lose stones, the utensils used to cook dinner and even the doors on the wagon began to shake and bounce in place as the vibrations turned from a little tremor to a thunderous cacophony.

As the party went back to back around the fire a gust of wind rushed past them all but extinguishing the fire as dozens if not hundreds of white shapes darted towards them from the darkness from the direction of the village. Thundering hooves, broad antlers and glowing white coats meshed together to form a wave of flesh as the crashes around the party, forming a wide berth around the tents as if it was a boulder in the path of a raging river. The tall fox-tailed elks madly rushed around the camp, pushing each other to avoid the camp but also driven by fear or madness to stampede past the party in a blur of white fur, broad antlers and the thunderous explosion of noise that their hooves on chilled soil created.

After a minute the last of the stragglers ran past and into the distance, the plain flattened in a straight path that was easily sixty feet white and went on for as far as the moonlight and the parties vision could see. Looking in the direction they came from the party could see them continuing to stampede into the distance until the moonlight no longer revealed the beasts in their frantic pace to get to where they were going, or away from where they were leaving.

The rest of the night went fine with the party and those on watch who had a quieter duty, albeit more alert and potentially spooked, and by the mornings first rays of light the full devastation of land was revealed. Several dead or dying Elk were found scattered across the hills, gored and crushed by their own kin as they stampeded which Jason, Kuang and Kyoko aided in their passing to end their suffering where possible. Looking in the direction they had come from it was plain to see that the source of their stampede lay back towards the village some way and the party would need to make a decision to investigate or move on and through the pass.

Areas and places of note

Lanidaye – A small village of no real fame or note other than it sitting a few hours ride from the Kunagi Ranges. Generally used as a bit of a pit-stop before heading through the ranges it has been unfortunately visitied by the Toshio Yuki-onna, Yukri and made a deal they dare not refuse.

The Camp-site – Less than an hour outside of the town the party set up a camp – far enough away to not draw too much attention from the creatures that plague the town at night but close enough that its not unfeasible to make a mad dash their.

Environment and running the adventure

Lanidaye – If the party ask around town they would eventually find someone who would explain that the Yuki-onna betrothed to the Toshio family visited a few weeks back and after commanding them to swear allegiance to them and allow passage to spirts and fey-folk, which was refused, one night they woke up to the sound of their homes and businesses being torn apart by a roaring wind, the cold set in freezing their well and stopping the hot spring that kept the town warm and well supplied with water. The day after the queen returned and this time made the same request, noting that freak storms were seen on the horizon but she may be able to spare the village from another visitation. This time they accepted and removed the wards that kept out malicious spirits and fey-folk. From that night onwards, about a week ago, each night they would wake up to find their doors open and food stuffs, or items, missing and two nights ago some visitors to the inn were taken in the middle of the night – their screams woke up the town as they were dragged into the dark. The villagers are terrified at what the Toshio Yuki-onna will do to them next time and, more importantly, don’t want the violence to escalate. So in order to make sure it doesn’t happen they are stopping all visitors from staying in the village for their own safety.

The villagers don’t know where they go, or what they are doing but every night they are visited and each morning something else is missing with tracks covered in the snow.

If the party investigate the houses or buildings that were damaged during the storm they will find one house who is much less repaired than the others which appears to have deep cuts or abrasions in the side of the house like swords or daggers or axes cut in perfectly straight lines to damage part of the roof and wall.

The Camp-site – Less than an hour outside of the town the party set up a camp – far enough away to not draw too much attention from the creatures that plague the town at night but close enough that its not unfeasible to make a mad dash their.

Notable NPC interactions.

Jason Keening – A seasoned merchant in Ryokughan, Jason travels across the main roads within the central area of the continent taking wares from one city to the next bringing back his profits to get items from port cities to take them inland for resale. Well versed in the land and handy with a sword and bow he doesn’t shy away from conflict but is highly superstitious and based on what he has seen and gone through no one can blame him. Although able to defend himself he would rather barter for a peaceful approach and keeps a bunch of oddities and trinkets behind his seat at the wagon for the fey and spirits that would request a trade – his life or something of value.

Ester Yukimono – One of the Villagers who was willing to talk to the party as they approached her store that sells predominantly hand-crafts and some minor blessed talismans that her aunt creates. After the party show interest in her wares, or not, she reveals that these are the last of the talismans her aunt would be making as the villagers wont let her make any more. She specialises in warding talismans that keep the spirits and fey-folk away but according to the deal made with the Toshio Yuki-onna spirit all such wards and talismans were banned in the village until further notice to avoid the queens wrath. She explains that her house was the first one to be destroyed by the wind, but she seems a bit uncertain about this

Hugh Grohw – Hugh is not native to Ryokughan and came over on a trading vessel chasing his then love of his life. Older and more jaded now he doesn’t chase beauties any more and instead runs the local inn at the village before the Kugani Ranges take hold and travellers decide to run the gauntlet between the towering peaks. Nervous and more cowardly than the average mouse Hugh is susceptible to intimidation, persuasion by force or any form of deception – probably how he found himself running an inn at the edge of civilisation – but he fears the safety of others more than his own. He believes that to die with blood on your hands by any means will leave a debt upon his soul and in doing so he wont be able to pass on, cursed to wander the world as a vengeful spirit who prays on those braver than he was in life.

Kyoko Harimasu – Kyoko puts on a brave face but the loss of her crew, the afflicted and Siu have taken a toll on the normally bright young lady. She seems to agree with most suggestions without any deeper thought’s of the consequences of such action’s. Her change in demeanour is quite obvious to those around her and to those who have known her for some time.

Captain Kuang Ping – Kuang is always alert and seems to only confide and trust Kyoko of late, even shying away from discussing plans or thoughts with the party. Despite being grateful of those who protected and aided in the protection of Kyoko he has started to become suspicious at the number of omens and bad luck that seems to follow them around.

Sasha (Hana Toshio-Harimasu) – Quiet but helpful Hana cooks and makes sure everyone is comfortable. She spends most of her time with Kyoko and is constantly writing in what ever she can get her hands on so she can communicate with her cousin or the party.

Encounter

Wounded and Dangerous –

After the stampede the party may find wounded or lost Glimmer stags who are frightened and alone who may attack the party out of fear. They would start with 2d6 less hp but are ferocious despite being wounded. However if they can they will retreat and rush on past the party of there is an opening.

The Voltrix is likely to be found if there is a dead Glimmer Stag or something else in the parties journey. Its gorging on organs sees its head buried in the body which when startled it will wrench out before launching itself at the nearest creatures before flying off. Its not a solitary creature but will fight other Voltrix’s for food which can lead to several of the creature feeding in the one corpse which can be a bit of a surprise for the party when several startle and lash out in fear.

After the encounter:

The party can do what they please, but to head back into the village of Lanidaye will help drive the story forward. Whether it is to buy supplies or say farewell the village should be provided as the suggestion from Jason and the other NPCs.

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