Catching a Shadow

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As Kyoko lead the party through the final halls in the castle heading past the servants quarters they appeared at a sliding door to a small outside courtyard. The central portion of the courtyard saw a large fountain fed pool that was designed in such a way that the trickling of water resonated through the enclosed area. Kyoko nodded to two guards that stood in the courtyard and walked forward, leading the party and Liz through the tranquil surroundings.

Moving through the courtyard Kyoko led them towards a large curtain of vines and flowers where the slightest trace of diffused smoke and low singing could be heard from within the tangled mess of foliage.

“It must be a rare day indeed for the Princess of the Harimasu to visit me today” a voice said from behind the curtain of leaves. “What can I be of service for our bringer of light?”

Kyoko smiled and pushed past the curtain of vines, her chipper and unable to hide the mirth in her voice. “Master Che, you don’t need to be so formal. You are probably the oldest citizen in then land and the one deserving the most respect here.” she said as the party followed her into a well hidden house under the cascading vines and leaves. “But you are right. I do have service of you.” she added as she sat next to the old man who smiled at where she sat, his eyes unfocused.

“I will be as useful as an old blind man can be princess.” he said turning his head towards the party. “I have had odd dreams of late princess. A shadow in the halls playing tag with a ball of light. The shadow cant capture the light but nor does it want to because the shadow fears what the light will do to it – but it is also drawn towards it. The light doesn’t want to be near the shadow but lingers, waiting and watching. Stepping out to confuse the shadow when it sneaks too close or gets too ambitious.” he said as he reached over for a pot of tea that had been placed next to him. His fingers and hands moving with muscle memory he poured himself a pot of tea, the worn indent of the pot and cups evident that this was a habit of his. “The ball of light has visited me as well. Said sweet things and plied me with riddles that amuse me to no end. It has also helped me around the hut. A kind stranger it is.” he added.

“I fear that these aren’t dreams Che. There is a shadow at court. My spy believes that its something called a Lómipilu. I thought that you may remember something of it and be our best bet. The library was ransacked and our tomes regarding the creatures of The Shadow have been removed or destroyed so we are in the dark.” Kyoko said as she patted the old mans hand.

“The Lómipilu, Shadow Thief. They are creatures much like the Lóminau but instead of having no shadow of their own they are shadow. Able to harness the shadows of this world to stich their own world into ours and fusing their own reality with ours.” Che answered as he turned his head to stare at one of the party members, he was starting to sweat and his eyes were wide with fear.

“Do you remember how to kill them or trap them?” Kyoko pressed, Che was shaking now.

“Alas no princess, I never fought one but I remember my mother, the light prophet, mentioning them. There was an old proverb about catching shadow that she used to say but I took it as a child story or something to praise the light.” he said as he wiped tears from his eyes. The weight of the war and his memories getting too much for him.

“One by one the shadows gathered and writhed like beasts on the prowl. One by one the Shadows tricked their owners until all was dark. One by one they grew and merged into the one true Shadow. But one by one they split from their form….” She began to recite the story.

Kyoko squeezes his hand and started to speak “One by one the lights surrounded the beast and one by one they shrank down. One by one the lights grew and truth was revealed and one by one the shadows hid from the light. One by one the shadows cowered under a box and one by one the lights held the box closed and the world was bathed in light and truth and warmth.” Kyoko finished the story and smiled at the party. “My mother also used to say the same thing to me when I was worried about the monsters under my bed. She would light candles and place them around the room, where the shadows would gather so that they didn’t look so scary when they had no where to gather.”

Che nodded and sipped from his tea. “I wish I could be of more use princess but I can hear my friend calling me.” he said as he lay back slowly, his eye lids fluttering before falling asleep in his chair. As he fell asleep his hand opened and a light shone form his palm. Frowning Kyoko reached in and plucked out a single finger-nail sized scale that glowed and shone like the sun.

“Interesting. I wonder where Che got hold of a dragon scale…”

---

Tonight is a bit of a puzzle night. I have a bad history and track record of puzzles being either too hard or too finicky and both of those things bode poorly for new and experienced parties. The idea behind this week is the little part about the catching shadow and hopefully our party will work out that they need to use light to corner the creature. The nature of light doesn’t matter but the idea here is that if we have the party come up with something cool then we will use it.

Spy Master

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“Now,” Takeo began as he walked down the halls of the castle, “the creature is likely posing as a servant, a guard or part of your family…” Takeo added as if almost an afterthought. “we must be careful of what we reveal here as to not give away us being aware of it.” He took a breath after checking around a corner for others. “Likely someone it has killed. I dare say that it wont risk being exposed by wearing the form of someone it may have the chance of being in the same room as.”

“But if it was able to so convincingly deceive you how will we tell it apart from the others?” Hana asked, her voice still sounding uncertain of itself.

“I was hoping our friends or Lady Liz would be of assistance there.” Takeo said smiling at the party as he approached a grand double door.

“Fathers through there isn’t he?” Kyoko said as she smiled and walked towards the door. “It’s been months since I have seen him.” she added as she pushed on the door.

“Remember what I said my lady.” Takeo said as he pushed the doors open for the princess.

The room on the other side of the doors was flooded in light, airy and had was almost serene. The dozen or so guards, members of court and family and the assistants at the castle all knelt in front of an kind faced man who sat at the top of a dais. As Kyoko entered the room the man looked up and his face broke out into an enormous smile. “Praise and thanks to the ancestors, you have returned safe and with companions I see. Takeo and Lady Lizbet have explained that you are the reason that I have my daughter safe at home.”

The emperor said to the party. “You have my sincerest thanks. If we were meeting upon better times I would have you dine with me for a week in celebration and you would want for nothing. But alas I have restricted the banquets until we can sort out our supply lines with the wall.” he emphasised the situation with a loud sigh. “We are having trouble sending supplies and food up there. When ever we do the caravans and their guards are ambushed and the brave men and women fighting back The Shadow go hungry.”

“Father I am sure that my new friends here would be able to assist us. They have bested a Laelóng, defended me from the Yuki-onna that has allied herself with the traitorous snakes the Toshio family. And they brought back my cousin safely home. I am sure that investigating the happenings with our supply lines is child’s play to them at this stage.” Kyoko said with a broad smile towards the party.

The emperor smiled. In fact he beamed. “Hana. It has been far too long.” he said as the quiet young woman moved from behind the party. “If I had known what was happening to you I would have sent troops to rescue you from your corrupt husband.”

“I dare say that she would have joined us sooner or later” a voice cut across the tender moment between family members as the rustling of feather and the slightest gust of wind sounded from outside an open door. A short, slightly hunched man stepped forward and guards rushed to intercept him.

“Halt!” The emperor called as he stood and moved down the steps to his dais. “I dare say that if you engage that man in combat you cant hope to win.” he said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “It’s been some time Master Fukiyomo. What dark tidings do you bring?”

The old man smiled. “You know me too well it seems. Unfortunately armies of spirit-folk are ambushing your caravans, but it sounds like you have a plan for that.” the man said as he nodded to Kyoko, the party and Takeo. “But I also believe that we have more to worry about from our neighbours than what comes form the walls at this stage. A sizeable force is marching through the Kunagi ranges as we speak. Slowed down by the collapse of some of the large peaks I will add.” the man nodded respectfully to the group again. “But on this way none-the-less.”

The emperor moved down to a map of the lands as his war council positioned more wooden blocks on it to represent the new information. “Are you sure of this Master?” Takeo said as he stepped forward towards the table, noticing that there was a lot of dark coloured blocked near the wall, about two days ride from here.

“I saw them attempting to clear the rubble from your battle with the Laelóng myself,” he paused as he rested heavy on the hilt of a cane-sword. “As I chased down a Lóminau. One who is without Shadow. A demon of the shadow fell.” The court hummed with the panicked murmur from those who had attended the court. “But I lost it when I felt the presence of a Shadow born. And witnessed it being felled by a party of foreign heroes. So I went to pick up where I left off but could not find where the creature had gone to.” his statement causing a different type of murmur to spread through the room. One of disbelief and awe.

“It seems daughter, that we have much to catch up on. And I expect that Takeo also will want to have words with his master too.” the emperor gravely stated.

Sleight Bests Might

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As the creature reached into the pocket dimension located in its ribcage, one that all its kind were born it smiled. It had completed its task and the reward that was promised to it was within grasp. Passing the spy, yes it had known who it had delivered the letter too it couldn’t help but giggle. But the spy, the human boy, was none the wiser – all it saw was a blushing young lady of the court who was watching the man from the corner of her eyes.

Trickery was something that all of its kind had been born with. In fact not event the shadow could bestow the required amount of dark power to match even a fraction of its races natural abilities. Those Skin walkers and the Quaigin were nothing compared to it and not even the mighty ancestral dragons were able to detect its kind. Well not straight away at least.

The tricky part wasn’t stealing the items, no that was easy. But pulling a large enough illusion that the weapons turned to dust and convincing everyone in the area to believe the lie was a challenge. But having planted the seed of doubt, the seed of concern in the young spies mind it knew its plan would succeed. In fact casting a realistic illusion of the door and masking the actions of the human to trigger muscle memory but severing the recognition from mind to hand was another delicious challenge.

But the hardest thing was shrinking the room from the outside, expanding the centre of the room and placing illusions of the contents of the room around in front of the originals. Doing all of this the moment the human opened up the door and it was able to see the room was the key.

What the creature didn’t was the presence of pure radiance in the room. Something that it knew to avoid at all costs. Where the being of light touched or shed its rays on it was unable to warp and so the vials that were left out in the open were unable to be shielded. This didn’t vex the creature, in fact it made it more curious as to what else this city had to offer.

Moving down the hallway it turned a corner and faded into the shadows of a doorway. The cold tendrils of mist and darkness clung to its skin as it moved through a rip in the fabric between dimension and soon it was in a very different room. One where only it could access. Moving over to a pile of furs and fabrics it reached into the pocket dimension within its ribs and pulled out the swords, arrows, spears and other weapons. Each one of them glowed as if the summer sun was shedding its radiance and fury at being taken from its home. The creature wasn’t phased – it had been some time since it had seen the sun.

Shadowy template

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Tonight is a bit of a weird one as I used a fantastic source creator – The Homebrewery.

The idea behind using a shadowy template such as this is to, simply put, level up our reoccurring monsters and creatures we fight and meet. If the bad guy escaped and got away, but is destined to come back then surely it would be stronger when the party next meet it? It only makes sense that the NPC would come back with a vengeance and a power boost to take its revenge.

The full write-up can be found in the PDF download attached but the shadow born have increased physical prowess with the cost of their life. That is to say that the power they have coursing through their veins breaks down their bodies until there is nothing left. Whether its willing or like in Mugrave’s instance, semi-forced, the outcome is the same. A creature of great strength that carries the promise of death that only the Shadow can bring to the inhabitants of Ryokughan.

Dark Pacts

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Mugrave licked her fingers clean of the blood that was dripping from them as the distant lights from fires and starts flickered through the alley. Even in her Oni form the alleys were large, big enough for a horse or two to fit down which was their purpose. Smiling she looked down at the pile of body parts and picked up a flabby arm. It wasn’t her favourite cut of meat, but it will sustain her for a little while yet.

She stopped her biting and slurping and looked towards the entrance to the alley as she sensed a presence there. After a few moments of sitting and waiting she looked down at the arm and the congealing fat around the muscle. Sighing she discarded it and added it to the pile of unappetising body parts. With an utterance of a dark phrase the pile of burst into a dark flame and she shed her Oni form returning to the human she had been wearing.

Stretching her now-cramped feeling bones she went to leave the alley and stopped when she felt a presence next to her. Shifting her glance she mocked surprise and restrained her violent response.

“You surprised me!” she said after giving a small shriek.

“Apologies, but may I be direct?” the man said to her.

“Depends on what you are asking I suppose” she replied coyly, panting and patting her chest as if trying to fan air into her lungs. “In fact, it also depends on who is asking also” she mused as she looked towards the man in shadow.

Stepping forward the sharp looking man looked at her with piercing eyes which she knew could see her Oni self. “Shall we cut the pretence Mugrave and talk business, or I can cut you down here.”

Interesting, she thought. It as not often that humans willingly reached out to her and even more infrequently those who knew her true form. “I guess we can” she replied as she revealed her palms – the signs of blood and gore removed from her skin with the transformation. A boon of being a skin walker.

They walked for some time through the streets discussing the battles they had been in and making somewhat pleasant talk. When they were far enough away from the refugees or polite company he turned to her and looked her in the eyes. “I want a truce. You are not to harm, curse or place dark pacts Kyoko or her family.” he said bluntly.

“What makes you think I am after them?” she replied as she sat down on a box in the street they found themselves in.

“The foreigners. I thought as much. If you leave the Harimasu and can swear and oath that they will not be harmed in any way by your or your masters power. Then you can have the foreigners and I nor my soldiers will stop you.” Kuang said.

Thinking about the possibility of having her mission handed to her on a platter she thought about the consequences. Not my masters or my power. Hard to move around as her masters powers were vast beyond compare. But he didn’t mention natural influence. Kuang extended a hand towards Mugrave, an unwelcome gesture to her as her kind had to be wary of pacts.

“I will agree to these terms if you answer me a question,” Mugrave said as she stood upright and allowed her form to half-shift, “How long have you known I was who I was and how.” she was curious. After all mortals generally were able to see her.

“I was cursed as a child. I see all spirits in their true form.” Kuang said, his eyes flashing in the fire light of a nearby torch as if to emphasise his point. Mugrave smiled and shook his hand.

Broken

Hana was preparing for bed. As she fluffed the pillow and rolled over to blow out the candle she smiled at her cousin. It was nice to be back with her family.

“Goodnight Hana” Kyoko said as she propped her sword up next to the head of the bed.

Hana smiled and mouthed her response. “Good night” the soft sound of her voice came out which cause Kyoko to start and nearly fall out of bed. “I spoke” was all Hana could say as Kyoko stared at her, a look of concentration and puzzlement crossing her features.

The Quaigin

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“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.

Sky Messengers

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“We part ways at he next village,” Jason called back to the travellers who rested in the back of the wagon. “It should be a straight shot up through Kirin country to where you are going”

“Thank you for your help, if you are ever in Heavens Reach Castle then you will have a place to stay.” Kyoko said with a smile which was echoed by Hana and Kuang. As they moved down the road the signs of the spirit folk were evident in the camp fires and scraps left behind after them. Wherever the creatures moved the surroundings suffered with burnt wagons, carts and fences to farmland broken through.

The further they moved easterly the fewer the abandoned camps but the more nervous those in the wagon became. The tracks they did find moving forward through farmland and down the road indicated that the pack of creatures was gaining speed. “We will reach the village by midday,” Jason announced as he looked up at the cloud studded sky as they moved down the road, noting a particular patch of trees to the south. “Keep your wits about you though, these lands are not friendly.”

“Jason how long have you been doing this” asked Kuang, a shock for the party as he had been silent for the trip otherwise.

“I’ve lost track of the years now, but this route I have been doing for about seven” he said.

“Seven! You don’t look old enough to be peddling wears for seven years” Kyoko exclaimed.

“I’m half elven, my father was a elven scholar who met my mother when they were travelling.” Jason said with a faint smile “the rest is history”.

A look of confusion graced the faces of the passengers before a period of quiet took over the wagon. After a hour or so of travelling Jason stopped the wagon and looked up “Well, damn.” was all he said.

The part left the wagon and moved to stand next to the old horse. The beast looked surprisingly resilient despite the ordeals it had gone through these past few days. The village ahead of them was a mixture of broken buildings and smoking piles of rubble. Torn cloth, ransacked wagons and skeletons of animals and people littered the streets and yards.

“Well I guess we know where the spirit folk went to in a hurry.” Jason said with an emotionless expression. Moving forward the wagon and its passengers looked nervously around as they moved into the village. Large birds circled the town high in the sky, just below the clouds as they looked for an easy meal, their twin heads squawking at each other as the wagon appeared in their hour of want.

The first specs of rain start to greet those who walk under the clouded skies as the first of the winged creatures descend. The messengers of the Shadow are ready to deliver its message.

---

Tonight is an easy setup for an encounter. Destroyed village, ransacked buildings with large hungry beasts that want to swoop down upon the party. In essence the scene really needs to set the mood, grim, dark and hopelessness resonating from the scattered bodies and belongings.

The buildings offer some protection, more so than the wagon but they are broken so no where is really safe. The weather should reflect the mood, with it beginning to rain, dark and overcast.

Frosted tips

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The wind was the first sign that something was wrong, no more did it drive down the valley like a surging wave that consumes all in its path, no this wind came from the mountain peaks and with it came a dusting of snow. As the snow flakes shone in the last dying light of the setting sun the break in the mountains ahead revealed their way out of the valley and the party and travellers in Jason’s wagon could not contain their relief. That was until the screaming and shouting could be heard drifting down from the sky above.

The party had just enough time to throw themselves backwards as ice erupted from the ground next to them, sending spears of ice exploding from a rock and impaling trees resulting in a shower of splinters. to rain down on the party. Large, white wings pushed the snow and falling debris towards the party as creature twice the size of the wagon landed in the middle of the road, clutching Ester in one of its claws as it stood on the ground – leaning forward a large blade of everfrost pushing into the ground to steady its bulk and support its weight on the ground.

“Run!” called Ester before she was pushed into the snow by the creature putting its weight down on that leg.

“I was told to expect some heroes from a distant land, but I was expecting more from the tales that I have heard” the creature said in its chirping sing-song voice, “how disappointing” she said as she lifted its rear talon to hold up Ester who appeared to have blacked out. “This human tried to warn you of my presence, tried with all her might to reach you but I think I will keep her alive for a little while – a play thing until I get hungry.” the creature punctuated with a snap of its beak. “Now, lay down your arms and I will make your death swifter, but just as painful”

---

So this twist is simple, the creature believes it self to be above everything, beyond reproach and beyond the reach of mere mortals. However, it does value its life and holds its bargain with the Shadow and Yukri (the Yuki-onna) seriously as it knows of what happens to oppose the Shadow. The first stage of this fight is simple, rescue Ester by dealing enough damage to the creature. But.. more on that on Friday.

Frosted tips

229WeFrTi

The wind was the first sign that something was wrong, no more did it drive down the valley like a surging wave that consumes all in its path, no this wind came from the mountain peaks and with it came a dusting of snow. As the snow flakes shone in the last dying light of the setting sun the break in the mountains ahead revealed their way out of the valley and the party and travellers in Jason’s wagon could not contain their relief. That was until the screaming and shouting could be heard drifting down from the sky above.

The party had just enough time to throw themselves backwards as ice erupted from the ground next to them, sending spears of ice exploding from a rock and impaling trees resulting in a shower of splinters. to rain down on the party. Large, white wings pushed the snow and falling debris towards the party as creature twice the size of the wagon landed in the middle of the road, clutching Ester in one of its claws as it stood on the ground – leaning forward a large blade of everfrost pushing into the ground to steady its bulk and support its weight on the ground.

“Run!” called Ester before she was pushed into the snow by the creature putting its weight down on that leg.

“I was told to expect some heroes from a distant land, but I was expecting more from the tales that I have heard” the creature said in its chirping sing-song voice, “how disappointing” she said as she lifted its rear talon to hold up Ester who appeared to have blacked out. “This human tried to warn you of my presence, tried with all her might to reach you but I think I will keep her alive for a little while – a play thing until I get hungry.” the creature punctuated with a snap of its beak. “Now, lay down your arms and I will make your death swifter, but just as painful”

---

So this twist is simple, the creature believes it self to be above everything, beyond reproach and beyond the reach of mere mortals. However, it does value its life and holds its bargain with the Shadow and Yukri (the Yuki-onna) seriously as it knows of what happens to oppose the Shadow. The first stage of this fight is simple, rescue Ester by dealing enough damage to the creature. But.. more on that on Friday.

Threaded

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The dusting of snow between the ranges was miraculously thin on the frozen mud of the road yet it piled up next to the rocky cliffs and trees either side of the road where the wagon squelched behind an anxious draft horse.

The weather had turned slightly to the worse, small flurries of snow had begun to drift down upon the wagon but it it wasn’t the weather that was cause for concern, the sheer number of tracks from spirit folk and the creatures that called this valley and mountain ranges home were the source of growing concern. It was beginning to be unusual to see a section of snow that didn’t have discarded cloth, foot prints or even bones of a meal and they all seemed to be heading in the same direction. The trees offered some protection from the snow regardless and while the party wasn’t used to this level of snow and cold but the wagon was kitted with double walls and a level of cloth and material on the inside that made the inside comfortable if not cosy.

The old grey stallion whinnied and the wagon came to a stop as the horse spooked and started to retreat backwards causing the wagon to lurch before the wheels met snow by the side of the road and stop abruptly. “It may take me some time for me to be able to convince this old thing to move forward. But what ever is spooking it isn’t far from here and I’d rather be prepared than having to make a quick exit from this valley.” Jason called as he tried to pull the horse into line.

Leaving the wagon and moving forward as quietly and stealthily as possible the party moved further into the valley as a strange and foul smell crept down from the wind that swept down into the valley from the peaks above them. Up head the snow had been disturbed and great furrows had been embedded into the frozen soil, similar to the ones that they saw on their approach into the village before the ranges. A wide crescent of fresh footprints gave a wide berth to the marks and from the looks of them the creatures that made them were scared, terrified even. Looking around for traces of what could have caused the owners of the footprints to act as such they eventually drew their investigation to the valley walls above them and there they saw the cause.

A great rupture of spikes made from the same ice that they had a shard of burst forth like lightning made from ice. The dark blue of the ice as it erupted from the stone face extended into the middle of the valley, a good sixty feet from the wall and at the end of each of the spikes that had erupted forth resided a skewered creature. Oni, ogres, Nat’s and even bears the size of the wagon they travelled in lay skewered on the ice, pushed on with enough force to pierce even the stone-like hide of the Nat. Looking at the ice as it had exploded out the trees themselves had their upper branches frozen, splintered and a few shards of frost encrusted splinters of wood lay just under the surface of the snow.

The ice must have been so cold that there was very little blood from the creatures that hung their, rigid and dead and what blood there was hung like frozen spears of ice suspended fifty feet in the air above the area where the scrape was. Something or someone would have had to have done this and to best that many creatures at once would indicate something both large and strong beyond anything that the party would have faced thus far.

Returning back to Jason they found him having blindfolded the horse and moving towards them and when he saw the gruesome display the colour drained from his face. “I have known some of the creatures of the ranges to be vicious but to be cruel like this is another level. We can make it through the ranges today if we hurry but it will get dark early inside these ice covered walls so we can’t dally any more.” he urged as he ushered them into the back of the wagon to join Kuang, Kyoko and Hana. “Hold on, we won’t be slowing down for some time and I pray that the old horse makes it.”

---

Well another twist Wednesday has come and this week we have revealed a grisly scene where something or someone has slaughtered creatures, animals and the spirit folk (such as Nat’s and Oni) and strung them up like shrike impaling lizards, insect and small mammals on thorns.

Not revealing the true face of the opponent is something I am not quite sure on yet, but so far having to describe what it does, elude to it but not yet reveal it completely is something I am enjoying but wondering if its having the desired effect. What do you think?