(September 29, 2002) Chronicler: Isaku
Month 7, Day 16, Year 1561 --
After a week of rest from our last adventure, we were summoned to Lord Moshi Isaka's court for a new mission. There are still some bakemono and ogres left in the wilderness (same bounty applies), and they made a raid on a village about 10 miles west of Marike. The jito (steward) of the village, samurai Moshi Genjo, was killed during the raid and his body was taken away. His wife, Yuki, was also missing, but may still be alive.
Lord Isaka asked us to find his kinsman's body and rescue his wife, if possible. He informed us that horses and 8 weeks of rations had been prepared for us, and we could make the village before dark if we left right away. Obviously, we could not refuse such a request.
Chief of Constables Shiba Regaro accompanied us to the village, with some of his rangers. The rangers inspected the area for tracks, and found the footprints of a score of bakemono, two ogres, and one small human. So Yuki was still alive, at least when she left the village.
According to the villagers, this raid was very odd. Instead of going after animals and valuables, they went straight for the jito's hut. They also took the bakemono corpses with them, which was not typical. The raiding party crept up in the bushes and attacked at night. Moshi Genjo ran out in full armor, screaming at the raiders. He was killed in battle by an ogre, and his wife was missing after the attack. There were signs of a struggle in their bedroom, but no blood.
They also told us that Yuki was pregnant. Zenako speculated that the raid could have been some sort of retaliation by the wu-jen of Brightstone Keep, since Moshi Genjo was a relative of Lord Isaka, who ordered us to clear the keep.
Chief Regaro said he would stay and help defend the village while we followed the trail. We decided to spend the night in the village, and leave first thing in the morning.
Month 7, Day 17 --
We set off at first light, with Mulan following the trail. She found bits of silk thread placed on the branches, presumably from Yuki's kimono. The trail branched off to the northwest and northeast. There were more silk threads on the northwest trail, so we followed that one.
By mid to late afternoon, we found a recent bakemono/ogre camp. Hatori and I noticed fingernail scratchings on a tree...some sort of fanged snake with a spear. We took it to mean that one of the ogres was carrying a spear with snake venom. (Perhaps Ashi's anti-toxin potions would come in handy?)
We decided to camp in the same spot for the night, rather than risk losing the trail in the dark.
Month 7, Day 18 --
The night passed uneventfully, and we rose at down to pick up the trail again. By noon the trail brought us into a very dense wooded area, which slowed us down a bit. We were still finding kimono threads, though.
Saru jumped into the trees and looked around. There was a big old tree in the middle of the forest, apparently the oldest tree in the area. Mulan and I spotted someone through the trees, and heard a male voice saying "But you're not married anymore!", then saw 2 bakemono along the path. I shouted a warning to our party, and heard the bakemono shouting to each other.
I cast a Bless spell as we engaged in battle. Zenako and Gorvak killed the first ogre. A dire bear suddenly popped up and clawed Noku, but disappeared again after I hit it with a flying kick and Raji bit it. The second ogre killed Hatori, and Hatori's body disappeared! Noku was the first to notice, and shouted that the bear plane-shifted Hatori.
Raji and I attacked the second ogre, while Gorvak charged after three bakemono. Raji and I took down the ogre, and caught up with Gorvak to help with the Bakemono.
Zenako and Mulan followed one of the paths to the big tree, and found a half-naked lady tied to the tree. Zenako sliced the ropes binding the lady, who was indeed Yuki. She was shivering, so Zenako offered her a robe which she gratefully accepted. Zenako also gave Yuki an axe and some armor, as we were likely to see more combat before long. Zenako and Mulan stayed with Yuki to protect her while waiting for the rest of us.
Hatori suddenly popped up behind Noku, apparently alive and well. He ran to the big tree and told Zenako and Mulan not to hurt the tree, and that we needed to clear the roots (whatever that meant).
Ashi told us that nature spirits have a good and evil soul, that are usually in balance. She suggested that something was causing the evil soul of the tree's spirit to become dominant.
Hatori filled us in on his brief visit to the spirit world. He saw the great tree, and met the spirit of one of his dragon ancestors. The dragon spirit advised Hatori that if we didn't harm the tree, the bear would not return. He then said that we should clear the "vermin" from the roots of the tree, and rescue the noble lady.
Yuki told us that the ogres brought her to a man who wanted her to be his bride. We guessed that the spirit of the tree had a human and bear form, and that the human form (now evil) wanted to marry Yuki. The bear form apparently showed up whenever the tree was threatened.
Mulan said that the "vermin" could be bakemono that have burrowed around the tree's roots. Ashi attempted to sense fire and water sources below the tree, and estimated that there were some sources about 25 feet down. She detected some underground chambers. The biggest chamber was under the great tree, but none of the other chambers were under trees.
Mulan and Gorvak found some entrances to the tunnels. It was not the ideal place for a battle using medium/large weapons and ranged weapons, but we had no choice. Raji and Saru stayed behind to guard the entrance and Noku's pony, while the rest of us entered the tunnels.
Once we got into the tunnels, Gorvak and Mulan heard murmuring off to the left. Ashi found several bakemono in a chamber to the left, and cast Sleep on 5 of them. Ashi then went back and followed the tunnel to the right with Zenako. They detected an awful smell...perhaps a bakemono latrine?
Gorvak and Mulan attacked the rest of the bakemono in the left chamber. Gorvak got knocked down by the bakemono lord, so I tumbled past Hatori and Mulan to heal Gorvak and bring him around. Gorvak, Mulan and I dealt with the rest of the bakemono in that chamber and the corridor beyond. I used up all my healing spells and scrolls to keep us standing during the battle. I managed to kill one bakemono as it attempted to tumble past me...it appeared to be a female monk/spellcaster.
The others hunted down the bakemono in the other tunnels, and we met up again afterwards. Apparently Ashi took a spill in the latrine... she smelled pretty ripe. Also, some of the ogres and bakemono were carrying poison spears, as Yuki's scratchings had indicated. Mulan and Ashi did their best to heal everyone's poisoned wounds. Some of the bakemono may have escaped the tunnels.
We eventually found the body of Yuki's husband among the putrid debris around the roots of the tree. We carefully recovered the body, and cleared away the debris.