Miya Hatori's attitudes about these incidents are clear:
We were justified in our initial attack on the Hebi-no-onna for at least 3 reasons. 1) She and her evil followers were disrespectfully profaning the sacred grounds of Ming Yo Temple. This is an insult to the Celestial Order. 2) Ming Yo Temple and the surrounding lands were and ought to be considered part of the Drakaran Empire, under the control of properly appointed nobles loyal to the Imperial Throne. Her independent satrapy was an insult to the Imperial Order. 3) She was guilty of kidnapping and imprisonment by means of magic the 3 sisters that Magoun sought to free. This was a petty crime, but one that can legitimately be responded to with force.
Her counterattack on us, though an understandable reaction to the loss of honor brought on by her defeat, constitutes an inappropriate use of force on the lands of the Dragon clan nobles. Moreover, she further dishonored her cause by losing, despite her use of magic to spy on us and her attack from ambush.
As victors with honor on our side, we have the right to impose almost any punishment we wish -- we can kill her, enslave her, take all her goods, and so forth. Yet even in defeat, she retains a substantial amount of power. And if the cost of imposing the punishment is too high, we may wish to find some other solution, providing our honor is satisfied.
After the last encounter, conversations bubbled over with ideas of how to get the Hebi-no-onna.
Scry her (she is protected but not immune) and teleport to her location. Or bring her to us: Summon her with Spirit Binding.
Once we are together, immobilize her with Spirit Needle; prevent her from getting help with Entangle and/or Rain of Cherry Blossoms. A round or two of melee, or a Blade Barrier she can't dodge because of the Needle, and it is all over.
On the other hand, she could do much the same to us. If she attacks us in our sleep, particularly if we are separated as we have been in the Dragon capital, she could easily capture or kill us individually.
I think we have the upper hand, and that she could not complete such a campaign before we readied ourselves to take her on again. But it could still be bad for the unlucky ones she gets to first.
There is another option, a Middle Way. I believe that we can negotiate with her. Using magic we can start the process of negotiation with little risk. I would look for a solution that included the following:
1) She agrees to leave the bounds of the Empire forever, including all the lands between Dragon and Phoenix territories and her old lair at Ming Yo temple.
2) Both parties agree not to attack or interfere with each other, either directly or though intermediaries.
3) In recompense for her ill-considered attack on us within the Dragon provinces of the Drakaran Empire, she will give us some suitable gift (which I will ask Zenako to distribute as profits from an adventure). Rather than asking her for some specific item(s) or some value in gold, I will leave it up to her to make an offer she thinks is appropriate. (But she will have a good idea that a Potion of CLW would be insulting and likely to return us to a state of feud). I will not take a purely mercenary attitude to this 'gift.' She may offer us information or service rather than mere treasure for part or all of her atonement. We will of course keep the prizes we have already won on the field of battle.
4) I intend to give her some flexibility about the means of her departure, where she goes, and also to give her the opportunity to find her companions if she wishes.
I have called you all here because I want to make sure we have an understanding among ourselves that negotiating a settlement is something we can all abide by, and to solicit any input or advice you may have for the details of negotiation. Do any of you have questions, comments, or advice to offer?
-- MH
Through use of scrying, combined with "large print" calligraphy to begin communicating, you do arrange a truce with the hebi-no-onna, and are able to come to an understanding.
She gives her word to abide by the restrictions you outline -- involving essentially (as the GM understands it) staying out of the Empire, including the region between Dragon and Phoenix lands out through the Ming Yo Temple area that you are evidently bringing back under Imperial rule, taking no hostile acts directly or indirectly against you and your companions and friends and relatives and so on, in return for which you and your companions and so on will take no such acts against her and her minions, blah blah same same. As a token of her humble recognition of your superior moral (and tactical) position, and to seal this permanent truce, she gifts you with the following:
A Ring of Swimming
A Ring of Mind Shielding
A Lesser Rod of Silence
She also provides you with the following information:
The mind flayer assassin who targetted you some time ago, leading a band of ogres, is no friend of hers, but was hired by someone on behalf of some Drakaran noble lady who wished to prevent the upcoming marriage between the Dragon and the Phoenix. (She was able to find out a little about this while keeping tabs on you guys -- the creature intrigued her.)
This mind flayer appears to be a mercenary for hire, who has been appeared on the scene recently; his base of operations is somewhere in a ruined city in the Deep Dark, which may apparently be found after journeying a score or more miles through tunnels and caverns from an entry recently opened in the mountains along the Dragon/Phoenix border. She does not know the name of these ruins, having never actually been there herself -- but she warns you that at least one eye tyrant seems to be exploring those ruins, and they often have slaves of varying types -- these are powerful creatures of the Deep Dark who fortunately seldom visit the surface world.
She has also heard the rumors of bat-men, but knows little or nothing of such creatures.
She CAN tell you that eye tyrants, which are truly aberrations, have a variety of supernatural powers which they employ as rays from their multiple eyes -- and that their great central eye projects a cone of antimagic which can be extremely annoying. Their eyes can all generate their magic rays effectively continuously (i.e. every round -- and they can shut off or turn on their antimagic cone by closing or opening their central eye) but they supposedly cannot all project in the same direction at the same time -- though as many as three rays may project in a given 90 degree arc at the same time. (She will happily describe an eye tyrant's appearance, shuddering as she does so.)
Both mind flayers and eye tyrants are typically highly disciplined and organized, but they do not generally work well together -- as each believes they should be the ones in command. It would not surprise her to hear that other mind flayers also might be found in those ruins -- they often work together to uncover the secrets of magic and ancient lore. (In her opinion, the Deep Dark is too dangerous and not comfortable enough to warrant investigation as a future home -- too many aberrations, not enough willing minions...)
She intends to find some tribe in the wilderness which needs a strong leader -- perhaps out on the steppe somewhere, travelling in a yurt, far from the Empire -- it may be safer than putting down roots again, at least for a while. The steppe would not normally be her first choice of climate and terrain -- nor that of her favored minions -- but perhaps she will head west and see what is on the other side, and maybe turn south and look for some nice jungle or swamp to explore. As long as she can get enough followers so that she can be kept in relative security -- and they can keep the yurts warm -- that will suffice, for the foreseeable future, at least.
I think that covers everything -- assuming her gifts and information is pleasing to you, she will make her way west to seek a new and hopeuflly more auspicious future.
-- Ernie III / DrakaraGM