Seikung was not the warm welcome they had expected. The city, as they had heard, was under quarantine. Othinn, however, was lucky to find Commander Yan Xi, an old acquaitance of his in command of the Wu Jen in charge of maintaining the force bubble that cut of Seikung from the rest of the world.
The stories were bad. A wave of bad luck had spread over the city. These weren't stubbed toes and rotten vegetables. The city had fallen into chaos and people were dying. The Imperial Wu Jen and Imperial guard were brought in to quarantine the city. Even a few of them, too near the city, were affected by the bad luck magics.
Whistler was too motivated, after having made the trek from Tulpa to stop now. There was word his wife was here. Well, maybe his wife, but surely her body, taken from him by some fiendish creature.
The party had, under direction of Commander Yan Xi, been given the orders to enter the city and investigate. Amelia, being from the city, lead them through. The results of this bad luck magic were devastating. Her shop had been ransacked, but she was able to locate Chang Hua, her faithful friend, hiding. The party avoided bad luck, with Shinji, the most superstitious of the group, keeping himself covered in talismans and permanently in a cloud of incense. An old rival of Whistlers had taken over most of the city with thugs that they had to avoid.
The party encountered a terrible group of Oni, which they fought off. The Oni were clearly hateful of Drianna and there was the impression given that they were hunting her. There was mention of an army coming for her.
The party overnighted in a building not far from the Huàirén Temple, aka the Malefactor Temple, that seemed to be the source of the bad luck magic. Jerdun, having been trained by a malefactor, used his special knowledge of their ways to counter the bad luck and gain entrance to the temple.
Once inside, they were attacked by a Dvarapala, a great guardian construct that kept people out of the temple. The battle was fierce, but they found success. Entering the room of the main temple, they found malefactor priestesses, being held by Jorogumo, spider sisters, that attacked the party viciously. Shinji, taking to the air with wings to avoid their attacks, was the first to fall. Taking a heavy dose after an attack from one of the Jorogumo, he was trapped like a fly by a spider, and fell unconscious.
In the background, as the battle raged, a large creature, later identified as a Teratomorph Giagante, was ripping through the fabrics of reality, powered by the malefactor magics of the priestesses. Drianna took to her broom and tried to quickly rush the priestesses out of the room, only to be caught by the amorphous limb of the teratomorph and shoved through the rift, leaving her simply gone, with no idea from the party what her ultimate fate was.
Othinn and Amelia battled side by side, fighting off the Jorogumo and then attempting to take out the teratomorph. Jerdun and Whistler battle from the other side with Snazzy taking the brunt of the Jorogumo's piercing venomous attacks.
In the final push to kill the teratomorph, the creature rushed and attacked Amelia and Othinn. The creature engulfed them and after only a few moments, they disappeared, presumably annihilated, by the creature. This gave Jerdun and Whistler and Siphon enough time to heavily damage the creature. It feel into a heap and then seemed to be sucked through the rift, sealing it.
The party had triumphed, although at a heavy price. Drianna was missing, Amelia and Othinn were presumed dead by annihilation, and Shinji had fallen into a deep coma from the venomous attack.
Jerdun fashioned a stretcher from found items and strapped Shinji to it. Jerdun, pulling Shinji behind him, still covered in talismans, with Whistler by his side made their way out of Seikung. In the following days, the two recovered at the local Wu Jen camp, along with the malefactor priestesses, although Shinji never woke.
The bad luck curse was extinguished by their actions and the city was reopened, although the gruesome cleanup promised to take weeks, and many of the still living inhabitants left the city for good once they saw the aftermath.
After rested and recovered, Jerdun and Whistler payed homage to their fallen colleagues and finally Whistler set out to speak to the Malefactor priestesses that he rescued.
The stories were bad. A wave of bad luck had spread over the city. These weren't stubbed toes and rotten vegetables. The city had fallen into chaos and people were dying. The Imperial Wu Jen and Imperial guard were brought in to quarantine the city. Even a few of them, too near the city, were affected by the bad luck magics.
Whistler was too motivated, after having made the trek from Tulpa to stop now. There was word his wife was here. Well, maybe his wife, but surely her body, taken from him by some fiendish creature.
The party had, under direction of Commander Yan Xi, been given the orders to enter the city and investigate. Amelia, being from the city, lead them through. The results of this bad luck magic were devastating. Her shop had been ransacked, but she was able to locate Chang Hua, her faithful friend, hiding. The party avoided bad luck, with Shinji, the most superstitious of the group, keeping himself covered in talismans and permanently in a cloud of incense. An old rival of Whistlers had taken over most of the city with thugs that they had to avoid.
The party encountered a terrible group of Oni, which they fought off. The Oni were clearly hateful of Drianna and there was the impression given that they were hunting her. There was mention of an army coming for her.
The party overnighted in a building not far from the Huàirén Temple, aka the Malefactor Temple, that seemed to be the source of the bad luck magic. Jerdun, having been trained by a malefactor, used his special knowledge of their ways to counter the bad luck and gain entrance to the temple.
Once inside, they were attacked by a Dvarapala, a great guardian construct that kept people out of the temple. The battle was fierce, but they found success. Entering the room of the main temple, they found malefactor priestesses, being held by Jorogumo, spider sisters, that attacked the party viciously. Shinji, taking to the air with wings to avoid their attacks, was the first to fall. Taking a heavy dose after an attack from one of the Jorogumo, he was trapped like a fly by a spider, and fell unconscious.
In the background, as the battle raged, a large creature, later identified as a Teratomorph Giagante, was ripping through the fabrics of reality, powered by the malefactor magics of the priestesses. Drianna took to her broom and tried to quickly rush the priestesses out of the room, only to be caught by the amorphous limb of the teratomorph and shoved through the rift, leaving her simply gone, with no idea from the party what her ultimate fate was.
Othinn and Amelia battled side by side, fighting off the Jorogumo and then attempting to take out the teratomorph. Jerdun and Whistler battle from the other side with Snazzy taking the brunt of the Jorogumo's piercing venomous attacks.
In the final push to kill the teratomorph, the creature rushed and attacked Amelia and Othinn. The creature engulfed them and after only a few moments, they disappeared, presumably annihilated, by the creature. This gave Jerdun and Whistler and Siphon enough time to heavily damage the creature. It feel into a heap and then seemed to be sucked through the rift, sealing it.
The party had triumphed, although at a heavy price. Drianna was missing, Amelia and Othinn were presumed dead by annihilation, and Shinji had fallen into a deep coma from the venomous attack.
Jerdun fashioned a stretcher from found items and strapped Shinji to it. Jerdun, pulling Shinji behind him, still covered in talismans, with Whistler by his side made their way out of Seikung. In the following days, the two recovered at the local Wu Jen camp, along with the malefactor priestesses, although Shinji never woke.
The bad luck curse was extinguished by their actions and the city was reopened, although the gruesome cleanup promised to take weeks, and many of the still living inhabitants left the city for good once they saw the aftermath.
After rested and recovered, Jerdun and Whistler payed homage to their fallen colleagues and finally Whistler set out to speak to the Malefactor priestesses that he rescued.
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