The Caves of Inharmonious Discord Part 5: Gunjar's Lingering Echo

Gwinch received the news about Irak's capture with tempered concern.  Far from resenting Ginjo, he provided five sohei, all veterans of battles during the years of strife within Pasar, with orders to accompany Ginjo in his hunt to locate their missing comrade.

While Sukh had some business to attend to in Pasar, Ginjo was anxious to return to the caves and rescue Irak. He found a sage to teach him some useful phrases in the bakemono language and some scrolls to study to better understand its grammar.  Dank-Sum, a mercurial wondering warrior from the Northern Empire,  volunteered to join them, asking only that he would share in all major decisions in leading the group.

During the days in Pasar, Ginjo had reflected on the loss of his friend Gunjar and also puzzled over the odd statue and collection of objects at their old camp.  Based on a hunch, when it came time to return to the caves, Ginjo suggested that the group return to the old camp once more.  Dank-Sum questioned how this detour would serve their goal, but went along.

The shrine at their old campsite had seen several improvements, including a garland of leaves and flowers around the statue.  And upon closer inspection of the crude statue, Ginjo noted several uncanny details that made him nearly sure that it was intended to represent his fallen friend Gunjar! While Ginjo puzzled over what this could mean, Dank-Sum heard the sound of someone approaching.  The party scrambled to find cover.

A few minutes later, four pig-faced bakemono arrived at the campsite, chanting gibberish.  They offered a bowl of rice to Gunjar's statute and sat, looking at it.  The bakemono seemed to have dressed to resembled Gunjar, complete with staff, rough robes, and fake beards.  When Ginjo emerged from the bushes, the bakemono were visibly alarmed, but did not flee.  Ginjo was friendly and make good use of his bakemono greetings.  The bakemono explained that Gunjar had spared their lives while many other bakemono had been punished for their wickedness.  While most of the other pig-faced bakemono had fled the Caves of Discord, they had remained, united by a vow to spend the rest of their days living peacefully and never doing harm to humans ever again.

Sum-Dank was charmed by the bakemono's testimony, but wanted facts about the Caves of Discord.  The four bakemono had much to share.  They drew a picture in the dirt, describing the different bakemono who lived in the caves.  Most had been "punished for their wickedness" and killed or driven away.  Those who remained were the most fearsome and most wicked of the bakemono who kidnapped people and sold them to the bull-man for eating.  Or sometimes just ate them.  And then there were the evil men who lived in the red and black caves, even more wicked than any bakemono.  Based on it the description of the bad men, Ginjo and Dank-Sum concluded that Pana the odd foreign priest from Pasar was actually affiliated with these men.

And so they saw out the black and red cave high up at the end of the canyon and ventured inside.  Immediately, the party knew that they were not dealing with bakemono.  Instead of the reek of rotten food and unwashed bodies, there was the cool stench of death mixed with acrid odor of strange incense.  Instead of chattering and growling in the distance, there was distant moaning, shrill piping, and the alarming echo of their own footsteps.  And there were zombies.

Bakemonos, once killed by spear thrusts or the slash of a fine sword, ambled along the corridor, and attacked with stupid fearlessness,  The party encountered a large group of zombies and animated skeletons in an ornate audience chamber, dominated by a ebonywood throne on a marble dais.  After destroying the undead, the party discussed what to do next.  Ginjo acknowledged that in dealing with such strange enemies, he would like to be fighting side by side with Sukh, his friend from the north.  Dank-Sum, for his part, announced that he would simply return to Pasar and enjoy a life of ease.  Together, they pried four large gems out of the throne and returned to civilization.

When Art Imitates Awesomeness

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpvGr3O2ZHg

Joyful Rescue!

While Bangqiu was training, Tetsukichi and Beatriss made plans to return once more to the slavers’ stockade and this time to actually find and free the captive slaves. They met a traveler from Zhou Dang who was interested in accompanying them. He was a Tuigan, introduced himself as Sum-Dank and, by his bearing, showed he was used to the status associated with rank and wealth. He had a personal feud with the Black Flowers and wanted to avenge the death of a family member.

Without Bangqiu’s magical assistance, the party encoutnered new challenges entering the stockade. Damai led them to the secret entrance through a hole in the stone wall. They passed through the open courtyards into the garden where they met and killed the giant worm. The apes were also threatening, but Tetsukichi negotiated safe passage and Sum-Dank thanked them with generous gifts of goat meat.

The descended into the dungeon and passed through familiar corridors until they reached the room where they’d freed the man who was trapped with the rabid wolf. A man was there, tough-looking, and well-armed, but with a desperate look in his eyes. Kei-Ma was his name; he’d fallen in with the Black Flowers, but wasn’t a part of them. In fact they’d killed his friends. He offered the party some useful information, for a small consideration, just 25 tael so he could buy a horse in Quitokai and get away. Beatriss bargained him down to 20 and the party learned that the “best way” to get to where the slaves were held captive was to go through the natural caves accessed by way of a hidden tunnel in the torture chamber.

The passage proved difficult to navigate as it required the party to traverse a steep ravine filled with stalagmites and other sharp rock formations. Several rock pillars rose from the ravine, seeming to offer one way of crossing the ravine for those sure-footed enough to leap from one to another. But slick stone and thick mist rising from a steam vent discouraged this approach from being considered as a general solution. Instead, the party relied on rope, iron spikes, and the superior climbing skills of Damai and Sum-Dank to climb down into the ravine and then stumble across it. Climbing out proved more difficult. Strange creatures lived on the floor of the ravine. An adorable blue thing with bulbous eyes playfully stole Beatriss’s extra sword. Worse, when Sum-Dank free-climbed out of the ravine, he was shot by an arrow. Grimacing through the pain, he completed his ascent and scrambled for cover, then threw a rope down for the others. Tetsukichi climbed up next, under the cover of a thick cloud of mist. When the mist cleared, he could see that they were being attacked by a pair of archers from the other side of the ravine-- and one of them was Kei-Ma, the “helpful guide” who had suggested they come this way. Tetsukichi returned fire as the other party members made the climb. Those who successfully ascended joined Tetsukichi in shooting back at the ambushers across the ravine, finally driving them away.

The party rested briefly, and Ju-Mei assisted Sum-Dank in removing the arrow head from his back. The party pressed deeper into the tunnels, stopped to admire an underground bee-keeping operation (noting that the bees’ hive was in the roots of a hollow tree, which might provide another means of egress from the dungeon, if it weren’t for the bees), and then walked into another ambush: a hwacha, wolves, a score of cannibals, and a Black Flower commander. Mustapha pulled out a magic wand and blasted the villains with a fireball.

In time, the party emerged from the caverns-- into the room where they’d met and killed Marquessa. If there was any doubt before, they were now sure that the caverns had not been “the best way.” Bangqiu noticed that the cages of the owl-bear creatures were empty and warned everyone to be on guard.

Referring to the map that Gwinch had made in their earlier exploration with Toge, Bangqiu led the others’ out of Marquessa’s workroom and into a new part of the dungeon-- where they did find about a hundred captives. Unlike those from the moaning chamber above, these captives were eager to communicate, even if they spoke languages the rest of the party couldn’t understand. There was one toady among them who called out to the guards-- and promptly got those guards killed. Again, Mustapha played an important tactical role, using the illusion of a giant snake to cut off the guards’ attempt to raise the alarm.

The party hurriedly unlocked all of the prison cells and, after a few wrong turns, led them out of the dungeon to safety.

Back in Quitokai, the party was finally called heroes. They were feted and feasted in the weeks that followed. And they promised to stop bothering the baboons and their special fish. As word got out, villagers from the surrounding areas descended on Quitokai to be re-united with their loved ones. There were some other rescued captives who came from far-away places:

There was Bi-Gon-Dang, a monk, a young initiate from the monastery of the Two-Fold Path in Khanbaliq who had made enemies among his fellow monks when he objected to their participation in the slave trade. He and Sum-Dank set off for Khanbaliq, pledging that they would fight together to rid the capital of that evil.

There were several Cynadiceans. Most were, “of the lost,” committed to private hallucinations. The adults were distressed by the bright sunlight and their lack of masks; they sought refuge in darkness and accepted the hospitality of the people of Quitokai with scant gratitude. Bangqiu, even with his magic could barely understand their language as expression of coherent thought. The children, while sensitive to the sun, seemed to accept Quitokai as their new home. They adapted their imagined identities to match the make-believe games of the local children There was one Brother of Gorm. He told Tetsukichi and Bangqiu of the evil Zargon and and of his devotion to the the Order that would return Cynadicea to its former glory. He regarded Beatriss with pity-- a Cynadicean woman without a mask! But then he noticed the sickle scar on her wrist-- the last signifier of her former status as a Warrior Woman of Madura-- and his pity turned to scorn and condescension. Beatriss had no interest in leading him, or any of the Cynadiceans, back to the terrible place that had once been her home.

There were a handful of people who had crossed an ocean as captives. Bangqiu promised them that if they remained would him, he would take them to a port and buy a ship and with their guidance return them to their homes.

But first, there were those whose homes were closer by, but still needed help to reach them. There was Shushi, daughter of a Khanbaliq merchant who offered no reward, but was desperate to return home. Several were children had been kidnapped from hunter tribes that lived deep in the jungle and rarely interacted with the agricultural villages such as Quitokai. Tetsukichi promised that he would help them find their families.