Taxman Part 6

 After a meal and a rest, Bo-Jing investigated the area, looking for signs of what had happened to the fire-watchers.  He found blood and other signs of a struggle with large and fearsome beasts.  And in the icy snow outside the fire camp, he found large tracks and sings of bodies being dragged.  Deducing that the Bolad fire-watchers had been victims of a yeti attack, he rallied his troops and explored the area following the tracks to a well-worn path that led higher into the mountains.  The party found a cave of dried flowers and nearby a cave inhabited by three yetis.  Beatriss, Bo-Jing, and Naron faced off agains the terrible foes, and supported by Ryu and Bo-Jing's retinue, emerged bruised and battered but victorious.  They explored the rest of the caverns and found runes carved into almost every wall.  By creating a careful map and listening to the wind, they deduced that there was a hidden chamber situated between the flower cave and the yeti's cave, reachable only by a crack in the stone mere inches wide.  They concluded that this was another reason to go back to Banua-- to seek out a place to purchase more of the gaseous form potions that Beatriss had used to enter the crystal cave.

Back in Banua, Ganbaatar was interested to meet Bo-Jing and hear about his rumored success in dealing with the bandits. He smiled to hear about his brother and especially how quickly Gansukh had turned on Bo-Jing.  "That's my brother, he thinks everyone lives to please him and anyone who doesn't becomes his enemy."  He was also grateful to hear that Bo-Jing had hunted down and killed the yetis who had plagued the Bolad fires.  "I will send out new fire-watchers tomorrow."

And then he asked about the coins.  "That's why you spent so much time in the Valley of the Five Fires, right?"

Bo-Jing admitted that he hoped to learn the secrets of becoming invisible or taking on the form of an animal.  Ganbaatar reminded him that the coins were ancestral treasures of his people, but acknowledged that his brother was probably looking for them too "And maybe others, worse than him."  Ganbataar offered to take on the task of collecting taxes in Banua with the understanding that Bo-Jing would continue to look for a coin and-- if he found one-- he and Ganbaatar would present it to the emperor as a gift.  "I'm sure he will reward you and in this way, we will keep the coins away from my brother.

Bo-Jing and Beatriss spent a few weeks in Banua.  Ganbaatar supplied an office and sleeping chambers within the palace and convinced Bo-Jing to hire a scribe to handle the task of accounting for taxes collected and the expenses of Bo-Jing and his staff.  Finally, Beatriss accepted an offer of service from a teena-aged girl named Nar Nuteng who wanted to learn how to wear armor and fight with a sword.  seeing that the girl was already a skilled archer and hunter, Beatriss was glad to accept her as her sister-in-arms.