January 07, 2024

Hook

Sins of the Father I (Raikougan, Cahyali)

Plot Synopsis

The party (minus Kentaro) meets at the Zuanshi Steelworks HQ in Chongbai, and is given a debrief of their mission to come from Zuanshi Wei. They are to go to the ghost town of Toyeto, on the island of Ryushu, and retrieve information and forging blueprints from the Kasai family forge, supposedly located underground below the town. He informs that he will be coming with them, and presents a scroll from the Commission of Sorcery which will teleport them to the nearby city of Youtai - where Kentaro is.

Upon arrival, Kentaro comes to greet his old friends, and the bunch decide to spend a bit of time in Youtai before heading out to Toyeto. However, Raiden suddenly gets a call from his sister Haru, where she panics and informs him that their home was broken into while the family was out working a market in town. The party rushes over to investigate, and finds that there was no damage or theft in the house - except that an heirloom sword, owned by a legendary warrior from 150 years ago, is gone. The party finds a few clues and investigates around Youtai, finding a few possible leads pointing them towards Toyeto. These include a particularly arrogant and standoffish semi-aquatic lizard woman, as well as rumors that Toyeto has been "heating up" recently, sparking worries about wildfires even during the stormy autumn season.

Kentaro hires a night-drive wagon, and they sleep on the journey southwest. Approaching Toyeto, they can definitely feel an oppressive dry heat, but forge on anyway in the morning. They find the lizard adventurer there, accompanied by a Buyuk Vahsian elf. When the party meets them, the lizard woman, named Shio, gets into an argument with Kentaro and Wei, ending in her backhanding Wei across the face with a prosthetic arm, made of Buyuk Vahsian ironwood. He collapses, unconscious, and the party immediately attacks. Shio draws a sword: the heirloom she had stolen from Raiden's household.

After the battle, Shio and her companion Jaana are both tied up, and Raiden finds a description in Shio's journal of a dream-visitor who encouraged her to steal the heirloom sword and come here to reactivate the Kasai forge. While Jaana apologizes and begs to be let go, Shio spits in the party's face and attempts to bite Sochi's hand when she tries to convince her to do something more useful with her life. Sochi's prepared Chaos Shield spell bursts, killing Shio.

Jaana is let go and runs, and the party continues to investigate around the town. Kentaro speaks to the spirit of a samurai, who tells the living to leave well enough alone and says that "Lord Kentaro" is waiting for him, referring to Kentaro Oza, Ryou's uncle who had died in this town during its destruction 40 years ago. Rilo enters the ruins of the Kasai forge and finds an old fire elemental woman, who confuses him for his father Niko.

Noteworthy Postgame Events