October 21, 2023

Hook

Along Treacherous Lines IV - Quiet Rain [S&S]

Plot Synopsis

The party shares a peaceful morning at the Kentaro estate, meeting Kentaro Ryou’s sisters: Michi, the oldest and obsessed with firearms; Shinobu, the middle child in training to become a mage; and Yumiko, a young child who is eerily versed in military strategy. Rilo, Raiden, and Kentaro participate in a clay-pigeon-shooting contest with Michi at her invitation, and manage to hit the pigeons and earn her tacit approval. However, the blasts bring back unpleasant memories for Rilo and he removes himself from the situation.

Yugon finds himself locked in conversation with Kentaro’s mother, June - which starts amiable but quickly becomes awkward as the topic turns to the Blood Hawks. Kentaro and Raiden are given messages from the Shogun with honors and an invitation to meet him in person. Cyrus meets up with Zheng Chen at an inn in town, while Wisteria shares a bit of water magic with Shinobu.

Raiden leads Rilo outside into the light rain in hopes to calm him down from a mounting panic attack, which eventually works. While the others prepare to return to Shanzhu, Rilo takes a moment to himself outside and notices a strange bird circling the estate. Kentaro sees it, and suddenly summons a spiritual sharze which attacks the bird - only for it to disappear into red mist and shoot off somewhere towards town.

The party notifies the Kentaro estate guards, as well as town guards, who promise to look into the matter and assure that the party has no need to worry. They debrief with Chen and are teleported back to Shanzhu, where they notice that Kentaro, Wisteria, and Yugon are on wanted posters with a bounty of 1500 gc. The group lays low, and utilizes a careful Veil incant to move about in invisible carts. Carefully, they make their way through the city and onto the bridge leading to the Iron District, where Zuanshi Wei is held.

Hu Lan and a group of mercenaries are headed through just in front of them, and they notice that the dimensional-lock barrier around the Iron District seems to have an additional function as a magical detector. Cyrus makes a scene to distract guards and retreats to the Platinum District - where he hides as a skeleton - while Kentaro shoots an antimagic bullet at the barrier, creating a hole that lasts just long enough for the group to dash through in their Veiled carts.

Noteworthy Postgame Events