LOG START
[18:17:22] Master of Games
All Creation, Beneath the Sword
Session 20
Vaneha is one nation beneath the Sword. Its princes rule by right of their possession of the Imperial Daiklave and style themselves Sword Princes.
The Imperial Daiklave appears to be gone.
Not just that, but Gensuji seemed to have entirely forgotten its existence until he was reminded. Now, he is livid. Not a word of its disappearance is to leak outside, and recovering it has the highest priority, and since you are those who noticed, the task is yours.
Of course, possession is nine-tenths of… something. Whether you will simply hand the Daiklave back is your decision. But first, you’ll have to actually find it.
Leads are few, but you have resources. Perhaps the prime suspect is the spy and assassin you know to be lurking around. River Snake knows how to get rid of hot goods, and knows people who know. Perhaps the gods might see what mortals don’t—Zao Sweet and Bright seemed to have had unaccounted contact with one of Raizo’s people and expected you. Artifacts and their owners resonate, and Gensuji’s tie to the Daiklave is strong. Perhaps the sorcerers of the House of Thirty Seals have ways to track down mystic treasures; certainly they owe you a favor.
The thief was evidently good enough to steal it from the Prince’s very thoughts, and none of you is a bloodhound. But you are Chosen of the Sun, with the Dawn, Night, and Eclipse shining from your brows. Surely between the three of you, you’ll catch one mysterious sneak thief?
[18:24:57] Raizo
Raizo stands with his arms folded, fingers tapping against his bicep in impatient rumination. The ruminating isn’t his strong suit, and neither is impatience, really. “I don’t really think this is connected to our mystery, but don’t let me forget to interview my men so I can figure out exactly what happened between them and Zao. Snake, I feel like finding treasure is your wheelhouse. Any ideas about where to start?”
[18:25:47] Datei ma Kagemori
”One small blessing is that I do not believe it can have gone very far. We saw it in the morn.”
[18:26:27] Raizo
”It’s also a very big sword that everyone would recognize.”
[18:29:35] River Snake
”You can get pretty far in half a day if you set your mind to it…in a warzone with an obvious sword though, perhaps easier to hide until the heat’s off.” He thinks, where would he hide in a city with this. You couldnt smuggle a daiklave easily without someone noticing. He paces a bit as he thinks. Maybe some of the local scum he was drinking with a few days ago know some good safehouses. He’s at a terrain disadvantage
[18:31:37] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori nods. “Also, magic was involved. Hoarhound, one of the gods, or a chosen seem the simplest explanations.”
[18:47:01] Raizo
”Yeah, it does narrow it a little bit there.”
[18:48:15] Master of Games
River Snake’s mind, attuned to criminal endeavor, works through the angles. There’s no shortage of empty houses in the city now, but the Daiklave would be instantly recognizable; the thief wouldn’t be able to move around until sundown. However, Nathir is a trade port, and trade means smuggling. There are a number of spots that will ask no questions along the rivers, especially the Maruto, including away from the city proper, and if one wants to get away, the water is the fastest and safest route—if you can get past Maon’s flotilla. Speaking of magic: the confluence of the Maruto and Yellow Rivers is beloved by water-spirits, who play in the currents and eddies. The shoreline is also dotted with shrines. Clan Maon’s tutelary deities are said to be old friends of the elementals who live here. Does that make them potential suspects? A motive is lacking, but there might be another lead to pinpoint a location.
[18:50:57] River Snake
”Whoever has it, they’re probably heading for the river to make way with some smugglers of some kind. If they’re extra cautious, they might be hiding out near there until dark. Easier to slip through a blocade in the dark. If any of you are good with river spirits, they might know something”
[18:54:51] Datei ma Kagemori
”I am sure I can make negotiations with the river spirits go smoothly, if that is the best course of action.”
[18:57:35] Raizo
The corners of Raizo’s mouth turn up in a bemused twist and he shrugs. “Sure couldn’t be me. River sounds good, though. Head them off at the pass, so to speak, rather than chasing rats through holes. Unless you feel like there might be a clue in… well, I guess we don’t know where the prince was when it went missing, eh? Who even knows where to look for clues.”
[18:59:08] River Snake
”Finding out who the prince saw that day may be helpful…if he’s willing to talk. Still could’ve been a demon that messed with him, or that sneaky Aide”
[18:59:40] River Snake
”If we assume they’re not going to leave the city before nightfall, we have some time”
[19:01:37] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori goes to quickly interview the Prince, requesting the Prince to recount his actions this day. Who he met and where he went, primarily.
[19:12:37] Master of Games
The Prince is irritated and impatient, in light of the circumstances, but already racking his own brain with the same questions. Perhaps obviously, he does not recall a moment after which he no longer had the Daiklave. He’s been in the city since the Datei-Iachi delegation left, intending to march back to camp in the evening with good news. He hadn’t bothered to press the advance further when surrender might be imminent but had sent people to coordinate with other units and defend against possible retaliation strikes while they waited. That means he’s been with various lieutenants, including Hoarhound, but he doesn’t recall having been alone with anyone. On the other hand, if the thief stole the memory of the Imperial Daiklave along with the sword, perhaps the memory of themselves is simply gone as well. He did spend time alone period a few times, at which point perhaps the Daiklave could have been stolen without his notice.
[19:13:35] Datei ma Kagemori
”Are all the lieutenants still here? I would advise not letting any of them leave, of course.”
[19:18:12] Datei ma Kagemori
”I do not believe we are dealing with a conspiracy, or at least I have no evidence of that as of yet. Which means when you were alone seems more likely. It is enough of an issue to deal with your own memory, if they had to also alter the memories of others that makes the scheme much more complicated very quickly.”
[19:23:56] Master of Games
”Of course.” A headcount, conducted as quickly as discretion will allow, confirms that all lieutenants who are expected to be present are still accounted for, and none are in possession of any legendary weapons they shouldn’t have. It seems this theft was not an inside job after all.
A few people vaguely recall soldiers coming to meet Gensuji to make this or that report, a normal enough occurrence. The numbers don’t quite seem to match. Between Gensuji and aides, they’re able to reconstruct the reports he’s gotten throughout the day; it seems his memory is otherwise intact and in fact fairly good. A few people remember a soldier reporting in maybe an hour or two before your return, but Gensuji has no recollection of receiving any reports around that time. No one seems to quite remember who that soldier was or what they looked like, if it’s not just their imagination.
Hoarhound, perhaps a credit to her demonologist’s intuition, seems to sense something is up amidst her annoyance at being questioned.
[19:24:50] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori thanks the Prince and everyone else for their time.
[19:55:13] Master of Games
While River Snake works his contacts, Raizo’s men seem as confused as he is. Sagacious Wren doesn’t remember anyone breaking off while they were righting injustices in the city, though he does vaguely recall spotting a strange young child not too far off from where they saw the demon pulling apart a Vanehan soldier—that may be Kimo, the boy who was allegedly entrusted to Zao by one of the Band.
Whoever was regularly burning letters in prayer is not doing so anymore. Come to think of it, how many of the Band are even literate? When prompted, several remember the prayer-burner, one or two think they were one of the urchins newly joined in Jibei, but no one can name or describe them, and none have any idea where they are now.
[20:03:54] Raizo
”This is weird.”
[20:06:53] Master of Games
Snake’s connections aren’t thoroughly established yet in Nathir, but money smooths many paths, and there are many willing to keep an eye out for a dinar in today’s Nathir. In an hour or two, River Snake has as many eyes on the river bank as the Maon do.
Even so, it’s like looking for a ghost, or for the one star in the night sky that’s out of place. Once or twice, someone comes to Snake or one of his contacts ready to report having seen something, only to barely recall what exactly they saw that they thought was significant. In the end, it’s an old fisherman who finds not the culprit, but the negative space around them. The man, who looks like he’s plied the Maruto for as long as the three of you together have been alive, comes in barely expecting his testimony to amount to anything, and tells of an old temple by the river that’s been disturbed, a stone moved to reveal a gate he’s never seen before. He’s absolutely adamant that it was still in place this morning, and has never been moved before—after all, he’s seen it every day of the past half-century or more. It’s hardly a smoking gun, but it clicks: a culprit who seems to have been swallowed by the earth, headed for the water, evidently familiar with the divine, perhaps having hidden out in a temple nobody knew you could get into?
[20:11:52] River Snake
Snake smiles with a chuckle. The fisherman seems to have hooked their fish. He gives the old fisherman a bit extra and tells him to look for his trading company when the reconstruction starts if he ever has trouble selling his fish. Time to go engage in one of his favorite past times, poking around in forgotten places.
[20:19:58] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori prepares to move out to find the temple as soon as he is informed.
[20:26:59] Master of Games
The place isn’t hard to find with directions from the old man. It’s not hidden as such, just easily ignored among all the rocks and shrines on the river. The fisherman said his grandfather called it the “footstep shrine”, because allegedly he saw the footsteps of some divinity or another in the stone there. Other fishers refer to it as the carved block temple when they have occasion to do so. If it has a proper name, perhaps the Maon gods remember it, and no one else.
[20:28:14] Master of Games
Maybe a mile down from the confluence, two deep terraces are vertically cut into the sloping cliff framing the river on Nathir’s side. The lower terrace overlooks a river shore of small rocks worn smooth by the Maruto’s steady flow. Two crumbling staircases on either side of it, cut from the rock as well, give access to the upper terrace two or three man-heights above it. Narrow channels suggest that some sort of spring—perhaps holy, in any case long dried up—may have once fed into the river from one of the terraces. Perhaps the shallow, circular holes dug around the edge of both terraces are related, or perhaps not. Perhaps they’re what the fisher’s grandfather interpreted as footsteps.
[20:28:52] Master of Games
Above the upper terrace, three rows of five shallow rectangular cavities are cut into the back wall. Most of them are empty, but a few are still occupied by blocks of colored stone carved in relief, or fragments thereof. One relief-block on the lower terrace’s back wall is still intact, though cracked, depicting a mother nursing twin daughters. This has been moved aside to reveal a rectangular entrance leading into the stone.
[20:32:35] River Snake
Snake looks around the temple, staring looking at the relief, and the remains of the other, trying to figure out who or what this temple was for originally. It may not mattter, but if the local god is still around, it might actually turn out to be important
[20:34:12] Datei ma Kagemori
”A hiding place, or do we think it can connect to some other temple? Holy smuggling route or something.”
[20:38:27] Raizo
Raizo isn’t going in with swords drawn, but they’re loosened. “Yep, this is still weird. Lovely tableau, though. I wonder who built this place, or why.”
[20:47:28] Master of Games
The first thing Snake is sure of is that this place matches no architectural style common in Vaneha or any other nearby culture. Combined with the state of the rock, and the ignorance of the locals as to its history, it must be old. Perhaps older than the name of Vaneha. But it doesn’t match the splendor of ruins from the height of the long-gone First Age, either. Was it built by some unrecorded people with no other trace left to remember them by? Or could it predate even then, perhaps from the early days of that gilded epoch?
The purpose of the channels and cavities remains obscure to a casual inspection, but the relief of the mother-deity is notable. Or rather, her children are: their appearance, Kagemori and Raizo will agree if their attention is directed to them, reminds strongly of the twin deities of Clan Maon, Kamo and Moka of the Stony Banks, though they are depicted as babes here. Perhaps Maon’s history in this area runs deeper even than anyone realizes. If so, the mother’s identity remains unclear.
[20:49:58] Raizo
”Do gods grow from infants to adults? I hadn’t thought about it before.”
[20:50:03] River Snake
”This place probably predates Vaneha, though I dont know who built it or when”
[20:50:37] River Snake
”I guess it would make sense for gods to have parents?”
[20:51:27] River Snake
”Those childeren might be the gods of Maon. I’m not an expert on that, though”
[20:51:35] Master of Games
Kagemori knows the answer to Raizo’s question: sometimes, they do. Sometimes, they don’t.
[20:52:12] Datei ma Kagemori
”It is not the only origin for a newborn god, but it is one of them. They can have gods with mortals, after all, why would they not have that capacity amongst themselves?”
[20:53:24] Datei ma Kagemori
”That being said, if it is the twins, their mother is not known to be among the Stars. Perhaps they turned sides from the old local pantheon, or have some origin distinct from many of their colleagues.”
[20:54:29] Datei ma Kagemori
”I can’t say whether a god visibly aging is tied to the manner of their birth, but I suppose it would make it easier on the divine mother at least.”
[20:56:46] River Snake
”I suppose unless we meet the mother up ahead, we should revisit this later.” Snake moves to head deeper in. “Regrettably we’re on a deadline”
[20:57:29] Datei ma Kagemori
”Yes. We could even ask Kamo and Moka, potentially.”
[20:58:01] Raizo
Raizo follows along, alert for anything untoward coming their way. “Here’s hoping this goes somewhere useful.”
[21:00:15] River Snake
”I’m sure the gods will be amused if we say we saw their childhood portraits”
[21:01:21] Master of Games
The space inside the revealed entrance is evidently large enough to produce an echo. As you approach, you can see a soft green light dancing in the darkness at the bottom of a staircase, and the sounds of conversation. Someone sounds unhappy, and there’s at least one other voice answering them.
[21:05:53] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori has some training in moving silently, though not nearly as much training as an operative of his clan would receive. The training in brushstrokes and posture and horseback riding and other such noble pursuits ate into that time somewhat. Still, he walks slowly and cautiously behind River Snake.
[21:06:53] River Snake
Snake shifts into his stealth stance as he keeps moving ahead, gesturing for the others to stay quiet as he tries to listen in on whatever is going on
[21:07:32] Raizo
Raizo simply freezes rather than attempt to somehow move without making a lot of noise. He’s an armored general of the Unconquered Sun, not a thief in the night.
[21:20:39] Master of Games
The conversation is being held in the tongue of the Old Realm. One side sounds like a young woman, faintly accented in the way Snake expects from humans who’ve learned it from spirits, though remarkably fluent. The other two voices are soft, but deep and rumbling, and have the sound of native speakers.
<“What in Jupiter’s hole do you mean, it’s not right? I assumed this was a black jade alloy.”> <“I don’t know what to tell you, Oracle. If it doesn’t open the gate, it’s not the right material.”> The first speaker’s next utterance is a word in a language none of you speak, not from the River Province or further East, but the tone readily translates it as some manner of vicious oath.
The green light dances about, and River Snake sees it illuminate a worked stone wall at the far end of the hall, then some sort of gateway, then the face of a great lion-statue. He sees the mark of Jupiter, a rarely-worshipped god, glowing on the face of a person as she turns towards the staircase.
[21:22:09] Master of Games
Then, Kagemori reaches the bottom, and the final step is just a little higher than he anticipated, making his footfall just a little louder than he’d hoped. Their quarry hears, hisses, and the light goes out, to grumbling from the other voices.
[21:23:39] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori winces. At least his compatriots are unnoticed. He hopes.
[21:23:59] Master of Games
<“Language, Eye.”> There’s no answer.
[21:24:31] River Snake
Snake tries to make sure he’s in a place nobody will bump into him as he remains silent and waits to see what happens.
[21:25:21] Raizo
Raizo’s hands go to his swords.
[21:28:59] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori figures if they’re alert anyway, he might as well move to a different approach. “I am the Lord of the Datei. I am here to reclaim my lord’s stolen property. You have one chance to surrender it, thief.”
[21:30:31] River Snake
Snake takes his opening to reposition, hopefully find the sword.
[21:41:18] Master of Games
There’s a brief silence, then a long, rumbling sigh. You can almost hear the roll of the speaker’s eyes in it. The voice begins to speak in the old tongue when Kagemori preempts it. A second voice from the darkness, deep and warning, but not unfriendly, answers. “You’re not supposed to be here, mortal lord. This is a sacred place.”
A heavy foot falls on the floor, and braziers near the entrance light up with smokeless flame. Kagemori finds himself at the entrance to a large square hall cut from the stone, with a path through the center leading to an altar dominated by a graven image of the same mother-goddess from the relief outside, and behind it the outline of an archway braided from glittering threads of metal and set into the blank stone wall, with no apparent opening. In front of that archway stands a human of southern cast, her forehead now hidden under a headscarf and the missing Imperial Daiklave held in both hands, its sheath on the floor. She’s flanked by two lion-dog statues of dark jade, each taller at the shoulder than she is, who are clearly alive as they turn to watch the newcomer.
[21:44:25] Raizo
Raizo approaches and stands next to Kagemori, one hand still resting on the pair of swords at his side. “Neat trick with the torches. You still have the prince’s sword. Return it or die.”
[21:46:27] River Snake
Snake slides into the room, deciding its best he remains hidden, sticking to the shadows. Kagemori is a more adept talker than he is, no reason to give up the advantage of being hidden.
[21:49:16] Datei ma Kagemori
Kagemori’s castemark flares, the mark of the Eclipse worn proudly. “I walk where I please. The nameless chosen will return the sword.”
[21:53:44] Master of Games
The lion-dogs both growl as Raizo’s threat, but Kagemori’s caste mark stops them from lunging instantly. “…You have a right to be here, Crowned Sun. Nevertheless. If you have quarrel with this one, resolve it at peace. We will have no violence in this shrine!” The unknown thief looks like she’s fighting an oncoming headache.
[21:54:28] Datei ma Kagemori
”Very well.”
[21:56:10] Raizo
Raizo wills Essence to flow into his own caste mark but releases his swords, somewhat deflated. “I was hoping you’d say something like ‘I can handle a single bushi’, and I’d glow and say ‘Oh I’m quite certain I’d win’, and it would be a whole…” he exclaims, putting on an effected voice for imitating the… lion dog? Other Chosen? Who knows, and then putting on a cocksure tone for his retort. “Whatever. Fine, we’ll talk first.”