(no subject)
Now that Kotone had been freed from the bonds of her okiya, the party was more or less free to do as they wished. Arriving in the next nearest town, they decided to take on some tasks requesting adventurers in the area. They picked upon the mission to Hanagahara, where three young women had gone missing. Also joining the expedition were Fujiwara Akito the wizard, and Zaltann the Paladin of Kurikara. They headed to the town to find an unfriendly ranger called Chok. Selakzir managed to talk him out of shooting them all in their faces, and he skulked away. Deeper into the woods, the party manages to find a small fortress, held by a giant called a Wang-Liang, which was also a forest spirit as well as a giant. Aria and Akito got too close to the windows, and were shot for their efforts. After breaking down the door, and after Zal and Surth suffered from a nasty scythe trap, they managed to kill the evil creature, and free one girl from a tiny cage. Meanwhile, another figure is shooting at them from an archery tower, but flees before the party can catch him. Aria learns that it was Chok. After some indecision, the party takes the surviving girl home, and then discuss whether or not they should head back to the woods to kill Chok. Selakzir and Zal were for heading back into the woods, despite the elder's admonitions, though Zal wished to try to sway them first before going. Aria and Kotone argued against it, becase Chok reminded her sharply of her own mentor, Aramil, who shared the same antipathy for humanity and preferred the creatures of the forest, something Aria wished to respect, and Kotone argued against going back because she did not wish to challenge the authority of the elders of the town out of respect. The party eventually decides to leave, and plans to head out to the next task, which was to see if the rumors of a mysterious cult were indeed true.
Meanwhile, Alamar and Kitsuyaki are finally finished in Iona, and wish to return to Zensekai. Despite their pleadings, Lux decides to stay behind in Iona, though it nags at him that he did not go. Origionally planning to go to the shrine of fire, they changed their minds when they realized that the gear neccessary for protection were prohibitively expensive. Instead, they opted to go to the beastlands by way of a cleric with Plane Shift. Once they arrived, they were attacked by a pack of harpies in a swamp, both succumbing temporarily to their songs. After some difficulty, they managed to defeat them, and headed out further on their way, hoping to make it to the middle layer of the world, the world of twilight, with most haste. Finding the path down, they managed to make it to the mid-level, and were attacked by a mudmaw for their efforts. Finally, they came upon a Sasukan temple in the beastlands, and were able to reach the other side, coming out upon a village of ninjas that worhsip Sasuke.
In order to complete the ritual, you have to pray in their temples on the material plane. No worries, you've already spent the money, I believe, so all you have to do is pray at the temple in Tsukinooryo at the beginning of the next session.