-16-

When last we saw our heroes! They stepped over the broken bodies of the defeated mercenaries and continued out of the living quarters and back into the manor’s corridors. They figured that they had explored most of the structure at this point. There were only so many places left in which Twingliave could be holding out. As they stepped back into the cool air wafting out from the crevasse, Pamuya reminded the rest of the party that there was still another secret entrance left unopened back in the store room. They all decided that was their best bet to get the drop on the rest of the Bloodgoods and so they carefully made their way up to the cavern. They all clung to the wall and shuffled onward, making sure to stay as far away as possible from the jagged gash where Noburu scurried about.

They made their way to the uncrossed rope bridge. Leading the party, Zera stepped out onto a mossy plank. As she brought her foot down, the frayed rope unraveled rapidly and the whole bridge came apart in a kinetic fit. Zera yelped as she plummeted downward into the murky green haze. The rest of the party watched helplessly as the firebender disappeared downward into the ravine. After a few seconds of agonizing freefall, Zera’s legs crumpled as she hit the side of a rocky crag. She tumbled forward bashing her arms and head against the broken spires of stone. Finally she flipped again and stuck fast as a stalagmite became wedged between her back and her pack. When we opened her eyes, she dangled helplessly and flailed her hands and feet in desperate protest. As her eyes darted around to scan her new surroundings, a glint of light reflected from underneath a rocky gap underneath the bridge. Zera thought it might have looked like a clasp to a chest of some sort, but that would have to wait.

The rest of the party called down to Zera, praying for a response. They received one:

“Riju my love! Help me!”

The words echoed out of the veridecent blanket and immediately the bounty hunter made ready her whip. She flung it down in Zera’s basic direction and instructed the stranded fire-bender to grab hold. Zera searched for the leather life-line in the dark. She clawed towards Riju’s voice but her hands made no purchase. Behind her, Zera could hear faint snickering that was becoming louder and louder. The sound of crystal claws on wet stone made her break out in a cold sweat and she clutched at the empty air with added urgency. Finally the tips of her fingers met the whip. She leaned as far as her pack’s straps would allow and was able to grab hold - wrapping the whip around her hand and wrist several times. Riju felt the tug from below and called down to hold on tight. The bounty hunter heaved and Zera was able to bend her knees and push off the base of the spire, freeing herself. There she dangled like bait off a pole as the rest of the party helped Riju reel her in. Zera peered down and could see three glowing green orbs start to materialize in the mist. She squawked up to the party to hurry up! Soon Zera’s shoulder hit the underside of the broken remnants of the bridge and she was able to clambour up the ledge with the help of Cedar and Pamuya. She let out a heavy sigh of relief as the three green orbs receded back into the fog accompanied by amused cackles. Zera collapsed on her back with her arms and legs outstretched, drenched in tepid sweat and the exhilaration of living to see Riju’s face another time.

The party made there way back down to the intact bridge and, keeping on eye on the crevasse, quickly darted across. They retraced their steps from their first visit and found themselves in the store room. Pamuya scanned the wall and once again found the peculiar stone in the wall’s face. She pushed it firmly and sure enough, a portion of the wall scraped open revealing a small stairway down a dark corridor. Cedar took the lead this time and led the party down the cramped, dark space. At the bottom a false wall made of wood acted as a door into the next room. Cedar turned back to the party and brought a finger to his lips. He placed his ear on the door and heard feint bubbling and whirling, and maybe, was that someone writing on the other side? Cedar wasn’t going to risk losing the element of surprise finding out. He lifted a mighty boot and stomped down hard. When his foot met the ground, a wave of stone and earth rippled forward breaking down the door and crashing into the room beyond. As dust billowed out from the doorway the party could hear crashing furniture and confused groans emanating from the room beyond.

They rushed in and saw a bearded man in earth nation armor and a fire ferret mantle staggering to right himself amongst the mess of broken furniture and scattered scrolls. He managed to get his feet under him and, seeing the intruders for the first time, Twingliave threw out his hands. From the floor, two sharp, green crystal glaives lept from the clutter and into his awaiting palms. He sneered at the party and crossed his weapons, ready for a fight. The next few moments were a flurry of frost, stone and fire. The party descended on Twinglaive with ferocious intent. Cedar formed shards of stone around his wrist and fired them in a flurry. Zukari drew his staff and, with a whirling arc, sent out a burning spiral of flame. Pamuya froze the ground and lashed their foe with tendrils of frigid water. In response to the barrage, Twinglaive conjured shining chartreuse crystals from the ground with his earthbending. They crept up his body and formed a formidable suit of armor around him, protecting him from the onslaught. Once protected, Twinglaive cried out for the rest of the Bloodgoods to assist him. Seconds later, four cloaked figures marched through the door on the far side of the room, swords drawn.

The already chaotic fight burst into a full-on frenetic frenzy - a powder keg of elemental might packed into a cramped chamber. Weapons clashed and fire and water splashed over the room in bursts of vibrant color. Twinglaive charged towards Cedar with his impossible sharp earthen blades, but missed his mark. Zukari flipped in the air with an elegant kick. From his foot came a line of flame taking out multiple Bloodgoods at once. The battle raged on until all but one Bloodgood stood and Twingliave collapsed to his knees. His crystal armour fell off his body in defeat like the molting skin of a prickle snake. The last Bloodgood footman surveyed the room, then promptly dropped his sword and cloak and ran out of the manor, whimpering.

The party walked over to Twingliave who smirked. He dropped his crystal blades and Cedar made sure to kick them even further out of reach.

“I know when I’m beat - Well done in taking the manor. It will make little difference in the end. The Yoki-onna will amend this unfortunate set-back soon enough.”

Twingliave taunted the party with an heir of calm sanctimony.

The party interrogated their new hostage, but he did not relent. That is, until they searched his quarters for correspondence (at the request of Halia) and found a particularly illuminating letter.

Clearly spooked that the party now knew his real name, the fact he was ex Dai-Li, and that Kakita is waiting for him back in Gaipan, Twingliave’s, or rather Yuan’s demeanor shifted. Anxiety replaced blase confidence and he became more amenable to answering the party’s questions. The party uncovered that the Yoki-onna was a powerful water-bender and the first lieutenant of Shivarra, the unquestioned leader of the Jade Hares. They also learned that Yuan approached the Yoki-onna by way of his Dai -Li intel and struck a deal with her. The Jade Hares were expanding their syndicate’s domain to villages outside of the main territory of Ba Sing Se and needed subsidiary triads to maintain power. Yuan became Twingliave and formed the Bloodgoods in Gaipan with the promise of ruling over the mining village with the protection of the Jade Hares.

The party pondered this new information. How did this all fit in with the Spiritual Nexus? What do the Jade Hares want with Yasuko? Is Gaipan really that important to have an ex Dai-Li agent form a triad there? As the party talked, Yuan’s head sunk deeper into his chest - his expression a mixture of realization and regret.

Soon the party arrived at their final question for Yuan: Would he rather be taken to Giapan to face Kakita, or to the misty crevasse to reunited with the hungry Noburu?

-17-

When last we saw the mighty Buzzard Wasp Warriors! They decided to take a short rest and lick their wounds after the explosive fight with the Bloodgood’s leader Yuan. After a brief spat between Zera and Cedar weighing the pros and cons of checking out the rest of the manor vs. getting the heck out of there, the party ultimately decided to explore the adjacent room to see what spoils await them. They ambled through the doorway, making sure Yuan was properly bound and compliant. When Zera made her way in her eyes lit up in child-like wonderment. Before them was a research workshop of sorts with a large worktable set up with alembics, retorts, coiled crystals, and other alchemical devices, all of it stewing and bubbling away. There were shelves crowded with sheaves of parchment, tinctures and strange-looking scrolls. Zera didn’t hesitate to dart to the worktable and start pouring over the instruments and artifacts. As she did, a small grey elephant rat squeaked in alarm and scurried across the room and up Yuan’s side to take refuge nestled in the rook of his neck. The party all looked at Yuan quizzically. As Zera zealously picked through the scientific set-up, the rest of the party instead searched the room for items that could fetch a good price back in Gaipan. After a couple of minutes looking however, they all conceded the hunt as they heard Zera gasp excitedly.

“Well well well, what have we here?”

Zera said pretentiously, goading the others to inquire what she had found. When no one answered her hypothetical query she huffed and used both her flat palms to gesture at a particular cluster of instruments on the work bench.

“This, my friends, seems to be an experiment in which Yuan here is trying to synthesize the very dangerous mineral jennamite, also known as creeping crystal.”

She reached over and plucked a small bluish-green crystal from an apparatus and held in the light. Then, like a merchant checking if a coin was genuine, brought it to her mouth and bit down. She pulled the end outside her mouth downward and with a satisfying crack the crystal snapped. Zera beamed and began to crunch and grind the crystal before swallowing it up and licking her lips.

“Delicious.”

The rest of the party (and Yuan) all looked at her with expressions that ranged from confusion to exacerbated frustration. Zera only grinned and placed the bit of leftover jennamite in a pocket on her belt.

Before leaving, the party decided to take one last look at all the literature around the work room. They found a particularly worn looking scroll with frantic annotations on the side. Yuan cursed under his breath as Zera brought it to the table so they could all see it. The scroll was at least centuries old and was written in the ancient Yinxu dialect. It contained the testimony of an explorer, Ha Dahamar, and his account of the remarkable mine under Giapan. Apparently Gaipan used to be a very wealthy mining village in the reign of the 50th Earth King. As the minors dug further into the earth, strange phenomena occurred more and more often. There were tales of miners who abruptly stopped digging and, as if under a trance, took all the gems they had uncovered and dismissively tossed them back into the deep chasms. There were also more alarming reports of workers who went into the mine and came out as changed souls, devoid of emotion. Or even more chilling still: men and women that would stop talking in the middle of sentences and wade into the underground rivers. With smiles on their face, they would attempt to drown themselves. If they were rescued in time they weren’t able to recall anything that had happened.

The ancient scroll also spoke of records that a spirit infused mace named Dawnbringer was commissioned by sages of Zhulong, the Spirit of Light, from the monks working with the miners of the Gaipan’s Pact.

In the margins of the ancient text were new additions and annotations. They seemed to explain the fate of the mine since the ancient times. The battles at Gaipan waged when Chin the Conqueror was expanding his domain buried the mine and had since obscured its location. Since then the lost mine’s entrance has since been woven into stories told for generations - the Cave of Drowned Honor.

Why were Yuan and the Jade Hares so curious about this ancient myth?

Zera rolled the scroll up and added it to her growing collection. A new wave of chagrin washed over Yuan’s face as she stuffed it in and buckled up her pack. After an amount of time that Zera felt was wholly inadequate, the party finally made their way into the next room. It seemed to be the common room where the Bloodgoods gathered. Several worn tables and chairs were scattered about and wooden benches were drawn up against walls decorated with draperies of brown and red. Several ceramic sake kegs were propped up and tapped in the far corner. The kegs caught Zukari’s eye immediately and he almost failed to see the stack of coins and trinkets heaped upon the tabletop. Far more excited about this room then the last, Zukari motioned for everyone to sit around the table and started filling ceramic cups with the stale sake. Near the pile of coin, he noticed a couple of knuckle bone dice. A mischievous grin crept on Zukari’s and he asked the rest of the party who wanted to gamble for the pot. The whole party enthusiastically agreed and so they rolled. The first gambit knocked everyone out except for Riju and Zukari. Smiling mirthfully, the bounty hunter asked if Zukari was in for double or nothing, but he declined politely. They tossed the bones again and Zukari claimed victory. He boasted for only a moment before counting out the coins and dividing them equally amongst the players.

After finishing their swath of sake, the party opened the last unexplored door of the manor. The familiar misty air of the chasm greeted them. They were about to get underway heading out of the manor and back to Gaipan when Zera brought something she had been meaning to tell the party. She explained that when she fell from the bridge she saw a very enticing chest tucked in a rocky hole in Noburu’s lair. This sparked a heated discussion on weather of not it was worth it to confront the crystal spirit. Riju was absolutely flabbergasted. She pinned Zukari, the leader of the “steal from the omnipotent demon camp”, to the wall and begged him to reconsider. Zukari simply brushed off her plea and he and Cedar tried to rally the rest of the party. Pamuya however, stuck with her fellow water-bender and opposed the notion. That meant that Zera would have to break the tie. Cedar and Zukari had already lost hope when, astoundingly, Zera voted against her crush and decided to get that chest! The three of them cheered and made their way to the doorway as Pamuya and Riju shook their heads with solemn disappointment.

As the party walked, Zukari laid out a plan. He would scout ahead and get Noburu’s attention with the disembodied limb he carried in his pouch. Then hidden away on the other end of the ravine, Pamuya would clear the mist and Cedar would earth-bend a path down to the bottom where Zera or Riju would creep down and snatch the chest. No need for violence. It would be an easy in-and-out job. Surely nothing would go wrong.

The party crept out of the dark corridor and spilt up according to plan. Zukari sauntered over to the bridge near the entrance and rummaged through his pack until he found the ruddy appendage. He waved it in the air and called out for Noburu as if the spirit was a cuddly pet. It wasn’t long before he was answered. The creature clawed itself up the familiar spire and entered into conversation with the bluffing fire-bender. As Zukari tried to keep the three-eyed wraith busy, Cedar nudged a reluctant Pamuya to the edge of the broken bridge. She could hear the sniggering of the creature echo through the chasm as it spoke with Zukari. Making sure her feet were planted firmly on the edge, she began to clear the mist in the bottom of the ravine. Sweat dotted her brow as she waved her arms in graceful circles. A shiver ran down her back as she realized that clearing the mist was harder than it should have been - it was as almost as if it was fighting back. As ribbons of the mist lifted out of the depths, Cedar edged close to Pamuya and began to raise a staircase from the stone as silently as earth-bending would allow. Crooked and uneven steps sprouted from the mist below as Zera directed Cedar to the chest.

Zukari had already thrown Noburu his morsel, but the spirit did not seem hungry. Instead, it took great delight in taunting the fire-bender while atop it’s crooked spire. With some effort, Cedar finished the last steps as best he could while working blindly below the swirling mire. Zera winced as Riju gave her one last pleading look before she turned and peered down the steps. As delicately as she could, Zera placed a foot on the first slick step. As she did she heard the spirit on the other side of the ravine abruptly stop talking. She looked over to the spire and watched in horror as a gaunt face with three green eyes whipped around and stared straight at her.

“Noone knows of Noburu’s treasure… did you get a wicked peek when you fell clumsy scholar?”

Noburu cackled as inky dribble gushed from under its eye wrappings.

The sudden realization that their plan was doomed caused Zera to stumble and slip. She fell forward and did the only thing she could do at that point, try to run down the steps towards the awaiting chest. As she careened downwards into the sodden depths she let out a mighty battle cry.

“FOR SCIENCE!!!”

-18-

When last we saw our heroes! Zera had just let loose her mighty war cry as she fumbled her way down the crooked staircase into the abyss. Riju watched as the fire-bending scholar disappeared below the mist. She winced and rubbed her temples in agonizing indecision. Ultimately though, she chose to keep her word, and go with her instincts. She was having no part in this fight. As Cedar and Pamuya inched close to the edge to see where Zera had ended up, Riju slinked away into the dark corridor behind them.

The gaunt visage of Noburu craned his neck unnaturally to peer past Cedar and Pamuya and cackled.

“The Self-Hidden hides. What a surprise”

The spirit-tangled being’s voice reverberated down to where Zera was struggling to get to her feet. Down in the damp bottom of the cavern the mist was thick and she could only see all but a few feet in front of her, even with the bright flame spouting from her palm. She tried to woosh away the mist with her arms to no avail and cursed under her breath. She knew time was of the essence, and instead of trying in vain to see in this unnatural fog, she closed her eyes and reoriented her gaze to the last place she saw the chest as she plummeted downward. Calmer now, she opened her eyes again and, to her delight she saw a metallic glint of a clasp about 15 feet up the cavern’s wall. Zera took a couple steps back and made a few trajectory calculations in her mind before breaking off into a sprint towards the rocky face. As she approached the wall however, the slick stone beneath her betrayed her efforts and she slipped falling face first towards the cold ground. She winced and braced for another hard landing, but luckily her arms became entangled in some stalagmites on the way down, slowing her fall. She looked up at the dark hole in the wall above her. The chest was taunting her.

Noburu had turned his crooked gaze down to watch Zera’s feeble attempt to scale the wall and clicked and moaned with giddy amusement. He leaped from his spire and crawled his way so that Zera was in view. He latched his crystal claws deep into the stone wall beside her and then delicately began to lift his eye wrappings to uncover the viridescent glow of his third eye.

Struggling to get free from her stalagmite gallows, Zera caught a glimpse of Noburu. Her breath tightened and she began to panic as a strange sensation came over her. It was if the air around her became alive with turbulent energy. As she wrestled free and turned to face Noburu, she became more and more away of a stinging sensation on her forearm, as if it had been rubbed raw. She looked down to see that at the epicenter of the pain, a dull green glow began to pulse violently beneath her flesh.

Just as the pain started to peek, Noburu pulled his ruddy blindfold back down over his eye and whipped his head back, cackling. He was toying with her like a cat-owl with its prey. Zera let out a sigh of relief and frantically rubbed her arm to rid herself from the sensation.

Noburu’s shrieks of laughter were promptly interrupted as Zukari shouted out from the bridge. The fire-bender taunted the spirit with vicious mockery in an attempt to lead him away from Zera and perhaps more importantly, that chest.

“Ahh Ash-Bringer. Have you not quenched your thirst for destruction?

Noburu spat as the inky liquid dribbled from his eyes down his emaciated face.

The spirit unlatched itself and scrambled down to the spires below Zukari. He lunged and caught the underside of the bridge with his claws. Zukari watched as the creature clambered underneath him and moved just in time before one of Noburu’s crystal hooks broke through the bridge and pierced the plank of wood where his foot had been a moment ago.

Laughing, the spirit swung to hang upside down, clearly amused with the party’s attempts to steal from him. From across the cavern Cedar called to Noburu. Despite the dire situation, the earth-bender was grounded and spoke in an almost jovial tone. He addressed the malicious spirit as if they were old friends.

Try as he might to barter and charm, Noburu’s patience was wearing thin. He crawled off the swinging bridge and crept closer to the earth-bender.The more Cedar tried to deescalate the situation the more incredulous and offended Noburu became. Cedar beseeched the spirit, asking if there was anything it needed. The playfulness had left Noburu’s voice now. In a new, darker, resolute tone the wraith cried back to Cedar.

“A thief and an fool. There is nothing you can offer me now.”

Solemn realization painted Cedar’s face and he knew he had to act. He turned from Noburu and, as best he could directed his bending towards the bottom of the crevasse. From the ground a crude copy of Zera sprouted from the earth - hopefully a convincing decoy within the mist.

Zukari was quickly losing patience. He fixed his gaze on Noburu’s third eye in case an opportunity to blind it presented itself, but decided that Cedar’s bartering was taking too long. He tucked in his shoulders and, with a quick hop lept so that he dropped through the empty space in the planks of the bridge. As he fell through the cold air, he mustered energy within his palm and blast a bout of flames towards the spot where Noburu clung. The blaze missed its mark and sailed over Noburu’s glistening crystal ribs. Zukari plunged down into the mist, deftly bounding off stones until he reached the bottom. Noburu grinned.

Pamuya’s attention was not on Noburu, but rather on helping Zera escape the cavern below. She gathered as much of the unnatural mist as she could and combined it with the water from her pouch to conjure an ice path down to Zera’s location. The mist obscured her view though, and as the last of the ice crystallized at the bottom - *pink* - a small portion of it encased Zera’s foot.

Zukari waded through the mist, searching for Zera or Noburu. He could hear Noburu clawing and scraping around, but the sounds misbehaved, bouncing off wet stone and jagged crags. Suddenly a waft of cold air brushed across Zukari’s neck. He turned and not tow inches away, was Noburu hanging upside down. He peered into Zukari’s eyes and lifted a claw. He delicately bushed it across Zukari’s cheek, drawing forth a thin line of blood. Before the fire-bender could react, Noburu smiled and receded back into the sea of shadows.

Noburu skittered his way through to the other end of the crevasse and gazed upon Zera, who had since freed herself from the rocks and ice. It appeared as though she had tried once more to climb up and grab the chest, but unfortunately only made it halfway - clinging to the rocky wall. Noburu lept from a tower brandishing his claws. Suddenly, Zera felt white-hot pain as the spirit plunged the tips of his hooks deep into the back of her calves. She lost her grip and came crashing down once more as Noburu wrenched her downwards.

Hearing Zera’s shrieks of pain, Cedar ran to the edge and narrowed his eyes to try and see something, anything, in the cavern below. He traced faint swirls in the mist wafting away from Zera’s whimpers and put his hand down to sense the tremors. Certain the movement was Noburu, Cedar dug in his heels in a sturdy earth-bending stance. He raised his arms and the ceiling of the cave began to rumble and shake. Quickly, he turned his palms downward and dropped to his knees. As he did multiple jagged stalactites overhead cracked, crumbled and descended down into the cavern below. The mist billowed and rock sprayed as the stone munitions crashed into the floor below. As the last, and largest stalactite slammed to the ground, the sound of a sharp snap followed by an unearthly howl cut through the mire.

Zukari didn’t waste any time. He followed the scream until he saw the shadowy figure of Noburu pinned under some rubble. He let loose a volley of flame and it engulfed the spirit. After the blast the mist had evaporated just enough for Zukari to See Noburu glaring back at him. His wrappings still smoldering.

Seeing the glow of flames underneath the blanket of mist, Pumya lept and slid down her ice path to back up Zukari and Zera. She fought with the unnatural fog but was eventually able to create a space around her where she could see clearly. As she ventured further past Zera she caught of glimpse of smoke trailing off Noburu’s singed body. Raising her hands in an arc above her, Pamuya conjured walls of ice from either side of her. The two frozen barriers sprouted past her and met in the middle where she had just seen the shadowy figure. Another anguished snarl. Although she couldn’t see anything, she felt something caught in the ice. Pamuya cautiously crept closer to investigate until she heard a sickening crunch. Noburu had broken off whatever appendage was caught in the wall and scurried away.

Zera clenched her teeth as she mustered the strength to right herself. She slumped up to a rock to support herself, and cupped her hands to her mouth. She bellowed up out of the cavern

“Riju, my love! Help me!”

It was agony to stand, but she knew she had to do something. As she peered through the mire and saw that Pamuya seemed to have a lock on Noburu, Zera pointed in the basic vicinity and blindly spurt out fluttering, flaming orbs from her fingertips. None met their mark, and instead simply dissipated in puffs of smoke against wet stone.

Noburu lurched his way up a nearby spire and set his sights on Pamuya. His third eye started to glow once again through the tattered and burned wrappings. This time though, Noburu didn’t stop. He screamed and Pamuya began to feel the strange sensation surround her. The air crackled and a searing pain burrowed its way into her shoulder. She clutched her robe and pulled it downward to uncover the source. Her skin was ruddy and necrotising before her very eyes. Underneath a dull green glow intensified in concert with the spreading pain. Her and Zera watched in horror as needles of gleaming, green crystals began to sprout out of her skin with repulsive pops. Pamuya dropped to her knees clutched her arm in an attempt to stave off the spread.

Alarmed, Cedar barreled down the ice path into the crevasse. He advanced towards the spire the Noburu clung to and leveled his kanabo. With a tremendous crash, Cedar bashed the spire into a wave of rubble, flinging Noburu backwards right at the feet of Zukari. The shepard raised his staff and charged it towards the spirit, but Noburu righted himself and dodged the blade just in time.

Zera was about to rush into the fray with the rest of the party when she hear shouting above her. She recognized the voice instantly and beamed.

“Grab the whip! Get the chest, and let’s get out of here!”

Riju yelled as she flung her whip over the edge.

Zera grasped the handle and began to scale the wall. With the bounty hunter’s help she was able to hobble up to the covert, snatch the chest and finally, flop over the edge of the crevasse. She ignored the pain in her calves and went to kiss Riju, but was stopped short as the water-bender grabbed her and exclaimed that this was not the time.

The two began to rush towards the rest of the party when they saw Noburu scurrying past Zukari and towards them. The spirit heaved itself up a broken spire and furiously ripped off the last remnants of his bandages. Three glowing orbs turned towards Zera and she felt the familiar crackling energy once more. Zera looked at Riju pleadingly just as her forearm erupted with the viridescent crystals.

Noburu turned and leapt down, pinning Zukari. With animalistic fury, the spirit used it’s remaining claw to slowly tear a deep gash across his chest. Cedar charged once again, but Noburu lunged out of the way of the kanabo and began to climb once more.

Zukari struggled to his feet, clutching his chest.

“You bastard!”

He screamed and began to conjure blue ribbons of flame around him.

Furious, Zukari recklessly launched a spiral of fire to try and catch Noburu. The cavern was lit with shimmering blue light as the flames clawed their way through the mist. But in his rage Zukari’s aim was compromised and instead of Noburu, the biting flames splashed over Cedar. Burning him instantly.

“Do you see the decimation you wreck Ash-Bringer?”

Noburu rasped as Cedar brushed the suit from his armor.

Pamuya had had enough. She knew this fight had to end soon, for everyone’s sake. She sprinted forward on the damp cavern floor, flowing between stalagmites and then between Zukari and Cedar. As she ran, her hands outstretched behind her. Mist billowed and grew and splashed - coalescing into a massive wave of water. She lept towards the spirit and landed on her knee, reaching her hands over her in an elegant arc and slamming them on the ground. The wave obeyed her instruction and rushed past her towards Noburu. Before the creature could flee the water swallowed him whole and surged him upwards towards his favorite stone spire. The wave broke and crashed against the rock. The curved crystal protrusions on Noburu’s back shattered as they slammed into the spire and the sharp remnants pierced into the stone - sticking the spirit there like a macabre effigy. The party froze as they heard an unearthly scream that reverberated through their bones. As the mist swirled fast and cold, the party began to choke as it became solid around them. Then, all at once, it dissipated and all that was remained was Noburu’s empty shell. As the water receded, the body of the man that hosted Noburu hung limp. The light faded from his eyes.

The party held their breath in weary anticipation until the body began to crumble and fall like leaves in an autumn breeze. The flecks turned to scintillating green motes of dust and were carried out of the manor’s cavern by a gentle breeze. Likewise, the crystals that blossomed from Pamuya and Zera’s skin burst into sparkling particles and drifted away.

The party dropped their weapons and cheered! The mist flowing through the cavern lifted and Cedar, Zukari and Pamuya looked up to Zera and Riju.

It was time to open that damn chest.

-19-

When last we saw the bumbling Buzzard Wasp Warriors! Pamuya, Cedar, and Zukari clambered their way up the freshly absolved crevasse to meet Zera and Riju. After checking to make sure Yuan hadn’t escaped during the ruckus, the party sat to rest in a circle around the battered wooden chest in the cool, crisp air. Pamuya tended to the wounds of the party - bending globules of pulsing, shimmering water onto the affected areas. In no time at all the troubling gashes on Zera’s calves and Zukari’s chest were mended, leaving only tender scars.

Before Pamuya had time to finish the healing ritual, however, Zukari lept to his feet and snatched up the chest, caressing it gently.

“Time to open the blasted thing”

He proclaimed giddily.

The others gathered around and Zukari placed his hands on the edges and began to lift, but stopped fast as a thought came over him.

“Hrmm, maybe we should have “the Honorable Twingliave” open it instead, after all, it belonged to a malevolent spirit - it might be booby-trapped.”

The party all looked down at Yuan in unison. Zukari shoved the chest over, told him to open it and prepare for any recompense that he might suffer for his wicked deeds. The former Bloodgood leader shuddered and as he was about to open the rotting box, Zukari stopped him. Yuan’s relief was short-lived though, as Zukari only meant to save his elephant rat from harm before any traps were sprung. Yuan nodded and the black rodent scurried down his shoulder and hid pitifully behind Pamuya’s boot. His hands shaking, Yuan proceeded to grasp the chest’s lid. He stopped and looked up pleadingly, but was only met with the resolute glares of the party. With a heavy breath, Yuan closed his eyes and flung open the chest. He covered his face and waited for some other-worldly blast or piercing crystal shards - but nothing came, save for a wispy cascade of mist billowing down the wooden edges. Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and scooted the chest back to a disappointed Zukari.

The fire-bender grasped the chest once again and the rest of the party gathered behind him to peer inside. The interior of the chest was encrusted with glowing viridescent crystals like some kind of exotic geode. The party ogled their newly acquired loot including centuries-old coins, gems, and a beautiful longsword a silver-chased scabbard, Talon. Zera immediately called dibs on the weapon, but Pamuya was quick to point out that thematically, the weapon should go to her and she gestured to the frost hawk perched on her shoulder. Zera wasn’t having it and plead her case to the rest of the party - after all, she was the reason they got the chest in the first place. Cedar and Zukari merely exchanged awkward glances and shrugged which meant that Riju was the tiebreaker. The bounty hunter picked up the sword and walked towards Zera. Zera beamed and outstretched her awaiting palms, but Riju smiled coyly as she kept walking past the fire-bender. She turned and offered the sword to Pamuya with reverence. Pamuya bowed her head and grasped the blade. Zera clutched the collar of her tunic and gawked at Riju reeling from her blatant act of betrayal.

With the loot divvied up the party left Teinhai manor, reunited with Riju’s polar-bear dog Korus, and made their way back into the heart of the village.

-

With word of the Bloodgood defeat spread, the air of subjugation stifling the village square had lifted and the party was met with smiling faces and cheers. Cedar blushed as a young girl ran up and gave him one of his favorite flowers before giggling and running back to her father.

The first stop was to hand Yuan off to Kakita and collect their reward. The party came up to the Magistrate’s hall expecting to see their Dai Li friend waiting for them but were instead greeted by the mining guild leader, Halia. She reclined with her muddy boots propped up on the desk looking over some parchment. When she noticed the party saunter in she grinned and stood to greet them.

“Hello, travelers! How do you fare?”

She barked.

The party spoke of their victory over the Bloodgoods, Twingliave, and even the dark spirit Noburu as Halia listened. She was impressed and, perhaps a bit surprised. She asked if they had found any correspondence and the party gave over the letter from the Yoki-onna. Halia tucked it neatly into her cloak with a bright smile. As Cedar nudged Yuan to the back of the room towards the jail pen the party noticed that a rotund figure was sitting in the enclosure. The man whimpered and started to sputter them a greeting as Cedar opened the barred door and pushed Yuan inside. Halia interrupted him.

“The Mining Guild has taken care to keep Gaipan safe from this coward, and any others that decide to make mischief. This ol’ goat-dog must’ve seen the sense in this, didn’t you Toshi?

Me and my members walked in, intent to demand he step down from his post, when, before I could say a word, he locked himself up! Too dumb scared to step up to any worthy fight. Yellow-bellied cat-lizard. Mind you, we never thought to lock him up-- but seeing as he seemed so excited to be behind bars, we thought we’d leave him where he’s comfortable.”

Toshimoko reddened and clumsily tried to explain his side of the story, but the party simply smirked and looked back to Halia. The mining guild leader gave them their reward for cleaning out the Bloodgood Triad and told them that Kakita had been operating out of the Laughing Carp since they left. She also explained that, if they were interested, she had another job for them.

“If you’re looking for more work, or if you’d be so kind to do me another favor, I’ve had some prospector scouts come back, all shaken up from Shattered Peak. They’ve come back screaming and rantin’ about ‘plant monsters’ and ‘corrupted spirits’ and other such nonsense as I can’t quite believe. But whether their tales are true, they must be something dark there to cause rumors, and it would be a mighty help if you could see what’s there running foul and free.

I’m not just asking for myself either. Word around town is you’re looking for the Jade Hare Stronghold. No one around Gaipan knows much about the Jade bandits -- but talk to Qelline, the Goji berry farmer. She has a friend who frequents Shattered Peak, and he knows everywhere there is to know in the Earth Kingdom, or so Qelline says. Go to Shattered Peak, and you could kill two possum chickens with one stone.”

Cedar perked up when he heard “plant monsters”, but Zera tried to dismiss the idea of another quest. She explained that she and Riju had a date of sorts back at the inn. Zera bounced her eyebrows playfully and gestured over her shoulder expecting her bounty hunting crush to be right behind her. Halia looked to the empty space behind the party and then back to the scholar quizzically. Confused, Zera looked behind her and to her great dismay, Riju had vanished sometime after returning to Gaipan. After a short discussion, and a long sulk from Zera, the party agreed - a good night’s sleep, some warm tea, a few pit stops, and then off to Shattered Peak Village.

They said their goodbyes to Halia and made their way down the road to the Laughing Carp where Madam Meeshy greeted them warmly (Cedar especially so). Meeshy thanked them all for liberating Gaipan and avenging Muwo as she brought them a tray of steaming oolong. When the party asked about Kakita, Meeshy smiled and used her teapot to gesture towards the Pai Sho table in the back of the tea house.

Zera approached Kakita who was scribbling down notes and pouring over manifests. When the Dai Li agent finally noticed the party she rose to greet them genially, without her usual stiffness. Zera explained that they cleared out the Bloodgoods and that they beat Twingliave. Kakita, still dubious of the merits of mercenary work, reluctantly congratulated them and went back to her work. It was only after Zera had turned back to return to her own table when it donned on her to tell Kakita.

“Oh! Twinsticks.. Twinglove.. Twin.. Twingliave! He’s ya know - the guy. Yam.”

Kakita stared up at her blankly.

“Yuan! - Twingliave is Yuan! We found a letter from the Jade Hares that proves as much.”

Zera said - looking quite pleased with herself.

Kakita looked at the party puzzled. Then slowly, a mix of dismay and realization crept upon her painted face. She frantically collected her things and charged towards the exit.

“This doesn’t make any.. No Dai Li agents have ever.. How could he… I need to go and see for myself.”

She murmured as she rushed past the party. As she opened the sliding paper door she paused and looked back.

“Thank you - for telling me.”

And then, she was gone. The party exchanged befuddled looks across the table and shrugged. Apparently, the revelation was a bigger deal than they originally thought.

Night fell on the sleepy village and the party took great pleasure in warm baths, hot dumplings, and soft cots to sleep on. Zera fell asleep frustrated that her cot wasn’t a double.

-

Cedar and Zukari rose first and enjoyed the calmness of the morning with more tea and a couple of games of Pai Sho. Cedar was getting better. Pamuya and Zera joined them and they departed, off to find the goji berry farm on the southeast edge of the village.

The party spent the better half of the morning talking to Qelline about Shattered Peak and her old friend Maso, visiting the Lapus Koi merchant for assorted slimes and sake, and then finally arrived at the blacksmith’s stall where Akeza was waiting for them. She had a special weapon for Zera - a blowdart ready to test the effects of any number of venoms and tinctures on unsuspecting victims, or subjects rather. Zukari, a burgeoning artificer, commissioned her to convert his freshly looted walking stick into some sort of hand cannon that ignites black powder to propel small iron balls. Akeza hesitantly agreed. As she stashed the walking stick under her workbench Cedar prompted Pamuya to show Akeza her newly acquired sword. The blacksmith’s eyes lit with reverence and she told the tale of Hafu Tienhai and the legend of the Cinder Hawk, the swords previous owner. She cleaned the blade and handed it back to Pamuya happy to see that the sword had found its way back to a worthy warrior.

With all their business sorted in Gaipan, the party gathered their provisions and trudged north through the Crimson Forest to Waterfall Lagoon. The forest bed turned to sand and the party found themselves looking down a harrowing cliff-face to a rushing river below. Without words, Cedar and Pumuya started to bend in a kind of elegant dance. The cliffside rumbled and soon a snaking slide formed down its face. Delighted, Cedar sat on the precipice and called the others over to join him. They all linked their legs to each other’s waists and slid fast down the winding luge. Zukari and Zera began to panic as they quickly approached the river, but Pumya had already started transforming the water into a sheet of glistening ice. They all slid across and as they approached the other side Paumya conjured a bank of snow into which they all careened with a giant puff.

They hiked up the base of Mt. Kusatta until they found themselves on the edge of the ruined village of Shattered Peak. Once, this was a prosperous community on the outskirts of the forest, wealthy from the work of its woodcutters and trappers. Then thirty years ago, the eruption of Mount Kusatta to the north devastated Shattered Peak. The myth surrounding these events purported that the eruption was a perverse show of lava bending power demonstrated by a profane bender. In the wake of the unnatural disaster, the village was abandoned and left to deteriorate.

The ground beneath them became damp as they walked, and soon they saw vast, intermittent pools of strange shimmering water covered in fiery orange leaves. A dirt road hugged the base of the hill and wend its way between old stone homes and shrines, many of which were roofless ruins with interiors open to the weather.

Zera walked ahead of the rest of the party facing the ruined lodgings. She raised her hands to cup her mouth and took a deep breath. Before she could yell out to the ruins though, Zukari covered her mouth - demanding she explained herself.

“We are looking for this Maso guy, aren’t we? - I was just going to scream his name a bit.”

She clarified haughtily.

The rest of the party decided it was better to take a more cautious approach and they instead chose to investigate the closest crumbling building. They all brushed aside weeds and overgrowth to make their way inside. As they looked around, only Pamuya noticed that some of the vines, those with thorny protuberances, were slowly slithering towards them. Before she could alert the rest of the party, Zera had already started to scrape off a bit of the plant matter into a vile. The gripping vines animated - ensnaring Cedar’s ankle and leaping towards Zera. Luckily Zukari was quick to spray the attacking flora with searing flames. The vines emitted a shrieking hiss as they smoldered and crumpled to ash. A column of thick grey smoke billowed upward as the party searched the rest of the lodging. Zukari had already left when the more determined members of the party found a chest under the rotting tatami floor. They eagerly snatched up the loot within.

As they walked out, their pockets a little heavier - Zukari decided to mark the occasion and follow tradition by passing out double shots of his newly acquired goji berry sake. The whole party save for Pamuya indulged Zukari and knocked back the fiery drink. The effects were immediate. Zukari was able to keep his composure, but Zera and Cedar were a different story entirely.

“How long has that tree been able to talk?!”

Cedar slurred and pointed past the party towards the center of the village.

Pamuya rolled her eyes, but as she followed Cedar’s finger she saw a man emerging from one of the dwellings. A dark-skinned man with a greying beard carrying an ornate walking stick ambled towards them. He wore green robes emblazoned with exotic patterns and heavy gold pendants hung from his ears. He had an imposing air of wisdom about him, but most of the party were too muddled to notice.

He approached and called out to the trespassers.

“What are you all doing here?”

“What are YOU doing here?”

Zukari retorted dismissively.

“You dane ask me questions while you drink on this hallowed ground?

The old man bristled - narrowing his eyes.

“WE are the Buzzard Wasps Warriors, the HEROES of this world”

Zukari proclaimed, gesturing with his staff.

Zera, who until this point had been squinting at the sun, spun around to face the mysterious man.

“MANGO! Are you Mr. Mango?”

The man stroked his beard and furrowed his bushy brow.

Pamuya interjected.

“She means Maso - are you Maso?”

The man’s expression changed.

“Maso? I havn’t heard that name in over a decade.”

Zera leaned over to Zukari.

“Are we even sure this is a real person?”

Zukari brushed her aside and once again engaged the man. He airily explained that they needed directions to the Jade Hare Stronghold and that Qelline tasked them in finding a man named Maso. He encouraged Maso to help them, after all, he reminded him - they were the heroes of this land.

Maso was dubious that Qelline would entertain such boisterous ruffians and retorted.

“These ruins are rife with dangerous plants and corrupt spirits. Leave this place before you get yourselves killed.”

Zukari could feel his frustration rising and glowered at the old man. He went to berate the old fool, but as he opened his mouth he felt the nagging sensation that a more tactful approach would be necessary. Zukari took a deep breath and more patiently explained that the party was there to help the situation.

Maso stroked his wooly chin and squinted at Zukari.

“Not all who commune in this place are here to help. There are others - ones skulking about with black hands. Forgive me if I do not trust every sojourner and vagrant that stumbles onto this Shattered Peak. This ruin is unbalanced. I have been waiting for the right time to act, but if you are true to your word and heal this broken ruin I will help you find what you seek.”

As he finished speaking he tapped the earth with his walking stick and closed his eyes. He fell backward as if expecting a soft bed to catch him. Instead, a crater of stone rose around him and swallowed him up beneath the ground. The party heard rumbling underfoot leading to the forest beyond.

“I gotta *hiccup* I gotta learn me how to do that”

Cedar chuckled.

Zukari and Pamuya thought it wise to scout ahead after finding ill-tempered plants and even iller-tempered hermits in the past two dwellings. Zukari offered up Cindari to go poke her head in the next crumbling ruin, but the pygmy panther only glared back defiantly. Pamuya tried to hide her smile as she nudged Astaria off her shoulder. The frost hawk took flight and made a graceful arc overhead. She returned with no warnings and so, the party trudged inside.

More gripping vines infested the hollow dwelling but Zukari made quick work of the fight with a menacing ball of flame. The plants hissed and retreated into the dark corners of the stone walls.

The party triumphantly exited the choked minka and stepped back onto the dirt path. As they did they, could hear footsteps coming closer and peered over the wending lane. They saw two figures cautiously walking towards them - a tall man with a wiry build and, slinking behind him, a tall and slender woman. Both dressed in simple white work robes, with thick aprons stained with deep indigo splotches from the waist down. Their hair was done up - his in a top knot, hers in intricate looped braids. Both their hands appeared to be stained a deep, shimmering black up to the elbow.

The man spoke first.

“Just who the flameo do you think you are?”

He quipped, pointing at the party.

“And what er ya doing here?”

Hissed the woman.

The party looked at one another - their hands ready to strike, but Cedar broke the tension by inquiring as to who these two fine folk were. He nudged Zukari and made a drinking motion, pointing to the half-empty bottle poking out of Zukari’s pack. Zukari understood and offered the two strangers a drink of the finest sake this side of Omashu. The duo relaxed a bit and exchanged looks, seemingly communicating through a quick sequence of expressions.

“Well hello! Don’t mind my sister, we don’t get much company, especially with all these wild spirits making havoc. We gotta be careful - you would not BELIEVE how many looters come round’ here. I’m Buco, and that’s my sister Tes. Can I ask why a fine group such as yourselves is paying our glum little village a visit?”

The strapping man said as he jauntily patted Cedar on the shoulder. He took his hand away and, even inebriated, Cedar noticed that Buco had left a slimy black stain on his armor.

Seeing the trail of the black goo cascade sensually down Buco’s defined forearm, Zera flushed. She immediately became very interested in finding out just who this young man was, and more importantly: what that slime was. As the party warily entertained the newcomers, she awkwardly outstretched her hand and introduced herself. As Buco went to shake, Zera instead grasped his wrist and scraped off some of the black liquid into her vile.

Buco recoiled and watched uncomfortably as the fire bender immediately tipped the vile so that a small drop landed on her tongue.

“Don’t DO that”

Buco insisted.

“Don’t worry - I’m a scientist”

Zera assured him.

“You’re not supposed to eat the science”

Tes said, rolling her eyes.

“What is that stuff anyway?

Zukari inquired.

“It’s dye! We’re dye makers. And it’s dye. The dyeing process, well it's a process, aaaand we need to supervise it.”

Buco and Tes jointly stammered.

Well can we see?

Zera asked earnestly

“Nahhh nope, you can stay here, any place - that house, that’s empty, well they’re all empty, be careful of the plants, the spirits, you know. We put a sign up, well someone put a sign up anyway, how about some snacks, you want some snacks? We’ll get you some”.

Buco rambled while prodding Tes’ rib with his elbow.

And before the party could say another word, the two dye makers were already scurrying back up the path. Curious, Paumya stealthily followed just out of sight. The two figures made their way to where the path became submerged under a stream. They continued as the water rushed up to their waists and sloshed eastward.

As she spied, Pamuya couldn’t help but notice that the stream carried tendrils of a strange iridescent shimmer on its surface. On its banks where the shimmer pooled, the vegetation looked a sickly, pallid yellow.

-20-

When last we saw our heroes! The party all regrouped behind Pumuya in the soggy grove of golden leaves and surveyed the path ahead. As they made their way to the bank of the stream Zera immediately fumbled through her pack and procured an empty vial from her seemingly endless supply. Staggering, she craned down and gingerly took a sample of the iridescent substance swirling atop the water.

She brought the vial up to the light of the sun to examine it more thoroughly. The water underneath was cool and clear, but the oily mess on top was vicious and left concerning trails on the vial walls as Zera agitated the concoction. She rooted through her pack once again, this time grabbing the vial of bluish-black slime harvested from Buco’s forearm. Zera compared the two substances and deduced that they appeared connected somehow - but there was only one way to be sure. Turning her back to the party, she secretly took her most recently procured specimen and tapped a drip onto her awaiting tongue. The inside of her mouth instantly dehydrated and left her tongue feeling like a leather strap inside a dusty pocket. The taste of ammonia, lye, and something Zera couldn’t quite place enveloped and overwhelmed her senses.

“Ayee fink weshoo heb thith wah.”

Zera rasped as she pointed up the bank.

The rest of the party was confused at first, but after noticing Zera’s newly collected vial it was easy to guess the origin of her new speech impediment.

The party agreed to follow the dye makers east but thought it best to stay out of the polluted water. Pamuya sent Asteria scouting ahead. As the party looked to the sky they saw the frost hawk circle over something ahead. Through the dense vines, they could just make out the silhouette of a cluster of dwellings. They lumbered forward as stealthily as they could while clearing tangled brush and babysitting two drunkards.

Soon their path was impeded by the babbling stream. The water was only waist deep, but the party didn’t want to take any chances with the swirling slime. Zukari nudged Cedar who was twirling his fingers through some wriggling vines and giggling to himself. The earth-bender turned and grinned warmly as Zukari asked him if he could bend a simple stone bridge to cross over. Cedar beamed and stood up straight.

“I don’t know whose voice that is inside my head - but that’s a mighty fine idea.”

He clapped his meaty hands together and rubbed them vigorously as he wobbily took his stance. Cedar brought his leg up high and then slammed it down towards the stream. A ripple of earth shot forth, wending its way down to the water. A deep rumble emitted from under the stream. Then suddenly, a column of stone and spray rushed upward. As the water rained down, the party shielded their eyes and looked up to see a mammoth slab of stone reaching 20ft in the air. It was impressive, though not entirely useful. The water swelled and spilled over either side of the monolith.

“HA! A mighty lion turtle!”

Cedar hollered, gazing at his handiwork.

The rest of the party winced as the sound of shudders and doors closing could be heard from the cluster of dwellings beyond. Pamuya rolled her eyes and stepped in front of the party. She made quick work of bending ice stairs near the stone pillar that crossed the broken stream.

“You have adorned my magnificent turtle!”

Cedar mused as they all made their way across.

The party continued across the overgrown banks until they found themselves in front of a crumbling ruin in which another part of the stream had carved its way through. Zukari optimistically encouraged Cedar to try once again to bend a bridge over the swirling brook. Cedar laughed and mumbled an incoherent response. The earth-bender took a rooted stance once again. He lifted both hands to the sky, but once again the earth disobeyed. Instead of sprouting upward, a deep pit formed in the dwelling in front of them. Instantly the stream became a waterfall, creating a rushing flume and a pool far below.

Equal parts concerned and annoyed, Pamuya gave Zukari a glowering side-eye and grabbed Cedar and Zera by the collars. She led them up the bank and past the chasm safely and then sat them down with motherly vexation. The party could now clearly see the dwelling that Astaria was circling earlier. Choked by vegetation, the small old farmhouse appeared to be just another empty dwelling at first glance. However, Pamuya and Zukari keenly noticed that all the doors were shut and windows shuttered.

Zukari subconsciously fondled a pouch of black powder and envisioned mixing it together with tar to create an explosive concoction used to burn the dye makers out of the dwelling. He began to grin maniacally but caught himself.

“Spirits - am I really that wicked?”

He pondered under his breath as he placed the pouch back into his pack.

Pamuya bent a crisp sheet of ice across the stream and Zukari made his way to the dwelling’s swollen wood door. He stealthily waved the rest of the party across before bellowing into the mossy ruin.

“Buco! Tes! You in there?”

The familiar voice of Buco answered through the cracks in the door.

“Hey, we’re uh, really busy here. You know, making dye. No time for entertaining. Why don’t you head out the way you came, maybe across that giant hole you made in our stream.”

Zukari and the rest of the party could tell something wasn’t quite right. The pressed Buco and Tes for details about what they were doing in there, why they couldn’t come in, and where in the four nations their snacks were. As Zukari interrogated, Zera decided to sneak around back. She clumsily sauntered behind the party and pressed her nose into a small gap in one of the shuttered windows. She could hardly make anything out in the dark room, but soon two familiar figures materialized. Around them, Zera saw workbenches, ceramic pots, a fireplace, and some sort of large wood mechanism. Beyond Buco and Tes she could just make out another room further back, perhaps with more people within. She scurried back to the party and quietly tried to explain what she had found, but her tongue was still as useful as rabaroo jerky.

Soon the siblings had had enough chatting. Buco bid them farewell and started to shut the door but Zukari wasn’t finished. He shoved his foot into the door frame before it could shut completely and uttered a veiled threat. Zukari heard Tes growl from behind the door. The next thing he knew his foot was being crushed as someone on the other side tried to bash the door shut. Zukari grabbed his thigh and wrenched his foot lose from the frame. The door slammed closed and the party could hear a large bar latching behind it followed by hurried scuffling inside.

Zukari glared at the closed door as he hobbled around on one foot, nursing the other. He turned to the rest of the party and noticed that the glazed look of insobriety had left Cedar and Zera’s eyes. They closely huddled together just out of earshot and began to formulate a plan. Pamuya tried her best to ignore Cedar’s noxiously sweet goji breath as they agreed to all surround the dwelling and bash in the windows and doors in unison.

Creeping as quietly as they could, the party took to their posts. Once they were all in position Zera held up her hand and pointed to the sky. After one last glance at her comrades, she let out a spurt of flame high into the sky with a zzzziiiip. A small puff of smoke popped overhead and the party all began bashing down their respective doors and windows down at once.

Zukari was the only one to break through immediately, his staff finding a weak point in the boarded-up window. He deftly bound through the opening and found himself in a dark circular room. Before his eyes had time to adjust he heard a violent splash followed swiftly by the smell of acrid lye and the agonizing sensation of boiling liquid roil across his neck, face, and shoulder.

“Flameo hotman! I’m burning!!”

Zukari shrieked as he feverishly tried to brush off the scalding liquid from his reddening skin.

As his eyes finally acclimated, Zukari saw a small group of people all dressed in the same stained aprons and robes surrounding him. They stared at him bewildered for a moment, then panic ensued. They all shuffled around him and began to clamber over each other out the broken window. The only remaining figure stood in the doorway. She was poised in an offensive water-bending stance and wriggling ribbons of black liquid spiraled around her in steaming loops.

Tes leered at the intruder and gathered more boiling liquid from the kettle set over the fire in the other room into her undulating arcs.

Zera poked her head through the cracked timber of her assigned window enough to see Zukari doused with steaming black goo and the last of the artisans climbing out the window frame. She turned and strained her eyes to see Tes glaring down at Zukari who was kneeling in the middle of the room cursing under his breath. Zera thought fast - she pulled her blowgun out from her pack and quickly dipped a quill into her vial of viper-bat venom. She leveled the end of the blowdart directly at one of Tes’ eyes. Zera took in a deep breath and blew hard down the barrel. The dart flew out the end and sailed through the air, but made no purchase. It whipped in between Tes and Zukari and ricocheted off the stone wall with an unimpressive plink.

Tes looked down to the poisoned dart, and then up to Zera’s sheepish face poking through the broken window. The rippling tendrils of black liquid ripped apart and crystalized into hundreds of frozen shards. With a flick of her wrist, they all snapped to face the fire-bending scholar. Zera tried to retreat, but her tunic caught on a jagged end of timber and she could only watch as Tes unleashed the volley of black ice directly at her. Zera heard spikes lodge themselves into the wood window and crash off the stone wall, but soon she felt dozens of tiny frozen darts embed themselves in her forearms, chest, and the side of her head. She wailed and tried to wrench herself out of the window frame, but Tes hadn’t finished yet. The dye maker pulled her arms inward and suddenly Zera could feel the shards burrow themselves back out again. The frozen darts but have been barbed somehow because the pain was even more agonizing as they freed themselves. The ice crystals formed a cloud inside the room and as Tes spun around, they made an arcing rush back towards Zukari. In a flash, Zukari used his staff to flip up and over the sweeping cloud and watched as the ice shards turned back to a liquid and coalesced into an orb between Tes’ wavering hands.

At this point, Pamuya used a water whip to clear the rest of her window and dashed inside, calling out to Cedar to do the same. Buco whipped around, astonished.

“We are just dye makers!”

He exclaimed as he conjured a mote of flame between his palms.

Buco advanced towards Pamuya and let loose a thick spiral of flame. Pamuya met the onslaught with a wall of water and the room erupted with hot, dense steam. As the vapor rushed out of the window, Cedar rushed in.

Peering through the mist, Cedar brought his arm up and aimed it at the siblings. The six stone shards orbiting his wrist suddenly shot forth and cut eddies into the whorling steam. Cedar’s sense must have returned to him because the stones met their mark. Buco was able to shield his face with his forearm, but Tes who was preoccupied with Zera and Zukari, suffered the full brunt of Cedar’s assault. Three pointed fragments flew through the air - two plunging underneath her shoulderblades and the other into the small of her back. Buco let out a howl of lament as he rushed to catch his sister, her knees buckling as she crumpled to the floor.