-6-
When last we saw our heroes! They had just cleared out the Jade Hare Hideout and set up camp to nurse their wounds. Kakita took dutiful pleasure in rounding up Gomi, the silent Hare Guard, Loti’s two archers and an ever-aloof Tatsong - and restraining them, ready for delivery to the Gai Pan prison in the morning. They all slept well in the cool crisp air of the forrest - exhausted from the eventful and somewhat traumatizing adventure they had just shared together. When they awoke, Cedar offered to pull the carriage of provisions up the Oasishu Trail to Gaipan, but Kakita reminded them that they should save their strength and that the captive Jade Hares would, of course, be more than willing to help the party return their ill gotten gains back to the village. Kakita led the way and they arrived at the gates of Gai Pan in no time at all. It didn’t look like much to the party at first, but once they past the threshold, spilling into the market, the village seemed to come alive. The well-worn cobblestones of the merchant quarter are nearly invisible beneath the crowds of people bursting from the shops and milling between tents. The pounding clamor of street musician’s cymbals shook the air, mingling with oppressive clouds of heavy perfume, cooking oil, and sweat. Around the merchants and buyers, teetering mountains of silks, dried tea leaves, exotic fruits, incense, lacquerware, and spices sprawled like the Yan Mountains themselves. Voices clashed in the ruckus of trade, sellers bellowing prices and guaranteeing bargains, customers haggling and comparing quality. A green canvas palanquin with a horned roof dawdles through the crowd. It disappeared as swiftly as it had come, born aloft by four scrawny servants, barely bumbling above the market’s commotion.
Kakita offered to secure lodging for the party as an additional show of gratitude and led the party, eager for a stiff drink and a comfy place to rest, to a tea house standing in the middle of the village: The House of the Laughing Carp. Kakita ushered them inside and made her way to the Magistrate’s Manor to deal with the prisoners. Tatsong sheepishly waved goodbye as the party looked back through the crisp, sliding paper doors. Once inside the smell of warm tea, cheap sake and plump dumplings filled the air. The party was greeted by a short, broad, older woman with silvering hair and a curt stare. Madam Meeshy owned the Laughing Carp and although she would never betray her demeanor by smiling, took great delight in ordering her barmaids and servers to do her bidding. The one thing that seemed to melt her brusque exterior was the shameless flirtation of none other than the party’s own towering tree of a man, Cedar. The party sat down around the sturdy Pai Sho table in the middle of the tea house and Zukari preceded in demolishing Cedar in a decisive game. They all heard here-say and gossip around the house of trouble in the village from Buzzard wasps, a Bloodgood Triad and more. Zera was unknowingly denied a delicious Lychee nut wine by calling it Leech Wine, and instead, the party all ironically indulged in Madam Meeshy’s proprietary hallucinogenic Leech essence. During the short, but potent escapade - the party was visited by Kakita, who, after seeing the state of the situation, (Cedar staring at her in reverent awe, Pamuya huddled on the floor, Zera scribing feverishly on scraps of paper, and Zukari nervously watching it all the others) decided it was better to come back later.
After the leech essence wore off - the party sauntered out the of laughing carp as Madam Meeshy gave Cedar one last coquettish wave. They came across Gai Pan’s Blacksmith stall and approached Akeza, a slender, and impossible clean smithy. She took Zukari’s staff to make some custom adjustments, and Cedar’s Axe to sharpen. Cedar also spent some of this newly acquired gold pieces to purchase her impressively crafted Kanabo.
After the weapon smith, the party made their way down the main road and found themselves at the magistrate’s manor. There they met Kakita who was arguing with a rotund man with an infuriatingly sanctimonious air about him. Kakita was inquiring about the bloodgood problem in Gai Pan and Toshimoko, the village Magistrate, repeatedly told her they were nothing to worry about. That Gai Pan was the picture of peace and stability. He was instead much more interested in the buzzard wasps who were stealing his shipments of roast duck from Omashu.
-7-
When last we saw our heroes! They had continued their conversation with Kakita and Toshimoko - teasing out the monetary inclinations of the quests available to them. The clincher, however, turned out not to be coin, but venom - as the team, perhaps coerced by Zera’s zeal for animal toxins, decided to help the town magistrate by investigating the oddly behaved buzzard wasps stealing provisions and decor from the Jinkou Trail and bringing them to Sakusa Tor. Before setting out into the wild, the party decided to see what rewards they might gleam for hauling (or rather, having the Jade Hares haul) back the stolen provisions from the hideout back into town. This objective took them to the Lapus Kio Merchant, where they met the spirited shop keeper, Paya. After haggling for their reward, the party bought some supplies for their quest - a swath of various venoms and elixirs for Zera, and some water pouches and wilderness supplies for the rest. Paya tried to sell them an expensive vial of anti-toxin when she heard they were off to investigate buzzard wasps, but the party was guarded with their newly gotten gain and wouldn’t pay the hefty price. Paya instead offered the vial as a token of good will, asking the party to deal with the bloodwood thugs plaguing Gai Pan.
Next the party wandered over to a less impressive stand, run by a spindly, leathery, superstitious man with a humble demeanor. Brokka thanked the party for bringing back his goods and gave them a decent reward for their trouble. After learning that Brokka had no venoms to sell Zera quickly became bored, and soon after the party left to pick up their weapons at Akeza’s smith stand. Zukari received his new hidden blade staff, Cedar hefted his new kanabō over his shoulder, and Pamuya decided that some throwing dagger might come in useful for the adventure ahead. As they were leaving Akeza hurled Cedar’s freshly sharpened axe into a post nearby as parting gesture of good will, and good luck. Now the party strives down the main road back to the Oasishu trail to get to the bottom of what these erratic, roast duck pirating, buzzing bandit buzzard wasps are up to at Sakusa tor.
-8-
When last we saw our heroes! They stand at the edge of Gai Pan village ready to embark on their second adventure together, searching for answers (and venom). As the rest of the party starts to make their way down the road to Oasishu trail, Zukari paused. He turned around and looked up at the weathered torii gate where a poised black pygmy panther sat, stoically perched. Zukari reached into the depths of his soul and pulled forth an eloquent, pleading monologue brimming with affection. The panther stood in a pregnant pause as Zukari’s heart plunged into his stomach, but then as Zukari started to turn towards the party, she nimbly climbed down the post and made her way to the fire bender. The feline gave him a meaningful look and then, finally, all of Zukari’s efforts pay off as she closed her eyes and rubbed her cheek on his shin and started to intertwine herself between his ankles. A soft, reluctance purr began to resonate in the cool crisp air. Overjoyed, Zukari embraced her, proclaiming to the rest of the party that her name was to be Cindari.
The party re-grouped and made their way down to the rushing water. Feeling refreshed and happy to have their basic bending abilities returned, Pamuya and Cedar teamed up in a dazzling duet to raise rocks from the rapids, and then join them with crystal clear ice bridges that spanned across the length of the Oasishu river. In the back of the group, Zera ineptly mimicked Pamuya’s water bending in secret, and when the last of the ice bridge crystallized, a smug, accomplished expression splashed across her face.
The day turned to night and the party found themselves at the precipice of the Si Wong Desert. They decided to set up camp where the wind swept grassy fields met the rocky crags and sandy dunes. Zera, trying to be helpful, insisted in using her flammable Badger frog slime to start the campfire. And so, the party basked in the sulfurous teal glow of the flame as Zukari eagerly brought out his newly purchased vials of leech essence. After all, the party has always been happiest when in a collective hallucinatory venture. Surprisingly, Cedar graciously chose to take first watch and abstained from the essence, and instead just observed as Zukari fell into a goofy, irreverent slouch, puffing on his pipe. Zera pulled out her notes once again and started connecting more dots. She exclaims that the “log weighed less than before!”, and although almost incoherent, she impresses Cedar and Zukari with her inquisitive inquiries. Pamuya, on the other hand, cannot hear or see anyone at this point. She slips slowly into a fugue state as the teal light of the fire and the void of the black night air engulfs her vision entirely. She slips deeper into the inky nothingness as the last turquoise light swirls and transmutes into a single glowing seed. The seed rises and then plunges into the black earth, and as it does - Pamuya’s reality comes rushing back in. She reports her vision to Cedar, hoping for some insight concerning a glowing teal seed. Cedar faintly recalls a myth about a tree with glowing teal seeds and sap, but dismissed Pamuya’s vision as a mere side effect of the leech essence.
The night was peaceful as the party and animals rested, however, as dusk breaks Zukari heard some rocks shift towards the desert. He couldn’t see anything, but when Cindari arched her back, bristling towards the noise, he assumed something was a miss. As he went to clutch his staff, a javelin sailed through the air and planted itself deep in his thigh. Zukari howled in pain, as three figures appears out of the crags. Hulking figures wrapped in animal pelts come rushing toward the party, and before Cedar was fully awake, one of the barbarians was already at the campsite. He raised an axe and swung down hard towards a terrified Boshi. Luckily, Boshi is quick when he needs to be, and he scurried off and burrowed to safety. Then the study woman with matted hair rose another javelin with her sinewy arm and propelled it through the air straight towards Zukari, but instead shatters on a rocky outcrop behind the camp. At this point the entire camp is roused and hungover from the night before. The first brute hurls himself towards Cedar with a great axe and catches his shoulder. In response Cedar grass his new kanabo and heaves it over his head down towards his attacker, but the heft of his new club betrays him and the swing misses. The second of the attackers swings his axe and grazes Pamuya’s upper arm as Asteria soars above the scuffle. Pamuya responds by flinging her new daggers at the burly woman, catching one in her shoulder. The woman lets out a blood curdling scream and lunges over the fire, cleaving her axe and bringing it down hard on Pamuya. Zukari attacks with his staff, narrowly missing his target. He is, however, able to blast a bright flash of flame and blinds one of the foes. As the screams and clanging of steel startles Zera awake, the gastrointestinal side effects from the leech essence become apparent as explosive flatulence launches her high in the air in a plume of acrid flames. Aloft, she analyzes the situation and takes decisive action. Still in the air she deftly hurls two darts towards the woman that catch her by the fur pelts on her wrists and effectively crucify her to the ground. Then, as she falls she clasps her hands around the head of the man attacking Cedar and brings her own skull down hard to meet his with a hard thud. As he stands there dazed, she lands and slaps his face as if with a salamander Eel. The fight continued with Cedar failing to get the hang of the Kanabo, and instead switching to his trusty Axe. Pamuya freezing the combatants fast to the dessert sand, and Zukari heating his hidden blade before making a meticulous slice down the length of the barbarian man’s back, instantly cauterizing the wound. As the three attackers lay in the camp, the party remarks on the macabre tableau before taking a short rest.
As they start to pack their bags, they all hear a low humming coming from behind them. They look to the sky and the humming becomes deafening as they see a lone buzzard wasp flying through the air - nimbly waiving its way through crags and rocky obelisks. In its black, hairy legs they see its carrying an ornate wooden chest with a tea set a top of it. And as it zooms past the party and disappears behind a peak towards Sakusa Tor it doesn’t spill a single drop of tea.
-9-
When last we saw our heroes! They stood, shading their eyes from the increasingly oppressive desert sun, peering over the sandy dunes tracking the lone buzzard wasp until it became a tiny speck in the apricot sky. As the party finished packing up the rest of their belongs, the question arose of what to do of the unconscious ruffians laying about the camp. Zukari offered up the option of dispatching them, but the party eventually settled on searching their persons for valuables and then securing them in earth tents before they left. As Zera went and started to rifle through the woman’s pouches however, she was interrupted as the woman awoke with a start, coughing up dust and struggling free from the darts pinning her to the clay ground. She looked around panicked as she surveyed the party, then, her panic turned to dread as she saw the man slumped facedown with a scarred slash down the length of his spine. She explained that her name was Marro, and that her, Ru, and her brother Yidak only attacked them because they mistook them for raiders. As she pleaded with the party to heal her brother, Ru awoke and scrambled backwards in the sand until he was reassured that the fighting was over. Marro begged the party for help, and said she would owe them a great debt. The party decided information concerning the buzzard wasps was fair compensation and turned to Yidak. Zera, of course offered to rub a number of venoms in the wound, but in the end it was Pamuya who showed compassion. With the help of some of some herbs from her healing pack, she was able to use her healing to stabilize Yidak. Once conscious, Yidak’s eyes met Zukari’s and he exclaimed “You, you sliced me!” To which Zukari responded, “Ya, well you hurled a javelin into my leg!” A sheepish expression washed upon Yidak’s face as he mumbled, “ya… that’s fair”
Marro and Ru heaved Yidak up by the crooks of his arms and legs and led the party to their tribe. On the way Marro explained that they didn’t know much about the strangely behaved buzzard wasps, only that her people believed that they might be connected to the sand witch that lives in the depths of Sakusa Tor. When they passed through a narrow opening between two jagged stone spires, they had arrived in the Gokai tribe’s village. Yidak was taken to the healers and Zera inquired if this tribe had ever know buzzard wasps to be tamed? Marro explained that though her people have never seen it, they have a myth about the great ShiRok, a warrior woman of old who was said to have ridden them into battle. She called for the village musician to sing the tale, but he was nowhere to be found. “Another time.” Marro conceded.
The party made their way to the edge of the small village and after receiving a warm send off from the Gokai Tribe, made their way back into the desert precipice on their way to the Tor. Zukari took the lead, but after hours and hours in the stifling air, it was Pamuya who spotted a buzzard wasp flying over head. They followed it up over a dune and there they saw it: underneath the shadow of the jagged Tor was a crater, and in the center of the crater was an earth hewn cottage. In-between them and the cottage, was a natural sand stone arch and spiraling around it, a lone buzzard wasp sentry.
Hiding behind an outcrop of stones, the party deliberated on how to handle the beast. Even though Zera was quite keen on lighting its head on fire, Pamuya protested, and instead she offered to freeze it to the ground to incapacitate it without causing it too much harm. With the party in agreement, she bent the water from all the party’s water pouches and conjured a convincing watery visage of a buzzard wasp. She strained as she puppeted the mimic towards the sentry. As it got closer, the sentry took notice and instinctually droned over to the bumbling imposter. In one quick fluid motion, Pamuya dissipated the water wasp and transferred all the water to the sentry’s legs. She clenched her outreaching hands into fists and the water instantly crystalized into ice and dragged the buzzard wasp down to the sand, its wings buzzing in furious protest.” “I did it!” Zera exclaimed.
The party surrounded it, hastily trying to investigate its strange behavior. Zera’s attention however, quickly turned from investigation, to extraction. She snuck away from the distracted group and make her way to the hulking furry abdomen. The black lacquered stinger was thrashing furiously, but Zera had this. She was a professional milker after all. She brought her empty water pouch up and calculated the perfect placement for maximum venom yield. She quickly jutted the pouch forward, but her calculations were off. The giant stinger instead pierced her forearm and immediately sent shooting, agonizing pulses of misery up and down her whole body. She already started seeing blue by the time the party noticed and started to scold her. Pamuya, still annoyed with Zera’s reckless obsession with venom, turned her attention back to the avian insect. She calmed her demeanor, centered her chi, and outreached her hand, searching for a connection, but she was met with cold, hollow nothingness, devoid of any animal emotion. Just then, the ice beneath the buzzard wasp began to crack, and with a momentous upward thrust it broke free, sending shards of cold diamonds into the baking sand where they instantly began to melt. Cedar acted quickly and broke of a spire of a nearby stone and with a thrust of his arm bent it high into the air where it stuck fast underneath the wasp’s whirling wing. Agitated, the Buzzard Wasp dove towards the party, but Zukari was poised and waiting. As the beast flew into striking distance he leapt into the air and whirled his staff so that it came down hard on the wasp’s head with a muddled thwack. It spilled headfirst into the sand, tipped topsy turvy and landed on its back, its legs slowly curling in on themselves. As the dust settled, there came a concerned shout from the crater beyond.
“Soming! What have you done to my Soming?” A woman in flowing sandbender garb seemed to float upon the ground, bending sand in undulating currents beneath her feet with slight swirls of her wrists. She looked at the downed buzzard wasp in alarm, rushing in with a wave of sand to cradle it’s head. After determining her wasp was only stunned, her eyes snapped up to confront the adventures. Her eyes fell upon Zukari, who muttered “witch!” under his breath. This seemed to break the group out of their stunned silence. “You’re wasp there attacked us,” Cedar said with a grunt. “Soming? She wouldn’t attack strangers unless provoked. We are always hospitable to new guests, even rude ones.” With her bending, she gently righted the wasp to its feet. Pamuya noticed Yohoka bend a type of geometric pattern into the sand, which seemed to transfix the newly conscious wasp. After a brief shudder, it twitched and bumbled back into the air. Considerably calmer with her wasp in the air, the woman turned her attention to Zera, who was buckled in pain on the ground. Before the group could react, the sandbender brushed past the others to assess Zera’s wound. She gently probed it with a disapproving scowl, retrieving a few leaves insider her robes which she tore up and mixed with water from a pouch on her hip, packing the mixture onto Zera’s raised welt. Turning to Cedar, she said “Your friend needs some antitoxin. I have many batches prepared in my cottage. Oh, and you’re just in time for tea!” she added with sudden warmth. The group was unconvinced, especially Zukari, who backed away from the woman in trepidation. The change in demeanor alarmed him. “You gonna eat us, witch?!” Zera’s eyes widened while immobile in the stranger’s arms. The woman looked up in confusion, wary herself now. Ignoring the comment, she looked at Pamuya and Cedar. “The nearest town takes a day’s journey, and your friend needs attention now. Please, join me at my cottage, and rest.” Seeing the woman’s earnest concern, and faced with the lack of other options, Cedar turned to Pamuya, who nodded agreement. “Wonderful!” The woman sprang up, carting Zera along on a bed of sand. “I guess we’re doing this,” grumbled Zukari as they made their way to the cottage.
Inside, the group looked around with awe. It was the nicest place they’d been to in their travels. The place was light and airy, with the latticed roof allowing filtered sunshine through to illuminate an elegant interior. A table for maybe 10 people was laid out with fine ceramic and treats, piled high with ornate dishes of food. It would’ve been entirely welcoming, apart from the low buzzing outside. The woman unceremoniously dumped Zera onto a cot in the corner, humming as she perused a back wall stacked high with shelves of curious bottles, spices, and perfumes. She plucked an amber bottle one from the bunch, and used a cloth to dab some of its contents onto Zera’s arm. The redness started to recede. “I’m Yohoka. Make yourselves at home. Come, sit!” She said as she earthbent the chairs out for her guests. The three adventurers sat down, clay plates and cups flying from cupboards at the woman’s whim to sit themselves into place settings. A earthenware jug started filling their cups with tea. “Would you like cream? Honey? I filter it myself. We have fruit pies from the Northern Air Temple, delicious roast duck from Omashu, and pickled kelp from all the way from Yokoya!” She proffered the duck to Cedar, whose mouth started to water. Warily, the group started filling their plates. It had been a long, hot, and arduous journey. Pamuya took a sip of tea, skeptically eyeing Yohoka from above her teacup. “So, how is it that you’re able to control these buzzard wasps?” “Hmm? What was that dearie? You really mustn’t mumble,” Yohoka said dismissively, turning to tend to Zera again. In her cot, Zera mumbled incoherently, “Is this hell?” Yohoka gave a short chuckle and patted her head, helping her up to sit at the table. “Excuse me,” she said, getting up to enter a small pantry in the corner. Odd noises came from the back room for a moment, then quiet. Yohoka reentered, followed by an ominous shuffling. “Let me introduce my daughter, Mira,” Yohoka said with a smile, her eyes a bit strained and unfocused. A stone golem of a little girl emerged through the doorway, scrapping eerily across the floor to the table before molding itself into a seated position on an open chair. Zukari reeled back, almost toppling out of his own seat. Yohoka sat next to the grotesque visage, sipping her tea with one hand and giving small twists of her wrists with the other, causing the golem to mechanically bring a cup to its face, tea dribbling down its stone mouth.
Cedar broke the stunned silence, in his own bemused way. “You spilled a bit there, friend” gesturing to his own chin. Yohoka laughed, sounding hysterical, and dabbed at the edifice of her ‘daughter’s’ mouth. Just then, a loud buzzing came closer overhead, and Yohoka made a sweeping gesture that rearranged the latticework of the roof, allowing entry of a suspended crate carried by six nodulated legs. It dumped the crate onto the table, spilling dust and toppling over dishes. Yohoka nonchalantly righted the table, unpacking the contents to reveal another shipment of roast duck. As Yohoka busied herself with putting away the new shipment, Cedar asked, “How’s it you come by all this good food and finery?” Spinning around, she retorted “really, you mustn’t talk with your mouth full. I must refresh you all on your manners.” Cedar bristled, but Zukari interrupted, having had enough of being stared down by the golem. “Thank you for your hospitality, really, but we should be goi--”
“NO!” Yohoka shouted, slamming her palms to the table and making the delicate ceramic clatter. “You misunderstand. You can’t leave. You haven’t even had desert. Or sake. And it’s getting late, you all really should stay the night.” Cedar perked up at the mention of sake. “I’d take a cup, and some more of that roast duck if you’d allow.” Yohoka’s desperation switched to joy, filling Cedar’s cup eagerly. She waited for him to receive it with proper manners, giving a slight frown as Cedar fumbled through the ceremony.
Pamuya stepped in, trying to keep Yohoka calm. “So, how did you and your...daughter.. find yourselves living in the desert?” Yohoka smiled gently and sat down. “Well, we lived in Omashu when Mira was very young. One day, she ran away, and was brutally attacked. But she came back to me safe and sound, and we came here for the peace and quiet.” Zukari and Pamuya shared mingled looks of horror and pity. Thinking fast, Cedar inquired, “Omashu? So you must have a good recipe for duck sauce?” Eyes lighting up, Yohoka exclaimed “Yes! My mother’s own! One moment, I’ll fetch the ingredients from the pantry.” She hurried into the back room, the golem freezing mid-sip.
Now alone, Cedar turned to the others. “Well, this lady’s wolf-batshit crazy.” Hurriedly, they discussed what to do. Zukari, still alarmed but much more empathetic now, offered “Well, I guess we could stay the night. Especially with Zera still injured.” Zera, sitting slumped and sweating in her chair, said drunkenly, “Don’t you understand, we can’t leave. We can never leave. We are all her daughters.” Ignoring her ranting, Zukari continued “This lady seems more sad and lonely than evil. But she’s also dangerous.” Pamuya thought for a moment, then offered, “We could incapacitate her somehow. What if we slipped leech essence into her drink?” They all froze, hearing noises from the back room. Zukari riffled through his bag for the leech essence, reaching across the table to Yohoka’s sake cup. But as Yohoka emerged, he panicked and slipped, pouring the whole vial into the sake bottle instead. Yohoka hummed as she spooned the newly made duck sauce onto Cedar’s dish. “I’d enjoy a glass of sake as well,” added Pamuya. Appeased, and clearly happy at her guests' change of heart, Yohoka poured Pamuya a glass, refilled Cedar’s, then with a stern smile, filled Zukari’s unbidden. Yohoka paused to receive the accompanying gestures from her guests, impressed with Pamuya’s manners in particular, and waited for her guests to drink first. Nervously, they all made to take a sip, but Pamuya nimbly used a free hand under the table to sneakily bend the sake out of her companions' glasses as Yohoka drained her glass. Cedar looked at his empty cup in dismay.
-10-
When last we saw our heroes! Dusty light filtered through the lattice ceiling as Yohoka had just unknowingly downed her ceramic cup of sake laced with hallucinogenic leach essence. The party sat and watched in uncomfortable anticipation to see how she would react to the concoction. It didn’t take long before her eyes glazed over and a great metaphysical distance manifested between her and the rest of the room. The party took this opportunity to discuss what their next move should be. The hushed conversation was interrupted, as Zera, (still not quite sober herself, and enraptured by the stone visage of Mira) began to speak with the golem. This broke the spell and Yohoka instinctually became defensive of her daughter - transforming the cottage of sand and caging the party inside a hive like dome, but luckily, with Cedar leading the way, the party deescalated the situation and turned the discussion towards Yohoka’s insect avian friends.
After navigating Yohoka’s maze of animal ethics and high society customs, Cedar and Pamuya were able to persuade Yohoka to reveal her secret of controlling the buzzard wasps - but not before Zera finally had her chance to milk some fresh, amber venom. The two lessons clashed when, to everyone’s surprise, Cedar proved to be a natural born sand bender and stole the attention of the wasp Zera was clumsily milking and had it do a whirling barrel roll. The stinger narrowly missed piercing Zera’s already tender arm, and instead knocked her water skin, full of venom high into the air. Zera watched in horror as it plummeted to the ground and splashed upon the glistening red sand - bursting into an acrid steam instantly. Her jaw dropped before giving a mean glare towards Cedar who was still sand bending mesmerizing mendallas into the sand, trying hard to stifle a smile as he apologized. Zukari, who this whole time, was skulking in the background, suspiciously eyeing Yohoka, was startled as his arm grazed something behind him. He turned around in alarm as he saw Mira standing behind him, stoic and still, with her arm reaching towards him. In what was either a clumsy attempt to make peace, or a veiled assault on the sand girl - Zukari struck Mira’s arm. Cracks started to form down the statues arm, and even before the last fracture appeared, Yohoka rushed towards Zukari and planted herself in sand firmly between him and her daughter. The ground trembled once more and the elliptic perimeter of the hive began to sputter plumes of sand as simmering rage grew in Yohoka’s eyes. She began to separate Zukari from the rest of the group, but luckily for him, the party was once again able to distract Yohoka and abate her fury. She did however, make it abundantly apparent that she didn’t trust the fire bending shepherd.
The lessons consumed the rest of the afternoon and Yohoka led the party back inside as the golden sun dropped behind the jagged blackness of the tor. She entered the kitchen prompting a stuffed Boshi to scurry out from the top shelf of a cabinet. Clattering down the shelf, and spilling glass vials and dried herbs everywhere. He scampered out into the courtyard spurring Cindari into action - pouncing on him and tumbling about in the pale moon light as Astaria swopped into action, circling the both of them trying to mediate the scuffle. Yohoka was not impressed. After entering the cottage she effortlessly conjured a new wing to the home with four rooms for the party from the desert sand. Exhausted, Yohoka bid her knew family good night and retired to her room beyond the kitchen nook. Cedar took this opportunity to sneak a plum that Boshi had some how missed, and devoured it grotesquely in the muted light of the moon.
The party reconvened in their newly built quarters, and after making sure they were out of earshot of Yohoka and her sentries, they began to formulate their escape plan. After some frantic, heated discussion, they all agreed on their tried and true fallback: drugging her and hoping for the best. Zera and Cedar snuck out into the courtyard and struggled to summon flame and sand patterns on the desert floor that distracted the beasts flying over head. Zukari and Pamuya had the harder task - sneak into Yohoka’s room and slip her a sufficient dose of buzzard wasp venom to wipe her memory of the day’s events. They slinked down the hall, and through the kitchen. The murky moonlight permeated all of the cottage, save for Yohoka’s room. The two broke the threshold of her room and, tragically - as they strained their eyes to see into the blackness, Zukari bumped into some furniture with a loud thump. They heard a haunting shuffle coming from behind them and when they turned to look, they saw Mira walking towards them. As she came closer she reached her hand towards Zukari. Just as her blank stare came up to meet his, her arm it began to crack, crumble and fall. The fissure snaked its way up to her neck, and then down the length of her body, as bits and pieces of the stone girl fell into the earth below. Mira crumbled, and as the last of the shards collapsed into a dusty pile in the corner, Zukari and Pamuya saw undulating waves under their feet rushing to the bed behind them. They turned again to see Yohoka floating above her bed, sand rushing beneath her. Tears of fury streaming from her eyes.