3/30/15

Baychiro Pt. 4

This ship twists and confuses the mind in the worst possible ways! Especially with having to swap between two versions of the same place with so many differences, not all of them obvious at a first glance. Even now I'm having trouble detailing what happened between all the moving around and seeing much of the same scenery multiple times in different states of existence.

Hmm, before I go further I'll refer to the ruined, old ship as the "present" Baychiro and the shiny, new looking one as the "past" Baychiro. That should help a little bit. I hope.

We found Aiko and myself could not go up, the trapdoor was locked by powerful magics. It was Genbo that told Keisuke in the past that the priest locked the lower levels so he would have to be dealt with likely for us to go higher. Thus it fell to Keisuke climbing to the upper floors first. Luckily the door containing the temple (and priest) was still marked, though the relief above the doorway was in very rough shape, broken and badly damaged. Keisuke also heard sailor shanties and revelry behind two doors close together in the past Baychiro.

Keisuke ...well did his thing and did away with the priest (of Gozrah) quickly and recovered his holy symbol which seemed to do the trick, allowing us to access the upper floor. It lead to a chamber with four more doors. We checked our version of the temple which was deserted, but learned the broken statue and relief depicted the Dark Goddess. Since Keisuke had taken some wounds during the battle with the priest we got the spirit foxes to switch us so Aiko could heal him. I returned to the lower floor during this time to check on Genbo and affirm we we would free him from this prison. He was very thankful. 

Upon returning to the upper floor I realized I was stuck again. None of the doors would open. I was informed by Jiba that Aiko and Keisuke were helping the chef cook for the crew. I confirmed with him multiple times that it wasn't a joke and that is what he had been told. I'll need to get the full story later, but when the doors once again clicked and fell open, the mess hall and chef had passed on peacefully in the present Baychiro. It was the first room I stepped into and wasn't immediately assaulted by undead so I was very thankful. They informed me as I was exploring the rows of tables that they had received a bronze key to the sleeping quarters as thanks for making a really good meal. At this point I found the leader's table and found a silver key within a small leather pouch. I took it carefully but whatever the other two had done had indeed let these men go to their deaths peacefully it appeared. I'm making a note to ask Aiko on the whole story there later...sounds like an interesting one!

I stopped in the kitchen on the way out and happened to notice some sheets of parchment sticking out of one of the drawers. Miraculously they had not decayed! They were a collection of recipes, all of which contain alcohol as an ingredient...I took them for later when we hopefully get out of here. 

At this point we hit another problem as Aiko and Keisuke were able to open the last door to the bedrooms but it didn't work in the present Baychiro. The door was too corroded to swing at all. Once again we called on Aiko's foxes to swap Keisuke and myself, using the silver key I found to finally enter the armory. We proceeded to take some weapons and armor that looked like they might be useful in addition to the equipment requested by Genbo including with armor, shield, katana, cape, and vials. We also located a special item he thought might be of help, an amulet set with a green-violet tourmaline he had given to Kiyonshi and had great sentimental value to her. With some hope he might be able to remind her of the better days and put this ghost ship to rest. 

After a bit of discussion we decided to swap Aiko with Genbo, bringing him to the past Baychiro and hoping it would revitalize him. We were certainly correct, his youth returned to him and he was no longer a skinny, bony, old man. He was a young man in the prime of his life with mythril bracers covering his elbow to wrist and a shock of raven black hair outlining his youthful features. I watched as he drank one of his vials and armor threaded across his body while his eyes turned into featureless white orbs. Kinda unsettling but also intriguing. I'll have to ask him more when we are not so pressed for time.

While he prepared himself, I noticed for the first time the tiny, glowing red fox watching us both with rapt attention. Evidently when Aiko had swapped, I had been left alone with her other fox and was now capable of seeing it. I reached out...well mostly, by instinct and assumption after encountering Jiba to give him a pet and almost lost a finger as he bit at me. Realizing my folly I quickly apologized and introduced myself which seemed to satisfy him somewhat. He introduced himself as Ikiryu, though said I may call him Iki. Also he said I could pat him once as he was also in the wrong when he overreacted in trying to bite me. 
Ikiryu, Adorable (but Prickly) Spirit Fox

It was wonderful! He made this adorable little purring sound! Eventually he noticed though and told me to stop with a little huff. It was just as well as I realized Genbo was staring at me...and couldn't see Iki. He thought I was going insane and talking to myself! Oops!

We deigned to move on at that point in a rather awkward silence for a time. We returned to the spiral staircase and found we were able to climb up to the higher point of the ship now (previously powerful magic, gusts of wind blew us down whenever we tried ascend further) where Genbo told me the Captain's quarters, the ship's wizard, and the deck of the ship were. 

A hallway lead to the deck while the door to the right lead to the Captain's chamber. We decided together to handle the ship's wizard, a half-oni man known as Abumi. Genbo warned me even amongst the rest of the crew he was only really held in check by the captain and had highly questionable morales and methods. We would have to be careful. Meanwhile Aiko and Keisuke went after the Captain of the ship who Genbo now was able to confirm was indeed Tennen, another powerful half-oni.

Abumi was a fairly tall creature with bright red hair and horns, dressed in brilliant red robes. We tried catching him off guard, but he had expected an attack it seems and set up an illusion to waste my first draw and swing of Ashura. The battle was fierce, him continually using annoying illusions to stop our attacks and dropping powerful bursts of intense flame.

When we stepped out of the wizard's chamber we were victorious but charred black from head to toe, just like everything else that was left in the room. Genbo drank some potions to heal his injuries but unfortunately did not have enough for me. We updated each other through the foxes and found that Keisuke had more or less crushed the Captain in two mighty blows, though taken a few painful injuries in the process. Aiko had already handled his wounds and we swapped once more so she could treat me. 

Everyone is currently taking a small break to ready themselves before we step out onto the deck and confront Kiyonshi who is piloting the ship. I really hope Genbo's amulet works...the constant battles have taken a toll on most of us by now. 

Well here we go one more time. We have to put a stop to this tragic vessel and bring rest to all those trapped here!

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