The party joined cursed site Ke-Waihu, one of three villages surrounding the Ke-Sanwon volcano, alongside the beastlyKe-Waiar and the steadfastKe-Waicai. All three locations worship the undead Beastmaster as their patron. The group was taken in under the dubious protection of the 'ruling' Hok-Shinn mob clan and invited or tricked to atone for the inherited sins of village elders.
The party was dragged into yearly 'foxed weddings' that repent for the village's former murder of a fox spirit, and into investigating the resurging droughts of Ke-Waiar, crowned by the apparition of a serpentine woman and other snakes. Various explorations revealed that the 'dark waters' found at the bottom of drying wells also generates mutations among forest animals and vegetation, while Ke-Sanwon's labyrinthine innards are brimming with monstrous creatures covered in tar. With the volcano hinting iminent eruption, the Beastmaster announced his return to Ke-Waihu — and his former ally, the Huntress begged the party for shelter.
APRIL: Party member Wen Qing was captured and rescued from the mutated human-snake creatures of the witches' Fetters. The Huntress offered the group two options to avoid the Beastmaster's thrall, while the lord of creatures joined Ke-Waihu to receive 10 human tributes each from the village and from the nearby Ke-Waiar.
The party freed the tributes. Visitors discovered villagers cursed with lycanthropy roam Ke-Waiar freely. Sanwon showed signs of imminent eruption, with local drought intensifying and with healing dark water visible in the wake of earthquakes. In Ke-Waihu, superstitious villagers restarted abductions to appease Sanwon. Amid rising fears, a representative of cultist highly devout village Ke-Waicai journeyed to proselytise a return to the old ways of offering human sacrifice to settle the volcano and ease the drought. The House of Ravens has begun to open.
Wrath and Emilia discovered that Ke-Sanwon's impending 'eruption' is the result of growing magical power and of agonised spirits that have been accruing within the volcano. This force has cracked and threatened to burst through a containing shield of dark water.
Daenerys, Wrathion and Viktor learned the Huntress was once Anui, a former Ke-Waicai zealot who willingly offered her son into the House of Ravens as tribute to 'appease the mountain.' Her husband Hyang-Won, later the Beastmaster, set out to recover the boy, leaving through the forest with the 'White Wanderer' who previously supplied Ke-Waihu's drought cure. The child was not found. The Beastmaster returned inhuman. Both he and the Huntress now await the opening of the House in hopes of finding traces of their son — whom Daenerys later found evidence could still be alive.
The group infiltrated the House of Ravens, occupying the sacred site in the middle of a skirmish between the Beastmaster and the Ke-Waicai zealots. Several party members cooled down the volcano or exorcised its spiritual energy, depleting the its magic sufficiently to avoid an eruption. Some group members sacrificed themselves to Ke-Waihu by absorbing some of its curious magic. Others worked tirelessly with villagers to revive local agriculture. Diego Hargreeves slayed the Beastmaster. The beacon of the House of Ravens briefly opened, allowing a few characters to depart — before failing.
Party member Sumeragi Subaru brought fresh word of a ticket onwards east to the next beacon — aboard the vessel Pariah, manned by the crew of pirate king Quicksilver Sam.
ARC III: HOUSE OF RAVENS
The party joined cursed site Ke-Waihu, one of three villages surrounding the Ke-Sanwon volcano, alongside the beastly Ke-Waiar and the steadfast Ke-Waicai. All three locations worship the undead Beastmaster as their patron. The group was taken in under the dubious protection of the 'ruling' Hok-Shinn
mobclan and invited or tricked to atone for the inherited sins of village elders.The party was dragged into yearly 'foxed weddings' that repent for the village's former murder of a fox spirit, and into investigating the resurging droughts of Ke-Waiar, crowned by the apparition of a serpentine woman and other snakes. Various explorations revealed that the 'dark waters' found at the bottom of drying wells also generates mutations among forest animals and vegetation, while Ke-Sanwon's labyrinthine innards are brimming with monstrous creatures covered in tar. With the volcano hinting iminent eruption, the Beastmaster announced his return to Ke-Waihu — and his former ally, the Huntress begged the party for shelter.
APRIL: Party member Wen Qing was captured and rescued from the mutated human-snake creatures of the witches' Fetters. The Huntress offered the group two options to avoid the Beastmaster's thrall, while the lord of creatures joined Ke-Waihu to receive 10 human tributes each from the village and from the nearby Ke-Waiar.
The party freed the tributes. Visitors discovered villagers cursed with lycanthropy roam Ke-Waiar freely. Sanwon showed signs of imminent eruption, with local drought intensifying and with healing dark water visible in the wake of earthquakes. In Ke-Waihu, superstitious villagers restarted abductions to appease Sanwon. Amid rising fears, a representative of
cultisthighly devout village Ke-Waicai journeyed to proselytise a return to the old ways of offering human sacrifice to settle the volcano and ease the drought. The House of Ravens has begun to open.Wrath and Emilia discovered that Ke-Sanwon's impending 'eruption' is the result of growing magical power and of agonised spirits that have been accruing within the volcano. This force has cracked and threatened to burst through a containing shield of dark water.
Daenerys, Wrathion and Viktor learned the Huntress was once Anui, a former Ke-Waicai zealot who willingly offered her son into the House of Ravens as tribute to 'appease the mountain.' Her husband Hyang-Won, later the Beastmaster, set out to recover the boy, leaving through the forest with the 'White Wanderer' who previously supplied Ke-Waihu's drought cure. The child was not found. The Beastmaster returned inhuman. Both he and the Huntress now await the opening of the House in hopes of finding traces of their son — whom Daenerys later found evidence could still be alive.
The group infiltrated the House of Ravens, occupying the sacred site in the middle of a skirmish between the Beastmaster and the Ke-Waicai zealots. Several party members cooled down the volcano or exorcised its spiritual energy, depleting the its magic sufficiently to avoid an eruption. Some group members sacrificed themselves to Ke-Waihu by absorbing some of its curious magic. Others worked tirelessly with villagers to revive local agriculture. Diego Hargreeves slayed the Beastmaster. The beacon of the House of Ravens briefly opened, allowing a few characters to depart — before failing.
Party member Sumeragi Subaru brought fresh word of a ticket onwards east to the next beacon — aboard the vessel Pariah, manned by the crew of pirate king Quicksilver Sam.