Party kills Shinjo.
Red Mantis recruits Alchemical Golem and a Watchers’ Tribe kobold.
Beth takes Shinjo's Core.
A small shrine to Achaekek has been made in Nested Point .
Quest Start
Loose threads: Can Shinjo's augmentation ritual be modified? Will anything come of the giant dormant corpse Golem? What does the Red Mantis client want with the alchemical golem?
Participants: Oskar Dragonlance, Amber Cassidy Claie, Bethany Claie, Verdant Amberforge
Location(s): First Landing, Nested Point
Full report
The party assembled in a seedy tavern, making fun of a bad contract and learning about a request from a Red Mantis member to assassinate Shinjo (see Child's Play? Gremlins? Pinocchio?), who was more infamous and crafty than expected. After preparing for a purported alchemical Golem, they set out to the mountain he was spotted fleeing to, Nested Point, and Oskar's onyx dog Luna helped track down a cave guarded by the Golem. Though ambushed by Rose and rushed down by Amber and Oskar, it rebuffed their attacks, causing Amber to accidentally convince it to stand down out of frustration. Verdant and Beth learned of a bomb in its chest built by Shinjo, extracted it, and allowed the Golem to leave.
Further into the cave, they encountered a Unknown hiding from Mudwretches who had chased her scouting group, learning that Shinjo had entered an alliance with them. They sent her off only to find her chased back by the mudmen in question, with whom Beth negotiated to pass in exchange for their water. Finally they reached Shinjo, only to find him in an impassable barrier generated by fulus and attempting to overcome his limits through a ki ritual. After some banter, Beth disrupted the fulu-barrier with her magic and set up the helpless Shinjo to be killed by Rose, while the others fought back his small army of corpse Golems. Afterwards, they dealt with the bomb, burned his body outside and recalled, leaving their client to discover the half-broken alchemical Golem. Luna was left with Rose and (mostly) Amber as a wedding present.