Naga Tomb

Summary

The reward for a job well done is…
The party has been relaxing in town for a few days while the leaders decide what to do Busho (captain) Takahira summons Mai and instructs her to take her group into the mountains and investigate the villagers claims of monsters preying on them. It may or may not be related to the Bloodspeakers attack on the border fortress. Mai informs the party of their orders and prepares supplies. Konni takes Chun Gao aside and asks her to fly home and warn them the humans are coming. He thinks they should evacuate the villages rather than take a chance on being discovered to be hengeyokai. Konni packs her equipment to bring with them. The next morning Mai questions Konni about Gao's disappearance and Konni tries to mislead Mai, but she knows he is hiding something. The party travels to the mountains and is met by Gao near the villages. She leads them to the hengeyokai village and the elders welcome the party and explain to them what has happened. Mai decides to go monster hunting the next day.

Mountain Monsters
Jeffakou is on point as they head to the area where monsters have been seen and villagers have disappeared. He falls into a giant web pit trap and the party is attacked by Kumo. The kumo are slain and Jeffakou harvests some venom while Riku plucks hairs. Travelling higher into the mountains, they find a camp of human and goblin tents outside a set of stone doors leading into an underground complex. The entrance is surrounded by old stone pillars carved with snake designs. They attack and kill the bakemono and goblin warlords and investigate the camps. The human tents seem to belong to a group of warriors and wu-jen, the wu-jen appear to be blood mages… More goblins attack from the tunnel, then three bushi and a blood mage attack the party from behind, ambushing them from their Invisibility spells. Riku is critically wounded and Nagai is busy healing him and the rest. With the spellcasters exhausted and most of the party still recovering from wounds, they back off and rest for six hours, then enter the tunnels.

Save the Dead
The tunnels are gently twisting, with no straight sections. The floors are tiled in ridged stones meant to give traction. They find signs of traps and the dead goblins that were used as expendable trap finders. Coming to a large chamber, the walls are covered with murals of the Naga, a half-human, half-snake race that used to rule these lands. A stack of naga bones, skulls and treasures are stacked to one side. They realize this is a tomb of the nagas and the Bloodspeakers are plundering the tomb. A last wave of goblins attack the party and the blood mage leader strikes Mai down with a Red Knife spell. Nagai saves her life while the party slays the last goblins and the blood mage. Searching the blood mage, they find a map with several locations marked, the tomb appears to be just one item on the map. After the battle, a Naga ghost appears and thanks them. He will give them rewards if they will return the nagas' remains to their tombs. The party does as the spirit asks and take their rewards. They close the tomb doors behind them and head back to Jinchon to report what has happened.

Quotes and Smart Remarks
The party is in town between adventures, drinking and gambling
Kevin "As long as it's honorable drinking and gambling"

Matt "I need oil"
Jim "Mineral, motor, flaming or personal?"
Lee "You want flammable, not flaming"
Matt "It can be gay; we don't judge"
Lee "That's flamboyant oil"

Lee "So it turns out there were no monsters"
Jim "It was just old man Jenkins from the next village"
Matt "We insist you commit seppuku"
Kevin "That would really improve the endings of Scooby Doo episodes"

Jim "There are Nagas"
Lee "Can we skin them for naugahyde?"