Our training with the Lao'Jin masters had led Velea and I to Master Kaol on the outskirts of Tanvu, where he awaited evacuees from the Ghost Wind Academy in order to quietly integrate them into city life. When we approached him he cautioned us to be careful in the city where the Emperor had taken up residence and his troops abounded, and Ra'Jin warriors looked to eradicate practitioners of Lao'Jin. He left us with some cryptic advice, "In order to complete your training, you will need to seek out the true masters. Take some time and explore the city, carefully. When you are ready for your final tests, head out of the city to the abandoned hotel in the south. You will know what to look for. Good luck, and be careful."
[More:]
Being familiar with the city, I led Velea to the work shed near the northeast gate of the city where we talked to Sho Pan Rosewood, the harvesting supply vendor. We both got an ax from him, and an order for a couple logs, which we went nearby to cut down. After supplying his needs, he was willing to talk to us about harvesting needs for various crafts, and we both signed up for lessons in the proper techniques for skinning animals and reptiles, and in reaping useful materials from plants, as those would gather the items that Velea would need as an outfitter.
The next stop was by the western gate to Tanvu, in the crafter's district. I left Velea there with Mias Dragonsky to learn what she'd need to do to become an outfitter, and headed in through the gate. Usually I'd have headed west up the steps, but that would lead me right past the barracks, and I wasn't interested in being recognized as an officer presumed dead in the attack on Sheng village and its monastery. So instead, I turned to the right and headed through the mercantile district, taking the long way around to the northeast corner of Tanvu center. There I entered the dojo and quietly sought out my friend and mentor, Kiro Tai.
I caught his eye as he was teaching another student, and he waved me to a seat. When he was done with his points, he joined me and we set a time that evening to meet at a tea house outside the southern gate. As it was late morning at this point, I bought a box of won-tons from a vendor and headed out the northeast gate for my meal and then some hunting and reaping.
As the sun was painting the sky red, I skirted around the city proper and passed through the crafter's district on my way to the tea house. I found Velea at one one of the finishing machines, doing apprentice work for the masters, and convinced her to come along for dinner. We were seated at a table in the corner of the room, and had just a short wait with our table mates before Shifu Kiro showed up to join us and the tea ceremony began. Quietly, during the meal, Master Kiro told me that I was indeed listed as dead, and that I should be careful of drawing attention to myself within the city, but that I should be fine if I kept a low profile and perhaps avoided wearing the same styles I had been accustomed to wearing, for no one was looking for me.
Velea indicated that she had some more lessons before she could begin to work independently as a leather worker, so we decided to rent a room for a week in the cheap dock area. She'd spend her time learning to be an outfitter, and I could spend the time in the fields northeast of town finding jute and cotton and hunting boars and tigers for their hides. Each evening I'd give Velea the materials she'd need as she progressed to being able to make armor for the two of us, and I'd sell the leftovers at the exchange broker.
When Velea reached a point that she was ready to travel again, we set out through the southern gate looking for the abandoned hotel mentioned by Master Kaol. We found it on the hill overlooking the Ra'Jin compound. Inside the ransacked building we discovered the spirit of Lao'Jin Grand Master Shaof on the second floor beside a glowing blue pillar of manifested Jin. The spirit turned toward us as we warily approached and peered at us, or through us, then nodded.
"To the west, you can find a Ra'Jin stronghold. Though I do not side with the Emperor, I agree that the Ra'Jin must be suppressed. They have been training new warriors, the Senshi. I need you to slay six Ra'Jin Senshi, and then report back to me."
"Also, I have heard reports from people who have ventured into the stronghold to the west that there was a woman there crying for help. They could not find her, and the Ra'Jin forced them out of the town. Go into the Ra'Jin stronghold and find this woman."
So Velea and I went past the Imperial guards surrounding the Ra'Jin fortress and fought our way through the maze-like streets and alleys of the compound. The Senshi were easy to find... they found us more often than not, but Velea and I withstood their attacks and defeated them one and all. We wandered all through the compound, avoiding going in the palace at the center of the compound because we were searching for the crying woman as requested by the spirit Shifu. Finally, we heard the sound of crying and followed it back to a small square at the back of the compound. There, next to a hay wagon, was a crying woman. As Velea and I approached, she threw off her beglamourment and stood revealed as a Ra'Jin warrior in battle armor; she taunted us for being weak by caring for others when its the self that matters most and for falling for her trick, even as she attacked us.
It was a difficult battle, the hardest that Velea and I yet faced together, but in the end we proved victorious, and fought our way back to the Lao'Jin Grand Master.
"Treachery!" he exclaimed when we described our foray to him, "Such a trick is often used by the Ra'Jin, though they need not use such as they are worthy opponents, the Jin they serve often prompts them to acts of treachery, trickery, and hubris."
"There are rumors that there is a secret entrance to a hidden room in the palace at the center of the Ra'Jin stronghold. It has been rumored that this entrance can be reached from the rooftops in the city itself. Rumor also speaks of Ra'Jin Tokudan that sneak around on the rooftops. Slay four of them before returning."
"Further, I have one more task for you. We are not yet sure who is in control of our former stronghold, but we know who is training the Uiza-do. Master Kahn, a former pupil of mine, is adept in the powers of Jin and will be quite a worthy foe. I ask that you assemble a group of companions and travel into the heart of the Ra'Jin stronghold. Slay Master Uiza-do Kahn and four of his elite guards, the Ra'Jin Uiza-do, for me."
We found some companions and explored the rooftops, but we could not find the secret room he referred to. He said it was in the main building, but we did not find a way to reach it. We did go up the front steps of the Ra'Jin palace, and though the building fighting our way past the Ra'Jin guards to the very top room where we met and defeated Master Uiza-do Kahn. Xiang, the necromancer in our group ported us back out to the shrine near the south gate of Tanvu so that we'd not need to fight our way back out again, and then we all headed back to talk to Shifu Shaof.
"Very good then," he told our group. "Did you find anything else on the rooftops?"
We admitted that we hadn't, and he told us that he's heard rumors of a secret room in the main building, and that we should still seek it out. When we presented Master Uiza-do's head to him, he had praise for us.
"You have served the Lao'Jin well. Many perilous trials lie in your path, but I sense great things in each of you. As a token of my gratitude for your herioc efforts, I want you to have these." He floated to a chest buried under a pile of bamboo poles, and they shifted under his regard. The chest opened, and inside were masks of Lao'Jin Gratitude, which increase the wearer's vitality.
"Perhaps someday, we will see each other again. Until then, may Jin be with you." Taking that as a dismissal, the others turned to go, but something kept Velea and I at his side. Turning to us, he gestured for us to take the resting posture as he continued. "Your path to understanding Jin is almost complete. Only two tests remain. In the hills to our east lie two Jin masters, waiting to give you your final tests. What you have been through up to this point will seem trivial. These masters will test every fiber of your being – pushing your strength, intelligence, wit, and resolve to their breaking points."
"Master Garu will test your faith."
"Master Ashaine will show you the true nature of Jin."
"Return to me when both tests are complete."
