Descent Into War

Decent into War
Date	7/11/25
Storyteller	Slayzo
Tier	Expert
Player Characters	Swaying Petals, Anima, Peaches, Sanaa, Rinazomi
Rewards	250 xp, Chilled Fire Noodles (greater), Cloud Buns (greater), Preserved Moonflower, Dragon Pearl
Result	Mixed Success
Author	Swaying Petals (Cloyster)
Downtime	6

(associates regroup at The Wall in the Old Country and meet with some Oni)

Log

Log penned by Swaying Petals

Day 1

We’ve managed to form a caravan of the survivors from Ascended Steps and we are now marching towards the next village that is safe for them. The trip will take about 5 days. Our group from Onadbyr is now only myself, Peaches, and Sanaa.

People here are hurt and the mood in the crowd is verging on hopelessness, and I was having trouble not feeling bummed myself. Peaches spoke some comforting words to the crowd, but there is only so much you can say to people who have lost their home and their loved ones. Sanaa and I healed the injured people when we stopped to rest, which did help the group keep cohesion rather than having to leave anyone behind. We failed to defend the town, but I’m still alive so I’ll do what I can to help people here.

Day 5

We managed to travel safely! We were told the place we were heading to was called The Wall, an impressive stronghold in the canyon that was the last line of defense against the continual raids of the Oni. The place is riddled with cannons and guards and all kinds of ditches and barricades. You could tell this place had seen a lot of war, but all the people there were working hard to keep the place in one piece!

We entered the gate and the refugees continued to the safer lands beyond. There were several villages behind the wall that sent tons of supplies and material to this one spot. Tyell wasn’t lying when he said this is one of the last sturdy hold-outs in the Old Country. We talked with the soldiers at The Wall to explain where we were from, and they asked us for help for the upcoming Oni raid. They’ve been attacked by The Faithful Oni clan, who worship the three-headed raid god, and we tell them about The Flesh Eater clan.

Later, we cremated Seskro’s ashes at one of the villages and scattered her ashes to the wind, to travel on.

Day 6

Oh my gosh, lots of things happened today! I’ve been feeling a bit better because we have been keeping ourselves busy by helping things here at The Wall. I was focused on helping the injured here and I just did okay. Tyell’s arm had to be amputated, which was pretty grizzly and was a new procedure for me, but I’m glad he’s still alive. Sanaa applied some poison to the spike barricades to further slow down the Oni. Peaches tried to help move supplies, but gosh, I think she was just overwhelmed by it all and tripped while carrying stuff. She definitely takes a lot on her shoulders.

A while later, we heard some activity outside of the wall and all three of us were called to the front because apparently someone from Onadbyr was here. And you would not believe it, but it was Anima! She was here and didn’t seem any worse for wear! I gave her a hug that she did not appreciate. We asked her what happened and she said that she was taken by the Oni and brought before what she called a foul beast.

She described a giant horse that was black and had these piercing eyes that controlled her mind and compelled her to wage war. This horse sounded like it was really bad news, and we tried to figure out what it could be. My mind went to Azyrial, whose artifact the Man Slayer tried to obtain, but Azyrial is supposed to be red and have a big horn. I wondered aloud if it was that horse, named Grace of Flame, but Anima shook her head, and said its name was Conquest.

After Conquest had controlled her mind, she temporarily joined up with the Flesh Eaters Oni clan and she casually dropped that she was just with their scouting party! She said she managed to break free from Conquest’s control and that she could use Sanaa’s feather token to call them back here with a phony story of some blueprints of a superweapon, so that we could ambush the scouts and not allow them to return to the Oni camp with what they saw. Anima sent the bird to the scouts, while Sanaa sent her own bird to Hogo as well as a bird to deliver a status report to the council in Onadbyr.

We left the safety of the wall and climbed up on top of a ridge further down the canyon and hid in wait for the Oni scouting party to return. After a while, we see two figures approach: a large, blue Oni, which made me uncomfortable because he was similar to the ones that had flattened me a few days ago, and secondly a blue-skinned woman wearing red who looked to be a hungerseed barbarian, wielding a giant sword that looked more like a hunk of metal.

Anima greets them as they approach and in their conversation, we learn that the big blue one’s name is Akusei and the woman is Rinazomi. Anima unsheathes her blade and tells them it is a shame that they work for the Man Slayer. And to our surprise, Akusei just puts his hands on his hips and agrees, adding that it would be better if the Man Slayer were dead. With Anima’s open hostilities not being met likewise, an air of awkward confusion filled the air. I couldn’t take it so I jumped out of my hiding place and asked them what they meant. They said that they were forced into service by Conquest and Man Slayer, who was described as someone looking young not a millenia old, and they were biding their time until their revenge. Peaches, who was invisible, suggested we could have a shared interest then and this didn’t need to turn violent, but Anima was not pleased.

Anima attacked Akusei, commanding us to kill them alongside her. She said they were apocalypse worshippers and we could never work with them. She said they’ve eaten people, and when Akusei attempted that was true, I couldn’t help but freak out and I attacked Akusei with Divine Lance, which really stung him. Akusei and Rinazomi fought with Anima, and they continued to rebuff Peaches’ attempts for diplomacy as they now had two people attacking them. At that moment I calmed down and remembered Sarenrae’s edicts, to always allow repentant creatures a chance at redemption. So I felt like I needed to try to help amend the situation. I shouted at Akusei “Hey, I’ll heal you, IF you promise to never eat people again!” He agreed, with the condition that he can find enough food, which I wasn’t crazy about but it was good enough of a start.

I slid down the cliff and walked closer to Akusei to cast a Heal spell on him. But as I did so I unexpectedly caught a strike from Anima! She called me a traitor and Peaches firmly shouted at her to not hit me. Peaches said a curt Bon Mot to Anima, who couldn’t respond due to her rage. Sanaa, who had been waiting in the bushes with a heal bomb, threw a splash bomb in Anima’s face, who didn’t even react, and she stepped in between her and Rinazumi, telling Anima to stand down.

With that, there wasn’t a single person left on Anima’s side. She wordlessly sheathed her sword, and walked away, past Rinazomi and Akusei. As Anima walks away, Peaches and I walk with her to try to get her to talk. Peaches tried to argue that they were worth giving a shot to as allies and that Anima shouldn’t wander off because the roads outside the Wall weren’t safe and we should stick together. Anima believed The Wall was doomed and we needed to leave as soon as possible, and that she wasn’t going to stay with us when we would switch sides and run away when things got difficult. That stung a bit, and I was too nervous to really say anything as I followed. Peaches then stopped about a mile away from The Wall and said she was going to stay at the wall. As Anima refused another time, Peaches told Anima to look at who is running away now. Peaches then teleported away, and I bid Anima farewell, as I marched back to the Wall.

Sanaa had been healing up Rinazomi and Akusei’s wounds and after discussing what had happened with Anima, we decided that we will travel to Onadbyr and not stay for the Oni siege. In exchange, we’ll try to convince The Wall not to kill Akusei and talk with him to share all that he knows about the Oni raids with the defenders. Peaches is luckily able to convince The Wall to trust us, and we spend a few days sharing what we knew, getting to know Rinazomi, and waiting for Anima to come back in case she cooled off after a few days alone.

Day 9

Anima hasn’t come back so that left us with not much to do but to return back to Onadbyr. Honestly, I’m not sure any amount of walking would cool her off. She definitely has an iron will and it seems nothing can convince her. I hope our trip back with our new friends Rinazomi and Akusei goes well! I’m still unsettled by them knowing that they worked with the Flesh Eaters, but I hope living in Onadbyr shows them that they can live a better way!

Addendum

I talked with Peaches and she said that when she messaged Anima, that she confirmed that she was alright! I am glad that I don’t have to worry about yet another associate going missing in the Old Country, and I hope she is doing well wherever she is. I hope she doesn’t get caught up in those Oni wars that seem to claim so many lives, but I’m sure she has a good enough head on her shoulders to be okay, I hope.