Lo pi stands at the dark doorway beyond the collapsed shrine, the bronze curse-seal and black cord in hand. Light blood marks his palm as fresh boot prints descend into blackness.
A faint scrape travels up the passage, followed by silence. The chamber behind him remains empty, and no companion has joined him from Sheotite.
Lo pi
The prints descend, and the scrape came from ahead.
The doorway narrows into a sloping corridor. Its walls bear pale smears at shoulder height, while loose grit gathers along one side as though something heavy was dragged below.
Far beneath the scrape, a muted impact answers from the darkness. The sound is too distant to identify, but the boot prints continue toward it without turning.
Behind Lo pi, the shrine’s cracked oni mask settles back into place. The bronze seal stays cold in his grasp, its curse symbol catching the last reflected lanternlight.
“I go to the large oni mask and bow”
Lo pi turns from the dark doorway and returns to the collapsed shrine. The large cracked oni mask rests within its stone frame, its carved horns dim beneath dust.
He places the bronze curse-seal and black cord carefully beside the altar, keeping them visible and undisturbed before the mask.
Lo pi
The mask faces the shrine, and the old offerings remain beneath it.
Lo pi stands before the mask and bows deeply, his black horns lowering toward the cracked stone horns. His blood-marked palm remains open at his side.
The shrine gives no warning or demand. Dust settles along the fallen stones, and the bronze seal stays cold beside the altar.
Lo pi rises from the bow. Beyond the shrine, the sloping corridor still descends into darkness, with the boot prints and distant impact awaiting examination.
“I follow the prints quitely”
SUCCESS (Fair Stealth, rolled +0)
Lo pi follows the boot prints down the sloping corridor, placing each black-clad foot beside the older impressions and keeping his breathing quiet.
The pale wall smears continue below shoulder height. Loose grit shifts beneath one boot, and a small stone clicks down the passage before he can stop it.
Lo pi
The prints remain fresh, and the dragged weight was taken this way.
The corridor bends around a pillar of dark stone. Lo pi reaches its far side unseen, but the scrape ahead ceases at once, as if whoever made it heard him.
Beyond the bend, the boot prints end at a low chamber with a barred stone doorway. A torn red silk strip hangs from one bar, matching the village evidence.
A thin line of blood marks Lo pi’s palm where the shrine’s cut reopened, leaving three drops on the grit. The chamber beyond the bars remains silent, but the evidence is now directly before him.
✓ Quest Accepted
Reach the chamber beyond the barred doorway
“I taste a small amount of my own blood to satisfy my vampiric ache for blood and continue for”
Lo pi lifts his blood-marked palm and tastes the small amount gathered there. The familiar iron flavor answers his vampiric ache without clouding his senses.
He lowers his hand and studies the barred stone doorway. The torn red silk hangs from the bar, its weave and dust consistent with the village evidence.
Lo pi
The blood steadies the ache, and the silk confirms this passage.
Lo pi leans toward the bars without touching them, examining the darkness beyond. A narrow floor continues past the threshold, marked by faint drag lines and scattered grit.
The stone bars are set into a frame carved with the same outward-reaching symbol as the bronze seal. No lock or mechanism is visible from this side.
He secures the bronze seal and black cord, then advances along the chamber’s edge, keeping the barred doorway and the fresh evidence within his sight.
Beyond the bars, a faint draft carries the cold scent of deeper stone. The boot trail resumes on the far side and descends toward the unseen chamber below.