Fire in the Sky

The party prepares to help a tribe of the Republic makes its stand against its violent neighbors.

## Summary

Upon reaching the Arkhiran keep and sneaking inside, the party discovers the spy named by Zhou Chun and several lizardfolk being reprimanded by Rulok for having lost the captured warriors. The party attacks and Rulok flees. As their leader runs from battle, the most elite lizardfolk present, Tulaan, calls for a truce as he desires to overthrow Rulok. The party collaborates with the lizardfolk insurgents to pursue the chief. Tulaan explains that Rulok came to power because he swore fealty to a powerful human warlock who visited the island. A powerful spirit of thunder and lightning, a Raiju, once protected the island but the warlock tore out its heart and gave it to Rulok to rule with. Because of this wounding, great storms assail Kong Island and prevent travel to or from it.

Tulaan takes the party to where Gon Shen and her child, Kii Sun, the heir to the chiefdom of the tribe, are being held prisoner.

The collective defeats Rulok and reclaims the heart of the Raiju. Chun vies for it to be used by the Mu-Wonsungi to reassert control of the island while Tulaan desires for it to remain with the lizardfolk. Hideki's familiar, Ember, tries to persuade him to keep it for himself as it is a powerful item of great destruction. However, at Gon Shen's advisement, the party eventually decides to restore it to the Raiju in order to revive natural balance on the island.

They find the Raiju in a state of incorporeal mist. The entity recognizes that Hideki has sworn to the same warlock pact as the man who tore out its heart, confirming that the assailant was Hideki's father, Satoshi. Undoing his father's crime, Hideki gives the heart back to the Raiju. Healed, the entity is restored to its natural form and rises to the sky to calm the storms.

Back at the Mu-Wonsungi Tribe, a treaty is established between the village and the Arkhiran Clan. In celebration of the newly founded peace, the two peoples celebrate together and the party is awarded with gifts for their invaluable assistance.

## Characters

### PCs

Aero Jin-Sae

Dust

Kirina Kizoku

Malai

Shimazaki Hideki

Temür Bolad

### NPCs

Dasya Modi

Gon Shen

Kii Ran

Lee Rin

Rulok

Tulaan

Unnamed Raiju

Zhou Chun

## Memories

Aero critically succeeded in wooing Zhou Chun with the line, "The early bird gets the worm."

According to the laws of the Arkhiran Clan, the one who defeats the leader becomes the leader. Hideki was the one who dealt the defeating blow to Rulok and was technically the leader of the lizardfolk until he passed the leadership onto Tulaan.

## Continuity

Kong Island is one of the locations colonized by the Eladrani Empire by the third season, the Mu-Wonsungi having been forcefully relocated and the Arkhiran Clan arrested into slave labor.

## Soundtrack

(Unfortunately, most of the notes regarding the soundtrack have been lost.)

Ending Celebration - "Victory Celebration" from Star Wars: Episode VI.

## DM's Commentary

The inspiration for this episode was the Donkey Kong franchise, represented by the apes versus the reptiles. The names of various characters are plays on popular Donkey Kong characters, with Rulok being inspired by K. Rool down to the red cape, Kii Ran being Cranky Kong, Lee Rin being Wrinkly Kong, and the killed chief having been inspired by Donkey Kong himself. Kii Sun's name is inspired by the Chinese legend, Sun Wukong.

The Raiju was my favorite part of this game, both in terms of the aesthetic as well as the plot point surrounding it relating to my shamanic studies.