The Clockwork Citadel arrived on the outskirts of Sakhmehet Village. Almost immediately upon arriving, Bao Bao received an urgent message delivered by a young panda Hengeyokai runner dressed in traditional shrine garments. The message from Elder Ming-Hua explained that the settlement was under attack by oni forces led by a warlord named Kurohana, with the Mupalanese Imperial Guard struggling to maintain a defensive line around the settlement's outer terraces.
As the party traveled toward the mountain settlement, they witnessed the devastation spreading across the normally peaceful land – burning peach trees, damaged ceremony platforms, and wounded defenders. Upon reaching the settlement, they were quickly guided through hidden paths in the cliff face to avoid the main battle. These secret passages showcased the remarkable architecture of Táofēng, with buildings seemingly growing from the mountain itself.
An infiltration team struck the morning after the party met with Elder Ming-Hua. Led by a Kijin psion named Senmaro, the attackers revealed themselves as a diverse group of corrupted Mupalanese warriors. The team consisted of Senmaro himself, whose human features occasionally shifted to reveal his oni heritage; twin Kitsune kunoichi named Tsukiko and Hikari; Goro, a towering Haniwa monk whose clay body had been twisted by oni influence; and Misaki, a Tengu spirit binder whose crow-like features were evident.
In the second round of combat, Senmaro unfurled a magical scroll and unleashed its power upon Elder Ming-Hua, instantly transmuting the elderly panda's body into solid wood. Taking advantage of the chaos, Senmaro revealed an amulet bearing a draconic symbol and vanished, bypassing the shrine's protective wards to essentially teleport directly into the inner sanctum.
A fierce battle ensued with the remaining infiltrators. The Kitsune twins moved with blinding speed, specializing in devastating flanking maneuvers. Goro's clay body shrugged off attacks that would have felled a flesh-and-blood opponent, while Misaki unleashed a paper samurai. Despite the challenge, the Feinting GOATs coordinated their efforts effectively, gradually gaining the upper hand.
With the immediate threat neutralized, the party hurried to pursue Senmaro into the inner shrine. The path forward was blocked by ancient trials designed to test those who sought access to the inner sanctum. The first chamber contained four pairs of candelabras balanced on scales, with three already in perfect balance. Each candelabra held candles burning with different colored flames – red, yellow, green, and blue. The unbalanced set required careful adjustment to match the pattern of the others – the party needed to ensure the correct colored flames appeared on the right side of the balance. After careful observation of the balanced scales, they successfully arranged the flames in the proper order, bringing the final scale into harmony.
The second chamber presented a simpler challenge – walls marked with handprints of various sizes and shapes. The solution revealed itself when the party realized they needed to simultaneously place their hands into each impression, symbolizing unity and cooperation. As all hands touched the wall together, the chamber resonated with melodic tones and the pathway forward was revealed.
The final chamber housed a complex, three-part puzzle. Six panda statues stood against the walls, each with a differently colored gemstone (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) embedded in its chest. Two stone tables each held an orb glowing with white light, and seven coins lay scattered on the floor, each inscribed with a concept in Mupalanese: Compassion, Courage, Wisdom, Harmony, Creation, Growth, and Balance. Inscriptions at the bases of the statues and orbs provided cryptic clues. The party determined that each coin needed to be matched with its corresponding statue or orb, with the "Balance" coin belonging to the orbs.
As each correct pairing was made, the statues animated and offered their gems to the party. Through experimentation, they discovered that placing different combinations of gems in the orbs' receptacles caused the walls – painted with a jungle scene in reflective, silvery paint – to glow with different colors. It was Lenti who realized that the walls should reflect the natural color of the jungle – green. By placing blue and yellow gems in the receptacles, the walls illuminated with a verdant glow, and the remaining panda statues beckoned for their gems to be returned. When all was restored to its proper place, the final door swung open.
The inner sanctum revealed Senmaro in the midst of a dark ritual, attempting to corrupt a sacred scroll. As the party interrupted his work, Senmaro's Kijin heritage fully manifested – his skin took on a reddish hue, he grew to Large size, and larger horns emerged from his forehead. The battle that followed tested the party's resolve as Senmaro unleashed psychic assaults and was able to teleport short distances as part of his movement
Despite the challenge, the Feinting GOATs prevailed through carefully coordinated tactics. As Senmaro fell, the partially corrupted scroll was saved from complete destruction. Upon examination, they realized that this was indeed an angelic counterpart to the diabolic manuscript; bearing just seven pristine celestial sigils rather than the dozens of corrupted infernal ones of its twin.
With the immediate danger passed, the party turned their attention to Elder Ming-Hua, whose acolytes had already returned him back to his fleshy form. He tasked Bao Bao with bringing the scroll to the Citadel, now no longer confident that the shrine could protect it. As the Mupalanese forces drove back the remaining oni attackers, the party found themselves with both answers and new questions. Who was coordinating these attacks on both the diabolic and angelic manuscripts? And what role would the Feinting GOATs play in the unfolding cosmic struggle between creation and destruction?