A View of Uragami

The following morning we check on Tharbin. His condition is improving although he is still out of it to a large degree.

Wakiya decides to explore the village while Shadow decides to head out down the track towards the sea. Nameraka, Spooky and Ricky, seeing a small fortification in the distance and on the hillside above the village decide to explore in that direction.

Tremen decides to remain at the hostel and gossip with the hostelkeeper. He reveals that the Gaijin are Portuguese and Tremen gets the impression that he (while being entirely proper and polite) doesn't like them. The hostelkeeper did mention the name of the prefecture which does exist in our original time and is not far from the location of what will be Kobe. The exit of the temple does seem to be in the exact same spot as the Warehouse (where we entered the temple).

Wakiya and Spooky wander down to the market. This is mainly occupied by the stalls of fisherman selling their catch of the day. However across a bridge there are rice farms and after buying a succulent looking fish they also buy some rice and seaweed. The only other stall is a small clothier's stall selling similar clothing to that we're already wearing. The overall mood of the villagers is that life is hard - but not uncomfortable - they are not starving for example. Again they are entirely proper and polite; but again the impression is gained that the Gaijin are annoying

Shadow heads down the track and, after ½ to ¾ of an hour he arrives at a bay. The only thing in the bay is the ship of the Gaijin. This is a two-masted vessel with sails furled and with a brown wooden hull¹. Shadow returns via a slightly circuitous route (to disguise the fact that he wanted to get eyes on that vessel). On that return he doesn't see anything unusual².

Ricky, Spooky and Nameraka head down the road and explore towards the fortification they can see on the hillside. They do get close enough after a mile or so to see some details before the trees surrounding the road encroach close enough to block the view. It's a small fortification with its site allowing it to overlook both the village of Uragami and the road leading away from the village. They can see that the fortification is occupied by at least a couple of people since they can spy those two in one of the corner watchtowers.

As it's getting late after all this exploration we regroup back at the hostel. Luckily there is a food preparation area out the back and we actually manage to have a half decent meal of sushi (Wakiya's preparation of the fish is excellent, the rice is boiled nicely by Spooky and the veg is, at least, somewhat cooked.

We all go to bed about an hour after sunset (the only light once the twilight is spent comes from a candle or two. However half way through the night the rest of us (apart from Ricky) are awoken by a loud male scream. In the male dormitory someone is thrashing around - Shadow is the first to react and finds that Ricky is the one causing the disturbance. Shadow tries to stop Ricky's convulsions and get a punch to the face as a reward. This does however wake up Ricky who denies having a nightmare or even a dream. Nameraka lights a candle so we can dimly see what is going on. Ricky is visibly shaking and sweating profusely despite his denials. His blanket is soaked with sweat and has a couple of big rips in it as if rent by some creature. Tremen calms Ricky down and Ricky now recalls that he felt as if he was being persued and there was something with hot breath around his neck - he doesn't have a good night's sleep!

The next morning Wakiya wakes up as fresh as a daisy having heard nothing during the night (Spooky did, but being in the ladies' dormitory was only disturbed by the noise). We check on Tharbin who also didn't hear anything overnight and is now well on the way to recovery.

The overseer we met when we left the temple visits us at the hostel to put our services on hold for at least today given that he needs those who dug out the tunnels to double check the stability of their work. He apologises but it could be a couple of days before those checks and fixes are completed. After we inquire he will allow us to visit the site if necessary - but would be much happier if we don't.

Reviewing our situation after he leaves we recall that Newport City is³ is in the Kansai region on the north side of Osaka Bay while the temple/warehouse is on the other side of the bay. Wakiya recounts that the carved mural was exactly where the portal was. The central area of the mural where the portal isn't carved and is painted red while the surrounding area is both carved and painted in different colours. Looking at the countryside we discern that the time of year matches up both here and in the future when we entered the portal (about august/september time).

We do notice a man armed with katana visit the temple - he looks like he may have come from the fortification. His visit also makes us pay more attention to the temple itself. It is more of a small shrine and doesn't have any monks in attendance. The carved Torii in front of the temple has the wooden effigy of a fox on its crossbeam indicating that the fox is the local spirit. We also recall that the word Kitsune (狐) means fox and can also refer to the fox spirit. We also note that (despite the construction of the underground complex) there is no visible sign of Christian activity within the village.

We continue our thoughts and discussions throughout that day⁴.

The crystal shattering started from the interior and then slowly spread to the surface. Once there it appeared to get sucked back into the centre and then appeared to warp and twist outwards again.

As we progress (on the train) down the tunnel strange cracks appeared in the tunnel walls in which creatures can be seen appearing and disappearing (staying inside the purple energy field effect). At their appearance Tharbin feels truely nauseous and sick. He is able to attempt to treat himself using his medical supplies but this has no effect (could he have forgotten to pack the anti-nausea pills?)

The fierce beast appearing from the strange cracks in the wall

The creatures are not affected by the purple energy field and begin to follow us as the energy field continues expanding and following us down the tunnel. As we reach the lift we all pile into it and press the up button. Both the purple energy field and the creatures follow up the lift shaft with the creatures climing the walls of the shaft with ease. The lift reaches the top of the shaft and we move into the corridor that led to the top of the lift shaft with some jostling to determine the party order.

We reach the living area and proceed towards the entrance area. Shadow closes the door between the living area and the corridor that we just left. However energy field flows through the door and the creatures follow it through the closed door. This leads Shadow to abandon his attempt to rescue those in the dorm rooms.

We get back to the portal well ahead of the energy field but by the time we help Tharbin to enter the portal the energy field is catching up with us. This time the trip through the portal is different to our earlier experiences - normally the trip is characterised by a sense of the colour of the portal (in this case red) as the short transistion is made. However this time the transistion feels to have taken longer than before and there is a brief sensation of purple in the middle of the transistion¹.

The room we arrive in looks the same - but different. We are all each confused by the six people around us - we're all now wearing simple linen clothes and with simple tools (stone mason tools for the men and artist brushes and paints for the ladies). The room is now lit by candles and the walls of the crypt are now just stone work (i.e., there are not lined as before). The portal has been replaced by a bas relief of a basilica on the wall which has been painted to show red doors.

We are, at least, all mutually comprehensible. We return back through the corridor to the large room. This room too is now lit by candles. Shadow is the most conscious of us in that he's very aware of losing his weapons. Taking the lead Tremen moves towards the corridor leading westwards. It seems that the layout of the underground complex is the same as before - even if the decor is both newer and older (newer in that there is less sign of wear and tear but older in style). Some of the cells that previously contained sarcophagi are now empty (but some of those nearly the entrance to the surface are not). Tremen hears voices ahead - european in sound but not english. It's a pair of male voices - one of whom seems to be expounding on some topic or other while his companion sounds more disinterested. After waiting quitely at the dogleg in the corridor two figures can be seen further down one of the corridors. They are wearing metal breastplates and have rapiers at their hips. They continue their journey through the complex - luckily taking a route which means we can continue to leave the complex without having to pass them.

The view arriving at the jetty

The exit is now up a flight of stairs (rather than the ladder and trapdoor we originally used to enter the complex). At top of the stairs the sun is shining and it's quite warm. We're clearly somewhere still under construction. The immediate area is surrounded by a wall and leads to a small jetty onto a lake. On the opposite side of the lake is a small asian-style village. There are three boats tied up to the jetty. Two of them look in place, matching the style of the village across the lake while the third looks out of place. As we board the two boats that look in place, the two figures arrive behind us. One of them asks, in halting Japanese, Are you finished for the day?. Tremen replies, bowing low, Yes sir but doesn't elborate. The two gentlemen board the third boat and start to row to the stream that exits the lake. Looking in that direction we can see a ship and smell the scent of seawater.

We row across the lake (Shadow doing an excellent job in one of the boats, while Namerake is less so in the other boat). Looking back at the construction site we see that there is a christian cross painted on the archway over the jetty. When the boats get to the village side of the lake we disembark. As we do so we get glances of a mixture of curiosity, attention and disapproval² for a few seconds before the onlookers look away. That said our style of dress does fit in with the locals.

A man in a slightly smarter looking set of linen clothes bustles up to us and asks (in Japanese) if we're stopping for the day and if so why. Shadow explains that Tharbin suffered an accident in the complex. The man³ hands Shadow a small pouch that chinks with the sound some coinage and says that he will speak with the gaijin⁴ about the need to prop up the dangerous piece of construction. He also says that he assumes we'll be in the hostel down the road. We agree!

At the hostel we are housed in two dormitory rooms (one for the men and another for the ladies). These are communal with other guests at the hostel. This does mean it is tricky to get a chance for the seven of us to have a discussion about the situation but, by discussing over the wall dividing the communal garden, we do make some tentative conclusions:

• We're probably in Japan's past - presumably several hundred years⁵
• Assuming Kitsune is immortal ⁶ perhaps our best hope is to figure out how to get in contact with her in this time - that's going to take thought!

Also on Tremen's mind:

• Is claiming that there's a dangerous part of the complex going to cause trouble with the european gentleman or the foreman we met?

(Follows on immediately from the previous session).

Shadow is the first to enter the new room. His reports to the rest of the team over our team's comms is distorted with the distortion being the worst for the team members furthest away from Shadow. Tharbin keeps the two monks updated with the situation as Wakiya and the rest of the team follow Shadow cautiously down the short corridor to the room with the red portal.

Shadow reports that while the room feels off to him he otherwise is feeling fine and the team all moves into the room (Tharbin asking one of the monks to report back to Kitsune. We examine the room and the portal in morte detail. The room has glowing green pillars and, although its colour is different, the portal itself looks similar to the previous ones we've seen (which were blue and black in colour). The portal is showing the watery effect that (presumably) indicates that it is active and after a brief hesitation Tremen, Shadow and Nameraka step through it.

The room on the other side is half the size of the room we've just left and has a set of sturdy looking double doors on the far side from the portal. There is a plate on the wall next to the double doors (and to the left of the double doors). As for the portal it is green on this side and vague shapes can be seen through it¹. Shadow touches the plate and the doors slide apart automatically. The doors are quite thick, about four inches or so of metal, then a seal of some sort and then anothere four inches of metal. Through the doors can be seen a corridor lined with some kind of red stone while the floor remains metal (the room with the portal is also metal lined).

After asking Nameraka to hold position in the room with the green portal, Shadow and Tremen cautiously enter the corridor. While they do so, the rest of the team go through the portal to join Nameraka.

One interpretation of the domitory room

As Shadow and Tremen move to the end of the corridor and the next set of double doors. As the rest of the team follows Ricky remarks that the floor is wrong and too smooth. There is a panel next to the doors at the next of the corridor. Shadow presses it and it opens to reveal a new room. This is quite large and seems to be some kind of common dormitory area with a kitchen (including a microwave and a chest freezer), tables and chairs, exercise equipment and six showers on one wall. The wall to the right is metal with five single doors leading of it, each door has a panel which is split into two, one half red (which is lit) and one half green (which is unlit). The wall opposite has another set of double doors as does the wall to the left. However the double doors on the left have slits in them through which light is shining. As we look into the room, Tharbin takes a closer examination of the door control panel and notes that it doesn't look like any technology he's seen before (unlike the equipment in the room which looks unremarkable).

Nameraka moves into the room and towards the middle of the five doors while Tharbin moves towards the double doors with the slits. Ricky observes that the room looks lived in while the rest of us moves into the room and take up positions in the hope of being able to react if anything should happen.

Through the slits in the doors Tharbin can, against the glare of the bright lights beyond, make out that there is another room beyond. Wakiya and Tharbin move through into the that room. It is a large room (at least eight metres by eight metres) with a large picture window which is overlooking a red landscape with mountains in the distance - brightly lit by the sun and with the room clearly built into a hillside. Meanwhile Ricky reports that the food in the fridge and freezer is regular stuff - ready meals for the microwave as a general rule. The date codes indicate that the food is no more than a month old with some of it with codes from yesterday.

A view of a landscape which could be Mars (note the shadow of the non-existent window frames clearly showing this is an AI generated image!)

After we discuss the situation we also conclude that the gravity is lower here, but enhanced by the floor in some way. Our best guess is that we are now on Mars!²

Wakiya and Tharbin return from the room with the picture room and with that room explored we now allow Nameraka to experiment with the set of five doors (which he has been eager to do for some time. His experimentation suggests that the red panel is some kind of lock with the green button being open and close. Each of the five doors reveals a small chamber with beds for six people. In four of the rooms all six are occupied by sleeping people but in one of them only five of them are occupied with the one remaining bed being empty.

This just leaves the double doors opposite the doors we used to enter this room. That is opened to reveal a new corridor which we proceed down with Wakiya covering the rear. At the end of the corridor (and behind another double door which Shadow opens using the now familiar adjacent panel) is a smallish room with two industrial elevators in two of the corners of the room. Each elevator can carry six people. In addition there is machinery in the room suggestive of a mining operation.

After some discussion we enter one of the elevators which descends through red rock into a cavern. The cavern has a mining train track which has a four carriage train. The carriages at each end seem to be a locomotive with a set of back to back seats and a set of simplistic controls (basically one green button and one red button). Wanting to continue the exploration we get on and Nameraka hits the green button and the train moves off down one of the tunnels.

The best the artist could do even after several attempts. Note that the crystal should be smaller and symmetrical and the shaft and scaffolding are missing

We travel for about fifteen minutes (once out of the initial cavern it's very dark) until the train reaches another lit cavern. The new cavern has a shaft piercing it (so that there is a shaft in both the floor and the ceiling. There is a scaffold structure that surrounds a large green crystal that is in the shaft. There are steps and ladders on the scaffold that lead to the top of crystal. There is a small power generator powering the lights (but nothing else - in particular it doesn't connect to the crystal). A rough estimate is that the tunnel getting is probably a couple of man centuries of work.

Looking down the shaft shows it going down out of sight seemingly forever while the crystal itself is several metres in overall length. While its diameter at its middle is about one metre it tapers off so that at its top and bottom it is quite narrow.

Nameraka climbs the scaffold to the top of the crystal. There he sees a angled piece of metal, funnel shaped³, pointing to the crystal. As Nameraka reports on his findings, Tharbin, Tremen and Wakiya feel that his voice is distorted and, in some sense, louder. Additionally our sense of time seems to be off in some way.

The crystal then starts glowing and pulsing⁴ and we feel our heartbeats and breathing start to get into synchronisation with the pulsing. We decide to leave and as we start the train the crystal then goes dark. The train (without any of us touching it) briefly stops and then restarts. There is a bright pulse of purple energy and the sound of breaking glass and we seem to be being chased by purple lighting effects.