Aozaki Aoko Case File [503] (Patreon)

Because her own son's life was at stake, Kra Mofeng moved with a speed that belied her age, immediately fetching some towels, handkerchiefs, and belts.

Hwafo Mofeng was firmly tied to the bed by his own mother, and a rolled handkerchief was stuffed into his mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue during the coming struggle.

"Step back a little," Aoko signaled to Kra Mofeng. "I’m going to start lifting the curse."

Once Kra Mofeng had retreated to a safe distance, Aoko took a step forward. She struck her staff against the ground, and immediately, a magic circle shining with silver light enveloped the bed where Hwafo Mofeng lay.

Aoko then gently tapped the tip of her staff on Hwafo Mofeng’s head. The unlucky young man immediately awoke and started struggling violently.

Heightened Spellcasting—Third Circle of the Abjuration School—Remove Curse!

As Aoko’s magic took effect, a black mist began pouring out from Hwafo Mofeng’s ears, nose, and mouth. The black mist twisted like the tentacles of some cephalopod, desperately trying to escape the restraints of Aoko’s magic, but soon it touched the barrier Aoko had set around the circle, crackled with energy, and shrank back.

The entire ritual lasted roughly two minutes. All the curses were lifted and destroyed by Aoko’s magic. Hwafo Mofeng, exhausted, fainted again, sweat soaking through all his clothes.

“All the curses have been dealt with,” Aoko said, waving her hand and casting a minor healing spell, which made Hwafo Mofeng look noticeably better, though he still didn’t wake up. “But lifting the curses consumed a lot of his strength. You’d better prepare some food for him when he wakes up.”

“Thank you all so much for your help!” Kira Mofeng said emotionally. “From now on, whenever any of you come to Bremen, you have free lodging and meals. And if you need anything, the Mofeng family will do everything we can to help!”

“Don’t get too excited yet,” Aoko said. “That black crystal is a big problem. We’re going to take it with us, otherwise, it’s too dangerous to leave it here.”

“No problem!” Kira Mofeng agreed quickly. “Honestly, I’d be grateful if you could take it away and deal with it!”

“I feel like this thing is familiar somehow,” Doric said, frowning as she handed the bag with the black crystal to Aoko. “It’s not that I’ve seen it before, but its… aura feels very unusual to me.”

“How so?” Aoko raised an eyebrow, interested in Doric’s observation.

“I think… this thing might be a product of the Nine Hells,” Doric said carefully, pointing to her own curved horns. “We tieflings are sensitive to such things. The aura from that black crystal feels ambiguous, but familiar.”

“Are there any devils haunting Icewind Dale?” Simon asked, puzzled. “At least, we haven’t heard any rumors about devils since we arrived here these past few months.”

“Now that you mention it… I did see two tieflings,” Kira Mofeng recalled, addressing the trio. “They were a man and a woman, not pale-skinned like Miss Doric, but… red-skinned like real devils, with much larger horns.”

“How come we’ve never seen them?” Doric wondered aloud. She and Simon had lived in Bremen for a while, but they had no idea there were other tieflings around.

“After Simon brought Hwafo back, I visited the mayor’s house once,” Kira Mofeng said. “On my way back, I ran into those two tieflings. They asked if my son was alright. I thought they were just kind-hearted passersby, so I told them Hwafo had a bit of frostbite and was resting at home.”

“…Now that I think about it, both of those tieflings wore a pendant,” Kira Mofeng’s voice trembled as she recalled more. “I remember! The pendants they wore looked exactly like that black crystal!”

“In that case, it’s no coincidence that Mr. Hwafo found that black crystal,” Aoko said, stroking her chin. “Maybe it was theirs to begin with, and they lost it by accident, so they came to Bremen to look for it…”

“…Or maybe they deliberately left the crystal there,” Simon continued, following Aoko’s line of thought, “hoping Mr. Hwafo or someone else would pick it up, and then observing what happened as the curse took hold?”

“Either way, you’d better not leave your inn or home for a while,” Aoko advised. “We don’t know what those two tieflings are after, or what organization they belong to. It’s best to be careful.”

“I—I understand!” Kira Mofeng said, still shaken.

“That crystal looks like something a cultist would use,” Aoko said, frowning. “Are there any cultists active in Ten Towns?”

“I’m not sure,” Simon shook his head. “But we can ask Edgin later—he’s good with gathering information, and hunting cultists is part of a Harper’s job.”

Kira Mofeng’s request was resolved satisfactorily. She prepared Aoko the most luxurious room at the inn and even offered some precious food from Bremen’s stores.

Aoko accepted the room but declined the food, since she carried plenty of supplies in her imaginary space and didn’t want to deplete Carla’s food stores.

Still, after moving into the room, she cast Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion and invited Simon and Doric to stay there with her.

“I’ve been trying to figure out what this thing actually is,” Aoko said in the alchemy workshop, carefully using Mage Hand to place the black crystal onto an adamantine stand, speaking to Doric and Simon. “So I checked my recently acquired books, and I actually found the answer!”

“It’s some kind of magic item from the Nine Hells?” Simon asked.

“Look here,” Aoko said, flipping to a page in the ‘The Annals of Karsus’ and pointing to an illustration of a gemstone. “This is a Chardalyn magic stone.”

“What’s that?” Doric asked, very curious, as she hadn’t heard the name before.

“A special mineral discovered by the arcanists of the ancient Netheril Empire,” Aoko explained. “These stones can store spells, and when thrown, release the stored spell at the target—sort of like a scroll.”

“The Chardalyn stone Hwafo Mofeng found was probably specially treated by a devil from the Nine Hells,” Aoko continued. “That’s why it’s cursed, capable of forcibly twisting the alignment of anyone who touches it toward Chaotic Evil, and it also has mind control properties.”

“I’ve heard of these stones,” Simon said. “I once knew a wizard in Waterdeep who had one on the end of his staff, but his didn’t seem nearly this sinister, so I didn’t recognize it at first.”