Golden Spire

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The Golden Spire, located in the City of Spires in the Jade Taiga, is the tallest building in the Twelve Kingdoms, and no doubt in the entire world. The top of the spire has a chamber with the twelve Cycle aspects, and those who meditate in the chamber can see visions.

The Golden Spire was temporarily closed "for renovations", but the party arranged to have it re-opened during Bureaucracy for Beginners. Later, in Night of Gates, they accidentally brought an elephant out of the spirit world onto the roof.

Some of those visions have been:

During Bureaucracy for Beginners

  • Takanata stands on the image of the Butterfly and wonders who Long works for. He realizes it must be "The Marked" referred to in his poem.
  • Min Feng stands on the image of the Phoenix and opens herself to what she needs to know. She suddenly sees the chi connections between all things in the Empire, but the three that stand out are strong dark connections between someone in the Hidden City, the approaching army, and Takanata.
  • Xian lies down in the middle touching all 12 segments. He gets a strange sinking sensation.
  • Xiao Fa stands on the image of the Spider and gets the chance to discard his destiny shtick in exchange for any shtick he wants. He can buy it right now, in major concept regardless, and will even be loaned the XP if he doesn't have enough. He declines.
  • Master Zhou stands on the image of the Tortoise and thinks about his past. He recalls being in terrible pain and hearing a mocking voice tell him there is nowhere in the Empire he can go to escape the voice's influence. Suddenly, another voice says, "There is one place." Then Master Zhou sees himself suddenly awake in the Gardens of Harmonious Contemplation in the Butterfly Kingdom, where his current set of memories began.
  • Xian stands on the image of the Fox and wonders who it was that encased the southern pagoda in ice. He sees an image of the moon.
  • Ando stands on the image of the Magpie and declares it to be broken. How can the solutions to his current problem possibly be the poem in Takanata's hand?
  • Li Merit stands on the image of the Magpie and seeks something no one else knows to collect. He sees an image of the Great Talisman of the Magpie far off in the Hon'eth Arcade.

In later Puttering

  • Shen-Ji stands on the Phoenix image and thinks about the rebirth/reappearance of the Dragon Emperor. He gets a sense of responsibility and regret. Finally, an invitation, shaded with hope.
  • Lijuan meditates on the Crane. She has a vague sort of idea of the Crane nodding its head to her - in recognition? or acknowledgement? and then also nodding, more deeply, to the Bear. The Bear regards her with a long stare, and then nods to the Crane. "Look after the eggs, Child," says the Crane to her. Takanata clarifies that the Eggs Lijuan is to watch over are children.
  • Cai Wen meditated on the Fox image, thinking of the line "When his enemy is victorious will the game be unmasked". (This was from his I Ching reading; his enemy is presumed to be Lucky Chang) He saw an image of a great bear made of stone. After a timeless time, it moved and then cried out in pain.

Passing through with Ti Jun

  • Kasumi sneaks to the Monkey, and hears "Child of chaos, spoiler of strategies - you are going to be one of the *fun* ones. Remember to keep a spare nose, for emergencies, and go cause trouble for anyone who thinks he's too important to fall. Come talk to me when your friends finish collecting mine."
  • Yoshi meditates on the Dog (and leaves him a dog treat).
  • Hana and Hiro (on a different trip) meditate on the Phoenix about Yin/Yang power, and Hana gets an offer.