[Perception] You roll a 10 (required 10). Success!

You accept Ryokasei's task.

Ryokasei: "Very well. Then go to the house upon the eastern hill, and return with your answer."

Under Tsu-Ko's ever-helpful guidance, you offer a grateful bow to Ryokasei, then follow the braziers back out of the dark hall...

It doesn't take long for you to find the painter's house: on the eastern edge of town, a lone cottage sits atop a dirt hillock, lit by a few floating orange flames. You climb up a flight of stone stairs to the house's entrance, then slide the front door open.

Before you so much as step inside, the dim lighting bleeds in from the doorway to reveal a dreary scene within. Holes are torn in the room's paper walls, several of their wooden slates splintered or broken. A few shelves lie slanted or collapsed, the art supplies they once held now scattered across the floor.

In one corner is a shattered mirror, its silver pieces gleaming softly in the shadow. In another is a small collection of draped paintings, carefully preserved yet abandoned.

Splatters of rose paint deface most of the straw mats, and drip down some of the walls. Among the splatters, frantic hoofprints pace around the room, then fade toward the door.

And on an easel by the far wall — in the middle of the chaos, yet untouched by it all — is the unfinished final painting. It seems to depict a landscape of the Huise Shanmai province, the mountains in the background not unlike those around Final Rest.

You find that the edges of the piece are captured in a remarkable amount of detail, but as you lean in to take a closer look at them, you begin to feel a strange pulling sensation.

Honourshine: "Hmm... not only are we meant to figure out what drove the painter mad, but we also have to bring whatever that is to the altar. Could it be something physical, or would that be too obvious?"

Moonflower: "Ooh, good question! Do you got any ideas?"

Honourshine: "No... none yet. What about you, Blaze?"