 |
|
It had to be snakes!
Prelude
Shen walked slowly on his way home arm in arm with some of his drunken friends making sure that each one reached their homes before setting off unsteadily on the way to his own home.
At each step he stood taller and walked steadier until it became apparent that the drinks he had swilled all night had had little effect on him. As Shen stepped up to the steps to his humble shack he froze with the awareness that something was not right even as the voice whispered out of the shadows.
"Shen, we have much to talk about."
The guardsman holds up his fist at the first of the many wagons attempting to cross over the bridge of Birds, the hooded driver slowly brings the horses to a stop.
"What are you doing, no wagons on the imperial roads" Shouts Pon the guardsman as he angrily walks up to the driver.
The deep guttural voice of the driver mutters from below his hood, "We have special permission, our cargo makes pack animals too nervous, and is too dangerous to be carried by bearers."
"What kind of cargo" asks Pon nervously,
"Snakes" replies the driver " Hundreds and Hundreds of snakes, poisonous snakes, constricting snakes, snake big enough to eat children, snakes small enough to slip into you ears, want to see" offer the driver as he turn to grasp the covering over the now hissing bundles and boxes.
"NO…drive on" says Pon as he eagerly waves the wagons by.
Player Perspective
Song Kami was somewhat distraught as she found herself without the services of Mirumoto Long who had been held up at Dragonwall. She needed someone to go to Lost Hounds and investigate reports of a monster there. She finally settled on sending The Prince of Birds* to use magic, Hansu to use force, and The Other Monk* to use wisdom.
The three took the raft to Tai Town where they saw the Green Rider arriving. They entered the town and The Other Monk* met with Shen before the three of them pressed on to Lost Hounds. Their trip on the road was uneventful.
At Lost Hounds they saw that several rice paddies were in danger. One of the elders explained that a visiting shaman had been sucked into the water only the previous day and killed. They considered draining the paddy, but it had already been done. The Other Monk* sized up the situation, tied one end of a rope to Hansu and the other end to an ox and sent him out.
It didn't take long before he was attacked. A huge tentacle scissored through the water at him, swirling past him in the inky blackness. Hansu held the line though and chopped at the tentacle, nearly severing it. A second tentacle appeared and might have smote The Other Monk* had Hansu not launched himself backwards to protect his charge.
A battle ensued with The Prince of Birds* above casting spells and Hansu and The Other Monk* below using sword and stick to bring the battle to the beast. It was slain a moment later by a retired guardsman who was worried for their safety when The Prince of Birds* flew off to attack another one.
Investigating the dead ones, they found a lead seal, which bore the mark of tain, the souls to black for even the hells. They broke five seals, Hansu saved one, and two more were saved because their vessels had not yet gained enough power to attack.
Following a feast in their honor, the trio returned to Tai Town for the trip back. There they met with Mirumoto Long ho insisted that more analysis be done on the seals. The Prince of Birds* did the work and found that they needed to go to the Milk Jade Temple to have the seals trapped in some way, for they were very evil and the souls inside them could be used again.
Also while there, they heard about strange goings on. The Green Rider had taken the Council of Temples, particularly the Grey Temple, to task for their role in saving the hostages. The Council has not yet responded to his demands. The White Temple priests were busy laying to rest the spirits of twenty people whose graves were dug up and bodies stolen.
The four went to the Milk Jade temple where they met with Rhodan, a magistrate of the Hells. He destroyed the seals and explained them a little. The magic they use is similar to that used by Chin Ito. They were created by Acu the Shapeshifter. Rhodan also explained that there were twelve tokens that could get Acu directly to the throne room and the group should be on the lookout for them.
Experience
| Mirumoto Long | 7,650 | |
| Virtue 3 (43) | Dealing with seals, Samuraing | |
| Wuxia 1 (40) | Breaking Stuff | |
| Honor 1 (43) | delivering seals | |
| The Other Monk* | 8,630 | |
| Virtue 3 (39) | Spy mastering, checking out politics. | |
| Wuxia 3 (40) | Wussy flurry of blows, "I ride the blast" | |
| Honor 4 (43) | Killing constructs, delivering seals | |
| The Prince of Birds* | 10,030 | |
| Virtue 4 (41) | Advising Lady, investigating seal | |
| Wuxia 2 (39) | Lots of spells, Breaking seals | |
| Honor 4 (40) | Killing constructs, delivering seals | |
| Fong Fa Hong | 7290 | Balancing on bamboo |
| Virtue (40) | ||
| Wuxia (38) | ||
| Honor (42) | ||
| Hansu | 8,610 | |
| Virtue 3 (50) | Taking point, guarding Ten Su | |
| Wuxia 2 (42) | Using new feat, going for the tentacles | |
| Honor 4 (46) | Killing constructs, delivering seals |
I feel like I'm not throwing out enough chips because I'm distracted by trying to keep the game moving, so if someone else does something that you think should earn a chip, call it.
- Virtue
- Participation by roleplaying and background.
Wuxia- Actions and roleplaying that play to the setting.
Honor- Overall achievment for the night, killing stuff and meeting goals.
- The chips are not going to be based on Virtue and Wuxia.
- White Chips are Yang and are awarded for actions that advance the plot or impress the GM, these will also often result in a Wuxia award.
- Black Chips are Yin and are awarded for insights and roleplaying that advance the plot or impress the GM, these will also often result in a Virtue award.
- Yang (White Chips) may be spent to give +5 to a dynamic roll (combat, balancing on a rope, catching a falling child before he tumbles past you and into a lake of molten lava, etc.) or to alter the environment in a plausible way (there could be a rope hanging from the loading derrick that lets you swing out to the escaping ship, there could be a weak bar in the cell window, etc.)
- Yin (Black Chips) may be spent to give +5 to a non-dynamic roll (lying to people, making a charm person spell harder to resist, artistic endeavors) or to alter the environment in a plausible way (you hear about another characters capture, the prison guard is married to your aunt, your cellmate happens to be the architect of the dungeon you had heard was imprisoned here, etc.)
* Don't like your name? Fill out a character description...
|
|