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Expedition to the Shan Peaks
Prelude
The old priest smiled as he limped back from the “smallest temple", the rough grain bread had done the trick and he was now prepared for the long journey. Even as he came into sight of his humble shack his dulled senses noted the unnatural motions in the shadows.
"The eyes are weak, and the hearing is dulled, but I can still spot a snake in the grass," said the priest, with a toothless smirk as he turned and regarded the figure stepping onto the path behind him " Especially when they dress in fruity yellow and purple robes".
"Interfering old man, tonight you die and the sword of the mongoose will never be found"
The old priest nods along impatiently at the threatening assassin before him. "Yes, yes, yes, dead and failure, no sword, I die, you die, the snake girl behind me dies, everybody dies". At this there is a startled gasp behind him that again brings a smile to the old mans face.
"But, what is the name of the man who will cut down this interfering old man this night"
With a snarl the purple robed man takes up a fighting stand, "I am Jubei old fool".
The old priest nods and moves his shaking old limbs into a battle stance, one hand sweeping his faded yellow robes aside for easy movement, the other held up as is to strike, the old priest again nods and smile before shouting in a thundering voice " YOKO NO BAKKA!".
The old mans shack is filled with blue light as his mace explodes though the door and flies into his firm grasp to swing into a low quick blow into Jibei's belly with a crackle of blue electricity and a thundering boom to send the errant assassin, eyes bulging in pain and shock, flying back to tumble and roll into the side of a building in a boneless heap. The old priest victory is short lived as a blurred form strike him from behind dropping him to his knees. As the blurred form steps out of the shadows it is revealed to be a feminine form transparent as wet glass, and as motionless as the old priest spits out a quick and dirty mantra and freezes her in place.
The old priest struggles to rise, using the mace given to him by the Lord of Thunders and Justice as a humble cane. Finally his takes to his feet winds up his mace in both hands and strikes the blurred woman upside the head with another explosion of lightning and thunder and sends her flying to float face down in a ornamental pond.
As the old man wheezes and leans against his staff he grins to see the bend over twit in purple and yellow wade through the koi pond to clench his face in pain as he pulls the woman to safety and slowly flees into the darkness. Old Leng had always appreciated loyalty even in a Enemy, besides he reflected, he was in no shape to chase after them since the pain in his chest and the numbness spreading throughout his body was probably not a good thing. With that thought the old priest slowly sinks down to his knees and slowly falls over.
Player Perspective
Mirumoto Long, The Other Monk* and Hansu converged on the valley by horse, hoping to arrive ahead of the others whom Leng predicted would go there. They made their way to a village outside the valley of the shrine in hopes of getting directions there.
When they arrived, the alarm sounded and the villagers fled into the surrounding countryside. Drawing closer they saw that the village had been raided recently and was actually still smoldering in places. After assuring the villagers their intentions were honorable, they met with one of the elders.
They discovered the four Ginyu had come through the village a few days earlier and entered the valley. They returned later and took six of the villagers with them. The temple itself has fallen under the sway of a powerful demon and it seemed the villagers might be a sacrifice. Mirumoto Long promised to return the villagers if they were still alive.
With one of the locals as a guide, Mirumoto Long led the others to the valley. Entering they found signs of a fight, one of the taken villagers had been slain. A yeti was also on the scene, but there was a lot of blood. They continued up the pass and were spotted from inside the temple. At the same time, they spotted a second group attempting a more circumspect approach.
A mephid greeted them and asked their business with his lord. After a bit of talking, they pointed out the second group. The mephid left in haste and was attacked by the second group but not killed. Both groups continued on their way, with the players certain they would beat the other group (presumably the Ginyu) to the temple and thus the shrine.
Unfortunately, the second group was not the Ginyu who were holed up in the temple waiting for the players to arrive. The archer saw them first and ran to warn the others rather than risk taking a charge from Mirumoto Long and Hansu. He bolted the door behind him, but the combined strength of the three sent the door, frame and all, crashing to the ground.
They searched two rooms with no luck and no sign of the archer. As they moved into the hall, The Other Monk* spotted the archer waiting for them. They resolved to charge and Hansu threw his sword to begin the sortee. It slammed into the door and pushed it closed, snapping off an arrowhead in the process. They entered the room carefully, expecting the archer to be waiting to ambush them. The room was where the winch came up and though it had rafters and rickety flooring, the archer was not hidden there.
Hansu found him by accident when he looked out the window and was nearly feathered for his troubles. He crashed through the wall of the building and began pursuing the archer. Meanwhile, Mirumoto Long and The Other Monk* had spotted a second Ginyu and charged him. The Ginsu wielded a chain which he whipped around The Other Monk*'s foot in nothing flat. The suddenness of his attack took The Other Monk* by surprise and the Ginyu was able to yank him into a nearby wall. Two more of the Ginyu arrived, one with iron fans and another with a large mallet. Mirumoto Long called for Hansu to return to him.
Hansu was shamed when he realized he'd abandoned his guard duties to chase the archer. He was also paying a price as the archer had run from him and sicced several wolves on him, including one that could talk like a man. Heeding his master's call, and less than eager to fight four wolves at once, he returned to the shattered front door. The fight continued inside and Hansu hoped to come up from behind the enemies.
Arriving at the door, he spotted the archer climbing onto the bridge. Without waiting, Hansu slew the archer as he fought to his feet. He entered the building and made short work of the one with the chain before turning to face the wolves. Mirumoto Long killed the other two. The wolf breathed an icy blast which left Hansu half-frozen, but it proved the wolf's last breath as Hansu cut him down. The other three ran off, tails between their legs.
They made their way to the roof where The Other Monk* went to negotiate with the GhostWalker. He gave them until dusk to decide to pay for free passage. They decided, after some debate, to go to the shrine without his permission. Returning to the lower level, they were met by a beautiful grey temple priestess with flaming red hair. She was the most beautiful thing Hansu had ever seen, but he reminded himself of his station. She didn't seem to need reminding as she focused on the other two.
They joined her and met her party at the shrine. After some discussion, Shing, who seemed to be their leader, offered to let them take the sword if he got everything else. Reluctantly, they agreed.
The fight was short, with Mirumoto Long and his men doing most of the damage. At its conclusion, Shing took the temple goods and they got the sword. The GhostWalker was, unfortunately, waiting for them outside the temple. After some dicussion, he gave them until the sun sank behind the mountaints to escape.
Mirumoto Long and his men ran for the mouth of the valley where they had entered while the other decided to sneak out. Both succeeded, but only Mirumoto Long and the boys got a free meal out of it.
Experience
| Mirumoto Long | 16,526 | 1 white chip |
| Virtue 2 (49) | Bargaining with Shing, ordering people around | |
| Wuxia 3 (48) | Chopping down confused Ginyu | |
| Honor 7 (58) | Rescuing villagers, recovering Sword of the Mongoose, not killing other adventuring group. | |
| The Other Monk* | 18,246 | black chip |
| Virtue 4 (49) | Bargining with Ghostwalker | |
| Wuxia 3 (47) | jumping about, being whipped around on a chain | |
| Honor 7 (58) | Rescuing villagers, recovering Sword of the Mongoose, not killing other adventuring group. | |
| The Prince of Birds* | 11,380 | "Decorating" Chung Statues |
| Virtue (42) | ||
| Wuxia (41) | ||
| Honor (44) | ||
| Fong Fa Hong | 9,220 | Standing on Bamboo |
| Virtue (42) | ||
| Wuxia (41) | ||
| Honor (46) | ||
| Hansu | 18,656 | 1 black chip |
| Virtue 2 (58) | Fixating on rescueing villigers, drawing weapon when Long mocked. | |
| Wuxia 4 (52) | Carrying children, running about, running through walls. | |
| Honor 7 (61) | Rescuing villagers, recovering Sword of the Mongoose, not killing other adventuring group. |
- Virtue
- Participation by role-playing to the setting and involving your background. Each point is based on 1% of what you need for your next level.
Wuxia- Actions and role-playing that play to the setting. IE jumping around shouting about your honor and cutting up things in bamboo groves. Each point is based on 1% of what you need for your next level.
Honor- Overall achievement for the night, killing stuff and meeting goals. Mike is always going to end up with a lower honor number because of his advancement being one level higher. The Honor level is based on overall difficulty of achieving goals for the night, this number is awarded to each character instead of being divided.
- 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 role-playing 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.)
Treasure
| Sword of the Mongoose | Hansu | +1 weapon of Keeness, Vorpal agaist snakes and snake-like creatures, wielder is immune to venom-based poisons. |
| Talisman of the Pig | Shing (NPC) | The holder of this talisman is blessed with great luck. In its unawakened state it gives its wielder the ability to roll twice for all rolls and may choose the best of the two rolls. |
* Don't like your name? Fill out a character description...
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