Root Pursuit
5/23/99

Adventure Summary

The annual festival had just ended and the villagers were settled into the routine of feeding and tending their silk worms. There seemed little danger, and most of the villagers, though tired, were hopeful for the coming year. The tending was going well and the leaves were in plentiful supply this year.

A shrill scream split the air and alerted everyone to the danger that lay in wait for them. The leaves had been poisoned! All the worms were dead and many of the village children were also near death. The wisest of the temple priests was called.

His diagnosis was grave. The black powder on the leaves was demon powder and the only cure was the proper preparation and application of a Queen Ginseng root. He knew of only one, but it lay in the Valley of the Death Fog, more than a week away.

Hu Shude assembled a group of the young giants, particularly healthy villagers said to be blessed by the gods and they rode forth to get the root. The journey took nearly a week and finally they arrived at a small village beneath the vale. They were mistaken for Mongols at first, but they corrected that misunderstanding.

When the Mongols came for their tribute, the two who came to town were killed. It turned out the other ten, led by Vegita, a renowned outlaw, were actually after the root themselves, with the goal of keeping it out of the hands of the villagers. The group set forth and rode after the remaining mongols hard.

There was no need. By the time they arrived, the ogre Chakram had killed all of the Mongols, but Vegita still lived. Chakram would not give up the root, but Missa, his cook suggested a plan. The group left the vale and returned with eight jugs of rice wine. Once Chakram drank them all, it was an easy matter to return to the vale.

The group defeated a pair of well-trained albino apes and claimed the root as their prize. At the same time, Vegita cut Chakram's third eye, a strange red gem, from his head. The gem turned out to be magical, giving Vegita the same power over fire as Chakram had previously enjoyed.

With the root in hand, the group left, leaving behind a blind, stumbling ogre and a village burnt to the ground by Mongols.

They took the root to the village where the young people were cured almost instantly. Hu Shude was ordered to take the remainder of the root to Yung

Quotebag

Steve: I check over our supplies
GM: You have more than you need; there's always plenty of rice
...Later...
GM: There's a statue to the Death God and there's a stench of sulfur smoke in the air.
Joe₂: There's plenty of rice...

Hu Shude: Fools rush in where Mongols fear to tread.

Hu Shude: Remember, there is no dishonor for you if you get too close to me trying to save my life.

Pang Sho: Excuse me, nobles, wannabe nobles...

Pang Sho: I believe we need to make a stop at that village
Hu Shude: I told you to do that before we left!

Chakram: Your women are still fertile?
Hu Shude: Some of them are
Chakram: Then have more children

Foth (a village elder): You don't understand; they will kill all of us, then go to neighboring villages and kill all who are related to us by blood
Li Hon: How do they know that?
Foth: They know, or maybe they don't and they just kill a lot of people.

Noteworthy stuff

• The Valley of the Death Fog was protected by gongs which sounded any time anyone entered the valley with murder in his heart
• Vegita's clothes were burned from his body, but he was unhurt
• Vegita let Sung Li live so he could take a message to the Yung family and that message was that he planned to ruin them.
• The ogre had a human cook who was so afraid of mongols she stayed in the valley rather than risk being captured by them.

Experience Summary