The Trees of Damnation
5/27/99

Prelude

"There's something moving around out there."
"What, I see nothing."
"Over there! They're everywhere, in the trees."
"They have weapons, run!"

Adventure Summary

Hu Shude was instructed by Yung Cho to take the remainder of the queen root and present it to House Yung in the city of Hunan. Shude of course agreed, and assembled a group of men as an honor guard for the root. While Shude assembled the group and set about preparations for the journey, Sung Li and Chang Kai were told by their respective masters that they needed to work together. The masters had seen that each was out of balance, one with too much Ying, the other with too much Yang. Each was told to help the other achieve balance. As an extra measure, Pang Sho was told to watch and help both of them.

Along the way, they stopped at a lovely tavern where they were entertained by a traveling poet. The poet's work so impressed Shude, that he invited him to join the group on their way to the capital.

It was Shude's first mistake of the night.

The poet turned out to be allied with Vegita and he signaled Vegita and his men to attack, then attempted to steal the box which held the root. The fight was difficult, but the group prevailed, killing several of Vegita's men and forcing the rest to retreat to save their own lives. Vegita was among those who escaped, but not without being wounded in battle.

The group completed their journey to Hunan, but arrived late. Shude took them to his home where he had his servant prepare rooms for them. In the night, they were attacked again, this time by albino apes, like those who had guarded the root for Chakram, the ogre of the valley of the death mist. The apes were driven off when Sung Li alerted the group to their presence. Wu Ho Song pursued them, but the apes escaped. In their wake they left behind a crude drawing of the box which held the root.

In the morning, they presented the root to the leader of House Yung. There was much fanfare and a great rejoicing. Those who had brought the root were presented with fine gifts by House Yung; Shude, as leader, was granted the greatest boon, a green-eyed concubine of unusual stature and endurance.

While in town, Shude spoke with his master who told him of Rhodan, one of the Dukes of Hell. Rhodan serves the Yamaking and had asked after not only Shude, but the rest of the group as well. Po Yu suggested they all sleep in a circle of salt to help hide from Rhodan.

They returned to the village and spent some time with their masters, reflecting on what had happened in the past few weeks and basking in the respect of their neighbors. Their peace was disturbed when Yung Cho asked Tao Chin to send them to the Flowerfruit Mountains. He had decided to build a summer home there and his men were being harrassed by monkeys.

Shude threw a dinner for the group and apologized for having failed to tell them of Rhodan. He then asked that they accompany him to the mountains to help secure the area for Cho Yung. They forgave his foolishness and agreed to go with him. Some of them consulted their masters about Rhodan before leaving and all received dire warnings and various suggestions on using salt to save themselves.

They arrived in the mountains and found Yung Cho's men badly wounded. The monkeys had attacked them with rocks and clubs and most of them were badly hurt. Shude suggested poisoning them, but Ho Song objected, claiming it was an act of cowardice. The two debated for a time, then Shude agreed to try Ho Song's plan before using poison.

When they found the monkeys, Shude tried to negotiate but failed, even though one of the monkeys could speak. The leader of the monkeys identified their tribe as the stone tribe and demanded the group leave. Shude haggled for a time, but it was clearly pointless. Finally, he suggested Ho Song challenge the monkey to single combat, thinking that winning might make him chief of the tribe.

Despite Ho Song's skill with the blade, the monkey bested him. It had clearly studied with a master at some point and even manifested Chi powers during the battle. In the end, the monkey won and Ho Song was carried from the battlefield by his fellows.

Back in their camp, they made plans to rest for the night before attempting to kill the monkey's a second time.

Quotebag

Sung Li's master has just explained that he is to work with Chang Kai to help him know when to act. He points out that at least Kai is rich)
Steve: Cool! Now is the time for action. Get the check!

Following last night's leg-fondling incident, Joe₂ walked in and placed a set mousetrap on his thigh.

Ho Song (after cutting down both a bandit and the tree he was hiding behind): I love how gravity drops everything at the same rate.

Ho Song (as the albino apes run off): You're never going to evolve at this rate!

Lou: Okay, two pounds of salt please (A Deadlands reference)

GM: He seems to be preparing something
Joe₂: Kick him now!
Lou: I wait.
GM: He gestures and this ball of energy comes flying at you. Roll a wisdom check.
Joe₂: A successful check tells you you should have kicked him.

Noteworthy stuff

• Salt can ground your chi which makes it harder for the supernatural to find and oppose you
• Other youths with abilities seemingly similar to ours have been killed and their chi channels have been burnt out
• A Duke of Hell named Rhodan is looking for us
• Hu Shude has such sexual stamina he wears normal women out.

Experience Summary