Four Deadly Keys
6/21/99

Prelude

Have you come for me?
No, I have come to share some information with you concerning your interests on Flower fruit mountain.
What do you know of it?
A Guardian of the Vault was recently sent to the Hells, I spoke with it.
Then someone else if already in the Vault! Tell me who has done this.
I shall.....

Adventure Summary

The group returned to the vaults after spending some time resting and recuperating. Hu Shude memorized a selection of spells aimed at allowing the group to reach the four guardians, while Pang Sho concentrated on ways to detect traps and spirits.

The first pillar they tried was water. Shude used a spell to allow Sung Li to travel the icy waters in relative comfort. Once there, he encountered the guardian of the water, an icy warrior with an enchanted blade. The fight was difficult, and Shude helped with a spell. Luckily, Li prevailed and the guardian was defeated. He aligned the pillar and retrieved the sword of the guardian.

The second pillar was of fire and Shude's cloud ladder, combined with Li's smoky leaves allowed Wu Ho Song to turn the pillar without provoking the guardian. The ladder was then carried to the earth pillar and, while it did not avoid the guardian of the pillar, it did allow them to avoid the ghouls buried in the earth. The fight was made easier when Shude used three fire shuriken to help soften their quarry. Song prevailed easily and collected the sword of the earth guardian.

The last pillar was that of air. A second cloud ladder allowed Pang to easily traverse the distance to the pillar and turn it. In the bustle of activity, none noticed that the mishapen Fu Ton had wandered off.

Fu Ton proceeded to what had once been the prison looking for valuables. He found nothing save a prisoner whom he refused to free. When the fat and smelly prisoner accidentally broke free he pursued Fu Ton all the way out of the vault where the two of them met Tem Po, just arrived from the court of House Yung to collect the treasure. Fu Ton agreed to show Tem Po where the group had arrived.

With the four pillars aligned, the group returned to the center and turned the statues. As they turned, the beams shot down the halls through the pillars and back into the hands of the four statues. At the same time, a hidden staircase opened beneath them and all save WuHo Song fell onto the spiral stairs. They headed down, relieved to find that the air smelled clean, if a little dry. There was little dust on the stairs.

Proceeding down it, they were joined by Tem Po and Fu Ton. At the bottom of the stairs was a large room. In the arch beyond it, they could see a pool of gold coins. Fu Ton was overcome with greed and charged into the pool. The others were more cautious and entered the room carefully. While Fu Ton began collecting treasure, the remainder of the group killed two horrible patchwork giants who healed quickly of even the most dire injuries. Chang Kai used his stone to set them ablaze and they at last rested.

WuHo Song took exception to Fu Ton's decision to help himself to treasure and might have killed him if Shude had not intervened. Fu Ton was sent from the vault carrying as much gold as he could, for that was the reward offered by House Yung. The group investigated the remains of the room, finding three arches, one with a sheer curtain of black hiding it.

Behind the curtain was the body of the dead Emperor, Ch'hina Ito. When they entered the room, a small girl appeared and warned them not to touch anything, for it was her role to guard the emperor. WuHo Song would have struck her down then, but again Shude intervened. A conversation followed and it was revealed that she had been created to guard the crypt and was quite happy in her life. Shude convinced WuHo Song to let her live while they investigated the other two passages, but the samurai was not happy with the decision.

The first room led to a chamber holding many magical treasures. There was also a spirit there, which said it could be freed only if a feather was found. The group then tried the left passage hoping to find a feather. It was not to be so, although the room was filled with gems and jewels of all sorts. It was decided to return to the original room.

When they approached, the girl breathed a green magical fire and several of them were hurt badly. WuHo, despite grevious injuries, fought valiantly as did the rest of the group. They were hampered when it was discovered that only magical weapons could harm her. She was killed eventually and the searching began anew.

The search was interrupted when the corpse of the dead Emperor arose. The group attacked and the Emperor fought well, but he was no match for them. His power was so great though that he struck fear in their hearts, forcing Sung Li to flee in terror while the rest of the group continued to fight, eventually vanquishing the ancient evil.

The group then decided to return to the surface to rest before continuing their investigations. Their plan changed when they came to the surface and found that the giant statue of Ch'hina Ito had apparently come to life and left the vault. Following its at first obvious trail, they blundered into a group of thirty bandits, who had been sent there to rob them. The bandits sent for the ninja, but Sung Li killed their messenger and the rest of the group wrought havoc on the other bandits, killing some and routing the rest.

Recognizing the danger of facing the ninjas and the bandits while badly injured, and realizing that the vault lay unguarded, they returned to the vault to rest. They brought their horses down, for even their guardsmen had scattered at the site of the stone giant, and they assumed a defensive position in the ancient throne room.

Once they had recuperated, they defeated the other two guardians and claimed their swords as well. They also investigated some of the magical treasures they had found below and made some startling discoveries. The puzzle box was a cubic gate, which Wu Ho Song activated and opened a door to the old capital. Even more surprising, the village could be entered by saying a magic word and looking into it. To exit one had to say a different word while looking to the sky.

The magical treasure was divided and there was much talk about what should be done to claim their reward from House Yung and which items should be taken. It turned out that Tem Po had a bag which could hold all the treasure they had found. He offered to use it to help them take things for themselves and a debate ensued.

That dilemna will be the first thing facing the players when next they meet.

Noteworthy Events

We need to find a feather of some sort to set the spirit of the enchanted flute to rest.

Quotebag

(Joe₁ has circulated a sheet of paper for each player to write down some combat stats)
Dave W: What's this?
Dave M: It's for your reference in case you wanted to fight anyone in the party. It shows level, hit points and armor class

GM: His sword clatters into the water.
Sung Li: I'll get that later

Joe₂ (discussing Ping, the man trapped in a sword): I told you to make those cool noises. Do you want to get sharpened again?

Sung Li (Following his fight with the ice warrior): Chang Kai, fire hands, fire hands...

Dave M: I yell for Tem Po
Joe₁: You yell for yourself?
Steve: I thought Tem Po was some kind of food
Lou: I thought it was a car

GM: You can hear loud footprints

(Steve accuses Joe₂ and Tom of being chaotic everywheres when they both ask about the puzzle box Mike is looking at)
Mike: I'm looking at the real one, not the one in the game
Joe₂: Like his characte would do something!

(Tem Po is scooping gold into the Yung's bag)
Dave M: Is there something I can make a funnel with?

Spoils

Experience