"A night in Honan"
7/5/99

Prelude

The East
We have been dishonored by mere peasants.
Vengence must be ours.
Find me an assassin who can kill rather than fight.

Pei King
Do you think he can handle this?
If he will ever be anything more than a butcher he will have to.

The Celestial Heavens.
He is so filled with guilt, is there nothing we can do for him?
NO, THIS IS THE WAY HE WILL LEARN.

The North
Master, the ones who hurt you, their names and deeds are being bandied all about.
Then we can find them, gather all of your brothers.

Adventure Summary

The company began their adventure in Hunan City, where they were guests of the Yung family for the silk festival. Several members of the group pursued private interests, such as spell research and training, while others attempted to learn more of the dragon whose soul they shared.

Those investigations led Chang Kai to a man named Tsung, who told him of an ancient town called Tai-mein. It had been cursed years earlier by many temples, but before that had been a happy and prosperous place. It had served as a location where warring groups could meet in peace, and one of the Ch'hina Emperors invited the leaders of the various temples there for a meeting. They were slain to a man and the village was first cursed, then stricken from all maps.

According to Tsung, there was an artifact rumored to be in town that he wanted to acquire. He also believed that the ninja's might be using the place as a base of operations. It was located in "The valley of the hounds", a place reputedly inhabited by demons. The group resolved to go.

While waiting for Chang Kai to finish preparations, his new seneschal hired a minstrel and two dancing girls to be part of his entourage. Not to be outdone, Wu Ho Song took on two apprentice samurai.

In the city, two of the party members had attempts made on their lives. Tem Po was attacked in the street by an old man after being led into a trap by a small boy. In the battle, the old man proved nearly his equal and only the timely arrival of the town guard prevented tragedy. When the attacker leapt away, it was revealed that he had the feet of a bird. Hu Shude, on hearing this, declared the attacker was likely to be a Kenku, hideous former servants of the Ch'hina, probably returned to service.

The attempt on Wu Ho Song's life was less obvious. During his scheduled bout with another samurai, his opponent struck to kill, rather than to count coup. It was not immediately obvious if he had lost his head in battle or actually sought to kill Wu Ho Song for some more personal reason.

At last, the group left for Tai-mein and made good time. The last two days of their trip they were shadowed by apes; an investigation revealed that they were being led by Chakram, the ogre whose root was used to save the children of Dragonwall. They did not attack, although it was not clear if their indecision was caused by fear or was part of a clever strategy.

In the ruins of the town, the group fought a pair of snake-headed men. The battle was fierce but, bolstered by some of Shude's new spells, the group was victorious. At another temple, they encountered a fleshless hound and killed it. With darkness approaching, Tsung decided to tell them about the ninja watching them and the vampire of the green temple.

With little other choice, the group decided to hole up for the night and continue their investigation when they are better rested.

Noteworthy Events

During his descriptions of the group to Shan Tai, Chang Kai's seneschal mentioned that Hu Shude's sexual prowess was well known throughout the land

It was revealed that Sung Li, through his association with the Polychromatic Mulberry's can see who has a part of the dragon's soul

The Brotherhood of Night has reformed.

The Ninja are watching from the blue temple. The Vampire lives in the green

Tsung is a dragon

The story of the flute and the feather is a common one and may be among the scrolls in Ito's vault

Quotebag

Chang Kai's Seneschal: The ole boy's damn near a eunuch, but every entourage has to have dancing girls

Sun: My family is not around any longer. They are all dead now.
Dave₁: Now?
Joe: Let's call it pre-emptive reincarnation

Dave: I share the wisdom of my combat techniques and training with Honan Lou
Joe: He seems to spent a lot of time scanning the trees for assassins
Rolls Eyes

Experience Summary