THE SECRET OF JE VALLEY VI

This campaign is set ten years after a previous set of adventures (HERE). This is the sixth full session of the current campaign (Session V can be found HERE). 


Characters:
Xue Lingsu (Purple Cavern Sect)
Kang Xi (Affiliated with Mr. Red Claw)
Zhi Zhu (No Sect)
Long Shu (Purple Cavern Sect)
Min (Purple Cavern Sect)
Rong (Tree-Dwelling Nun Sect)

The party continued their exploration of the the Zun Canyon Valley in search of the Tomb of the Timeless Master. They found a number of grottoes and stair paths along the inner rim of the canyon and decided to go into the ones on the southern wall first because they looked like burial chambers and were flanked by giant statues of the Eight Magistrates. Inside they came upon a mass grave with a tablet bearing forty names. From there they moved south but as soon as they entered the southern passageways a swirl of golden dust appeared before them and took the shape of a golden sword maiden. 

The Golden Sword Maiden attacked but was largely controlled by Zhi Zhu's arms of silk (something that has become a regular tactic against single foes). Because she was restrained by Zhi Zhu's sleeves, the maiden was only able to kick at the party. It was a team effort and when they killed her she melded into the stone floor. 

Continuing on their way they found a treasury with a locked iron door. Kang Xi used his mechanical skills to force it open. This took time but they didn't attract any enemies while he worked. Inside the chamber they found a box filled with thousands of taels, a tripod cauldron, a clay pixie, a jade phoenix medallion and Golden Sword Maiden talisman. Min took the talisman, and the Golden Sword Maiden materialized once again before the party, this time kowtowing three times before she vanished.

From here the party continued eventually coming to the burial chamber of Qian Chengsi. Upon his stone coffin was a plaque that informed them he was "commandant of the upper fortress" and a great hero who fought the demon emperor. They opened the limestone lid and the body of Chengsi rose up stiff as a hopping ghost (it seemed the spirit keeping ritual had been improperly performed when he was buried). Time in the coffin had clearly driven him mad, and he immediately attacked the party. They were able to quickly dispatch him as he was vulnerable to their Kung Fu Techniques. 

Moving on, the party made their way through a deadly spear trap, with Zhi Zhu triggering it until it could no longer reload, and finally found the tomb of the Timeless Master. On his coffin was written: "I am the Timeless Master. Kowtow three times and take me as your Sifu. I will teach you powerful Kung Fu to destroy your enemies and protect your allies.”

Long Shu decided to kowtow three times and the lid of the coffin opened, revealing a golden scroll case. He took the scroll and made sure it was the Three Finger Manual (which it was) and they headed back toward the entrance. 

On their way Long Shu started having visions of blood on the walls that read "Find my body. It’s in the upper fortress. Return it here where it belongs as your first act of obedience.”

So the party explored further until they found the upper fortress (a series of hewn chambers about 100 feet high on the northern rim of the canyon). It took some time and a narrowly avoided encounter with ape-like creatures before they came to a portion of the fortress that was clearly inhabited. There they met Leaping Leopard, a Zun Tribesman who claimed to be a guardian for the goddess Jia and forbid them to pass. 

They defeated Leaping Leopard, with the decisive tactic once again being Arms of Silk by Zhi Zhu (not in terms of damage output but in terms of controlling the fight). From there they continued on and found more signs of habitation. They found a room with a Shrine dedicated to Doctor Shun, a great physician who had died nearly 100 years ago. There were still offerings to to his spirit and in an alcove they found a box with robes matching those he was wearing in a wall scroll above the shrine. 

Long Shu put the robes on (which were about 100 years old) and they headed into the western section of the complex. They found a tea room, that also showed signs of recent use. Zhi Zhu made tea for herself and was interrupted by a woman in black and red robes who was hostile to their intrusion. The woman was Jia, a snake demon (they were able to infer this because they knew the story of Doctor Shun and his snake demon wife). Because Long Shu was wearing Shun's robes, Jia mistook him for the reincarnation of her husband and was overjoyed. He played along and said they could be reunited once he found the Timeless Master's body and returned it to its rightful place. She told him where in the complex the body could be found and promised to ready his room while she waited. 

Jia had warned them that they would pass a kitchen with a magical arrow trap and when they passed through, they found the room was swarmed by thousands of arrows. To get around this they used a table as a shield and made their way to a sealed chamber door (which Kang Xi had to open). Beyond the door was the body of an Ogre Demon with a missing hand. As soon as Long Shu entered it arose and attacked him. 

The creature was tough, hard to hurt and it managed to strike Lingsu and deplete his Qi energy. The party used a clever tactic to deal with the creature, having Zhi Zhu wrap it in Arms of Silk while Long Shu used his Blast of the Dragon technique to hurl it into the trapped kitchen area. This didn't go as planned initially and they ended up fending it back with melee attacks in a narrow hall before they were able guide him into the kitchen and let the arrows do their work. 

After they killed the Ogre Demon, they found a chamber with the Timeless Master's body. He was riddled with arrows and laying on the ground, mostly skeletal at this point. They brought him to his tomb and placed him there. Then they went back to speak with Jia. 

This is where the session ended.