Monday, October 12, 2015

BLOOD OF THE DEMON MOON CULT SESSION VI: OGRE GATE INN PART III

This is the campaign log for the sixth session of a google+run Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate campaign. The previous session is described HERE

Player Characters
Mofeng: A young wandering Hero who is frequently at odds with his traveling companion Zhang Wan
Zhang Wan (Bone Breaker): An unpredictable and violent martial expert who is the brother of Zhang San
Zhang San: A wandering hero and sister of Zhang Wan, more calm than her brother
Chen: A poisoner and healer known for his lazy ways.

Last session the party had acquired a bamboo cable drill and carved a hole from the surface to the entrance of an ancient treasury below the Ogre Gate Inn. They had with them: 6 Fei River Bandits, 10 hired hands, Jade Priestess, Iron Cub and Stone Foot (the leader of the Fei River Bandits). 

As a precaution they sent a bandit into the hole to set up lanterns along the walls. After a few moments all they heard were his screams followed by silence. They sent two more men down. They were gone some time, but once again they heard screaming then saw one of the men return to the base of the hole with a spear in his stomach. He collapsed there and died. 

They decided to go in as a group, creating a sort of human train, with Bone Breaker, San and Mofeng in the rear. They walked down a long stone corridor and reached the entrance of a great hall (there was an eastern passage that they ignored). When their men entered the hall they heard the sounds of something firing through the air and heard screams. San instructed them to fall back and learned from the men in the lead that a volley of spears had hit those who entered the chamber. They decided to trigger the trap with a body until it stopped firing. Once they did this they cautiously felt their way forward. They slid one of the bodies across the floor and it fell into a pit trap onto a rack of spikes. Looking around they saw the whole floor of the 100 foot long hall was trapped. With rope and help from Jade Priestess' Arms of Silk technique they secured several lines from the front to the back of the hall, allowing everyone to shimmy across and avoid the pits. 

At the end of the hall they found a massive door that took up the wall (thirty feet wide and thirty feet tall). They also found passages on both the western and eastern corridor of the hall. The food was elaborate with gold plates and grooves. It was difficult to identify how it should open but they noted a depression in the center. They had one of the bandits try to pick it. 

As the bandit used his tools to open the door, there was a click and a wall of long, thin spikes swiftly skewered him before retracting back into the door. He fell dead to the ground. They sent another man in, and the same thing happened. That was the last of the bandits.

The party noticed that Stone Foot was unconcerned about the death of his men. 

The party decided to break and investigate, so they went down the easter passage. There they found a chamber with a bronze ritual vessel as tall as a man. When they entered the room filled with mist brimming from the vessel. They saw a figure dancing, what seemed to be a woman, but her head was obscured by the haze. One of their hirelings shouted "I love you!" and ran into the mist. They heard the sounds of kissing, followed by the crunching of bone, then Bone Breaker was sprayed with blood. The mist receded and the room was once again empty. Looking inside they saw a jade mirror near the ritual vessel. 

Bone Breaker instructed Stone Foot to go in and retrieve the mirror. He resisted but Bone Breaker's threats were eventually enough to convince him. As he went in, the room filled again with mists. Within moments he came running from the room. They tried to turn and face the other way but Mofeng caught a glimpse of dancing woman and ran in along with two of the hirelings. Bone Breaker managed to grab Mofeng but couldn't stop his men, who were devoured by whatever was in there. The mist dissipated and the room was once again empty. 

There was a dispute between Bone Breaker and Stone Foot. Bone Breaker felt Stone Foot was withholding information and threatened to harm him if he didn't come clean. Eventually, Stone Foot said he was aware of a statue in the tomb that would open the treasury if slid into place. They decided to look for the statue. 

The party fell back and split up, with Bone Breaker and Jade Priestess exploring the rest of the eastern passage. Mofeng, San and Stone Foot took the western passage, while they kept the remainder of their men by the treasury door. 

Bone Breaker and Jade Priestess found a room with a giant Go board on the floor and a skeletal man dressed in the decayed robes of an ancient imperial official. He became alert when they entered and said they must play him or die. Jade Priestess was the most skilled in the game so she agreed. As they played the Go master promised to open the treasury for them if she won. Jade priestess just barely managed a victory and when she did the Go master began to heal before their eyes. He grew younger and his skin seemed restored to life. Looking over at Jade Priestess, Bone Breaker saw that she was now shriveled and ancient looking. The Go master dusted himself off and apologized for his treachery buy assured Bone Breaker it was necessary. 

Meanwhile in the other passage, San and Mofeng found a room with a solitary bronze stature of an official. Stone Foot said he needed help moving the statue that he would push from the side if someone took the front. They didn't trust him and said he should give it a try on his own. 

He pushed and feigned collapse. San and Mofeng could tell he was faking. Eventually they tired of his charade. Mofeng stepped in and saw that the statue had human eyes, which seemed to be in a panic. He ordered Stone Foot to push, which he did. They heard a yawning sound from the treasury as the doors opened, followed by screams form their men. 

In the Go chamber, as Bone Breaker was trying to persuade the Go Master to reverse what he did to Jade Priestess, they too heard the sounds and made their way to the treasury door. Jade Priestess found she could not leave the chamber. 

They found Iron Cub and their remaining hirelings huddled in a corner, with more dead bodies on the ground. One of their men was suspended in the air, a mobile spear tip jutting from his chest. The spear tip ripped from his body and flew around the room, impaling Iron Cub's shoulder. Inside the Treasury they saw a single knee-high horse made of white jade. Both Stone Foot and Mofeng ran for the statue and reached it at the same time (They tied on their Speed rolls). Stone Foot spinning back kicked Mofeng, knocking his grip loose. He then ran for the exit. As he did so, Iron Cub struck at him, causing him to fall into one of the pits and die on a row of spikes. Bone Breaker grabbed the statue from the pit and the group fled back across the ropes, evading the spear as they did so. 

Upon their exit they heard something approach them from the south eastern passage near the entrance. It was a giant creature with the body of an ape, horns, and bundles of venomous snakes writhing from its eye sockets. They ran as fast as they could, but the creature caught up with Bone Breaker and struck him. But Bone Breaker used his Guide the Crashing Wave counter and threw the creature against the wall (he got two 10s, which didn't do much to harm it but gave him the space he needed to flee). 

They clambered to the surface and did what they could to collapse the entrance with the drill. Then they fled to the nearest village (where they knew Niang the Demon Hunter was staying). They found her at a small homestead and tried to recruit her to help them rescue Jade Priestess. She told them she had a box with the heart of her husband who was a Yao*. If they agreed to help her restore her husband, she would aid them. 

The party agreed and asked if she knew of any other very powerful people in the area who might be able to help them. The only person she knew of was Abbot Firebrand (because she had heard word he was on Dragon Trail Mountain smashing out peoples' teeth). She warned them that he was violent but friendly. 

They went to Dragon Tail Mountain and found a makeshift hut after finding a body with missing teeth and following the trail. They met with Abbot Firebrand who was dressed as a Sun Mai Monk and offered them wine. He explained that he was on the mountain smashing out teeth so he could join the Qui Pan bandits. Their leader had promised him a position in the organization if he found 1,000 Goji Berries. After weeks of searching he realized there were no such berries on the hill. But by luck he was annoyed by a passing minstrel and smashed out the man's teeth. He noticed that the teeth resembled Goji Berries and decided the bandit leader had given him a riddle: he wanted 1,000 human teeth. Abbot Firebrand said he'd go along if they helped him secure more teeth. The party agreed and they headed back to the inn. 

This is where the session ended. 

*Martial Experts who serve the emperor as guards and secret agents. They have their hearts cut out and placed in lacquered boxes. This secures their loyalty and bestows tremendous regenerative powers upon them. 

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