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Peng Ke-Yen: Eccentric daughter of a merchant who goes against conventions and is notable for her white and black streaked hair. From Dashen village.
Peng Pei: Daughter of two low Yen-Li priests. Also from Dashen village.
Session
Peng Ke-Yen grew tired of life in Dashen and her father was weary from her antics, so with his blessing she decided to leave and venture into the world. She took her friend, Peng Pei with her and the two set out for the first time together.
They didn't really have any sense of where to go, so decided to head for Gaoxing, the nearest large settlement. However to get there there would have to pass through Zhainan, a small abandoned village. They reached Zhainan and found a house to stay in for the night.
Late in the evening, men wearing tiger skins appeared at the door and demanded their money. They claimed not to have any, but Peng Ke-Yen's colorful robes led them to believe she was wealthy. They insisted and threatened to kill her. She used Finger Flick to send a stone at the leader. The attack missed and they immediately drew their swords.
Peng Pei lept into the air and kicked each of the bandits in turn, knocking all five of them to the ground and killing one of them. They searched the bandit's bodies and found some silver taels as well as a crudely drawn map of what appeared to be an ambush site with a date and some information about monks heading to Yun Hu. They also took their tiger skin shirts and put them on.
They decided to go help the monks and left immediately for Gaoxing. On the way they were attacked by another group of men wearing tiger skins. The men asked where they got the shirts from and their answers did not satisfy them, so they attacked.
There were ten men in all, but only eight came down to fight. Initially Peng Pei was able to drop four very quickly with her same leaping technique (Kick of the Swan), but then the remaining four circled her and stabbed her until she fell to the ground. They turned their attention on Peng Ke-Yen who unleashed a blast of Qi energy, knocking two down to the ground. The two remaining pressed her and missed, and she retaliated with another Qi blast, sending them crashing to the ground.
Peng Pei bandaged herself but was seriously wounded so they hobbled to Gaoxing and went to Liao Cao's Medicine and Acupuncture where he healed using a combination of needles and Qi technique for 1 silver tael.
They continued on to the ambush site and camped out down the road to stop the monks from falling into the trap. A group of Monks of the Sleeping Mercy approached and asked them why they blocked the road. They explained and the monk thanked them. He then prayed over them to help them "wash away the blood".
The monks were not particularly imposing and asked the Pengs if they would protect them on the rest of their journey to deposit the money in Yun Hu for 2 taels. Ke-Ye and Pei agreed, and they set off on a course around the ambush site.
When they reached Stone Forest Hill, they heard a woman singing form the woods "Those who killed our brothers, you will die. Monks who carry golden taels, you will die." Then a graceful woman with two butterfly swords flew out from the trees and landed between Pei and a monk (stabbing both). Pei whirled out of the way but the monk was dropped. There were a series of lengthy exchanges between the woman and the two Pengs. Each would counter the others attack and it became quite clear she was more skilled than the men they faced before. When Peng Ke-Yen managed to hit her with an arm strike she withdrew and announced that she came to deliver a message. Pointing to the southern Yellow Forest she said "Take this gold and these monks to the old Tiger Fort or he will kill you." When they asked who planned to kill them, she said "Five-Dagger Chang". Then the woman disappeared into the woods.
They decided to take their chances and made their way to Yun Hu. There was at least one ambush set for them on the way but they saw it ahead of time and worked their way around it.
The monks thanked them and gave them a Sleeping Mercy figure, saying that any Temple of the Sleeping Mercy would give them shelter if they presented it.
Then they went to the Sword and Wine Inn and ordered a meal.
Pei noticed a familiar face in the crowd, one of the men she had knocked out in Zhainan. Then they noticed the woman of the trees, enter and take a seat, only to look at them. She was dressed in finer clothing but it was clearly the same woman.
A man approached and put his hands on the table. "My chief invites you to dinner" he said.
The characters were wary of the offer but eventually agreed to go upstairs to a private dining area to speak with Five-Dagger Chang.
There he fed them a meal and served them wine (which the woman drank to show there was no poison). They learned the woman's name was Xu An.
He told them that because of them, his men missed the biggest score of their careers. He said he would forget that they had killed his men, forgive them for letting the monks get away, if they helped the Tiger Clan steal the gold from Yun Hu Bank. Otherwise they would need to settle accounts with swords.
Pei and Ke-Yen discussed the matter. Pei was interested in the gold (which they learned amounted to roughly 5,000,000 spades worth of taels). But Ke-Yen wanted no part in the venture. They decided to take the duel instead of agreeing to help. Ke-Yen tried to sow discord by suggesting Xu An was a better leader and the men of Tiger Clan should follow her instead. Five-Dagger Chang said he'd agree to follow her as well if Pei and Ke-Yen also kowtowed to her. They refused to do this and Ke-Yen departed after they agreed to meet in seven days in a nearby field to settle the grudge. Five-Dagger Chang said they were missing a great opportunity, and told them they could bring their own men, as he intended to bring his.
Pei and Ke-Yen went to the temple of the Sleeping Mercy and asked if there were any martial heroes in the area with grudges against Tiger Clan. Abbot Yan told them that the only martial experts he knew of with grudges against them were other criminals, as they usually killed their victims. He suggested they seek Master Qian Bei of the Water Sword School.
They followed his advice and went to the Water Sword school, where Master Qian Bei agreed to fight alongside them personally against such terrible villains as the Tiger Clan. He also promised to bring ten of his students. He asked for nothing in return, saying it was simply the righteous thing to do.
This is where the session ended.
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