Wednesday, February 22, 2017

STORMS OF THE MARTIAL WORLD THIRTEEN: PATHS TO YUN HU

This was the Thirteenth session of a new Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate campaign. See the TWELFTH SESSION LOG to read about the previous session. 

Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate is our wuxia RPG. It is available HERE in PDF. 


Characters
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. 


Peng Biyu: Peng Pei's mother. 

Zhendao: A former slave of a man named Zhao. 


Shin Du: A performer and actor who is a perfect shot with the bow. 


Song Pei: A one-armed physician.


Sister Fox: Brother Wolf's Sister who is ailing from Life Ebbing Venom. 

Feiyan: A yen-li priestess who is acquainted with Sister Fox. 

In the Jade Temple, people recovered and healed with the help of the Abbess. Sister Fox remembered the pouch of tea-like ingredients she had found at the Temple of Jade Mercies and asked Song Pei to prepare it. They used it to make a warm drink, which Peng Pei, Shin Du and Sister Fox all consumed. They found it filled them with euphoria and vigor, but dulled their minds. When the sensations passed, they wanted more, and made another preparation of the stuff. 


Zhendao asked the Abbess and Biyu if there was a way to kill gods. The Abbess wouldn't comment but Biyu mentioned that there was something called the God-Killing Blade. 

The party left the Jade Temple and asked the abbess to join them. She felt it was better, in the wake of recent events, that their paths should diverge. Shin Du, who had been growing increasingly wary of the group's methods and actions, decided he would go north with the Abbess to Daolu. 

The rest of the party decided to try and intercept Brother Wolf as he travelled to meet them at the Jade Temple (fearing he would run into one of their enemies in his weakened state). 

They travelled through the foot hills and were briefly followed by wolves before they found him. He appeared haggard and pale, and half the group rushed to greet him. Feiyan and Zhendao refused, both being extremely wary of Brother Wolf. 

They explained the situation to Brother Wolf, telling him about the talisman agreement that Ke-Yen had made. He told her that Dawa of the Ten Talismans never let people out of agreements. He would accompany them to the House of Paper Shadows to find this Hero Feng, but didn't think he was strong enough yet to assist them. Sister Wolf offered him some of her 'tea' which he took. This gave him more energy and awakened him. He asked her and Song Pei to find more of the tea-like ingredients. 

They decided to take different paths to Yun Hu. Zhendao and Feiyan would travel together, while the rest of the group travelled with Brother Wolf. During the journey, Ke-Yen seemed to be having doubts. 

On the way, Feiyun and Zhendao passed by a man carrying a square wooden box. Zhendao called after him when he realized he was dressed like a merchant. "Want to buy some wolf pelts?"

He tried to negotiate a price, but the man, who said his name was fox, told him the pelts looked terrible and obviously hadn't been cleaned. The man explained that he was an antique merchants anyways, so had little use for wolf pelts. 

Zhendao asked him about the God-Killing Blade. He said he had heard of it, that it was referenced in an old poem. 

Zhendao asked him what was in the box. He said that wasn't for him to know. Both Zhendao and Feiyun were curious about the contents of the box. But they said nothing more as the man left on his way. 

They arrived in Yun Hu and Song Pei went to the Banyan Sage Apothecary to obtain information on their tea-like ingredients. Hong Mai was rude to Zhendao, who left and went to speak with Xiaomin at the nearby cave. 

Zhendao spoke with Xiaomin and asked her about a blade someone had mentioned to him, the God-Killing Blade. He had previously learned the weapon was mentioned briefly by the Demon Emperor in a poem and wanted to discover more. Xiaomin knew little, only telling him that the Holy Killers in Dee were known to be interested in the weapon. 

Hong Mai told Song Pei that his pouch contained Celestial Plume, which ought to be burned like an incense, otherwise the potency would be wrong. Song Pei thanked him and they purchased some more Celestial Plume at the Singing Reed for thousands of spades. The price they were told, would be cheaper if they bought it in Dee. 

The party spent a great deal of time talking about their next course of action. They would go to the House of Paper Shadows to rescue Hero Feng, but Zhendao wanted to go to Dee as well. Since both were in close proximity, they could reach both. Song Pei made preparations to procure passage on a ship. 

In the mean time, Ke-Yen retreated to her room to meditate. She remained there for almost a day and when the party found her, her hair was pinned up, and she had a gecko-cinnabar dot on her forehead. While Brother Wolf slept, she placed her talons on his bed. 

As Brother Wolf recovered he spoke with Song Pei, explaining the importance of filial piety to him. He taught Song Pei the basics of Plum Blossom Palm*. 

The party then discussed Brother Wolf. They were very divided on him. Sister Fox wanted to protect her brother, Song Pei appeared to still be loyal to Brother Wolf as his master, but Feiyan, Zhendao and even Ke-Yen were concerned about remaining with him. They decided to encourage him to stay at the Sword and Wine Inn. Peng Biyu and Peng Pei did not weigh in strongly one way or the other. They would travel to the House of Paper Shadows and deal with the matter after they returned. 

Incidentally, Song Pei had learned that Celestial Plume produced a strong dependency, which would kick in after ten days without the substance. He began to divide the doses so that this would not negatively impact their venture into the House of Paper Shadows. 

The party traveled to Xuanlu by boat the next day. Then they walked to the House of Paper Shadows. As the party talked tactics, Zhendao grew bored and began climbing the wall. Feiyan, who had been inside the House many years before, joined him and helped lead him toward an area she felt Hero Feng might be held in. 

The party did go into the house, but since the House of Paper Shadows is an upcoming module, I will resume the session logs when they leave the house (to avoid spoiling things for people who might play the module). 


*Note that this is not a technique Brother Wolf knows in the official materials of the game. In my original campaign he has ranks in Dianxue and knows pressure point techniques. This was changed for the Maidens of the Jade Blue Sky book. 





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