Monday, May 15, 2017

DISPOSABLE DISCIPLES SESSION 44-48: LAUGHTER OF THE MARTIAL WORLD

This is a log for my ongoing Disposable Disciples of Bone Kingdom campaign. You can see the previous session HERE.  Note that I began recording sessions, so this has allowed me to do more detailed session logs.

Player Characters: 

Shen Chun/Crazed Raksha
Little Bai
Qui
Ong Lao
Min (Feiyan)

Disciples of the Sect: 

Red Eagle (Little Bai)
Mount Dao/Biggest Sister (Little Bai)
Filial Cricket (Little Bai)
Dim-Witted Chen (Shen Chun)


Sects: 

The Righteous Outlaws
Calamity Star
Ou Jinghzhu
Tea Master Houzhou

Stone Palace Sect (Also called Golden Way)

A gambling hall and criminal network in Yun Hu. Currently under control of party, with Weeping Lotus managing it. They've absorbed many other sects into this organization including Crocodile Sect, Blades of the Weeping Lotus, Temple of the Jade Mercies, Relentless Corpse Sect and more. Recently they joined with Relentless Corpse again when Shen Chun arranged a marriage with their leader Da Mei Mei. 

Members:

Shen Chun (King)
Da Mei Mei (Queen)
Weeping Lotus (Right Vanguard)
Silent Dagger
Feng (Accountant)
Gu (Head Chef)
Little Bai
Min
Scholar Shen (a scholar who has been writing a story about Little Bai's life)

Dancing Scorpions
Criminal network in Yun Hu

Relentless Corpse Sect

Da Mei Mei

Temple of the Jade Mercies (see Stone Palace)

Abbot Wei Zhao
Abbess Bao-Yu
Yao Tu-On
Yao Chun
Yao Ba

Southern Hill Sect

Yellow Mantis
White Chysanthemum
Green Mantis (Dead but important)

Twin-Fisted Eagle Sect

Twin Fisted Eagle
Jade Fist

Bone Breaking Sect
Destroyed and taken over by Drunken Hero Kang

Glorious Death Cult

Led by Supreme Master Tung, who says he is a god of death


Shen Chun (right)
art by Jackie Musto
I have been behind on my session logs. Just to briefly recap what has gone on in this campaign to this point, Shen Chun became the leader of the martial world and formed a soft alliance with Bone Breaking Sect (their leader Kang retired to pursue other matters). He also acquired the Phoenix Crown and the Wind Sabre of Sunan (which he left at his headquarters with Da Mei mei). Amid all this they had been hearing rumors for weeks that the Kushen were mobilizing a huge army and that their generals were all made into immortals by Loma the Earth Goddess. They killed Hero Feng, and Qui began organizing his own sect called the Southern Wind Society by recruiting masters of the martial world to join him in disguise (essentially they each have their own sect and agenda but when they join with him, everyone wears masks to hide their identity) and has a special name. Members of the Southern Wind Society include: Ferocious Flower (Western Phoenix), Notorious Fox of Crescent Moon Society, Flower-Handed Snake (Northern Dragon), Pale Fox (Eastern Phoenix). Recently the party acquired the Thousand Painful Deaths Flower and shattered a large jade statue of Iron Sky Maiden. They took the jade and began selling it. In Hening they sold some of the jade to a merchant but were later ambushed by his associates at the Autumn Inn. They killed the Merchant and put a man named Abacus An in charge of his holdings. Then they headed south to retrieve The Chariot of Du Qian. In the south they found the shrine protecting the chariot too powerful and learned they needed something forged from Sunan in order to defeat its guardian. So they began heading north to get the wind saber. 


THE LONG JOURNEY NORTH
The party split into three groups to head north as they all had slightly different destinations. Shen Chun went back to Huisheng to his ship. It took him many days but he had a guide so made it there safely. When he arrived he was told that Weeping Lotus was waiting for him below deck. 

Weeping Lotus appeared bruised cut and haggard. He sadly informed Shen Chun that Stone Palace Sect Headquarters and gambling hall had both been destroyed in a rain of fire and steel. Shen Chun pressed for more information and Weeping Lotus informed him that Da Mei Mei was dead, as were all the other sect members except for 100 men he brought with him to the ship. What is more he informed Shen Chun that the Kushen were marching on West Gate at that very moment. 

Shen Chun left immediately for Fan, where he intended to march to west gate with Xiaomin, Iron King Yao, Fearless Dagger and Tea Master Houzou. 

In the mean time Qui took his retinue north as well, but by a different route. As he and his men traveled, the earth shook and they heard a booming voice say "The jade return to me now!". They asked who spoke but again it said "The Jade give to me now!". 

An explosion of rock split the ground. A large snake-like creature made from bone flew into the air. Qui commanded his people to run. They made their way swiftly and escaped. 

Qui noticed Flower-Handed Snake was missing and asked what happened. Smart-Minded Fool, the brother of Notorious Fox, said "I saw him get cut in half by that thing's tail."

"Was he killed?"

"I didn't stop to read his pulse, but he looked dead to me," said Smart-Minded Fool. 

Qui and his men continued on. He passed by the ship in Huisheng and heard about the attack before Shen Chun Departed, but went to Yun Hu instead of Fan. There he discovered that Stone Palace Gambling Hall was intact, and showed no sign of having been attacked. He recruited some men then spoke with Master Zhao (who bought some of his Jade). Master Zhao was clearly getting ready to leave the city. He explained that the capital had fallen, the empress was dead, and he planned to go to Hai'an. 

Qui sent a message to Shen Chun (it never arrived). 

Min and Ong traveled to the City of Spiral Crown. They too had some difficulty. In the dense forest they were surrounded by flying crocodiles. But they made quick work of the creatures and the Ogre Demon traveling with them gathered the flesh for the remainder of the journey. They made their way over the Batong Bridge and Ong appeared before Granny Ox Tail, his Sifu. She taught him the final Gushan technique and he informed her that he wished to trade the Sword of Bao with Heaven Palace sect. He planned to ask for an island off the coast where he could start a temple of Gushan. In his opinion the North was not ready for their god so they would need to build a following on the fringes. Granny Ox Tail was quite impressed with the plan and told him to make his way through the Banyan to Heaven Palace. 

They headed north through the Banyan. Along the way they heard someone crying in the woods. Soon a young boy stumbled out covered in arrows. He had a cape fashioned from a bed sheet and a strange Yan-style hat. He passed out on the ground saying "The King of the Kushen is dead!" and pointed somewhere beyond the trees. Ong tried to save him but was unable to do so. Min, who recently lost all her emotions to dark ritual magic, callously gathered the arrows from his body for later use and continued on the path. 

They reached Heaven Canyon but decided to stop at sect headquarters first. 


WEST GATE
When Shen Chun reached West Gate he was greeted by General Kuang and informed that the Kushen had attacked the wall outposts but seemed to be tactically withdrawing. He wanted information and persuaded Shen Chun to take some men and attack a nearby encampment led by General Borte. 

He went through west gate and snuck into the encampment. He sent in Xiaomin to kill a patrol. Then he, Xiaomin and Weeping Lotus donned their gear. He had Tea Master Houzou and Fearless Dagger take the 120 men under their command (the general gave him 20 additional soldiers) and wait for their signal to attack. 

They walked to the general's tent and were let inside. There they saw Borte with her guards and informed her that an attack was approaching. Immediately they sprung into action, attacking her guards and Borte as well. However, Shen Chun was stabbed through the back with a Guan Dao. He looked back and saw Weeping Lotus holding the shaft of the blade. Chaos ensued. 

Shen Chun was able to use Strike of the Raging Tiger on Borte, causing her to fire arrows at her men and at Weeping Lotus. His men swarmed the encampment and he only lost 10 soldiers. However both Tea Master Houzou and Fearless Dagger were killed in the fight. 

He had Weeping Lotus bound and interrogated him. When they returned to West Gate, the general told them that he just received word from the capital that it had been attacked by the Yan and Chai Yun. The empress was killed by assassins, and a coup staged by the Senior Grand Councilor. 

Speaking with Weeping Lotus he learned that Da Mei Mei was still alive and that the headquarters and gambling hall had never been attacked. Weeping Lotus admitted to working with the Yan because they had his daughter (who was one of King Yegu's wives). In the past he had asked about Weeping Lotus' family and past, and he was always evasive and clearly grief stricken. 

They took Weeping Lotus to the headquarters where Shen Chun talked with Da Mei Mei. She wanted to executed Weeping Lotus as an example to the sect. But Shen Chun was less certain. Qui, who was also present, suggested they find some other solution, perhaps giving Weeping Lotus the corpse venom. Da Mei Mei refused. Qui said they needed martial heroes more than ever and killing Weeping Lotus was a waste. Shen Chun decided to have him killed. 

Qui worked in the background, having his men sneak out Weeping Lotus to a secure location while he distracted Shen Chun with a conversation about Master Zhao over some tea. He then explained that he had taken care of everything and that Shen Chun should just act surprised. Not sure what Qui meant, Shen Chun walked with him to speak with Weeping Lotus. When they reached the holding area, Weeping Lotus was missing and Shen Chun slowly built to a rage. 

This is where the session ended. 






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