STAR-CROSSED BLADES OF THE GREEN PEONY SESSION XV

This is the fifteenth session of our Star-Crossed Blades of the Green Peony campaign for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate (session I can be found HERE, session II can be found HERE, session III can be found HERE, session IV can be found HERE, Session V can be found HERE, session VI can be found HERE, Session VII can be found HERE, Session VIII can be found HERE, Session IX can be found HERE, Session X can be found HERE, Session XI can be found HERE). Session XII can be found HERE. Session XIII can be found HERE. It is set in Zhang Chang prefecture (which I hope to release a blog entry for). Session XIV can be found HERE. In this campaign, every player rolled randomly to determine who their family are, how many siblings they have and whether individual family members are still alive. The players also gave very rough sketches of their background (no more than a few sentences) and I secretly added a "20-year" backstory to each one. I have implemented a special rule in this campaign that every encounter has a 3 in 10 chance of being connected to their secret backstory in some way. Note in this session I was play testing a specific scenario and the players were made aware prior to play.

CHARACTERS

QI YUN (MASTER POET QI YUN): A roaming martial expert who has secretly learned his martial arts from two different masters (and the masters have no knowledge of one another). 

XING GE: A traveling pipa player and the son of Lu Guiying the Iron Flower. His father died when he was five, and his mother married Gongsun Yuan, the chief of Black Parrot Society. Gongsun Yuan despises Xing Ge. 

TU JIN SHI (THUNDER LEGS): A wandering fighter seeking to be the strongest and most upright hero in the region. His father, Tu Haitao sent his mother away when he was young, after being consumed by grief over the passing of Jin Shi's brother, Tian. Shortly after his father died consuming a lethal concoction in a misguided effort to become immortal. 

LU LI (THE UNFILIAL ARCHER): A traveling physician who comes from a family of successful fishermen. 

PAINTED DEATHS AND DEMON EMPERORS 

Making their way to Lanyin, the party stayed at the Tu Association Headquarters and discovered that Wan Lu, the man that had sold them steamed buns along the roadside, had in fact come to them to hire escorts to transport goods to the Green Raksha Inn. Tu Jin Shi's brother said he believed it was a black inn*.

Xing Ge, after getting word from The Black Parrot Society, explained that Guo Chiang, before he was killed at the River Spirit Inn, had been planning to level a formal accusation of Tea Theft at the Prefect. Such an accusation was serious with a penalty of strangulation. The Black Parrot Society also confirmed rumors that the prefect's wife was a demon or spirit. He had asked about Lady Yi Huang as well, and the message included a note from his mother saying Lady Yi Huang was a terrible person who must be killed. 

Qi Yun went with Xing Ge to find Jade Priestess in the wilderness. When they found her, they explained that it was their belief that Lady Sun Niao was instigating the conflict between Lively Luan Sect and the Demon Moon Cult. 

"Perhaps she suspects my motives for encouraging you to befriend her husband," Jade Priestess mused. "We will have to address that, but in the meantime, I have wonderful news. Lively Luan is wiped out, only Lady Luan survives. She is hiding somewhere in the prefecture, so if you find her, kill her and bring me her head in a box."

"May I ask," Said Qi Yun. "What is our motivation for befriending the prefect?"

"To align ourselves with the empire," Said Jade Priestess. "We venerate the demon emperor, and it is our belief the Glorious Emperor is staging his return. Some even believe he is Yao-Feng himself. And of course, the prefect is known to deal with exotic supernatural things, we may be able to learn powerful rituals if we are connected to him personally."

Xing Ge excused himself from their presence and she then instructed Qi Yun in Illuminating Ice Claw, as well as a ritual of offering to the Demon Emperor that required a human sacrifice. She explained it was a powerful ritual that allowed the caster to receive a gift from the Demon Emperor. 

THE WORD OF RED JADE MANSION 

The party returned to River Village, so Lu Li could join with his brother and take him with them to find their parents who had been abducted by Black Leopard Sect. When they arrived, he was using a firelance and bow, and thanked Tu Jin Shi for the give. 

"I gave you no such thing," Said Tu Jin Shi.

"It was left with a note from 'Your martial uncle' so I assumed it was you Uncle Tu Jin Shi."

They speculated on who could have sent it, concluding there were a number of possibilities. The firelance was of high quality metal, something that could be passed down for generations. 

Xing Ge sent another pigeon to Black Parrot Society asking if the location of Black Leopard Sect were known, and where he could learn the Fists of Yanshi techniques. Before going to Black Parrot Society to get a response to the queries and address some other concerns, they made a detour to Senzhou. Once there they made their daily appearance before the Prefect in his curio hall, where he asked to speak to Qi Yun alone. 

"My wife has recommended a master that aligns well with your natural aptitudes. Do what you want with this information, but she recommends you seek out Master Tu Yu of Jade Moon Sabre Sect."

"Sabre doesn't sound like it would be suitable for my style," Qi Yun said. 

"My understanding is once you meet him, you will understand that his style is a perfect fit."

Qi Yun thanked him and Xing Ge asked for a private audience before they left. After he greeted the prefect Xing Ge asked if any evidence had been obtained regarding Gongsun Yuan. 

"You were right to come to me about this matter as it seems your stepfather is indeed guilty of terrible things. I have in possession this sworn testimony from the Master of Red Jade Mansion. In his words, he witnessed Gongsun Yuan boast the following: "I killed Dao Zheng and took his wife....HA. HA. HA." 

Xing Ge thanked him and took a copy of the testimony. "I must also report something unsavory I am afraid. While conducting our investigation into the killing of Guo Chiang, we found people spreading rumors about your wife."

The prefect quaked visibly and clenched his fists in rage. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Cut out the tongues of anyone spreading these vile rumors, let all know we will not tolerate rumor-mongering in this prefecture!"

"I am afraid some of the people spreading these falsehoods were members of high society," Said Xing Ge. 

"In that case, anyone who doesn't matter, remove their tongue, anyone who does matter, submit their name to me." 

The party left and arrived at The Black Parrot Headquarters on the 23rd of the Demon Moon. This is where the session ended. 

*Black inns serve human meat 

REMEMBERING BILL

 

STAR-CROSSED BLADES OF THE GREEN PEONY SESSION XIV

This is the fourteenth session of our Star-Crossed Blades of the Green Peony campaign for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate (session I can be found HERE, session II can be found HERE, session III can be found HERE, session IV can be found HERE, Session V can be found HERE, session VI can be found HERE, Session VII can be found HERE, Session VIII can be found HERE, Session IX can be found HERE, Session X can be found HERE, Session XI can be found HERE). Session XII can be found HERE. Session XIII can be found HERE. It is set in Zhang Chang prefecture (which I hope to release a blog entry for). In this campaign, every player rolled randomly to determine who their family are, how many siblings they have and whether individual family members are still alive. The players also gave very rough sketches of their background (no more than a few sentences) and I secretly added a "20-year" backstory to each one. I have implemented a special rule in this campaign that every encounter has a 3 in 10 chance of being connected to their secret backstory in some way. Note in this session I was play testing a specific scenario and the players were made aware prior to play.

CHARACTERS

QI YUN (MASTER POET QI YUN): A roaming martial expert who has secretly learned his martial arts from two different masters (and the masters have no knowledge of one another). 

XING GE: A traveling pipa player and the son of Lu Guiying the Iron Flower. His father died when he was five, and his mother married Gongsun Yuan, the chief of Black Parrot Society. Gongsun Yuan despises Xing Ge. 

TU JIN SHI (THUNDER LEGS): A wandering fighter seeking to be the strongest and most upright hero in the region. His father, Tu Haitao sent his mother away when he was young, after being consumed by grief over the passing of Jin Shi's brother, Tian. Shortly after his father died consuming a lethal concoction in a misguided effort to become immortal. 

LU LI (THE UNFILIAL ARCHER): A traveling physician who comes from a family of successful fishermen. 

THE PAINTED MAIDEN 

Reflecting on their experience hearing a Black Parrot utter the words about the lifting the Curse at Black Parrot Lake, Xing Ge asked his men about the Tomb of the Parrot King and how it came to be cursed. They told him that when his sword was stolen ages ago, it sank and was flooded until the area became a lake. One of his men, A-Fu, said "I know where the sword is kept." And explained it was known to be an artifact of Hopping Ghost Temple. 

Believing the murders of Qi Yun's co-disciples were the most pressing matter, he then asked his men if any knew about recent rumors about Painted Maiden sightings*. They informed him, they had heard of sightings happening along the river, of bodies being found by members of Chi Song River Gang. They also said a body was found in the town of Jiaoshi. 

Xing Ge left two of his men behind to watch their new abode. They took passage on an imperial tea vessel. On the ship, Tu Jin Shi was looking for anyone who might be a painted maiden and happened to notice a famed courtesan named Gentle Moon Qin. Asking about her, he learned she was a favorite of General Lu, a minor commander in the area**. Tu Jin Shi began to follow the courtesan, but when she turned her nose up at him and walked away, he decided this was a sign she was just a normal person. 

The players knew that there was a famous inn in Jiaoshi run by a woman rumored to be a Fox Spirit, Lady Xuan Chi. They also understood, even though the city was governed by City Lord Shuang Yi, the true power in the region was the Fox Spirit and that her organization, River Spirit Sect, was quite powerful. 

They decided to go to the River Spirit Inn to speak with her. There they found a large inn upon an island in the river, shrouded in a dense mist, its multiple stories rising high into the sky, with each one offering a greater pleasure than the one below. 

They met with her on a balcony of the second story, but Tu Jin Shi's gruff ways were off-putting to her. She did explain that about a week prior, someone was found dead in one of the inn rooms, a merchant named Guo Chiang. People had said it looked like a painted maiden killed him. 

"And what would a Painted Maiden look like?" Tu Jin Shi asked. 

"Like a normal person of course," Said Lady Xuan Chi. "They can assume human form and use this to live among us and devour victims. This is just a rumor of course, the constables handled the matter."

Though she was growing more and more irritated by Tu Jin Shi's unrefined manners, when it came to her attention that Master Poet Qi Yun was among his group, she took more interest in them. 

"Did anyone interact with the merchant here before his death?" Tu Jin Shi asked. 

"Yes, a number of people did."

"Well I believe I have learned everything we can, thank you for your help."

"Do you want to know their identities?" Asked Lady Xuan Chi (at this point she was fully contemptuous of him). 

Tu Jin Shi indicated he woud very much like to know this information. 

"If Master Poet Qi Yun would honor us with an exclusive Huaben, only to be performed at my establishment, I would be willing to provide you these details." 

Qi Yun wrote a story about a beggar dreaming of ascending the 18 levels of pleasure at The River Spirit Inn***, set to music composed by Xing Ge****. 

She explained that merchant Guo Chiang had interacted with Magistrate Lao of Yue Town, who had been staying at the inn and on friendly terms with him. He also spoke with the Prefect's wife, Sun Niao. Red Cicada, a courtesan at the River Spirit Inn, had spent a night with him. And Lady Yi Huang of Huo Long Cavern Sect had spoken to Guo Chiang. 

"Why were so many influential people speaking with him?" Asked Lu Li. 

"Because he is obscenely wealthy." Said Lady Xuan Chi. 

They also found out that the body was already buried then secured a dinner audience with Red Cicada, which cost them five hundred spades. 

During the meal, they asked about what she discussed with Guo Chiang but refused to disclose that saying it was private. She did say Sun Niao had concerns about Guo Chiang's activities, and agreed that he was likely killed by a Painted Maiden. 

They pressed her further about Sun Niao and she said there were rumors she was such a creature. Explaining that people knew she was the one the prefect sent to deal with his enemies. She also confirmed that Sun Niao was the last person seen with Guo Chiang. However after telling them her suspicions about Sun Niao, Red Cicada became visibly fearful and as they were leaving she clutched Xing Ge by the hand saying and gazing at him intently "I cannot rest easy after speaking so openly about the Prefect's wife. As long as she lives I will be fearful."

Xing Ge sent a messenger pigeon to Black Parrot society asking about the Prefect's wife and all the other suspects, with instructions for the response to be sent to their nearest outpost in Lanyin. Before leaving they went to the constable and spoke with the coroner. 

The coroner confirmed that the body appeared eaten by a large mouth, and one that could be mistaken for alligator bites. He told them as well that no noise was mentioned by anyone at the inn during the time of the murder, but emphasized it was a pleasure house where such sounds could easily be misinterpreted or ignored. He also expected more papers and other items in the room, so suspected things were taken. 

When they asked if any evidence was found he handed Xing Ge a jade hairpin and said it was clutched in the dead man's hand. He also noted there were signs Guo Chiang fought back. 

Xing Ge remembered seeing the hairpin before when they first met Sun Niao on the boat. 

Before leaving the constable told them the case was effectively closed. 

This is where the session ended. 

*I had assigned an "Information Network" rating of 0d10 to his men, for occasions like this. I rolled 2d10 to take the lowest and got an 8. 

**This was intentional disinformation by her true client: Chief Patrolling Inspector Luo Sha (who was traveling in secret on the ship). 

***There are not literally 18 levels at the inn, but he chose the number for poetic reasons. 

****They both got 9s on their rolls, so the story and music were of very high quality and acceptable to Lady Xuan Chi. 

REVIEW OF STRANGE TALES OF NEW ENGLAND

Art by Jackie Musto 

I wanted to mention a great review of Strange Tales of New England over at RPG Overviews. People should check out this channel as I found his review to be very thorough. He has a massive number of reviews, including some things like reviews of the 2E Complete books (which I am a big fan of). The channel covers OSR and other types of RPGs too. The review goes into considerable detail on Strange Tales of New England so I think people will find it helpful for seeing what is inside the book. You can check out the review HERE  

If you want to check out Strange Tales of New England itself, the PDF is available at DrivethruRPG (HERE) and the print version is available at Studio 2 (HERE). 

I believe the print is currently out of stock, but that should just be a temporary issue. 

LUST FOR LOVE FOR A CHINESE COURTESAN

I recently reviewed Lust ror Love for a Chinese Courtesan (1984) at easternKicks (which you can read HERE). It is a remake by the great Shaw Brother's director Chor Yuen, of his seminal film Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan. I have talked a lot about the latter here, and it is one of my favorite movies, but this was my first time seeing Lust for Love, and watching it dispelled a lot of misconceptions I had about the movie. While I had always heard it was much more graphic than the first in terms of sexual content, and it is to a large degree, it is still a real movie and not simply an excuse to string together nude scenes. There is genuine drama behind it all.  It also tells us a very different story than the first one, and some of the most intriguing changes, like having the two female leads no longer be martial artists, take the story to unexpected places. While it certainly doesn't rival the first movie, and it shows signs of strain as a mid-80s Shaw Brothers outing, it had some good ideas. Unfortunately those ideas still mostly make it amount to mid-level entertainment for me, and some of the sex sequences veer into the unintentionally amusing (though I could be wrong and the amusement might be intentional). I am glad I saw it though as one thing it delivers is more of Lady Chun's perspective. Check out my review to see my full thoughts on Lust for Love of a Chinese Courtesan. This review was part of a two part series on the Imprint Asia boxed set that includes both Lust for Love and Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan. I highly recommend the boxed set. It has great commentary and the original film is a masterpiece. 

STAR-CROSSED BLADES OF THE GREEN PEONY SESSION XIII

This is the thirteenth session of our Star-Crossed Blades of the Green Peony campaign for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate (session I can be found HERE, session II can be found HERE, session III can be found HERE, session IV can be found HERE, Session V can be found HERE, session VI can be found HERE, Session VII can be found HERE, Session VIII can be found HERE, Session IX can be found HERE, Session X can be found HERE, Session XI can be found HERE). It is set in Zhang Chang prefecture (which I hope to release a blog entry for). In this campaign, every player rolled randomly to determine who their family are, how many siblings they have and whether individual family members are still alive. The players also gave very rough sketches of their background (no more than a few sentences) and I secretly added a "20-year" backstory to each one. I have implemented a special rule in this campaign that every encounter has a 3 in 10 chance of being connected to their secret backstory in some way. Note in this session I was play testing a specific scenario and the players were made aware prior to play.

CHARACTERS

QI YUN (MASTER POET QIN YUN): A roaming martial expert who has secretly learned his martial arts from two different masters (and the masters have no knowledge of one another). 

XING GE: A traveling pipa player and the son of Lu Guiying the Iron Flower. His father died when he was five, and his mother married Gongsun Yuan, the chief of Black Parrot Society. Gongsun Yuan despises Xing Ge. 

TU JIN SHI (THUNDER LEGS): A wandering fighter seeking to be the strongest and most upright hero in the region. His father, Tu Haitao sent his mother away when he was young, after being consumed by grief over the passing of Jin Shi's brother, Tian. Shortly after his father died consuming a lethal concoction in a misguided effort to become immortal. 

LU LI (THE UNFILIAL ARCHER): A traveling physician who comes from a family of successful fishermen. 

THE CURIOSITIES OF PREFECT DIAO YUE 

The party arrived in Shenzhou, and went immediately to the Chi Song River Gambling Hall. Tu Jin Shi played a game of "Three Dice Wagering". Not understanding how the game was played, and believing the most righteous won, he annoyed the gamblers with questions about betting. He placed a bet on number eight and won a silver tael, then gave it to another player at the table before joining the rest of the party to get rooms. 

That night, Qi Yun wrote another huaben story based on Tu Jin Shi's experience gambling, called Fortune Favors the Bold, the point of which was 'you don't need to be the luckiest person, you just need to be luckier than the unluckiest." This was in part preparation for his audience with the prefect, as he had given the only copy of his other masterpiece to a man in Naiojing to copy. When the new work was done, he knew it was almost on par with his other great work*. 

The next day they presented the Red Talisman from the Prefect's wife at the city gates and were brought to a private audience with the Prefect in his Hall of Curiosities (where he kept a collection of unusual artifacts). 

Qi Yun presented the story to the Prefect, who called in a woman to read it out loud. When she was done, he was visibly moved and impressed**. 

"My wife spoke highly of you, and you are clearly a storyteller of considerable genius! I will have a plaque commissioned in your honor to pace above the entrance to your home."

The party explained they didn't have regular living quarters and the prefect promised to have a house ready for Qi Yun by the end of the day. He also spoke with the rest of the party, saying he had heard they were all men of great capabilities. 

He then explained that he wanted their help securing a special object: the Huo Long Pearl. It was the prized relic of Huo Long Cavern Sect and people believed it enabled safe travel through bitter cold. 

Tu Jin Shi expressed some reservation and the prefect said "Their leader, Lady Yi Huang, is a bitter, vicious old woman, removing the pearl from her possession would be a service to the world."

He also clarified that he wasn't seeking to harm Lady Yi Huang, he simply wanted her pearl, and needed men who could take it without her knowing it had been stolen. 

Tu Jin Shi was still concerned if stealing the pearl was righteous. And the prefect kindly told him one of the chief virtues of the world is loyalty. "Is there anything under heaven as prized as loyalty? He asked, and this woman has broken the bonds of loyalty many times over. Whereas I, a loyal to my servants and they loyal to me. He guided Tu Jin Shi through the curiosity collection with a friendly arm extolling the virtues of loyalty and reciprocity. 

By the end of the conversation he had taken the party into his circle as 'advisers' with a 3,000 spade per month stipend. They were told to visit his manor once a day to see if he needed anything, unless they were out on another assignment. And he cheerfully told them, he would only require daily help on rare occasions. 

They retired to Qi Yun's new home, and the next day a plaque arrived that read "The Master Storyteller of Zhang Chang. whose wit and insight is unrivaled". 

The party then recalled that Tu Jin Shi possessed a butterfly sword from the son of Lady Yi Huang, that denoted him as a friend of the sect. When the issue was brought to everyone's attention, they thought to use this without Tu Jin Shi's knowledge to steal the pearl. But after Qi Yun spoke again in private with the prefect, the prefect said:

"Your companion, Xing Ge, he has a quarrel with Black Parrot society, true?"

Qi Yun confirmed this was the case. 

"I am fond of Tu Jin Shi, and would not ask him to violate a friendship. There is another pearl I covet, this one possessed by Gongsun Yuan of Black Parrot Society: The Shui Long Pearl, said to enable breathing under water. If you procure this for me instead, I think that would be just as ideal as the Huo Long Pearl."

This is where we ended the session. 

*The player rolled a 10 on his Talent Skill roll. 

**The woman also rolled 10

THE INVINCIBLE EIGHT

Lo Wei has an impressive catalog as a director, and he is someone I find reliably entertaining. He is often criticized because of his notorious failing out with Bruce Lee, and clashes with Jackie Chan's whose talents people feel he misused (though I must admit to enjoying movies like The Magnificent Bodyguards). And this concern over this drama frequently spills into points about his direction. But I think he is one of the more competent directors from that era of martial arts film making, and he was always good at keeping the action grounded in good storytelling. And while he did have conflict with stars like Chan and Lee, he also had a talent for building movies around stars (there is a strong case for him missing Jackie Chan's talent, but he succeeded i my opinion when it came to stars like Bruce Lee, Cheng Pei Pei, Lisa Chiao Chiao, Li Ching, and Jimmy Wang Yu). Films like Shadow Whip (1970), Dragon Swamp (1969), Fist of Fury (1972), Death Valley (1968), Black Butterfly (1968), The Big Boss (1971), Vengeance of a Snowgirl (1970), are all really good films, and all made within a period of about five years. Even his later movies following the Bruce Lee kerfuffle, the ones starring Jimmy Wang Yu in particular, like A Man Called Tiger (1973) and The Tattooed Dragon (1973), are still wildly entertaining.

In The Invincible Eight, he takes this skill for storytelling and utilizing talent, to craft a memorable tale of revenge, with an impressive ensemble cast. One of Golden Harvest's first films, it is filled with sharp action, memorable characters and has a clever twist that heightens the stakes. I have reviewed it before there, but I have reworked that review based on a dual viewing of the Eureka and 88 Films releases of it. 

You can see my review at easternKicks HERE to find out my thoughts.