HEAVENLY FRAGRANCE SESSION ONE

This was the first session of my Heavenly Fragrance Campaign, a living adventure prepared using tools and procedures discussed in the Wuxia Sandbox blog posts. This campaign is intended to play as a sandbox but with more dramatic elements. It is a two player campaign where run in what I call "Condor Heroes Mode", where characters begin with only one Kung Fu technique, their family background established and connected to the setting, and using a level advancement system based on encounters with higher level masters who train them. It also makes use of a campaign Shake-Up table, rolled once each session, to manage an unfolding background situation (see STATE OF THE MARTIAL WORLD). I will include footnotes to explain what procedures were invoked during play. The campaign is set in Fan Xu, largely using the Sons of Lady 87 book. 

CHARACTERS

Bao Long: An orphaned street urchin who was adopted by Lady Eighty-Seven's son, Guan Shisu after he came to the aid of Guan Shisu's daughter, Little Guan Hua. All he knows about his background is that his mother died when he was young. Bao Long has been taught some martial arts by Lady Eighty-Four, Yuhuan. Bao Long is a bit dim-witted but tough. 

Little Guan Hua: The daughter of Guan Shisu and the disciple of Guan Nuan. Little Guan Hua is cowardly and feeble, but intelligent. 

SET-UP

Using the wealth and connections of their family, and Little Guan Hua's business savvy, the PCs have established a bath bean manufacturing business in Mai Cun. They have three levels of quality bean they sell, and have figured out a way to grow wealth through a network of shops in the region. At the beginning of the first session, they will have a manufacturing facility, guards, etc. They are going to spend the early adventures setting up shops in different towns, which will open up sources of revenue. The name of their venture is the Heavenly Fragrance Association. 

TO WU ZHEN 

Art by Jackie Musto 

Little Guan Hua went to the market and bought three jade combs for her Sifu, Guan Nuan. These were very expensive and in the likeness of a fox, an owl and a bear. Guan Nuan was pleased with the gift but concerned about her martial talents, saying she needed to train more. Little Guan Hua promised to do so.  

Having established a facility for the production of bath beans in Mai Cun, the party planned a venture to expand. Little Guan Hua and Bao Long, went with a crate of bath bean to Wu Zhen, where their father, Guan Shisu, was the magistrate. There they hoped to open a shop for the bath beans, using his political connections. They arrived safely, traveling by carriage with their body guard Chang Rong. Once there they met with Guan Shisu, he told them he would get any property they wished for their business in the city. They picked a spot and stayed the evening at their father's manor. 

During the night a servant brought a gourd with a message to 'Little Guan Hua'. She didn't see who sent it, but it was addressed to the magistrate's daughter. Opening the message it read: 

Mr. Bao Long and Miss Guan Hua. I have news of an impending attack on your production facility. Meet me south of Wu Zhen in the southern wheat fields. You have enemies in your ranks. 

Concerned they went to their father, who said he could send men to investigate the matter. However Little Guan Hua felt she needed to prove herself to her sifu and opted to go with Bao Long on their own. They chose not to take Chang Rong with them, but Guan Shisu assigned  sheriff Lin Ragua and ten constables to go as protection.

Approaching the fields they saw a figure in the distance and Little Guan Hua called out to them only to be met with silence. 

As she was about to speak again, a woman with wild hair and an ugly, disfigured face leapt from behind stalks of wheat and landed with a clutching hand on Sheriff Lin Ragua's head. A blaze of energy flowed from him into her body and he dropped dead to the ground*. 

Little Guan Hua ran away as the woman lashed out with a fly whisk, killing all the constables in a single motion. Fearful that her brother would be killed Little Guan Hua turned and asked the woman who she was and what she wanted. 

"I am Wan Mei. Come with me and I will let you live."**

"Why do you want us to come with you?"

She pointed to Bao Long. "I must find his father."

"Sure you can seek an audience with our father without all this," Little Guan Hua said. 

"Not Guan Shisu," Said Wan Mei. "His birth father, Fan Batu. He will help me find Fan Batu. Enough talk!"

Fearing the woman would strike them dead, they went with her, north to an abandoned temple. There she put them in a crude cell with a water basin and food. They asked what she knew about Bao Long's father. 

"He is a very bad man," She said. "He killed my husband and murdered my children. I can show you proof of his crimes if you travel south two days with me in the morning."

They both expressed sympathy for her loss and this softened her disposition. Little Guan Hua told Wan Mei they would happily go with her to see the evidence against Fan Batu. 

In the morning they set out and travelled two days. Along the way they passed a merchant caravan and sent word back to their father that they were safe and would return. Wan Mei made sure they included a note that the Sheriff and his constables died due to their own foolishness. Little Guan Hua was careful to explain in the message that according to the judgement of Wan Mei, the Sheriff and the constables own actions led to their deaths. 

She brought them to a ruined settlement called Oriole Village and showed them a tablet in the center of town that read: 

On this spot Fan Batu defeated Fu Fanfei and his wretched wife and fathomed the wisdom of the Yao Yun Sea. Beneath this spot Fu Fanfei and his wretched wife are buried. 

Wan Mei explained that she was buried with her husband Fu Fanfei and crawled from the grave. Fan Batu must have mistaken her for dead. But she wanted to use Bao Long to lure out Fan Batu. 

Seeing that his father was truly cruel and wicked, Bao Long agreed to help Wan Mei. Little Guan Hua also agreed. 

"I am not yet powerful enough to face Fan Batu on my own, if I teach you will you help me to defeat him?"

They both agreed and formally kowtowed to Wan Mei as their new teacher. 

She then began their training and assessed their skills. Over the course of the next month she would teach each one a new technique. She also began to work on Little Guan Hua's physical conditioning, which was pitiful in her estimation. 

*This was a surprise round. They failed their detect to see her in the wheat fields. The figure in the distance was just a crude model of a person made from metal and cloth. 

** At the start of the session I had the players roll a d10 on the Campaign Shake-up table. The result was: Dancing Corpse learns that Bao Long is the son of Fan Batu. Dancing Corpse is Wan Mei's martial nickname. I figured she would stalk the players until she found a way to intimidate them into helping her find Fan Batu. She is very powerful but it didn't seem to be a big issue as she was interested in killing Fan Batu, not harming his son. If anything turning the son against the father would please her. I didn't expect the PCs to be sympathetic to her, and was expecting they would make efforts to escape. But they believed her version of events and felt she was justified in seeking revenge. Obviously the death of Lin Ragua and his constables isn't a small matter and could become important down the road.