PATHS FROM NOWHERE SESSION SEVEN

This is a sandbox campaign for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate, operating in "Condor Heroes Mode". I used a lot of the procedures described in the wuxia sandbox posts. It is a campaign with three players. Before the campaign started we spent time establishing their family connections, rolling randomly for both their mothers and fathers (normally only one parent is randomly rolled, but in this case we wanted characters with potentially scandalous backgrounds). These characters each started play with just one Kung Fu Technique. 

CHARACTERS

XIANG GUIYING: The daughter of Jade Fist of Twin Fisted Eagle sect and Pale Fox, a notorious bandit. She is seeking pelts from Pearl Tigers. She is beautiful but wears a disguise to hide this from others. 

ZHENG BAO: Short and burly, he is the son of Zhang San of Bone Breaking Sect and of Reckless Storm. However San is married to Chen and has maintained the presence that Bao is Chen's son. Unfortunately due to crucial background information, Chen knows that Bao cannot be his son so is distant. Zheng Bao's uncle, Bone Breaker, is fond of him. He is seeking the Thousand Painful Deaths Flower to please his uncle. 

PAN JU (MOGHA): The son of the Witch of Zhaoze Zhou and Nergui Mogha, Pan Ju grew up in the Kushen Basin but has returned to the Banyan and Hai'an, where he knows his mother resides.  

BAI CHUAN INN AND THE MANY BANDED KRAIT  

The party left Southern Hill Sect, and Xiang Guiying took her new monkey companion, Peach, with her for the journey. Along the way they spotted an approaching group of 14 Perfect Heaven Lineage nuns and priests. They had passed the same group a while back, and the interaction was negative but non-violent. The party bowed to the passing priests and nuns, but this was not reciprocated. Deciding it wasn't worth risking their lives over, they ignored the insult and continued on their way*. 

At the Bai Chun Inn they saw a place filled with scholars playing games and drinking tea. The waiter brought them to a table on the second floor where Jade Swallow was already waiting. She instructed them not to eat or drink anything at the inn, as the scholars often played deadly games with poison to see who could kill someone first. 

As they told her about their journey, they noticed a man slump over at one of the other tables, but the patrons largely ignored this. Bao Long then observed three hulking men wearing golden elephant bands and dressed in silver robes glowering at them. He looked at Jade Swallow and she told him to go ask the them if there was a problem. 

Bao Long made pleasantries and politely asked if they were looking at his master. 

"Oh, so you are the student of that fetid piece of trash?" Said the leader. 

"I am her student and she is no piece of trash, what gives you the right to insult her in this way?"

"She killed our sworn brother."

"You must be mistaken sirs, anyone my master has killed would have been guilty of terrible crimes themselves. But I will go let her answer the accusation properly." Turning to leave and ask his master about the matter, Bao Long sensed movement behind him and turned around just as one of the men launched a mighty kick from high in the sky down upon his head. 

The blow was devastating, and left Bao Long shaken. Within seconds a massive melee ensued. Pan Ju unleashed the Many Indignities of Yellow Mantis upon one of them, and Bao Long shed their blood with Spear of the Immortal. The men came at them with furious kicks, an endless variety of spinning leg strikes that left Bao Long quite debilitated and near death. Jade Swallow sent her axes flying at the men, slicing through them in one swift attack. The first man to die fell from Pan Ju's butterfly swords and Bao Long finished them off with his spear technique. 

They took the bodies to Jade Swallow's room there she instructed Bao Long to rest and heal, and told Xiang Guiying to bury the bodies outside. 

Guiying carried the bodies, but noticed a jangle of money. Searching them when she was safe from view, she found 14 silver taels and a letter in an envelop embossed with fish motifs. She read the letter. 

To our dear friends, the Three Elephants. I am saddened to inform you that my father, Spear Immortal Xiang Di, was killed by the ruthless axes of Jade Swallow. I have written to you because I know my father valued your loyalty. 

Lady Yang 

The group was amused to learn that Bao Long had killed the men with their sworn brother's famous technique. They spent time resting at the Inn and Jade Swallow began training Bao Long in a new technique. Guiying snuck out and made her way to the Many Banded Krait in Qing Lu. There she waited till nightfall and crept to the windows of the brothel, where she saw Hero Feng asleep in the arms of a woman, the lady's snake skin robe hanging from the nearby wall. 

Using her leg taking strike she siezed the opportunity, leaping in and slicing off Hero Feng's leg. He awoke screaming and appearing greatly confused. The woman flew into the air, wrapping herself in her robe and making several unusual attacks with her fingers reared up like snakes. Guiying whirled out of the way and lied "This is punishment for those women you raped in Hening Hero Feng!" then used her great stride ability to disappear through the window. 

While Guiying was away, Jade Swallow finished teaching Bao Long the Thunder Fist technique and Pan Ju studied more about medicine. Jade Swallow asked Bao Long what he was planning to do, and he told her he still needed to find the Many Painful Deaths Flower. She told him to meet her in Dee when he was done and gave him a medallion with her insignia. 

*This is an example of how I handle encounters that come up more than once in a campaign. In session two I made a roll after they failed their Survival skill on the encounter table for the Swarming Beggars region of Hai'an. The result was Perfect Heaven Lineage Disciples. So they had an encounter that turned negative (I had decided one member was a little favorable to them but one of the nuns was not after she made a skill check for Sects). This session I got that same result on the random encounter table so decided it was the same group, which explains the disrespect they showed the party. In my campaign file I have a note on this group of Perfect Heaven Lineage Disciples and why they are in the area. I also have a stat block on the nun who is particularly hostile to them, as she is slightly different Qi rank than the rest of the group and has personal details explaining her hostility.