PATHS FROM NOWHERE SESSION SIX

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. 

GUIYING COMPLETES HER TRAINING

Guiying finished her training with Mrs. Wu and learned the Leg Taking Sword technique. Mrs. Wu then handed a medallion with a mantis on it to Pan Ju and instructed him to go to Southern Hill sect where Yellow Mantis would teach give him martial arts training. 

Meanwhile Zheng Bao was still held captive by Jade Swallow, who gave him a choice: work with her in bringing Spear Immortal Xiang Di to justice or face justice himself. He agreed to kill Spear Immortal and bring his body to the Autumn Inn. 

Jade Swallow fed him a fried omelet, then knocked him out. He awakened near a stream and went to the Autumn Inn and explained his situation to Guiying and Ju. They discussed all possible strategies and agreed to help by setting a trap. 

Zheng Bao went back to the Silver Spear School and told Spear Immortal Xiang Di about his fight with Jade Swallow and how she held him captive. He then told his master that Jade Swallow wished to have a one-on-one duel with him at a nearby bridge. Bao pleaded with Spear Immortal to take men with him but he insisted on facing her alone, with Zheng Bao as his witness. 

At the bridge, Guying stood in disguise as Jade Swallow while Pan Ju hid laid in hiding. 

"So Jade Swallow, you dare to offend me with you...." his words were instantly cut off as Zheng Bao impaled him from behind with his own spear technique. Pan Ju quickly finished him with a hail of daggers. 

They brought his body to the Autumn Inn where Mrs. Wu told them to place it in a shed. 

That night they infiltrated the Silver Spear School and raided the treasury with a key taken from Spear Immortal's body. They stole his Silver Spear Manual, 16 silver taels and took a red dress with a note that said "To my daughter". 

When they were done, Zheng Bao gave the key to the most selfish and rude student, Kang,  at the school and told the others he was departing as there was no point in remaining with Spear Immortal dead. But he instructed Kang to fairly distributed the contents of the treasury in the morning. 

Jade Swallow arrived to take the body, and also took Zheng Bao as her student, teaching him to work with axes over the course of a week, then teaching him Yin Yuan's Axe Trap. When they were finished she instructed him to meet her at the Bai Chuan Inn in a month. 

With that Zheng Bao, Pan Ju and Xiang Guiying headed south to seek Southern Hill Sect so Pan Ju could learn from Yellow Mantis. 

THE DEATH OF TOWERING BEAUTY 

On the way to Southern Hill Fortress, they were blocked by a tall figure on a bridge. Towering Beauty Ouyang Li. Her face coated in a flaking red hand print. 

"We have unsettled business Xiang Guiying!"

"Let us pass, we have no quarrel."

"You killed Yin Zhi and will pay the price."

"He was a cruel murderer, killing him was just."

Towering Beauty prepared drew back her sword preparing to strike. Pan Ju unleashed a swarm of daggers on Towering Beauty, which riddling her torso. Then Zheng Bao used his Immortal Spear technique and sliced her but without lethal intent, she fell in a spray of blood. 

Pan Ju tended to her wounds and Guiying addressed her when she awoke. 

"Your friend was wicked person, would you seek justice for every evil that is extinguished in Hai'an. Are you prepared to fight person after person over for ignoble filth?"

Towering Beauty stared at her with som confusion. 

"I will spare you," Said Guiying. "Consider this grudge settled."

After a moment Towering Beauty said, "Yes, you have won."

"Go live your life," said Guiying. And she and the rest of the party continued on the road towards Southern Hill Fortress. 

"Sister, if you come by Hening, I would like to buy more of your statues soon!" Towering Beauty shouted as they departed. 

THE PEARL TIGER 

As they moved through the southern bamboo forest, Pan Ju was attacked by a Pearl Tiger that leapt from the darkness. However its claws failed to land and Pan Ju killed it with his kick of the golden elephant technique. They took the pelt and butchered the meat then Zheng Bao and Xiang Guiying once again at a Pearl Tiger heart and fell into a deep sleep. 

YELLOW MANTIS AND THE SWARMING BEGGARS 

The Next Day they made their way to Southern Hill Fortress where they met with Yellow Mantis and explained that Mrs. Wu had given them the mantis medallion hoping her would train Pan Ju. 

Old but with the vigor of a much younger man, Yellow Mantis took Pan Ju to his hall and demonstrated a rapid hand strike without verbal instruction. They remained there for two weeks while Pan Ju observed and tried to understand, eventually mastering the basics of The Many Indignities of Yellow Mantis. Because Pan Ju did not ask to learn more after he finished his instruction and bid them farewell, Yellow Mantis asked them to stay longer so he could teach Pan Ju Clasp of the Mantis. 

While she was waiting for Pan Ju to finish his training, Guiying travelled along the river with Green Mantis who instructed her in the finer arts of wilderness survival. She noticed that the monkeys that crowded the banks of the river revered him and almost treated him as a sifu, even imitating his martial arts. Noticing this, he encouraged her to work with one of his monkeys and slowly it started to imitate Xiang Guiyang's movements as she learned to handle and care for it. 

Before they left there was a modest New Years celebration and they departed to meet Jade Swallow at the appointed time. 

Note: For this campaign I am using a freeform approach to progression where players simply increase skills or gain techniques as they learn them, with each skill simply requiring an amount of time that seems right for their level of skill and what they are learning. This means they advance in level when they learn a technique of that Qi Rank.