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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.
INTO THE BANYAN
Guiying returned to the Bai Chuan Inn. Jade Swallow planned to go to Dee and told Zheng Bao to meet her there when he found the Thousand Painful Death's flower, but the party was too weak to confront the Sandstone Nun. After some discussion, Jade Swallow suggested that Guiying, Bao and Ju travel to Heiping Sect and seek instruction from Queen Lu Zhi. Knowing his mother lived nearby, Pan Ju formulated a plan to obtain the Wind Sabre of Sunan along the way.
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| Li Sou Chai, art by Jackie Musto |
On the road from Bai Chuan Inn, they encountered the Silent Erhu society once again. As they were familiar with one another, they exchanged news. The Silent Erhu told them that Perfect Heaven Lineage sect has been warning people about the party, saying they shouldn't be trusted because they seek the Thousand Painful Deaths Flower. They also told them that the group was allied with a powerful nun who resided on Mount Hai'an.
The next day they passed timber merchants, and Guiying noticed their banner resembled the fish motif on the letter from Lady Yang to the Three Elephants. When they asked where the timber was going the merchants became evasive and simply told them it had a destination. Guiying expressed interest in buying wood for a spear but they told her it was pine for ship building and would be of no use to her.
On the first leg of their journey into the Banyan proper they encountered two members of Golden Dragon Sect who were impressed to learn that Zheng Bao was Jade Swallow's disciple. One of the Golden Dragon Disciples said his name was Shen. They told him that Golden Dragon Sect would welcome them if they ventured north and warned them to be wary of Mystic Sword Sect who inhabited the area around Jin Yu.
They took the warning to heart but became lost and after a couple of days of wandering stumbled into Jin Yu, where they went to the Merciful Phoenix Tavern. There they saw numerous Mystic Sword Sect disciples dressed in white and gathered at a table. One of their members approached as the party ate and introduced herself as Ping. She asked who they were and what they were doing in the region.
Zheng Bao introduced himself and said he was the nephew of Bone Breaker and the disciple of Jade Swallow.
"This does not make sense, Jade Swallow is a great hero and would never associate with anyone connected to Bone Breaker sect."
Zheng Bao displayed his talisman, and Ping's eyes widened.
"So you are her disciple," She said. "But why are you protecting your master after she was attacked in Dee?"
"I have not heard this news. My master was ambushed?"
Ping explained that in Dee, she was indeed ambushed but survived. Word had reached them and they were heading there to assist Jade Swallow, as Lady White Blade admired her greatly.
Zheng Bao thanked her for the information and said he was on an important mission given to him by Jade Swallow and that he had to complete it before returning to her. He gave ping funds for the journey and asked her to tell Jade Swallow that "She will overcome these tribulations and and when her disciple gains strength he will join with her in Dee".
Ping gave them a sword and told them to display it as they passed by Mystic Sword Temple to avoid being harmed.
They continued on the next day and on the 19th of the Dragon Moon, they passed through a swamp where two tigers pounced on them from the scrub trees. Pan Ju killed one with kick of the golden elephant and Guiying broke the other's legs before finishing it off. Pan Ju gathered the meat and Guiying prepared the hide. Both Guiying and Zheng Bao ate one of the tiger hearts raw, but Bao became very sick for the next day and a half**.
As they traveled they encountered more tigers, but the beasts avoided them this time. Some days later they were confronted by Zun Tribesmen. The leader appeared to be a ritual master and was dressed in human bones. He demanded tribute in blood for Li Sou Chao. Pan Ju, recognizing that Li Sou Chao was the Witch of Zhaoze Zhou, his mother, advised them to pay the toll. They gave the men the other tiger heart and the Zhun were pleased, disappearing into the forest.
On the 24th day of the Dragon Moon they were surrounded by bandits who demanded all their wealth. Seeing how weak the men appeared, Guiying called them amateurs and lashed all with her Sword Whipping strike, leaving the men bleeding on the ground. Zheng Bao took the bandit's money and threw it in the mud in disgust.
The next day another group of bandits flanked them, but seemed more bold. They too demanded the party's valuables but Zheng Bao said "A days travel east, are the bodies of the men who tried to rob us like yourselves. I suggest you depart before you face the same fate."
Sensing his power, the bandits withdrew.
They reached the Swamp of Zhaoze Zhou and assembled a raft. Along the way they saw a woman dressed in green, who seemed to be a nun. She looked battered and said her name was Lin. She asked them what their business was with the witch. Pan Ju said they were from Hai'an and heard rumors about her, that he needed to speak with her on a personal matter. The party offered to have Zheng Bao tend her wounds, but she said it would be inappropriate for a man to touch her and left.
On the fourth day of the Butterfly Moon they passed by more nuns, dressed similar to tin. The nuns asked if they had seen a woman wearing green and a conical hat, pass by. The party learned the group had a battle, with whom they could not say, and had lost their sister, who was injured, in the fray.
Zheng Bao flashed his talisman and the women offered more information saying they had gone to the fight the Witch of Zhaoze Zhou to take the Wind Sabre of Sunan, but were defeated.
Later that day, the party found Li Sou Chao's hut and lashed their raft onto the wooden platforms that formed a kind of walkway in the swamps. Bodies of nuns in green robes were strewn across the platforms. Pan Ju greeted his mother and began cooking tiger meat for her.
"I need the wind sabre Mother," Said Pan Ju.
"What makes you worthy of the wind saber? You have no achievements."
"We have to confront the Sandstone Nun and she is too powerful for us."
"I will give it to you temporarily, so you can deal with this nun, but you must avoid Heiping Sect at all cost."
"Why must I avoid Heiping Sect mother?"
"Because I stole the Wind Sabre from them and killed their leader, Lu Feiyan," She said.
Later that night, she gave the wind saber to Pan Ju. Then she trained him over the course of two weeks, teaching him her storming needles technique. Pan Ju also used the time to practice the Wind Sabre.
*It is a nearly month-long trek to Heiping Sect from where they started, and the TNs for Survival Rolls in the Banyan are high, as the Banyan. And so they had numerous encounters. However most were either social in nature or not a huge threat, merely a delay.
**This was a simple Endurance Roll to avoid getting sick.
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