HEAVENLY FRAGRANCE CAMPAIGN SESSION 16-17

These were the sixteenth and seventeenth sessions 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.

Fu Yao: The newest member of the party. Not much is known about his past but he specializes in Qinggong. 

Campaign Note: Due to learning an evil technique, Bao Long's eyes changed, so that his whites became black and his pupils white. And due to the acquisition of another evil technique he has gained the Lust for Divinity Flaw. 

DREAMS OF IMMORTALITY

The party decided that Dancing Corpse Wan Mei must become an immortal if she were to face the Ladies of the Dawn. They initially hired a teacher to help instruct the group and then learned of the powerful Iron Heart Sect on Ro-Fish Island. They chose to go there in hopes of learning the secrets of Immortality. 

The journey to the island was 35 days by sea. It had dense forest and an active town, which they bypassed in favor of reaching a vast pagoda mountain. They were given an audience inside with Abbot Zhizun Xie. Hearing their plight, he agreed to take them in as students and explained they were a dual sect, a union of Hen-Shi followers and Dehuans. 

He stared into each of their eyes and narrated their crimes from previous lives. Then he sent them to Ro-Fish Hall, where they were given black and red robes and introduced to Master Qixia. 

SANDSTONE ABBOT 

On Ro-Fish Island the party trained under the guidance of Master Yao Qixia. She instructed them in Tremoring Step and helped improve their overall technique then informed them that they would be placed under the care of Sandstone Abbot Liang for an extended period of time. 

Sandstone Abbot Liang greeted the party upon the training platform the next morning and said "I heard there is a demon terrorizing the northern shores of the island. I want you to go and defeat it."

Art by Jackie Musto 

As they inquired about the demon they learned that it was an underwater creature that had killed several pearl fishers from the northern coastal villages. As it had only been in the ocean, they would be expected to face it there. But most of the party didn't swim, so Sandstone Abbot Liang took them to the beach and taught them to swim. Dancing Corpse Wan Mei was sent elsewhere to train on her own. 

"Are you related to the Sandstone Nun?" Asked Fu Yao 

"She is a vile woman. I belonged to the same cult as she," Said the Abbot. 

"I defeated her!" Said Bao Long. "In Glorious combat."

"Impressive," Said Sandstone Abbot Liang. "I did not expect you to be such a talent. I will show my admiration by making this exercise easier for you."

He then taught them a technique for breathing underwater. 

The players then went to the pearl fishing villages where they spoke with the locals who claimed many had perished in the sea due to the demon. 

They described the creature as vast and crab-like. Then they agreed to take the party with them for pearl diving where it was likely to strike. 

Out on a small vessel amid men diving for pearls, they saw a large crab, the size of a small mountain, with four claws. 

They dove down to the crab ready to ambush it, but Fu Yao attempted to communicate by writing in the sand. To his surprise the crab understood and responded. 

"We do not wish to harm you," He wrote. "We can come to an arrangement."

"No," Wrote the crab. "I have been ordered by the Abbot to spar with you."

They discovered that he crab was actually a protector of the island and this was simply part of their training. They fought the crab and were able to hurt it enough that it stopped attacking by going after its underbelly. 

Returning to the Abbot he explained that they would need to train in fighting the crab beneath the sea so they could fight underwater whenever it was needed. They spent a month doing so and greatly improved their ability to move and attack in the ocean. 

When it was done, the Abbot gathered them and explained he had a real mission for them. 

"Soon you will be ready to face your fated calamities," He said. "But first you must go to White Jade Island. It was once inhabited by peaceful scholars but was taken over by a witch and the whole place coated in ice. I want you defeat or subdue her. When you return you can face your calamities. 

On the island they found a town with a hundreds of frozen Hechi. They seemed to have been the original inhabitants. They searched a nearby temple and found the statue of a Goddess they did not recognize. Exploring further they saw that a mountain peak in the center of the Island, seemed more like a palace. 

As they made their observation, the frozen Hechi began to turn and move towards them.