STAR-CROSSED BLADES OF THE GREEN PEONY SESSION XII

This is the twelfth session of our Star-Crossed Blades of the Green Peony campaign for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate (session I can be found HERE, session II can be found HERE, session III can be found HERE, session IV can be found HERE, Session V can be found HERE, session VI can be found HERE, Session VII can be found HERE, Session VIII can be found HERE, Session IX can be found HERE, Session X can be found HERE, Session XI can be found HERE). It is set in Zhang Chang prefecture (which I hope to release a blog entry for). In this campaign, every player rolled randomly to determine who their family are, how many siblings they have and whether individual family members are still alive. The players also gave very rough sketches of their background (no more than a few sentences) and I secretly added a "20-year" backstory to each one. I have implemented a special rule in this campaign that every encounter has a 3 in 10 chance of being connected to their secret backstory in some way. Note in this session I was play testing a specific scenario and the players were made aware prior to play.

CHARACTERS

QI YUN: A roaming martial expert who has secretly learned his martial arts from two different masters (and the masters have no knowledge of one another). 

XING GE: A traveling pipa player and the son of Lu Guiying the Iron Flower. His father died when he was five, and his mother married Gongsun Yuan, the chief of Black Parrot Society. Gongsun Yuan despises Xing Ge. 

TU JIN SHI (THUNDER LEGS): A wandering fighter seeking to be the strongest and most upright hero in the region. His father, Tu Haitao sent his mother away when he was young, after being consumed by grief over the passing of Jin Shi's brother, Tian. Shortly after his father died consuming a lethal concoction in a misguided effort to become immortal. 

LU LI (THE UNFILIAL ARCHER): A traveling physician who comes from a family of successful fishermen. 

ALLIGATOR IN THE WATER, ZHEN BIRD IN THE SKY

Qi Yun and the party went to the Lively Luan Sect, and found them all in mourning before an alt dedicated to one of their senior leaders: Gu Yijun. They observed to rituals and niceties, and the sect, true to its ways, did not allow mourning to interfere with their attention to fashion, as their mourning robes were glittered with crystalline element in the fabrics. 

Tu Jin Shi struggled to maintain the dignity of the moment and a stray expression attracted Lady Luan's ire, who left the chamber and summoned Qi Yun and his party to an audience hall. 

There Qi Yun reported what he had achieved and showed her his book, The Heroic Deeds of Tu Jin Shi, an exaggerated account of their exploits, rendered in the vernacular style of storytellers found in teahouses throughout the region*. 

Lady Luan declared it a masterpiece**, and insisted Qi Yun spread the story through the teahouses and wine houses, encouraging him to have copies made. 

She then explained that Gu Yigun had been found dead ten miles south along the river. According to a passing merchant who claimed to witness everything, he had been attacked by an alligator, which was odd as they were quite rare, and usually not so deadly to a skilled master like Gu Yigun. 

"I pressed the merchant for further details as this attracted my suspicions," Said Lady Luan. "And he did recall seeing a Zhen Bird that matches the description of the bird that follows Jade Priestess of the Demon Moon sect. We had the body examined and also found evidence of butterfly sword wounds and claw techniques."

Lady Luan allowed the information to settle in then continued "It is known that Jade Priestess can assume the form of an alligator. And further she prefers butterfly swords and is a master of the Blue Claw Technique. So I have issued an order: all members of our sect are to kill the nefarious Demon Moon Cultists and Jade Priestess on sight!"

The party asked who the merchant was so they could get more information from him, and she said a man named Gu Lieh, who likely was on his way to Black Parrot Hall. After further niceties, they left and headed to the river bank where the murder happened. 

At the site, they saw that it seemed like a high traffic area, perhaps for fishing. So they followed a trail and found a small village of about 120 people. At a nearby wineshop they asked about for rumors and sat for a drink when they noticed a Zhen Bird in a nearby tree. 

Qi Yun left to look for Jade Priestess, knowing the Zhen Bird was probably her companion. While he was dealing with that matter, the rest of the party talked to a fisherman who witnessed everything. He saw a woman fighting a man, and said her robes were black. He tried to approach but when he got closer, he only saw the man fending off an alligator and no woman to be seen. He also confirmed that he had seen the woman use a terrifying claw attack, describing her hand as horrible and clawed. He also confirmed the man fought with a parasol. 

When Qi Yun reached the woods, he saw the silhouette of Jade Priestess. As he came into the moonlight, she looked disheveled. 

"Someone has killed my disciples!" She said. 

Qi Yun asked for clarity and she explained that her two disciples, Xuan and Gao went missing recently. She followed the trail and learned from the Nature Loving Monk chief at Immortal Bat Cavern that his men had talked to the disciples and gathered they were heading to Niaojing to meet someone from Lively Luan sect named Qin An. It was uncharacteristic for them not to communicate with her regularly and she feared they were dead or captured. Jade Priestess explained they were likely gathering information about the Prefect. Then she instructed Qi Yun to kill any members of the Lively Luan sect who crossed his path. 

They were able to get free rooms and food and wine, after Qi Yun did a recital of his great work and got an enthusiastic reception. That evening as they slept, all but Tu Jin Shi were awakened by a cawing at the window. There, its talons clutching the sill, was an enormous black parrot, with a wingspan of at least ten feet. 

It stared at Xing Ge and began to chant in a very human voice "Return the Sword of the Parrot King to lift the curse". The words rose in volume, causing their ear drums to vibrate and the parrot repeated the phrase over and over. It began to hurt their bodies. 

They leafed through the Gazetteer of the Yiaoguai they'd acquired and found information on the Parrot King. According to the book he was once a powerful general of Chezou during there Era of the Five Kingdoms, who was known for being fond of parrots and was ultimately assassinated by the Hai'anese and Golden Dragons on the even of a major battle. They also read that his tomb was sank beneath black parrot lake after thieves stole his sword and that the Black Parrot Society possessed a pearl believed to allow people to breathe underwater.

As they gained this knowledge, the parrot grew louder and louder till Tu Jin Shi was awakened and it was clear this was becoming a danger to them all. 

"Alright! Xing Ge will deal with the matter in time! Now go off!" He returned to sleep when the parrot flew away. 

THE JAWS OF NIAOJING

On their way to Niaojing they passed at tall man with gray hair and a load of steamed buns. He offered to sell the party some and Tu Jin Shi accepted. The man said his name was Wan Lu and he was on his way to the Black Parrot Society to hire an escort company to help him transport goods. They suggested he look into the Tu Association and he promised to do so. 

In Niaojing, Qi Yun hired a master storyteller to recite his story. It was such a success the man asked to borrow it to find a way to print copies. The next morning he asked to keep the book for at least a week so the copies could be made and Qi Yun agreed. 

In town they found out that Jade Priestess' disciples bodies were pulled from the river 15 days or so ago. They reportedly had been fighting with men using umbrellas. However when the party asked if the men with parasols were well dressed, they were told that they were not, but had dressed in normal looking robes, nothing truly special (this was odd as members of Lively Luan Sect always dress in the latest fashions, and to not do so is a violation of their rules). 

They found the official responsible for the inquest and he informed them that the bodies had been eaten by something. 

"Was there any evidence they were attacked by parasols?" Lu Li asked. 

"Who knows," Said the official. "There were just parts of limbs left really. It looks like they were eaten by something."

"An alligator?" Asked Qi Yun.

"No, I've seen plenty of alligator attacks. They have to work to get the flesh and bone. The bone was cut clean in two. Whatever did it had much sharper and more powerful jaws than an alligator."

They asked if it could have been an unusual Kung Fu technique.

"Perhaps," Said the official. 

They asked if it could have been a Raksha and he said that seemed more probable than an alligator. 

"Has there been anything in recent years that has left this kind of body in its wake?" asked Lu Li. 

"There was a painted maiden about ten years ago maybe. Similar kinds of wounds."

They asked what a painted maiden was and he explained they were demons who painted human skin over their bodies, often quite beautiful and intelligent. But they could devour people with large jaws. 

This is where the session ended. 

*This is loosely modeled after the Huaben form  

**The player rolled a 10 for this portion of the book