STAR-CROSSED BLADES OF THE GREEN PEONY SESSION XV

This is the fifteenth 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). Session XII can be found HERE. Session XIII can be found HERE. It is set in Zhang Chang prefecture (which I hope to release a blog entry for). Session XIV can be found HERE. 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 (MASTER POET 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. 

PAINTED DEATHS AND DEMON EMPERORS 

Making their way to Lanyin, the party stayed at the Tu Association Headquarters and discovered that Wan Lu, the man that had sold them steamed buns along the roadside, had in fact come to them to hire escorts to transport goods to the Green Raksha Inn. Tu Jin Shi's brother said he believed it was a black inn*.

Xing Ge, after getting word from The Black Parrot Society, explained that Guo Chiang, before he was killed at the River Spirit Inn, had been planning to level a formal accusation of Tea Theft at the Prefect. Such an accusation was serious with a penalty of strangulation. The Black Parrot Society also confirmed rumors that the prefect's wife was a demon or spirit. He had asked about Lady Yi Huang as well, and the message included a note from his mother saying Lady Yi Huang was a terrible person who must be killed. 

Qi Yun went with Xing Ge to find Jade Priestess in the wilderness. When they found her, they explained that it was their belief that Lady Sun Niao was instigating the conflict between Lively Luan Sect and the Demon Moon Cult. 

"Perhaps she suspects my motives for encouraging you to befriend her husband," Jade Priestess mused. "We will have to address that, but in the meantime, I have wonderful news. Lively Luan is wiped out, only Lady Luan survives. She is hiding somewhere in the prefecture, so if you find her, kill her and bring me her head in a box."

"May I ask," Said Qi Yun. "What is our motivation for befriending the prefect?"

"To align ourselves with the empire," Said Jade Priestess. "We venerate the demon emperor, and it is our belief the Glorious Emperor is staging his return. Some even believe he is Yao-Feng himself. And of course, the prefect is known to deal with exotic supernatural things, we may be able to learn powerful rituals if we are connected to him personally."

Xing Ge excused himself from their presence and she then instructed Qi Yun in Illuminating Ice Claw, as well as a ritual of offering to the Demon Emperor that required a human sacrifice. She explained it was a powerful ritual that allowed the caster to receive a gift from the Demon Emperor. 

THE WORD OF RED JADE MANSION 

The party returned to River Village, so Lu Li could join with his brother and take him with them to find their parents who had been abducted by Black Leopard Sect. When they arrived, he was using a firelance and bow, and thanked Tu Jin Shi for the give. 

"I gave you no such thing," Said Tu Jin Shi.

"It was left with a note from 'Your martial uncle' so I assumed it was you Uncle Tu Jin Shi."

They speculated on who could have sent it, concluding there were a number of possibilities. The firelance was of high quality metal, something that could be passed down for generations. 

Xing Ge sent another pigeon to Black Parrot Society asking if the location of Black Leopard Sect were known, and where he could learn the Fists of Yanshi techniques. Before going to Black Parrot Society to get a response to the queries and address some other concerns, they made a detour to Senzhou. Once there they made their daily appearance before the Prefect in his curio hall, where he asked to speak to Qi Yun alone. 

"My wife has recommended a master that aligns well with your natural aptitudes. Do what you want with this information, but she recommends you seek out Master Tu Yu of Jade Moon Sabre Sect."

"Sabre doesn't sound like it would be suitable for my style," Qi Yun said. 

"My understanding is once you meet him, you will understand that his style is a perfect fit."

Qi Yun thanked him and Xing Ge asked for a private audience before they left. After he greeted the prefect Xing Ge asked if any evidence had been obtained regarding Gongsun Yuan. 

"You were right to come to me about this matter as it seems your stepfather is indeed guilty of terrible things. I have in possession this sworn testimony from the Master of Red Jade Mansion. In his words, he witnessed Gongsun Yuan boast the following: "I killed Dao Zheng and took his wife....HA. HA. HA." 

Xing Ge thanked him and took a copy of the testimony. "I must also report something unsavory I am afraid. While conducting our investigation into the killing of Guo Chiang, we found people spreading rumors about your wife."

The prefect quaked visibly and clenched his fists in rage. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Cut out the tongues of anyone spreading these vile rumors, let all know we will not tolerate rumor-mongering in this prefecture!"

"I am afraid some of the people spreading these falsehoods were members of high society," Said Xing Ge. 

"In that case, anyone who doesn't matter, remove their tongue, anyone who does matter, submit their name to me." 

The party left and arrived at The Black Parrot Headquarters on the 23rd of the Demon Moon. This is where the session ended. 

*Black inns serve human meat