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Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate is our wuxia RPG. It is available HERE in PDF. It should be out in print in about a month.
Characters
Peng Ke-Yen: Eccentric daughter of a merchant who goes against conventions and is notable for her white and black streaked hair. From Dashen village.
Peng Pei: Daughter of two low Yen-Li priests. Also from Dashen village.
Zhendao: A former slave of a man named Zhao.
Shin Du: A performer and actor who is a perfect shot with the bow.
Song Pei: A one-armed physician.
The party went to Jade Temple in Li Fan, where they had been told a massive piece of jade was being kept. They were hoping to use it to defeat the Plum Tree Monk and help save Sister Fox. However, they were sent by Chao, a chief of Glorious Death Cult, who only gave them the location if they swore to slaughter everyone present, except slaves.
During the journey they debated what to do. Song Pei was opposed to slaughter and wanted to get around the oath by converting all the temple nuns to slaves. Zhendao did not understand this approach and wanted to do as they had promised. Ke-Yen's only concern was her loyalty to Brother Wold and Sister Fox.
When they reached the mound where the temple was built, they crossed a field, and saw a tall old man, in jet black robes, eating from a box and laying out painting supplies. He looked to them as they approached.
They asked who he was and he explained he was Supreme Master Tung, leader of the Glorious Death Cult, here to observe the slaughter. After a brief exchange of words they went to the front entrance of the temple.
They knocked and spoke with a nun, then asked if they could speak with the head abbess. During the conversation, Song Pei explained that he wanted to avert an impending slaughter, and that Supreme Master Tung stood waiting in the fields.
"Then I will stand here to defend against him if he is after the jade," She said.
Song Pei tried to explain further but as he did, Zhendao leapt through the door and into the hall. The Abbess tried to stop him, and explained, with the help of Song Pei, that they could talk first.
When they went inside, they heard a chanting that shook their bodies to the core and drained their health slowly.
As this was going on, Ke-Yen finger flicked a stone at Supreme Master Tung and said "There will be no slaughter today!".
He arose, said "Then you will all die," and walked away slowly.
Inside the party gathered in a reception hall. The woman told them her name was Hao Min and she was the new abbess. They told her they were here for the jade.
She explained that her predecessor had shown her a report, which she had a copy of and handed to then. Soon after the report was made her predecessor vanished. She told them that the nuns of the Jade Temple were under the authority of the Temple of Jade Mercies and that it was their duty to chant to crack a massive deposit of Jade kept in their main shrine.
The report read as follows:
50th Report From Abbess Xiruo to Abbot of the
Jade Mercies
….and so I believe the tales are true that tell us the
Dutiful Empress, goddess of Meidu, was killed by a deceitful servant. I also
believe, this jade that we have been destroying slowly over time, is her body,
or at least what remains of her physical Phoenix form. The Life Keeping Stone,
the one we believe Brother Wolf possesses, this is clearly her Dragon Spirit.
Perhaps if they are combined she can be restored…
I also have a strange guess about the identity of this Plum
Tree Monk. His obsession with the Life Keeping Stone, his weakness in the
presence of the Jade, I suspect he may be the Red General, the Dutiful
Empress’s protector and lover. But he’s gone mad and forgotten who he is…..
They discussed the meaning. The woman explained that the jade was the corporeal shell, the phoenix spirit of the Dutiful Empress. She believed that if the Life-Keeping Stone was re-united with it, she could be restored. Ke-Yen explained they needed the Jade to fend off the Plum Tree Monk, and that the Life-Keeping Stone was keeping Sister Fox alive.
"But you have been misinformed" she said. "The jade won't harm the Plum Tree Monk, it can only harm him if the Life-Keeping Stone is placed inside it. And even then it will most likely just restore his mind. He is the Red General. He merely forgot his past."
Ke-Yen objected that this was all speculation on the part of her predecessor Abbess Xiruo. She acknowledge it was, but believed it was true.
As the chanting continued to harm them, the abbess decided to help. Song-Pei had begun to meditate and she placed two fingers on his forehead, which began to glow. Ke-Yen interpreted this as an attack and leapt to her friend's defense. She and the Abbess exchanged blows, but the Abbess sent her to the ground with a devastating punch, knocking her out.
She then resumed placing her fingers on Song-Pei's forehead, which transmitted a new Kung Fu technique directly to him. When she was done, he knew the Jade Wind Technique. This would enable him to resist the effect of the chanting.
However, Zhendao had left in the confusion and went into the shrine. Against the wall was an enormous, egg-shaped piece of jade. It took up an entire wall. Before it he found 20 nuns lost in a meditative chant. He slit all their throats, finding it odd that none resisted. They bleed to death and he went over to touch the jade. As he did so, a powerful sense of sorrow and guilt overwhelmed him. He sat on the ground and began to meditate.
The abbess heard the sudden silence and went into the shrine. There she quietly gathered the bodies of her nuns and prepared them for burial, saying nothing to Zhendao.
In the aftermath, it was clear Zhendao had some remorse, and the abbess told him he would have to save ten lives for every life he took to undo the evil of the slaughter. Zhendao vowed to protect the jade at all costs. She explained that she also believed the jade needed to be protected, but that Smiling Abbot was due for another inspection soon.
They discussed their options. She convinced them of the importance of restoring the Life-Keeping Stone, but Ke-Yen would only do that if she could find a way to stop the life ebbing venom. The abbess scolded her saying that Sister Fox should die, that extending her life with the life-keeping stone required regular human sacrifices and went against her fate.
However, she said if there was a cure to life ebbing venom (and she didn't think there was) the best place to look was the Tomb of the Red General, as that is where it was located in the first place.
They talked and she agreed to lie to Smiling Abbot, telling him that the Glorious Death Cult had attacked them for the jade. That would buy her and the party some time.
She told them that the tomb of the Red General was in Northern Hai'an near mount Hai'an. They should go there swiftly.
They left and took a boat to Hai'an. They traveled to Crocodile Village, where a kind woman gave them shelter and food in exchange for Song Pei teaching the Classics to her sons. During the lessons, he cleverly learned the location of the Tomb of the Red General from them. He also learned that the tomb's initial trap was a spinning room.
In the village, Zhendao spotted a steamed bun vendor and went over. The vendor handed him a bun and asked if he had anything to report. He said nothing, that he was not a Raksha anymore.
The vendor withdrew his steamed bun and provided an alternative steamed bun "I suggest you eat this then".
Zhendao said he would not do so, and insisted that he vendor eat the bun himself. He ate it and began to convulse.
Zhendao dragged the man and the cart to the woods, then returned.
They went to the tomb. They approached the main entrance, and examined the door. When they opened it, they threw something inside, and sure enough he room spun around with tremendous torque. They did it a few more times, then jammed it open and made their way inside.
This is where the session ended.
