Tuesday, January 31, 2017

DISPOSABLE DISCIPLES SESSION 33: THE RED MISTS OF DEE

This is a log for my ongoing Disposable Disciples of Bone Kingdom campaign. You can see the previous session HERE. 

Player Characters: 

Shen Chun
Little Bai
Silent Dagger
Ong Lao
Min (Feiyan)

Disciples of the Sect: 

Red Eagle (Little Bai)
Mount Dao/Biggest Sister (Little Bai)
Filial Cricket (Little Bai)
Dim-Witted Chen (Shen Chun)

Sects: 

The Righteous Outlaws
Calamity Star
Ou Jinghzhu
Tea Master Houzhou

Stone Palace Sect (Also called Golden Way)

A gambling hall and criminal network in Yun Hu. Currently under control of party, with Weeping Lotus managing it. They've absorbed many other sects into this organization including Crocodile Sect, Blades of the Weeping Lotus, Temple of the Jade Mercies, Relentless Corpse Sect and more. Recently they joined with Relentless Corpse again when Shen Chun arranged a marriage with their leader Da Mei Mei. 

Members:

Shen Chun (King)
Da Mei Mei (Queen)
Weeping Lotus (Right Vanguard)
Silent Dagger
Feng (Accountant)
Gu (Head Chef)
Little Bai
Min
Scholar Shen (a scholar who has been writing a story about Little Bai's life)

Dancing Scorpions
Criminal network in Yun Hu

Relentless Corpse Sect

Da Mei Mei

Temple of the Jade Mercies (see Stone Palace)

Abbot Wei Zhao
Abbess Bao-Yu
Yao Tu-On
Yao Chun
Yao Ba

Southern Hill Sect

Yellow Mantis
White Chysanthemum
Green Mantis (Dead but important)

Twin-Fisted Eagle Sect

Twin Fisted Eagle
Jade Fist

Bone Breaking Sect
Destroyed and taken over by Drunken Hero Kang

Glorious Death Cult

Led by Supreme Master Tung, who says he is a god of death

SESSION
The players left the House of Paper Shadows after forming an agreement with a Spider Demon. They traveled to Yun Hu and Da Mei Mei decided to remain there to tend to sect matters while the rest of the party set out for Dee. 

When the party arrived in Dee, they happened upon a meat vendor selling roasted pieces of human. It was flagrant, out in the open and the man didn't appear ashamed. When Little Bai asked him about the meat he claimed to have a license and it seemed to be a normal occurrence in Dee. 


Inspecting the meat Little Bai said "Hmm, your meat doesn't look like good quality to me, I am going to make sure you get fined."

Then Little Bai went to the City Lord, Yan Buwei and presented himself at his court. The magistrate sat between two pungent braziers and spoke with weary eyes "You are the Heroic Bai I received a letter about, the King of Constables?"

"Yes," Said Little Bai, "And I am here to spread justice through the city, I hear there is a lot of crime and lawlessness here."

There was a small earthquake that shook the ground. 

"Very well, this is an unofficial position so you will have to present cases as an accuser," said the City Lord. 

"Of course," Said Little Bai, "That should be obvious to everyone. Enough small talk, what mysteries need solving in this city?"

"Locals near Red Pleasure Harbor have been found drained of blood with their faces ripped off and the people believe the Devouring Raksha is to blame, why don't you look into this matter."

Little Bai and the party went to Red Pleasure Harbor and asked around. They discovered that young women had indeed been found in the state described by the City Lord. Most recently a young woman had been found by the Shrine of A'zhu. Speaking with the priest there, they learned that the body was found by the shore. He showed them where it had been and explained that the Temple of A'zhu had entered the body in a tomb. 

Little Bai looked around and spotted a trail of blood. He followed the trail which led to a homestead just outside of town. When he announced himself an old lady named Qixia appeared at the door.

Little Bai and his crew demanded entry and walked into the house. She told them not to go through her things. Pretty quickly Little Bai found a leather mask in the likeness of a Raksha and golden bao with the name Fragrant Sword written upon it. 

"Okay old lady," Said Little Bai "Why don't you just admit what you've done. I have more than enough evidence to convict you; what do you have to say for yourself."

"I haven't done anything"

"Yeah? Well where did you get this mask from then?"

"I found it outside my house."

"Allright," Said Little Bai, "It looks like you are friendly with someone named Fragrant Sword, we'll have to go pay him a visit if you are not willing to talk yourself."

"Nooo!" Screamed the old lady "Leave Fragrant Sword alone, do not harm him. It was the Five Ghosts, they are behind all this." 

They asked around and discovered that Fragrant Sword was leader of a group called the Golden Heroes. They went to Golden Hall and received an audience with Fragrant Sword. They had shackled Qixia and took her there with them. 

They entered a luxurious reception hall and found Fragrant Sword in scintillating robes, flanked by 10 subchiefs similarly attired. Fragrant Sword seemed in his early thirties with soft features. 

Fragrant Sword chuckled as they entered and asked what they wanted. Little Bai explained the situation and asked why Qixia had the mask. 

"Why I gave it to her of course," said Fragrant Sword. "She is my lover, and gave it to her to ward off that nasty Raksha."

Fragrant Sword walked up to the party and leaned in to whisper to Silent Dagger "But between you and me, the mask is entirely useless."

"Well," Said Little Bai, "How do I know you didn't kill the young women then?"

"Me? Why would I go around killing young women?"

"I don't know," Said Little Bai, "But you and this old lady seem to be working together."

Silent Dagger stepped forward, "I want to test his Kung Fu Little Bai."

Little Bai nodded and Silent Dagger squared off with Fragrant Sword. 

Silent Dagger went in for an attack and found his weapon absorbed into Fragrant Sword's body as if his flesh was made of a soft dough. They had several exchanges, but Silent Dagger managed to land a solid attack, which caused Fragrant Sword to smile and bow. 

"You have tremendous skill," he said. "Look, Heroic Bai, if you really want to catch the killer I suggest you go speak with the Five Ghost Society."

The party headed over to another section of town to speak with the Five Ghost Society. On the way, as they walked down a street, a red mist rose from the ground and filled them with rage as they inhaled it. Min was able to stave off the urgent thoughts of violence that filled her mind, but everyone else succumbed to the mist's effects. Silent Dagger stabbed a man in the throat. Shen Chun knocked a local merchant to the ground and punched him to death. But the worst was Little Bai who charged through the street using his Sword Whipping Strike, killing thirty innocent bystanders. When the violence was done, the rage passed quickly. They saw priests in white and silver robes, like the one at the shrine, arriving and picking up the bodies. 

When they asked the priest about the mists, he explained they were a regular occurrence. He also explained that the earthquake earlier emanated from a complex below the city where the goddess A'zhu was thought to reside. According to the priest, the city sat atop an area where the division between realms was weak. Without A'zhu, demons and spirits would pour into he city freely. 

"Why would anyone want to live here?" Asked Shen Chun. 

The priest shrugged and walked away. 

They went to the Five Ghost Society. A motto was written above the entrance to their hall that read: Murder, Theft, Intoxication, Lies and Power. There they were led into a chamber where men five men in different color robes, each matching one of the five ghosts, stood. The leader, dressed in white, told them his name was Murder. 

They asked him about the crimes and he claimed ignorance.

"I would tell you if I had killed anyone," said Murder. "I have no need to disguise my crimes, as I commit them openly." 

To Little Bai he seemed like a man who wouldn't lie about this sort of thing. "Who then do you think is responsible?" Asked Little Bai. 

"Well the Golden Heroes are practitioners of Phoenix Essence Kung Fu and it is my understanding all the victims have been drained of blood, and were young women, so to me this certainly looks like the work of Fragrant Sword and his men."

Little Bai and Silent Dagger agreed the assessment made sense. They asked Murder to come with them to take on Fragrant Sword and he agreed. However he said he didn't want to risk weakening his sect, so he would go alone and the other chiefs would remain behind. 

They went to the Golden Heroes once more, and this time they called out Fragrant Sword. He arrived with ten of his Golden Heroes and faced them in his courtyard. It was a terrible battle, and early on Fragrant Sword unleashed an attack of seven jade colored tendrils that drained the life of the people he struck. No one was killed but they were weakened by it. Fragrant Sword's counters proved difficult to content with. His body would bend and warp around attacks. His men had similar abilities but were considerably weaker. Soon the party had dropped most of them and pushed back Fragrant Swords with their attacks. Nearly dead he rose up after a particularly devastating strike, only to have his throat slit by Murder's axe. 

They chased down the remaining Golden Heroes. Silent Dagger stabbed one of them, only to have powerful green energy vent from the wound and sear his flesh with a bitter cold. However, they quickly brought everyone down and took over the compound. Silent Dagger gave one of them his special venom, but it reacted with the man's peculiar phoenix energy and he had to kill him. They looted the place and spoke with Murder about the possibilities.

This is where the session ended. 

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