Monday, November 28, 2016

DISPOSABLE DISCIPLES SESSION 25: THE HEAD OF YELLOW MANTIS

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
Min

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. 

Members:
Bao Yang (Chief)
Shen Chun (Second Chief)
Weeping Lotus (Right Vanguard)
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



SOUTHERN HAI'AN
Silent Dagger, Devil-Faced Toad, Min and Chao continued to drag Yellow Mantis through the southern hills, disguising him so anyone they happened by wouldn't recognize the sect leader. 

As they were traveling, they came across a women in robes and head covering made of wreathed flowers. Seeing that they had an unconscious person in their group, she offered healing. They said he would be fine and she asked them what sect they belonged to. 

Min and Chao said they were from Bone Breaking Sect. The woman noted this was far south from their territory and suggested they make a point of honoring Perennial World sect with a visit the next time they came this far south (it was clear to them they had wandered into the woman's territory). However they left things there and continued on after saying good bye. 

When they reached He Dong, Silent Dagger told the others he had business to tend to and had to leave. The group pressed him for details but he only provided vague statements like " I was given an important task to perform". After Silent Dagger left, Chao announced he intended to leave the group and focus on leading the death cult. He said his good byes and left. 

Devil-Faced Toad agreed to take the head of Yellow Mantis to Stone Palace Sect, so that Min could remain in the south and search for manuals belonging to Mystic Sword Sect. Min had a friend in the area named Ong. She traveled to his home and they exchanged greetings. She told him she was looking for Mystic Sword techniques and he said that the sect was destroyed but he'd heard that the Autumn Killers in Hening used techniques known to belong to the sect. He explained they were contract killers. 

Min was reluctant to deal with such people, so instead decided to make a journey into the Banyan and search the ruins of Mystic Sword Temple. Ong offered to accompany her and they took a boat to Jin-Yu. There they stayed at a humble inn where the food was bad and the accommodations lacked comfort. 

The next day they went to Mystic Sword Temple and found a group of beggars in the courtyard. The beggars stared at them as they approached but allowed them to search around. Min and Ong went into one of the collapsed buildings and searched the rubble. They found a shaft that lead deep into the hill, and down a narrow passage, which opened into a tomb. There they found a manual called "The First Technique of Lady White Blade", which contained a technique called Spearing Blade. There was also a sword that resembled the Immortal Killing Sword except the blade was bright silver and it had the name 'Bao' etched into it. 

They left the tomb and the beggars asked them what they had found. At first they tried to lie, but Min told them they had acquired a sword and manual. 

The leader of the beggars said "If you can get past us, you may keep them both."

Ong used his Swift Pounce of the Cheetah technique to attack the lead beggar, and a fight broke out. They quickly brought down 6 of the 13 beggars with Stone Shattering Finger and the lead beggar said they were free to leave. 

But this was not good enough for Ong. He demanded the beggar teach him a stick technique for their troubles. Outraged, the Beggar planted his feet in the ground and dueled with Ong. 

Ong won the duel, knocking out the beggar. He told the others to drag their leader to Jin-Hu where he could teach his stick technique when he awoke. 


NORTHERN HAI'AN
Little Bai, Shen Chun, Dim-Witted Chen and about 7 disciples (one blinded by a poisoned arrow) traveled to Xuanlu. They had just been to the Tomb of the Red General but they found it too dangerous. 

As they walked, the man they had met outside the temple appeared in their path. He said he wanted to work with them to retrieve the Life Keeping Stone from the tomb. 

Shen Chun listened and asked for details. The man said his name was Brother Wolf, that he and his sister would be willing to work with them to get the stone, then they could have a fair duel for ownership once it was secure. He apparently was doing this behind the back of the old woman he had been with before (see last session log for details). 

The group agreed and they returned to the temple. When they arrived there was a frail woman with two hook swords waiting. Brother Wolf identified her as his sister. 

They went in to the temple together, careful this time. IN the first room they cautiously moved against the wall, then triggered the trap that set the room spinning. This avoided any casualties. Then, they went to the room with the spiked floor and poisoned arrow traps. The traps were triggered anytime someone stepped on the platforms dotting the chamber, so Little Bai used a technique to walk through the air to the other side. The party through him a rope and then everyone climbed across. Two disciples fell to their deaths here but everyone else made it safely across (both Scholar Shen and the blinded disciple had waited outside at the entrance). Dim-Witted Chen remained behind. 

They reached a landing and saw a set of stairs leading up to another chamber. Shen Chun ordered his men to go into the chamber. All the disciples went up into the chamber and said "there are a lot of statues up here". Then there was the sound of grinding stone and steel colliding,followed by the thud of bodies falling to the ground. Shen Chun called to his men but heard no response. 

They approached the chamber cautiously. Inside they saw his men on the ground, dead. They also saw eight statues in rows throughout the chamber. Beyond the statues was a dais with the Life Keeping Stone upon it. The statues were all of Sunan pointing a sword. Three of the swords dripped blood. 

Brother Wolf's sister leapt to the air and flew over the statues. As soon as she did, they moved and raised their swords. They were obviously mechanized but ingeniously engineered enough to anticipate her movement. The statues slashed at her, drawing blood. She somersaulted onto the dais, grabbed the stone and flew back. 

They all headed back over the rope. When they were nearly outside the tomb, Shen Chun noticed that the sister looked unhealthy and her external symptoms matched his man who had been poisoned by one of the darts in the entrance to the tomb. Without taking her pulse, he couldn't be sure of her ailment though. 

When they reached the outside, Little Bai and Brother Wolf dueled for the Life Keeping Stone. It was a close fight. Each time Little Bai used Blade of the Dancing Fox, Brother Wolf did a reverse flip and plunged a sword into this belly. But eventually he was able to overcome this and use the technique effectively, piercing Brother Wolf with his blade enough times to drop him. He stopped short of killing the man.
Jade Priestess 


Brother Wolf nodded to his sister, who handed them the stone. 

They went their separate ways, and the party traveled to Xuanlu where they took a ship to Yun Hu. On the way, Shen Chun was awakened by Dim-Witted Chen in the night. They both saw a metallic mist that swirled into view and materialized before them. It slowly took on the features of Shen Chun, only more manicured and handsome. 

"Give me the Stone and I won't have to kill you", it said. 

Little Bai screamed "Oh no, a ghost, and fled into a nearby alcove. Shen Chun and Dim Witted Chen fought the creature, eventually fending it off. As it moved away from the ship, Dim Witted Chen used Blasting Dragon, scattering it over the river. 

When they reached Stone Palace Sect, the old women with the meat skewers was still there. Shen Chun asked Weeping Lotus about her. He said that he believed she had been poisoning people. 

Shen Chun went to speak with her. As she was about to speak, he swiftly tapped her chest three times, freezing her accupoints and paralyzing her. He then brought her to his reception hall and asked if she had been poisoning people. 

Eventually she said she had, and he told her not to. 

"But I must hone my skills," she protested. 

Shen Chun instructed his disciples to beat her to death (which was easy given her paralyzed state). 

A woman arrived, giving Shen Chun the signal that she was Silent Dagger. 

Meanwhile Little Bai set up a table at the rear of the hall with food and a banner, awaiting people to arrive in response to his posters (which had announced his intention to recruit for a heroic sect). 

At this time, Devil-Faced Toad arrived with the head of Yellow Mantis. This sent cheers up in the hall and Shen Chun proclaimed their victory. 


DEMON MOON CULT
Silent Dagger reached the Demon Moon Cult and asked to speak with their leader. He was granted an audience with Jade Priestess on a Pavilion, surrounded by Demon Moon Cultists. 

He said he brought a gift. When she asked for details, he said he could procure the Thousand Painful Deaths flower and give it to her if she fought with him. 

She told him to come back when he had it, and they would talk. 

"Well I am already here," he said. "So I am going to fight you either way; do you want it to be for the flower or not?"

Jade Priestess assumed a fighting stance.

Silent Dagger opened with Storming Daggers, which Jade Priestess used Deflecting Canopy to avoid. She then attacked him with bright blue claws, but he countered and wounded her. The cultists began to enclose. 

This is where the session ended. 


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