Table of Contents

- Of Cabbages and Coins

- The Shadow of the Wall

- Boot to the Head

Of Cabbages and Coins

From Dragon

"The leaf in the river never knows which way it will turn from one moment to the next -but all leaves in the river go downstream together."

It is the Day of the Dog, the midwinter solstice, in the thirteenth Year of the Fox since the Regency Council was formed.

The run takes place in the Port of Auspicious Voyage in the Hon'eth Arcade.

Shen Wei Han, an infantryman in the Dragon Army, has been on the road for over a month, escorting his wayward charge, Zhu Cai-Wen, from near the Northern Wall towards the Isle of Butterflies. Xian and Tsai Su-Yin, two followers of the Wandering Path, have each been on the road for much longer than that, but their recent travels take them from a monastery in the Savanna of Tears where they made each other's acquaintance. All four are heading towards the Port of Auspicious Voyage in the Hon'eth Arcade, where ships will take them to the Butterfly Kingdom. The highways are busier this morning than they have been for much of the winter, with many carts piled with produce, heading towards the port.

As the two pairs approach a junction of highways, they begin to hear shouting, and see a commotion up ahead where the two highways join. A cabbage comes rolling down the road towards Xian and Su-Yin, until Xian picks it up - he is surprised to discover how good a cabbage it is for the middle of winter. A breeze blows bits of hay towards Wei Han and Cai-Wen.

It soon becomes clear that two carts (one carrying cabbages, the other hay) have collided, and are on their sides, blocking both highways. One mule has fallen and is braying loudly, and the two drivers are standing on top of their carts yelling at each other. Shen Wei Han orders the pair of drivers to get down from their carts and fix the problem, gritting his teeth. The hay driver quickly leaps to attention, and orders the other driver to get that driver's injured mule away from his own mule. The cabbage driver protests weakly that that isn't his mule, but he seems too traumatized by the fact that his cabbages are spilling all over the roadway to have much of an effect.

Cai, ever suspicious, realizes that the hay driver is trying to bamboozle the cabbage driver out of the one healthy mule, and lets Wei Han know that. Wei Han tries again to order both drivers down off of their carts to put things in order, putting a bit more intimidation into his voice. Also a force for order, Xian has begun to pick up the cabbages and pile them in a neat pyramid to the side of the road.

Once the carters have climbed down from their carts, the two monks attempt to right the cabbage cart. However, neither of them are particularly strong, so they are only able to lift it a bit before it drops to the ground again. The cabbage driver is able to lead the healthy mule away from the injured one, but he still seems a bit confused.

Wei Han tries to browbeat the cabbage driver into pulling himself together, but comfort is not his strong suit, and the man bursts into tears. Su-Yin kneels by the unhappy mule to see how it is injured - it appears to have broken several bones in its leg. Without some sort of magical healing, or a better surgeon than she is, it will have to be put down. At Wei Han's direction, Cai begins to interrogate the carters, both distracting them and establishing his authority. In the meantime, Wei Han helps the two monks right the cabbage cart - with his strength, it's a much easier job. Cai looks over the mules and their harness, looking for non-obvious identifying marks, but while the mules are not identical, their differences are less obvious than he was hoping for.

The trouble with the carts has taken long enough that other carts have begun to roll up the other two roads and complain at the delay. Wei Han tries to get the second cart righted, but Xian is busy picking up cabbages, and he and Su-Yin alone aren't sufficient. Wei Han orders one of the waiting carters to help; with the hay driver and the new carter, they get the hay cart back on its wheels. The monks put the cabbages back in their cart, while Wei Han and the carters get the hay cart moved to the side of the road where it stops obstructing traffic.

Xian, hoping to bring the cabbage driver out of his depression, compliments his cabbages. The man perks up, and begins to explain about winter cabbage farming (which involves burning torches in the fields), and the threat of white grubs, and the even worse threat of red grubs. It's more work than regular cabbage farming, but perfect winter cabbages for the midwinter festival pay for the whole year. Then, the tragedy of his fallen cabbages hits him again, but Xian reassures him that they're nearly all okay.

Wei Han goes back to interrogating the two drivers to figure out what happened. The hay driver explains that he was coming down the road from the north, and carts from the direction of Heaven have the right of way, and he shouted to warn the other carter, but the man was a fool and caused the accident. The cabbage driver's interrogation is a bit less clear, as all he is sure of is that the other cart hit him, and he's still very shaken. He says that his cart was going straight, so the other cart should have stopped. Unfortunately, Wei Han isn't very sure of the rules of right of way on the Imperial Highway, as in his experience, everyone yields to troops of the Dragon Army.

Xian notes that there are other carters passing, and asks one of them about who has the right of way. The carter says everyone knows that carts going straight have the right of way. Well, that seems to settle it. Wei Han asks if anyone can heal the mule. No one appears to have any spiritual healing abilities, so he kills the mule. He tells the cabbage carter to hook up the mule, which causes the hay carter to protest again that it is his mule. Wei Han turns up the intimidate again:
"You can accept my judgement here and now, or we can go to the nearest Dragon Army commander, leaving your cart off the road here while we do so."
The carter agrees to accept his judgement. In return, Wei Han agrees to help push his cart, after they drag the mule off the highway. The two monks also help push; Cai continues to avoid all the manual labor. After several hours more on the road, the Port of Auspicious Voyage comes into view, and the highway officially ends. Wei Han declares his involvement with the cart plot over, and suggests that the merchant hire a mule. The merchant agrees, with what Cai thinks is suspicious alacrity - he appears to be happy with any sort of plan which involves Wei Han going away.

Cai wonders what is so very important about this cart of hay, and why it was so much heavier than the cabbage cart. There are no tariffs inside the Arcade, but if the carter is smuggling something actually illegal, perhaps that's why he is so nervous. He brings his suspicions to Wei Han's attention, but they're no longer on the highway, so now it's not really his jurisdiction, and he's tired of carts and carters. Xian thinks that he's just worried about being arrested for trying to steal the mule, or causing the crash, though it's not like he feels guilty about it. Xian contemplates some sort of Lesson that could be taught to him, but before he can implement any sort of plan, Cai has marched to the front of the cart and confronted the carter, using his Sublime Bluff:
"This has gone too far. It is time for you to CONFESS."
The carter breaks down and confesses.
"I was driving, and I was not paying attention, and then there was an accident. And my mule is dead and I will never get my hay sold..."
"That's it?" -- Cai
"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't hear any of that. Can we go on?" -- Wei Han

Cai thinks that it's time for a drink in the tavern. Wei Han agrees, and even Xian and SuYin think that some refreshment would not be inappropriate. They find a friendly-looking place with a sign of three cups in front of it, and head inside. Cai orders rice wine, Wei Han beer, and the two monks order tea. The young woman asks if they wish rooms for the night - the beer was good, so the party (for such they nearly are now) decides to stay. She brings them dinner, and tells them more about the midwinter festival. They close the port for a day and a night, and string up lights, and there is music and dancing, and a parade with paper dragons, and then, finally, fireworks.

After dinner, she humbly suggests that if they wish to see the fireworks, they can see them from in the city towards the docks, or from the roof of the tavern. If they wish to go into the city, they should probably leave now. Cai thinks that the night is yet young, so declares that they should party in the city, and Wei Han is obliged to follow. The monks also think that the city could be interesting.

They head into the thick of the crowd. Sure enough, there is a parade, with dancers and a large paper dragon, and people juggling torches. As the crowd thickens, Cai spots a kid trying to steal Wei Han's purse. He tries to grab the kid, but misses. Wei Han also misses him as the boy takes off running. Wei Han pursues briefly, but then realizes that he's leaving his charge behind, and returns, since his purse wasn't actually stolen.

Xian points out that this is just wrong. Why would a street urchin choose, of all the people on the street, to try to rob an imperial soldier? Wei Han suspects that he has failed to be taken in by the distraction, and thinks that things have gotten too dangerous. He suggests returning to the inn, but Cai still wants to see the fireworks.

The parade begins to go past, and the crowd fills in to watch. Wei Han stands in front of Cai in a protective bodyguard fashion, though that makes it a bit more difficult to see anything.
"This is the most un-fun parade ever." -- Cai "I bet a lot of people say this around him." -- Xian
The parade finishes, and Wei Han hints at going back to the tavern. Cai still hasn't seen the fireworks, though.
"I would be happier on the roof, sir." -- Wei Han, looking around. "This roof?" -- Cai
"Any roof, sir."
After some negotiation, the group heads down to the docks, to watch the fireworks while surrounded by water and sharks, rather than buildings that might have assassins on them.
"Raise your hand if you want to stare blindly up at the beautiful fireworks." -- Mike (Everyone but Rob raises their hands. Rob shakes his head sadly...)
As it turns out, the fireworks are quite extraordinary, especially for people who have never seen any before. Then, much to Wei Han's relief, Cai agrees to head back to the inn. He says he's only going back to the inn because things have been kind of Squirrely today, though. Xian wonders exactly what is going on between Wei Han and Cai. Clearly Wei Han is the bodyguard, but why? And Cai clearly isn't worried enough to be someone who needs protection. It's all very odd.

Once back at the inn, the master of the house offers everyone a late night supper, but they decide it is time for bed, instead. The party heads up the stairs and starts into their rooms Xian, walking by the door, spots something in the room shared by Cai and Wei Han. He calls out a warning:
"Cai Wen, your double is going to get attacked. Get downstairs!"
Unfortunately, this proves too inexplicable to either warn anyone or divert the ninja, who proceeds to backstab Cai. This causes him to become visible, however, and Wei Han heads over to chop him. Xian wanders into the room and tosses his teacup to the ninja, telling him "Use this knife, it's poisoned!" It looks like a teacup to everyone else, so Wei Han does not immediately decide that Xian is on the ninja's side.

The ninja notes "I thought mine was poisoned", and stabs Cai Wen with the teacup. Unfortunately for him, a teacup is only a x1 weapon, and it is not, in fact, poisoned. SuYin punches the ninja, but without shticks, she's also only at a x1 multiplier, and doesn't rattle him much.

Cai flees to the center of the room, and crosses his arms, declaring "Fortress of Momentary Defense." Xian can tell it's a bluff, but Wei Han is pleased that his hapless charge is finally demonstrating some competence. The assassin is convinced, though, and drops his teacup and dagger to draw his katana.

Cai backs a little further off, and Su-Yin grabs the ninja, while Wei Han pushes Cai the rest of the way out the door. Between him and Su-Yin, the door is basically blocked to the ninja. The ninja breaks free of Su-Yin's grasp, and chops Wei Han with the katana instead. Cai reaches the balcony outside the room, and calls down to the serving girl, "You're a sight for sore eyes. Do you have anything for poison?"
Back in the room, the ninja (who has taken several more chops from Wei Han) finally declares "Fools! The poison will do its work!" and jumps out through the window. Su-Yin does some basic first aid for Cai, and realizes that the poison is one of the classic simple poisons - she can come up with a treatment in the tavern's kitchen. Wei Han directs Xian to watch over Su-Yin, just in case the ninja returns, and Cai asks Xian to try to calm down the serving girl.
"Everything is fine. I mean, he got stabbed, but it's all okay now." -- Xian
In the aftermath of the fight, Cai's ferret leaps to Wei Han's shoulder, and then jumps down to his purse to root around in it, coming up with a tin coin that Wei Han is pretty sure is not his: it bears an image of a pair of dice on either side, two threes on one side, two fours on the other. And Su-Yin spots a scroll that the ninja dropped while she grappled with him, that rolled under the tub - it appears to be a diagram of the inn itself, with a red X on the bed where Cai is currently resting. Wei Han drags the bed into the center of the room now the X is in the center of the room too. Everyone marvels - it's a magic map!

Wei Han thanks the monks for their assistance, and Cai joins the bandwagon to thank them as well, and to thank Wei Han for saving his life. He's somewhat surprised that Wei Han was right after all.
"You obviously don't have to answer or anything, but... who are you?" -- Xian
Unfortunately, Cai is pretty sure that he's just Zhu Cai-Wen, not particularly important and prone to attack by ninja before now. He's a gambler, and he's won money from many people, but he wouldn't expect any of them to send ninja after him. Does he owe anyone money? No.

He recognizes the symbol on the coin, though, as the symbol of Lucky Chang. When he looks at the scroll, however, it just has a big red X on it and nothing else (except for the barbed compass rose in the corner).
"Hey, it has zoom!" -- Xian
"In my experiences, all ninja carry those maps." -- Xian "Do you have prior experience with ninja?" -- Su-Yin "No."

The monks spend some more time politely interrogating Cai. ("After all, we helped you with the cabbage thing.") Lucky Chang is another gambler who is the enemy of a friend of his. Now his enemy as well, apparently. Still, the whole ninja thing does appear to be a (nearly deadly) surprise to Cai. While Su-Yin has healed some of his damage, he could stand to take the night "under a healer's care."

"If you like, I can stay with you and tend to you through the night." -- Su-Yin "Ooh!" -- Cai, perking up
"Augh! No, not like that! It didn't sound like that when I said it!"

Wei Han splits the night watch with Su-Yin (Xian happily sleeps all night in his own room), and in the morning everyone feels quite a bit better, and ready to take ship for the Butterfly Kingdom.

Retrieved from "http://boojum.scripts.mit.edu/Dragon/index.php? title=Of_Cabbages_and_Coins"
Category: Minirun Logs
This page was last modified on 16 July 2010, at 14:26.
The Shadow of the Wall

From Dragon

"Shadow is but the memory of light;
Light is but the place where the shadow has not yet fallen."

It is the Day of the Late Crane in the Month of the Bear, in the third Year of the Fox since the Crowning of Ti Lao.

The run begins in the Butterfly Kingdom and the Hon'eth Arcade, and ends in the
southern Savanna of Tears.

Tokai Takanata, scholar and advisor to Ti Lao, begins his day in his court office. One of his first appointments is with his young nephew Yoshi, and the archer Lijuan, who Yoshi took in to reform six weeks ago. She has been serving the huntsman of House Tokai, and Takanata has had the job of placating those who have complained about Lijuan's past petty thefts. The pair has been summoned to report on her progress. However, as they enter the doorway, Takanata is distracted by a poem, which falls into his mind and he quickly writes down.
In his fine court hand, it reads:
Two mice jump and tumble
Pale as the moon, brown as a leaf Yet the same

Two mice freeze beneath the sky Hearts fluttering in terror The claws descend
Then, in a rougher and harsher brushwork, barely recognizable as Takanata's own:
The memory of light moves away from the shadow
This is quite puzzling, and the last line seems particularly nonsensical. However Takanata seems to have accidentally written the poem on the back of a letter from his (great-)niece Teng Mai, which mentions her twin son and daughter, so perhaps that is a clue to the meaning of the poem. While Takanata mulls over the poem, Yoshi waits patiently and Lijuan tries to edge back out of the door again, but eventually he comes to himself and interrogates them about Lijuan's progress.

Yoshi says that Lijuan has been doing very well. Takanata confirms that she is finding service to House Tokai acceptable, and has no inclination to return to her former proclivities. Then, he wonders if Yoshi has any currently pressing business - as it turns out, he does not. Well, Takanata is somewhat concerned about his great-niece and -nephew in the Hon'eth Arcade, due to the omens presaged in his poem. Takanata emphasizes the fact that the last line makes no sense, since the shadow is the memory of light, but the hairs on the back of his neck stand up to warn him that whatever it is, it's bad. Takanata arranges for the three of them to take ship for the Arcade that afternoon.

Meanwhile, in the Hon'eth Arcade, outside the House of the Lotus (a Blossom House particularly renowned for training of geisha), it is raining. There is a knock at the door, answered by Dutiful Hsung, the butler.
"We have men working at the Lotus House?" -- Andrea "Well, he was born as a man..." -- Mike
Masters Chan and Feng are shown in out of the rain, their green cloaks dripping on the floor. Mr. Hsung tsks at the mess and summons someone to mop. The pair say they are here to see Teng Hanako, a young woman training to become a geisha. Mr. Hsung speaks to Hanako, and orders tea for her to serve in a tea ceremony. The two men say they have an important message from her parents, but they would prefer to speak in private. Mr. Hsung withdraws to an adjoining room while Hana serves tea. Master Chan says that her father wanted to give her something - and promptly clicks a brass manacle around her wrist. She tries to object, but is strangely unable to make any noise. The two men quickly bundle her out the window.

As it turns out, Teng Hiroki, Hana's twin brother, was lurking outside that very window wondering what was up with Hana. Seeing his sister being spirited away, Hiro leaps into the fray and attempts to rescue her. His battle-cry of "Unhand my sister, fiends!" is overheard through the windows and the partition by Mr. Hsung, who peeks into the private room to be sure everything is fine. Seeing the room empty and the window open, he attempts to raise the alarm. He also overhears some shouting outside in Senatali, the strange dialect spoken by those south of the great wall.
The fight is short-lived, however, as the kidnappers manage to get a silence manacle on Hiro as well, in exchange for taking a goodly hit or two. But they prove resilient and bundle the pair into a carriage which speeds off into the rainy night.
Mr. Hsung goes for reinforcements, but is only able to recruit two moppers and Madame Chew, none of whom are of great use in a fight, and the Lotus House staff charges outside only to see the carriage disappearing in the distance. Mr. Hsung does his best to explain the debacle to Madame Cho, the proprietress of the House, and manages to throw all the blame on Madame Chew.

Two days later, there is another knock on the door of the House of the Lotus, answered by a chastened Mr. Hsung. Takanata introduces himself, and says he is here to see his greatniece, Teng Hanako. This is not what Mr. Hsung wanted to hear, but he invites the group in, directing them to leave their weapons in an antechamber. Yoshi quietly notes that he is more worried and guilty than he appears.

Mr. Hsung reports to Madame Cho, who is incredulous. Tokai Takanata, Here? Himself!? She could not have conceived that he would have received the letter so soon. She rushes downstairs to see her guests, and suggests that perhaps it would be best if Mr. Hsung described what happened. Mr. Hsung humbly suggests that perhaps she would be better able to describe the whole picture. Surprisingly, Madame Cho loses the battle of wills, and is forced to admit that two nights past, Hana was... abducted. There has been no demand for ransom, and no sign of where she has been taken.

Since Madame Cho did not, in fact, see the altercation, Mr. Hsung is forced to narrate: Two gentlemen came to the door to see Takanata-san's great-niece. She recognized their names and came down and served them tea. The tea ceremony began, and then the window opened, and someone spoke in Senatali. Someone else (Mr. Hsung failed to recognize Hiro) was also involved, and then both Hana and the newcomer were bundled into a carriage and taken. The last thing Mr. Hsung heard was people arguing in Senatali, and the word "south" more clearly.

Madame Cho expresses her deep regret at all this, and offers the services of Mr. Hsung to aid in Hana's recovery. He makes frantic hand signals at her, but she is implacable. The green cloaks of the kidnappers are still in the closet, however - Lijuan notes some stinky mud on their hems. Takanata investigates Hana's room, and borrows her hair comb.

Meanwhile, the twins have awoken, and find themselves shackled together with the silent shackles, in something like an extra-large coffin. They try pounding on the lid, but that also makes no sound. Outside, they can hear a conversation that sounds like a border crossing - presumably between the Arcade and one of its neighbors. They try to rock back and forth to make the carriage shake, but the driver passes it off as a movement of the horses. The carriage journey continues.
Back in the Arcade, Yoshi gives the butler a pep talk to try and mend his broken spirits, and the group sets off south in a rented carriage, hoping to find someone who saw the two men. Takanata contemplates casting the I Ching on either Hana or the kidnappers, and has a very disconcerting sense that it is waiting to speak to him. He casts the I Ching for Hana, using five more dice than he ought to (Hana's Yin dice plus Hiro's Yang dice are added, and the "no more than doubling your stat" rule seems to not be in effect), and ends up throwing the sticks to the ground in something like a map, with a dot near the Southern Wall. Takanata finds this all quite disturbing - the I Ching has never been so insistent about a prophecy before.

Back in the coffin, Hiro has discovered that he has a pocketknife, and is beginning to chisel away at the lid with it. (In this, the shackles of silence prove useful, as his escape attempt makes no noise). But then the lid opens, revealing four soldiers, one holding a bowl. Hiro lunges at one of them with his pocket knife, and Hana follows to try and tackle him. All three go down in a flailing pile.

A fifth man, behind the guards, coldly orders: "Surrender now, or we just kill all three of you." As a demonstration, he blasts the fallen guard with dark flames. He glares at Hiro, who has grabbed the fallen guy's sword, and points at Hana. "Will she be next? Or shall we be more civilized, and discuss this over dinner?"

Hana agrees to talk to him, and he switches her manacles for a non-silence version. He explains that there is a thing that they must do, by a certain day, near the Wall, and the twins must be present.

"While we appreciate your kind invitation, I am afraid my brother and I have business elsewhere." -- Hana
"All your business elsewhere is but a shadow, for the place we are taking you is the whole purpose of your lives." -- Mysterious Gentleman

Hana is skeptical that he can tell the purpose of their lives, and wonders what dire consequences will happen if they are not there in six days. The failure of civilization, he claims. Hana is still skeptical.

"Civilization is like the ocean -- it may change, but it cannot fail." "And yet, even the ocean was not always there, and one day it may be gone." "I am afraid your philosophy exceeds my humble capacity to understand."

In any event, he is afraid that the journey must proceed. It can proceed with food, and in relative comfort, or it can proceed in boxes. Which would she choose? After much pause, Hana agrees that the carriage is more comfortable than the box. "Then you need only gg yy

secure your brother's cooperation, and it shall be so," the man assures her. Hiro gives Hana a Look, but allows himself to be handed into the coach, pausing only to fix the man with a baleful glare.
"When you lay dying at my feet, remember this as the moment you could have averted your fate." -- Hiro
At the pronouncement of this curse, the mysterious gentleman sways back slightly on his feet, and looks unhappy, but he's not struck down in an instant or anything. Still, it was definitely significant.

Takanata's rescue team switches from carriage to rented horses once they leave the Imperial Highway - this allows them to make up some time, though there is some initial falling off of the horses due to inexperience. At the ferry crossing over the Jasmine River, the ferryman wishes Takanata luck: "Don't let the shadow of the Wall fall on you on the Day of the Dog."

Hiro, trying to find something to do to inconvenience their captors, drops the set of silence manacles out the window (the group behind them will eventually spot it and pick it up). Hana tries to use her feminine wiles on the guards during mealtimes - the mage is not as impressed, but the guards seem somewhat in awe of her.

Then, the kidnappers reach their ritual spot near the Southern Wall, and the twins are put in separate bamboo cages. Hiro has managed to hide a guard's katana on him. A darkerskinned man with a strange headdress examines both of them, chanting in Senatali, and then draws a line on Hana's forehead in mud. He makes it clear to all the guards that they need to be careful to keep the two separate and that the one with the line is not the same as the one without the line. Hana scrubs the mud off her forehead - one of the guards tries to put it back, but she blocks him. Another guard runs to fetch the shaman, but by the time he returns, Hiro has drawn a line on his forehead, and the guy is inexplicably satisfied with that, and seems to be chewing out the guard for making a big deal about nothing. Hiro and Hana are baffled by this, since they haven't done the usual trick of switching clothes to pretend to be the other. Hana tries to convince Hiro to get rid of his mark, since she thinks she's the person needed more for the ritual, and she doesn't want him to get hurt, but he's having none of it.
"I'm not sure this is going to end well, and if it's not going to end well, I at least want to foil their plans." -- Hiro
Guards clear a large ritual area around the two cages, moving away all the rocks and debris, and then seventeen people in ritual garb with odd paraphernalia come out. Twelve arrange themselves in a large circle - one has a sword, one has a feather, one has a bowl full of salt, and so on. Then, the other five arrange themselves in a smaller circle, with the two cages at the center.

Hiro draws the katana, and chops through the ropes holding the cage together, but the mage quickly chi-bolts him into unconsciousness, and he falls next to the cage. Hana tries to put mud on her face to convince the mage that she's the one who should be marked, but he is not falling for her trickery, and jovially scolds her.

The outer twelve start to do various odd things - flipping around a rope, throwing the salt into the air, capering around. After a bit of that, the middle five start to work with water, fire, wood, earth, and metal. They begin to slowly step towards the twins, closing the circle. At the same time, the shadow of the southern Wall has begun to advance towards the center of the ritual circle. More chanting happens. Hana manages to distract the fireritualist with a striptease, so he ends up slightly out of position.

Then, four riders appear on the edge of the clearing! Mr. Hsung, hearing the invocations spoken in Senatali, says that the ritual started with invoking the Twelve Cycle Animals, then the five elements. Lijuan shoots the water-ritualist, distracting him as well, and the guards charge towards the rescue party. Surprisingly, Takanata leads the charge, calling "Hsung, get the boy out. You two [Lijuan and Yoshi], finish dropping Water." Yoshi charges towards the center of the ritual as well, leaving Lijuan and Mr. Hsung to deal with the nearby guards.

The ritual leader shouts out something panicked, which Mr. Hsung translates: "By all the gods, the two are switched. If you invoke the Tao, we'll all die!" This causes most of the ritualists to start to flee, but the fire-ritualist, who's been quite distracted by Hana's striptease, finishes invoking the Tao, and the sky erupts in lightning. One bolt hits Hana, shattering her cage - another seems to bounce off Hiro, and hits Hana as well. The air begins to glow, and the ritualists start to die. Yoshi takes some damage, but Takanata ignores it, though he isn't sure why. Their two horses are dead, however.

Hiro rushes to Hana, cradling her in his arms - for an instant, she appears dead, but then her eyes flutter and she wakes again, with a pounding headache and nearly blind from the blotches in front of her vision.

Most of the guards are also dead, but the few that were all the way to Mr. Hsung and Lijuan are still up. Yoshi invokes his "No Need for More Bloodshed" shtick, and convinces them to flee. They do. The lead ritualist vows, as he goes: "You may have stopped us here, but we will prevail. By all the gods, they shall yet rule." Yoshi contemplates exactly why he (the ritualist) was doing all this. He can't figure out the details of the plan itself, but he's sure that it is this guy's Great Purpose in Life. He thinks of it as a great and good thing that must be done, though it will of course be unfortunate for the people living here when it happens.

Takanata decides that now that the shadow of the Wall has fallen upon all of them, it doesn't matter if they stay in it, and spends some time taking notes on the details of the magic ritual. The guards are armed with serrated swords, rather unusual to his eye.

Lijuan introduces herself to Hiro and Hana. Hiro thinks it unlikely that Lijuan is the scrawny little kid that he met five years ago, but Hana is more polite. Hiro and Lijuan track the ritualist - his tracks fade out once they are close to the Wall. Then, the story of the kidnapping is told to the rescuers - well, more like two stories, one with dramatic swearings of vengeance and billowing cloaks (Hiro's), and the other with much speculation about exactly who they are and what they were doing (Hana's). Masters Chang and Feng were two of the twelve ritualists, and the fact that they were friends of the Teng parents makes it a bit dangerous to think about going back home for the moment. Lijuan suggests that the twins return to the Butterfly Kingdom where they can be protected, and Takanata thinks that is a very good idea.

Hana brings up again the oddness that the cultists got them confused despite the fact that the twins were dressed differently and in different cages. Takanata thinks the explanation lies in their particularly strong resonance with the Tao, that also caused his own prophecies to go off so powerfully. So, even any casual pretense at switching took on additional force, due to that resonance. But the resonance is fading quickly now.
The group heads to the Butterfly Kingdom with much to think about (dropping Mr. Hsung back in the Hon'eth Arcade to report back to the House of the Lotus).
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Category: Minirun Logs
This page was last modified on 16 July 2010, at 14:26.
Boot to the Head

From Dragon

"Seek not to follow in the footsteps of men of old; seek instead what they sought."

It is the Day of the Late Monkey in the Month of the Dog, in the third Year of the Fox since the Crowing of Ti Lao.
The run takes place in the Butterfly Kingdom.
Song Min Feng, the young ward of Tokai Takanata,is taking advantage of the absence of her guardian to disguise herself and wander covertly around the Silken Wings Circus. Xiao Fa, a monk of the Selfless Path, is taking advantage of Min Feng's expedition to wander covertly after her. He also has a feeling as if someone is watching him, but he cannot put his finger on what.

Min Feng wanders into one tent, which has a pair of tall poles and tightropes strung between them. No one seems to be in evidence, but she wanders around for a few minutes imagining the acrobats. Then, from outside the tent, she hears a tremendous thud, and a shout. She runs outside, to find Akimoto the Astonishing, an acrobat and tightrope walker, lying on the ground clutching his legs. Her immediate first aid roll indicates that both of his legs are broken.

Xiao Fa hurries up to the girl and the fallen acrobat, and inquires if they require assistance. Xiao Fa can confirm that Akimoto's legs are broken, and that healing hit points with first aid will not solve his problem. Akimoto suggests that someone find "the conductor, or Merit, or the snake lady," and Min Feng runs off to do so. It turns out that nearly everyone knows approximately where Li Merit, the stage manager and general organizer for the circus, was last seen, so she can easily follow the gradient to find him in the middle of several annoying things. Akimoto's legs being broken trumps his current trouble with the ropes, so he heads back after Min Feng, directing people to find Wu Shuyan, the circus's snake charmer and healer. (Unfortunately, she is out catching mice and gophers to feed to the snakes, so is not found).
Akimoto explains, somewhat confusedly, that he was... practicing, and... he must have fallen and crawled out here. Merit sends Xiao Fa to get wood for splints, and Min Feng to find the circus strongman. Min Feng is deemed too young to be likely to have any alcohol on her, but Xiao Fa has some leaves that Akimoto can chew as a painkiller. Merit interrogates Akimoto - was he practicing without a net? He says he wouldn't have... but... he was going to set up the net, and then... he was practicing. He thinks. He seems a bit fuzzy on the whole thing. Merit splints his legs, and then the strongman carries him to his own tent to rest, while Merit starts asking questions of everyone else.
Did anyone see or hear anything?
Min Feng heard a loud thump outside the tightrope tent.
Like someone falling down, or someone smashing knees?
Yes.
Can either of them walk a tightrope?
No.
Xiao Fa checks Akimoto's chi - it is roiling strongly in his head. This is not a natural state; it seems likely that someone has deliberately stirred it up. Whether that was to make him break his own legs, or forget what actually happened to him, is not clear. Merit recalls another incident something like this - Venerable Deng, the father of a court arms instructor, Deng Zhi-Hao, also had a mysterious fall in which both his legs were broken. It seems plausible that Deng might be able to add to the investigation, as might Yang Shen-Ji, a sorcerer of the Butterfly Court and family friend of the Dengs.

Min Feng has met Shen-Ji, and Xiao Fa knows Zhi-Hao, so the two are sent off to find them. Happily, they are together having lunch, where the message is conveyed to them that Li Merit would like to see both of them at the circus. Zhi-Hao finds "Someone broke Akimoto the Astonishing's legs" more interesting than Shen-Ji does, but Shen-Ji is willing to accompany his friend to see what the fuss is about.

Merit interrogates Akimoto, to try and find out about his enemies. He doesn't think he has any, but he's very distracted by his doom - he'll probably never work again! Thank goodness he has an extra... er, he'll probably never work again. Merit's ears perk up - is whatever this nest egg is large enough that someone else would attack him to try to get it? He admits that he doesn't have it yet, he's just been treasure hunting. He's never met anyone related to the treasure, so he doesn't see why someone would attack him. Merit tries to get him to admit to more: "It's a good thing no one has it in for you, so I can just leave you here, alone, all by yourself...", but about at that point, Zhi-Hao and Shen-Ji arrive.

The possibility of this having been a sorcerous attack of some sort is broached to Shen-Ji. However, from the description, the answer seems to be "only in the way that anything having to do with chi can be described as resembling sorcery", and the young sorcerer pontificates a bit about True Sorcery and Other Manipulations of Chi. However, it does seem likely that whoever was behind the attack was not an ordinary thug, but someone with some talent in the Tao.

Zhi-Hao confirms that this incident is very similar to the one with his father - both his legs were broken, in a similar manner. And it was never clear to Zhi-Hao what the cause was Venerable Father said he had fallen, but was never as certain-sounding as he ought to have been. Merit wonders if Zhi-Hao's Venerable Father was also a treasure hunter? Zhi-Hao strongly asserts that he was a blacksmith.

Shen-Ji takes a look at the tightrope tent, standing on a flying metal disk which takes him up to the level of the tightropes. Min Feng points out that she was in the tent when it happened, so he didn't fall from the tightrope. And Merit checks - there's a grass stain on the back of Akimoto's trousers, but not on his knees, so while he may have fallen backwards, he didn't crawl out of the tent. Merit asks around amongst the other circus folks
- did they see anyone running away from the area? A couple of people saw someone in a grey cloak going by, but they didn't pay him much mind.

Zhi-Hao wonders if grey cloaks are indicative of a particular group of criminals - is there a Grey Cloak Gang? His experience with the seedy side of the Butterfly Kingdom (what little there is of it) is that people tend to dress in bright silks and generally pretty clothes, so people in grey cloaks are somewhat on the outskirts of society and probably trying to be inconspicuous. But it's not a uniform in any sense.

Merit goes back in to interrogate the patient. Soon, he suggests, the treasure will be gone. Maybe someone attacked him so that they can go get it instead. Akimoto is chagrined. Merit suggests that if he tells Merit where to find the treasure, they can split it. Akimoto is tempted, and demands an 80/20 split. After all, he did all the initial work following people around. Merit haggles him down to 60/40, and gets directions. About four miles north of the capital are a lot of foothills and then craggy hills. That's where the treasure is. That is, that's where the people who went in without boxes came out with big boxes, which Akimoto is sure must be treasure. One of them was tall and dressed in leather, and another looked kind of like Shen-Ji, but with a beard.

Merit briefs the rest of the group, and tells them to go off and get the treasure, or the bad guys, or whatever it is in them thar hills. He's not going - he has no experience with tramping around in the mountains! Nobody else admits to having that sort of experience either - Shen-Ji isn't even willing to admit any experience with being outside of a building, and wonders if it's possible to hire a carriage to take them. There is some scoffing at this one doesn't find bandits or treasure in a carriage! (Though, really, are not bandits supposed to be a problem for travelers in carriages?)
Merit decides it's time to hire some local help, and goes off to meet a friend of his who has some ability to follow a trail on actual dirt.
While they're waiting for Merit to return, Zhi-Hao shows Xiao Fa how to hold his weapons to make his posture more effective. Xiao Fa performs acupuncture on Akimoto to aid in his healing. He does fairly well, and while this does not heal Akimoto's legs, it does greatly help him deal with the pain.

Merit returns with Mr. Han, a seasoned tracker, but Han says that he hasn't gone into those particular foothills since Venerable Deng's legs were broken. As it turns out, the two of them did a lot of tramping about in the hills there. Off the group goes to talk to Venerable Deng! Xiao Fa and Merit are introduced; Shen-Ji he already knows, and Min Feng is hiding, and though it looks like Venerable Deng notices her, he appears polite enough to not say anything.

Everyone is very curious why he went into the hills - was he hunting treasure? No, he would go to the old mine, and commune with the spirit of the metal there. It helped focus his smithing, as it was very strong in metal chi. He gives directions to the mine to Mr. Han. Merit wants to know who owns the mine. Venerable Deng doesn't think anyone owns it it was played out a long time ago, and never had anything all that valuable, just iron and copper. Not the riches of the ages, just good useful ore, until it ran out. Merit doesn't believe in nobody owning land, but perhaps it's the King's land, as it's quite close to the capital.

Shen-Ji declares that he's hiring a carriage to take them as far towards the hills as they can get. Zhi-Hao objects. This is supposed to be a secret mission. After some argument, the group agrees that they can take a carriage, which will drop them about a mile away, and then continue up the road, so that if any bandits are watching, they will be Fooled by this Clever Ruse. Shen-Ji suggests leaving the carriage to wait for then for their return trip, but the rest of the group is unwilling to subject the driver to being attacked by bandits. He's paid for the round trip and sent back to the city.

After much hiking (led by Han), the party climbs to an overlook above the entrance to the mine. Shen-Ji has never done this sort of strenuous walking with bonus uphill and rocks before, so he eventually resorts to flying on his metal disc, before collapsing onto the ground at the top of the overlook.
"I'm not designed for adventuring outdoors. I'm more about adventuring inside." -Shen-Ji
Looking down, the group can see an occasional flicker of light coming from inside, and conclude that there's a sentry on duty just inside the mouth of the mine. Merit declares that, having determined that there are unauthorized people in the mine, they should head back to town and get the King's guards. Zhi-Hao and Xiao Fa would rather not turn around without seeing who is inside the mine (and possibly beating them up), so they declare that they will be going in. Eventually, after some more surveillance.

After a while longer, the group hears some talking from farther in the cave - though all they really hear is something about moving out. The group tries to decide how to follow the bandits in a way that doesn't involve leaping directly off the overlook and splatting on the ground below, but doesn't end up with a very good plan (other than Shen-Ji, who has his flying disk). The sentry, wearing a grey cloak, pokes his head out, looks around, and then goes back into the cave. After a minute or two, the flickering flame is no longer seen. Some more minutes pass, and then some more. Eventually, it seems likely that no one is leaving the cave. Did they get spirited away? Did they cloud mens' minds and go away invisibly? (Xiao Fa checks, and doesn't think that Zhi-Hao's mind is particularly clouded).

Everyone heads down the hill to the mine entrance (except for Shen-Ji, who waits then goes down on his metal disk when the other arrive so he can make sure that no one leaves the mine during the interim). Heading into the mine, there's a wooden palisade about ten feet in, locked with a chain and padlock.
"It's locked, let's go. We should report to the King." -- Merit
Min Feng picks the lock, and in they go (taking the lock with them, just in case). Xiao Fa finds some torches, and Zhi-Hao (with actual Outside Experience) gets them lit. Once past the palisade, the mine is as described by Venerable Deng. At the bottom of the deepest shaft is a shallow pool, with a pentagon drawn on it in yellow. That is, the pentagon appears to be drawn on the surface of the water. Shen-Ji thinks that it's a ritual construct but being drawn on water is rather novel!

Merit, searching around, finds a small box hidden behind a flat rock that might have been used as a table. It has several metal bands around it, and appears to have illegal opium (but no hidden compartments, much to everyone's disappointment). This seems like a great deal of magical trouble to go to to smuggle in one box of opium - the box is probably more like someone's personal stash. Other than the box, the cave looks a little bit lived in - there's some detritus and scuff marks.

Shen-Ji examines the chi of the area - the heart of the mine is a perfect spot for "Earth brings forth Metal", making it an excellent receiving point for sending metal (or perhaps metal-wrapped boxes!) here. The pentagon on the water is likely to be a tacked-on ritual component to allow it to send back somewhere else. The way this sort of thing works, there is probably a good sending point somewhere else, and the pair of locations are matched - this is probably not a universal receiving portal.

Shen-Ji begins to commune with the pool, letting his chi guide him. He doesn't know the ritual that they use, but can influence its chi somehow... which leads to three guys leaping out of the pool into the mine.
"Oops."
The three new people appear to be a sorcerer (in robes, with a beard), a guard (in leather armor), and a guy in a grey cloak. Since Shen-Ji is obviously the one in charge, Grey Cloak kicks him in the head. Zhi-Hao attacks Grey and the mage, and manages to knock one of the mage's pouches to the ground. Grey kicks Shen-Ji some more.

Merit points a wicked-looking crossbow at the guard, remarking "I bet you're not paid enough for this, and your medical benefits aren't very good. How about you and I sit this out?" The guard allows as that might be a good idea.

Shen-Ji gets kicked in the head again by Grey, and falls down. When Grey turns his attack to Zhi-Hao, the latter demonstrates his riposte, much to Grey's dismay. Xiao Fa demonstrates his Zhi-Hao-trained attack, though he's still really not a fighter. Zhi-Hao continues to pummel both Grey and the mage, and the mage is starting to look pretty shaky. He blocks one attack with a wall of earth, but at the end of the round, he throws up his arms and a little mound of earth pushes Grey into the guard. The guard superleaps into the pool of water, followed by the mage, and Grey looks furious.

"Should we leap into the pool?" -- Min Feng "No!" -- Everyone else
"There's more of them on the other side." -- Xiao Fa "I could disguise myself as Grey..."

Xiao Fa gets in the last punch to take Grey
down. Zhi-Hao grabs the mage's fallen pouch,
and also confiscates the grey cloak, in the hopes

that it's magic. Searching Grey, they discover a tattoo, which Zhi-Hao recognizes as the sign of the League of the Hidden Hand. Xiao Fa, Merit, and Min Feng all give Shen-Ji some first
aid, but he's too far down to wake up. League of the Hidden Hand tattoo
Zhi-Hao investigates the mage's pouch, and finds a yellow wax marking stick. Sure enough, it writes on water, and Zhi-Hao draws a big X in the pentagon in the pool, to foil any future attempts to use it to travel through.
With both Shen-Ji and Grey unconscious, it will be a bit of a tough journey back towards town, but the group sets off as best it can, carrying their wounded comrade and prisoner.
"Now I bet you wish you had left the carriage." -- Derrick
There is much discussion on the return journey as to what should be done about the prisoner - take him to the circus? To the constables? To the King, personally? Conventional wisdom on this sort of criminal is that they would rather die than confess, but Grey doesn't seem to have a poisoned tooth or anything like that.

With some first aid, Grey is awoken before they get back to town. Merit does his best to be intimidating, and Grey does agree that yes, he's an enforcer for the Hidden Hand (hard to deny that with the tattoo). He kicks people in the head who go near the cave. But he does that all on his own initiative, and doesn't have any bosses who tell him anything. Merit interrogates him about who else he has kicked in the head (Derrick waves), and tries to confuse him about the name of his group, but doesn't get much more out of him.

After some more discussion about what to do with him (Merit likes the idea of killing him, but nobody else thinks that's the best idea), he is given to the palace guard (since the mine might be on Ti Lao's land) on Zhi-Hao's authority. Since his father was involved, they agree that they'll keep him informed about what they find out. If Akimoto the Astonishing cooperates with the authorities in resolving the matter, there may also be some compensation for him. (As it turns out, initial interrogation confirms that Grey works for the League of the Hidden Hand, and he will be imprisoned for his crimes. He was breaking the legs to people who interferred with the mine, and using his skills to kick them in the head so they forgot he did it. But no more about the master plan of the Hidden Hand is discovered.)

Xiao Fa brings Shen-Ji to Master Kwan, who heals him enough to wake up, and considers whether or not his memories can be healed. Shen-Ji doesn't really remember the combat at all. They went to the cave, and then... maybe he fell down? Zhi-Hao also finally shows him the wax marker, which Shen-Ji notes will write not only on water, but on the other four elements as well. No one is very impressed by being able to write on wood, but writing on fire is pretty cool. Zhi-Hao really can't think of anything useful to do with it, though, so he allows as maybe the sorcerer ought to have the sorcery marker. Shen-Ji takes everyone out to dinner in celebration of his new toy.
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This page was last modified on 16 July 2010, at 14:25.