Tuesday, February 7, 2017

DISPOSABLE DISCIPLES SESSION 34: THE FIRES OF THE RED MIST INN

This is a log for my ongoing Disposable Disciples of Bone Kingdom campaign. You can see the previous session HERE.  Note that I began recording sessions, so this has allowed me to do more detailed session logs.

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

The party had just defeated The Golden Heroes with the help of Murder from the Five Ghost Society and were enjoying the rewards of their efforts. They learned that the Five Heroes controlled the Red District (the south eastern corner of the city) and were under the impression that they would take control of the area. 

Murder explained to them that the city areas were managed by a type of Baojia System where people were grouped into households and led by a Bao chief. Controlling the Baos was the key to maintaining any given section. The Red District overlapped two key Baos claimed by the Five Ghost Society and Murder believed these should naturally go to his organization. 

Silent Dagger negotiated with him and pressed for territory. He ultimately gave them one of the Baos and said they could establish a formal alliance if he and Shen Chun became sworn Brothers. The party agreed and they made their way to the Five Ghost Society headquarters where Murder summoned the local Bao Chiefs and announced the brotherhood at a formal banquet. 

While there he explained the layout of the city. Silent Dagger asked about the rival gangs in the area. He mentioned that his organization was allied with the Iron Kings and they were currently in conflict with the Fire Stick Gang, who were in control of the source of Celestial Plume. 

Little Bai had heard this name before and remembered facing such a group in Gaoxing. He asked Murder about them and Murder explained that the Fire Stick Gang was like a cult with identical branches all over Qi Xien. Their leader was usually called the Fire Crow King. 

Silent Dagger boasted that they could take out the Fire Stick Gang. Murder was skeptical and said he couldn't participate in a direct assault but sent a man named Henglai with them to witness what would unfold. 

Shen Chun, Silent Dagger, Little Bai, Henglai, Kicking Crocodile, Fearless Dagger and Xiaomin headed toward the Kushen District, where the Firestick Gang had control and learned that they were at the Red Mist Inn. Arriving at the Red Mist Inn they asked to speak with Fire Crow King and were ushered up fire stories to a private area where he was meeting with his men. On their way, they sensed many eyeballs upon them and surmised that most of the patrons of the establishment were members of Fire Stick Gang. 

They appeared before Fire Crow King, a crude looking man dressed in red and black. He was flanked by 12 men.  "What do you want?" He demanded. 

Silent Dagger told Fire Crow King that he wanted to fight with him because he heard he was the greatest warrior in the city.

"That is not true, whoever said that is lying," Said Fire Crow King. 

"Who is the greatest warrior then?"

"The Greatest Warrior is Thundering Guan."

"Where can we find Thundering Guan?"

"At the government palace," said Fire Crow King. 

Silent Dagger then set out a chest filled with spades and asked if Fire Crow King would duel his champion for money. 

"No. I am not interested" said Fire Crow King. 

"Well, you are making this very difficult then," said Silent Dagger. "Unfortunately for you, we are interested. This is our champion, Little Bai. To put it simply, we are going to be taking over this territory. Now you can make it easy, or you can make it hard. You just admitted you are not that good, so I think it is clear what you should choose. Before any of these men here can touch us, you will be dead."

"I am pleased to die! Another Fire Crow King will rise up and take my place."

Silent Dagger then tried to coerce Fire Crow King into allying with them. He belittled the territory they had gained from the Golden Heroes calling it a 'mere corner' and refused to work with them or ally with them. 

Little Bai stepped forward and said "Do you know the Fire Crow King from Gaoxing?"

"Yes," said Fire Crow King "He was feeble."

"Well I didn't even have to breathe to kill him, and I wiped out the entire gang, I will do the same thing here if I have to. I don't like lawless people like you. I work with criminals because I have to as the King of Constables."

Puzzled Fire Crow King asked "Are you officials?"

"If you think the King of Constables isn't an official then you are more stupid than you look, now I will give you five seconds to agree and then your dead."

"If you are officials then you must die in that case," Said Fire Crow King then signaled for his men to attack. 

The party soon found themselves surrounded by hordes of Fire Stick men coming at them from both sides on the balcony encircling the inn. It seemed like hundreds of men pouring up the stairs toward them. They fought with their fists but also carried sticks that ignited when scraped on the ground. 

Fire Crow King breathed a blast of flame from his mouth and Little Bai was set ablaze. Shen Chun was struck as well by a thundering fist of one of the Fire Stick men. Little Bai took out most of the nearby guards with Sword Whipping Strike, and Silent Dagger used Storming Daggers as well. Shen Chun used Blast of the Dragon to slam more of the guards against the wall and ground. 

Fire Crow King was still standing and his men continued to attack. Kicking Crocodile rushed forward to attack Fire Crow King but he sidestepped his attack and smacked her down. Xiaomin used Storming Daggers and unleashed a hail of blades on Fire Crow King but failed to penetrate his flesh. 

As the fire continued to burn Little Bai assailed Fire Crow King with Blade of the Dancing Fox and stabbed him through the ribs. He coughed up blood and  dropped to the ground. 

As the Fire Crow King fell, Shen Chun and Silent Dagger noticed large numbers of men flooding the inn from the ground floor and rushing up the stairs. There were clearly hundreds of men in the area. 

Silent Dagger said "we killed your leader, you should follow us."

The men backed away slightly as he spoke. He had his disciples bring Fire Crow's head and he said "Who wants to be next" then spit on the ground. 

"You are outnumbered" they shouted. 

The men all started to pound their fists on the wall and chanting, then charged. 

Silent Dagger used Palm of the Dragon and filled the upper balcony with a smoky fog. The melee continued but soon they smelled the odor of real smoke and could see fires igniting below. The men seemed to be leaving the inn, and the players found themselves up on the top floor as the inn was filling with a growing fire. 

Little Bai smashed through a paper window and used his Qinggong to walk down to the nearest rooftop. He took Shen Chun's Iron Thread with him to create an egress. Silent Dagger, Xiaomin and Fearless Dagger also escaped through the window. Shen Chun and Kicking Crocodile were the only ones who lacked sufficient Qingong or agility to escape quickly. 

Shen Chun walked across his Iron Thread. It cut deep into his heels and was difficult to balance upon, but he eventually reached the roof where Little Bai held the other end. 

As he did so, the inn's upper floor exploded in a massive burst of fire and it seemed that Kicking Crocodile was in the center of it. 

Little Bai and Shen Chun went back to Five Ghost Society, where Murder gave them rooms and brought in a physician to heal them. 

Silent Dagger and Xiaomin remained in the chaos. They saw hundreds of men fleeing from the inn. They tried to bar the door and keep them from exiting but this proved too difficult. "Kill as many as you can," he said to Xiaomin.

As the members of Fire Stick Gang dispersed into he crown, they tried to strike down as many as possible. Occasionally they struck an innocent bystander but they believed they killed between 20 to 40 fleeing Fire Stick men. 

Silent Dagger grabbed a woman passing by and said "Where would the Fire Stick Gang go?"

"I don't know"

"Well who would know?"

"Ghashir Manor might know."

He asked her where Ghashir Manor was located and she pointed down the road. 

"Xiaomin" said Silent Dagger "Go back to camp and get two carts, some men and Jade Priestess, meet me at Golden Hall." She bowed and left to follow his orders. 

He went to Ghashir Manor and found a large man with an even bigger sword standing before the door. 

"Who owns this manor?"

"Ghashir Al-'Anmar"

"I am looking for the Fire Stick Gang, do you know where they are?"

He shook his head.

"I was told you would know. Tell me where or you'll be my next victim. I am the untouchable Silent Dagger!"

The man swung his sword at Silent Dagger, but Silent Dagger sidestepped the attack and used Strike of the Leaching Master on him. 

They continued to fight, and Silent Dagger landed many attacks, but the man was difficult to wear down. 

"Just tell me where they are" Silent Dagger said, then threw a hail of daggers at him but they did nothing. 

The man brought his sword down again, once more Silent Dagger stepped out of the way, and was able to strike him again with a counter. 

This continued for some time and eventually, after Silent Dagger struck once again with Strike of the Leaching Master, the man put his sword down and said "My friend let's not fight, what is it you are looking do with the Fire Stick Gang?"

Silent Dagger insisted they continue and hurled a small object with a flick, doing tremendous damage. 

The man threw down his sword and said "I admit defeat but I don't know where the Fire Stick gang is."

"Okay, what is your name?"

"I am Amir"

"Why are you fighting the Fire Stick Gang anyways?"

"Because we made a deal with the Five Ghost Society."

"Why would you do that?"

"Why is that no good?" Asked Silent Dagger. 

"That is a terrible idea," said Amir. "You will die."

"Why will we die? Details."

"Because they are allied with Celestial Phoenix Gang. This is not a contest between them and Five Ghosts."

"It is no contest between me and anyone in this city," Silent Dagger said. "I just beat you, didn't I?"

"I am no one. I think you should re-evaluate your strategy."

"Who do you work with?"

"I told, you, Ghashir Al-'Anmar. And you don't want to fight with Celestial Phoenix."

"What can they do? Tell me."

"They are very powerful and have many great masters in their organization."

"Who leads them?"

"Thundering Guan."

"Oh, so that is who Thundering Guan is...What can he do that is so great."

"You do not want to mess with her," he said "I don't think she would have any trouble defeating you."

"No trouble at all, huh?"

"Why don't you go see for yourself, test her Kung Fu."

"Listen my friend," Silent Dagger said. "I like your style, would you be willing to work with me?"

"I can't, I am part of the House of 'Anmar. We make the Celestial Plume."

"Interesting, I thought our men with the Five Ghosts made it."

"No, others buy it but we are the source."

"What is so great about this Celestial Plume?"

"It is wonderful, would you like to try?"

"Maybe some other time," Silent Dagger said. 

"Would the House of 'Anmar be open to working with us?"

"Ghashir will speak with you if you come here tomorrow."

Silent Dagger agreed and returned to the Five Ghost Society. There he suggested to the party they may want to betray the Five Ghosts and work with more powerful organizations in the city. 

This is where the session ended. 





















No comments:

Post a Comment