[Exalted-China] Episode Four: Scenes 7-9

[Lev Lafayette]

============
Episode Four
============

Scene Seven: Journey to Bandit Camp
===================================

Qian converted the bodies of the dead bandits and the jiangshi to
nothingness, helping their souls prepare for the next journey on the wheel
of rebirth and samsara, which can only resolved by the conscious
extinguishing of desire. Certainly they should have no desire for these
bodies, as it takes little enlightenment to realise that desire from
absence is bounded by possibility. Those bandits who survived the
encounter with the Exalted were given a stern talking to by Qian and sent
on their way, although not before Hěn and Xiǎo relieved them of their
armour. The larger the fish that one must fry, the quicker one must
journey from the market.

[Dragon Militia Armour 3L/6B, -1 mobility]

GǔnShí knew the path to the tomb, stating it was two to three day's
journey over the mountain and woods, especially considering the cold and
wet weather. Qian led the way after surveying the lands, making
recommendations for a quicker route over some marshy land, which Shí dealt
very poorly with and suffered the ill-effects of cold weather cutting any
advantage of the short-cut short. Worse still, Xiǎo also fell ill on the
third day of the journey and required time to rest. Apparently, even those
touched by the mark of heaven cannot avoid the touch of the common cold
earth.

Scene Eight: The Bandit Camp
============================

Reaching the bandit camp at the River of the Nine Bends, it was determined
that there was sufficient housing for some 25 or so of these ruffians.
They had all left however, and apparently in some haste, with minor items
strewn about and the remains of the fire pit still warm. Xiǎo took the
opportunity to grant herself some rest and recovery from the sniffles,
while the others took watch.

During Qian's watch he noticed a disturbance in the water. Cautiously
moving to investigate it, a giant salamander raised itself, standing
almost two bu in height. The Exalted were much afraid, and prepared for
battles, except for Xiǎo who remained sleeping, despite the best efforts
of here elemental (which she named Xiǎo gǒu fēng). Instead of fighting the
salamander spoke to them and told them that it worked for the Bandit King,
ferrying sacrifices across the river, for the Bandit King was a ghost and
had no essence of its own. The salamander was named Princess Jade  and she
had drowned in the river, but due to her status had been transformed into
a salamander instead. Now she worked for the Bandit King but not with him.
Just because someone works for you, doesn't mean that you have their
heart.

[Tang dynsasty bu was around 1.3 metres]

Jade Princess mentioned that the Bandit King had great treasures in his
tomb and it this moment Xiǎo Yàn Zi awoke and joined the rest of the
Exalted. The Princess promised not to hinder the party if they truly
wished to bring their lives to a conclusion at the hands of the Bandit
King and bid them farewell. Now was the problem of crossing the river.
Xiǎo, as light as a feather, had the extroardinary charm of being to run
(but not walk) on the surface of the water when she summoned essence. By
this manner, she could run back and forth transporting the goods of the
party and providing a rope by which the others could cross, even the great
Shí. The mule however remained behind.

Scene Nine: The Tomb of Wang Xuance
===================================

At the base of Yunnu hill, was the entrance to the tomb, the objective of
this entire story. Two great doors banded by bronze, stood before the
Exalted. At the base of the entrance there were many skeletons of those
who had come beforehand, but had been killed at this place. On the door,
there was a cartouche, marking the name of who was within (at least for
those who could read), and the name was Wang Xuance.

The Exalted scoured their minds of who this could be. Qian recognised it
as the name of an ambassador but couldn't quite place it; the Wang was on
the tip of his tongue. Shí Rén however had a different point of view. He
was convinced that this was the name of a cursed man, and any who entered
the tomb would be likewise cursed, and would fall under the influence of
foreign devils.

All the Exalted attempted to convince Shí Rén and all failed; many drew
from Essence, most prominently Xiǎo Yàn Zi who positively glowed with her
exhortations that Shí's intepretation was wrong. But there is nothing more
solid than a rock, and nor is there anything more stubborn.

[A grand conclusion of the night; Simon botches on recognising the name,
Michael invokes a charm to double the successes of the already impressive
Presence of the character, rolls 14 dice, glows like a bonfire, and gets
zero successes. Simon remains stubbornly in place. Not entering the tomb]

Experience
==========

Shí 6 (bonus of +1 for playing out the curse so well)
Hěn 5
Qian 5
Xiǎo 5


-- 
Lev Lafayette, BA (Hons), GradCertTerAdEd (Murdoch), GradCertPM, MBA (Tech
Mngmnt) (Chifley)
mobile:  0432 255 208
RFC 1855 Netiquette Guidelines
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt
RPG Review Cooperative, Inc. http://rpgreview.net