Monday, September 19, 2016

DISPOSABLE DISCIPLES OF BONE KINGDOM SESSION 15: A GOD WITHOUT A HEAD

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

Player Characters: 
Shen Chun
Hidden Arrow
Bao Yang
Chao Feng
Wei Ruomei 


Sects: 


The Righteous Outlaws
Calamity Star
Ou Jinghzhu
Tea Master Houzhou

Crocodile Sect*
Player Characters (See above)
King Iron Beard
Li Sou Chao (Witch of Zhaoze Zhou)

The Roaming Avengers
A group of five brothers who swore loyalty to Hidden Arrow.

The Golden Way
Iron God Meng

Dancing Scorpions
Criminal network in Yun Hu

Relentless Corpse Sect
Relentless Corpse Queen
Da Mei Mei

Temple of the Jade Mercies
Abbot Wei Zhao
Abbess Bao-Yu
Weeping Lotus

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

Stone Palace Sect
A gambling hall and criminal network in Yun Hu
Currently under control of party, with Weeping Lotus managing it
Feng is an important member (the accountant)

The Golden Corpse Alliance
This is a unified group: Relentless Corpse Sect and the Golden Way combined their interests. Relentless Corpse Queen and Iron God Meng are joint chiefs of the sect, and below them are the player characters via Crocodile Sect. 


Session
The party met with Relentless Corpse Queen, who had come for an audience with them at Crocodile Sect. They had all decided to go and kill Iron God Meng, however Relentless Corpse Queen asked to speak with Bao Yang along and was granted a moment of privacy in the hall. 


She told Bao Yang that she would help him kill Iron God Meng but didn't feel she could trust his loyalty, that he might try to kill her as well. 

Bao Yang suggested that rather than being her subordinate, he be considered her partner in an alliance. 

Relentless Corpse Queen was displeased with this suggestion and told him frankly that she didn't trust him and needed assurance that he would not betray her. 

Bao Yang promised he would never think of doing such a thing, but this was not enough. She wanted him to take her Tea of the Boiling Seas, poison that would require a monthly antidote. 

Bao Yang flatly refused. There was tension. Then Relentless Corpse Queen left, but without promising to stay out of the affairs of Crocodile Sect. This concerned Bao Yang greatly. And he spoke with the rest of the party about his worries. They agreed to ambush Relentless Corpse Queen on her way down the mountain. 

The party waited, along with the Roaming Avengers, Golden Roc, and Li Sou Chao. As Relentless Corpse Queen made her way down the narrow steps leading from the sect headquarters, Shen Chun used the Biting Thread of the Timeless Master to ensnare her. She attempted to counter but was unable to stop the thread. It wrapped around her body and prevented her from moving.

The party unleashed its full arsenal upon her. Restrained by the thread, she was only able to release her Breath of the Hot Wind on a few of her attackers, which merely slowed them down, but did not real damage. Ruomei used her swan strike to deliver the fatal stab. 

Relentless Corpse Queen slumped and died. They then picked up her Golden Corpse Staff, but a black and white snake sprung from the mouth and bit Shen Chun. They found the antidote on her body and administered it to him just as his flesh was turning blue. 

The party convened and discussed their next move. They decided that Hidden Arrow would use Shift of the Chameleon to assume Relentless Corpse Queen's form. They would go to the Relentless Corpse Sect Headquarters and gather enough men to attack Iron God Meng. Then they would place Relentless Corpse Queen's body amid the carnage and claim she died during the battle. 

The plan went smoothly. They traveled to Hu Qin and Hidden Arrows convinced Da Mei Mei, Relentless Corpse Queen's sister, that he was Relentless Corpse Queen. When they arrived, a messenger from Qinwen, Master of the Seven Talismans, was waiting for Relentless Corpse Queen. Hidden Arrow spoke with the messenger. 

"Qinwen wants to know why he has not heard from you and requests an update on your condition," The messenger said. 

"Must I give him constant updates on my whereabouts and health?" Hidden Arrow replied.

"Qinwen wants to be informed, and you promised him the child when it is born. He wants to make sure you haven't changed your mind." 

"I haven't forgotten our agreement. I will contact him when I am ready, you are dismissed," Hidden Arrow said and the servant left. 

Later they learned from Da Mei Mei that Relentless Corpse Queen had received the Golden Corpse Staff from Qinwen on the promise that she would give him her first born son. 

The party left the headquarters and took eight Corpse Kings with them to the Golden Way in Tung-on. There Hidden Arrow, still in the form of Relentless Corpse Queen, waited in a nearby tea house and sent the Corpse Kings to The Ox Tail to take on Meng. 

The rest of the party scattered on the Golden Way, waiting to see how things unfolded. 

The Corpse Kings went in and there was some time before anything happened. Then they noticed people teaming out from the doorway and looks of confusion on peoples' faces. A lone Corpse King exited the Inn with gripping a severed head by the topknot. He carried it to the Tea House and threw it on the table to Hidden Arrow. People all around fled in terror. 

The part went into the Ox Tail to find total chaos and everything in ruin. Bodies were all over the ground and strewn about the upper floors. All of Meng's soldiers and lieutenants were dead. His wives were weeping neat the remains of his body. The only remaining person with any authority was Chef Guo. 

Bao Yang went to the kitchen and spoke with Chef Guo. 

He entered and the chef had his hands upon a large table where he had been butchering meat. Bao Yang tried to convince Chef Guo to take on the mantle of leadership, but he refused, saying the sect had been destroyed. All of Meng's men were dead and there was nothing left. The chef's head was lowered in shame and sadness. 

"Surely someone remains who knows about the inner workings of Meng's organization and it can be revived," said Bao Yang. "Where is his accountant."

"The accountant was killed as well," said Chef Guo. "It is best for us all to depart."

The party looted what remained in the building. They found roughly 1 million spades. Bao Yang took the Diamond Sword and a jade mirror from Iron God Meng's room. Bao Yang also found Meng's Kung Fu Manual on his person and took it. 

The party then went to Magistrate Chengda and asked for an audience. Bao Yang said that he was a friend of Chengdu's son and had made an earlier promise to rid the town of Iron God Meng for a fee. He wanted to know if Magistrate Chengda could honor his son's promise. 

Chengda was irritated by this request and asked if Bao Yang was not in fact a righteous hero who would simply rid the world of Meng because it was the right thing to do. 

Bao Yang said he needed payment for the task. Reluctantly, Chengda agreed to pay a small fee. 

When he did, Bao Yang revealed the head. 

"You are a deceptive man," said Chengda. He then motioned his servants to give Bao Yang the money. 

While all this was happening Chao went to a dak, a kind of postal station, to make an arrangement with the local boss. He promised to pay 1,000 spades a month if they intercepted any messages intended for people on a list that he provided and updated regularly. He promised it wouldn't be too extensive, just a handful of names. The boss agreed and the arrangement was made. 

Before the party left, Hidden Arrow poisoned and killed the remaining Corpse King. Then they returned to Relentless Corpse Sect headquarters and told Da Mei Mei that her sister was dead. 

"I suppose I am now in charge of the Golden Corpse Alliance," She said. 

When the party told her that Corpse Queen had been betrayed by agents from Li Fan belonging to Master Zhao, she instructed them to take fifty Corpse Disciples to deal with the matter and get revenge. She also told them that they needed to watch out for Qinwen, who had an arrangement with her sister that could no longer be honored. 

Chao went to Yun Hu alone. The rest of the party went to Crocodile Sect (with the understanding they would return and take the Corpse Disciples to Li Fan). 

They had heard word that Sun Mai monks arrived and were waiting at Crocodile Sect. Earlier Hidden Arrow had sent a message to Sun Mai temple and this was clearly the reply. 

At the headquarters, Hidden Arrow found an abbot with missing hands* and two young monks. 

Abbot Firebrand asked what the letter was all about and told him that Bonebreaker's Son, Zhang Yong ,had insisted on coming in reply despite his protests. 

Hidden Arrow said he wanted to protect Zhang Yong and knew of a casino in Li Fan that was the perfect place for hiding. He pointed out that Zhang Yong's whereabouts were widely known (otherwise he wouldn't have been able to send the letter in the first place) and so it was wise to seek emergency accommodations. Persuaded, Abbot Firebrand agreed to travel to the casino. 

Bao Yang had earlier sent out word for all of the local guides to come and meet him at the sect headquarters. Eight men replied and arrived. He told them to form a guild. That the guild would set the prices three times higher than they normally have been for guiding people through Hai'an. He promised that if they gave him a cut, he bash the heads of anyone who refused to participate in the new system. Three objected and tried to leave, but he made clear doing so would be unwise. They remained and the group of men formed an informal guild (the Queen of Hai'an had specifically forbidden the guides from organizing into a guild). One of the men pointed out that there were many other guides in the kingdom and it would be difficult to get all to go along with the arrangement. Bao Yang made clear that those who refused would die. 

Chao reached Yun Hu and went to the Casino. He was told that Master Zhao had been trying to reach them for days and was asking for an audience with Bao Yang. Chao said he would meet with Zhao. 

This is where the session ended. 


*This he knew to be Abbot Firebrand. 




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