Dramatis Personae
- Jian Wu aka Two (played by Christian G.): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
- Jiao Ting aka Eight (Played by Chris D): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
- Liang Jing Min aka Five (Played by Randy H.): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
- Nongmin Chushi aka Seven (played by Rory F.): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
- Sheng Yi aka One (Played by Calvin J): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
- Zhiyu Zhige aka Nine (NPC): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
- He Bohai aka Eleven (NPC): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
- He Donghai aka Twelve (NPC): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
- Ko Lenfan aka Four (NPC): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
- Laoshu aka Mouse aka Three (NPC): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
- Meiyou Ren aka Six (NPC): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
- Rang Baozhai aka Ten (NPC): TBA. Tagline: TBA.
Previously . . .
After leaving the Minister of Affair’s home and back at the inn, they distribute the paperwork to the rest of the group so that Rang can access the library properly. From there the majority of the creche had decided to head out to investigate the sewers and cistern areas. They bring along their normal allies of Mouse, Ren, and He Donghai leaving behind Lanfen, He Bohai, and Rang to continue with her research on the city. They move to check the cistern first, with Nongmin and Jing Min leading the group towards the nearest entrance of the cistern which happens to be outside the city and then back inside, but it’d get them to the largest one.
Into the Underground
Jian Wu, Jiao Ting, Liang Jing Min, Nongmin Chushi, Sheng Yi, and Zhiyu Zhige
City Cistern
Seventh Month 15th day, 1004 Zao Dynasty, 23rd hour
Pingxian, Fu Dao Province
They find the entryway to be a locked grate which Jian Wu quickly breaks through and lets them into the cistern tunnels. They hear strange sounds in the darkness and they watch as a muddy looking spirit comes closer and closer to them. Nongmin and the Spirit stare at each other before the spirit opens its mouth and spews forth which Nongmin barely manages to avoid and it manages to miss Ting and Mouse.
Jing Min holds back waiting to know what it is while Ren is horrified at the sight. Zhiyu casts her foxfire balls while Mouse hugs the wall. Sheng Yi runs up the wall to gain some altitude above his companions’ heads to fire two arrows into the spirit, barely affecting it. Wu steps up and turns his sword sideways to hit the spirit but wiffs. Ting, doing his standard charge, runs forwards and slams into the spirit knocking it down and then knocks it back with a second slam. He Donghai follows Ting’s lead and punches into the spirit, dealing a bit more damage. Another spirit comes down the hallway and spews another jet at Jian Wu and it gets in his mouth. One of them attacks Ting with a rather horrible whip-like appendage who counters with an aggressive parry. Nongmin, finding them rather rude, steps back and attacks his spiritual powers so he doesn’t have to get his hands dirty, smacking it twice.
Jing Min takes a giant step and stabs over top of the prone Jian Wu into the spirit, missing the first time and then it dodges the second. Ren doesn’t enjoy the idea of fighting the spirits but still moves forwards and slashes into one of the spirits dealing a good amount of damage to the spirit. Zhiyu throws one of her foxfires at the spirits who isn’t able to dodge the fireball. They see the spirit start bubbling and then explodes. In the aftermath, Ting barely manages to avoid most of the damage by dodging into the “water” along with Jing Min, Nongmin, Sheng Yi, and a few others. Zhiyu and He Donghai takes it full on along with other spirits causing a horrifying chain reaction.
Zhiyu moves to heal He Donghai who took the brunt of the explosion along with those that took the worst damage. Ting gives up on the robes that were destroyed by the explosion and disrobes, leaving himself in his undergarments, a bit soggy and clingy. Nongmin, Jing Min, and the rest stare around at the devastation and the rather horrible dirty water flowing. The cistern itself is mostly clean except for a few leftovers from the spirits. Nongmin attempts to see if there’s any water elementals around, he sees a small fish-type water spirit pop its head above the waterline who Nongmin entreats to help them clean the cistern and a few other water spirits come out to aid.
Zhiyu and Jing Min jump into the water of the cistern, when the elementals splash across the group helping to clean them. Sheng Yi looks around to find any kind of binding stone or summoning artefact but none are found, it’s possible that they came from elsewhere. The water elementals don’t seem to know if there’s any more of the bad ones around, but only the main cistern was affected. With the group mostly good to go now, they decide to move towards the inn.
When they get back to the Starlight Inn Teahouse, they get a message from the minister who says that they’ve sent a team into the sewers. There were several cave-ins around disrupting water service around the city but they’re getting it under control. In his message, the minister suggests looking around the darker parts of the city for more cultists. Jian Wu suggests that they have the minister keep the fact that they cleared the cistern a secret to keep the cultists from trying it again. Now they just need to look out for a cultist hideout and they discuss what to do when Zhiyu decides to roll the bones she got from the Moon Spirit as Mouse and the He twins recon the city.
The bones come up in a weird star shape. There’s a place in Cheapside named Five Corners that looks like such a star shape from above which Zhiyu points out to everyone. They try to have a discussion while Ting sits there, mostly undressed, trying to keep his dignity around Rang who is sneaking furtive glances at him before offering him her robes. Ting tries to look to everyone else for help after wondering what she’d wear if he accepted them before banishing the thoughts as unclean. When finding he’s not going to have any help and it’s made clear that she’ll force him into them, he accepts them silently and adjusts them before they head out for Five Corners.
Aftermath
Once there, they try to figure out a good plan and decide to observe the location for a while, doing a very good job. There’s definitely something strange going on, some of the criminals bringing in barrels via carts but not leaving the building. People are going in but not coming out. They try to sneak into the building from the top, they’re in the topmost floor and it’s looking like they’re in a brothel of some kind. They slide past everyone and into the basement, seeing a group of people carefully measuring out some kind of black looking powder from barrels around a table. Zhiyu is able to identify that it’s black powder, illegal to have anywhere other than The Wall where they use it to fend off demons.
The group is hiding behind barrels, watching the criminals and seeing the various surroundings. Jing Min is able to determine that they’re all normal people without much Qi in them. The room is lit via fireflies and other magical lamps. They charge from their hiding place and take the six men prisoner before trying to figure out how they can disarm the black powder. There are other underground exits leading into the sewer, small entrances where it’s likely to get a bit tight for some people like Jian Wu. The updated maps that Rang gave them lets them know that several of the cave-ins have ended up in easy pathways from the Five Corners and that the black powder was likely used. Zhiyu and Ren run for the minister to alert them that there’s black powder and that it’s heading towards Goldside via the sewers. Zhiyu and Ren come back in about an hour and a half with some of the minister’s guards who call in reinforcements to haul away the large barrels of black powder.
After Action Report (GM)
We had a two week break thanks to some stuff that happened in my personal life and being unable to GM. But the players were happy and had a lot of fun this session. They went underground and I tossed some sh*t demons at them and that’s always fun. They also did some detective work and found the gunpowder beneath the city where the Black Silk were putting kegs of the stuff at weak points in the city proper. Though they haven’t discerned that yet – merely guessed it. Overall, good session. Lots of fun had.
Other Notes
Bonus report here.
Soundtrack
None.