The Celestial Empire (Romance of the Three Kingdoms-ish, Updated 12/09/05)
- Thread starter Emperor Valerian
- Start date
ThoughtfulOwl
First Post
I hope they realize that given the China-influenced setting, it might not be so simple. A levitating body may be scary, but a defunct high-ranking noble who comes back from the afterlife to partecipate to his own funeral will elicit a different response; who is going to tell the public which interpretation to pick? ![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
Emperor Valerian
First Post
ThoughtfulOwl said:I hope they realize that given the China-influenced setting, it might not be so simple. A levitating body may be scary, but a defunct high-ranking noble who comes back from the afterlife to partecipate to his own funeral will elicit a different response; who is going to tell the public which interpretation to pick?
Well, they had some slightly more pressing issues before they got to that... which leads me to the next section...
Unwanted Guests
“Alright... here goes.”
Nayu’s whisper seemed slightly different to Felonca, but she gave a slight nod of understanding nonetheless. To their front, the brighly colored funeral bier began to lift, the lid to the coffin spinning slightly as it uncovered. Nayu’s face remained calm, assured, but Felonca could sense him straining to control the magic so precisely.
Then Felonca frowned. There were no screams or shouts of terror; the wails and moans of the funeral audience still persisted. Then, as she watched, the deathly shadow of a man, clad in bright yellow silk trimmed with precious stones, rose out of the bier, and looked directly at her.
The eyes burned red, flames deep within their depths. The horror’s mouth opened, and two writhing... things, slender, dark and quick like snakes, lashed out. Felonca felt them wrap around her throat, and as she heard a far off, deep cackle that sounded like the guildmaster, she felt one of the snakes force itself down her throat.
As the cackling grew louder, she saw her arms starting to turn yellow and puffy. Then, her legs. Her lungs screamed for air as she tried to fight. Desperately, she spun around to face Nayu, but found only a tall, gaunt skeleton, bright orange flames crackling from its bones. The overwhelming smell of wolf strangled her nostrils, even as she felt the last of air being strangled from her lungs.
She bolted upright, sweat drenching her body. Her hands were instantly in a defensive posture, before her eyes realized they saw nothing to her front, save the same wooden wall that had graced her inn room before she went to sleep.
Hurriedly, her eyes flashed about and saw everything was as she remembered before laying her head down to sleep. Her warfans even were sitting beside her bed, their shapened blades glinting with the moonlight petering through the window. Then, her brow furrowed. There was no burning skeleton in the room, no towering darkness of an undead prince, and no unseeing mass of mourners.
However, the room smelled, even stank, of wolf.
Wolf? Here? Her tired mind tried to remember if there were any wolf hengeyokai this far north, but she couldn’t. She closed her eyes, and felt her body shift as she went into hybrid. Sleeping in human form was fine, but now, she needed the extra sense of smell, and of hearing.
The pungent smell of wolf grew even stronger, and now her ears picked up the very, very slight creak of movement in the hallway outside. Lightly, silently, she flipped out of bed. She grabbed two things; her warfans, and the ‘chopsticks’ that Chou and Nayu had disdainfully chuckled at weeks before.
Swiftly, silently, she crept to her door. As she touched the wood, she closed her eyes, remembering how the door had creaked several hours earlier when she’d entered the room. Remembering the noise came from the top and left, she surmised that the hinge was loose. Carefully lifting as she pulled, she opened the door just a crack... enough to see what was in the hallway.
And her blood froze.
The men’s sleeping quarters were diagonal from hers, closer to the stairwell. Standing in front of their door were two towering wolf hengeyokai, their fangs bared as their ears wiggled in signal to each other, their fur a pale, deathly white. One was massive... easily seven feet tall and double Felonca’s body weight. His massive frame was covered in a lamellar armor whose scales seemed to shine with a silvery glow in the moonlight. One of his massive paws was curled around an equally massive scimitar. The other was pressed against the door of her friends’ room, measuring its strength.
The other was smaller... maybe only six feet tall, not fully grown. His fur was not the pure snow white of the other White Wolf, but still had slight gray streaks. His eyes continually darted about. At one point, his eyes seemed to lay directly on Felonca, their blue glowing in the moonlit hall. Just as quickly, they moved on, and Felonca fought to control a hiss.
Bai-Long Mao!
The name conjured the image of a tormentor from the Academy, the White Wolf that mocked her and her family. The White Wolf that had threatened her family, the White Wolf that had helped Hsiu drive her away.
They’re after me! she thought for a moment, in shock. They should be knocking on my door! She heard scurrying noises, a hurried whisper from beyond her friends’ door. The boys are up... they know something is wrong.
That prompted her mind to return to the present, and go into action. With an otherworldly grace and silent speed, she pulled the ‘chopsticks’ out. Charging out there with my warfans would be a nice way to have a heroic death... but I doubt it’d stop that big brute. She flipped each small, hollow cylinder of bamboo until she was looking directly down its hole, and with satisfaction she saw that in all six her small surprise was still inside, even glinting a bit with wetness in the dim light.
“Come on! They’re up!” the massive wolf growled as the noises from the boy’s room grew loud and hurried. The massive creature lowered his equally massive shoulder, and slammed it into the door.
“Vermillion hells!” Nayu cursed as their door shivered under the force of the hit. Liu and Chou had both been bracing themselves against the door, and the poor monk was sent sprawling. The fighter was still leaning against it with all his might, but from his eyes, Nayu could tell the blow had jarred him as well.
“Back off from it!” Nayu yelled, “I’ve got something ready for them!” Quietly, the sorcerer began to close his eyes, and he felt magical fire once again flowing through his veins.
Felonca was somewhat surprised when the door broke open on the wolf’s next try. It had been easily apparent the boys had been bracing the door, and it looked as if the wolf had been stymied. But the brute just backed up, and lowered his shoulder into the door again. This time, splinters flew into the hallway. The panther, however, did not let this distraction take her away from her aim. She’d brought one of the hairpins up to her mouth, and took a deep breath.... the blew.
She had guessed this little blowguns would come in handy... especially after she noticed they were covered with poison... one intended to paralyze, not kill. A part of her mind was surprised the dart made a slight whistling noise as it went through the air, and above the ruckus of the big White Wolf’s roar, she heard the a dull thwack. Bai-Long Mao grabbed at his neck, just as he too shoved into the room, blade drawn. Quickly a second pin was in her hand, and another thwack signaled a dart had struck the big wolf in the behind.
Even as she watched, the big wolf barreled on into the room, shouting and yelling. Bai-Long Mao, however, stumbled forward, still clutching his neck, strange warbling noises coming from his throat...
Nayu gave a slight shudder as all the pent up magic flashed from his hands, twin tongues of flame blazing towards the first, enormous white wolf to thunder into the room. It felt like one of the largest releases Nayu had ever experienced, but the wolf did not even whimper. Li, Liu and Chou all launch towards the creature, their blades slashing hard and deep, but it merely barreled past them, shoving them aside as it headed straight towards Nayu.
This is not good, the sorcerer thought the second before the massive scimitar came whistling towards him. Rather unexpectedly, Nayu managed to contort his body enough that the massive blow intended to cleanly cut his head from his body instead merely laid him open from his chest to his shoulder. For Nayu, the world went white as he screamed.
Another scream echoed in his ears, and he had only a moment to see a dark apparition suddenly flash into the room, leaping and boiling towards the back of the white wolf. The sorcerer’s eyes flashed with new anger, and he reached for his own morningstar...
“DAMMIT!” Felonca cursed as she landed on the ground to the wolf’s left. She’d saw the beast thunder in, straight for Nayu, even as his compatriot collapsed on the floor, paralyzed. With a scream, she launched herself forward, attempting her own decapitation strike from behind. The beast somehow managed to avoid the blow entirely, and now had turned to confront this new prey.
She then let off another curse, as her brain belatedly realized that she was in no position to jump or block the massive scimitar blow she knew was about to come.
I’m out of time... she numbly thought, as she futilely started to bring her warfan blade up to try to block the strike already beginning to whistle in the air.
Then there was an explosion of light.
The scimitar sailed over her head, imbedding itself in the far wall. Flames gouged out of the white wolf’s eyes and ears. As his body tumbled forward, Felonca realized the back of his skull was crushed inwards, smoke curling from the ruin. As the body landed on the floor with a crash, she looked up, to see a bloody Nayu grinning from ear to ear, smoke coming in slight wisps from his morningstar.
(DM’s Note: Nayu, for his special effect on his weapon, chose to make his morningstar spell storing. Since he liked scorching ray, he placed that as the spell within his weapon.)
“I owe you one,” Felonca breathed heavily, looking at the husk of a wolf now smoldering on the floor. Then she gave a slight grin. “I thought you said you couldn’t fight?”
“I couldn’t,” Nayu replied with a grin of his own, “until I started hanging around crazy panther thieves like you.”
“Who the hell are you?” Chou interrupted their verbal backslapping, as the fighter gave the very alive but very immobile Bai-Long Mao a kick. “So scared now you can’t move, can you! Literally scared stiff!”
Felonca looked towards the young wolf, and let the natural look of disaste, even hate come over her face. You’ve hurt me so much, her mind snarled as she walked over to him, and leaned over his prone form.
“Bai-Long Mao,” she spoke tersely.
“Felonca,” his reply was a hiss. “I see you could be a good assassin. Darts I’m assuming?”
“I’m just as good an assassin as you are a quiet thief. It seems my ears and nose are good for something, much better than yours, or your friends. Who was he?”
“Don’t you worry... when my uncle Enlai wakes up, he’ll break you all in half with his bare hands!” the White Wolf snarled. “And you had better believe that when my father finds out, every one in the clan who hasn’t been assigned to you yet will be!”
“How do you know you’ll get back to him?” Felonca shot back. Let him roast a bit. “I could kill you, just like how your uncle died right here... unless you tell me why Master Hsiu has sent you and the other White Wolves after me!”
“Uncle Enlai isn’t dead! Neither you nor your weak friends could ever kill him!”
Roughly, Felonca grabbed the young wolf’s head, and turned it so he could view the still smoldering corpse. I hope this will do the trick... and get him to talk! All of our lives depend on it!
A slight gasp came from the young wolf, then a panicked whisper. “No!”
“Your Uncle Enlai attacked us, so we killed him,” Felonca replied, mustering her harshest voice. It wasn’t hard. “You attacked us too... why shouldn’t we do the same to you?” Inside, Felonca felt queasy at even the thought of killing the now harmless young wolf, but she managed to keep the thought hidden.
“I...I’ll tell you everything!” the young creature cracked. “Everything!”
That was easy! “Why did Master Hsiu send you after us?” The question wasn’t as harsh now... she knew he would reply.
“You...you stole something very very important to him!” Mao replied, terror in his voice. “His silver dagger!”
That? Felonca was perturbed. I stole his best kimono, every single gold piece in his chambers, and he wants this knife back? “Why does he want this knife back? Does it do something special? Is it from his ancestors?” If I send it back to him, will he leave me alone? The last question went unasked, for now.
“I... I don’t know!” the young wolf whimpered.
Felonca’s eyes narrowed. Ah ah... I need information from you. It’s too early to start with I don’t knows! “Chou, go fetch the silver knife out of my boot in my room, please. And Liu, if you can keep curious people out of here?”
A few minutes later, she heard Liu’s calm voice reassuring other guests that things were under control, as Chou returned with the silver blade, its ruby hilt glinting bright.
“This knife here?”
The young wolf nodded hurriedly.
“What does it do?” Felonca asked again, carefully waving the knife above his face. “If I think you’re lying, I’ll cut you with it.” In truth, she wasn’t going to cut him much... she hoped only a small nick might get him to talk...otherwise he’d call her bluff.
“I’ll do more than cut you,” she heard Nayu hiss. Good... he can be the angry one.
“I don’t know!” the young wolf panicked. She could tell by his face that if he could have moved the rest of his body, he would’ve been flailing in terror.
Felonca closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Dammit, this is for the good of others too! Felonca yelled at herself, and then she pricked him lightly on the neck. Momentarily, the dagger felt warm, and she thought she saw a pale glow come from it. Uncertainly, she looked back towards the young wolf.
And then recoiled in horror.
Flames immediately seemed to erupt from the young wolf’s eyes, ears and throat. Within moments, blazing tongues of flame, long and deep red, erupted from every pore within his body. Felonca could not get out of the way in time, but felt nothing as the flames rose by her. The young man screamed, the tortured, agonized scream of someone being burnt alive. Something held his life in place for tortuous seconds longer than any mortal should have been subject to, as screams continued to arise even as his skull shuddered, and then collapsed to ashes.
At the same time, Felonca felt... strange. Despite having just finished a rigorous combat, her body felt refreshed, renewed, as if it had new energy, more than just pure adrenaline. Her fur coat seemed shinier, and her claws seemed slightly longer as the young man burned up.
It wasn’t until after the end of the macbre scene that her shocked mind registered what happened, and she gave a scream of her own as the smoldering bones gave off their last wisps of smoke. The dagger clattered to the floor.
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod,” Felonca repeated, shaking in terror at what had just happened. She looked around. Li was staring at the burnt ashes on the floor in terror as well, while Nayu was blinking hard, wiping his eyes repeatedly, as if he had stared into the sun.
“Too...much...magic...” he mumbled as she started to whimper. Outside, Chou could be heard, speaking in an amazingly calm voice.
“Nothing to see here! Yes... my master’s wife just miscarried! She’s distraught, that’s where the scream came from! Yes, I broke the door trying to get in and help... I apologize for the inconvenience. Yes, there’s a healer looking at her now!”
“My god...” Felonca sat on the ground, her eyes looking back and forth between the dagger and the pile of ashes. “What did I do? My god...”
“Nothing that the rat bastard didn’t have coming his way,” Nayu finally grunted. “He and his ‘uncle’ tried to kill us, remember? Swinging big swords? Likely would have killed you in a far more grisly way than that?”
“It... doesn’t matter! No one should have had to go through that!” Felonca whispered, guilt washing over her. I didn’t mean for that to happen! I didn’t want that to happen!
“What is that dagger?” Li’s aged voice croaked. Gingerly, elderly fingers reached for the silver blade, until Nayu’s hands intercepted.
“Hold off... at least until I can tell what this thing does,” Nayu grunted. Felonca saw him look back at her, worry on his face. “I’ll find out what it does, Felonca!” He turned back to the weapon. “Then we’ll know what to do with it.”
Felonca then finally remembered Liu, who had been just walking in when she’d pricked the young wolf. She looked about and found him peering over the far side of the bed. For the first time, she saw pure, unadulterated fear in his eyes.
“Evil... so... much... evil...” the monk moaned.
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drag n fly
First Post
Believe me, you don't. 
Emperor Valerian
First Post
This dagger cause them a bunch of problems later... so drag n fly's right IMHO
Another Evil Surprise; A Funeral
It took the best of Chou and then Nayu’s cajoling to get the other worried lodgers within the inn to disperse without seeing the chaos for themselves, while it took all of Felonca’s nerves to regain her composure, and along with Liu and Li, start to clean up the macabre scene.
By morning the dreadful task was done, ad both Nayu and Liu slept in far past when the sun rose. Thankfully it was not until perhaps noon when the scholar from the Hu court arrived, and began rousing everyone from their slumber with shouts and yells. Apparently sleeping in was neither ‘dignified’ nor ‘virtuous.’
Quickly, they dress themselves in the fine clothing provided; Felonca receives on loan a fine silken cloak with shawl, under which she sneaks her warfans, Chou and Li both fine sets of armor that a bodyguard might wear (though not magical in the least), Liu a fine shirt and silken skirt. Nayu, of course, receives raiment worthy of a prince, with a long, fine silken robe with etchings and gold weave across its surface, a tall black hat upon his head, strings of pearls dangling from its front and back over his face.
Thus dressed, the band of unruly commoners marched towards the halls of power...
“Now, my prince,” the scholar accented Nayu’s temporary role, “you will be the first to be allowed up to the funeral bier of your father, since you are the prodigal son, recently returned from banishment.”
Nayu nodded emptily, his eyes awash with the flood of sights and sounds of palace life about him. The soft rustle of their sandals echoed about the massive chambers they went through, banners, characters and silk hanging from all corners. Every servant they passed, immediately kow towed to the supposed prince, dropping whatever they were doing and immediately falling on their knees, placing their heads to the floor.
I could get used to this... Nayu thought, but managed to keep the grin that would’ve appeared off his face.
They rounded another corner and crossed a large garden, before they stopped in front of a large set of double doors, massive dragon heads rearing out of their immense brass forms. A team of eight servants scuttled in front of them, and pulled the immense doors open.
And they all blinked.
The smell of incense and perfume was overpowering, as a mass of elegantly and expensively decorate persons twittered quietly on each side of a simple red carpet that ran the length of the audience chamber. Where the governor’s throne would have been, now rested a simple slab, upon which the bier would be placed.
“Remember, walk with elegance,” the scholar whispered from behind Nayu as they ventured into the chambers. The first people they passed, furthest from the front, began performing kow tow to Nayu and company. The scholar gave them a look of disdian, before looking towards the front.
“My prince, that young man there,” he whispered from just behind Nayu’s ear, “is your brother, Hu Man.” Nayu looked towards the man in question, clad in similar robes and a similar headdress. He too was tall, but not nearly as thin, and unlike Nayu’s fledgling mustache and beard, his face was shrouded in a perfumed, elegant black beard. The man’s eyes flicked towards Nayu momentarily, and even the young sorcerer could see the barely muted anger and distaste in them.
“Why did my brother exile me, teacher?” Nayu asked softly as the walked further up the aisle.
“You were gathering allies to usurp him from his rightful position of heir... so he says,” came the quiet dry reply. Nayu’s eyes then looked about more, and sitting beside Hu Man, he spotted a very beautiful, demure looking woman, whose dress appeared to be woven gold and silver, her skin with subtle arrays of orange coloring. A member of the Qing.
“That is the Empress Dowager,” the scholar answered Nayu’s question before he even aired it. “She and her family, who govern our neighbors, Shu Province, were close friends of your father. As the young Emperor is only ten, she is on the Council that advises him. So is the man sitting next to her... her brother, the Prince of Shu.”
Nayu saw a large, fierce man sitting next to her, clad in black armor with gold trimmings. His face also held the trace coloring of orange that bespoke of tiger hengeyokai ancestry. As he was seated, Nayu could only see the hilt of his weapon, but that alone bespoke of an enormous sword. As Nayu watched, he clasped his hands while talking to another man next to him, and even from that distance Nayu could see the claws he possessed.
Great... so I’m impersonating a Prince at a funeral that might result in an assassination attempt... all in front of princes, governors, and the Empress HERSELF?
Carefully, the group of five found their spot, a set of five pads set aside in the front row. Nayu took the first, followed by Felonca, Liu, Chou, then Li. They knelt in their spots, and waited.
To their relief, there was only a small wait, not enough for anyone to have started a chat with the nervous party members, before a massive gong sounded deep within the palace. From outside, the cry from the official wailing mourners drifted in, as ten servants brought in the elegant funeral bier, seemingly made of marble, etchings and drawings of parts of Prince Hu’s life on each side.
I don’t cry yet, Nayu remembered, as those behind him burst into wails. He glanced to his side to the other side of the aisle, and noted that neither Hu Man nor the Dowager Empress were wailing. A good sign.
Carefully the servants set the bier upon its pedastal, and then backed away, after each step performing a kow tow. It was the first sign that the ceremony was likely to be a very long one.
Nayu couldn’t say he liked the service. It seemed that the various eulogies delivered were all with a motive. One of the chief scholars of Kongshi asked to speak on the life of the late prince hardly mentioned his supposed dead friend, instead almost lambasting the monks of Shenyang for following the teachings of a foreign devil who did not acknowledge the dao. A representative of Liu’s faith was next, and proceeded to diplomatically call all the scholars ‘narrow-minded.’
The Empress’ brother, the Prince of Shu, rose and proceeded to tell only a few anecdotes of his father serving alongside the late man while fighting the northern barbarians, before he issued some poignant ‘quotes’ from the late man all but slamming the provincial governors of Han, another great family to the south. Their representative, in turn, did the same thing to Shu.
And so it went... squabblings and snappings back and forth between the great families and intellectuals of the Empire, and Nayu realized why his instructions on what to do when he reached the bier were so precise, and so over the top. Scream. Cry. Beat the side of the bier and wail with the utmost anguish, the scholar had said.
In the midst of this squabbling, that would make Prince Shikai look truthful in his grief... something these scholar people describe as virtuous, I gather, Nayu thought, before a dark thought crossed his own mind.
Too bad even those plans are getting interrupted.
As the time drew near, Nayu silently went through the rituals he would have to go through, as well as the improvised plans he’d have to rush through...
“And so, the elements have returned to their state. The fire that gave Prince Hu Lun his strength on the field of battle, the water that gave him a fluid mind, the envy of scholars, the air that carried Heaven’s blessings to him, and the earth which made his people prosper, all have returned to their native states,” the last man to speak, a wizened crone of a man that was evidently the most senior scholar in the palace, intoned.
That’s his cue, Felonca thought. She even as Nayu somehow concocted fake tears on his face, she heard the barest of whispers coming to his lips, words that were decided not mumblings of grief. Instinctively, she tensed, her muscles coiling, ready to spring, leap forward once the chaos began.
She had little idea how chaotic things would truly become.
Nayu slowly went forward, sniffling even as the whispers of his levitation spell disappeared from her ears. Wow... he is impressive, she thought, as he drew up next to the bier. Slowly, the lid of the bier began to shift, and she heard hisses and quiet gasps going through the crowd. With a slight smirk, she looked over towards the Empress, and Hu Man. The Empress had an unconcerned frown on her face, while Hu Man had a huge smile.
Alarms went off in her head, as a strange shriek and roar thundered out of the funeral bier. The marble lid flew off, and ten dark streaks flashed upward into the air. Felonca’s muscles uncoiled, launching her forward as she saw what finally had flown out... horrors, abberations of life.
The ten things now hovered in the air around Nayu. They were heads, the skin black and shrunken, drawn tight over the muscles and skull. In the place of hair, long, thick strands, almost tentacles, hung off their scalps. As they opened their mouths to let loose another scream, she saw each floating head held long, sharp teeth, dripping with foul ichor.
It was then that the chaos began, as the crowd surged towards the rear as the party surged forward to defend their friend. In the chaos of leaping forward, Felonca found her eyes looking back towards the fleeing mass. While most were pushing and shoving to leave, the Dowager Empress, her brother, and the young Hu Man, were calmly walking away, a barely disguised chuckle on Hu Man’s lips...
Another Evil Surprise; A Funeral
It took the best of Chou and then Nayu’s cajoling to get the other worried lodgers within the inn to disperse without seeing the chaos for themselves, while it took all of Felonca’s nerves to regain her composure, and along with Liu and Li, start to clean up the macabre scene.
By morning the dreadful task was done, ad both Nayu and Liu slept in far past when the sun rose. Thankfully it was not until perhaps noon when the scholar from the Hu court arrived, and began rousing everyone from their slumber with shouts and yells. Apparently sleeping in was neither ‘dignified’ nor ‘virtuous.’
Quickly, they dress themselves in the fine clothing provided; Felonca receives on loan a fine silken cloak with shawl, under which she sneaks her warfans, Chou and Li both fine sets of armor that a bodyguard might wear (though not magical in the least), Liu a fine shirt and silken skirt. Nayu, of course, receives raiment worthy of a prince, with a long, fine silken robe with etchings and gold weave across its surface, a tall black hat upon his head, strings of pearls dangling from its front and back over his face.
Thus dressed, the band of unruly commoners marched towards the halls of power...
“Now, my prince,” the scholar accented Nayu’s temporary role, “you will be the first to be allowed up to the funeral bier of your father, since you are the prodigal son, recently returned from banishment.”
Nayu nodded emptily, his eyes awash with the flood of sights and sounds of palace life about him. The soft rustle of their sandals echoed about the massive chambers they went through, banners, characters and silk hanging from all corners. Every servant they passed, immediately kow towed to the supposed prince, dropping whatever they were doing and immediately falling on their knees, placing their heads to the floor.
I could get used to this... Nayu thought, but managed to keep the grin that would’ve appeared off his face.
They rounded another corner and crossed a large garden, before they stopped in front of a large set of double doors, massive dragon heads rearing out of their immense brass forms. A team of eight servants scuttled in front of them, and pulled the immense doors open.
And they all blinked.
The smell of incense and perfume was overpowering, as a mass of elegantly and expensively decorate persons twittered quietly on each side of a simple red carpet that ran the length of the audience chamber. Where the governor’s throne would have been, now rested a simple slab, upon which the bier would be placed.
“Remember, walk with elegance,” the scholar whispered from behind Nayu as they ventured into the chambers. The first people they passed, furthest from the front, began performing kow tow to Nayu and company. The scholar gave them a look of disdian, before looking towards the front.
“My prince, that young man there,” he whispered from just behind Nayu’s ear, “is your brother, Hu Man.” Nayu looked towards the man in question, clad in similar robes and a similar headdress. He too was tall, but not nearly as thin, and unlike Nayu’s fledgling mustache and beard, his face was shrouded in a perfumed, elegant black beard. The man’s eyes flicked towards Nayu momentarily, and even the young sorcerer could see the barely muted anger and distaste in them.
“Why did my brother exile me, teacher?” Nayu asked softly as the walked further up the aisle.
“You were gathering allies to usurp him from his rightful position of heir... so he says,” came the quiet dry reply. Nayu’s eyes then looked about more, and sitting beside Hu Man, he spotted a very beautiful, demure looking woman, whose dress appeared to be woven gold and silver, her skin with subtle arrays of orange coloring. A member of the Qing.
“That is the Empress Dowager,” the scholar answered Nayu’s question before he even aired it. “She and her family, who govern our neighbors, Shu Province, were close friends of your father. As the young Emperor is only ten, she is on the Council that advises him. So is the man sitting next to her... her brother, the Prince of Shu.”
Nayu saw a large, fierce man sitting next to her, clad in black armor with gold trimmings. His face also held the trace coloring of orange that bespoke of tiger hengeyokai ancestry. As he was seated, Nayu could only see the hilt of his weapon, but that alone bespoke of an enormous sword. As Nayu watched, he clasped his hands while talking to another man next to him, and even from that distance Nayu could see the claws he possessed.
Great... so I’m impersonating a Prince at a funeral that might result in an assassination attempt... all in front of princes, governors, and the Empress HERSELF?
Carefully, the group of five found their spot, a set of five pads set aside in the front row. Nayu took the first, followed by Felonca, Liu, Chou, then Li. They knelt in their spots, and waited.
To their relief, there was only a small wait, not enough for anyone to have started a chat with the nervous party members, before a massive gong sounded deep within the palace. From outside, the cry from the official wailing mourners drifted in, as ten servants brought in the elegant funeral bier, seemingly made of marble, etchings and drawings of parts of Prince Hu’s life on each side.
I don’t cry yet, Nayu remembered, as those behind him burst into wails. He glanced to his side to the other side of the aisle, and noted that neither Hu Man nor the Dowager Empress were wailing. A good sign.
Carefully the servants set the bier upon its pedastal, and then backed away, after each step performing a kow tow. It was the first sign that the ceremony was likely to be a very long one.
Nayu couldn’t say he liked the service. It seemed that the various eulogies delivered were all with a motive. One of the chief scholars of Kongshi asked to speak on the life of the late prince hardly mentioned his supposed dead friend, instead almost lambasting the monks of Shenyang for following the teachings of a foreign devil who did not acknowledge the dao. A representative of Liu’s faith was next, and proceeded to diplomatically call all the scholars ‘narrow-minded.’
The Empress’ brother, the Prince of Shu, rose and proceeded to tell only a few anecdotes of his father serving alongside the late man while fighting the northern barbarians, before he issued some poignant ‘quotes’ from the late man all but slamming the provincial governors of Han, another great family to the south. Their representative, in turn, did the same thing to Shu.
And so it went... squabblings and snappings back and forth between the great families and intellectuals of the Empire, and Nayu realized why his instructions on what to do when he reached the bier were so precise, and so over the top. Scream. Cry. Beat the side of the bier and wail with the utmost anguish, the scholar had said.
In the midst of this squabbling, that would make Prince Shikai look truthful in his grief... something these scholar people describe as virtuous, I gather, Nayu thought, before a dark thought crossed his own mind.
Too bad even those plans are getting interrupted.
As the time drew near, Nayu silently went through the rituals he would have to go through, as well as the improvised plans he’d have to rush through...
“And so, the elements have returned to their state. The fire that gave Prince Hu Lun his strength on the field of battle, the water that gave him a fluid mind, the envy of scholars, the air that carried Heaven’s blessings to him, and the earth which made his people prosper, all have returned to their native states,” the last man to speak, a wizened crone of a man that was evidently the most senior scholar in the palace, intoned.
That’s his cue, Felonca thought. She even as Nayu somehow concocted fake tears on his face, she heard the barest of whispers coming to his lips, words that were decided not mumblings of grief. Instinctively, she tensed, her muscles coiling, ready to spring, leap forward once the chaos began.
She had little idea how chaotic things would truly become.
Nayu slowly went forward, sniffling even as the whispers of his levitation spell disappeared from her ears. Wow... he is impressive, she thought, as he drew up next to the bier. Slowly, the lid of the bier began to shift, and she heard hisses and quiet gasps going through the crowd. With a slight smirk, she looked over towards the Empress, and Hu Man. The Empress had an unconcerned frown on her face, while Hu Man had a huge smile.
Alarms went off in her head, as a strange shriek and roar thundered out of the funeral bier. The marble lid flew off, and ten dark streaks flashed upward into the air. Felonca’s muscles uncoiled, launching her forward as she saw what finally had flown out... horrors, abberations of life.
The ten things now hovered in the air around Nayu. They were heads, the skin black and shrunken, drawn tight over the muscles and skull. In the place of hair, long, thick strands, almost tentacles, hung off their scalps. As they opened their mouths to let loose another scream, she saw each floating head held long, sharp teeth, dripping with foul ichor.
It was then that the chaos began, as the crowd surged towards the rear as the party surged forward to defend their friend. In the chaos of leaping forward, Felonca found her eyes looking back towards the fleeing mass. While most were pushing and shoving to leave, the Dowager Empress, her brother, and the young Hu Man, were calmly walking away, a barely disguised chuckle on Hu Man’s lips...
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Emperor Valerian
First Post
Nayu’s Worries Confirmed... and the Death of a Friend... sorta...
Before the explosion of movement and shrieks, Nayu had one split second to see the ten shriveled heads, all mashed into the coffin alongside the embalmed body.
Oh great. Vargouilles. As if anything worse could happen.
Nayu’s reflexes were fortunately as quick as his mind, as he twisted out of the way of the ten creatures bursting for the air. The words on his lips changed from chants to calls for magical fire, and a long tongue of flame lashed out towards the nearest of the beasties. A high pitched, desperate scream echoed in the air, as the creature, its now burning hair streaming behind it like a falling star, careened about the room before slamming into a wall and falling to the ground.
A shriek, a blur, and the sound of flesh being torn apart told him that Felonca was next to him, and by the gargling screams, another one of the creatures had met her wrath. As Nayu spun away from one of the creatures attempting to dive on him, he saw Chou, Liu, and even Captain Li all running towards him, weapons at the ready. Two vargouilles dive towards the three warriors, only to be quickly dispatched by Chou’s sword and Liu’s fists.
The six remaining vargouilles had so far remained far and above the fray, watching, observing. Even before their errant fire-trailing comrade had fallen from the air, the six split up, all giving the same high pitched screech... a signal to their master. Two then dove towards the intended target, both managing to grab and bite Nayu several times. Somehow, the young sorcerer managed to resist the poison dripping from their foul lips. Two then dove towards Felonca, deeming her a threat to their mission of assassination, while two others dove loosely towards Captain Li, their paths errant enough that they could strike out at Chou and Liu as well.
Nayu heard Felonca give a loud yell of pain, before she spun herself around, her warfans cutting one of her tormentors in half. Nayu himself wasn’t paying much attention to that, or even the two vargouilles that were still swirling about his head. Instead, he looked towards a lone figure, at the far end of the hall, a large, confident smile on the man’s lips.
“Shikai,” Hu Mang called, walking towards them slowly. The calm tread of his steps echoing along the walls made an uncomfortable contrast to the noise of combat. “My brother... close your eyes and admit its over!”
Ah... this is why... Nayu thought, just as he saw a bright flash of light seem to lance from Hu Mang’s hands, directly towards him. Nayu felt a sudden change in his feet, as if momentarily they were rooted into the hard marble floor. His arms slowed, even as the vargouilles he was dodging slashed about him faster and faster. A foreign presence, a magical presence, was inching its way into his body. With every ounce of his mind’s strength, he tried to push the magical invasion away, but found his movements growing slower and slower. No more than mere moments later, Nayu was frozen in place, unable to move as the vargouilles swooped down for yet another attack (Hu Mang cast hold person on Nayu, to make it easier for the vargouilles to feed.).
Just lovely, his mind gave an acidic rant. I’m going to have a front-row seat to a banquet where the main course is me. Dammit!
Despite his paralysis, his tactile senses still functioned, and Nayu felt a scurrying on his back. Kenzi had come with him, hidden within the folds of his cloak. Slight feelings of worry seemed to be on the edge of Nayu’s mind, and the lizard’s rapid scurries spoke of confusion. I wish Kenzi could just leap on that bastard and eat his eye, Nayu thought as the screaming vargouilles drew closer.
Suddenly, the hurried scurries stopped, and Nayu, for just a moment, saw his pet skitter across the floor, headed directly for the prince.
Who suddenly vanishes without a trace.
If these things didn’t have big teeth, this’d almost be like practice! Despite the combat, Felonca had trouble controlling a slight giggle. With ease she swatted the vargouilles around her out of the sky. Her cat-like eyes then flashed about, and saw two flashing down towards a curiously still Nayu. Why isn’t he swinging? she thought as she brought herself up to a run and did a spinning backflip over the motionless sorcerer, her warfans extended, slashing apart both vargouilles with ease.
“Find him! He turned invisible!” she heard the Captain yell, the older man gesturing out into the wide expanse of the vast hall before them. With nary a sound, she landed on the ground behind Nayu, her nose sniffing, smelling the air as Li, Liu and Chou finished the creatures by them.
Hu Mang had worn a very distinctive – and powerful – perfume this day... from across the hall she had been able to smell it. Her nose sifted through the scents and odors, trying to find it again. But the rush of the rich, wealthy and mighty had stirred up all of their perfumes, and the vargouilles themselves as well as the now opened coffin added even more stench to the area. For a few feet, she thought she could track him, before she lost the trail.
Just in time for an explosion.
A blast of fire nearly forty feet wide exploded in the midst of Liu, Chou and Li, sending all three flying. At that moment, barely thirty feet from Felonca, Hu Mang’s shimmering form returned to normal, a cackle on his lips. He was still cackling when she leapt at him, and for a moment, Felonca thought she had him cold, as his eyes grew big with terror just the second before she struck.
Unfortunately, his reflexes were almost as quick as hers, and he suddenly dropped low, causing both her and her blades to fly above his head. As she landed, she heard a familiar crackle of fire.
Nayu! Good! Fry the...AAAUUUGGGH!
Pain shot through her back, radiating out to her arms and her legs. Pain that she’d never felt before, as a new smell overpowered her... the smell of burnt fur and flesh. I’ve been burned, her mind recorded numbly as she desperately dropped to the ground herself. Her eyes found Hu, his hand still outstretched, the last energies of the scorching ray still on his fingertips, a mocking grin on his face.
“I am faster than you think, kitty-” he started to gloat, before his own words were swallowed by a cry of pain as a blast of flames blackened his calf and robes. Felonca didn’t need to look to know the blast came from Nayu.
Slowly, she pulled herself up. She could feel the cold air burning her back where Hu Mang’s blast had scalded her skin. The pain was now dull, aching, forced to the back from the needs of combat. Her giddy grin was gone, replaced by a look that could only be described as deadly.
“The game is up, Your Highness,” she started advancing towards him, warfans at the ready. She heard the hurried steps of sandals headed towards Nayu. Good... Liu will heal him. Its you versus me, Chou and Li. You can’t win... To her surprise, the young man gave her a sideways look of doubt, before he raised his hands upwards...
For a second, Felonca thought the blow to her back might have hit her head as well. It seemed as if the floor was tilting. A few seconds later, she realized with horror it wasn’t a hallucination, as several floor tiles rose suddenly and precipitously. With an explosion of marble dust, dirt, and stone, a creature from her nightmares roared forth.
It was some thirty feet long, with at worm-like body. At least a hundred legs ran along its sides as it clattered across the floor. From there, however, any comparison to a natural centipede ended. From its head came sharp, vicious horns, its misshapen mandibles dripping poisonous goo. Spikes and stingers seemed to arise from random points along its body, as its entire quivering form gave a gigantic hiss.
Just as quickly, the mass red beast charged directly towards Felonca. She tried to jump aside, but her battered back betrayed her. She felt the horrible jaws clamp around her leg, as the beast began to shake, ripping and shredding her limb.
FELONCA! Nayu panicked. Hurriedly, with little thought and even less control, Nayu marshaled the magical forces within his body. With a crackle of fire and energy, another long tongue of flame lashed out, this time against the unholy centipede that threatened his friend. The beast reared, dropping the hengeyokai as if she were a rag doll before spinning around, now charging towards its new tormentor.
“Get him! Get him!” Nayu shouted, pointing towards Hu Mang. Kill him before he can call another one! I can deal with this! a part of Nayu’s brain shouted, before his senses returned and yelled that it was all bravado. The sorcerer nervously pulled out his morningstar, as Liu adopted a combat position in preparation for the inevitable.
Twin battlecries rose from the other end of the hall, as father and son tore towards the spellcasting prince. The young man quickly saw that the distance between himself and Li and Chou was too small, and he turned to run. The old captain skidded to a halt, and with a mighty heave, threw his blade at the retreating spellcaster, hitting him in the middle of his back. With a yell, Hu Mang fell to the ground. Chou then finished his father’s work, cleaning removing the prince’s head.
So the old man has uses, Nayu thought grimly, the centipede’s charge now slowing to a skitter. Felonca’s worn and shattered form was already up, stumbling towards the creature, as both Li and Chou now charged this last foe.
It’ll be over soon, Nayu thought. His mind had yet to realize that even after the fight, there would have to be delicate explanations of many rather unexplainable events. Li and Chou meanwhile started slashing into the beast. And the beast turned.
By the look on Li’s face, it had clearly happened too quickly to register in the old man’s mind. One moment he was slashing the beast’s side, the next, its jaws clamped on his midsection, and with a mighty rend, tore him in half in a spray of blood and bone. Only a split second later, as the beast continued its spin, did it encounter the wrong side of Felonca’s warfans. The head of the foul creature sailed through the air, as its segmented body fell to the side, twitching in death throes.
“Gods,” Nayu heard Felonca whisper, the new silence in the hall carrying even the slightest noise. The sorcerer then looked towards Chou. The fighter stood, like a mighty oak, his face of stone, swaying lightly in some unseen breeze. His eyes, however, were riveted on his father.
The clattering ring of steel on stone echoed through the hall as the son dropped his blade, even has his cold, dead father’s hands still clenched his.
Before the explosion of movement and shrieks, Nayu had one split second to see the ten shriveled heads, all mashed into the coffin alongside the embalmed body.
Oh great. Vargouilles. As if anything worse could happen.
Nayu’s reflexes were fortunately as quick as his mind, as he twisted out of the way of the ten creatures bursting for the air. The words on his lips changed from chants to calls for magical fire, and a long tongue of flame lashed out towards the nearest of the beasties. A high pitched, desperate scream echoed in the air, as the creature, its now burning hair streaming behind it like a falling star, careened about the room before slamming into a wall and falling to the ground.
A shriek, a blur, and the sound of flesh being torn apart told him that Felonca was next to him, and by the gargling screams, another one of the creatures had met her wrath. As Nayu spun away from one of the creatures attempting to dive on him, he saw Chou, Liu, and even Captain Li all running towards him, weapons at the ready. Two vargouilles dive towards the three warriors, only to be quickly dispatched by Chou’s sword and Liu’s fists.
The six remaining vargouilles had so far remained far and above the fray, watching, observing. Even before their errant fire-trailing comrade had fallen from the air, the six split up, all giving the same high pitched screech... a signal to their master. Two then dove towards the intended target, both managing to grab and bite Nayu several times. Somehow, the young sorcerer managed to resist the poison dripping from their foul lips. Two then dove towards Felonca, deeming her a threat to their mission of assassination, while two others dove loosely towards Captain Li, their paths errant enough that they could strike out at Chou and Liu as well.
Nayu heard Felonca give a loud yell of pain, before she spun herself around, her warfans cutting one of her tormentors in half. Nayu himself wasn’t paying much attention to that, or even the two vargouilles that were still swirling about his head. Instead, he looked towards a lone figure, at the far end of the hall, a large, confident smile on the man’s lips.
“Shikai,” Hu Mang called, walking towards them slowly. The calm tread of his steps echoing along the walls made an uncomfortable contrast to the noise of combat. “My brother... close your eyes and admit its over!”
Ah... this is why... Nayu thought, just as he saw a bright flash of light seem to lance from Hu Mang’s hands, directly towards him. Nayu felt a sudden change in his feet, as if momentarily they were rooted into the hard marble floor. His arms slowed, even as the vargouilles he was dodging slashed about him faster and faster. A foreign presence, a magical presence, was inching its way into his body. With every ounce of his mind’s strength, he tried to push the magical invasion away, but found his movements growing slower and slower. No more than mere moments later, Nayu was frozen in place, unable to move as the vargouilles swooped down for yet another attack (Hu Mang cast hold person on Nayu, to make it easier for the vargouilles to feed.).
Just lovely, his mind gave an acidic rant. I’m going to have a front-row seat to a banquet where the main course is me. Dammit!
Despite his paralysis, his tactile senses still functioned, and Nayu felt a scurrying on his back. Kenzi had come with him, hidden within the folds of his cloak. Slight feelings of worry seemed to be on the edge of Nayu’s mind, and the lizard’s rapid scurries spoke of confusion. I wish Kenzi could just leap on that bastard and eat his eye, Nayu thought as the screaming vargouilles drew closer.
Suddenly, the hurried scurries stopped, and Nayu, for just a moment, saw his pet skitter across the floor, headed directly for the prince.
Who suddenly vanishes without a trace.
If these things didn’t have big teeth, this’d almost be like practice! Despite the combat, Felonca had trouble controlling a slight giggle. With ease she swatted the vargouilles around her out of the sky. Her cat-like eyes then flashed about, and saw two flashing down towards a curiously still Nayu. Why isn’t he swinging? she thought as she brought herself up to a run and did a spinning backflip over the motionless sorcerer, her warfans extended, slashing apart both vargouilles with ease.
“Find him! He turned invisible!” she heard the Captain yell, the older man gesturing out into the wide expanse of the vast hall before them. With nary a sound, she landed on the ground behind Nayu, her nose sniffing, smelling the air as Li, Liu and Chou finished the creatures by them.
Hu Mang had worn a very distinctive – and powerful – perfume this day... from across the hall she had been able to smell it. Her nose sifted through the scents and odors, trying to find it again. But the rush of the rich, wealthy and mighty had stirred up all of their perfumes, and the vargouilles themselves as well as the now opened coffin added even more stench to the area. For a few feet, she thought she could track him, before she lost the trail.
Just in time for an explosion.
A blast of fire nearly forty feet wide exploded in the midst of Liu, Chou and Li, sending all three flying. At that moment, barely thirty feet from Felonca, Hu Mang’s shimmering form returned to normal, a cackle on his lips. He was still cackling when she leapt at him, and for a moment, Felonca thought she had him cold, as his eyes grew big with terror just the second before she struck.
Unfortunately, his reflexes were almost as quick as hers, and he suddenly dropped low, causing both her and her blades to fly above his head. As she landed, she heard a familiar crackle of fire.
Nayu! Good! Fry the...AAAUUUGGGH!
Pain shot through her back, radiating out to her arms and her legs. Pain that she’d never felt before, as a new smell overpowered her... the smell of burnt fur and flesh. I’ve been burned, her mind recorded numbly as she desperately dropped to the ground herself. Her eyes found Hu, his hand still outstretched, the last energies of the scorching ray still on his fingertips, a mocking grin on his face.
“I am faster than you think, kitty-” he started to gloat, before his own words were swallowed by a cry of pain as a blast of flames blackened his calf and robes. Felonca didn’t need to look to know the blast came from Nayu.
Slowly, she pulled herself up. She could feel the cold air burning her back where Hu Mang’s blast had scalded her skin. The pain was now dull, aching, forced to the back from the needs of combat. Her giddy grin was gone, replaced by a look that could only be described as deadly.
“The game is up, Your Highness,” she started advancing towards him, warfans at the ready. She heard the hurried steps of sandals headed towards Nayu. Good... Liu will heal him. Its you versus me, Chou and Li. You can’t win... To her surprise, the young man gave her a sideways look of doubt, before he raised his hands upwards...
For a second, Felonca thought the blow to her back might have hit her head as well. It seemed as if the floor was tilting. A few seconds later, she realized with horror it wasn’t a hallucination, as several floor tiles rose suddenly and precipitously. With an explosion of marble dust, dirt, and stone, a creature from her nightmares roared forth.
It was some thirty feet long, with at worm-like body. At least a hundred legs ran along its sides as it clattered across the floor. From there, however, any comparison to a natural centipede ended. From its head came sharp, vicious horns, its misshapen mandibles dripping poisonous goo. Spikes and stingers seemed to arise from random points along its body, as its entire quivering form gave a gigantic hiss.
Just as quickly, the mass red beast charged directly towards Felonca. She tried to jump aside, but her battered back betrayed her. She felt the horrible jaws clamp around her leg, as the beast began to shake, ripping and shredding her limb.
FELONCA! Nayu panicked. Hurriedly, with little thought and even less control, Nayu marshaled the magical forces within his body. With a crackle of fire and energy, another long tongue of flame lashed out, this time against the unholy centipede that threatened his friend. The beast reared, dropping the hengeyokai as if she were a rag doll before spinning around, now charging towards its new tormentor.
“Get him! Get him!” Nayu shouted, pointing towards Hu Mang. Kill him before he can call another one! I can deal with this! a part of Nayu’s brain shouted, before his senses returned and yelled that it was all bravado. The sorcerer nervously pulled out his morningstar, as Liu adopted a combat position in preparation for the inevitable.
Twin battlecries rose from the other end of the hall, as father and son tore towards the spellcasting prince. The young man quickly saw that the distance between himself and Li and Chou was too small, and he turned to run. The old captain skidded to a halt, and with a mighty heave, threw his blade at the retreating spellcaster, hitting him in the middle of his back. With a yell, Hu Mang fell to the ground. Chou then finished his father’s work, cleaning removing the prince’s head.
So the old man has uses, Nayu thought grimly, the centipede’s charge now slowing to a skitter. Felonca’s worn and shattered form was already up, stumbling towards the creature, as both Li and Chou now charged this last foe.
It’ll be over soon, Nayu thought. His mind had yet to realize that even after the fight, there would have to be delicate explanations of many rather unexplainable events. Li and Chou meanwhile started slashing into the beast. And the beast turned.
By the look on Li’s face, it had clearly happened too quickly to register in the old man’s mind. One moment he was slashing the beast’s side, the next, its jaws clamped on his midsection, and with a mighty rend, tore him in half in a spray of blood and bone. Only a split second later, as the beast continued its spin, did it encounter the wrong side of Felonca’s warfans. The head of the foul creature sailed through the air, as its segmented body fell to the side, twitching in death throes.
“Gods,” Nayu heard Felonca whisper, the new silence in the hall carrying even the slightest noise. The sorcerer then looked towards Chou. The fighter stood, like a mighty oak, his face of stone, swaying lightly in some unseen breeze. His eyes, however, were riveted on his father.
The clattering ring of steel on stone echoed through the hall as the son dropped his blade, even has his cold, dead father’s hands still clenched his.
Bryon_Soulweaver
First Post
Dude, (a minute of silence) that sucks. =(
Emperor Valerian
First Post
Yeah, Captain Li went down fighting. It was rather interesting... he was only an NPC, but the reactions between the two players to his demise were different. Felonca's was rather sad... Nayu's player had never liked him and only felt a little bad about doubting him. The vargouilles took a great deal of Li's strength, and I imagined he’d probably just keep right on fighting (considering for several sessions he’d been wanting to prove his loyalty to Nayu, especially). The centipede critted and rolled near max damage on the bite... hence Li’s demise.
The intent of that final fight was for Hu Man to paralyze Nayu (Hu Man had failed to spot that it wasn’t really his brother), and let the vargouilles go to work. Felonca went to town, so that while Nayu was paralyzed, she killed all the vargouilles around him.
===========================================
The Prince Returns, and a Sword is Stolen
For a minute or so, Felonca couldn’t feel anything save the blazing pain now rushing through her back, and the feeling of bile rushing up her throat. She looked between Li’s broken body and Chou. The young man kept staring, his mouth opening to form words, but no sound coming out.
Then, she remembered her own life.
The sword!
Slowly, respectfully she went towards the front once Liu and Nayu had gone to comfort the warrior. She clambered up the bier, and peered inside, wincing almost as if more vargouilles would leap out. None did.
Instead, there was only the body of the late prince, his face peaceful almost, clad in the finest silk. On his chest lay a longsword, its blade gleaming gold in the torchlight, its hilt sparkling with studded amulets and gems. With a twisted face, Felonca reached inside, and gently pried the man’s cold fingers from the blade. Within a few seconds, it was loose, and she pulled it out.
What now? she thought. For the first time, she had to consider how she was going to get the blade out of the chambers. She couldn’t just strap it to her hip or the like... everyone knew this was the old prince’s sword. Somehow, she needed to get it out, and she had a few ideas.
The blade is fairly narrow... I think it’ll fit, she thought, as she entered a few minutes of finangling and cursing before she was satisfied.
“Master Nayu,” Liu’s voice was decidedly tired and worn, “I think I can comfort Li Chou. You must play your role, to protect all of us.”
Play my role... Nayu gave a nod, and tried to slip into the shoes of Prince Hu Shikai. The emotions in the air made thinking difficult. What would the prince do here? Dance over his brother’s body?
No... even if its known he hated the man, Shikai would weep over his brother as a dutiful and virtuous man would.
But what kind of weeping? Hysterical? No... Shikai sounded too calm for that. Bitter weeping though...
“Liu will take care of you,” Nayu tried his best to reassure the fighter. Dammit! He forced any thoughts of Captain Li, or his own father, from his mind as he attempted to focus. “Now... all of you,” he said, turning towards Felonca, before he had to stop.
The back of the hengeyokai’s dress was burnt and cut open, but the front was still intact... save that she seemed to be walking strange, as if something was strapped to her, keeping her from moving. She held her left arm limply by her side, and she seemed to have a slight limp favoring that side as well. For a second, Nayu was confused, before he remembered her other task... and gave her a slight nod of recognition.
“All of you! Go!” he hissed, waving them out. “I can pull off the grieving brother, but the rest of you should play the part of sane people and act like you’re fleeing!” Nayu’s eyes then found Chou’s, and for a second, there was a look of mad defiance on top of the other emotions present. Nayu heard Liu whispering quiet words to the fighter, and gently start moving him towards an exit. Close behind, Felonca rather stiffly brought up the rear.
As they left, Nayu focused on clearing his mind. Images of his own father kept appearing in his mind, and several times tears started to well. Instead of pushing that image away, Nayu allowed it to stay, as tears rolled down his cheeks. When he looked at the dead Hu Man, Nayu instead saw his own father, and began to wail, screaming for servants.
It was nearly an hour later when the stiffly but rapidly walking Felonca reached the tanner’s shop she’d ‘visited’ the day before. Outside, the people passing by were the same as before... merchants shuffling between the city markets, children playing, women carrying their laundry. Then she noticed one difference.
Leaning on the wall of the shop, his arms crossed and his eyes downcast as if in deep thought, was a man. A wide peasant’s hat was drawn down over his eyes, but she could just tell by his movements that the leopard hengeyokai had spotted her. Slowly, carefully she walked towards him.
Just as slowly, nonchalantly even, she saw him start to reach inside his tunic. For a split second, she was confused as to why he’d reach for a weapon, but then she realized He doesn’t know if I have the sword! He thinks I might have set him up!
Felonca wasn’t naive, but neither was she fully experienced in the darker sides of city life. To a true prostitute, her ‘provocative’ slight lifting of her skirt might have bordered closer to comedy theater than suggestive, even moreso because her street clothes were still on underneath the nice dress. To the average passerby, however, it looked normal enough, and aroused no attention.
The guildmaster’s face, however, snapped up to look at her, disbelief in his eyes. She dropped her skirt to normal, as he shook his head. Not able to restrain herself, she gave a slight giggle as the master thief attempted to regain nonchalance, and hide his shock. He looked about with only a partial amount of calm, before motioning her to follow him.
The two entered the tanners, and quickly went down the secret passage to the guild’s hideout. Once inside those wood paneled chambers, the facade of calm broke.
“How in the name of the Nine Hells did you do that?!” the leopard cried, hsi eyes openly wide in shock.
“As I told you before, I am an excellent thief!” she replied smugly, before laying on the ground. With some effort, Felonca managed to shift, tug, and push on the blade wedged on her left side underneath the skirt until she had it free. Before she could even stand up again, the guildmaster had the blade in his grasp, and was staring at it in awe. She stood back up, and crossed her arms in pride. No need to tell them I had some help... I bet they’ll find out soon enough.
Slowly, others started filing into the room, all with eyes wide in shock, some whistling slightly, some murmuring “Impossible!” or hissing slightly. She even recognized the small halfling thief that had called for her blood only the day before among the admirers.
For a few moments, she admired her handiwork, before the guildmaster turned to her, clearing his throat.
“You... well... passed with flying colors! Um... naturally, the profits from fencing this will go to the guild... but...um... is there anything else we can do for you?”
“Two things,” she said, before her smug smile changed into a scowl. “There were White Wolf assassins in this city, intent on killing me! You surely knew they were here, why didn’t you inform me!” she snarled. The guildmaster opened his mouth once again in confusion. This time, she read the emotion as genuine.
“We... we weren’t aware! If we were, we surely would have told you!”
“Fair enough,” her scowl remained, “then tell me about this Prince Hu Shikai. What is he like?” I have the feeling we’re going to be dealing with him now... is he a schemer? A two timer? An honest man?
The next ten minutes were filled with descriptions of the Prince’s life, as much as the Thieves’ Guild knew of it. Which was quite a great deal. He’d been born to a lesser wife of the Governor Hu Lan, and had been in continual strife with his older brother for the past three years, even to the point Hu Man had arranged a scandal to get Shikai and his mother exiled. Shikai had only returned on his dying father’s pardon.
The young man was also, at least according to the guild, was very fearful of assassination, to the point he was considering hiring White Wolf assassins to counter potential assassins. However, when she asked if the Guild knew why the Prince had ridden to Xianlung instead of the funeral, the guildmaster was perplexed.
“Where did you hear this?” the leopard asked, “We have no sources saying the same! Lixi here says that there was an attack on the prince within the palace this morning even!”
Well... might as well inform them, Felonca thought, and proceeded to do the impossible, impressing the guild even more with her tale of how the sword was taken...
“Majesty! Majesty!” a servant came running towards Nayu, wringing his hands in worry. True to his role, Nayu looked up, and snarled at the man.
“Why do you disturb me! Someone has tried to kill me, and has killed my brother!” he bellowed, more tears streaming down his face. Tears for Chou's sorrow, and tears for his own father.
“Majesty! An army has come to the city! They have been let in the gates, and now ride to the palace!” the servant panicked, gesturing wildly. “They shall arrive any moment!”
An army? Whose army? Why would someone-
OH!
Everything suddenly came together. Why a betrayed son would be riding away and skip his father’s funeral. Why he would need a double to make it seem like he was there. It all makes sense!
His role now abandoned, Nayu dashed out towards the palace front.
Some hours later...
“I wish to thank you all for your assistance,” Prince Hu Shikai, now Governor of Langya Province, spoke. He shifted slightly on the throne, his armor creaking and clanking as he motioned for his servants. Two came into the room, carrying a table between them, upon which were neatly stacked piles of gold taels. With a nod, the servants were then dismissed, before the prince returned his gaze to the party. “Without your assistance, I am afraid this situation might have become... difficult.”
A princely armored hand waved to the table. “Four thousand golden taels, as we agreed.”
Felonca and Liu both looked at Nayu, and the young man felt heat flushing to his cheeks. He glanced sideways at the still stoic Chou, whose eyes were looking at the ground, but focused on a soul somewhere far away. Nayu then glanced back towards Felonca, wh nodded slightly. Gingerly, he cleared his throat, and stepped forward.
“Your Excellency,” he began, “we have lost a dear comrade in the process of this mission on your behalf. As such, we wish an extra thousand golden taels...” Nayu paused, and then looked directly at Chou, “...for his surviving family members.” Hastily, Nayu added a proper bow, but his eyes had switched back to the prince.
Hu Shikai looked at the young man, at the look in his eyes almost defying the prince to say no.
“I was unaware you had suffered such a loss. My deepest condolences,” the prince said, nodding to both Nayu and Chou. An armored hand was waved, and another smaller table was brought in, its golden taels set alongside the much larger table already present. The prince then rose, turned towards Chou, and gave him a bow.
“A wise leader cares for his subjects,” the prince spoke, quoting directly from a text of Kongxi, “and you, young man, do certainly care for your friends. Your actions here show a great deal of wisdom... wisdom many of my father’s scholars and advisors lacked. They also tell me that you used fire from your hands to subdue the beasts... something unusual for someone that has never seen the inside of a dao academy or studied the great masters. The state could use someone of your-”
“I most respectfully cannot accept,” Nayu replied, giving another bow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Felonca and Liu both looking at him, mouths agape. He ignored their shock and continued, “I merely ask Your Excellency to find it in your heart to assist me in finding my parents.” As per procedure, Nayu went to his knees, and started to kowtow before the prince’s own hands grabbed his arm, preventing him.
“There is no need for that, brave one,” the prince said simply, pulling Nayu back to his feet before giving a sigh. “I am afraid that is one thing I cannot help you with at this moment.” The prince then turned, and started back towards the throne. “From all sides, the armies of the Empress Dowager and her brother, the Prince of Shu, threaten me. Because of this, I cannot send forces yet to the north to destroy the Military Governor, or find your parents.”
Nayu started to open his mouth to protest, before the prince raised a hand for silence.
“Young man, I know your parents must mean a great deal to you. Unfortunately, I have hundreds of thousands of parents and children under my rule that must also be cared for. I hope you understand.”
“In the meantime however, I wish to offer you and your brave companions my hospitality. I am granting you lodging in the Governor’s Palace for the next week.” A servant appeared, and the prince took several stamped pieces of paper from him. He then handed the papers to the party. “During that time, I can hopefully find information that may be of use to you. I will meet with you in one week’s time, and hopefully then, can we set you on the way to a happy reunion.”
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
This is the end of the fourth session. From here, things get even more exciting, as in the next session we had a guest player (Isida Kep’Tukari stopped by, and joined the party for a day), as well as further exhibitions of what Felonca’s dagger is capable of...
The intent of that final fight was for Hu Man to paralyze Nayu (Hu Man had failed to spot that it wasn’t really his brother), and let the vargouilles go to work. Felonca went to town, so that while Nayu was paralyzed, she killed all the vargouilles around him.
===========================================
The Prince Returns, and a Sword is Stolen
For a minute or so, Felonca couldn’t feel anything save the blazing pain now rushing through her back, and the feeling of bile rushing up her throat. She looked between Li’s broken body and Chou. The young man kept staring, his mouth opening to form words, but no sound coming out.
Then, she remembered her own life.
The sword!
Slowly, respectfully she went towards the front once Liu and Nayu had gone to comfort the warrior. She clambered up the bier, and peered inside, wincing almost as if more vargouilles would leap out. None did.
Instead, there was only the body of the late prince, his face peaceful almost, clad in the finest silk. On his chest lay a longsword, its blade gleaming gold in the torchlight, its hilt sparkling with studded amulets and gems. With a twisted face, Felonca reached inside, and gently pried the man’s cold fingers from the blade. Within a few seconds, it was loose, and she pulled it out.
What now? she thought. For the first time, she had to consider how she was going to get the blade out of the chambers. She couldn’t just strap it to her hip or the like... everyone knew this was the old prince’s sword. Somehow, she needed to get it out, and she had a few ideas.
The blade is fairly narrow... I think it’ll fit, she thought, as she entered a few minutes of finangling and cursing before she was satisfied.
“Master Nayu,” Liu’s voice was decidedly tired and worn, “I think I can comfort Li Chou. You must play your role, to protect all of us.”
Play my role... Nayu gave a nod, and tried to slip into the shoes of Prince Hu Shikai. The emotions in the air made thinking difficult. What would the prince do here? Dance over his brother’s body?
No... even if its known he hated the man, Shikai would weep over his brother as a dutiful and virtuous man would.
But what kind of weeping? Hysterical? No... Shikai sounded too calm for that. Bitter weeping though...
“Liu will take care of you,” Nayu tried his best to reassure the fighter. Dammit! He forced any thoughts of Captain Li, or his own father, from his mind as he attempted to focus. “Now... all of you,” he said, turning towards Felonca, before he had to stop.
The back of the hengeyokai’s dress was burnt and cut open, but the front was still intact... save that she seemed to be walking strange, as if something was strapped to her, keeping her from moving. She held her left arm limply by her side, and she seemed to have a slight limp favoring that side as well. For a second, Nayu was confused, before he remembered her other task... and gave her a slight nod of recognition.
“All of you! Go!” he hissed, waving them out. “I can pull off the grieving brother, but the rest of you should play the part of sane people and act like you’re fleeing!” Nayu’s eyes then found Chou’s, and for a second, there was a look of mad defiance on top of the other emotions present. Nayu heard Liu whispering quiet words to the fighter, and gently start moving him towards an exit. Close behind, Felonca rather stiffly brought up the rear.
As they left, Nayu focused on clearing his mind. Images of his own father kept appearing in his mind, and several times tears started to well. Instead of pushing that image away, Nayu allowed it to stay, as tears rolled down his cheeks. When he looked at the dead Hu Man, Nayu instead saw his own father, and began to wail, screaming for servants.
It was nearly an hour later when the stiffly but rapidly walking Felonca reached the tanner’s shop she’d ‘visited’ the day before. Outside, the people passing by were the same as before... merchants shuffling between the city markets, children playing, women carrying their laundry. Then she noticed one difference.
Leaning on the wall of the shop, his arms crossed and his eyes downcast as if in deep thought, was a man. A wide peasant’s hat was drawn down over his eyes, but she could just tell by his movements that the leopard hengeyokai had spotted her. Slowly, carefully she walked towards him.
Just as slowly, nonchalantly even, she saw him start to reach inside his tunic. For a split second, she was confused as to why he’d reach for a weapon, but then she realized He doesn’t know if I have the sword! He thinks I might have set him up!
Felonca wasn’t naive, but neither was she fully experienced in the darker sides of city life. To a true prostitute, her ‘provocative’ slight lifting of her skirt might have bordered closer to comedy theater than suggestive, even moreso because her street clothes were still on underneath the nice dress. To the average passerby, however, it looked normal enough, and aroused no attention.
The guildmaster’s face, however, snapped up to look at her, disbelief in his eyes. She dropped her skirt to normal, as he shook his head. Not able to restrain herself, she gave a slight giggle as the master thief attempted to regain nonchalance, and hide his shock. He looked about with only a partial amount of calm, before motioning her to follow him.
The two entered the tanners, and quickly went down the secret passage to the guild’s hideout. Once inside those wood paneled chambers, the facade of calm broke.
“How in the name of the Nine Hells did you do that?!” the leopard cried, hsi eyes openly wide in shock.
“As I told you before, I am an excellent thief!” she replied smugly, before laying on the ground. With some effort, Felonca managed to shift, tug, and push on the blade wedged on her left side underneath the skirt until she had it free. Before she could even stand up again, the guildmaster had the blade in his grasp, and was staring at it in awe. She stood back up, and crossed her arms in pride. No need to tell them I had some help... I bet they’ll find out soon enough.
Slowly, others started filing into the room, all with eyes wide in shock, some whistling slightly, some murmuring “Impossible!” or hissing slightly. She even recognized the small halfling thief that had called for her blood only the day before among the admirers.
For a few moments, she admired her handiwork, before the guildmaster turned to her, clearing his throat.
“You... well... passed with flying colors! Um... naturally, the profits from fencing this will go to the guild... but...um... is there anything else we can do for you?”
“Two things,” she said, before her smug smile changed into a scowl. “There were White Wolf assassins in this city, intent on killing me! You surely knew they were here, why didn’t you inform me!” she snarled. The guildmaster opened his mouth once again in confusion. This time, she read the emotion as genuine.
“We... we weren’t aware! If we were, we surely would have told you!”
“Fair enough,” her scowl remained, “then tell me about this Prince Hu Shikai. What is he like?” I have the feeling we’re going to be dealing with him now... is he a schemer? A two timer? An honest man?
The next ten minutes were filled with descriptions of the Prince’s life, as much as the Thieves’ Guild knew of it. Which was quite a great deal. He’d been born to a lesser wife of the Governor Hu Lan, and had been in continual strife with his older brother for the past three years, even to the point Hu Man had arranged a scandal to get Shikai and his mother exiled. Shikai had only returned on his dying father’s pardon.
The young man was also, at least according to the guild, was very fearful of assassination, to the point he was considering hiring White Wolf assassins to counter potential assassins. However, when she asked if the Guild knew why the Prince had ridden to Xianlung instead of the funeral, the guildmaster was perplexed.
“Where did you hear this?” the leopard asked, “We have no sources saying the same! Lixi here says that there was an attack on the prince within the palace this morning even!”
Well... might as well inform them, Felonca thought, and proceeded to do the impossible, impressing the guild even more with her tale of how the sword was taken...
“Majesty! Majesty!” a servant came running towards Nayu, wringing his hands in worry. True to his role, Nayu looked up, and snarled at the man.
“Why do you disturb me! Someone has tried to kill me, and has killed my brother!” he bellowed, more tears streaming down his face. Tears for Chou's sorrow, and tears for his own father.
“Majesty! An army has come to the city! They have been let in the gates, and now ride to the palace!” the servant panicked, gesturing wildly. “They shall arrive any moment!”
An army? Whose army? Why would someone-
OH!
Everything suddenly came together. Why a betrayed son would be riding away and skip his father’s funeral. Why he would need a double to make it seem like he was there. It all makes sense!
His role now abandoned, Nayu dashed out towards the palace front.
Some hours later...
“I wish to thank you all for your assistance,” Prince Hu Shikai, now Governor of Langya Province, spoke. He shifted slightly on the throne, his armor creaking and clanking as he motioned for his servants. Two came into the room, carrying a table between them, upon which were neatly stacked piles of gold taels. With a nod, the servants were then dismissed, before the prince returned his gaze to the party. “Without your assistance, I am afraid this situation might have become... difficult.”
A princely armored hand waved to the table. “Four thousand golden taels, as we agreed.”
Felonca and Liu both looked at Nayu, and the young man felt heat flushing to his cheeks. He glanced sideways at the still stoic Chou, whose eyes were looking at the ground, but focused on a soul somewhere far away. Nayu then glanced back towards Felonca, wh nodded slightly. Gingerly, he cleared his throat, and stepped forward.
“Your Excellency,” he began, “we have lost a dear comrade in the process of this mission on your behalf. As such, we wish an extra thousand golden taels...” Nayu paused, and then looked directly at Chou, “...for his surviving family members.” Hastily, Nayu added a proper bow, but his eyes had switched back to the prince.
Hu Shikai looked at the young man, at the look in his eyes almost defying the prince to say no.
“I was unaware you had suffered such a loss. My deepest condolences,” the prince said, nodding to both Nayu and Chou. An armored hand was waved, and another smaller table was brought in, its golden taels set alongside the much larger table already present. The prince then rose, turned towards Chou, and gave him a bow.
“A wise leader cares for his subjects,” the prince spoke, quoting directly from a text of Kongxi, “and you, young man, do certainly care for your friends. Your actions here show a great deal of wisdom... wisdom many of my father’s scholars and advisors lacked. They also tell me that you used fire from your hands to subdue the beasts... something unusual for someone that has never seen the inside of a dao academy or studied the great masters. The state could use someone of your-”
“I most respectfully cannot accept,” Nayu replied, giving another bow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Felonca and Liu both looking at him, mouths agape. He ignored their shock and continued, “I merely ask Your Excellency to find it in your heart to assist me in finding my parents.” As per procedure, Nayu went to his knees, and started to kowtow before the prince’s own hands grabbed his arm, preventing him.
“There is no need for that, brave one,” the prince said simply, pulling Nayu back to his feet before giving a sigh. “I am afraid that is one thing I cannot help you with at this moment.” The prince then turned, and started back towards the throne. “From all sides, the armies of the Empress Dowager and her brother, the Prince of Shu, threaten me. Because of this, I cannot send forces yet to the north to destroy the Military Governor, or find your parents.”
Nayu started to open his mouth to protest, before the prince raised a hand for silence.
“Young man, I know your parents must mean a great deal to you. Unfortunately, I have hundreds of thousands of parents and children under my rule that must also be cared for. I hope you understand.”
“In the meantime however, I wish to offer you and your brave companions my hospitality. I am granting you lodging in the Governor’s Palace for the next week.” A servant appeared, and the prince took several stamped pieces of paper from him. He then handed the papers to the party. “During that time, I can hopefully find information that may be of use to you. I will meet with you in one week’s time, and hopefully then, can we set you on the way to a happy reunion.”
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
This is the end of the fourth session. From here, things get even more exciting, as in the next session we had a guest player (Isida Kep’Tukari stopped by, and joined the party for a day), as well as further exhibitions of what Felonca’s dagger is capable of...
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