Oh... this would be a nice point to put a summary of where the characters are:
Wakabayashi Nayu (Finally found out his surname
) At this point, was a 6th level sorcerer. He also has a chameleon familiar, named Kenzi, as well as a
spell-storing morningstar he particularly likes.
Wa-Feng Felonca At this point, she is a 5th level rogue, who loves her cat emblazoned warfans.
Liu Ganxi At this point, Liu was a 3rd level Cleric and a 3rd level monk.
For this session, Isida Kep’Tukari, my former DM (who got me rehooked to D&D last fall) and a player from the previous game last spring came to visit, and brought a character with her... Togashi Cho, Monk5/Tattooed Monk1, to play the bodyguard role at this point. Since that was Chou’s role for the party, and considering the poor man’s father had just died, I thought it would be time to him to exit stage left for the time being, to lighten my load of NPC running for a session.
But enough of that. Herein begins Celestial Empire - Session of the Fifth, Wherein Nayu Searcheth For His Parents, Felonca Discoverth Greater Details of Her Dagger, A Village is Saved and then Destroyed, and the Secret History of Nayu is Revealed...
Leaving Mingzhong
Togashi Cho leaned in towards the miniature bonsai tree, moving his knife carefully, trimming the edges of its tiny leaves with practiced precision. Some might say it was foolish to spend a half hour trimming the small decorative tree, but for Cho, it was not just practice in patience... it was a part of his personality.
Ah... mother and father would be pleased, she smiled as he leaned back from his work, the crown of the tiny tree once again perfectly round. Chou then set aside the tiny pruning knife, and gingerly picked up the tree’s pot, to transport it back to his cell. Along the way, he nodded as various members of his brotherhood passed by, smiling and greeting each. As he neared the outer areas of the temple, he passed by a well dressed young woman and her young son, praying to a shrine for longsuffering. The young woman maintained her prayers, but the curious young boy slipped from his mother’s side, and rather cutely blocked the monk’s path.
“Are you the hairless one? If I rub your head, do I get good luck?” the boy asked, and Cho had to suppress a laugh.
“Patience and longsuffering will grant you more than luck, young fellow,” Cho smiled, the noonday sunlight reflecting off of his hairless crown and upper body. Despite the slight lesson, Cho leaned down, and the young boy gingerly ran a hand over the crown of his head, before giggling excitedly, “I shall surely win at skipping today!” and rushing off to interrupt his mother’s prayers.
Cho watched for a moment, remembering himself twenty years before, being raised in the temple, his mother and father teaching him the ways of Master Shenyang, and he smiled.
I think I should take a detour... and go so mother and father this tree of patience!
“Brother Togashi!”
Cho immediately turned around, his reverie interrupted by the loud call of the Temple Master. The man approaching was slightly older than Cho’s father, nearing sixty, but his dress... nude from the waist up, an orange cloth and sandals below, revealed the physique of someone half his age. Master Yu always kept in excellent shape, and was likely to lead this Temple for twenty more years.
However, Cho didn’t notice these things... they were ordinary to him. Instead, he noticed the young monk following Yu. Unlike Cho, this man had a single braid of hair hanging from the back of his head, and his eyes and face smiled at Cho’s recognition.
“Liu Ganxi!” Cho rushed over and started to move to give his friend a hug before he remembered the bonsai tree in his hands. He settled for a bow, which Liu echoed.
“Your hands appear busy, but I hope your ears are free, friend. I have a favor to ask of you,” Liu said, rising from his bow...
“Have you found Chou?”
Nayu immediately could tell by Felonca’s eyes what the answer was. Nearly a week had passed since the ‘Battle of the Funeral Hall,’ and the party had not seen their friend Chou for three days... since he’d left to bury his father outside the city.
“Yes,” she sighed, shuffling into Nayu’s expensively outfitted room, and collapsing on a silk divan. The extreme comforts had lost their appeal after the first day, she hardly noticed it now. “He was drowning his sorrows in a tavern in the Foreign District. He had fifteen empty cups in front of him when I arrived, and while I was there he downed another four of spiced wine.”
Nayu winced, not just at the amount of alcohol their companion had downed.
I bet he’s still upset at me for how I treated his father... Nayu’s mind drifted back to home, before this mess, even as Felonca continued talking.
“...so I think its best if we leave him here. The innkeep promised to watch him, and Chou’s a skilled warrior, he’ll find work... and even if he doesn’t, I’m guessing that it’ll take him a long while to go through all that gold,” Felonca finally said. “He needs time to work through his grief, you know?” She sighed, and shook her head. “He told me he’d served in his father’s unit for ten years. Can you imagine that? Not only being raised by the man, but working side by side for him for that long on top of it?”
“I can,” Nayu said quietly, shaking the thoughts from his own head, before deciding the topic of conversation needed to be quickly changed, before he got more depressed. “Any news on Liu, either?”
“You need to cheer up,” Felonca casually observed, before heading to the topic of conversation. “He’s still at his temple or whatnot,” Felonca waved her hand dismissively.
“Still no caring for the inner works of the spirit, for the political workings of religion and belief?” Nayu asked, a small smile starting to form on his face. He’d always chuckled at how cavalier Felonca’s attitude to scholars and monks was... considering the monks of Shenyang regarded the
dao scholars as narrow-minded fools who disavowed inner peace, and the scholars regarded the monks as fools whose minds were so entwined in spiritual clouds that they forgot practicality and magic.
I don’t give a damn what philosophy the man has... will he help me and not be a backstabber? Nayu remembered a quote from her some weeks before on the road. Liu had immediately started sputtering on the differences between his faith and the scholar’s science, while Chou had just laughed at the monk’s look of shock and horror.
Good times in the midst of hardship.
“Nope... don’t know, don’t care to know,” Felonca said matter of factly. “They do their thing, and as long as Liu doesn’t go into one of his longwinded explanations, or I don’t get insulted by one of the scholars, I don’t care. Anyways,” she waved away Nayu’s chuckle with a grin of her own, “he agreed with me that Chou might need some time alone, so he’s looking for someone to join us... extra body, if you will. I told him to not get another preacher... Liu wasn’t happy.”
Nayu fell off his chair laughing, and Felonca added her own snickers.
“He said he’s looking for an old friend of his, a warrior of some kind,” she said after regaining control. “A monk named Togashi Chou, or Cho, or something.”
“Hmm... ‘Togashi’ means dragon,” Nayu mused, “at least in the scholar’s tongue. Very strange surname,” he shrugged. “What time is it, anyway?”
“The sun was at noon a short time ago,” Felonca spoke, looking out the window. “When were you supposed to meet the prince?”
“Two bells after noon... I guess I might as well go now. All that can happen is we’ll have to sit and wait for a bit.”
Three hours later...
“I am so bored I’m almost tempted to ask that scholar if he’ll let me play against him at
go,” Felonca moaned. “He’ll beat me silly and gloat about it, but I almost don’t care.”
“The world’s best swordsman fears the world’s worst,” Nayu said absently, twiddling his thumbs as he looked over the endless marble of the hallway outside the Audience Chambers of the Governor’s Palace. He then looked sideways at Felonca and smirked.
“Are you implying I don’t know how to play
go?” Felonca asked, crossing her arms. “It’s not hard! You just move pieces around, jump people, and flip the game table over if you lose!” she grinned back. Nayu was about to launch a biting remark in reply, when the immense doors of the chamber opened slightly, and a servant poked his head out.
“His Highness the governor will receive you now.”
Quickly Felonca and Nayu reordered their clothing, the fine silks they had used during the ‘Battle of the Funeral Ceremony’ having been fixed and remade. Felonca checked the placement of her hairpins, while Nayu made sure his light mustache was curled just right, before the massive doors opened.
The room before them was crowded with armored men, their helms a sea of white, yellow and red plumes denoting high ranking officers. As the two stepped into the room, the Prince of Hu, clad in the same gilded armor as before, came out of the milling crowd and greeted them with a warm smile.
“Highness,” Nayu and Felonca gave a proper bow.
“Nayu, Felonca,” the prince clasped his hands in respect. “I do hope you have enjoyed your accommodations within this walls. Was it to your liking?”
“Of course, Highness!”
“Excellent. Enough with formalities... young man, I know you are eager to know what I have found out,” the Prince started, before looking slightly away. “Unfortunately, it isn’t much.” He paused, as if trying to place something within his mind, before speaking again. “During my conferences on the disposition of forces, it has come to my attention that most of the refugees from the Military Distict that fled south have been settled in or around the town of Mafeng by the local prefect. If your parents survived... that is where they would be. I’m sorry it is not anything more specific,” he sighed.
“Highness, that is far more information that I had previously,” Nayu bowed deeply, “and I thank you deeply for your efforts to help me, in this busy time for yourself.”
The Prince started to say something, but instead closed his mouth and gave Nayu and Felonca smile of acknowledgement, before a blustery general in a white and red plumed helmet got the Prince’s attention.
“Well... I take it we’re going to Mafeng as soon as possible, like tomorrow?” Felonca asked as she and Nayu slipped out of the crowded Audience Chambers. Nayu nodded in reply, and it was Felonca’s turn to look out the window. “Before we go, there’s something I need to do.”
Felonca could tell by the surprised look on the leopard hengeyokai’s face that he hadn’t expected her to grace the guild’s headquarters with her presence once again. She also saw it made him uneasy... something that made her smile.
“Sir,” she nodded, as the leopard overcame his surprise and motioned for her to come towards the table he was currently sitting behind.
“Wa-Feng Felonca... what may I do for you today? Any trinkets to turn in?” he asked, his eyes slightly hopeful.
“None... I think the Guild can give me some waivers for a while,” she replied with a smirk.
I busted my behind to get that sword... don't expect any more ‘dues’ for a while! “I just have a few things I need to ask you.”
“But of course! We always seek to assist our most skilled members!” the man said with a smile that spoke of unease.
“Have your members been following a young man, about six feet tall...” she said, going on to describe Chou down to the slight mole on the left side of his chin. The guildmaster thought for a second, before replying no.
“Good. Don’t. He’s newly rich because his father died, and he is still grieving. He’s a friend of mine. Leave him alone if you would please,” Felonca said, the smile on her face becoming hard and icy.
“But of course,” the leopard replied, leaning back in his chair, attempting to look at ease. His eyes still betrayed him. “I shall instruct all members to give him a wide berth. Is there anything else we can do for you, Ms. Wa-Feng?”
“Yes, there is another thing. Have any of the other city guilds said anything about large armies on the move? War is afoot, I think.”
“War? Between who?”
Felonca proceeded to explain that the Empress Dowager, the Military Governor and the Prince of Shu all were planning to invade Langya. Of course she never mentioned that she knew this from being inside the Governor’s Palace for the past week, so yet again the guildmaster was stunned, and slightly frightened by the depth of her knowledge, and how much
more she appeared to know than the Guild or all its operatives...
When she returned to the Palace later that night, she found that Liu had returned, with a stranger as well. The young man was perhaps a few years younger than Liu, and clad much the same. However, there appeared to be no hair on his body at all, and a large tattoo of the sun was emblazoned on his chest, several shuriken and a set of nunchakus thrust into his belt.
“Ah... Felonca!” Liu rose quickly, leading Felonca over to the stranger. “I would like to introduce you to Togashi Cho, a friend of mine and a formidable fighter! He has agreed to accompany us to...”
“Mafeng,” Nayu replied, before saying sourly, “I still don’t understand how he’s as good as Chou with only a pair of short sticks and no armor.”
The trip to Mafeng would take three weeks. As the crow flies, Mafeng was not far from Mingzhong, only a short distance to the east. However, the road to the town followed the winding Kangxi River, so a trip that a crow could make in a week instead would take three.
Cho proved to be no Liu when it came to attempting conversions. The first night, he merely inquired whether anyone else followed the teachings of Shenyang, and after the party had replied they did not, he left the issue alone. Liu continued his ‘small teachings’ whenever he could... by the 18th day, Felonca and Nayu both were once again adept at tuning him out.
It was on that day when the party saw something strange, something some of them had never seen before...
“Um... Nayu? What is that? Up ahead on the road! I think the man on it is injured!” Felonca pointed. Over the past two and a half weeks, the party had passed a few travelers along the road, mostly merchants headed to or from Mingzhong with wares. All had been riding or dragging horses, donkeys or carts behind them. Up ahead was something far stranger.
Ahead was what looked to be the strangest horse Felonca had ever seen, heading right towards them. Its snout was thin, and its lower lip seemed to droop. Its color looked to be light brown, but it seemed far furrier than a horse should be. Its hooves were strangely shaped, almost like shoes, and its tail was far too small. Most glaringly, it had two strange humps or tumors on its back, to which someone had strapped their supplies. Between the humps rode a man clad in strange, rather tattered clothes, his head wrapped in what looked to be a bandage.
“What?” Nayu asked.
“There! That man’s hurt!” Felonca said urgently, spurring her mare ahead. “Sir! Good sir, do you need help! Who has hurt-“ Felonca stopped in mid-call, as Nayu’s giggling laughter rose above the birds of a pretty summer’s day. “What! He’s hurt! Stop laughing and lets go get him off that beast before it hurts him!” she snapped in annoyance.
“Felonca,” Nayu sputtered between giggles, “that...that man is a trader!” The laughter roared back anew, and he needed a few moments to compose himself. “He’s riding a
camel! He’s...he’s not hurt! He’s wearing a
turban!”
“A what?” Felonca looked back at Nayu increduously.
Why would anyone wear bandages on their head, or ride such a misshapen horse!
“A turban! Cloth wrapped around his head,” Nayu was fighting to control himself, but his red face showed another outburst could start any moment, “it’s... its used by the traders that go into the desert north of the Desert Wall. You can pull it down over your mouth to protect your face during dust storms. And the camel’s humps carry extra water, so it doesn’t need as much... which means more water for you when you cross the desert!”
Felonca looked back at the man, who’d now stopped and was looking at the party strangely, before looking back at Nayu. Quickly, her dark face became a shade darker as she flushed with embarrassment.
“Good sir, don’t be alarmed,” Nayu called out. “I am a trader myself... my friend here has never seen a turban or camel before! What news?”
“Ah,” the trader trotted his camel closer, his smile surrounded by a thick black beard. “I was confused for a second as to your friends call.” His accent was thick and richly melodic, speaking of an origin far to the north, perhaps as far as the great cities of the Slave Coast. The man motioned to his torn cloak. “Would you happen to have any cloaks, fellow trader? Mine was torn by rascals further up the road.”
“Hmm... I’ve got this one here,” Nayu pulled his old cloak from its saddlepack. “Nothing much, but it’ll keep you warmer than that mess there.” The merchant tossed Nayu 5 silver, and Nayu handed him the greenish cloak. “You said there were rascals up the road that did this? We’re headed that way, towards Mafeng...”
“You’re going to
Mafeng!?” the merchant asked disbelieving. “Why in the name of Almashah are you headed there! That place is full of vengeful fools and crazy loons!”
Uh oh. “Why do you say that?” Nayu asked, suddenly serious and concerned.
Vengeful Fools? Crazy loons? My parents might be in the midst of that mess!
“Well, firstly, there’s a loony bin of an Imperial Commissioner outside of the town, a real
karkizidah,” the man spoke a word Nayu didn’t understand, but its meaning was fairly clear.
An idiot, or crazy man, Nayu deduced.
“He’s been there for about a month, and has been demanding the first-born child of a different villager every couple days... as hostages. He wants the prefect to not send any forces to help the Governor in Mingzhong, and the kids are the collateral. Its... its
alisha karkizidah! Alish karkizidah I tell you!”
“Great,” Felonca muttered. “A commissioner for the Dowager Empress... who has seen you,” she turned to Nayu, “or might think you’re a certain person...”
“So the Commissioner tore you coat for some reason?” Nayu pressed.
I need to know more! Is he hurting travelers? What about the refugees that are supposedly nearby?
“No... that relates to the
other crazy...
shelmichaya going on there!” Once again, Nayu didn’t understand the exact word, but he guessed it was some reference to what’s left behind in lavatories. “There’s also some kind of ‘white beast’ in the forests outside of the town, that’s been hunting villagers!”
“A white beast?! How many has it killed?” Nayu asked, a little too suddenly. The merchant didn’t notice, and plowed on with his tale.
“I was part of a much larger caravan. We were carrying short swords from Puyuan to Mingzhong... but we came into Mafeng, and learned of their trouble. So we talked up our swords, looking to sell a few. In all fairness, they were good swords,” the merchant added heatedly, as if he needed justification for something. “Well maintained, not magical or anything, but sharp and capable in good hands. I know, on the way south, we killed two sandhogs outside the Desert Wall with them! So we talked them up, showed the blades, and they wanted the whole lot to arm some of the villagers to send out a party to kill this beast.”
A white beast, by my parents! Nayu fought to keep from panicking.
“So we charged them a goodly sum, and started loading up on the red peaches that grow in their orchards... figured we could make two sales for the price of one. That took two days, and by that point the hunting party returned, minus five of its members, and six others were in various states of injury. Two more died that night. Incompetent
karkiziashi!” he spat. “They surrounded the thing and tried to rush it! Idiots!”
The merchants tone turned angry. “But did they take responsibility that they’d basically sent a bunch of yahoos into the woods who didn’t know how to hunt? No... oh no! They said the swords wouldn’t even cut the beast, and said we’d conned them! Honest Shareef and his caravan, con men!
Alzabar zin Dagli! So they took Shareef, and Mazir, and his twin brother Nazir, and hung the lot of them! When they hadn’t done anything!
Malachi nob Calif! A lot of bloody murderers and
karkizidashi, I say! I’m full well going to report this to the Governor in Mingzhong!”
“You said the creature had been harassing townspeople. There’s also refugees there too, correct?” Felonca asked, realizing what Nayu wanted to know but was unable to sputter out.
“Oh yes... the poor creatures. That
shemichaya is crazy as well! They say there are ‘burning skeletons’ and other things up north. I’m not sure I wish to head back to Aldukir, or even Yabriz! Too many strange things... too many strange things! They were lucky though... most were inside the city in the commons and open places when the beast arrived, so none of them were hurt! Thank Alshabah... it sounded like they had already gone through hell!”
Nayu gave a noticeable sigh of relief. “So... does this beast haunt the road to Mafeng?”
Good! No refugees hurt means my parents weren’t hurt!
“I don’t know... I didn’t exactly take a close look after what those fools did to Shareef and the brothers! I just rode my camel as fast as I could to get away!” As if acknowledging its mention, the camel gave a bellow, making Felonca's mare whinny.
“A wise response,” Nayu replied in turn, before anxiously looking up the road. “Good sir, I think we should be on our way. We are searching for friends from the north, and we wish a quick reunion.” Nayu nervously twitched on his horse, resisting the urge to set off galloping towards Mafeng.
“Thank you, young man, for this cloak. I sincerely hope you find your friend, and that the people there treat you better than they treated my friends. May Alshabah look after you for your kindness!” The merchant clasped his hands and did a slight bow on the back of his camel in a very polite goodbye from his native lands, far to the north of the Desert Wall.
“I sincerely hope he will,” Nayu replied politely, all the while wishing he could spur his horse off the Mafeng as quickly as possible...
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
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