Hmmm... I’ll have to think about that. The problem currently is that beyond the seventh session, the previous map showing the party’s travels is far too small, so I’ll have to redo it, likely along with several other Photoshop projects I intend to stuff into this thread (The ‘incidents’ inside Xianlung, and “The Battle,” or how as I’m going to title it, the Battle of Ii-suken, as well as the little camp heist from last weekend...). But enough of that. For now, onward to Dai! Hehe... that sounds ironic...
We’re Off to Dai! (Yes, the players kept repeating this phrase constantly and ecstatically in an entirely too happy manner, so I did my best to oblige...
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
)
A month is a long time.
Especially when you have as many doubts as those flashing through my head, Nayu thought quietly, as the party’s horses cantered along the road. The wide, rich farm fields of southern Langya had given way to small copses of trees, a sure sign that somewhere behind them, they had crossed the provincial border. Overhead, the sky was a brilliant, clear shade of blue, with nary a cloud in sight. As Felonca made a comment to Yari Ai about the beauty of their surroundings, Nayu continued his inner struggle... the struggle to maintain the heading he had chosen, instead of making a snap decision like his instincts kept screaming for him to do.
Patience, he told himself, remembering the last conversation he had with the monk Liu Ganxi, a month earlier. The monk had said that he, too, did not trust Prince Hu, and he felt it’d be needed that
someone stay behind, to keep an eye on the Prince, and if needbe, sneak out of the city to the party to warn them of trouble. As the followers of Shenyang had several temples within the city’s limits, it would be easy for him to manufacture a reason to remain behind.
I miss him, Nayu thought,
even if he did get preachy sometimes with his Shenyang teachings. The sorcerer closed his eyes, the words of their parting conversation flowing through his mind.
”Master Liu... I... I have a question for you.”
“What is it my son?” Nayu gave a slight smile at the memory of how Liu’s voice had perked. He had been hoping one of the people near him was ready to ask about learning The Way, and becoming a disciple of the Shenyang.
”You... you are undoubtedly a very wise man, Master Liu, and very knowledgeable. Um... let’s say you have a problem... a... um... problem you do not know the solution to, and you are uncertain what is right, and what is wrong. How...um... would you solve that? What do the teachings of Shenyang tell you about such... problems...”
The monk’s slight laugh echoed in Nayu’s mind, as the sorcerer remembered his own fear at speaking to the monk... fear that he might give away his secret, or that Liu would press out of concern to know what the exact problem was. Instead, the monk showed himself truly wise, and only offered a reply.
”Patience is the key then. If this problem does not need to be addressed immediately, the Will of Fate and Heaven will show itself to you in due time. Haste leads to mistakes, patience is a virtue.”
So easy to say, Nayu thought silently, before looking up towards the clear blue sky above.
I shall be patient. Heaven will guide me.
“Um... Nayu?” The previously cheery Felonca interrupted his thoughts with a voice of concern. As Nayu looked back down towards the path ahead, it was obvious what had aroused the statement. Ahead was a small grove of trees, a sight in and of itself not too unusual. The ice covering the ground beneath them, their trunks, their bark, and even their leaves, was very unusual... especially for the middle of summer...
What in the... Nayu rode slowly towards the front, looking intently at the trees themselves. Carefully, he rode close to one of the icy branches, and reached towards a leaf. It shattered at his slight touch.
This isn’t the remnant of magical ice... the leaves would not have been so brittle... this ice comes from the depths of something far more cold... He then looked at the branches themselves, and then towards the nearest trunk. The ice seemed to cover only one half of the trunk...
There is something causing this ice... something that way... Nayu thought, looking into the midst of the small forest, his eyes searching for a demonic tree or malignant form. Instead, they found a green, if crystalline, view...
Felonca went a step further than Nayu’s investigation... she ran over to a tree and proceeded to peel off a section of the bark. To her surprise, it was not only cold, cut broke away with the clink of solid ice. Carefully, her hybrid nostrils searched the piece of bark, and the hole it placed in the tree. The smell of icy sap filled her nostrils, and she frowned again.
What could be doing this? If it was magic, Nayu would have said something... Her eyes also darted deeper into the copse of trees, but unlike Nayu’s insensitive human eyes, her hengeyokai gaze spotted something underneath the largest tree in the copse, near the center of the small wood...
Skeletons? Her eyes made out two skeletal forms, their bones seemingly picked clean, rags of clothes covering the bleached bone under a layer of frost and ice.
I should take a closer look. She called out what she saw to Nayu and the others, before carefully edging closer to the two dead forms.
I can at least see who they were... that might tell us who, or what did this here...
As she got within thirty feet of their dead forms, the sound of ice shifting, cracking and tearing rent the quiet noontime air, as both of the icy forms slowly stretched, then rose. She heard a sharp, loud shout rend the air, as Nayu unleashed a spell at the creatures. The ice within the trees shook, a tinkled to the ground, but the two beasts merely stood, before beginning to shamble towards the party.
As they drew closer, the already chilly air wafting around Felonca became bitterly cold, colder than the worst blizzard in the heights of the Great Mountains. Felonca started to shiver uncontrollably, and if she’d been in her human form, she might have noticed her skin deepening in color, as blood desperately rushed to the surface to stave the assault of frostbite.
Ah... so here is the cause for all this cold, her mind clicked, taking in the situation despite the freezing temperature. With a toss of her cape, she revealed her newest toy, a gift from the late Hao Tong. As she notched an arrow, and her teeth began to chatter slightly, she still managed a smirk.
Too bad my arrows are made of flame!
Her aim was as careful as ever, and as the creatures were easily within close range, she knew she couldn’t miss. With a
twang her bow sang out, and her arrow, its fiery light reflected in the ice hanging from the surrounding trees, flew true, slamming into the skull of one of the skeletons.
Instead of being rewarded with the sight of ice melting from their forms, or the creature collapsing in a hiss of steam, Felonca saw something that chilled her bones with fear. The flames on her arrow winked out in a flash, as soon as they struck the icy abberation shambling towards her. And she could have sworn she saw the flames from her arrow leap from its shaft
into the creature’s eye socket, as if it had pulled the fire within itself.
What?!
Nayu gave a curse as he saw Felonca’s arrow seem to do nothing, a curse just as sharp as the one he gave when his
shatter spell did not seem to affect the beasts. As Yari Ai’s voice whispered in subdued tones a prayer to the ancestors to guide their blades, Nayu instead focused on something he was
sure would make these ice skeletons disappear, as the rising torrent of a powerful brace of magical missiles rose within his body. He stretched out his hand, and both missiles struck the beast that had shambled to just in front of Felonca. It wasn’t the spell he
wanted to use, but unfortunately, Felonca was right next to one of the beasts, and Nayu couldn’t see Meiji anywhere.
“Get away from it!” Nayu shouted, concentrating his energy again, this time building a blast of fiery power within his magical reserves. As Felonca backflipped away from the danger, he felt the energy frothing higher and higher, he gave one last look about, to make sure Meiji was not in the way. Not seeing Felonca’s cousin, he let loose a tiny bead, which streaked to a spot between the two beasts. For a second, the forest seemed uneasily quiet, before a powerful thunderclap shook the ice from the trees, and covered both creatures in a massive gout of flame.
They couldn’t have survived that, Nayu thought simply as smoke roiled from the spot where the beasts were.
It is the way of things... of the yin and the yang. Flame destroys cold... WHAT?!
It was his turn to stare, as the two skeletons emerged from the smoky gloom, taller, stronger, and covered with seemingly
more ice than before...
“Magic cannot touch them!” Felonca shouted, her breath now heavy and forming massive clouds in front of her. As she moved, she could hear cracks and tinkles as the ice continually reforming on her leather and cloak broke as she moved. Reaching to her belt, she drew her warfans and leapt forward, Yari Ai charging by her side.
If spells won’t hurt them, perhaps steel WILL!
Just as her charge was about to slam into the first of the two ice demons, she heard a very faint voice, singing in a tongue she couldn’t understand. Her instincts called for her to jump, and as she backflipped over the skeleton, she saw her cousin seemingly materialize out of nowhere on the creature’s other side, his scimitar drawn, electricity leaping from its blade onto the skeleton. To her surprise, the creature recoiled from the blow.
So! It doesn’t like steel! her mind surmised, as she leapt into the fray...
WAIT! The creature pulled back from Meiji’s blow, from the electricity in his blade! Nayu’s mind realized an instant later, just as he too was about to draw his morningstar and jump into battle. Seeing the second skeleton slash Yari Ai with its claws, and the way it ripped her shoulder to ribbons, had given him the pause to think.
And then, he had an idea.
Okay... move! Move! he thought, not wishing to yell and distract his compatriots. Carefully, he focused his magical forces yet again, this time on a spell he only felt distantly. He’d never touched this deep into his reservoir before, and he didn’t know how this would work.
Fire seems to heal these ice creatures... he thought as he felt the magic surge down his arm, towards his waiting fingertips.
Let’s see if they like lightning bolts too!
The lance of light was momentarily blinding, and this thunderclap also shattered ice throughout the terrible forest. The creature between Felonca and Meiji stumbled backwards under the force of the blast, bones from its left arm cartwheeling through the air, their icy forms glinting in the scattered sunlight. No sooner had the bones landed, however, than he saw them
slide across the ground back towards their parent beast, flipping through the air until they were neatly back into place.
WHAT?! his mouth fell agape.
Its resistant to electricity too!?
No... wait... calm, Nayu, the sorcerer focused himself, even as the noise of battle continued.
Think! No... it wasn’t resistant to electricity... you literally blew off one of its arms. It just regenerated quickly... but how is it regenerating so quickly? Not much magic comes off of this creature! And ice creatures shouldn’t be immune to fire... it is not the way of things...
Ice creatures shouldn’t spread ice across an entire copse of trees either...
And even if they did, these trees shouldn’t be frozen solid as they are...
Unless... his mind strained for a moment, a conclusion just within reach.
Unless they were made of ice because of a LACK of fire... and thus they absorbed fire...
And heat...
Heat of any kind... even body heat...
“GET AWAY FROM THEM! GET AWAY FROM THEM!” Nayu screamed, waving desperately. “They’re healing from your body’s warmth! Get away! Get away!”
It was clearly apparent as Yari Ai and Felonca stumbled away from the slow moving creatures that they had definitely been worsted in the fight... Yari Ai’s shoulder seemed to be hanging by ribbons, while his rogue friend was clutching her stomach, the dark brown of frozen blood standing out from the icy brown of her frozen leather. For his part, Meiji seemed to alright... likely because he was backstabbing whoever was facing away from him at the time.
“Come by me! Over here!” Nayu called, the warmth of a summer’s day still on his face.
If they can get far enough away, I can pick those creature’s off with lightning, and this time they won’t have a chance to heal themselves! As his two companions stumbled beside him and started to work on mending each other, Nayu closed his eyes, feeling his magical power surge once again.
I know your game now... A few seconds later, his eyes opened, and he gave a fierce grin towards the two beasts as the slowly shambled forward after their escaping prey.
“Welcome to summer,” he smiled, the first blast of lightning arcing into two cubes, one around each beast (Nayu has
spell sculpt as one of his feats)...
“They dead yet?” Felonca asked a half minute later. Her stomach was still incredibly sore from the slashes and cuts the creatures had given her, but she was also curious as to what, exactly, these icy skeletons might be carrying.
Tomes? Jewels?
“I think so,” Nayu said quietly, and the sorcerer gestured towards the twin piles of icy bones now laying in the midst of the trees.
“Good. I’m going to see what they’ve got on them,” Felonca announced, scampering forward. No sooner had she drawn within 30 feet of the twin piles, she stopped.
The icy bones were clinking, tinkling, molding themselves together as she felt a sharp drop in the temperature. Remembering Nayu’s words, she backed away, and soon felt the air around her return to normal as the bones stopped moving.
“It appears they aren’t dead yet,” Meiji observed dryly. “Considering the last time we tried to beat them by force we were giving a chilly reception, and the spark of our spellcaster’s power won’t last all day, shall I get some wood and make a sign? Do not touch these bones?”
“No... idiot,” Nayu grumbled, frustrated that the beasts were still not dead, and annoyed by Meiji’s horrible puns.
First Chou’s horrible humor, now him... For several minutes, the sorcerer wracked his brain, attempting to remember any spells that could destroy these creatures once and for all. He even delved deep, as deep as he dared, into his magical thought, concentrating, sorting his powers as best he could, only to find nothing.
Patience, young Nayu... Shenyang teaches that is the way to wisdom, Nayu heard Liu’s voice in his mind.
That’s it! Shenyang! The sorcerer spun towards Yari Ai, the only follower of Shenyang among the four. “You can pray to the ancestors, to Heaven? Can you pray that these demon spirits or whoever is occupying this bones be banished, be cast out?”
“I... I can try,” the young woman replied. “I am going to need much time however, and uninterrupted concentration.”
“An ancestral idol, a small woodcutter’s axe, five copper pieces and the coldest, hardest piece of bread I’ve ever seen,” Felonca said quietly, an hour later. “That’s it.” She rose, still looking down at the pile of now bleached bones sinking into the muddy forest floor. “They’re carrying the items one would expect from a common peasant, not some icy demon.”
“Maybe they were once peasants,” Yari Ai said quietly. “Those that are on the path of undeath were always alive at some point. Perhaps they ran afoul of a true demon, or they sacrificed themselves in some foul worship?” She too looked quietly at the bones for a minute, before adding, “Regardless, they are now at rest.”
“I’m just glad they’re dead, so no one else will run into the nasty surprise we did,” Nayu added as he remounted his horse. Felonca was about to agree with him when she heard rustling in the bushes ahead. Eager to avoid an ambush so soon after their previous incident, she hissed to everyone else to hide amongst the trees. For herself, she shifted into her panther form, and slinked ahead through the now warm, muddy undergrowth, attempting to see what was coming towards them.
People, her mind recognized the smell that now came through her nostrils.
They were upwind until now, but they crash through the woods... they are not planning an ambush... they aren’t even hunting!
“Yangcheng!” The voice calling sounded old and cragged, as if it came from someone who had seen many many winters. “Yangcheng!” The second call added to this a plaintive cry, one Felonca almost instinctively recognized as the call of a mother for her child.
Carefully, Felonca peeked her head out of the bushes that served as her current hiding place. Stumbling through the crush were three people, all obviously searching for someone. The one calling appeared to be an elderly woman, who was accompanied by an old man and a young girl, all clad in simple farming attire. While the woman called, the others strayed to and fro, looking hard on the ground, searching for items, tracks, or something else...
Quietly, Felonca shifted back to her full human form.
They are likely looking for someone lost. If they aren’t as they seem... Nayu, Meiji, and Yari Ai are well hidden, and can ambush them... After a minutes thought Felonca called out herself. The three stopped suddenly in shock, and Felonca stood, putting forward her gentlest face.
“Good people! I am a traveller, and I can’t help but notice you are looking for someone most dear to you,” she stepped out of the bushes. “Is there any way that I can be of service?”
For a minute or so, the three people stared at her in confusion, before suddenly the old woman broke into a run, clambering through the underbrush to Felonca, crying the whole time. Her husband started after her for a moment, before quitting his wife’s headlong plunge towards the absolute stranger.
“My son! Yangcheng! He went into these woods to cut some wood for our fire a week ago, with his neighbor Yangliu! Neither came back! Have you seen him! Have you seen my son!”
“Madam, what does he look like?” Felonca replied as the old woman barreled in front of her.
We have seen many peasants on the road in the last month headed away from Dai... I hope he was among those...
“He was about your height!” the woman explained tearfully, “He dressed with a brown tunic, with woolen trousers! He carried with him an ancestral idol of his grandfather! He would’ve had a few copper pieces, his wood cutting axe, as well as the bread his sister fixed for him that day! Have you seen him! Please tell me you have seen him!”
The woman’s pleading fell to silence as she beheld Felonca’s horrified face.
Every item she listed Felonca had found on the ice skeleton the party had left behind them.
“So, he is at rest then?” the father asked quietly as he gathered up each of the skeletal piles. Nayu knelt down beside the man, even as Felonca held the crying mother and sister further away. The sorcerer could see nascent tears in the old man’s eyes, but his aged resolve wouldn’t let any of them pass.
“Yes, he is now at rest,” Nayu replied. For a second there was an awkward silence in the darkening light, before Nayu added, “I’m sorry about this loss.”
The old man stopped his gathering to sit on the muddy grass, and looked at Nayu. One tear finally battered its way through, and tumbled down his cheek. “Hai... I... I thank you for the sentiment, young man,” the father said, his fists clenching and unclenching as another tear worked its way through. Two more tears managed to course down his cheeks, before the old man pounded his fists into the ground, a cry of anguish and rage on his lips.
“Damn you black headed devils! You demonic giants! May Heaven curse you and your offspring, till your bloodlines shrivel to nothing!” he screamed, shaking and shuddering.
“Someone
did this to your son?” Nayu asked softly.
“They did it! I know they did! Those damn giants!” the old man’s tearful fury turned into a rant, a diatribe against the guilty souls. “Ever since they built their village, they have harassed us! At first, it was only grain they demanded from us! Then they started demanding hostages! And now, they steal our
children for their horrific sacrifices! They stole
my son! MY SON!” the aggreived father shouted, before collapsing in despair.
“Those damn big people! Damn Wang Liang!” the old man burbled between sniffles and tears of rage.
“Wang Liang?” Nayu asked quietly.
Giants of legend, I thought... ten feet tall, with enormous eyes and maws, and red pupiled eyes...
“Yes... that entire village of the damn giants!
They do this!” the father’s fists were balled up yet again.
Just watching the old man made Nayu’s heart sink, and he fought off the urge to cry at seeing another person reduced to such a state, broken down by the evil of another. The sorcerer found fury rising in his heart, anger that someone would wantonly cause such destruction, would wantonly take advantage of someone else.
If these people had a governor who cared, this would not have been a problem! Nayu fumed. He heard Felonca’s soft stepts drawing nearby, and her comforting hand touching the father’s shoulder as he cried.
This man and his family, his village, they are forgotten!
“How many Wang Liang are in that village?” Nayu heard himself ask.
What are you going to do, Nayu? part of his mind mocked him.
Take on a village by yourself?
“Fifty... sixty...” the man’s daughter said quietly as she came up behind her father and hugged him tightly. “They... they take humans and use them in sacrifices to their ancestors, turning the people into these... these... abominations! Ice walkers, we call them!” It was her turn to exhibit fury. “We cannot enter parts of the forest because of them!”
“What about the governor? Has anyone tried to ask the governor of the province for help?” Felonca asked.
“That fat bastard!?” the father snarled. “He doesn’t care at all about us! Our village prefect has been to Xianfung six times in the past ten years, and each time the governor refused to even
meet with him! He said it was... was... a matter of little importance!” the father spat tearfully.
“It’s getting late,” Yari Ai said sadly. “We should probably get headed towards some shelter, or prepare to camp for the night. If these Wang Liang are about in the forests, I certainly wouldn’t want to be here,” she added.
“Please,” the deceased mother finally spoke again, her voice soft and shaky, “you have found our son, and put his spirit to rest, so he can join his ancestors! Our village is not far from here. You may stay with us for the night... it is the least we owe you for your kindness towards us this day!”
“Madam, we thank you. We only wish we could accept your hospitality under happier circumstances,” Felonca replied quietly, giving the old woman a bow of thanks.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
First things first... I have to say I
love Libris Mortis, from an evil DM aspect. The two creatures featured here were bleakborn, from this lovely tome.
Bleakborn are actually
fire-based creatures... they live through absorbing the living heat of creatures around them. (ie. everyone within 30 feet takes cold damage, while they regain HP) Thus, their attacks are cold based, but fire-based attacks actually strengthen them... which really threw the party for a loop! I cackled much that day... and I think everyone had fun with that combat.
Oh... did I mention that when they go below 0 HP, they fall to the ground, but if a living creature comes within 30 feet, they begin leeching off of its body heat, and begin to reassume shape... another nasty surprise for the party!
So, as of this point, the party has found a village in distress... we shall soon see what happens...
