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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ForceUser@Home" data-source="post: 315155" data-attributes="member: 4945">Session Three, Part TwoVINH BREATHED deeply, relishing the crispness of the high mountain air. He shifted his kama-do from left hand to right and resisted the urge to lean on it only from long years of training. He glanced at Woo, whose posture spoke of impatience – the monk had never learned the finer points of diplomacy. With Hien’s assistance, Tam spoke to a fourth peasant in as many days, reconstructing the journey of the tax collector Nat Hung before he had disappeared into Phau Dong valley. It was soon plain that the man was not well liked. While by all accounts not a corrupt official, he nevertheless had demanded the Emperor’s dues with a punctuality and officiousness that had, over time, led to a general feeling of dread among the local villagers every year when he made his rounds. In short, the man had loved his job with an enthusiasm that grated on these simple folk who struggled every day to provide for their families. The best side of old Hung, the peasants joked, was his backside, because that meant you wouldn’t see him for another year. After thanking the old villager and moving on, the party conferred. “Nat Hung was a punctual and proper Imperial servant who was infamous for the fervor with which he did his job. It appears unlikely he’d run away with the money,” said Tam as he adjusted the reins of his horse. “It appears that way,” Vinh confirmed. “What about bandits?”“It could be bandits,” injected Mai, “I’ve heard more stories of Fierce Wind. The locals say he has rallied many to his cause. They could be hiding in the valley.”“I don’t think so,” replied Woo, “Doesn’t this Fierce Wind operate more to the east, near the coast? Besides, how could bandits drive that soldier insane?”No one knew.“So we go on, then, to the valley?” Lei asked. His big black war-horse snorted and champed at its bit. “Yes,” replied Tam, “We don’t think there is anything more the locals can tell us.” They purchased food from the next roadside village they encountered, confirmed the hand-drawn map Chief Yu had scribbled for them against the knowledge of the locals, and continued south and west, higher into the mountains. The air up here was cooler than in the lowland valley where Thang Long nestled, and the foliage was blazoned with the reds and oranges of autumn. Strange, colorful birds sang and darted across the sky in flocks, while a light drizzle of rain from the stone-gray clouds above announced the arrival of the rainy season. Mai huddled in her cloak away from the wet sky, which to her brought back memories of long, cold nights on the street. Woo lifted his face to the watery breeze, trying to trace the ebb and flow of his life force energy, and Hien simply sat on his horse in the rain and smiled, while the eagle Hiraki squawked in annoyance and rustled his wings. Twenty-eight hooves clomped ever upward and onward.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Four days after leaving behind the last settlement, amid intermittent light squalls of rain, the party crested a ridge of land and through the trees spied a rolling expanse of highland jungle sandwiched between imposing mountains on three sides. The fourth side – the side the adventurers now rode up and into – was a narrow wedge of passable land hemmed in between mountains on the north and south. Far on the other side of the valley, across the tree-lined expanse, the group could see green and brown fields rising up along the slopes of the western mountain wall. They paused to take in the scene; it was quite lovely. The road they had traveled here was now no more than an unused game trail, and it dipped sharply down on the other side of the ridge, disappearing into the gloom under the jungle canopy half a mile ahead and below. “He traveled this every year?” Tran asked, surprised. “Brave man. I wouldn’t enter that jungle alone.”Without further conversation, Lei clucked and nudged his horse ahead. The others followed, carefully picking their way down the sodden slope. The trees stood as ancient, inviolate sentinels of nature, daring them to enter. Their gnarled branches overlapped and, in places, supported each other. In other places, they drooped low to the springy earth. Tiny animals and large insects scurried along their boughs, and colorful frogs crouched in nooks, croaking a unique counter-rhythm to the orchestra of cicadas and crickets that chimed their discordant songs. Hien peered into the Spirit World but saw nothing except a deeper gloom that left him with a vague sense of unease. Soon after entering the wood, some chose to dismount, for the trail had all but disappeared, and the low branches and encroaching ferns did little to facilitate progress. Lei drew his machete and kept the path clear as they moved further into the forest. It was slow going, and each person kept silent, as if they sensed that the trees would not welcome conversation. Hours later, Mai saw a monkey. It sported black fur with a white bottom, and a throat of white as well. The cat-sized creature shadowed the party, silently brachiating through the trees on their right. She pointed it out to the others. “Ahh,” said Hien, “A langur. We see them in the forests of my home. They are harmless.” The party stopped to examine the monkey from afar, and it sat high above, examining them back with luminous black eyes. After a few minutes of staring at the monkey, Woo cleared his throat. “Well…”“Right,” said Tran. And on they went. The langur followed. As they continued on, Mai and Vinh (the two most sharp-eyed of the group) noticed more monkeys in the trees. Some were golden or brown, others black or white, both langurs and doucs*, and none appeared to be larger than a small dog. Some appeared to watch, others seemed disinterested, but they all generally followed the group, swinging high overhead, pausing only when a tasty morsel presented itself for consumption. The party now felt many little black eyes upon them. “Huh,” said Woo as they paused again. The little animals were a bit more animated now, and their cries echoed through the hollows under the leaves. Lei looked around with a scowl, and Mai glanced upward, puzzled. Tran, sweating, radiated nervousness. Vinh scanned the foliage under the trees on either side of the tiny path. There! Something large moved between the ferns upon the ridge to the left. “I see something,” The no-sheng announced, raising his voice. “Me too,” said Mai. She drew her duan jian**, and the sharp ring of steel reverberated off the trees. And then they saw it.Perhaps it was an ape. Or perhaps a demon, swathed in an ape’s form and mimicking an ape’s gait. It shambled out of the ferns and bamboo, shaking rainwater off its fur and snorting like a bull. The ape-demon stood eight feet tall on its knuckles, with an orange-red coat and pitch-black skin. Tiny crimson eyes sat deep within its shadowed face, and large white incisors hung limp as the creature swiveled its massive head towards the party. It roared. The horses screamed and bucked in fear and confusion, and the party tried desperately to get them under control. The monkeys in the trees screeched deafeningly, and the adventurers yelled, adding their small noise to the anarchy of sound. The ape-demon beat its chest in fury and strode back and forth atop the ridge, claming dominance and challenging the newcomers. Lei shouted “Dismount! Dismount!” and dove off his war-horse, hitting the mud and rolling to his feet, longspear in hand. Vinh jumped nimbly off his steed and landed in the ready position, his kama-do poised to strike. Most of the others also dismounted as they could, although Tran firmly refused to get off his horse, terrified as it was. Hien wasn’t sure who was more frightened, horse or rider. Mai slunk to the right of the road, intending to hide in the trees. The ape charged. It thundered down the ridge, a guttural roar echoing in its wake. Its fangs glittered, and saliva trailed behind it as its powerful forearms dug for traction in the moist earth. The creature crashed towards the closest intruder: Long Lei. Fourteen hundred pounds of raging ape descended upon the one hundred sixty pound mercenary with death in its eyes. Lei whipped his longspear around desperately, planting it in the soil at his feet. He braced his legs, whispered a prayer to his ancestors and gritted his teeth, snarling as the demon bore down upon him. Somewhere behind him, someone yelled. Then the world went black and red. The ape crashed into Lei’s spear like a meteor from heaven. The point drove through its stomach, intestines, and right lung, finally exiting three inches right of its spine. A red explosion consumed Lei’s vision; blistering fire lanced up his arms. His legs buckled, and one knee collapsed, sinking deep into the mud as a hellish weight crushed him to the ground. His longspear bowed dangerously, so he released his grip and rolled aside, coming up on the ape-demon’s flank, already whipping his scimitar from its sheath. Warm, wet blood stung his eyes, blinding him. He felt numb all over, and was afraid the blood was his own. His ears rang, drowning him in silence. Panicking, he scrubbed his sleeve across his eyes so he could see.The ape-demon stood before him, huffing softly and leaning on the bent shaft of his spear. Half the length of the weapon thrust out from the creature’s back, bright red and glistening in the dim light from above. A river of steaming blood ran down the ape’s spine, spurting out from the wound like a font. It groaned raggedly as it pawed at the spear, and blood mixed with the spittle foaming at its lips. The light in the creature’s eyes was now dull, and it cast its gaze around in confusion and anguish. To Lei, it no longer looked like a demon, but disturbingly like a person. And then Vinh’s polearm flashed, severing the ape’s head from its shoulders. The body stiffened and jerked, finally collapsing in the loam beside the road, kicking reflexively. Sticky, drying blood coated everything within a few feet of the corpse – including Lei. Distantly, he realized that the tiny monkeys in the trees were in an uproar, and seemed to be all around the party. Some of them had left the trees and strode angrily back and forth across the earth, as though mimicking their fallen champion. Lei staggered distractedly to the ape’s corpse and struggled to pull his spear from the body before it stuck forever. He heard the others shouting, but over the ringing in his ears he couldn’t discern their words. Finally, he wrested his spear out and stood up to examine himself. His entire form was splashed in drying ape blood. The tang of iron stank in his nose and mouth. Almost comically, he dug for a small rag that he could wipe the blood on. Woo smacked him with his bang*** and shouted.“—hey—e com--ng! Be --eady!” said the monk.What? thought Lei. He looked up, and a horde of small furry forms leapt at them from the trees.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*A douc is a small arboreal monkey native to southeast Asia. It's pronounced "duke."** A duan jian is a Chinese short sword.***A bang is a Chinese quarterstaff, often made of bamboo.</blockquote>

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