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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sanzuo" data-source="post: 5203512" data-attributes="member: 66180">*Jiao Xing Li Pu Yi* (Hanging Plum Garden City)   SUMMARY Prince Hua of Plum Garden City has been offered a once in a mortal lifetime opportunity to join the ranks of the divine.  He must produce an earthly meal worthy of the gods.  Yet, forces conspire against the prince in the form of the marilith, Xi-no-mei who seeks to bring the prince down and take his prize for herself.  Both Hua and Xi-no-mei will stop at nothing to win, and they both seek the adventuring party's strength to aid them.  In order to come out of the conflict with their heads intact, the party must choose a side and aid them in their cause. Hanging Plum Garden City is a wuxia-style oriental fantasy adventure containing conspiracy, political intrigue, divine influence and - of course - action. HISTORY The Yin Jing mountain range is a series of high, round, spire-like peaks of earth that thrust out of the perpetually mist covered Valley of the Demons.  The tallest of these peaks lay just close enough to the heavens to nurture the elusive holy plum tree.  These trees produce plums so delicious, they are said to extend a person's life and make him or her vigorous and strong.  It didn't take long for mortals to discover these trees and desire them. The gods eventually agreed to allow mortals to harvest the plums.  It was, however, a crime against the heavens to move or destroy any of the holy plum trees.  Since the trees only grew on the tallest mountain peaks they were extremely difficult and costly to access, and so the plums became a very rare and expensive treat. Eventually, however, mortals discovered the trees in the Yin Jing Mountain Range that rose out of the Valley of the Demons.  A clever architect devised a way to construct a gigantic suspended bridge that traveled over the dangerous valley from the neighboring plateaus and reached the previously inaccessible holy plum trees.  Because of the vast distances involved, a small harvesting camp was set up on the mountain.  This small camp quickly grew into a large boomtown and eventually a teeming city fed by the profits of the the holy plum trees.  The city's exports were not only the plums themselves, but any manner of food products that could be made from them, the most popular of which was their plum wine.  This led to the city's nickname Can Liu Li Pu Yi “The Hungover Plum Garden City.” Because the holy trees completely covered the peaks of these mountains and it was a crime to cut them down, there was no room for people to live.  The same clever architect responsible for designing the bridge also found a way for people to live in buildings that hung over the sides of the peaks on the cliffs overlooking the valley thousands of feet below.  Initially, people were hesitant to inhabit these structures, but they were quite stable to the pride of the architect, and people became accustomed to them.  The result was a spectacular, vine-like, vertical hanging city that dangled off the edges of the tallest peaks. Meanwhile, the demons in the aptly-named valley grew jealous and spiteful of the mortal's success.  The demons desired the plums just as badly but had no clever way of reaching them like the mortals did.  So the demons could do nothing except watch in silent rage as the mortals grew wealthy right over the demon's heads. SET UP The current leader of Plum Garden City is provincial Prince Hua.  Unlike previous rulers who were concerned only with work and profit, the effeminate Prince Hua was already wealthy and spoiled when he took over leadership.  Because of his delicacy and decadence, the prince's primary concern was the beautification of the city.  He spent an untold fortune renovating the city, making the buildings pleasing to the eye and obstinately decorating every square inch with images of flowers and blossoms.  He built his own palace right on the massive bridge leading into the city so that travelers would have to pass through and look upon his estates as they entered.  The prince and his servants all wore the finest imported gowns and adornments and the prince made sure that his public appearances were frequent, especially to important visitors.  Every spring when the holy plum trees blossomed, the prince would hold a grand festival honoring the gods.  The people would drink the plum wine and watch the plum blossom pedals fall from the trees. This was the final straw for the demons below.  Among them the most powerful, beautiful and jealous was the marilith Xi-no-mei.  With her powerful serpent-like grace, she was able to ascend the peaks and secretly live within the city.  Because she was so beautiful she gained a strong, secret following amongst the mortals and quietly began plotting her usurpation of the throne. The gods looked upon Prince Hua's accomplishments with delight.  The prince had transformed this emerging mortal realm into truly one of the great wonders of the world.  As a reward for his hard work, the gods made the prince a grand offer.  In their decree they said;Prince Hua has made this mortal city into a fantastic wonder worthy of the heavens.  Yet, he mustn't forget what made this city possible in the first place.  If the prince can produce a product from our divine plums that is worthy of the gods, then we shall accept him as one of our own and Prince Hua will become God Hua of the Plum Trees! When the prince heard the gods' decree he squealed with happiness.  He ordered a search for the finest food artisans in the world and offered vast rewards to those who would successfully create a food worthy of the gods.  After a considerable amount of time, Prince Hua learned of the Legendary Baker Azuma in the neighboring providence of Kin (See previous adventure; Baker Azuma and the Golden Wheat Fields of Kin).  The prince ordered Baker Azuma to be brought to the city at once so that his dream could be realized. It didn't take long for Xi-no-mei to hear the news regarding the prince.  The demoness decided that she needed to act quickly.  If the prince were allowed to become a god then the holy plum trees would forever be beyond the reach of her and the rest of her kind.  Xi-no-mei used her seductive charm and god-like beauty to attract even more followers while she plotted the prince's downfall.  STORY HOOK  The player characters at this point should already be familiar with Baker Azuma after lending him their assistance in the previous adventure.  If not, the party's reputation as strong warriors, priests or sorcerers should be enough to be approached by Azuma.  Azuma simply requires an escort to the legendary Plum Garden City after being informed he has been invited to prepare a meal for the prince.  (The true details of his mission are left vague at this point.)  Because of the importance of this mission, Prince Hua has offered a sizable reward not only for Azuma, but for anyone able to bring him to the city safely.  Part I: Arrival  The adventure begins after Azuma and the rest of the party have made it most of the way to the city without incident and are currently traversing the enormous bridge to their final destination.  They are just within sight of Prince Hua's gaudy palace when a group of soldiers dressed as royal guards approach and sternly request to take over guarding Baker Azuma.  The party was asked to make sure that Azuma is delivered safely to the prince, so the guards' request should seem suspicious to even the densest party member. The 'guards' that the party sees before them are actually a large group of Xi-no-mei's minions sent to assassinate Baker Azuma.  This will become readily apparent when the guards suddenly attempt to overwhelm the party and attack! The assassins should be tough, but still no match for the surprising fighting prowess of the adventuring party.  The assassins will nevertheless fight to the death to avoid the wrath of their mistress.  This encounter serves to be an exciting introduction to the adventure and also add mystery to the situation.  The players should wonder why the palace guards are attacking them.  The encounter also sets up the party's local reputation as strong warriors which reach the ears of both Prince Hua and Xi-no-mei. After the battle, the real palace guards will show up in response to the fighting.  The actual guards are much more garish than the imposters and don't look nearly as imposing.  If the player characters are still confused and attack the real guards, the guards will panic and shirk from combat, desperately explaining that they just ran from the palace to investigate the commotion.  In any case the guards will recognize that the party just stopped an assassination attempt and offer to see the party safely to the palace. The party will then meet the prince at his palace.  The following description should be read or paraphrased upon meeting Prince Hua:Before you in the brightly decorated palace is a sudden shower of pink flower pedals, falling like snow.  A figure emerges.  It is slender and graceful, dressed in thin, wispy silks decorated with floral patterns and glimmering tassels that hang so low they nearly brush the floor.  You realize the figure is a man, his hair is tied up and high in an elaborate style and also falling behind him and his face is powdered and painted, accentuating his perfect features. He greets you with a high, sing-song, twittering voice and hooting laugh as he lightly pats a tiny shivering dog sitting in the arms of a nearby servant-boy.  He then extends his arms to you in welcome and lightly pecks each of your cheeks and foreheads with his lips. The prince will be eager to meet Baker Azuma as well as the player characters after hearing about the attack.  He will tell the group that they have arrived just in time for the harvest the next day and the prince will also order a feast that evening in the honor of the party's arrival.  Until then, he invites everyone to join him as he explains the offer of dietyhood that has been made to him and Baker Azuma's role to create the perfect dish.  It is at this point that the game master should describe in detail the views from the palace of the hanging city as well as the palace itself.  Everything including the palace guards and servants are brightly decorated with floral patterns and the game master should also emphasize and role play the prince as being obnoxiously foppish as possible. Meanwhile, before the feast that evening, Xi-no-mei hears about her minions' failure.  She becomes angry, but also intrigued at the player characters' strength.  She decides to see if the party would be willing to join her. At the feast, the player characters (and the players themselves) should be becoming so weary of the prince's behavior that even a scrupulous group of adventurers might be tempted to switch sides.  The party will be offered some of the city's famous plum wine, which is said to be as invigorating as it is intoxicating (while this is true, it has other side effects that become apparent the next day).  The marilith's offer will come in the form of a note slipped to a random player character at some point during the activity of the evening.  The messenger appears to be an unassuming servant and quickly disappears after delivering the note.  The note simply states that a mysterious benefactor would like to recruit the player characters with a substantial reward and lists a meeting place within the city and time after the feast. At this point the plot can split one of two major paths.  The party may be intrigued by the offer and even decide to join the demon (Xi-no-mei's offer easily matches the prince's monetary reward and may even throw in unholy power to boot).  The party may follow up the note with the intention of tracking down and dealing with whoever sent it or they may ignore the message completely and continue to party all night.  If the PCs go into the city, it is an opportunity to meet more of Xi-no-mei's minions, get into fights, and experience a great deal of the fantastic hanging city's environment.  Any of the party members that drink the plum wine will also feel invigorated and invincible - they will receive decent combat and social bonuses (the wine basically acts as a mild potion.)  It is important, however that the party NOT meet the marilith personally or learn too much about her identity at this point, that is for later.  Part II: Harvest Day  The following day is the day of the harvest.  The workers climb up out of the city among the holy plum trees covering the peak of the mountains and begin collecting plums.  Of course the prince has made a special priority of picking the best and perfectly ripe plums for his food of the gods.  Xi-no-mei, meanwhile, has decided to disrupt the harvest to further delay the prince's apotheosis.  The party must fend off attacking waves of the marilith's minions amongst the plum trees and ensure that the workers can complete their task. If the player characters have decided to ally with Xi-no-mei then this event will still occur, but with the players on the attacking end.  In this scenario the players will face royal guards protecting the harvesters.  In an ironic twist, the decadent royal guards will falter and panic during battle while the standard laborers will actually put up a decent fight.  Either way there will be some fighting. Also, any party members who drank the plum wine the previous night will today find its effects reversed.  They will be nursing strong hangovers that will give them social and combat penalties equal to the bonuses of before.  These penalties may be negated by drinking more wine, but then the negative effects will persist the next day and so on until the character can go a whole day without drinking the wine. That night, if the players succeeded in protecting the harvest, Baker Azuma gets to work on his magnum opus; Azuma's Holy Plum Dumplings!  These simple, yet divine treats worthy of the gods will be Prince Hua's ticket into heaven... so to speak.  If the party failed to protect the harvest (or succeeded in ruining it) then the prince's plans of godhood are spoiled for the time being.  Sub-standard plums will simply not do the job.  However, Xi-no-mei's plans are not yet finished (see below). After the harvest, the party may continue investigating the attacks (or trying to assassinate the prince if they went that route) and may learn more about the situation and even learn the identity of the one behind the conspiracy.  They may even discover clues as to the demon's master plan (see part III).  Part III: The Ceremony Assuming the harvest went well, a ceremony is planned the next day to present Azuma's perfected dumplings to the gods.  The player characters are assigned to security and encouraged to act independently of the ceremony.  At this point their investigations should lead them to the demon's plan.  Even if the harvest was ruined, Xi-no-mei's ultimate goal is still a concern.  Xi-no-mei has concluded that the city's weakness is the massive suspended bridge that connects it with the rest of the land.  She plans to sever the bridge in such a way that one end drops into Demon Valley so that her brethren may ascend the broken bridge like a ladder and finally reach the plum trees they so desire.  The player character's investigations will eventually lead them to this final confrontation on the bridge. The players must first battle through the marilith's minions and prevent them from sapping key points on the bridge and causing it to collapse.  It is at this point that Xi-no-mei herself will appear to do battle with the party to ensure her plan goes off without a hitch.  Ideally, the player characters will get the city guard involved and an epic battle will ensue.  Only the player characters have the strength to face the demon head-on. CONCLUSION  The adventure can conclude a number of different ways depending on the decisions the player characters made and the outcomes of the encounters they had. If the player characters succeeded in uncovering Xi-no-mei's plot, protecting the plum harvest, and preventing the bridge from collapsing, they will be honored as heroes by the people of the city and by Prince Hua.  The ceremony will be a success and the Prince will ascent to godhood.  He bestows the full reward he promised plus gives the player characters his divine blessing.  Also, Baker Azuma will probably wrap up a few extra of his plum dumplings for the player characters to take with them on their next adventure.  Hooray! If the player characters did not succeed in saving the plum harvest but succeeded in preventing the bridge collapse, the short-sighted prince will become bitter that his chances at godhood were ruined.  He will give the party a partial reward and then send them on their way. If the player characters failed utterly or decided to join with the demon for some reason, the demons from the valley will clamber up the collapsed bridge into the hanging city, interrupting the ceremony, killing every mortal they see and devouring all the plums.  If the party sided with Xi-no-mei she will naturally betray them and allow her demonic brethren to overwhelm them and tear them limb from limb (because, what the hell were the players thinking?  She's a demon.)  INGREDIENTS <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">  Foppish Dandy - Prince Hua; his eye for beauty is what got the god's attention, much to his people's chagrin.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">  Collapsing Bridge - Xi-no-mei's master plan is to collapse the great bridge that connects the hanging city with the rest of the world.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">  Demon, Type V - According to the original D&D rules: a marilith, or THE Marilith depending on what you're reading.  Sort of the demonic version of a succubus.  Perfect for manipulating mortals.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">  Apotheosis - The prince's ultimate goal, and the kicker for the adventure.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">  Hungover mountain range - The most straightforward explanation is the city itself which hangs over the side of the mountains.  To be safe I included as many other references I could, including the nickname for the city and trying to get the player characters drunk on wine.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">  Plum Dumplings - A Hungarian delicacy I believe.  This was the prince's way into heaven.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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