NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1781015" data-attributes="member: 15043">Red Lotus Runs Red”Dammit!” Nayu swore, the oath bearing as much pain and sorrow as anger.  She was so kind to all of us! his mind raged as the gaunt form lumbered closer.  As a hissing noise came from the dead woman’s lips, Nayu raised his hand towards, and closed his eyes, his hand pulsing from the magical energy he could feel welling inside of him.  I’m sorry, Madame Cixi.A familiar double jolt of power leapt from Nayu’s hands, as twin orbs of magic flashed towards the tattered chest of the human remains.  Cixi’s ragged form shuddered with both hits, and crumpled to the ground, a hissing, screeching gasp coming from its lips.Nayu sighed, his sorrow flowing up from the very depths of his soul as he looked at the crumpled form in the midst of the street.  Memories came back to his head.. of visiting Cixi when he was young, and the candies she’d give him.  Of her twinkling eyes, and aged wisdom.“Nayu?” Felonca’s voice came to him seemingly from a distance.  “I’m sorry,” the voice continued, and he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.Nayu didn’t say anything, his eyes still locked on the tattered pile of flesh and bone, the remains of her funeral kimono fluttering in the breeze...Except there was no breeze.Within moments, the shattered pieces of bone and flesh, broken by Nayu’s magic missiles, began to pull together again.  Bones fell into sockets with sickening snaps.  Flesh slurped and slid into place, as the tattered apparition reformed itself, its hissing once again growing in the air.The hand on Nayu’s shoulder clenched tight, as Felonca’s scream of surprise and horror joined Bohai’s.  Nayu himself felt bile rising in his stomach as the thing formed again, the noises and sight urging him to keel over and empty his breakfast on the street below.  Somehow, someway, he fought back, his mind still focused.That is no longer Madame Cixi! he told himself, That is merely a creature, taking her form!  His eyes changed from their fearful look to a gaze of anger at the thought, and once again his hand stretched out, power welling within him yet again.  With a snarl, two more bursts of magical power slammed into the beast, this time blasting through its stomach, breaking it in two.  Once again, the broken form collapsed to the ground, and laid still.Fury still in his veins, Nayu drew his father’s crossbow.  You won’t rise again!  You won’t misuse her like that! his mind fumed, as he loaded a quarrel and shot the body once, twice, then three times.  This time, the shattered remains laid still, a calm amidst the sea of running and screaming villagers all around.Its okay, Felonca... she’s dead now for sure, the hengeyokai breathed quickly, her chest heaving from fright.  She’s dead... she’s dead.  Her hand still rested on Nayu’s shoulder, and it was then she saw him wince slightly.“Sorry,” she mumbled, realizing that her grip probably hurt only a few seconds before.“You were frightened,” Nayu replied, his voice quiet and devoid of emotion.  “I do not think that her rest will be disturbed again.”  His brown eyes were quiet, a sea of silence and full of memory.“Um... should we be worried about them?” Felonca unwittingly disturbed his reverie, gesturing towards the three figures now gingerly approaching Cixi’s broken body.  The slight red of their lamellar armor fortold they were soldiers from the local prefect.  Just as she spoke, one of them turned to the group.“You there!” he called, pointing.  “What happened?  What evil trickery is this?”  He strode over uneasily, as his two compatriots unsheathed their blades and began to poke Cixi’s body nervously.“Someone is using dark magic to raise the dead... we ran into several skeletons outside of town,” Felonca said quickly, before wincing.  Bravo!  You just drew attention to yourself!  Way to go, knucklehead!“Skeletons?  Walking around, you mean?” the soldier repeated, his eyes becoming more and more suspicious.  “I have never heard of such a thing... and the only one using magic around here is your friend,” he gave a stare towards Nayu.“There’s some other magic users that have been going insane... they’ve turned themselves into burning skeletons by misusing their magic,” Felonca continued hurriedly.  Shouldn’t tell them that the madmen were prefects... he’s already not really believing my story.  “We were hoping our village was safe... and it seems that it is for...”A new bevy of screams drew their attention... as did the smell of smoke.Felonca spun around, terror in her eyes.  When she looked down the main street of the village, she expected to see a towering inferno of skeleton, blazing higher than the tallest building.  Instead, her eyes could only see a thick pall of smoke, beyond which nothing was visible, save people emerging from its dark banks, screaming.“Um... Nayu?” Felonca said, her voice wavering.“Burning Man!” Bohai shouted unnecessarily.“Felonca,” she felt a hand grab her and spin her around.  Nayu’s brown eyes were suddenly in her view, staring into her own.  “Take Bohai and the soldiers, and hold him off.  I’m going with Liu to get something to help us!”“But wait!” she shouted, as Nayu spun around, grabbing the monk and dragging him behind.  Within seconds they had disappeared behind a corner as the acrid smell of smoke and flame assaulted her nose.Felonca... these people need you, she told herself, trying to steel her own heart.  You were training to be a warrior... but you failed there.  You cannot fail here!  She started moving towards the smoke, the soldiers falling in alongside with, to her surprise, Bohai.“I ran from him last time, but I’m not going to run this time!” the farmer said, his dagger shaking in his shuddering hands.“Nayu, shouldn’t we...” The young man didn’t even turn to face Liu, as he dragged him around another corner before skidding to a halt, eyes agleam.Before them stood a simple water well, its bucket in good shape and ready for use.  A dark grin formed on Nayu’s face, as he let go of the monk and pointed for him to head towards the village well.“You can purify water, can’t you?” Nayu asked as they drew up alongside the well.  The young man grabbed the hoist for the bucket and quickly lowered it down into the dark waters below.“Yes... I can... but normally, Master Asoka taught us...” Liu began.“Well... forget what Master Asoka taught you about patience,” Nayu said, heaving quickly and efficiently to draw the now full bucket back up.  Once it was within reach, he reached under it with one hand, and with the other, unlatched it from the rope that held it suspended.  Carefully, he balanced it on one hand until his other hand could help.“Turn this into holy water,” he said simply, setting the bucket at Liu’s feet.  “If Bohai and his friends thought any little vial of holy water you or your compatriots might have on you could fight this thing, I’m guessing a bucket will do annoy it even more.”“Oh gods,”  Felonca breathed in deeply as a dull orange began to form in the dark smoke billowing from a house... a house the soldiers told her used to be the prefect’s manse.  Instinctively, the hengeyokai felt her muscles tighten, shifting seamlessly into a position of readiness.  Beside her, the noise of steel drawn from sheaths sounded like music.“We only have to hold him, until my friend and the monk return,” Felonca said slowly, more to Bohai than the soldiers.  “I don’t know what they ran off for, but Nayu is from here, he probably knows of somethin... sweet Heaven!”From the swirling mists of smoke came a tall creature, as tall as large man.  No clothes hung about its crimson, bony form, though bright, white lights came from the two eye sockets of its scarlet skull.  From each of its joints issued yellow flames, leaping, dancing, crackling with heat. A circlet of the same floated just above the beasts head, rising several feet above the horrific skeleton.Its bony arm outstretched as he emerges, flames leapt from its fingers onto peasants running by, setting their piteous forms ablaze.  From above the noise of screaming and flames, Felonca for a second thought she could hear cackling laughter.She couldn’t move.  She found herself rooted in her stance, horror melding her feet into the dusty earth underfoot.  Another peasant went down, screaming, before she fought off her fear, and began drawing her bow.  Those eyes, she thought, anger now filling her blood at seeing the dead innocents about.  She notched her arrow, and let fly, the bolt slashing through one of the eye sockets, putting out its blazing white light.  The creature turned, and suddenly the smoke coming from the burning house swept down before it, covering the five in a dense, smoky fog.  Eerily, the prefect was still visible in the foggy soup as a vast opaque blob of orange.  (obscuring mist)Dammit!  He was a prefect!  He knew magic in life, he still knows it now! Felonca swore, backing behind the ragged line formed by the frightened soldiers and Bohai.  I need time to reload my bow!  If that thing touches me, I could be aflame too!  As she slipped past Bohai, she heard him whimper... a noise that gave her pause.  Stay, good Bohai! she willed towards him as she stopped and turned beside him.  Maybe your simple dagger can save this day!Suddenly, a bright flash lances from the burning mass ahead of her, straight at Bohai.  The farmer has nary a chance to scream, before flames consume his body, leaving it in burnt mound of flesh on the smoky road, the smell of roasted meat roiling Felonca’s stomach.  The soldiers backed away, and once again Felonca found herself to the front, now alone.Oh gods... oh gods, part of her mind panicked, realizing what had just happened to her erstwhile compatriot.  Her confusion and fear were momentary, before other, more logical parts of her mind took over.The soldiers are wearing armor!  Get behind them, and reload your bow!“Done yet?!” Nayu asked nervously, pacing in front of the knelt Liu.  The older man’s eyes remained closed, soft words coming from his humming lips as he focused his mind.  Nayu gave a loud curse at Liu’s nonresponse, and resumed his pacing, as screams grew louder.  Holy water... Bohai said these things don’t like holy water!  Dammit!  If we can get there with this bucketful...Suddenly Liu was standing, the bucket in one hand.  Nayu didn’t even see him rise and pick it up, he moved so quickly.  Nayu gave a sigh of relief, and started running back towards the market square, praying he was in time.Load, load, load! Felonca shouted at herself, her hands sometimes almost fumbling the arrow as she notched.  Her mind momentarily flashed back to archery practice at the Academy, before the urgencies of the present made her refocus again.  Her arrow notched, she drew back, and launched between the shoulders of two of the soldiers.  In the orange and red murk, she couldn’t see if the shot went true or not.“Dammit,” she muttered again, fumbling with her quiver, before it happened.The bright orange glow in the smoky mists to her front suddenly grew bright white, brighter and brighter, until it looked like she was staring at the sun.  Just as quickly, there was a bright flash, a roar, and suddenly the flames weren’t deep in the murky mists, but only five feet from her, swirling and blazing white hot.  The three soldiers to her front screamed for only an instant before they too collapsed to the ground, the heat of the firestorm so hot that their armor melted.  The blazing blast blew away the most immediate smoke, allowing Felonca to take in the scene.She was now alone, facing the burning skeleton of man, while around her, all the buildings within thirty feet of his burning form were now ablaze, their own thick smoke threatening to obscure him naturally.  Burnt bodies laid about, and peasants ran past screaming in stark terror, as the beast’s one blazing eye bore down directing on Felonca.Terror streaked through her mind, terror as real as the peasants screaming by her, dragging their children to safety.  One little boy, badly burned, dropped his wooden toy as he and his mother ran past.  His mother dragged him, kicking and screaming onward, as the flames consumed the small rocking horse.You have to fight, Felonca, she heard somewhere in her mind.  You are of the Wu-Fang clan, a family of warriors whose history goes back twenty generations!  You might not have passed the Academy, you might never ride on a steed into battle, but you are STILL A WARRIOR!  Make your clan proud!  The second before she charged the blazing menace, warfans whirling through the air, she recognized her father’s voice in her mind.Dammit!  I can’t see in this mess! Nayu cursed in his mind, coughing as the thick soup of smoke gutted his lungs.  The crackle of flames, and the screams of people all mingled into a chaotic chorus his ears could not sort.  Dammit... where are they!The young man turned his head about, to and fro, ears trying to find where the screams were loudest, his mind aware all the while that with each passing second, Felonca, Bohai, and his village were in graver and graver danger.  Finally, he made a snap decision.“They’re this way, towards the innhouse!” Nayu shouted to Liu through the smoke.  The prefect must have chased them quite a ways up the street for them to be that far ahead...They had gone no more than a few steps before Liu suddenly stopped, and spun around.“No, Master Nayu!  They’re this way, towards the markets!”Felonca’s whirling, spinning assault slowed, the pain too intense for her to stay close for more than a few seconds.  She backflipped away, the pain in her arms intense.  The heat from the burning man was so powerful that even though her arms never touched him, being merely close enough to hit him caused her to burn.  Despite landing several solid blows, the towering inferno looked none the worse for wear.Ok, Felonca... what do you do now?  Charging into him didn’t seem to hurt him, and changing to panther form and pouncing on the beast was out of the question... yet she couldn’t run.  Many would die if she ran.  Grimly, she set her jaw.  I must try again.  She tensed her legs and was almost ready to spring forward when she heard two familiar voices screaming her name.“Felonca!” Liu suddenly burst from the smoke, a bucket of water in hand, and immediately, Felonca realized what needed to be done.  Dropping her warfans, she seized the bucket from the worn priest, and dashed into the smoky doom.The burning prefect’s bony jaw seemed to open in a cackle as she ran forward, as if his undead mind was laughing at this foolish woman who kept charging towards him to no avail.  Only a few feet from it, just as the flames start to lick her again, Felonca heaves the bucket and its contents at the beast.An unholy, hissing scream filled the air, as steam billowed from the crimson bones.  The prefect writhed in horrible contortions, most of the flames on his body flying into steam as well.Felonca stood, rooted in her place as the beast wreathed, hoping against hope that it would crash to the ground in a broken heap.  Instead, its form snapped upright, and with the one burning hand it still possessed, it swung towards the hengeyokai.Felonca felt a sudden immense burning and pain in her cheek, as bones slipped into places they shouldn’t.  She had only a moment to see two bright flashes ignite the creature’s chest before all turned black as she tumbled to the ground.Nayu breathed heavily, as he watched Liu tend to his friend.  The chaos about them had calmed somewhat in the five minutes since the prefect had finally gone down, and still Nayu knelt worriedly beside Liu and Felonca... until a hand tapped his shoulder.  Nayu turned slowly, and found himself facing a man dressed in the red armor of a prefect soldier.  A long, grey mustache flowed from his face.“Young man... I am Captain Li, of the prefect guard.  We were on patrol outside of the city and saw smoke.  What exactly happened here?”With no care for whether the man would believe him or not, Nayu launched into a full explanation; of the undead skeletons, of how other prefects had gone mad, and how the ‘burning man’ had caused so much destruction.  When his long explanation was finished, the older man gave a slight nod of partial comprehension.“Mmm.  This all sounds very unusual... unusual indeed.  I’m afraid that I’m going to have to ask you and your friends to accompany me to the provincial capital at Mukden.  The Military Governor will likely want to know what happened here.”“And will he send in soldiers to get rid of these ‘burning men?’” Nayu asked hopefully.  The old captain gave a gentle smile.“I have no doubt of it.  Tend to your friend... we shall leave on the morrow.”“Are you alright?” a voice, as if coming through a tunnel, spoke to her.  Felonca opened her eyes, and the sudden brightness of the late afternoon sun assaulted her pupils.“Meh,” she gave a slight whine, soreness covering her arms, face and upper body.“She will be fine, Nayu,” she heard Liu’s voice say, “she’ll be sore for about an hour, but she’ll be fine.”“Is... is it gone?” Felonca asked, her voice gravelly from inhaling smoke and yelling above the noise.“Yes... I took it down with my magic,” Nayu said as his face came into view.  A gentle smile formed on his lips.  “And you say you aren’t a warrior.”She was about to give a protest when his face darkened slightly, his eyes turning sad.  “I also found something... that’s yours.  From Madame Cixi.”   Felonca felt cold in her hands, and as her fingers moved about, she realized what it was.Fourteen gold coins, cold as a snowfall.= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = That’s the end of our first session!  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Madame Cixi was a creature called a Coffer Corpse, found in the Creature Catalog.  Basic undead, save that whenever it takes 6 points or more of damage in a round, it falls down as if dead... only to rise in such a frightening manner that a Will save is required (one that Felonca and Bohai failed)!  The ‘Burning Man’ that was the prefect was a creature called the Blazing Bones, also found in the Creature Catalog.  Its a CR 5, and was intended as a challenging encounter for my party (3rd level, save Bohai, 1st level commoner).  It can hurl fire at a target to inflict 2d4 fire damage at a range of 20 feet, or once per minute, it can creature a firestorm that incinerates everything within 30 feet of it to the tune of 6d6 points of damage.  Additionally, it takes only half damage from piercing and slashing weapons, but it has a vulernability to water... especially holy water.And so... we shall soon move to the second adventure of this party, where the party rides off to Mukden, the provincial capital, to report what they have seen to the Military Governor Li Zicheng...</blockquote>

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