Wolf and Dragon Campaign: Summary

Trigger warning: if you've got triggers, stay out! I can't predict what's likely to trigger people, so I'm not going to carry any responsibility.

 I admit I got tangled with the Wolf and Dragon campaign. Too much material to write, too little time!

So I'm going to provide a summary of what has been going so far, which is complete as far as I can tell, and move* on. It's a more macro-scale, akin to the first post about it (which was also summing up more than a few sessions).

I might start posting about the Old Meyoss campaign. We'll see.

So, the current events, per character:

Fu is still training up to be the best kung-fu master he could be. He is my second go-to character for this campaign, and is faithfully preparing for both his promotion to Full Agent of the MMA (Ministry of Magic Affairs) and for his marriage.

He keeps being asked whether he has been to places he'd never heard of. He suspects someone might be using his name, but as it only adds to his fame, he is willing to let it slide.

Hoi is the main foil of the campaign, I suspect. He has currently established a bordello in a city, which he positioned as a place for secret meetings...which he faithfully preserves as a reliable place to have secret affairs in (in any sense of the word "affair".

Of course, it also means he gets plenty of blackmail material - and by consequence, so does the White Dragon's intelligence service...

Currently the bordello (one of the few where the whores are given illegal magic training!) is being managed by his associates. He himself was invited to a marriage in the capital: the marriage of the Black Male Fox, son of the Wolf (which also makes him a nephew(?) of Hoi's boss, the White Dragon).

Taking a roundabout way there, Hoi charmed his way into becoming the personal security consultant of a noble lady. He is presenting himself as a relative newcomer from the northern tribes, and trying to present things as if he's been languishing in the North. He is actually south of the capital, of course! Misdirection is an important part of his job.

Wang is my first character in this campaign. He is currently the (semi-?) official** boyfriend of the Little She-Wolf, the youngest sister of White She-Fox and Black Male Fox. That means he's going to be on BMF's wedding, too. Whether he'd meet Hoi and Fu there is up for grabs.

Important achievements since last time:

-Presenting himself as a nobleman (he is, legally) and finding himself a mentor to introduce him into the ranks of the Dark Judges (the other villains of the setting who hate his employer - the Wolf).

-Setting up an "express import/export business" with Jin (a different continent).

-Helping Little She-Wolf destroy a city of undead** and scour it of undead.

-Arranging fireworks over the cleaned-up city that could - and were - seen from across the next continent. No walls higher than waist-level had remained at this point (and the city was undead-infested for centuries, so we knew there were no civilians).

-Black Male Fox should sing a song about that fight soon. Though he is going to omit the implication of a couple of the participants, which is only going to make it more impressive: "the 7 xia against the city of undead" is self-explanatory.

Admittedly, the 10 xia wouldn't be much different, but still.

*I mean, both me and the GM are playing in Bill Reich's game in his Old Meyoss setting, so this campaign is on a hold AFAICT.

**I think we're official now. The fact that he helped Little She-Wolf destroy of city of undead in order to get the soul of her mother's murderer...probably contributed to that. In the fight, Wang basically personally destroyed hundreds of zombies (by employing their weaknesses) and found a way to triple the already-impressive firepower that the Wolf Family had brought to the fight.

Adventures of Fu: Fu Follows A Sorcerer, Ascends To Heavens On A Bridge Of Spiders, Fights A Demon To Entertain A Demon, And Suddenly Gets Rich!

Trigger warning: if you've got triggers, go elsewhere. If you read, it's at your own risk. 

Previous episode is here.

After that, it was a string of "regular Tuesdays in the life of any xia, who's also agent of a family of xians" (despite the similar orthography, the two words mean roughly "kung-fu knight" and "enlightened immortal wizard"...as I like putting it, there's a power level difference. And yes, Fu has given himself 3 years to learn how to defeat one of those in single kung-fu combat).

 

Meaning, he had Training From Hell, and enjoyed it. 

 

He was drinking at night, but went moderately into the cups. And he received a kite with a letter from his beloved, the daughter of Middle City's Magistrate (no, her father doesn't know yet...)!

 

In her letter, she was declaring undying love again, and had a whole short story written with the two of them, showing that they're destined for each other, even if their love goes tragic!
 

Fu was left teary-eyed. Of course, had he shown it to Black Fox, he might not have - because he would have told him that it's an amalgamation of popular "romantaxia" novels...one of which is even written by Black Fox!

 

But, since Fu doesn't read...much... he was impressed with her writing ability! All is good that ends well!

One important note and an unimportant detail: he was getting a lot more fleet-footed while training in the Ministry of Magic Affairs*. 

 

The unimportant part: he joined another tournament, and lost after another drag-down battle. This opponent didn't come to see him, although Fu did spot him afterwards...in the M(o)MA training camp. The guy was talking to one of the coaches.

 

Also, Fu is trying to compose an unofficial march of the MoMA cadets, by adapting the melody of the song Black Fox wrote to lure out the Southern Winds. It's going...slowly and with much delays, let's say.

However, on a night in the middle of the week, Fu was awaken by a voice in his head. Someone was whispering: "Pssst! Kid! Wake up!"
 

He immediately assumed that was Black Fox, by the way...
 

...which meant e followed the instructions: went, took a horse, hid himself and the horse near a lake, waited for Wolf to come out and cast some magic. The magic resulted in an incredible multitude of spiders (that weren't there a moment before...) weaving a pathway that went to heavens!

 

(I think I started humming "Stairway to Heavens" at this point. If not, I should have).

 
Fu followed Wolf silently, and saw him negotiating with a giant spider (no surprise). He was addresing it as if it was a woman, and Fu soon realized it was demanding payment for some questions.

 

Then Wolf spotted him (after she pointed him out), and she said it clearly that everyone has to pay to get out. The Wizard's attempts to use a Portal spell to usher Fu through failed, due to them being in some place that Wolf calls "pocked dimension" (the term means nothing to Fu, just another weird thing wizards say).

 

It seems that neither Wolf nor Black Fox had instructed Fu. It was all the sword's work!

 

Yes, Wolf was carrying that sword that Fu and Black Fox had found near Su Yan's house... a sword that might be familiar to readers of the Story of Hoi!

 

A sword that Fu was going to use now, Wolf stated clearly. Because it seems the options for payment were "fight a champion of the spider's choice, give the spider a piece of your soul, fuck the spider". The last seemed surprisingly easy, if you ask Fu, given that she could obviously transform into a variety of stunningly beautiful women. 

 

Not only that, but she was even looking in their thoughts, and transforming into women they'd known: Fu's beloved, Wolf's late Bride-never-to-be (which both of them found to be a surprisingly bad taste), and so on!

 

As Fu put it, "if I didn't have a fiancee, this would look like a surprisingly easy way out...which means that there's probably a trap there, so we should really fight!"

 

Why fight? Well, because it would probably be a good fight. And why would you avoid a good fight, good fights are to be enjoyed, right?

 

Amusingly, Wolf was of the same opinion. He just gave his sword and armour to Fu "to keep him alive". 

 

Fu only accepted reluctantly, and because he knew Wolf is superior to him in kung-fu: he should have a better idea what we had to expect! 

 

As it turned out, it was two oversized demons. Like "elephant dimensions" oversized. Fu chose the 15 m tall 6-armed horned gorilla with scorpion tail, Wolf got the centaur-like creature with a lot of horns, claws and snakes in its hair, beard and tail.

 

After Fu got hit, he realized that this armour was great. He still got knocked around (the armour had to be supplemented by his kung-fu***), but he was barely hurt, if at all!

 

This changed when the creature grappled him, as he couldn't shed the force of the blow by letting it throw him around. But still, him and the sword followed the directions Wolf had given us before the fight: attack the ankles, then the base of the neck, this type of demons is weak there. (Is it because of Wolf's medical ability? Fu doesn't know, but it's either that, or he's faced this kind of creature before).

 

Also, the sword was levitating itself and fought on Fu's side.

 

Given all of this and the fact that I had plenty of criticals aiming at those spots, the battle went swimmingly. Fu was over half of his body points when we dropped the 300 Body Points creature! Fu did, however, realize that if it wasn't for all of the help, he'd have been dead, period. Probably on the second strike at most. 

 

Wolf had been hurt as well. Of course, both of them ate Miraculous Restoring Pills, a.k.a. "candy"...yes. Xiaomei again.

 

At the end, Fu cut off the creature's head for a trophy.

However, the Spider Queen tried to bail out and seduce them both in attempt to drain their Qi****. Her argument: "there were three of you!"...meaning the levitating sword. 

 

Luckily, she gave us time to think (maybe to think our arguments - Fu totally left that up to the wizard).

 

At the end, it seemed like Wolf was going to take her on the offer about the fucking...in the middle of the dinner. Wizards have no shame!

 

...and then he managed to slap an artifact on her neck. Whatever the thing was, it was strangling her, and obviously didn't allow her to revert to her bigger form!

 

Yes, she was obviously trying, her flesh melting around the necklace and all - but the artifact held on!

After that, it was a simple matter to persuade her to let us go...

We also got our prizes for winning: Fu got a chest with gold, as he chose "fortune", thinking that his lover is the daughter of a magistrate, she'd expect him to be bringing money!

 

...with 150 golden taels to his name, he's no longer an actual beggar.
 

Wolf, on his side, got some answers - which he didn't ask in front of Fu. Fu was sent to pack their belongings (including the demon's head, which the sword was carrying).
 

On the way home the Wolf (being 200+ years old man that is full of advices for the young lad Fu) tried to explain to the youngster that in the world of martial artists, usually "might makes right" and that corrupted cultivation is a thing and there are a lot of powerful beings that are...well, kind of evil. Spider Queen is very much one of those, and sex with her was going to be poisonous all on its own.

 
However, he decided that Fu wasn't listening (he was, but you really can't blame the guy...it has been known to happen!), so he tried with a less complicated advice: "Just don't put you dick in crazy, OK?"
 

...and then he though long and hard how he should listen to this advice more often, too. Ah, the irony!
 

Thus, Fu almost managed to win an argument with Wolf - all without meaning to do so. Was that some next level Wu Wei (action-without-action), or did Wolf merely got tangled in his own rhetoric and spotted his own inconsistency? You decide, dear readers!

Either way, the two returned to Wolf's castle almost as soon as we had departed. Fu asked for a horse to carry the head, and got a horse and tokens of authority. With those, he entered the capital, went to the yamen, and deposited the head there - there's standing prizes for demon-hunting, so he got 50 silver on top of the 200 gold he had earned.

 

He gave 25% of everything to the Beggar's Brotherhood, as expected of a member. He reasons that he might not be a beggar anymore, but he's still a xia of the Brotherhood, and fully plans to support it and to defend beggars when necessary!
 

He also got a cup of noodles on the way to the MoMA barracks, and rejoined the daily practice full of forces and quite pleased with himself!



*I wonder whether the GM did it deliberately, choosing something that's abbreviated MoMA...or MMA, for short, when you skip the preposition!
**What he was wearing is "super magical armour from demon-spider web and enchanted white jade that is as light as silk, absorbs good part of both magical and physical attacks and fits all sizes". Courtesy of Xiaomei, this branch of the Jing family have one of these each!
As the GM puts it, if that was MCU Xiaomei would give Ironman a run for his money as inventor... and probably to Doctor Strange as well.
***Remember, Fu is near the system's limit for absorbing damage without getting hurt. The armour was still more efficient, of course, but not by much.
****According to the GM: after that she was planning to poison the Wolf and probably eat Fu, like literally using him for food. Well, that would have been preceded by other types of eating, but still: Totally Not Worth It! Even if he didn't have a fiancee! Don't take the easy way out, guys...unless you really, really want to, I guess.

 

Adventures of Fu: Fu Pays For Drinking, Sends An Expensive Letter, And Fails At Investigation Despite Black Fox's Help

After the fight Fu invited Black Fox to drink, specifying he's paying this time.

What? Even a beggar has some dignity...maybe not much...and he's looking to become a xia, now! Besides, he'd just won it betting!

The only important part was that Black Fox accepted...and then their roles got reversed again. Fu got drunk talking about the late never-married-bride of the Wolf. He'd not talked much with her, but he remembered her being cute and kind.

"This Su Yan...can't she get killed? I mean, not by you or Xiaomei, Black Fox...but she can be, right? The deal your father struck, it only covers her nor being pursued in court!"

"Not really. We won't take actions against her, at all. She's an influential noble, her death would be a shock, and Heavens know there were plenty of shocks! We don't want to test the state!"

"But it ain't fair", Fu concluded, and got drunk.

Later, he came to his senses while Black Fox was carrying him, and was outraged.

"You're carrying me?!? I've failed at my duties! Didn't protect your father's bride...and now you're carrying me, instead of me watching over you! Despite the fact that you've drunk even more than me, so if anyone attacks us, you might inadvertently kill him!"

"Shh...it wasn't your job to keep her, and neither are you responsible for me!"

"How come I'm not responsible? Of course I am", Fu wept, and resigned himself to his fate.

One failure, no consequences, obviously Heavens were kind! And he was going to be the smart guy and learn from his own mistake while it wasn't too heave, preventing a heavier one in the future!

It's an oath of Never Get Drunk, Prevent Surprises While People Are Drinking. Whether it has any mechanical impact remains to be seen.

The next day the Emperor was announced to have returned. As the statement said, the Minister Pei had misinterpreted the Emperor's prolonged absence during his Mission To Recover The Goodwill Of Heavens, and assumed the worst. The guilty parties had been punished, justice was restored!

In the whole rigmarole, the return of the Emperor's Half-Brother remained almost unnoticed - although nobody can really distinguish them...

"Hopefully his future bride would be able to. If not, how would she know she's not their bride?!?", Fu joked, crassly. The humour went unappreciated.

The next day? The next day he was already in training camp...which is in a village right next to the compound - actually a small castle - where the bride-to-never-be was kidnapped from. 

It soon turned out that being of noble blood was not really helpful unless one can shut his mouth, train hard, and not complain. All abilities that Fu excelled at!

Forced marches? Striking poles? Sparring? He felt at home. Gimmemore! 

Other people were dropping, however...or being chased off. They were told in no uncertain terms that of the 30 of them, maybe 6 would graduate!

The agents of the Ministry of Magic Affairs pass a hard, hard training!

Fu was given some choice (and advised by the trainers, but their advise coincided with what he was thinking anyway), and started improving his Ascending Dragon Fist, focusing on heavy, heavy strikes. He already has the ability to withstand damage, now it was time to learn how to deal more of it!

I'm not sure whether it was Fu or a trainer that said it, but "the sooner your opponent drops, the less damage you sustain! That's why the ability to drop people fast is part of humaneness, you are minimizing the suffering in the world. And given that this is protecting your own health, which was given to you with the Chi of your parents, it's also a form of filial piety!"

...probably not Fu, with such reasoning.

On the evenings, however, he was still drinking with Black Fox, who is "monitoring his advancement". On one of these days, he asked whether he can send a magical kite to his bride to be.

Black fox advised against it, but recommended that he writes a message to his father-in-law-to-be...even though the Magistrate of Middle City has no idea he is to be a xia's father-in-law. The way of familial ties is complicated and mysterious!

Fu the Falcate Spear agreed, and sent a magical kite expressing his best wishes and regrets for not being introduced. "However, I had to leave for my training at the Ministry of Magic Affairs! I am hoping sincerely that I could be introduced after it concludes!"

As a note, magic kites are expensive, so it's a way to flaunt means, as well as influence - and Fu's name is getting more and more famous. Also, it's a transparent hint that he is getting an important position...because if he survives it, he is going to get one!

However, he also insisted on sending a kite to the bride-to-be. (The kites can be returned, once, so you're basically paying 2 gold pieces for two SMS that take 1 hour each direction. Instant communication is at a premium in our wuxia/xianxia! I can't even guess what the price for Internet access would be!)

Well, Fu paid nothing, Black Fox gifted him both kites, although he expressed amazement that Fu is still bothering with that girl.

"How could I not?"

"I thought you'd have tired of her", Black Fox shrugged.

"Maybe, but if I did just leave, wouldn't it mean I've lied just to get to her body? If that's what she wanted as well, of course that would be fine. But I had to at least ask her whether she wants something more. And since she wanted it, how could I say I've changed my mind after receiving what I'd wanted?"

It's not a logic that Black Fox is fond of. He does exactly that!

"Well, it's different with you, you're the Emperor's uncle!", Fu shrugged. "That means it's alright".

Meaning, an emperor's uncle might do much worse and couldn't be punished. Just sleeping with semi-random girls that want it doesn't even register!

At the end of the week, they got practical training. Fu, however, got paired with...Black Fox!

No, nobody'd pulled any strings at all...

However, this was one of the few times when their mission ended up in disgrace. They were trying to follow the lead of the mercenaries who'd kidnapped the late bride-to-never-be, two women and a man, some of them from Jin country!

But they only managed to follow them from Su Yan's palace to an inn, then to a hired palanquin...which stopped in the forest.

Then we did ask in the nearest inns. In the second closest, we found their traces: they'd been there for a day and a half, or two days and a half. Then they'd left.

No traces were found in the nearest inns. The local animals didn't know more than that, either. 

 

OOC, they'd left with a giant heron, but they walked a day and a half to get there. If Hoi had summoned the bird to this inn, he'd have been followed: local animals would know a giant heron was nearby!

However, the bird was on the other side of the capital and they didn't call it. The GM was really surprised when I reminded her of this.

"Good thing for him Hoi is so paranoid, I guess?"

"Well, he couldn't call it, so he didn't!"

"They had a whistle that can do it!"

"Oh...I'd just forgotten about it, and so did Hoi!"

Adventures of Fu: The Nobles Summon Beggars To Help, Black Cat Is Disgraced, A Flying Sword Bears Unofficial Witness Against A Yandere! Meanwhile, Fu Avenges His Loss And Finds Work!

Trigger warning: if you have triggers, stay out!

If not, here's the previous session...

Not one, but two future members of the Jing Family are now missing* at once - the future bride-to-be of the Elder Jing (The Wolf) had gone missing! 

Admittedly, as she is a diviner, she was sleep-walking. And one of the Jing children was tasked with protecting her (they switch for this task), but failed!

Of course, Fu ran to take his 3-section staff, his new clothes, and his books (especially the one with the pictures, although he can't read the language it's in**), and ran off.

Turned out, the one who has screwed up was none other than Silver Cat!
The whole combined team of beggars***, Jing scions and assorted xia was searching through a forest near a castle owned by Wolf. We searched, and searched...and Fu suggested we should look up at the trees.

"I mean, they couldn't have flied off! But they could have jumped up, avoiding any traces, if they know you are going to search like mad, and with the best dogs..."

Soon enough, we found broken branches.

"Eh, they couldn't have flied off! But if they could carry her this way, they could put her in something", Fu guessed again.

"They could have", Black Fox suggested. "But then have searched the nearest inns".

"Did you ask for people with a chest? Like the one we found recently?"

Amazingly, they were only asking for the girl. Jing sorcerers teleported and we had an answer soon, yes, a cart with a chest had arrived in the night, about 30 hours ago...

We tracked it to the city gates, where again, yes, there had been a cart entering late at night. The guards assumed these were shipping flour to the merchants, I guess?

And then Fu and the other beggars just contacted the bakers. Because yes, that was at exactly the moment when bakers start work. And boosted by Jing's immeasurably deep pockets, they tried to remember!

We thus followed it towards the city center, until we reached a gate.
Su Yan's gate! That was the lady which we were warned about, and that had been trying to find a certain liver!

And off we went. Basically, Wolf went in, and told the guards who he is, and that he is going in, and it can go easy...or not.

I think that's when he knew that girl is done for. OOC, I knew that long ago. But basically, Su Yan has a page on TVTropes, and here's the link: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Yandere

Basically, Su Yan herself came, and Wolf still insisted. She probably knew she can't stop him when he's in the mood to ignore law and procedure, which is where he was. 

So she invited him in, and let us search. She also sent a message that he's there and searching her place unlawfully.

Yet we still found no traces of the missing girl!

This, however, actually got Wolf running. I suspect at this point Su Yan was terribly, terribly close to being murdered...by at least a few of us.

Fu was only worried Black Fox might do it, so he was ready to try and restrain him. Of course, Xiaomei was out of suspicion, although it would be equally harmful for her if she did! (Both of them are half-demons, if they ever kill a human, they'd lose the human half of their souls). 

At some point, Wolf just said "Fine!", and dragged Su Yan to the palace! He went in, nobody even tried to stop us...and it turned out, that was the Ministry of Magic Affairs building! The guards tried to stop us, but seriously, what sane guard stops one of the Wulin Top Ten? And we had at least three of those in our group! (Wolf, Black Fox, White Fox, if you're wondering).

"The ministry is disbanded!"

"Minister Pei hasn't got the authority to decide that", was Wolf's answer.

"How can you say that?!? He's the regent!"

"The emperor is alive, there's no need for a regent! What power does he have if the position he's occupying doesn't exist?!?"

"His death was announced!"

"Tell Minister Pei to come here. Tell him I can prove His Majesty and His Majesty's Brother are both alive and well. Tell him we have a deal to strike".

Thus, Wolf dragged Su Yan to an interrogation room, and ordered us to remain outside...
His kids started being worried he might be torturing her, while inside, so we broke the door. She was, in fact, unharmed (and clothed, and on a chair...Fu noted that with some amazement, as he expected much worse from the angry Wolf).

Then Minister Pei came, and Fu realized they're going to negotiate.

He also realized something else as well, though: he realized they're in the very ministry which makes so many officials quiver with...ahem, healthy respect!

"Black Fox, that's your ministry, right? That your father is heading?"

"Yes, sure it is!"

"Who should I speak to in order to apply for a job?"

"Oh...that scribe over there?"

"You can guarantee for me, right?"

Black Fox didn't mind, and Fu went to the scribe. The man was polite, but wasn't really helpful for a couple sentences, intending to drown Fu in documents - then Fu mentioned that he's got a recommendation!

"Oh, that's interesting! Who is it?"

"You've heard of Black Fox, right?"

The man's eyes widened and he actually set a number of documents. "Then those won't be necessary..."

"And I think Xiaomei can say a good word as well. We didn't interact much, but I was in that team when she helped us free the kidnapped nobles", Fu mused.

"...those documents won't be necessary, either, I'll fill them for you later", the man bowed.

"Thank you very much!", Fu bowed in turn. "I'll be in your debt, then!"

"Sure, sure, don't mention it!", the man waved his sleeve.

And that's how Fu got to apply for a place in the Ministry of Magic Affairs, by filling a reasonable number of papers. Which is great, because he isn't anything like a scholar!

On the other hand, he doesn't mind getting dirty, and he has hunted both rogue magicians (magorasts, as he calls them), and demons. Prime material for an agency that would be a cross of Delta Green and Arkham, in a different setting!

Then Fu went out to take a walk in the capital. Black Fox went with him...

And, while passing near the compound of Su Yan, they found a sword. A sword that was talking telepathically, as Black Fox said. The man actually pulled it out, and used it to cut his hand, much to Fu's amazement!

"You haven't gone crazy, right?"

"No, he asked for it!"

Black Fox carried the sword. And the... blade?... actually claimed he'd seen how the woman we were looking for died!

"So she's dead", Fu was crestfallen. "Seriously, that Su Yan is as good as dead!"

"I guess she'll suffer very little for it, actually", Black Fox muttered.

"What?"

"Father hates it, but he has to think of the Empire above everything. He has to strike a deal with Pei. And her life and freedom shall be part of it, she's an important ally of Pei!"

"But she has killed the girl, right?"

"Technically, she was killed while trying to run away. And worse, we have no proof she was even there! No, flying swords aren't usually accepted as witnesses!"

Fu just spat in the dirt.

"Well, that's not right!"

I'm sure the sword agreed. I mean, why are flying swords discriminated against? 

Either way, as a result of this conversation, Fu wanted to punch somebody, so he went on to see his old friend, the Red Tiger fighter. 

Friend? More like rival! But maybe that means something about Fu's friends...

He was actually glad to see me. He was also glad to hear Fu is feeling better (after a diet of candy) and is planning to ask him for another match!

"But this time, no leitai arena. I want to show you my real world skills", Fu explained.

"Fine! We can fight just outside the city, in front of the walls!"

So we fought, in front of the Beggar Brotherhood and the Red Tiger clan. Fu placed a bet on himself, too, and was amazed to see they were giving his opponent 3:1! 

"Just one loss, and they think so low of me? Damn! Well, they'll pay me for it!"

But where the first fight had been a close draw, this time Fu demolished his opponent almost unharmed! 

A lot of strikes, Fu wasn't even defending, just trusting his kung-fu to protect him!

The difference was all due to Rolling With the Blow. 

Where Fu used this technique, there was very little his opponent could inflict on him. It's a difference of 10 points of damage on top of his Iron Skin. Yes, the rule in the game is that you're allowed to stack them.

Fu and the beggars won easily, and he got 90 silver coins out of it. (That is, he had betted most of his money).

The other Red Tigers didn't let him get to their mate, even though Fu wanted to help him. They only said they're going to mock him to no end for losing to a beggar.

Fu only glared at them, but decided one fight is enough. He couldn't risk losing the prestige he'd just gained, it was better to let them deal with their friend the way they did in their clan! 

We had to celebrate!

*OOC, we know what has happened to her, as it was directly related to Hoi's adventures.
Let me just tell you not to expect a happy end on that plot line, although amazingly, Hoi isn't the one that prevented it. That's why we have those warnings.
**Yes, he's literally a teenager with an adult comic in a foreign language he can't read!
***Masters Wu and Hu were there, too.

Adventures of Fu: In which Fu helps a fox out of a predicament, delivers a message, and doesn't learn a secret technique!

Trigger warning: if you have triggers, stay out. 

For the rest of you, here's the previous episode.

A couple hours later, Fu awoke after he heard a voice in his head. 

"Can you come to help me? Second floor, the door with two guards in front of it...there's sleeping powder in my stuff, you'll find it in the hollowed-out bamboo stalk. Make sure to not inhale it!"

Fu put on his beggar outfit, made his hair less kept, and splashed on his face some alcohol from Black Fox's stash, then started stumbling towards the guards, mumbling incoherently. One of them warned him to stop.
 

"Stop?Me? A-ha-ha! But that's my room!"
 

"No it's not, you drunken sod!"
 

"Eh", Fu stumbled towards them and the wall, leaning on it. "Why so rude, man? I was told my room is on the third floor..."
 

"That's the second floor!"
 

Fu looked surprised.

"What? No! I counted it right!"

The guard just put the spear down, towards Fu's chest. Fu merely leaned his hand on the spear, then suddenly stumbled towards the guys, throwing ample amounts of sleeping powders in their faces!
 

Drop, drop.
 

"Ah...shoulda've let me in!", Fu mumbled.
 

Then he waited for the powder to dissipate, put a cloth over his face, and entered. There was a big black fox in a magical circle, a wizard who started saying a spell, and another guard.
 

Fu rushed by the wizard, then simply put his foot in the circle, and dragged it back across its edge.
 

"Ah", said the naked Black Fox inside, who'd suddenly turned human. "Now we're gonna fight!"
 

And he cracked his knuckles.
Fu simply looked at the wizard, and concentrated on the wrongness of using magic. Surely that spell violated the will of Heavens!
 

And that's how the spell fizzled and died.
(In game terms, Qi Resistance, Fu's approach).

Fu merely smiled. "Care to try again, magorast?"
 

It wasn't necessary. Black Fox had removed the guard already (the guy seldom needs more than a couple strikes, lots of enemies go down to one of his attacks) and struck the wizard in an acupuncture point, rendering him mute. Then taking him out was a matter of leisurely applying pressure to the right spots.

"What happened, Black Fox? And for the grace of Heavens, dress up already!"

The black fox reappeared, jumped out the window, and Black Fox reappeared shortly after.

"Hey, thank you...you really saved my skin in there. I saw them and recognized them, didn't realize they've recognized me, too!" 

"I guess they didn't like you. What did you do?"
 

"Just a chick, and she never mentioned she was going to wed that old guy!", Black Fox pointed at the wizard. "Saved him an unfortunate wedding, I'd say! But I though he'd have forgotten her and remarried..." 

 "Indeed", Fu agreed, not even bothering to comment on Black Fox's behaviour. "If she didn't say a thing, it was her fault. And he should be happy you did her before the wedding, not after! If she'd allowed her to have your ways with her after the marriage, he'd be wearing horns. Doing it before the marriage, you saved him that unfortunate fate. He should really be grateful you prevented him from getting married to an unfaithful wife! Who's to say she'd only allow that to you?"

"Oh...why didn't I think of this argument, back then?", Black Fox mused. "I'll tell him when he wakes up. Now let's move these two", he pointed at the wizard and the guard. "You'd be interested in the boy..."

"I. Don't. Swing. That. Way!"

"...oh no, I mean he's the brother of that gal you wanted to marry. Or have you reconsidered?"

"She's got a brother?"

"...you don't know a lot about her family, I see."

"We kinda met at a short notice", Fu reminded him. It was Black Fox that introduced them, if "introduced" is the right word.

We pushed them through the portal to the Golden Lotus, and much to Fu's amazement, Black Fox woke the guy in question up, and told him that the "missing Emperors" (well, really the Emperor and his half-brother, but they look basically like twins, so we call them this) are with us and not dead. The guy obviously started thinking about switching his allegiances...

But Fu told them good-bye and went away. He had no idea how to impress his possibly-future-brother-in-law, other than by "he works for Black Fox", so he just went to the Beggar's Brotherhood.

I swear, he had every intention to just train calmly to improve his skills!

Well, admittedly he did that. He asked good questions, and got good tips. He even found some applications of the forms, or so he believes...

And concentrating on his footwork, he is really starting to master the use of the staff! Besides, his internal energy keeps improving...

 

In game terms, he did master the 5th level of his style, Bandit Beating Staff, which netted him an advancement in techniques. And guess what, he is now a definite master you don't want to fight, with 106% attack skill...

His defence is much weaker, though.

And all of that happened over the course of a day! It was a nice day, a calm one.
 

He even delivered the chest that the beggar chief in the capital had asked him to get to the blind teacher in Middle City. She thanked him, and started touching the cords it was tied with.
 

"Do you want me to untie them for you, Respected Teacher?"
 

She even stopped in her tracks.

 

"Are you a moron?"
 

"I don't think I am", Fu mused. "But Yanzi says I've got a thick head. What does that have to do with untying the cords for you?"
 

"How do you think I can read a message?"
 

"Special kung-fu technique, I've always assumed?"
 

"Stupid! You have mastered Blind Fighting, you know it doesn't help you read!"
 

"Sure thing, but I always assumed there was an extra-special kung-fu technique that allows that, too?"
 

She sighed.

"No, it's the knots. Different knots at different places have different meanings..."

She started explaining. Fu decided she just doesn't want to teach him this technique, since he can read anyway, and doesn't need it.
 

So he went off to train, because he realized that he didn't indeed need anything like this.

 

Overall, it was a good day!

...and then we got summoned to help! Calmly training to improve one's skills would have to wait, again!

But that is for the next episode!

After-Action Report: Road to Monsterberg, session 8

Link to the Previous Session! Wherein we met my new character and got invited to the dukal hunt!

The next morning, people wake up and go a-hunting. Wojslav buys himself a nice heavy crossbow and some broadheads, rides out on his horse, everyone else goes as they are. Humorously, Jules just brings a hatchet and his executioner's axe.

Estelle gets to talking with some huntsmen about wild stories and splits from the group (her player was absent).

Meanwhile, Elias holds up the party because he's busy convincing one of the huntsmen to take the midden mutt that Elias adopted during the Teschen bakery heist and use it in the chase, so it learns some basic hunting tricks from the other dogs. Elias actually manages to convince the guy, which is good for the dog.

Unfortunately, in the time it takes to do so, the party have lost track of the hunters who were supposed to lead them to their position. A rather impatient looking fellow in green livery comes out of the forest and beckons them to follow, chastising them for laying about and wasting time. How helpful!

He leads them to a dried out creek bed and the hunt begins. Huh, surprisingly many animals start coming their way...

 

Wojslav prepares his crossbow and reckons he'll shoot mounted, Vuk crouches down with a sling, Elias ties his whip to some trees to use as a line to trip any big game that happens to come the right way, and Jules just crouches down next to a tree on one bank of the creek and tries to fight his headache (Jules is so debilitated from last night's drinking that all the checks he has to roll are at the second highest difficulty if no additional difficulty applies).

 

The first half an hour, there come various small game animals and some fowl. Vuk and Wojslav manage to bag a few rabbits and pheasants, though they also miss their shots at a bunch of elk coming by and some martens...

 

Then come the Wild Hogs. These wild hogs were perfectly content to keep running and ignore the idiots in the creek bed. The party had other ideas. Vuk and Wojslav shoot one boar and just as they're happy that it's almost certainly dead after being hit by a heavy crossbow and a sling bullet, they hear the thing start to squeal in a frenzy and realize why people tend to use spears to hunt boars.

 

Meanwhile, Elias is apparently unhappy that Vuk and Wojslav are getting all the game so far (by virtue of being the only ones with any ranged weapons, but I digress) so he proceeds with his plan to trip the other incoming boar with his whip, which he's tied to the other side of the forest trope that the animals keep using. He actually does so ... and finds himself with a prone, enraged boar a meter away from him.

 

So right now, there are two enraged wild pigs and a bunch of people who are wholly under-equipped for a boar hunt. The pig that Vuk and Wojslav shot charges at Vuk, ready to end him. 

 

Vuk, who I must point out had previously somehow voided a saber charge by one of von Jarashow's horsemen, now crits on his evasion and manages to throw a bunch of river pebbles into the boar's eyes while he dives to the side, blinding it and avoiding an early death while screaming obscenities in Serbian.

 

Meanwhile, Elias tries to keep his boar at bay with his whip, but the angry creature just bites onto the whip and destroys it after a few combat cycles, finally closing the distance as Elias feverishly tries disengaging with it, chucking a hatchet at it, and then scrambling for his messer. 

 

Here, it is also worth pointing out that Elias is almost entirely unarmored, has the frame of a twig, and has a combat skill somewhere around 60, whereas the boar has 73 and is built like a brick shithouse. 

 

Somehow, Elias does not get gored once and keeps fighting back against the boar.

 

Meanwhile Wojslav dismounts, draws his sword, and goes in swinging at the blinded, frenzied pig that charged Vuk. 

 

The Serbian is still on his stomach, trying to crawl away and get up while the angry blind pig keeps pushing him, keeps him prone, but never manages to actually skewer him due to still being blinded. Jules in this time gets up and throws a hatchet at Vuk's boar, nearly taking Vuk's head off with his hung-over aim.

 

Things were going like this for 7 rounds (each with ~3 combat cycles, i.e. turns) and during this time Elias actually manages to get a critical strike in at his boar and tear open its frontquarters, causing it to slowly but surely start bleeding out. Meanwhile, Vuk has managed to take out his shortspear and impale one boar with it, making it terribly ineffective at actually goring anyone. While Vuk feverishly keeps his spear stuck into the boar, Jules is blearily swinging his unbalanced executioner's axe at the pig and missing every strike, while Wojslav pokes both pigs on their rumps with his sword, but doesn't achieve much, visibly.

 

As Elias' pig is almost completely exhausted by blood loss, Elias gets another lucky defense in and manages to get the pig to accidentally skewer itself on his messer while bearing down on him one last time.

 

Meanwhile, in the very last round of combat, a miracle happens!

 

Jules, still so hungover he can barely be considered awake, finally hits. He rolls some abominable damage number with his impractical executioner's axe, and he rolls the pig's head as a random hit location. So Jules ends up cleanly decapitating the one remaining wild pig, much to everyone else's astonishment.

 

...and funnily enough, Elias' family sigil is actually a boar. It's engraved on most of his pouches and his belt (which yes, his player has detailed). Must have helped him solo his pig.

 

Anyway, after all this, things were surprisingly quiet. Several dozen minutes of nothing, interspersed with some small game animals.

 

The party ends up meeting with the chasers as the hunt winds down, who stare at them incredulously for standing around in one of the most dangerous spots possible. It becomes clear that the man in green who led them there was definitely not one of the hunters and likely had some malicious motive. 

 

Unnerving, that. Who might be trying to hurt nice people like our characters?

Meanwhile, as the bodies of the animals are counted, Vuk and Wojslav overhear some people discussing that there is a reward for anyone who bags 5 or more small critters. 

 

Vuk teaches Wojslav the magic of Balkan scams, and the two decide to pool their caught small game and pass it off as Wojslav's to get the reward. Thankfully, the scribe doesn't catch on to the deception or notice the differences in wounds, so Wojslav gets credited the entire catch.

 

And at the Duke's post-hunt feast, all the party gets is a single fox pelt for their troubles, the pigs bringing no prizes besides some hearty meat. It was meant to be a small game hunt, the prizes are for small game!

 

Despite this, the ridiculous story of how the pigs were brought low. Two factors work for us: Elias' family sigil and his unlikely win against the boar, coupled with Jules being an executioner! People see his win as "him performing his duties on a pig", which makes for a riotous laugh at the feast (and earns everyone involved a bit of Ehren in the eyes of the attendees).

 

And that's it for now. 

 

As a side note, the GM has commented that he honestly half expected the party to roll up an encounter of 4 angry bears and end up eaten. Especially sitting at the dried creek bed. 

 

"I don't know how they had such a relaxing time of it thanks to their encounter rolls, with the exception of the pigs which were entirely self-inflicted", as he put it.

Ah, the magic of rolling stuff in the open, encounters included!

Adventures of Fu: Fu Is Defeated, But Promises Payback, Takes A Good Walk To Clear His Head, And Meets Black Fox Again!

Trigger Warning: If You Have Triggers, Better Don't Read. This post should be fine, but honestly, I can't guess what some people might be triggered by.

Link to the previous session!

After the fight, Fu woke up in the compound of the Resplendent Phoenix society, which are the gamblers organizing tournaments.

The Tiger was there (I need to remember his name, but for now That Huge Red Tiger would do).

 He told me he was worried that he'd struck Fu too hard. The beggar, of course, objected.

"Drop that, man! It's a martial art tournament, who expects to fight and not get punched? Ha! Better tell me, did you win?"
 

"Nah. I won the next, but lost in the finals."
 

Fu was aghast.
 

"How could you lose to someone else after winning against me?!? That's preposterous. You were carrying both of our names at this point!"

"Hey, come on, man....you'd banged me up pretty good! It was a fair fight, she'd just taken way less damage at this point!"

This calmed Fu a bit. But the follow-up made his hackles raise again.
 

"Anyway, I saw you have talent. Despite being small, you strike strongly! You just need to learn the best style out there, the Red Tiger!"
 

IC, the Red Tiger clan are the kind of people who love to fight in exhibition matches, strong and aggressive, and profess that their style is the best. OOC, I'm sure you've seen the type...

"That's a weird way to pronounce 'Bandit-Beating Staff', my friend", Fu grinned. (That's his style).

"Yes, I did lose, but if it was a real fight, I would have made short work of you...that's what your style is best for, fights on an arena. But I hate it to speak empty words, what about me proving you my words next time I pass by the capital? I need to return to my Shifu in Middle city!"

"Fine by me! A good fight is always great! I'll show you that Red Tiger is best!" 

Fu shook his head.
 

"Don't count on it...and rest and heal until then!"
 

"You too! And feed well...you beggars don't eat enough to be really strong, the way we do!"
 

Fu, who had been eating off the table of one of the richest people in the world for a few weeks, merely smirked.
 

That's how Fu left the Golden Capital - having lost in his first fight, and without having gained fame!
 

But defeated he wasn't. He was just chewing candy. The kind of candy the Jings have been giving him.
 

That's like a D&D character carrying minor healing potions and chugging them along like energy drinks. Of course, we don't do the "drink during a combat" bullshit, because frankly, my willing suspension of disbelief only goes so far.
 

After that he went to the inn where he had to meet Black Fox...the previous night. They'd just left him to sleep, because the healer said it's good for him.
 

But, unexpectedly (for Fu), there was a magic kite there and a note, both waiting for him. "If you need a transport to Middle City, use the kite. Black Fox".

Fu thought about it, shrugged, and took it. Black Fox's portals are instaneous, he would rather not waste time. But he also knew that they must not be seen, because it's a spell most people don't know even to exist!
 

As you'd notice, we always knock out prisoners before transporting them. Those we like, with sleep powder. Those we don't, with a guillotine-like "sleeper hold" or acupressure attacks. (And those we really don't like, with extreme prejudice... cue "Four Southern Winds".)

So Fu went to find a relatively distant place. He also wanted to see the country a bit more.
 

The day ended near a village. He inquired about the name of the village at the local inhabitants, and learned that a certain scholar lives there, and his daughter has found good employment and is sending him money. They have suspicions she might be working in the "Rivers and Willows" business**, though...
 

That was clarified by Black Fox subsequently (he arrived near the torii gate after midnight). He said the village's name looked familiar, and then when Fu told him what he'd learned, the Jing xia*** explained the scholar who lives here left the administration after getting in a conflict with a corrupt magistrate.
 

No wonder Jing is keeping an eye on him. Fu, however, only remarked such men are to be respected, and we moved on...to an in that works late!
 

Why? Black Fox was in the mood for treating me to some steak after Fu's stomach rumbled. Small wonder, he'd only had a cup of noodles that day!
 

Fu is frugal when not being treated by people of money, as any beggar should be! (He's trying to become a xia, but he's not there yet, in his own opinion).

Either way, we went there, and then some guys arrived. Black Fox recognized them as dubious and decided to go and check their rooms.
 

He is one of the better thieves, when he sets his mind on it, too. Fu even joked that he's just doing it to show off!

Black Fox just told him not to wait for him, and that he's going to come to sleep after checking the group. 

Then Fu went to sleep. Nothing could go wrong, right?!?

 

 

*OOC speaking, Fu almost wasn't using one of his 5 techniques, "Roll With The Impact". Additionally, his style has a lot of techniques like "Danger Sense" and "Blind Fighting", which are of no use to an arena fight, but are quite useful to a xia! Even his purely combat techniques are made for defense and survival - Multiple Defenses is stronger than Multiple Attacks in anything but a 1:1 fight, and Roll With The Impact is flat-out better than Iron Skin at any level... if you can afford to retreat. Of course, for a spy, which is what beggars really are in the setting, that retreat is "free movement" and greatly useful to break out of engagement and run.
Except, of course, in a leitai arena you can retreat maybe twice. Leitai has no ring ropes, and being knocked out means you lose. If you remember the movie Bloodsport, that's what those fights look like...KO/TKO, submission, ring out!

 
**They're right, but not the way they imagine it: she's an allied NPC of my first character, Wang, and is doing the accounting for his bordello, while studying to take her Imperial Exams.

Wolf made it clear that he approves of this strongly - in fact, he has told her to study a lot, because he expects lots of people shall be necessary for the state administration... does he plan a shake-up? Of course he is planning a shake-up. Why do you think Wang's session title is "Rooting Out Corruption, Bringing Punishment To The Wicked"?

***To be honest, the Jing family aren't xia. They're more akin to xian. (Despite the similar words, one of these means "martial artist protecting the truth and justice", the other means "immortal wizard who flies in the clouds on the back of a crane and pulls miraculous objects from his sleeves").