Adventures of Hoi: Bringing A Blind Swordsmith To The BBEG, Meeting The Dragon Of Time, Getting A Free Warning

Anyone who reads any of the Actual Play/After-Action Reports from our campaigns does so at his or her own damn risk. There are topics that might trigger somebody and we don't shy away from those. If you read on, have fun!

Also, previous session (kinda) in the Adventures of Hoi!

***

 

The game started with me being summoned to White Dragons quarters. I went and bowed.

 

White Dragon needed a certain master of swords to come to his palace. He'd been invited already, but refused.

 

Who? The blind swordsmith, master Nakamura, of course!
 

"Bring him to me from Scorpion Oasis. Try to persuade him first!"
 

"How harmed can he be during the persuasion?"
 

"He should be able to work and answer questions. Again, only as necessary. You'll be provided funds to pay for his services, should he require payment in gold."
 

"...does he need legs to work?"
 

"Try to bring him whole. If he refuses, you might need to remove those legs, but here".
 

White Dragon and Hoi understand each other perfectly.
"Any other parameters?"
 

"None. But you'll get a sample to carry, this might interest him."
 

So Hoi got a chest of gold, and a chest with metallic meteorite ore, to carry to Scorpion Oasis.
 

He bowed, and went to take his gifted sword. The sword had warned him not to bring him in White Dragon's presence, he's carried it before, so he'd sense the sword's presence...and the master inside is his grand (grand-grand?) father, too!
 

The sword didn't like travelling for weeks, though, when it (he, actually...) heard Hoi wanted to move the long, safe way - not passing Magic Mountains.
 

But Hoi believed that the gold, ore and his luggage would be too much to carry in eagle form. He wanted a horse, instead.
 

"I can help. Take your luggage and no horse".

And it transformed, becoming like an "anime-style surf-blade" (GM description) and lifting Hoi. So Hoi air-skated away (well, after first leaving the city on foot, the sword's presence is to be kept a secret from everyone).
 

He decided to minimize the odds of distractions and being spotted, and after a couple hours of travel this way, he went to sleep in a clearing. 

 

"We're going to travel during the night, sleep the day. If I get attacked on the ground, I'd rather fight when there's light. Also, people seeing us in the night might not be able to identify us, we don't want it known that you're a flying sword".

So Hoi went to sleep.
 

The sword doesn't sleep, so he woke him up shortly before nightfall.
 

"Wake up! Time to act!"
 

"Five more minutes!"
 

"Five guys ahead, trying to sneak up on you!"
 

Hoi woke up, but didn't open his eyes, no need to warn them if the warning was belated.
 

"Distance?"
 

"50 meters".
 

"Their formation?"
 

"Spreading and trying to encircle you. Don't seem too competent!"
 

"Do they have bows?"
 

"Only one, the one on 6".
 

Hoi rose up, snatching a stone.
 

"Let's just fly away!"
 

"But we could get some exercise!"
 

"Yeah, but I'm burdened with two chests, and I'd need to move. Not worth it. Let's just fly to pass near the bowman, we'll entertain ourselves in the next village!"
 

And so we flew. I instructed the sword to make a small turn left and down, and used the sudden dip to throw the stone. It struck the bowman in the head, knocking him out!
 

Hoi didn't consider this to be grounds to stop.

Instead, we arrived at a village. There, Hoi used the funds he's been provided - sufficient for a trip that was expected to last for weeks, remember - to get himself room, board and company.
 

How do you get all of this on such a place? You give a large tip to the serving girl and tell her what you're looking for.
 

"I'll see what I can do, if Young Master is leaving large tips".
 

"No, that wasn't a large tip. But the entertainer might get one".
 

...Well, and probably more than just the tip, but that's neither here, nor now.
 

Basically, a decent-looking girl arrived in his room and thoroughly entertained both his sword, and the sword's handle.
 

Importantly, the spirit in the sword stopped complaining about not getting to exercise on the wannabe robbers. And Hoi even remembered her name...well, her "professional handle".
 

They left in the evening and travelled mostly uneventfully...right until a dragon appeared and caught up to them. He wanted a specific pearl he'd lost on a betting game against my sword's inside essence, the elder Jing!
 

And no, the Dragon of Time had proof Jing had cheated. And no, he wasn't taking "no" for an answer, we had a month to find it! Any arguments like "but you didn't catch him in the act" were just brushed away! Whiner and sore loser!
 

Only problem, Jing had both gained and lost it before even dying...i.e. centuries ago! And it was likely lost in the city of the dead, the zombies-sewn place of Jin where even Hoi refuses to thread without a wet facemask!

Worst of all, we asked him what the Dragon needs the pearl so badly for. His answer stunned us...
 

"I'm going to dissolve it in ambrosia and drink it in order to sleep through the whole war!"
 

"War?"
 

"The incoming one! The last Ming sorcerer is going to start it, and the scions of the Jing* family are not heeding the prophesies!"
 

"Ain't he dead?"
 

"No, they just kept him alive and dismembered him, and spread the parts in different areas! Why, no idea, but he has all the power of all the demon-worshipping Ming Sorcerers of old, the ones who had enslaved the world and used it as a playground for them and their demons..."
 

He suggested also it might be because when one of the Ming got killed, the surviving ones got all his power. So yes, the last one had all the power of all of them!
 

To quote Hoi at this stage: "Oh fuck!"
 

And this thing? It's about to get loose!
 

"Who's helping him?"
 

"The Dead Men's King in that city you mentioned earlier!" 

 

(BTW, it seems the dragon is mistaking names a lot, because he mixes up names that dropped out of use with current ones and those that are yet to be. And he outright doesn't pay attention to "mortals' names", so he couldn't tell us specific names of the mortals helping the Last Ming!)
 

"Only him?"
 

"Well, there's some morons calling themselves the New Ming, but morons lack even a drop of the blood! And some morons in the Empire, thinking themselves smart, but are being used as useful tools... Dark Judgment* or something! I don't pay attention to mortals' names!"
 

"We'll do our best, but we might not be able to even find your pearl in a month. Say, have you tried big amounts of normal drugs?", Hoi suggested helpfully.
 

"Besides, no matter what you demand, my duty demands that I need to get to the Scorpion Oasis to find master Nakamura, and that's going to take time. Unless you can help us get there in less time, being the Dragon of Time?"
 

And the dragon actually agreed that's within his abilities, and gave us a ride to Scorpion Oasis. It was nice seeing even dragons admit the importance of duty and following the orders of one's superiors!

Once there, I went quickly to purchase a magic kite from a local sorcerer, and sent it to White Dragon.
 

"Boss, there's a war brewing! A Dragon told me...the Dragon of Time! Said your family has been ignoring some prophesies, last Ming sorcerer is getting help escaping from Dark Dishwashers or something and from New Mings, and that it's gonna be nasty! Continuing with the mission, Hoi, out."

It takes one hour each way, so I hired a guide and went straight to Nakamura's house. A young beardless student met me.
 

"I have personal message for the master", I said.
 

Then, after being introduced, I presented him the ore.
 

"That's metal that fell from the sky. I believe my master wants you to fashion a mighty weapon from it, and there's more ore in Rot, our capital!"
 

"So you're serving White Dragon?"
 

"That I am! And a war is coming, so a weapon like this shall be necessary!"
 

"Is your master going to start it?"
"No! A dragon told me someone who was imprisoned centuries ago is going to! Who would be better than master Nakamura to shape this ore into a weapon?"
 

"Nobody's better, indeed... Come tomorrow at dawn. I need to think!"
 

I bowed, and left. I had a good feeling!

Once in an inn, I started an orgy for my sword (three female entertainers and lots of drugs, which I purchased, so I let them play with each other and my sword) while waiting for kites to arrive, and writing replies.
 

"I just like a nice athmosphere!", as I explained. "I'll have my fun when I'm done with the important business!"
 

I did take time until midnight to pay them attention, though. Hoi calls that "thug's life meditations" - thinking your plans over during an orgy is best!

The next morning Hoi was up an hour before dawn. When I arrived, Master Nakamura and his lone student were packing up.
 

We sent off their donkey, attached their cart to the surfboard, and flew away immediately.
 

During the travel, Hoi practiced sword skills with the student, and guessed correctly that it's a girl. He didn't care one bit, and made it clear to her: "you're master Nakamura's student, doesn't matter to me whether you're a girl!"
 

He didn't explain that, but after all, there's many girls he can have, and those wouldn't anger Nakamura! She wasn't anything special, either...
 

Now, my sword told me she has been starting to look at me favourably. But Hoi didn't care much about that, either! He's White Dragon's assassin, why would he 

care about a girl's feelings?
 

So when we stopped in the village from the first night, he called the entertainer (...her stage name was "something something Lotus", I decided it's "Blowing Lotus") to his room.
 

The next morning, the student was icy towards him. He didn't care about that, either! He just asked what's wrong, and was told nothing's wrong.
 

So he just let it slide, and before leaving them - after we arrived in  the city of Rot, that is - let her know that if she wants someone to practice with, she can call me. Have a nice day either way!

Then I went to report, fully expecting I might not survive! As expected, White Dragon asked how we'd arrived that quickly, and I had to give him the sword and explain where I'd got it/him!

I suspect the grandfather and grandson spoke at length. Finally White Dragon returned the sword to Hoi, surprising me quite a bit.

"Keep this away from me...and no matter what, don't show it any pictures!"
 

"I'd guessed that last part already, boss! I need to see the treasurer now, I'm returning most of the money...Nakamura only cared about the ore! I think the man loves his job..."

And that's how this session ended, too!

 

 

 

 

Notes:

*Jing, as in the family name of the White Dragon...and his brother, The Wolf. The campaign is named "Wolf and Dragon Campaign" for a reason!
 

**The joke Hoi made here is probably untranslatable, as he called them "Dark Dish-Washers". The roots of the words "judging" and "dish" have only one letter of difference in Bulgarian, so you can reasonably misremember "Dark Judges" as "Dark Dishes" and assume it's "Dark Dishwashers", instead.