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!
The next day Wang organised a walk in the hills where we had a painting and poetry competition. Not much is worth saying, other than the fact that it was the women this time who drew the ire of Young She-Wolf...for being too friendly with Wang, in her opinion.
"Hey, cheer up! They are just friendly. Well, and they're fishing for a
rich, well-connected husband of good lineage. But mostly, they're
friendly. And I wasn't getting jealous when they offered me to buy your
contract! I just told'em I don't believe anyone but me can deal with
you, even if I needed the money..."
"Who says I'm being jealous? It's just they're so...useless! If you want
to lay with another, at least she should be one worthy of talking to
afterwards! And of course, I'd expect you to invite me to join!"
...OK, Wang didn't quite expect the last part - so, if she expects being
invited, she definitely considers it that they're dating, not just
sleeping together?!? - but he took it in stride.
"I'll keep it in mind, but I'm really not interested in them right now.
Just take it as them appreciating your lover, and let's go!"
OTOH, Black Fox had a much harder task: we had decided he had to seduce
the wife of the Corrupt City Magistrate Yin - and, after seducing her,
to persuade her to raise the alarm, saying she had spotted the jewels
YSW brought last night!
He is a well-known womanizer, we knew from previous sessions...and she
would want to raise the alarm to avoid attracting suspicions that she
knew about the burglary all along!
(As far as we know, he poisoned the guy to bring him heavy stomach
issues. Once he was secure that Yin is not going to interfere, Black Fox
also seduced the concubines of the guy!)
That task was carried out with flying colours, and the next day, early
in the morning, Corrupt City Magistrate Yin had been accused of having
carried an inside job on the district governor!
Even better, however: the same day the Investigative Magistrate
appeared: she's one of the few magistrates rumoured to be incorruptible,
named Fen.
Wang: "What, were they trying to get rid of her in the capital?!?"
Sounded likely.
So we immediately went to see her, and brought to her the complaints. The ones with accompanying documents.
And we told her that we've got more of these, but we had not investigated them...
She asked us to bring them. Black Fox immediately went to "our inn"
(actually, teleported to the base of the Sword of Justice and took the
whole crate!) and brought it all to her.
She started going.
The next day, she had pegged Yin not only for the burglary, but for
covering a rape and a murder as well. Basically, he was judged as
"accessory to crime" and hanged.
His wife wasn't charged, given that she had given him up.
(Black Fox took the concubines for himself, given that Yin's Wife had
accused them of complicity in everything. Not willing to have them die
because of our framing, he brought them to some nearby village and
loaned them enough money to let them open an inn. They get a source of
income, he gets 25% of the income, his father's accountant is going to
be happy!)
An unexpected development, though, was that Black Fox kinda got
enamoured with Fen, and remained behind to help her and protect her.
Deep country, she's fighting corruption? Sounds like she's liable to
become the victim of a hunting accident.
Even when no hunting has been
going on, one must add!
Wang, however, let him hang with her ("offering his services as a
scholar") and merely offered to Fen to change the militia as well.
"I have the exact right people to replace them with, they were trying to help the victims and had organized themselves!"
And then we returned to the Swords of Justice to tell them they're now
an official organisation and can keep doing the same and get paid for
it.
"Also, once you are working for the state, you can prevent corruption much more easily!"
They swore that if they approve of Fen, they're going to work for her. Wang had little concerns on that account, so he and YSW called it a job well done, and left to find other places that might need a similar treatment.
And also, to travel for a while, just the two of them...
Fun fact, we actually got attacked on the way. We basically scared them
(a small group who believed it's just one man, discounting the woman)
and they ran.
So we chased them using Lightfoot abilities, and captured them. Turned out, they were just hungry.
So we gave them money, and told them if they needed help, they should
look for the new heads of the militia. We doubt they would.
Also, we went back to Willow City (the District city), which is known
for its weaponsmiths. YSW was all over the weapons, and Wang bought her a
new sword - one that shoots darts from its handle, a new invention!
He made it a point to pay from his own funds, but doubts she noticed the difference.
He only got himself a nice dagger.
After that, they went on to the city where he owns a bordello. They
teleported, of course, and he briefly checked the books while she was
practicing taolu with her new sword.
Then they left to get food and stuff for the trip. See, this island is
known for its volcanic beaches, and they wanted to find an isolated one
in order not to be bothered by anyone - and not to bother anyone with
their activities (fighting and f...whatever, they just want some quality
time!), because they're both shy* like that!
However, the city is known far and wide not for its volcano, but for its
seers and diviners. So they want to visit one, and Wang suggested they
should visit one. He then paid for 5 questions, and offered that they
play a modified "truth or dare": they both can ask any question,
preferably one that's interesting to both of them, but they also both
hear the answer!
Beware what you ask...
She suggested he should ask first, and he did. He asked "how many days until Black Fox leaves magistrate Fen".
Answer: two days and he'll have to!
Wang: Hmm, she didn't look that easy, and she might need protection for longer. Maybe we should arrange something...
But he forgot all about it after he heard the next questions of the YSW.
"Is the sleeper going to wake?"
The medium got into a trance, and the answer was "the blood of the traitor is destroying the seal".
Wang: "What?!?"
YSW: "You don't want to know!"
Wang: "No, I don't, you're quite right! Sounds like something your Dad
would care about, not me! Well, ask another one, that was boring..."
Then YSW asked:
"Where's the Red Queen's corpse?"
"She's in the Scorpion Oasis, in Jin**, and she's not quite dead!"
YSW asked again.
"How is that possible? I was told she was dead?"
"She was, but she was brought back..."
Then we mostly used the rest of the questions to learn more about who is
protecting her, but the answer was the kinda unexpected "The King of
Hollow".
Wang only used the last question to ask whether the two of them are destined to marry.
"The stars can't tell, but you're going to have a long and fruitful relationship".
Wang: "Fruitful? Whatdoyamean, fruitful?!? Is she going to get pregnant?!?"
...but that was the last question, so he got no answers.
Then they went to the beach anyway to make plans. They decided to go and
find Red Queen, probably with Black Fox and nobody else. Why? Because
everyone else would try to stop them! (For no reason, as far as they can
tell...)
Otherwise, the three days they spent went nice. Wang used the time
together to ask her if they were dating, or just being fuckbuddies.
She didn't believe it's worth discussing. So he sighed, and admitted
he'd want it to be done properly, so he invited her to accept officially
to date him!
"What difference would it make?"
"I'd do indecent things to you right now if you were to agree..."
"I agree!"
And that's how they started dating. Well, Wang at least managed to persuade her to put off the whole endeavour and to learn the transport spell first, so they could run away if the Transport Staff (an artifact allowing to cast the transport magic 3 times for every time the Hour of the Rat has elapsed) was taken away from them!
He himself was going to use this time (about a month) to learn Jin
language. Studying twice a day diligently for a couple hours, he
wouldn't pass for a local, but at least he could understand them (YSW
speaks Jin already***, her uncle leaves there, though she never
visited).
They stopped going there some decades ago, before that they
were sending them to learn alchemy, of which the elder brother Jing****
is among the best masters!
They went to Middle City, where they're learning with Jing Xiaomei in
the Golden Lotus. Wang also started learning Willow Blade Song, because
YSW is studying diligently, all day long.
He said he is going to take her to an evening out - and he did. It was
fun, but the details only matter for them. After all, they're officially
dating now, right?
She really needed that, he reasoned. And she admitted she'd needed the
rest, because her idea of studying diligently is best described as
"cramming".
Wang also used this time to visit two seers and to ask them important
stuff about his relationship, including some stuff he didn't understand
about earlier comments.
In short, one of them explained that his girlfriend is probably into
girls, too, so she'd be quite open to threesomes - if she liked the
other girl.
Wang: "OK, so where's the catch?"
Seer (a middle-aged woman): "That you're lucky?"
Wang: "I agree I got lucky, but I'm asking where's the trap? Nothing is ever only good!"
(He didn't think about the "two mothers in law" trap. I rolled, he hadn't heard the joke).
He also realized that he'd best behave with YSW, not that he didn't
know, and that if he wants to leave her, it's best to make her leave.
Not that he wants to, but he feels a bit weird, knowing that he isn't
fully free to leave...
And that is where we stopped, because the other two's lives need to be
resolved, too. This one month might impact them dramatically, especially
Fu!
*Ha!
**That's Jin, the country, not Jing, the family name of Wolf, Young
She-Wolf, Black Fox and White Fox, which Wang calls "the doggie family".
***As the GM puts it, the kids of the Jing family obviously don't get
much time for themselves while growing up, including for social life -
which explains why they needed Wang, if you ask me! During the crisis,
YSW probably got her first whiff of "me time", and of course, she used
to hook up with someone...that someone being Wang.
****A.k.a. the White Dragon, one of the BBEGs of the setting, and the man that my third character, Hoi, is working for!
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