my campaign: Zipang and Zhou-Dang

A friend has suggested that there's nothing more boring to listen to than what someone else dreamed about last night. A close second might be someone else's D&D campaign. And the more "alive" the game-- that is the more it’s shaped by in-game decisions, the less it will resemble a polished story composed to engage and delight an unknown reader.

(Everyone, however, loves an apology, right? Especially when the apology precedes the injury.)

The events of my campaign currently take place in Zipang and Zhou-dang, rough analogues of feudal Japan and 13th-century China. My sources are mostly Wikipedia and various TSR products, so I'm not burdened with too many historical details to get right.

Main Player Characters (at the time I started this blog):

Gwinch, a visitor from Alyan—a low-fantasy realm where elves exist but keep to the background. Since arriving in Zipang, Gwinch has become a dual-class character and is now a 6th-level sohei, retaining ranger-like abilities from his past. Played by Bubu Singe

Beatriss, an involuntary exile from Cynadecia (B4: The Lost City). A former Warrior Woman of Madarua, she is now an 8th-level fighter. In Zipang, she entered the service of Sato Masako and began to reforge her identity. Played by White Bear

Kishi, a native of Zipang and 4th-level wu jen. She serves as an advisor to Sato Masako of the Seven Swords Clan. Played by Red Bear.

Tetsukichi, also of Zipang. A 4th-level bushi, he served Sato Masako loyally before his path diverged. Played by Isa Girl Monkey.

The group completed several TSR-published adventures, including OA1: Swords of the Daimyo and OA2: Night of the Seven Swords. Their relationship with Sato Masako deepened over time, as they served in various missions on his behalf—including one secret diplomatic journey to Zhou-dang, where they delivered a coded message to an ambitious khan building an army on the steppes.

Another early mission brought them to a ruined mountain temple occupied by a group of bandits. These outlaws worshipped a strange spirit known as the Blackbird—an odd, nature-bound shapeshifter of uncertain origin. Sato ordered the party to put an end to the bandit activity, and they did. But in the process, they encountered the Blackbird himself, who persuaded them that he need not be their enemy. Intrigued by his perspective, the party left the temple intact.

From the Blackbird, Gwinch and Beatriss began to learn a new martial discipline: Blackbird Style, a fluid blend of movement, intuition, and balance.

Later, Sato sent the party in search of his family’s ancestral swords, the heirlooms of the Seven Swords Clan. Their search led them to a bizarre, haunted fortress, filled with strange magical effects and remnants of a long-forgotten civilization. It was here that Beatriss discovered a magic cabinet—a mysterious artifact that, when she opened it, she was de-aged her by ten years, an invitation to re-live or re-do the past decade, with all its burdens and regrets.

The party recovered the swords. But when they returned, they found Sato Masako more arrogant and controlling than ever. They judged him unworthy of the blades—and rather than hand them over, they killed him.

They took refuge in the ruined temple of the Blackbird, and gave the swords to him instead.

This branded them as enemies of the Seven Swords Clan, and they repelled at least one retaliatory strike from Sato’s brothers and their retainers.

But they also discovered they had made allies—particularly among the factions in Zipang who aligned with the Shogun, not the Emperor. Many were quietly pleased to see the Seven Swords Clan fall.

Their new allies reminded them of that earlier journey to Zhou-dang, where they had unknowingly helped a steppe-born khan gather the intelligence he needed to claim the imperial throne. That khan was now the new Emperor of Zhou-dang, building a new capital—Khanbaliq—and inviting diplomats, merchants, and warriors from all corners of the world.

It was time to leave Zipang. For Gwinch and Beatriss, both already exiles, this meant little. But for Tetsukichi, who had served Sato and fought for his land, leaving Zipang felt final.

Their allies arranged for them to join the diplomatic mission to Khanbaliq, where they might find refuge—and perhaps forge a new destiny.