The new party of rescuers—Batzorig, Bojing, now with Bangqiu and Gungar, plus the two remaining Zhounese brothers (Bi-er and Farang) returned once more to the Black Flowers’ hillside hideout. With two powerful magic-users (wu-jen 7 and shukenja 6), felt much braver about venturing inside and exploring. They were surprised to find the complex mainly deserted, and even more surprised to find evidence of a battle (i.e. dead bodies) between humans and humanoid monsters. They were forced to fight some of these monsters themselves, but used classically effective tactics. Bangqiu blasted the leader with magic, Bo Jing and Batzorig led the charge, and Gungar healed the warriors as soon as they were hurt. The monsters were killed and the rescuers continued to explore.
They found a strange series of magic doors that opened by simply touching them. The party felt they were moving deeper and deeper into the hillside only to find themselves walking outside through the same tunnel that they’d entered. Though puzzled, the party also decided that the small room between doors was an ideal place to play, study spell books, and sleep off drunkenness—the warriors had stumbled upon a supply of remarkably delicious beer.
Back in Pasar, Bunko became suspicious that his friends had recovered his statue from the Black Flowers’ hideout, but instead of returning it, had decided to keep it for themselves. He recruited Shoji, an itinerant holy man who for some time had been sheltered by the monk of the Two-Fold Path. Shoji enthusiastically accepted Bunko’s cause and joined him in an expedition to the Black Flowers’ hideout. Bunko seemed to know his way inside and directed Shoji toward the “magic doors” at the back of the complex.
Bangqiu and the others had discovered these same magic doors and, while mystified by their properties had found them a safe space to sleep off the effects of the very fine beer they’d discovered in the mess hall. Just as the drinkers (Batzorig, Bo Jing, Bi-er, and Farang) were starting to feel like they could walk around again, Bunko and Shoji suddenly appeared in their midst—without either door opening. There were brief, awkward introductions—some of the group considered Bunko a very dear friend while others felt a vague, but deep mistrust. Bunko asked about his statue, only to rebuked that some of the Zhounese Brothers might still be imprisoned. “And that is our priority,” Bo Jing told him.
Bunko insisted that he had no interest in recovering the statue until after his loyal friends were safe—unless he found evidence that he must sadly accept their demise. With this, the party agreed to leave the “magic door” rooms. The always unpredictable Bangqiu turned into a rat, climbed into Bo Jing’s backpack, and fell asleep. The others laced up their boots and opened the door by which they’d come in. They were surprised to find themselves in an Octagon room with a statue of a dragon.
Bunko identified the dragon statue as another one of his missing possessions and Bo Jing took a step to claim it. The dragon seemed to come to life—an explosion of green fire engulfed Bo Jing, leaving nothing but a black smudge. Bunko suggested to Shoji that it was a one-time trick and that he should approach from another angle. Although the outcome seemed to be very much the same, Gungar thought he noticed that Shoji wasn’t burned up, but had fallen through the floor. He boldly jumped forward, bracing himself for a fall—and indeed landed in a dark cave in about five feet of cold water. Batzorig came tumbling after, feeling that he might have been pushed rather than jumped. He realized that Bunko was not a good friend.
The 4 adventures and their rat explored a series of strange caverns and their terrifying occupants—sentient ooze, blood-sucking birds, and screaming mushrooms.
The screaming mushrooms attracted the attention of an evil spirit. Gunjar castigated the spirit, rebuking him for its terrible deeds and long refusal to repent. As the spirit writhed and screamed in shame and agony, Bang qiu climbed out of Bo Jing’s backpack and blasted it into oblivion. In the corridor beyond, the explorers found a long smooth hallway, marred by long scratches along the walls—that stopped abruptly at the threshold of a softly glowing room. In the room was the beautiful marble of a woman hunter—the statue coveted by Bunko.
The party lingered here several hours, enjoying the statue’s power to ward off evil spirits (zombies gathered outside the room and were destroyed by fire) and contemplated how to move it. At last Gunjar convinced the others that the statue should not be moved and they continued their exploration.
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