Gwinch in the ruins of the old city

Based on accounts of Tetsukichi and Beatriss, Gwich decided to make his own explorations of the House of Lord Jourdain. He organized quite a large party, with himself and his assistant Saisho at the core, in partnership with Cair and Myrrha PLUS his newly-recruited sohei (14!) and 2 of his original sohei from Zipang. Khanbaliq has rules about moving about with such a large group, and most people are restricted from moving between the green zone and the outer city—and the reverse is even more strict of course. So Saisho, working over several days, made all of the “new” sohei invisible.
This created its own problems. As more sohei became invisible, the maids of Gwinch’s household began having problems with “spirits.” While Gwinch answered the maids cries for help, the invisible sohei became increasingly ruthless—threatening to kill women who didn’t remain quiet in the face of their advances. Gwinch was more than ready when the time to visit Jourdain’s house arrived.
The Hop Sing (a.k.a. Dirty Rain) gang, had made a claim to the House, with about two dozen of their members camped throughout the ground floor. They were in the process of converting it into a tavern and brothel, and offered Gwinch and associates a promotional discount. But they were also willing to accommodate a desire to kill monsters. The party was admitted in to the dining room, barricaded inside, and told to remove the pile of rocks blocking a hole in the fireplace. Gwinch devised a nice trap to control the outflow of ghouls to about one or two at a time, to be easily dispatched by superior numbers. But the trap malfunctioned a couple times and when this happened, Gwinch lost two sohei . Gwinch decided to take their bodies to the Temple of the Two-Fold Path.
Sheeva was caustic at first, asking the monks around her whether any of them wanted to join Gwinch and get killed. But Gwinch was supplicant, and an agreement was made that Sheeva would accompany Gwinch to his house while the monks prepared their brothers’ bodies for a funeral, and that this would occur the next day.
Back at Gwinch’s house, Sheeva explained that the temple was in such bad place because of the extortionary activities of the various gangs who ruled the ruins of the city. She wanted to go back to the Kobar valley. Gwinch was willing to accompany her, but he was duty-bound to assist in preparing a banquet. So they advised a better plan—Gwinch would insinuate that Sheeva had fled the city, so that her enemies would seek her outside while she was in fact laying low at Gwinch’s house. So Gwinch returned to the temple with Saisho and a group of sohei, to start the rumor and to perform the funeral.
The monks heard the news with anger, certain that Sheeva had stolen from them. Ali, a secular man who resided at the temple, heard Gwinch’s story and responded with shock and outrage, but did not resolve to do anything, suggesting blithely that Gwinch should “just do the funeral himself.” In the course of his short visit, he saw other signs of the temples weirdness. There were twin monks who accussed and attacked each other. And there was talk about the flying creatures in the garden whom some wanted killed and others thought should be protected. At last the funeral was conducted outside the temple, in a clear spot among the ruins.
Gwinch agreed with Sheeva that she should be his teacher and this involved allowing her to stay in his room, while he went to stay with the maids. (They were honors to have the master protecting them from the spirits.) And then he decided to make another foray to the House of Jourdain.

Won Lee, of the Sing Hop gang explained that he and his men had dealt with the rest of the ghouls themselves. If they were interested in exploring the basement, they would need to accompanied by some of his men who would expect a share of the treasure. Also, he was required to secure their safe return by leaving a sum of insurance money. Gwinch had no money and so hostages were accepted as a substitute.
In the cellars, they came upon a group of humans adventurers who seemed more or less normal except that they were fast asleep in a dank musty cellar room and that the women in their group was wrestling in her sleep with a fox. When the party entered the room, the fox fled, and the sleepers awakened. The woman was distressed that “Omesa” was gone, while others were distressed that the sumptuous banquet they had just enjoyed was in fact nothing more than cobwebs and dust. The leader of the group was a member of the diplomatic mission from Zipang—he and Gwinch made a mutual agreement to keep each other’s presence in the house of Jourdain a secret and to meet in the future to discuss the mysterious fox.

Play report: More intrigue in Khanbaliq

IMG_4923 Tokyo National Museum
Originally uploaded by winninator

Both Gwinch and Kishi competed in the second day of the tournament. Kishi showed well against a fierce, “Iron Fisted” barbarian, and Gwinch was defeated only by Sensei Lu-che, the local favorite who went on to win the tournament. Among their fans were a group of hungry monks from the Temple of Two-Fold path who begged Gwinch to let them join his household. While this annoyed their superior, and caused some consternation at the gates to the green city, Gwinch rode the way of popular enthusiasm and no one raised any outward objections.
In the weeks that followed, while Kishi was off on secret business of her own, the new sohei made themselves at home in Gwinch’s compound. The quarters were tight, but the food was plentiful, and while one disappeared, the other 14 remained. They explained that things weren’t good at the Temple, and that Sheeva, the foreign priestess was keeping all the Temple’s money for her own use. Kishi and Gwinch resolved to make a reconnaissance mission to find out more.
Before they could put the plan into effect, Saisho alerted them that someone was spying on them. Saisho made them invisible and they chased the spies through the green city, and over a wall into the outer city, where they managed to apprehend one of them. Sure enough, they were from the Temple, and had been sent to see what Gwinch’s teaching were. When pressed, the captured spy admitted that conditions at the Temple were hard, but expressed confidence in his own master. After washing up his wounds a little, they let him go.
And the next day, they made a call at the Temple. The monks at the gate were suspicious, but after some waiting, Gwinch and Kishi were granted an audience with Sheeva. She met them in the courtyard, then walked them down a corridor lined with fearsome statues and into the great temple room—a three story chamber dominated by the monumental statue of a robed figure holding a sword. Sheeva was supercilious and curt; after silencing Gwinch with her magic, she lectured him on the place of adversity in seeking enlightenment and on the paramount importance of respecting his superiors. She suggested that he should invite her to his compound so that she could further enlighten him.

play report: martial arts tournament in Khanbaliq

The Emperor (and Great Khan)summoned the representatives from Zipang to a private audience within the Forbidden City. Among them was Gwinch, whose reputation as both diplomat and fighter had reached the court.

The Emperor explained that an important visitor from Zipang would soon arrive—a mission of delicate political significance—and he intended to host a grand banquet in their honor. Because Gwinch understood the customs of Zipang but was not yet entangled in its factional rivalries, the Emperor entrusted him with a subtle task: to devise the seating plan. Each arrangement would signal honor or insult; Gwinch’s choices could set the tone for an entire season of diplomacy.

During these preparations, Gwinch became acquainted with Cair and Myrrha, who were themselves still adjusting to the strange blend of hospitality and surveillance that defined life in the Forbidden City. Gwinch found that Cair and Myrrha spoke a language that while crude, almost childish, was to him completely intelligible; for their part, Cair and Myrrha understood at least some of what he said in Alyan. Thus, they were able to converse freely in front of Cair and Myrrha’s handlers.

Gwinch learned of Cair’s kinship with the late Lord Jourdain and the pair’s quiet ambition to secure wealth enough to leave Khanbaliq. Cair, in turn, spoke with interest about Gwinch’s invitation to participate in the coming martial arts tournament—an imperial contest of strength and discipline held once every few years. He offered to provide a minor enchantment, a subtle ward or charm to quicken reflexes and steady breath.

Gwinch accepted.

---

The tournament opened on the steps of the Hall of Heavenly Balance, beneath banners of red and white silk. The first test was endurance: each competitor was required to stand motionless through a series of ceremonial speeches that stretched well into the afternoon heat. Dozens faltered; a few collapsed. Gwinch endured, silent and still, the faint gleam of sweat on his temple the only movement.

Next came the test of reflexes—dodging a flurry of blunted arrows fired from mechanical bows. He moved lightly through them, letting the shafts pass close enough to ruffle his sleeves. Observers murmured that the foreigner from Zipang fought as if guided by an unseen rhythm.

When the true bouts began, politics entered the arena. Gwinch’s first opponent was Uesugi Kenchu, a former retainer of Sato Masoko, who had once been Gwinch’s ally and mentor in Zipang. The match was more than sport—it was an act of vengeance.

Kenchu was a seasoned samurai, disciplined and proud, and he fought with a speed that betrayed his own magical aid. Yet Gwinch, strengthened by Cair’s charm, met him blow for blow. The contest was brief and brutal. Dust rose around them; spectators gasped as the outlander drove his rival to his knees.

When the match ended, Gwinch saluted his fallen opponent with formal respect. The crowd roared approval, and for that moment at least, the mysterious stranger was no longer an outsider.

The Emperor (and Great Khan)summoned the representatives from Zipang to a private audience within the Forbidden City. Among them was Gwinch, whose reputation as both diplomat and fighter had reached the court.

The Emperor explained that an important visitor from Zipang would soon arrive—a mission of delicate political significance—and he intended to host a grand banquet in their honor. Because Gwinch understood the customs of Zipang but was not yet entangled in its factional rivalries, the Emperor entrusted him with a subtle task: to devise the seating plan. Each arrangement would signal honor or insult; Gwinch’s choices could set the tone for an entire season of diplomacy.

During these preparations, Gwinch became acquainted with Cair and Myrrha, who were themselves still adjusting to the strange blend of hospitality and surveillance that defined life in the Forbidden City. Gwinch found that Cair and Myrrha spoke a language that while crude, almost childish, was to him completely intelligible; for their part, Cair and Myrrha understood at least some of what he said in Alyan. Thus, they were able to converse freely in front of Cair and Myrrha’s handlers.

Gwinch learned of Cair’s kinship with the late Lord Jourdain and the pair’s quiet ambition to secure wealth enough to leave Khanbaliq. Cair, in turn, spoke with interest about Gwinch’s invitation to participate in the coming martial arts tournament—an imperial contest of strength and discipline held once every few years. He offered to provide a minor enchantment, a subtle ward or charm to quicken reflexes and steady breath.

Gwinch accepted.

---

The tournament opened on the steps of the Hall of Heavenly Balance, beneath banners of red and white silk. The first test was endurance: each competitor was required to stand motionless through a series of ceremonial speeches that stretched well into the afternoon heat. Dozens faltered; a few collapsed. Gwinch endured, silent and still, the faint gleam of sweat on his temple the only movement.

Next came the test of reflexes—dodging a flurry of blunted arrows fired from mechanical bows. He moved lightly through them, letting the shafts pass close enough to ruffle his sleeves. Observers murmured that the foreigner from Zipang fought as if guided by an unseen rhythm.

When the true bouts began, politics entered the arena. Gwinch’s first opponent was Uesugi Kenchu, a former retainer of Sato Masoko, who had once been Gwinch’s lord in Zipang-- until they became lethal enemies. The match was more than sport—it was an act of vengeance.

Kenchu was a seasoned samurai, disciplined and proud, and he fought with a speed that betrayed his own magical aid. Yet Gwinch, strengthened by Cair’s charm, met him blow for blow. The contest was brief and brutal. Dust rose around them; spectators gasped as the outlander drove his rival to his knees.

When the match ended, Gwinch saluted his fallen opponent with formal respect. The crowd roared approval, and for that moment at least, the mysterious stranger was no longer an outsider.

________________________________________________________________________

We played this session as a mashup of Princes’ Kingdom and D&D. The mechanics of The Princes’ Kingdom do a better job than D&D with non-lethal physical challenges. The tournament began with a series of speeches that doubled as test for stamina, weeding out the less qualified contestants. Instead of rolling a couple con checks, the players played from a pool of dice, calling on their previous experiences as the hours of speechifying wore on. I used the rules again for the test of speed and the test of reflexes. Rolling a dex check just doesn’t work for bringing out the drama of dodging a volley of arrows. And while the module I was using exhorted the DM to fully describe the events, it’s a much better tactic to ask the players to do some of the work of describing what they do and what happens to them. Another advantage was that my (then) six-year-old son could join as Bucko, a street urchin who did surprisingly well in the tournament.

Originally uploaded by colorstalker

Return to the House of Lord Jourdain (Part II)

In the week following the first expedition, word spread quickly through Khanbaliq that Beatriss and Tetsukichi had lifted the curse of the foreign lord. The rumor grew with each retelling. By the time the new party set out, a small procession trailed them through the Outer City.

Outside the southern gate they found an even larger crowd—nearly two hundred people scattered across the floodplain between the new walls and the river. All eyes were fixed on the dark outline of Jourdain’s ruined compound. None dared draw too near; spectators watched from trees or from the shells of other buildings a hundred paces off. As Beatriss’s group advanced, the hangers-on melted away until only the bravest lingered at the gate.

There they met a band of a dozen armed men, self-appointed guards of the place. Their leader, Ho-Jun, and his lieutenant Chong, claimed they were keeping the city safe—nothing comes out, nothing goes in. Exceptions, of course, could be made for heroes. After a brief exchange they joined the expedition, swaggering and eager for glory.

Inside, the rooms of the ground floor were unchanged: silent, dust-coated, and now strangely mundane without the presence of Jourdain’s spirit. Ho-Jun and Chong helped force open several doors and quickly claimed the choicest bottles from the old wine cellar. The others searched for valuables with more restraint, then climbed to the upper story.

Behind one locked door they heard a woman’s voice.

“Jourdain? Please. I forgive you. Let me out.”

 When Beatriss answered, “It isn’t Jourdain,” the tone changed. The voice became a snarl, and a gray, vengeful figure stepped through the wall. Between Cair’s spells and the swords of Beatriss and Tetsukichi the spirit was banished. Behind the door they found her mortal remains—a long-dead woman, still adorned with jeweled rings. The jewels were taken, and the party withdrew. Ho-Jun and Chong gathered more liquor on the way out. Outside, the crowd greeted them as victors.

They returned the next morning, intent on a thorough survey. The opportunists had been busy: two guards now stood before the padlocked gate collecting “safety fees.” After paying, the party entered and found Ho-Jun, Chong, and several companions already inside, drinking and entertaining women from the city. Most were incapable of standing; the house reeked of spilled wine and burning opium. Still, Ho-Jun insisted on joining the explorers again, and one of the women demanded to see the upper floors. No one refused her.

The exploration was brief and disastrous. In the library, a concealed panel gave way to a hidden chamber. The instant the secret door opened, there was a muffled blast—a gout of fire and dust that killed Ho-Jun and the curious woman outright. Beyond the smoke, the survivors discovered the preserved corpse of Lord Jourdain, a cabinet of magical instruments, and within a chalk circle on the floor, a seated figure—Bayemon, the demon.

The creature raised its head and spoke with a voice that was both courteous and venomous. It asked to be released. Beatriss refused. Tetsukichi, though tempted to question it further, obeyed her word. No one was permitted to touch the corpse or the artifacts.

Bayemon smiled.

“Someone will free me in time,” he said. “I will remember those who refused.”

 

The group backed away and sealed the door. They continued through the upper floor, defeating an invisible guardian that lingered near the room of a dead magician, and carried off what treasure they could manage.

Wounded and burdened, they made for the exit. In the entry hall Chong confronted them, furious at the loss of his companion. When they admitted Ho-Jun’s death and offered ten taels in compensation, he  demanded the whole purse. The party retreated toward the gate, Chong and his men in pursuit.

At the last moment Cair raised his hands and muttered a spell; the padlock on the gate burst open with a crack. The adventurers slipped through, slamming the doors behind them. The mob outside parted in confusion as they fled across the floodplain, smoke rising once again from the house of Lord Jourdain.

Addendum – The Mirror Room of Lord Jourdain

It had happened late in the day. The party had already discovered the hidden library and sealed away the demon when they came upon another narrow corridor lined with warped mirrors. Most were cracked or filmed with dust, but one—taller and framed in tarnished bronze—still caught the light.

From within its surface pulsed a dim gold radiance, faintly rhythmic, like breath. Tetsukichi, ever curious, leaned closer to study the glass. The glow intensified, the reflection bending and twisting until the others could no longer see him clearly. Then, with a soundless flash, the light burst across the hall.

When it faded, Tetsukichi stood blinking, unharmed—but his hair had turned the color of pale straw. Afu whispered that the mirror had contained a spirit of reflection, a remnant of Jourdain’s curse, one that revealed not appearances but inner essence. Tetsukichi tried to laugh it off, but Beatriss noticed his unease—the way he avoided his reflection as they left the room.

By the time they returned to Khanbaliq that evening, he was quieter than usual. Walking through the narrow streets near the southern gate, he flinched at the sound of dogs barking in the distance. When
Beatriss asked what was wrong, he hesitated before answering:

“They’re not barking at us. They’re arguing about supper.”

She stared, unsure whether he was joking. But as they passed a cluster of caged birds outside a wine shop, his expression changed again—listening, understanding. From that day, Tetsukichi began to hear the voices of animals, not as sounds but as words: curt, emotional, alive.

Return to House of Lord Jourdain (Part I)

Since their arrival in Khanbaliq roughly six months ago, both Gwinch and Beatriss have heard rumors that there are people “like them” in the city. When they heard this in Zipang, the people “like them” turned out to be simply foreigners from Zhou-dang, or even “barbarians” from the far north of the country. But Khanbaliq is cosmopolitan city. Most of the people are native to northern Zhou-dang or have emigrated from the “Horselands,” but besides the Zipang contingent, there are representatives from most every known empire, kingdom, nation between the Sea of Zipang and the Western Mountains.

When Beatriss followed the invitation to meet someone "like her", she found the priestess waiting. Myrrha was a woman of striking presence—perhaps near Beatriss’s age, but darker of complexion, with brown curly hair, a foreigner from lands to the west, yes, but not one who had spent her childhood underground. The two woman shared an awkward laughed at the idea that they resembled each other.

Myrrha greeted her in several tongues, one of them uncannily close to Cynidicean but not quite right—like a melody she half-recognized but could not sing. When words failed, they settled into Zhou-dang, speaking carefully.

Cair, the man who had offered the invitation, was there as well, standing by the door. When Beatriss asked his purpose, he explained with measured pride that he was a descendant of Lord Jourdain himself. Their common ancestor, he said, had traveled from the west to Zhou-dang and taken two wives, one whom he left behind when he returned to his homeland with  the other. The families had long diverged, but Cair had come east to pay respects at the ruin of his ancestor’s house—and perhaps to understand why it had not rested easily.

He confessed that the welcome he had found in Khanbaliq was colder than expected; he was much a foreigner here as he had been in the land of his birth. And he wasn't sure whether he was a guest or a prisoner. He wished to see the place that bound his blood to this country, and perhaps recover a token of its history.

An understanding soon followed. Beatriss, Tetsukichi, and Hatsu would accompany Myrrha and Cair on a second expedition to the House of Jourdain. Su-Laing’s relatives in the House of Mehwa arranged the necessary permissions for Myrrha and Cair to leave the Forbidden City. They made little effort to hide their own interest in the venture: the foreigner’s sense of “filial duty” might be sincere, but if treasure remained in that haunted place, it would be better found by their allies than by strangers. Askaa and Ganbold were assigned to represent the family’s claim.

By week’s end, the new party was assembled—seven travelers bound again for the southern floodplain and the ruin where the dead had not yet learned to stay buried.

Play Report: The House of Lord Jourdain (Part IV)

After winning the keys from Jourdain’s servant, the party decided to try some of the locked doors in the basement. They discovered first an alchemy lab, and then some asphyxiating mold. Afu, somewhat panicked by the mold wanted to try to exit the compound, but as expected the gate would not open and there wasn’t even a keyhole to try one of their keys. Concluding that there must be another way out, the party ventured back into the house, checking out some of the rooms they’d missed on the first floor.

Lord Jourdain seemed to have a lot fun with is visitors, the high point for him being when Beatriss, in trying to open the door to his drinking parlor, came under the effect of a powerful hallucinogenic. White Bear raised some angry objections, and refused to roll “to hit” when I explained her friends had suddenly taken on demonic aspects and she had no choice but to fight them in deadly earnest. Lord Jourdain’s laghter increased with the party’s despair, and then at once fell silent, to be be succeeded by a flash of light and an explosion in the courtyard. In trying to grapple with the deranged Beatriss, the party lost both Qasqari and Hajip; they retreated to another room and barred the door. White Bear suggested, and I agreed, that Beatriss need not pursue them, but since she perceived them as a danger, flee in the other direction.
After poking around in the drinking parlor, the party decided to see what might have happened to Beatriss. They went back into the courtyard and saw two of Jourdain’s hounds, both standing tentatively in the arch of the now open gate, one of them holding something in its mouth. The party fired a volley of arrows and both hounds, turned and barked threateningly (the one dropping the thing in its mouth), but after being hit with a couple more arrows, ran away—out the gate.
The “thing in its mouth” turned out to be boot—chewed and charred, but still with traces of blue dye, and a couple of crushed bells attached.
The party left the compound, and found Beatriss, distraught over what she had done, but reconciled with her more customary perceptions of reality. Relieved to have escaped and with some evidence of what happened to Ikhbayar , the party decided to retrieve the bodies of Qasqari and Hajip and then returned home. Even in the ruins of the old city, carrying dead bodies invites questions. The party freely explained where they had been. And that wicked man was supposed to be rich? Maybe. They hadn’t found anything worth taking.
Back at the House of Mewha, there were questions about money. Tetsukichi gave the boot to Su-Laing and left with her the job of deciding what to tell Kei-lo.
Finally, on her way out of the forbidden city, Beatriss was approached by a shadowy man with a message. A priestess named Myrrha, who had quarters in the forbidden city would like a meeting at her convenience. The man pointed out where Myrrha could be found and then slipped away.

Play Report: The House of Lord Jourdain (part III)

Again, Lord Jourdain:

"These hounds of mine are like nothing that walks the earth—lean and muscular, large as ponies, with black mouths and black teeth. When they bark, they breathe fire. But my visitors had spirit. They killed three of the pack and drove the other two off. There is no use for a beaten dog but to butcher it for the servants, yet the pale lady, sick with pity, let those two escape.

"No matter.

"My guests wandered back to the ground floor, then climbed to the upper rooms, snooping through the bedchambers. They found many locked doors, which of course only made them more determined to enter. And who should come sashaying down the corridor but Landri—faithful Landri—shaking his great ring of keys the way he always did. Still making the same jokes to “guests” who mistook him for a servant: someone asking for a softer mattress, a glass of water, a little favor for their comfort. These newcomers were no different. They had misplaced one of their friends and imagined he must be behind one of those locked doors.

"When they saw Landri and his keys, they displayed their perfect stupidity. The priest among them puffed out his chest, lifted whatever holy trinket hung around his neck, and commanded this poor, tortured soul to return to “the place from which he came.”

"I might have told him: Excuse me, your holiness, but I haven’t given Landri a day off in nearly a hundred years. He isn’t going anywhere. And aren’t those the very keys you want?

"Completely unnecessary. Landri never did listen to sermons. And never did a fat priest lose so much weight so quickly. After one touch from Landri’s hand, the priest went pale and hid again behind the warriors. Then the pale lady drew her sword, and that was the end of poor Landri.

"Well—I told him to keep the door locked to my wine cellar."