Slavepits of the Undercity 02

 After finding the rescued captives in the Happy Valley, Bo-Jing and his crew, along with Bangqiu returned to Khanbaliq.  Nar-Nuteng had elected to stay behind in the Happy Valley and train with Beatriss.  Although Bo-Jing had sometimes denigrated the girl's prowess in battle, he admitted that her unique way of looking at things was often useful and enhanced his own decision-making.  Finding his men too obliging and Bangqiu too selfish, Bo-Jing was glad to meet Salt, a plucky team-player with a mind of her own plus nascent magical abilities. 

The party set out early in the morning and encountered a group of imperial guards.  The guards recognized Bo-Jing's status as a baghatur and seemed embarassed when it become apparent that they were going to the same place.  While Bo-Jing and his friends were seeking to infiltrate the monastery, the imperial guards had been charged with-- guarding it. Reaching the monastery, Bo-Jing learned that their previous entry point was no longer an option.  The stables had been reduced to rubble, with broken boards, large stones, and garbage blocking the passage that had once allowed access to the lower level.  This was the point the guards were expected to patrol.  With feigned naivete they suggested that if Bo-Jing had business with the monks inside, he should present himself at the front gate.  Their solemn duty was to remain "right here directly in front of the ruined stables no matter what might be happening somewhere else such as at the front gate-- way over there on the other side of the monastery from where we couldn't possibly be expected to see or hear anything anyway."

Following the guards directions, the party found the entrance, a roofless gatehouse with two portcullises and a courtyard beyond.  The monks in the courtyard seemed welcoming, pausing in their work of lading a cart to greet the visitors, but soon showed their duplicitous nature.  The monks opened the outer portcullis and, once the party had entered dropped it closed without opening the inner portcullis.  When Bo-Jing drew his sword and threatened him, they turned the heavy cart toward him and blasted him with a stream of boiling oil.  Bo-Jing sustained little in the way of burns but his armor was damaged and all of his men sustained minor injuries from the splash.  More seriously, it seemed likely the monks had the means to cause more mayhem from behind the near-complete safety of the portcullis.

Bangqiu stepped forward and blasted the monks with hot steam.  As they ran away from their machine, he used his magic to become invisible and levitate over the inner gate.  Bangqiu found the winch room and raised the gate and allowed his comrades inside.  Then he assumed bird form and flew away.

The monks, with their poor weapons and threadbare robes showed little appetite for combat without the protection of a gate between them and Bo Jing's sword.  They fled to their ramshackle dormitory and Bo Jing led a charge toward the temple.  In the gloomy, cobwebbed sanctuary, dominated by a huge statue of a man with a sword raised above his head, they found the head priestess and her minions.  She hexed Bo Jing and his man-- Ganyul and Ganwei were transfixed, while Bo-Jing shook off the paralyzing magic and responded with a curse of his own.  Clenching the Eastern Coin in his palm, he castigated the deceptive priestess as she rose her hands to cast another spell; she froze as if his on the head, blinked and wandered away in a stupor.

And so the battle was on.  A dozen captives, in chains, turned on their captors who were cut down by Bo Jing and his men.  Ryu tended to Ganyul and Ganwei.  Salt watched from the shadows until a monk in black robes slinked up behind Bo Jing with a wicked dagger.  A bolt of blue energy from Salt struck the man in the back of the head.  He cried out in shock; Bo Jing spun on his heel and cut him down.

The panicked priestess stumbled toward the statue and bent over to open a trapdoor.  As she raised it, the statue's sword swung down and killed her.

The captives cheered.  Bo-Jing found the key to unfasten their chains and together with his friends, led the newly-freed people out of the monastery.

Like the others, they were mainly from the "Southern Empire" of Zhou Song.  They would not be safe in Khanbaliq and could not make the long trip home unaccompanied.  Most had lost their families in the war and were grateful to start a new life in the Happy Valley.

Slave Pits of the Undercity 01

tl;dr:

Bojing and his crew go to explore a monastery which has been transformed into a place of human trafficking. Walking in the front door, Bojing saw a woman on a bunk and Nar Nutang yelled that the woman on the bunk was a shape-changing monster and Bojing listened and killed the woman but the woman wasn't a shape-changer but a real slave.

Bojing and the crew saw some ""MONKS" and a merchant; Bojing, a powerful baghatur, stuck fear into the monks' hearts forcing them to run. The slave merchant's two powerful bodyguards remained, one with the abilty of shooting meteorites the other a powerful warrior that the mighty Bojing even struggled with but the crew defeated the bodyguards and recovered the keys to rescue the slaves.


"AKSHULLY":

When Bo-jing learned from Ryu that innocent people were being pressed into slavery in the shadow of the Kanbaliq's walls, his heart hardened against the Emperor. He promised Ryu that we would cleanse the monastery of this wickedness, free the enslaved people, and one day depose the cruel despot who misused his power in this way.

Beatriss knew about the monastery and its ugly secrets. Besides the corrupt monks who received captives from the outskirts of the empire and beyond, Beatriss warned her new protege about shape-changers and a lizard that turned people to stone. After her months-long absence from home, Beatriss herself would return to the Happy Valley. Based on these warnings, Bo-jing and Nar Nuteng both bought mirrors.

Based also on Beatriss's advice, Bo-Jing, Nar-Nuteng, plus their sometimes associate, sometimes rival Bangqiu, along with Ryu and Bo-Jing's men-at-arms, entered the monastery through a secret door and based through several halls so long ruined that their original purpose was impossible to know. They encountered a horde of undead creatures whose chilling touch caused temporary paralysis. None of the party was lost in this encounter, but Bo-Jing elected to choose another entrance to gain access to the actual monastery.

Bo-jing led the party in breaking into the stables. There, the party encountered a group of monks whom were so terrified at the sight of the fearsome baghatur that they fley in terror. A woman who had been hiding in the loft space peered down. "Who is there?" she called. "Who will save me from this place?" Something about the young woman's helplessness put Nar-Nuteng on edge and she warned Bo-Jing of the seductive shape-shifters. Bo-Jing charged up into the loft area and angrily killed the too-good-to-be-true ingenue.  She screamed and bled and died and her body did not revert to a gray, alien form.  She was not a monster but a true victim, killed by the one she thought would rescue her.

Bo-Jing was despondent and blamed Nar-Nutang.  Bangqiu rebuked him for being too emotional.  But Ryu patiently explained that he alone was responsible for his mistake and that he must accept it and learn from it and give his focus in the moment to rescuing other slaves.  

The party found their way into a series of tunnels dug under the monastery and inhabited by disgusting ant-men.  With the power of his magic coin, Bo-Jing drove away the ant-men and the party navigated the labyrinth to arrive at the lair of the resident slave lord, a greasy-looking man in leather armor.  While contending with a dozen cowardly monks and several ferocious giant weasels, the slave lord escaped.  Rifling through his belongings, they found some useful information about the work of the slavers including contacts in other cities.

The party continued to explore and discovered a series of cellblocks, where they encountered a group of monks negotiating with a merchant sought to purchase and enslave a number of the people imprisoned there.  Alarmed by the heavily-armed intruders, the monks and the merchant were put to flight while the merchant's bodyguards stayed in place to guard his retreat.  A blast of steam from Bangqiu killed one of them while Bo-Jing defeated and slew the other in trying hand-to-hand combat.  A search of the surrounding storage rooms located the keys and the party freed about a dozen prisoners.  These people, mainly young women from Southern Zhou were glad to leave the monastery but feared being left alone in a city where they would be regarded as enemies.  Bangqiu suggested that they should be taken all the way to the Happy Valley and resettled there.

Interlude: Bo-Jing in Khanbaliq

 Bo-Jing and and Ganbaatar presented the Southern Coin and enjoyed a week of congratulatory banquets and interrogatory private audiences. The Emperor granted a one-year tax holiday to Ganbaatar and his people. One of the Emperor's Ministers insinuated that Bo-Jing had not kept his possession of the Eastern Coin a secret and that the Emperor was prepared to appoint Bo-Jing was prepared to appoint him to the post recently vacated in Blue City.  Concealing his concern as to whether this was an offer or a threat or both, Bo-Jing simply restated that he looked forward to returning to his post in Banua and continuing to serve the Emperor there.

During this time, Ryu visited the local Monastery of the Two-Fold Path, located just outside the walls of Khanbaliq.  He was shocked and dismayed to find it was being used as a holding place for captives who would be sold as slaves-- many of them to the Emperor himself.

Bo-Jing made a private vow that he would rescue these slaves, restore the monastery to its intended purposes, and one day punish the Emperor.

The Taxman Part 10: Southern Coin

In Banua, Bojing, Beatriss, and Nar Nuteng parted ways with the sorcerers and resumed their search for the coins.  They made their way once more to the southern cave, guarded by the stone warriors.  Beatriss, Bo-Jing and Ryu fought three of the warriors and then Ryu swallowed a lotus pod to go into the dream world in hopes of accessing the secret chamber at the back of the hall.  He was able to converse wit the stone statute who friendly and chatty but refused to step aside to allow access to the chamber. "I don't know you and I cannot allow you inside unless you know me."

Bo-Jing and Nar-Nuteng reasoned that the word they'd found in the yeti cave was the fox's name, but the fox didn't seem any better to read it than they were.  There seemed nothing to do but go back to Banua and find someone who could read the old script.  But on the way there, they encountered a wild fox and with a few scraps of meet and the power of the Eastern Coin, were able to befriend the fox, speak to him, and learn about his indigenous belief system. Most notably, the great ancestor of all foxes was named üneg.  

And indeed the fox in the Southern cave responded well to that name and happily stepped aside, allowing them into a small dark room where they found the Southern Coin, most notable for its red tint.  Bo-Jing gripped the coin and knew that it would make him an even more powerful warrior.  But he also remembered his honor and his promise to Ganbaatar.  "We will present this coin to the Emperor together."

The party returned to Banua to announce their success.  Ganbaatar was pleased and praised Bo-Jing for his honor.  "Your Emperor will be most pleased will us and with you in particular.  Let us go to Khanbaliq at once."

Within days, Ganbaatar had organized a caravan and they began the trek to the capital. Along the way they stopped in Blue City and received a reminder of the dangers of displeasing the city.  Among the bodies of the criminals hanging from the walls, they recognized the same governor who had warned Bo-Jing against doing anything to cheat the Emperor.  The sign hanging around his neck proclaimed, "In cheating the people, I cheated the Emperor."

The Taxman Part 9: Meeting the Rivals

 Back in Banua, Ganbaatar had good news for Bo Jing.  The people of the Bolad horde, having heard that the Imperial Agent had drivn off the bandits and killed the yetis that were attacking the fire camp, were paying their taxes with minimal grumbling.  Ganbaater asked Bo Jing about his success in searching for the lost coins.  Bo Jing was clumsily evasive but Ganbaatar didn't press the matter.

Bo Jing and his companions spent a few weeks in Banua, waiting out a blizzard and a cold snap, and then decided to go to Kuzhu Kala so that  they could return Narantsetseg's necklace. On the way there, they found the remains of several large campfires.  By investigating one of these sites, they found a discarded brass badge of a distinctive design.  Beatrsiss and Bo-Jing both recognized it as part of the uniform of the armies of the "Master" whom they had fought in the Sind desert.  The next evening as they were seeking a suitable place to make their own campsite, they heard the noise of a large gathering and as they cautiously approached heard snatches of songs in the voices of the bestial bakemono, possibly amasssed in large numbers.  They circumvented the sounds of the enemy camp and rode onward through the dark, Beatriss leading the way.

After another dya of travel, the party reached Kuzhu Kala and found a place to stay in one of the yurts outside the walls. Soon, they learned that Gansukh was entertaining a pair of mysterious visitors, foreign sorcerers whose descriptions made them instantly recognizable as Bangqiu and Hyamsam.  Rumors hinted that Gansukh had hired them to find something and that he was very disappointed with the news of their progress.

Beatriss and Bo-Jing decided that  even if their friends had become their rivals, they were friends first and might need assistance.  They entered the town just as the gates were closing and went to the yurt of Gansukh.  A cataclysm of emotions erupted over the Khan's face as Bo-Jing came into his presence, holding the Khanum's favorite necklace.  Caught in the midst of a red-faced red directed at Hyamsam and Bangqiu, GanSukh looked ready to draw his sword when he heard Bo Jing's greeting-- until he caught sight of his necklace.  The color drained from his face and he smiled weakly.  "Oh, where did you find that?"

Gansukh was saved from further embarrassment by his wife's excitement at seeing her necklace.  Gansukh sent her and the other women away as his soldiers crowded in.  Bo-Jing and Beatriss learned, as they expected that Bangqiu and Hyamsam had found a coin and that they were refusing to turn it over to Ganuskh in exchange for the reward he was offering of several thousand tael.  A long argument ensued in which Bo-Jing revealed that he too had a coin. Beatriss told Gansukh about the threat posed by the Master and offered her services in fighting off his advance.  Bangqiu nodded, avowing that he too would help protect the lands of his host but would not relinquish the coin. With nothing else to offer, Gansukh became threatening.  The coin rightfully belonged to him and he would take it by any means required.  If the sorcerers refused his gifts of wealth and prestige that was no matter.  Beatriss and Bangqiu agreed that they were ready to fight if necessary, but that Bangqiu should first try his charm magic.  Because it was clear that Gansukh had become an enemy.

Bangqiu sat down and stared at his hands as if considering Gansukh's offer.   Then he looked up without standing and said, "I think you are a good friend and have made an interesting offer.  I only wish to think about it over night.  Let us retire with our friends outside the walls so that we can see the wisdom of your offer."

To everyone's surprise, Gansukh agreed.  He ordered his soldiers to make way for the visitors to leave his tent and gave the order for the gates to be opened.  Once outside, the reunited friends rode into the cold night, headed towards Banua.

Friends?  And still rivals.  Bangqiu told Hyamsam and Bo-Jing that they should both give him their coins, that he was the most powerful member of the party and that he was the best suited to unlocked the combined power of holding all four coins.

The Taxman Part 8

Nar-Nuteng and Bo-Jing's men surveyed the scene-- scores of animated skeletons and a group of men on horseback. Reasoning that while the hollow-headed skeletons were a horror, the minds of evil men were the true danger, the heroes launched a volley of arrows at the men on horseback who reacted by raising their shields and spurring the horses behind the ranks of undead that were closing in around the entrances to the cavern hall.

As Bo-Jing reached the tunnel, Gan-Wei pointed out to his master the enemies on horseback. Bo-Jing, clutching the magical coin in his pocket cursed the men with their evil; immediately they broke out into an argument with each other and within moments, blades were drawn.  Beatriss joined the archers and Ryu called for divine wrath on the undead horde; a dozen skeletons exploded in a flash of blinding light just as they reached the entrance to the hall. As Ryu strode toward the entrance to meet the undead horde with his holy symbol. the necro-shaman from outside Khuzu Kala appeared from nowhere and launched an exploding ball of fire into the hall.  Ryu was knocked off his feet and his robes were badly singed, but as the shaman raised his wand, decrying "self-righteous fools who stand in the way of progress," intervened.  Squeezing the Coin of the East into his palm, Bo-Jing cursed the shaman with a word of rebuke that made him drop his wand and wander away in a stupefied daze.

Ryu regained his feet and resumed destroying skeletons, clearing a way for Bo-Jing to reach the skeletons.  Beatriss and the other warriors, meanwhile, cut down the few skeletons that reached the cave.  Some of the men on horseback continued to fight each other while others galloped away.

Soon Bo-Jing reached the befuddled shaman and cut him down without mercy.  When the shaman's body fell to the ground, the skeleton fell into disarray, come continuing to attack, while others retreated, some attacking each others, while other's attacked shadows.  Most of those who pressed the attack were obliterated by Ryu while the stragglers were obliterated by Bo-Jing and Beatriss.  When the dust cleared, Bo-Jing claimed the shaman's ring and reveled in its power-- he was invisible!

Beatrriss noticed that the shaman was once again wearing Narantsetseg’s necklace and encouraged Gan Wei to take it.  "You should return it to her."

The Taxman Part 7

Bo-Jing, Beatriss, Nar-Nuteng and their followers and companions returned to the Valley of the Five Fires by way of the Bolad fire camp.  The fire-watchers asked to see the yeti cave and see for themselves that the yeti were in fact dead.  The party agreed to this request.  In addition to yeti corpses, they also encountered a group of warriors inside the cave.  Although evidence suggested they were members of the Nergui horde, they denied this, claiming instead that they were wanderers looking for a place to camp.  Beatriss order the unknown warriors to leave the cave and they did, muttering curses under their breath.  The party didn't tarry long in the cave, casually the many runes and symbols before escorting the fire-watchers back to their camp.

It was a two-day trip back to the Crystal Cave.  Along the way, they developed their plan for taking the coin.  Ryu explained that with assistance of some honey-scented dried poppy pods, he would be able to enter the dream world or ethereal plane and take the coin. Also on the way to the crystal cave, they encountered Gan Yul.  He explained to them that  Gansukh had sent groups of warriors into the Valley to look for them.  Rather than argue, Gan Yul had silently resolved that in forcing him to break an oath, Gan Sukh had broken his allegiance to the Nergui Horde.  And thus he was free to enter the Valley and would join Bo-Jing's squad again.  "If you'll have me.  Otherwise, I will seek the coins for myself."  Bo-Jing grateful accepted Gan Yul as his noken.

The party reached the cave and by use of potions brewed for them in Banua, Beatriss and Ryu were able to enter the cave.  Ryu entered the dream world and smashed the statue in order to claim the coin. It was pure gold but reflected a green tint.  Ryu delivered the coin to Bo-Jing whom, apprising the new powers conveyed to him by the coin, immediately began to equivocate over the arrangement he had made with Ganbaatar.  "He just wants it because he's power hungry."  Ryu shook his head slowly and stared at ground.

The party made their way north, toward Banua, but with no stated purpose.  As they approached the Bolad fire, they decided to visit the yeti cave once more.  This time, Bo-Jing used the last gaseous form potion to slip through the crack in the wall and discovered a hidden chamber, carved with of the entire valley.  A cave was precisely delineated at the southern end, marked with a  series of symbols:

Rather than return to Banua, the party decided to venture to the south end of the valley and find the cave identified on the map.  Concealed by magic, the entrances, a total of four straight tunnels, would have been impossible to find without the map and the drawing of the cave.  They walked into a tunnel that led to a hall covered with gleaming white stones.  Three columns of stone warriors filled the hall.  As Beatriss and Bo-Jing stepped into the hall, two of the statues cave to life.  The two brave warriors warned their companions to stay out of the hall, for fear of causing additional statues to come to life.

The stone warriors were 20-feet tall and wielded stone swords.  Bo-Jing used his sword to break the statues sword and then level it.  Beatriss meanwhile, stayed low and smashed the statues legs.  The two of them moved to the back of the hall.  There was a bas-relief statue of an even larger warrior with a fox sleeping under his legs.

Bo-Jing and Beatriss puzzled over what to do about this problem.  They invited Ryu into the hall, assisting him in destroying the statue that came to life and attacked the monk as soon as he crossed the threshold.  And then they asked him to ingest one of the honey poppy pods.  He did, and when he entered the dream world, he saw that he could see there was a hidden room beyond the fox, but we couldn't enter it.  As he explained it to to Bo-Jing and Beatriss, the fox had stood up and continued to block his path.

While debating what to do next, Nar Nuteng, from the tunnels outside the hall, raised the alarm.  "Skeletons!  We're being attacked by skeletons!"