Post by David on Sept 13, 2011 14:05:19 GMT -5
The heroes ask Arthur to cast item on their Dragon Claw captive and then the whole group (Idky, Torr with Zayüß, Yavin, Ichi, and Arthur) gets passage from the fishermen to the nearest major port, in order to go further to Pe Nok. The fishing boat must draw a barge/raft behind so that the lighten loaded Zayüß can rest on and meditate while not airwalking beside the ship.
Over the course of the next three days, Yavin uses his spells and natural telepathy to mentally question the unconscious Dragon Claw during the trip:
They pass along the information to Ko Ho San. They discover that his monastery has been destroyed, and he’s in hiding. Yavin finds that he is holding something back. He tells Yavin not to contact him again.
Continuing the questioning another day...
They itemize the prisoner again.
They arrive at Dun Kin after three days. The party finds a fabric merchant willing to take them, under two conditions: 1) they swear to protect the ship, 2) they pay for room and board (35 gp each).
At the end of the first day there, as they’re getting provisions, the heroes (minus Torr, who is still missing his leg and trying to keep a low profile given his armor and red hair and clydesdale) come upon a battle: Dragon Claws slaughtering Black Serpent monks. Three die, and two have submitted. One gets turned and forms blades with his blood. Before the other can be turned, Ichi, Arthur, Yavin, and Idky act.
Ichi leaps in and gets swarmed by three and hit hard by a ki strike. Idky starts airwalking over the crowd and two attack him with flying kicks. One hits him. Arthur magic missiles one, and he dies.
Yavin casts heat metal and four of the Dragon Claws’ swords start to heat up. Idky drops on Ichi’s battle with his darkness stone drawn. Ichi starts mowing through the guys on him.
At this point, a Dragon Claw who was in the crowd charges Yavin. Another Dragon Claw attacks Arthur, then one of the ones in the darkness rolls out and also attacks him. Ichi follows him out to help the wizard. They quickly defeat them. They find that the swords don’t break on some of them. So they break the swords, but they don’t die. They itemize two of them and take them back to the inn.
They pass the night uneventfully. Quendi hears a rumor in town about a bunch of heroic ronin that are wanted for questioning by the authorities.
In the morning, Yavin uses his spells and magic to question the newly captured pair only to find that they have been freed! The Black Serpent one was a ninja and the other was a pirate. Ichi doses each in sake and stashes them in privies around town.
The group then leaves on the ship for Pe Nok.
Eeps: 2000 each
Over the course of the next three days, Yavin uses his spells and natural telepathy to mentally question the unconscious Dragon Claw during the trip:
- How does their mental network work? How conscious is he of the memory sharing? Memories are “pushed” to them, not pulled. The person who is pushing pushes memories to the whole network. Anything he pushes to the network gets pushed back to him as well. When memories are pushed to him, they just appear in their heads. When they die, the last few seconds of their life is broadcast.
- Yavin discovers that the Dragon Claws can only broadcast when they are conscious.
- What do they know about the party? Ichi = Public enemy #1, Torr = #2, Idky = #2. They would like to kill, or even better, turn Ichi. They are dangerous because they are really powerful and have done what can’t be done—defeat the Dragon Claws repeatedly and not follow the imperial decree to leave them alone.
- What about the imperial decree? The order was from the Jade Emperor. The plan is to take out every monk during the year—it’s been 5-6 months so far. They’ve covered about 30-35% of the continent. Not sure if Pe Nok has been conquered. They seem to be radiating out of a certain region in the mountains (Dragon Spine?)
- How did he get turned? Was a LN 6th level monk of another order. Order was massacred. After his blades were formed, his very nature changed (to evil) overnight. He quit being lawful and turned evil, but remained a monk. The maneuvers just flowed into his mind.
He was very concerned about his sword getting broken and didn’t even want to consider it. He also didn’t want to think about how to free someone. - Information that is sent sometimes is accompanied by a picture of the person and surroundings. They may or may not recognize. But rank (level) is communicated. They must kill all clerics or shukenja on sight. Monks and kensai are easy to turn, wizards are less easy (there are only a handful of wizards, and they tend to be neurotic after the turning). Samurai are a “waste” to turn, though some have turned.
- They’re goal is to have on philosophy, one cult, one martial art, one religion. The common people don’t matter.
They pass along the information to Ko Ho San. They discover that his monastery has been destroyed, and he’s in hiding. Yavin finds that he is holding something back. He tells Yavin not to contact him again.
Continuing the questioning another day...
- No range limit on sending memories. Draining power range is limited by level (usually within yards).
- He misses his friends who were killed, but he’s been ‘programmed’ to reject those thoughts. It’s as if there are two personalities inside him. He has no remorse for those he killed, either before or since becoming a Dragon Claw.
- The memories seem to come from a central “place” not from individuals
- He’s never felt telepathically disconnected from the network
- They have no real superiors. The “central power” never identifies itself. Free will isn’t tolerated. Sending questions or being charmed will lead to death. Yavin asks about the one that Quendi charmed. He was unfamiliar with that, because he was unconscious. If someone was compromised by being charmed, his health would be drained. They would know if someone was charmed. He also denies that there are any orders, that all of his acts are self-directed.
- They never feel any pain and can’t be stunned. When asked about pleasure, Yavin gets ejected.
They itemize the prisoner again.
They arrive at Dun Kin after three days. The party finds a fabric merchant willing to take them, under two conditions: 1) they swear to protect the ship, 2) they pay for room and board (35 gp each).
At the end of the first day there, as they’re getting provisions, the heroes (minus Torr, who is still missing his leg and trying to keep a low profile given his armor and red hair and clydesdale) come upon a battle: Dragon Claws slaughtering Black Serpent monks. Three die, and two have submitted. One gets turned and forms blades with his blood. Before the other can be turned, Ichi, Arthur, Yavin, and Idky act.
Ichi leaps in and gets swarmed by three and hit hard by a ki strike. Idky starts airwalking over the crowd and two attack him with flying kicks. One hits him. Arthur magic missiles one, and he dies.
Yavin casts heat metal and four of the Dragon Claws’ swords start to heat up. Idky drops on Ichi’s battle with his darkness stone drawn. Ichi starts mowing through the guys on him.
At this point, a Dragon Claw who was in the crowd charges Yavin. Another Dragon Claw attacks Arthur, then one of the ones in the darkness rolls out and also attacks him. Ichi follows him out to help the wizard. They quickly defeat them. They find that the swords don’t break on some of them. So they break the swords, but they don’t die. They itemize two of them and take them back to the inn.
They pass the night uneventfully. Quendi hears a rumor in town about a bunch of heroic ronin that are wanted for questioning by the authorities.
In the morning, Yavin uses his spells and magic to question the newly captured pair only to find that they have been freed! The Black Serpent one was a ninja and the other was a pirate. Ichi doses each in sake and stashes them in privies around town.
The group then leaves on the ship for Pe Nok.
Eeps: 2000 each
