The players are deputised to take a gift from Lord Arai to the family of the recently deceased Sasakawa - a fine Daisho to replace the one that was lost. Sasakawa´s family lives some distance up the coast, on the northern extent of the Lord Arai´s lands. They have owned these lands for generations and acted as the guardians of the northern frontier for as long.
Adventure 2 - The Mist Dragon
Sasakawa´s family (the Muyos) comprise his elderly father Taicho, his sister Fumiko and a gaggle of servants. Taicho is also accompanied by his equally elderly comrade Muneto, who commands the 6 remaining bushi, now that Sasakawa´s younger brother Kazuo, is dead.This death is a recent event. Several nights ago, a light was seen dancing on the steep hillside above the family residence, on the road to the hot springs, where people often go to bathe (see map ). Kazuo went to investigate with one of the bushi. He did not return, and in the morning, his body was found by the hot pools, horribly mauled as if by claws, and burnt about the face. The gravel about the springs was disturbed as if by a mighty struggle. The body of the bushi has not been recovered.
The night before the players arrive, the grieving household was wakened by a sentry to see the glowing dragon-like figure cavorting on the small hill near the family shrine. One of the bushi fired an arrow at it and swears he hit it, but the creature paid it no heed. The dragon proceeded down the path and as the family retreated indoors, it stomped around the house, kicking over things, messing up the garden and generally making a roaring and a mess. When the household retainers poured out to combat it, the creature disappeared in a fume of evil smelling smoke - but in the morning two heimen were found savaged to death in their house and the others fled by boat as soon as the discovery was made. Now the Muyos are waiting resignedly for their enemy to appear. They have no boats and the coast is too rugged for flight on foot, even if they could stomach the thought of leaving Kazuo unavenged and their hereditary lands abandoned.
When the players arrive, the Muyo family will be in he graveyard below the house, paying final respects to Kazuo and the recently interred heimen (who are buried further down the hill).
Muyo Taicho will request the player´s help. He will praise the known munificence of Lord Arai and the bravery of his retainers. He will offer all assistance - there are war hats for a good number and haidate for three - and will fight with them if they decide to help. He will refuse to leave, as will Muneto and all but one of the bushi,but if the players cannot be persuaded to help, he will send Fumiko with them.
What is really going on.
There is, of course, no dragon. The followers of the evil priest Kura have decided to weaken the Arais by removing their northernmost vassal and at the same time establishing a handy base, far from observation. They are cultists of the Red Banner - worshippers of the Dragon King. The "dragon" is a chinese parade dragon lit up by lamps and smoke pots. The smoke from the smoke pots combines with the mist (if anyone thinks to ask, it was misty both nights the dragon appeared, as it often is around the hot springs) to obscure its outlines, while the men dancing about underneath it give the dragon the appearance of having many legs.As a final touch the men carrying the dragon wear sandals with a claw-foot carving underneath, leaving bizarre footprints wherever they go.
These men lured Kazuo out into the open, where he was killed by one of the cultists using "dragon claw" weapons and (as nice touch) they tipped coals onto his face as he lay dying, finishing him off and making the burn marks noted by those who found him. His sword was taken and thrown into the hot spring. The unfortunate bushi was knocked unconscious and taken back to the old shrine where the cultists are hidden out. After a brutal questioning, he was killed and his body disposed of, so the cultists have a good idea of the layout of the house and its inhabitants.
If the players take no action, two nights after they arrive will be misty and the dragon will reappear. It will dance and blow smoke on the hillside where it was first sighted. This will of course draw attention (from a sentry if not the players). The dragon will posture a bit before slinking away towards the hot springs. While attention is drawn to the Dragon, Zhou Dou, the leader of the ruffians, will sneak down past the use and set a fire in the player´s boat. He will then slink off and hide in shadows, hoping to jump someone rushing to try to save the boat. He knows that samurai arrived from the south and being a cunning sort wishes to try their temper before doing anything rash. He will cause as much injury as he can without risking his neck, and will then disappear in the darkness.
If Dou is killed or captured, his fellow cultists will mount a raid the following night to try to rescue him. No ragon this time -they will come quietly and try to get inside and slay.
If Dou escapes, he will return the next night and get his men to prance down with the dragon while he slips inside, causes some simple mayhem and escapes again. Having weakened the enemy that much, the cultists will return the following night and try to kill everyone in the house. If they are beaten off, they will flee, returning to their boat and attempting to escape by sea.
The Player´s Response
The players have some chances to forestall their evil plan. If they ask, they can learn of the various items shown on the map. The temple is all but forgotten, the last Buddhist priest having left over 30 years ago and only a direct question along the lines of "Are there any buildings out here?" or mentioning shrines or temples will invoke memories of its existance. The Muyos are regrettably vague as to its location.
Poking around by the hot springs may turn up the remains of the path leading to the temple - it is heavily overgrown. Succesful use of tracking might likewise lead the players to the temple.
Blundering around in the forest will not lead to the Temple (unless the players are lucky), but it will led to an encounter with a pair of wild boar (use the stat.s from the Hero system Bestiary) -possibly a nice addition for the pot, possibly a chance of injury or worse.
If they continue to search, after the encounter with the Boar, they will hear the sound of a shakuhachi (bamboo flute) being played and following its sound will come upon a young man playing. He appears to be a mendicant monk, since he has a 3-ringed staff on the ground near him. If approached he will stop playing and greet the players in a civil fashion. If they ask him questions he will introduce himself as Tai, a traveller, and tell them that he lately arrived from the mountains. If they question him about the dragon, he will say he has seen no dragons but that if evil forces are afoot, they should ask advice of Buddha. (If this is related to the Muyos, it will remind them of the temple). When the players leave, he will resume flute playing. If they force him to accompany them he will aquiesce, saying one direction is as good as another to a wanderer, but will escape the first opportunity that presents itself. He is in fact a priest sent by his temple to investigate the doings of the Red Banner. He knows of the cultists´ current location, (though not their recent activities) but has been enjoined to observe, not interfere, so will take no part in the action. If the players really screw up, he might try to rescue them. Tai speaks Japanese fluently, with just the trace of an accent, though he is also Chinese.
If the players find the temple, it is a simple shrine - a 2M high wallsurrounding a single pagoda on a raised terrace. Inside it is a single room, housing a meditating stone Buddha (whose head has been recently knocked off by the cultists. Around the walls of the compound are a number of small cells for monks and two buildings which once held stores and a kitchen. All these smaller buildings ae very dilapidated, with moss overgrowing the tiles, and leaves and dirt which have blown through the tattered doors and windows, piled on the floor. The cultists are generally sleeping or taking their ease around a small fire in the temple although two will always be on guard - one watching down the valley towards the hot springs from the hillside above the shrine, the other watching the sea from the upper levels of the pagoda. The upper levels have no floors, so you can see right to the top, and are basically for show. Acess is gained with a rickety bamboo ladder. Dou has refurbished one of the monk´s cells and spends most of his time meditating or sleeping there, when he is not out and about.
The cultists have a small junk in the narrow bay below the temple. It is completely hidden from casual iscovery by ships passing by and only the chancy passage into the narrow bay will reveal it.
If discovered, the cultists will fight - if the fight obviously goes badly for them they will flee for the boat, while two cultists attempt to delay pursuit as much as possible. They will fight to the death - these men are fanatics and have been hand-picked to accompany Dou. Any who are captured alive will spit defiance and vague threats at their captors. They can only be made to talk by an Interrogation roll at -5.
If the cultists win any fight, they will attempt to beat information out of any foes captured about why they were sent - a clever captive might be able to buy some time this way to try an escape attempt. Defiance will be met with death.
If the players win (and they should) they will find little of interest in the temple - obvious signs that the cultists have been camped there for some time, their possessions, including a few devotionals in Cantonese and various martial arts weapons, and some food. The "dragon" will also be there. It is obvious that they are not Japanese, and anyone widely travelled, or with experience of chinese culture, will recognise them as Chinese. In Dou´s room they will find similar scanty possessions, as well as a note in chinese, contained in a bamboo scroll case. It directs him to "cut off observation in the north, the better to shield our movements and to bring your men south once darkness has arrived. Do not allow yourselves to be observed, or in extremity, taken." The players may also find the body of the captured bushi in a shallow grave outside the temple wall.
The NPCs
For Muyo Taicho and Izuhara Muneto, use the generic 50 point Samurai Stat.s. For Fumiko and their retainers, use the Generic 25 point Bushi stat.s. Taicho and Muneto have full armour, while their retainers have haidate and war hats. The other servants and peasants are all normals.
Tai has his own character sheet.
The cultists are generally muscular, villanous looking types, with scars, eyepatches, scruffy beards etc, and the tattoo of the Red Banner around their wrists. They dress in a motley assortment of clothes, but generally tattered vests which leave their arms free, black trousers and sandals. One wears the jacket of the missing bushi, several have headbands etc. They fight with an assortment of Kung Fu weapons - staves, hook swords, butterfly swords, flying claw, etc.
Two cultists for each character should be about right, but change the number if they are getting beat up too badly. Use the basic Red Banner cultist character sheet
Zhou Dou is a much tougher proposition. He is after all, one of Kura´s trusted lieutenants. In a fight, he will stand by his men as long as he can, but if it is obvious that they are defeated, he will flee, and attempt to report back to his master. Dou is a tall, muscular Chinese man with a wild shock of black hair. He normally dresses like his men, but when he has a chance to get prepared for combat, he wears sandals with the claw foot pattern underneath, a red demon mask with a black wig that falls to his waist and a dark red tunic and trousers. His arms are bare, but rubbed with red powder in oil, making them glisten redly as well. This partially obscures his Red Banner tattoo. He fights with two sharpened sai (1d6 HKA with STR +2 OCV for block or disarm, can be thrown), and small darts.
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