Slain by Elf

A man has turned up dead on a transit system, his autopsy revealing heretical bio-implants in his system. Agents of the Inquisiton are called in to investigate the circumstances of the man's death and to look for any further traces of heresy.

The investigation naturally begins in the dead man's habitation division, a long transit journey needed to reach the dilapidated sector. The acolytes of the inquisition, given a convincing cover agency to work under, start to blend in with the local populace and begin to ask questions concerning the man's disappearance and surgical modifications.

An obvious place to try to find answers is the local Worker's Union, a rough place where workers and gang blades alike get drunk to blot away the pains of existence. But the harsh atmosphere is perhaps not the best place to get direct answers, as one acolyte finds out.

Lionus Vern is firmly rebuffed by the barman when he asks his questions, but he knows how to get past such barriers. 'I'm going to leave this 20 Throne note on the bar. Maybe if I ask again for the information you'll be more forthcoming.'

'What 20 Throne note?'

'The one I left right, uh, there... Oh.'

Against the odds we have defeated Su Zuo and tied him up. He tells us his tale of missed promotions and bitter revenge, which is why he has ended up keeping Left Hand's daughter hostage in this stable. It all sounds rather plausible, particularly when Left Hand arrives and refuses to deny any of it.

Rather than let Left Hand's crimes remain unanswered, or unduly punish Su Zuo for his misdemeanours in seeking justice, I suggest that we untie the General and let him claim the honour he seeks. 'Yes, untie him and let's leave', agrees Fung Xe.

'No', says Kwai Chen Tai, 'let's stay and watch the fight'.

Yuen Shu-Lin likes this idea too. 'Whoever wins, the other will be badly injured', she begins.

'...and we just cut them down', finishes Kwai Chen Tai, in a graceful display of adjusting from an alignment system to honour.

Derailing the adventure is not really a problem, it can generally be assumed to happen at some point. No, our main problem with a bleeding Suo Zo at death's door lying at our feet is that he is a General in the state's army and in town on official business.

'Don't untie Yii just yet', says Yuen Shu-Lin, stopping me from releasing Left Hand's daughter, 'we may need to leave no witnesses'.

'How fatally injured is he?', asks Fung Xe, apparently missing the clue in the description. But it turns out that Su Zuo still has some life in him, if he can get some medical attention quickly. I am trained in medicine and tend to his wounds.

I focus my chi to help in this task, as healing such a badly wounded character is more difficult than applying a poultice. The spirits are with me, as I get the maximum possible result without achieving a Yin/Yang balance.

Su Zuo recovers from being fatally wounded to merely 'bruised'. It's good news for Yii, too.

This is just dandy. Not only are we still no closer to finding the missing Left Hand, now his daughter Yii has been kidnapped. In a burst of competence we find some tracks leading from her house that take us away from the town and to a stable, where we see a bound Yii being held by General Su Zuo.

Approaching the stable lets us see that the General is there alone and that he has spotted us too. It looks like Su Zuo has gone a bit bonkers as he has kidnapped Yii to flush Left Hand out of hiding, but is reticent to tell us anything about his grudge.

I move to release Yii from her bonds causing Su Zuo to draw his sword, ready to stop us from ruining his plan. Other weapons are drawn and a fight breaks out, the five of us against a General.

An early strike by Su Zuo seriously injures Fung Xe but our swordsman is still able to counter-attack. Even in his weakened state a well-timed blow pierces Su Zuo's armour cleanly, dealing a vicious wound. As the General reels our advantage of numbers is clearly working, a second and third blow knocking Su Zuo to the ground and close to death.

'The combat's over, let me check the adventure's notes. "When the PCs are easily defeated by Su Zuo"... Oh.'

'What do you get?'

'Hang on, I'll roll it again and actually look at the result this time.'

<rolls dice>

'I get a critical failure. That'll teach me to pay more attention.'

One of the assassins is in our custody. At least, he is with Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee, who are preparing to interrogate him whilst Yuen Shu-lin and I take Fung Xe to receive medical attention for a near-death experience.

The assassin is securely tied down as Cheng Nenfa and Kwai Chen Tai discuss their tactics. They want to try the good cop/bad cop routine, but are perhaps unfamiliar with the gloss of 'bad' used in this sense.

'Who do you work for?'

'I work for only myself!', the would-be assassin spits back.

'Oh.' Good cop Kwai pauses to consider the ramifications of this. 'And who are you?'

'I am the brother of Soon, who Red Beak brutally killed in order to secure his own promotion.'

'Hmm, that explains your motives. Do you have any questions, Cheng?' The 'bad' cop has nothing to add, apart from wanting to slap the assassin around a bit.

'What are you going to do with me now?', the assassin growls at his captors and foils of his murderous attentions. They're not really sure.

'Would you like a cup of tea?' The fiends! Interrogation has never been so merciless.

Whilst fumbling around trying to find clues about Left Hand's disappearance we stumble on a plot to assassinate Red Beak, a general who came to town as part of scholar Lao Li's procession. The fight to protect the general is bloody but we prevail.

'We should find out who the attackers are and who they work for', suspicions rising of a larger plot about to unfold before us.

Cheng Nenfa wonders 'are they any still alive?', as well he might, having cut down most of them quite ruthlessly.

'There is one', I point out, 'as you pulled your final blow on him. The others you ran through in cold blood'.

Kwai Chen Tai is happy with that. 'You don't want too many alive to torture.'

'...torture?'

'Talk to. You must have misheard me.' The bloody assassin is carried off to a quiet building for the interrogation to begin, whilst Yuen Shu-Lin and myself take Fung Xe to a doctor to see to the near-fatal wounds he sustained in the fight.

The situation is again about to go pear-shaped. Or is it? 'Are there pears here?' No one is quite sure.

'It's about to go lychee-shaped.' That'll do.

Still investigating the disappearance of Left Hand we are no closer to learning anything. But we are trying. Various directions are taken to look for clues or find new leads. I head back to the dojo, discreetly following general Su Zuo who goes inside. I get close to the building and listen at the door, hoping to eavesdrop on the conversation.

'Make a perception check', the GM asks me. And I succeed! 'Okay, you hear...' Fung Xe is happy to know I am not deaf, offering me some hearty congratulations.

But the GM is only pausing to look at his notes. '...muffled voices'. That doesn't seem like much help. I go inside to hear better and stop the conversation dead, which also doesn't help. We'll need to think of another course of action.

In a strange twist, a few of our party decide to volunteer for some hard manual labour. Guided by an imperial scholar, the group of twenty-odd volunteers are to dig for artefacts. Being told of the long hours and gruelling work ahead of them, as well as the commensurate pay, each volunteer is offered the opportunity to stay and work or leave.

Cheng Nenfa is happy to stay. 'Maybe we'll get to keep something.'

'No you won't.'

'How do you know?'

'This isn't a 'Pick Your Own Strawberries' farm.' We explain to Cheng how digging for priceless artefacts under the direction of an imperial scholar works, hopefully helping to prevent his getting a hand chopped off for stealing.