The Trigram Chronicles #2

Map of Old Hefei - Carefree Lake is in the top right corner

Hidden scroll reveals secret to defeating General Yen; our heroes meet the Emissaries again

Service to Prince Gui brings our heroes to Hefei; mission to Carefree Lake reveals betrayal

So our heroes descended from Mount Juihua, wounded but alive. 

Wu studied the bamboo scroll hidden within the metal case, and found it contained two of the secret kung fu manuals that together comprised the Trigram Grand Style.

Now after Master Zhang Sanfeng of Wudang created the Taiji Style, he found that few among his students had the aptitude to master it. And so he broke the style into eight parts, just as the duality of taiji gave birth to the four elements, and the four elements gave rise to the eight trigrams; and so his students could master aspects of this formidable kung fu. In the latter years of the Ming dynasty the court turned against Wudang, and its disciples were scattered, and so it was that the eight styles separated.

Now most men could only master one of the eight styles, weak as men are these days, but General Yen was able to master the Qian and Kun (Heaven and Earth) styles, making him nigh invincible. However, it is believed that those who can master the styles of the other six trigrams may, by their skills combined, defeat a wielder of the Qian and Kun style. So now our heroes are resolved to find the remaining four scrolls, and master the skills within.

For a while our heroes cast about for news of the lost scrolls, but could not find any clue. In their wanderings they learned of the news that General Yen had ordered all blind beggars in the region to be seized and interrogated, and that Prince Gui, a nephew of the late Ming emperor, had raised a banner of rebellion in the Yellow Mud Lake region in the west, and was calling for loyalists to join him in overthrowing the Qing.

Following the rumours, Wu, Soong, and Wang (see PC profiles here), arrived at the Green Dragon Tavern, where it was said that recruiters for the prince could be found. Unbeknownst to them, they were being tracked by the Black and White Emissaries, who confronted them at the tavern, demanding they handed over the scroll. Our heroes refused, and the Emissaries and their thugs attacked - but they had underestimated our heroes, and they were defeated and slain.

Witnessing their prowess in kung fu, a man approached our heroes, and introduced himself as Chow, a servant of Prince Gui, and offered to make an introduction of them to the prince. Following Chow, our heroes traveled to the edges of the marshes around Yellow Mud Lake, where they were taken by a sampan to a hidden isle, upon was built a large wooden house. They were brought to the gallery on the upper floor of the house, where they saw the prince in the midst of composing a four-line poetry. The prince appeared to have been stuck after composing the first three lines, and so Wu proposed an ending to the poem. The prince was much impressed, and called for wine to be shared.

They then spoke at length, and when the prince thought he knew the hearts of our heroes well enough, he offered them a mission. General Yen, he revealed, was planning a moon appreciation feast at Carefree Lake in Hefei on mid-autumn night. He had invited Ming generals and officials in the areas still not under Qing control to attend, and it was understood that those who answered his invite would be showing their allegiance to the Qing.

Now the prince suspected that some of the generals and officials who were in his faction would be attending the feast, and so he needed someone to spy on the feast and identify these traitors, who would be traveling to Hefei and Carefree Lake in secret.

Our heroes accepted the mission, and after shaving their heads in the Qing fashion and learning the appearances of the generals and officials under Prince Gui by studying their portraits, traveled to Hefei. Outside the city, Soong waited by a tea house until he spotted one of the officials, whose entourage had stopped for a break. He spiked the tea of one of the sedan chair carriers with laxatives, and when the man became afflicted, he offered his services, and were taken into employment on account of his strong physique.

Inside Hefei, Wu found the musical troupe which would be performing at the feast that night, and managed to impress them with his virtuosity at erhu, and so was likewise taken into employment.

Wang, meanwhile, met a contact in the Beggar Sect in Hefei, and through him was able to smuggle himself, hidden in the food supplied for the feast, into the two-storeyed pavilion on the island in Carefree Lake where the feast would take place. Under the cover of darkness, he moved from the kitchen to the upper floor, and hid himself among the rafters of the roof.

Came mid-autumn night, our heroes kept their eyes and ears peeled, as they observed the guests as they exited their covered sedan chairs, as they moved about in the banquet hall, and as they greeted each other by names. By these means of subterfuge, our heroes were able to learn of the identities of 27 of the 28 guests who arrived in covered sedan chairs to pledge their allegiance to the Qing emperor and their support to General Yen on an attack planned on Prince Gui's hideout in a month's time.

With this information, our heroes made their way back west, where they were to rendezvous with Chow on the road to Yellow Mud Lake. When they arrived, they found Chow waiting for them with a band of armed men. Chow asked them for the list of those whom they had seen. Suspecting something on account of Chow's eagerness, Soong lied and said that they had made no list, but had memorised the names, which they would report to the Prince personally. Chow then asked if they had revealed the information to anyone, and when our heroes replied that they had not, Chow produced a list of names from his robe, and asked that they gave the prince the list instead.

Chow revealed that he had in fact pledged his allegiance to the Qing, and that the list contained the names of generals and officials who were actually loyal to Prince Gui. Chow exhorted our heroes to join him on the side of the rising Qing against the waning Ming, just as a wise bird would choose a healthy tree to perch upon.

Such a proposal was an anathema to our heroes, who rejected it and denounced Chow. Chow ordered his men to attack, but the traitors were easily defeated, and Chow, seeing his men slain, threw himself at our heroes' mercy.

Our heroes hog-tied the traitor Chow, and brought him back to the Prince. When he had heard the testimonies and seen the made-up list, Prince Gui ordered Chow to be drowned in the waters of the lake. Then, after perusing the list the heroes had made, he came to the conclusion that with so many of his men turned, his position was no longer tenable. He resolved to join his brother in the south, and asked our heroes to join him too. But with revenge still in their minds, our heroes declined, and instead promised that they would fight the Qing in their own way. As parting gifts, Prince Gui presented a paper fan to Wu, upon which he wrote the words "Iron Fan Esquire" (after the latter's signature weapon), and a letter of introduction bearing his seal, addressed to the Master of Qiyun Temple, an offshoot of the Wudang Sect, where news of the Trigram scrolls may be found.

What awaits our heroes at Qiyun Temple? If you desire to know, please turn to the next chapter...

Prepping and Running the Game

After our game was postponed a total of four times due to various illness (including covid), we were finally able to play the second session of the campaign, even if there was a last-minute drop-out (due to yet another illness).

This session was based off the idea in the module Bohemian Grove. At the end of the previous session I asked my players what they wanted to do next, and they said they wanted to find some rebel factions to join. Now there were indeed several rebel factions, some of them formed around Ming princes, so I decided that they would hear about one such factions and try to get recruited.

The fight in the tavern is of course a standard requirement for wuxia. My players were able to fight in a more co-ordinated fashion this time, and utilised the verticality of the battlefield, which gave them the initiative throughout most of the fight to defeat the enemies convincingly.

The site of the mission was chosen based on the module, which set the action on an island in the middle of a lake. I found a map of old Hefei, and saw that there was a lake within the city walls with a small island in it, which seemed a likely setting for a secret meeting. I had no idea how the players would achieve their mission, but they were able to capitalise on their characters' strengths to find a way into the pavilion.

I gave away Chow's betrayal too early when I reached for my map book before I roleplayed the interaction between Chow and the PCs, telegraphing that a fight was going to take place. Rookie mistake - have to watch out for that one in the future.

At the end of the session I asked my players again what they wanted to do next, and they replied that they wanted to continue the search for the scrolls, and so I picked a spot on our map and came up with an in-game reason for them to go there.