January 13, 2024

Hook

MCAS I - Heart of the Dragon 1 (Ruefang, Cahyali)

Plot Synopsis

The group of adventurers, brought together by Jin Xinyi, Midna, or Fate, have all gathered in Port Wulong to continue their investigation into the conspiracy at large. Zuanshi Hua’s interrogation has revealed that there are 8 suspected Lead Conspirators left, now that Zuanshi Hua, General Hu Lan, and Charles Lithicore have been killed or arrested. They meet in a Teahouse/Tavern, where Oswald has racked up a significant tab, spending his days and nights drinking.

25 years ago, a young Amethyst Draconic finds himself underneath hundreds of pounds of smoldering wood and stone, collapsed over him and littered with the fallen bodies of his brothers in arms. Through a window between the charcoal, ash, and smoke, he sees civilians of his clan dragged and lined up in the main courtyard of the monastery-keep he has called home for the last 20 years. He sees his mother dragged and pushed to kneel before a sinister man dressed in samurai armor, a familiar sword at his side—the one once held by his father before his death at the hands of the same man that now holds his mother at blade point. The man shouts a command and half of the civilians in the courtyard are gunned down by an unseen firing squad, and the man forces the mother to make an ultimatum: betray her clan and survive as a slave, or die with the rest of the pitiless dogs. Her silence is broken by another command to fire; the other half of the civilians gathered are shot dead. Her final choice is answered by only the whistle of the silent and cruel wind—followed by the swing of a blade. The sinister man mounts the mother’s head on a pike to leave at the gates of the monastery, and throws the sword he cannot unsheathe to the side. The son chokes on smoke and ash, and over the course of a few days manages to wrest himself from the wreckage, retrieve his mother’s sword, and leave. The man who has killed his family and wiped the clan off the face of Cahyali now takes his mother’s place as a clan leader.

The party over the course of a few days, learns that Cho Yinhui is working with Admiral Nan Fengge, all but confirmed member of the conspiracy, in order to supply Warrior-Priests and casters to the RCA and ongoing war effort on Juuken. He is currently in Port Wulong, staying at the Wulong Naval Fortress, overseeing the last RCA resupply shipment bound for Juuken before the Autumnal Storm begins in earnest. They concoct a plan to infiltrate the fortress and defeat Yinhui, and Oswald tells the rest about the abilities and weapons Yinhui possesses, including Oswald’s father’s blade—the Long Xin Bing Hua (Dragon’s Heart; Melting Ice) that allows Yinhui to summon and control a fire-breathing dragon.

On the island of Juuken, the last of the RCA naval forces gather to begin an assault on Port Taihou, the major port town at the mouth of the Ginkawa River that connects the Sea to Kayakusei. The port is currently held by the Raikougan Navy, but as a siege is mounted, the next battle will determine who controls the port, as well as the imports and exports of Juuken.

Noteworthy Postgame Events