October 14, 2023

Hook

Along Treacherous Lines III - The Ball and Balls (Tragic, Overall) [S&S]

Plot Synopsis

Session begins as the Shanzhu charity ball begins, and the party is set up with all their ways to get in. Cyrus, Yugon, and Rilo walk in through the front door with their tickets, Kentaro and Raiden are set up as employees, and Raiden lets Wisteria sneakily in through a side door.

Their plan to question Hu Lan goes off flawlessly at first: Yugon speaks to Hu’s ego, and the two begin to share drinks. After a good round of wine, Kentaro brings out the spiked soju, and Hu is successfully charmed. He mentions something about an attack on the Raikougan that’s being planned, and speaks vaguely on “new technologies” that he’s confident will let him win the war. Unbeknownst to him, Kentaro uses Raiden’s recording crystal (MJG002) to catch almost the entire conversation on record.

Rilo notices a group of mercenaries standing around the General, seemingly hired muscle, that appear to recognize Yugon, and begin to tail him. Rilo tails the tailer. In the meantime, Cyrus and Wisteria begin to make a ruckus, with Cyrus smashing a bottle of wine and Wisteria doing a “magic trick” that puts out half the chandelier’s candles, just as the auction for the Tablet of Heavenly Balm is about to begin.

In the chaos, one of the mercenaries attempts to chloroform and subdue Yugon, but he manages to shake them off and recognizes the attacker as one of the Blood Hawks. Kentaro steals a pouch on the General’s belt, finding a handy sum of cash and a keyring inside. Timber steals the Tablet, and the entire party sneaks their way out before things calm down save for Kentaro - who spikes another round of soju with sleeping powder and gives it to the General.

Sleepy, he stumbles away and Kentaro sneaks into the hallway, about to attempt an assassination - but his guardian spirit intervenes, urging him not to continue this path of violence. With his incants temporarily disenchanted due to the argument, Kentaro begrudgingly relents and leaves the ball.

Raiden and Rilo sneak off to the General’s work office, and dig through some confidential files. They find the Honorable Supremacy blueprints by Bailin Howard, which have been mostly pushed aside, as well as correspondence between Hu Lan and Zuanshi Hua that seem to point to a conspiratorial power grab. They also find battle plans and details on the jinghua cores used to create war beasts, which Raiden memorizes using his Photographic Memory.

Cyrus, Wisteria, and Raiden take a moment to break the General’s carriage and a few others, and Timber meets up with them midway on their walk to his home. He explains that they are on the same side, and that he’s worried about Zuanshi Wei. He hands them a letter sent to him, which Cyrus and Wisteria manage to, along with Chen’s letter, decode into a street address: Marutuk Street 10577. They enter the house, which seems lonely and empty. Digging through his personal effects, they find the final few letters of correspondence with Hua, confirming Zuanshi Wei’s wrongful arrest. They also find a journal from a couple years ago, mentioning how a student at the university challenged Hu Lan to a duel and he intended to “make that kid pay”.

Cyrus dumps Pain Powder on every single clean pair of Hu Lan’s underwear, and Wisteria steals a rainy-day “fund” in the form of a large jinghua stone from under his floorboards.

The party meets back up at their inn and shares their findings, with Raiden’s entire world being shattered now that he knows the army’s full intentions. He decides to fully cut his ties, ripping off the RCA patch on his uniform. Rilo, upon realizing that the General sabotaged his duel and intended to kill him all those years ago, flies into a distraught rage and begins to drink. Yugon, meanwhile, is still a little shell-shocked due to his encounter.

The group calls Zheng Chen, and she arrives in their inn room via portal. They share their evidence and findings with her, and she seems satisfied - though she asks them for one more favor: her investigations have found proof of the Ars Machina Engine’s damaging potential, especially if it passes over the Ruefang leyspring. She emphasizes that it has the potential to cause another calamity like the Fist of God, which destroyed much of the continent 1,500 years ago. She asks the party to help her in breaking Zuanshi Wei out of where he is held, as he may be the only one able to stop the train.

Along with Chen, the party teleports to Youtai in the Raikougan, where the Kentaro estate is. Kentaro shares his findings about the Army’s plans with his father, who thanks him and arranges for the message to be sent to the Shogun shortly. Raiden visits his family home not far from town - where he hasn’t returned for eight years. Meanwhile, Yugon, Rilo, Cyrus, and Wisteria look for information in the Kentaro estate library. Looking through documents on the Blood Hawks, Rilo discovers the truth about Yugon: he is the ex-leader, titled Kasha, of the brutal mercenary group, so cruel and bloodthirsty he was feared across the land.

With all of these revelations hanging over their heads, the party goes to sleep, some fitful, some tearful.

Noteworthy Postgame Events