October 07, 2023

Hook

C&M;R&H - Act 1 Scene 2: Unerring Blade; Undying Flesh

Plot Synopsis

After a tiring day of pursuing leads all across the city of Chongbai, from the Commission of Industry to the Commission of the Divine, the investigators regroup and take a short rest to review their findings and draw up a suspect list. After some discussion, they head out to Bai le Teahouse, where they hope to overhear some rumors and secrets, while also readying to meet up with the impetuous Wang Lan for a private discussion.

As they arrived, they saw a group of investors from Ley’Ork, seemingly to be from various government contracted companies: The Dævian Institute and Vane Enterprises, who were meeting with a few Marketing and Sales representatives from Lithicore Mining Co. Additionally, the group spotted a young Semi-Aquatic child poking around the fountain in the center of the teahouse.

The child was staring at and eyeing a strange amphibian of some sort, not native to Ruefang. Some members of the party were able to recognize it as an axolotl, which is more commonly found in Splint. It was trying to drag a small coin that was thrown into the fountain. Taka decided to grab the axolotl (and the coin with it) and trap it in a clear glass teapot filled with fountain water. Meanwhile, the group also eavesdropped and goaded the investors and Lithicore representatives into revealing some information–it seemed that the Lithicore Mining Co. was trying to market and sell a substance called Fyrium (apparently a type of ore that can be refined) to Ley’Ork companies ahead of any official announcement or reveal. After being pressed, it was revealed that Fyrium, after being combined with a crystalline substance called Jinghua commonly found in Ruefang and energized with a leyline, was a potent and powerful energy source, something that Ley’Ork could use for Energy and/or Weapons Research and Applications.

The axolotl turned out to be strangely intelligent, and even possessed the ability to telepathically communicate with willing creatures (or those that failed a resist check) and pleaded for its release. Taka let the axolotl go back into the fountain but it did leave behind the coin it was pursuing–a copper piece in the style of an ancient Ruefang coin, with a square hole cut out of it. Those who grew up in Ruefang had heard of these before, as tokens themselves they’re nearly worthless, but they represent favor and debt among criminals and thieves guilds in Ruefang, and can be used to gain entry or even purchase illicit goods and services.

After some time, Wang Lan appeared with his younger brother Han Chenwu, and they arranged for a private room in the teahouse. While there, they discussed their progress with Wang Lan, and Lan revealed what Gao Xinchao had told him the night of his murder, as well as gave the investigators a small paper toy (a folded paper crane on a stick) that Xinchao gave him and asked him to keep safe. The crane, when unfolded, revealed a small crudely drawn map with strange geometric drawings, and the stick seemed to be the last piece of some sort of puzzle mechanism. The party then questioned Wang Lan and Han Chenwu about possible suspects in the monastic orders that fit the description of their killer: a monk who had no divine magic and was very proficient in martial weapons, who had been in the monastery for at least 10 years. Lan said that there were eight members who have been in the monastery that long, and of them, only a few had no knowledge of divine magic:
Wang Lan, his mother and father, and his grandfather all studied divine magic and have been a part of the order since they were children.
Han Chenwu had joined the order when he was a young child, he said he knew one or two divine magic spells.
Teng Chiu and Lee Quan were two monks that specialized only in martial weapons, and those two along with Han Chenwu, were nicknamed the “Three Generals” for being the head martial warriors of the order.
Fa Mei was an expert in elemental magics, and recently left the monastery to pursue a future in the College of Mages and Scholars.

The group decided that their best course of action was to investigate the place marked on the map: a small fishing camp and dockyard a day’s journey outside of Chongbai. Meanwhile, Wang Lan offered to discreetly spy on and look into Teng Chiu and Lee Quan while the group was gone… The group doubted his ability to remain stealthy, and Chenwu offered to take over the investigation at the monastery.

The next morning, the group traveled to the small Fishing Encampment, arriving just before sunset. They found the camp mostly empty, as the fishers were still all out in the Sea of Fog, but the central town hall had a few people there. After walking up, it seemed that the town hall also doubled as a storage warehouse, which had lockers and space that could be rented for private use, one such locker was under Gao Xinchao’s name. The group managed to bribe the worker there into allowing access to Xinchao’s locker, where they found a heavy locked case, as well as a strange block puzzle. They were able to solve the puzzle as the sun began to set, and unlock the box. In it, there was a Ley’Orkian device which held a recording from Zuanshi Wei, as well as notes by Gao Xinchao.

These revealed that Wei had sent out logs that would be able to stop Zuanshi Hua from her plans, which endanger the people of Ruefang, connected to the leylines and the new invention by Zuanshi Steelworks. However, Xinchao could not reach out to the press as Hua was working against him. He feared that Zhang Mingxing, who also worked on the project, was in danger as well. He went to the Commission of Industry to ensure that Hua could not trace where the logs had been sent out, and wanted Wang Lan to find this and keep Mingxing safe as well as stop Hua.
Just after they had unlocked the box, some members heard a thud outside and after making some quick preparations, opened the door as they saw the killer, Ying Ren, burning some papers to cover up Xinchao’s involvement here, while also having knocked the storage attendant out. The group quickly acted, only to see that the killer seemed to be unkillable–a result of his enchanted armor healing him as soon as he was wounded. He also seemed to be able to resist magic spells due to his armor. They fought, and Ying Ren made clear that he did not want to kill any of the investigators, but urged them to give up what they found and to stop their pursuit. He was tricked into taking the (empty) metal case which he said he planned to destroy, and had no interest in opening. After recovering the box, he rushed away over rooftops.

The group was able to find out a bit more: the killer was a draconic lizard with red eyes, but his horns and any antlers had been purposefully covered up and protected. Additionally his armor was enchanted Silent Steel (protective against magic, and enchanted to heal even mortal wounds). However, he did bleed, and the group was able to grab a piece of his armor that was shot off by Taka. They also discovered that the killer is adamant about not killing anyone he is not hired to kill, and all of his strikes were nonlethal.

After the conflict ended, the group put out the small fire in the warehouse, and made sure the attendant was alright. They then hired a traveling merchant to convey them back to Chingbai, so they could sleep and rest in the cart. They arrived back in the morning on the 22nd, and plan to update Jin Xinyi and find Zhang Qingzhou to warn her that her daughter is in danger…

Noteworthy Postgame Events