October 14, 2023

Hook

C&M;R&H - Act 2 Scene 1: A Blade Beyond Reproach

Plot Synopsis

The group of traveled investigators wake in the morning to the bustling marketplace of Chongbai, filled with stalls selling all sorts of fresh goods and imported wares. They quickly meet back up with their compatriots and update them on what has transpired. Then, they make their way back to the Commission of the Divine, in order to find Zhang Qingzhou and warn her of the possible threat on her daughter’s life, and convince her to take them to Tiancheng.

When they arrive at the Wang Tianlin Monastery, they easily find Zhang Qingzhou, who seems to be having an early morning tea and meeting with her friend Wang Tu, the Commissioner of the Divine. As they approach, Marek and Bailin notice some children playing with the koi fish and decide to join in on the fun.

Wang Tu immediately welcomes the party to the monastery, and bombastically asks them to challenge him to a duel, and Reese agrees to an arm wrestling duel (best out of seventeen). Meanwhile, the party begins to divulge information to Zhang Qingzhou. If the information phases her, it’s hard to tell, as she presents an extremely pragmatic and irreproachable front, saying that if what the party has unveiled is true, it may be the key to convincing her daughter to turn her back on Zuanshi Steelworks and commit to being the leader of Zhangsiyuan (the Zhang family Reliquary). She agrees to take the party to Tiancheng, but only if they try to convince Zhang Mingxing to return to the “ordained” path Qingzhou has decided for her.

Wang Tu then returns, with a beaten up table for the arm wrestling contest. The terms of the duel are made: if Tu wins, he receives Reese’s cowboy hat. If Reese wins, he receives a set of dueling pistols that the Commission of Divine confiscated some time back. Bailin cast some buffs onto Reese to make the contest fair, while Yamato investigated the pistols, finding that they had been later enchanted. Reese managed to beat Wang Tu by stressing his STR and surpassed Tu’s roll by 3 points, and claimed his prize. Wang Tu seemed extremely ecstatic at the hard-fought competition. Reese gave Tu a blessing, and Tu proclaimed that Reese was a shining example of where the future of Ruefang lies…while also giving him the sage advice to violently harm anyone who would try to change him.

Zhang Qingzhou then left to pack up her things and prepare for departure the next day, while most of the group went to find Wang Lan, who apparently was sent to the Pavilion of Silence due to some trouble he caused last night. Meanwhile, Bailin decided to go ahead to the Commission of Trade and update Jin Xinyi with the group’s findings. Wang Lan asked the party what they found out, and also revealed that both Teng Chiu and Lee Quan were present the last few days, and he had found nothing in either of their rooms. However, he hadn’t yet met back up with Han Chenwu. The party (or mainly Reese) decided to convince Lan to stay in CHingbai as they needed a “man on the inside” (or a man out of the way) for their investigation, and gave him an elaborate and somewhat humiliating ritual to contact them if he finds anything. He decided to give Reese an important personal object so they could do the same (not knowing that the ritual is fake). Wang Lan said that he is supposed to go visit Zhangsiyuan with his grandfather to see where the wedding is supposed to take place in a few weeks. The party then left for the Commission of Trade.

Jin Xinyi revealed what the announcement by Zuanshi Steelworks is about, according to his spies’ reports. Additionally he gave them pay for the last few days and the next few days in Tiancheng (500 gold each) and also a minor magic item from the Jade Lens’ storage. He said that he will be in Tiancheng in about a week, so their next update could be then.

The party then went shopping for the rest of the day, before resting and setting out with Zhang Qingzhou the next morning. After arriving in Tiancheng, the group visited Zhangsiyuan and made some quick observations about how to best defend it.
It has a large courtyard and gardens in the middle, and the square wall around the estate measures 15 feet high, and forms an 80 by 80 foot area. There is only one door into the courtyard, on the opposite side from the main building.
There are two adjacent buildings: one that leads to the Reliquary and the other as servant and attendant quarters.
The main building is three stories high, the ground floor contains dining pavilions and living rooms, while the top two floors contain private residences. There is also a root cellar.
There are windows and balconies that provide a means of entrance on the back of the main building, if someone were to scale up that side.
There is a tunnel hidden from the root cellar that leads out of the estate, about 200-300 feet away, on the other side of the overlooking hill.
The overlooking hill cradles one side of the estate, and provides a good vantage point to survey the grounds.

They learned that Zhang Mingxing was not present, and had apparently received a letter from Zuanshi Hua recently, and was currently at the College of Mages and Scholars. The party decided to go there, and were able to find Zhang Mingxing currently having a meeting with Zuanshi Hua, and they caught the very end of it. Yamato cast a psionic spell to copy Hua’s memory from the last 8 hours, and gained a breadth of information pertinent to the investigation.

Firstly, she was holding her brother, Zuanshi Wei, essentially under house arrest, believing him to be spineless and weak for wanting to stop her plans with the Ars Machina, and she was going to send her brother away to Shanzhu after the announcement later that day.

Second, she checked on the Ars Machina Engine that was going to be unveiled in a few hours, confirming that it was delivered and transported properly, and that the Fyrium and Jinghua for the engine itself were ready.

Third, she met up with Han Chenwu, who had the box that was taken from the party yesterday, and they traveled via portal to Tiancheng, where she met up with Zhang Mingxing, offering her a position as Head of Research and Development, but at the cost of signing an NDA before her plans to return to Chongbai. Zuanshi Hua gave her until the end of the week to decide on her future.

After learning this information, the party traveled with Zhang Mingxing and her attendant Ling Wen back to Zhangsiyuan.

Noteworthy Postgame Events