November 04, 2023

Hook

C&M;R&H - Act 3 Scene 1: Riches and Honor

Plot Synopsis

The group reconvenes with Yamato in a deserted rice paddy about an hour outside the city limits of Tiancheng, tying up the unconscious Han Chenwu and preparing for questioning before waking him up. Yamato casts a Mind Read spell, in order to detect any lies or information Chenwu does not disclose verbally.

The group confirms that Zuanshi Hua hired Chenwu to kill Gao Xinchao, as well as threaten and kill Zhang Mingxing in a few days. They learn that Hua paid a large sum of money in order to hire Chenwu to do this in a very urgent deadline, a sign that she was desperate or distraught, or had some other deadline. Yamato learned that Chenwu was sending most of the money to his parents and his sister, but didn’t delve much deeper into the reasons and circumstances behind that. They also learned that Chenwu was not fully intent on killing Mingxing, and was rather planning on staging her death and smuggling her out of the country. They discussed and eventually came to an agreement about how to proceed: the group would help Chenwu stage Mingxing’s death and find her a place to hide before revealing that she was not actually killed after the Ars Machina is dealt with. In exchange, Chenwu would help record Hua paying him for the job and send the recording to the party as evidence to be used against her, and he would escape Ruefang with his family in the coming week. Additionally, he would give his weapons and armor over to the party once the job was done.

The “assassination” went smoothly, and any injuries or severed fingers that resulted were healed by Reese easily. Mingxing was hidden out of town at a cabin in the woods, and news agencies were given “leaked” information that the scioness of the Zhang house was brutally killed in the middle of the night, and adventurers tried to pursue the assassin but were unable to catch them.

Chenwu left his gear and disappeared into the night, andYamato decided to send a rat as a spy to the meeting between Chenwu and Hua. This plan surprisingly worked, and the rat (Foongus) was able to witness Hua’s conversation and payment to Chenwu, before trashing the small office in frustration, and sending a scrying message to a Ley’Orkian voice, telling him that with the general gone and Wei as a rogue factor, to enhance security and make sure that under no circumstances Wei is on or near the train.

The group was able to present all the evidence they gathered to Jin Xinyi and Zheng Chen:
- Zuanshi Hua hired an assassin to silence anyone who worked closely on the Ars Machina Core, and held her brother under house arrest with General Hu Lan’s assistance.
- Hua additionally covered up the fallout near multiple labs over the country where testing had been done, leading to many villages and towns plagued by Leyline Poisoning.
- There was correspondence that points to the Commission of Industry working with outside factions to profiteer off of the ongoing Raikougan Secession, by selling and supplying weapons to both sides.
- There is correspondence between the Ruefang Continental Army and the Raikougan Navy that reveals that the Turtle Bay Massacre was staged and executed by conspirators on both sides.
- Hua seems to be under some form of coercion to make sure the train leaves on time. It seems that she and General Hu Lan are only pieces of a larger plot that seeks to plunge and sustain Ruefang in war.
- One of the lead conspirators appears to be an Admiral in the Ruefang Continental Army with the initials “N.F.”

The group then prepares to meet Zuanshi Wei, who should be returning soon, as well as make a final plan on how to stop the Ars Machina from causing more danger and destruction to the country.

Noteworthy Postgame Events