James Gillen Posted December 25, 2005 Report Share Posted December 25, 2005 (well, we've been playing for a few weeks actually, and it took me this long just to put together the notes from first session... but Merry Christmas, everybody.) Thrilling Tales of Adventure! Presents The Tombs of Emperor Chin Chapter One Rumors! Gambling! Chinese Assassins! As told to James Francis Dugan November 17, 1934 Lee Chen, late of the University of Oxford, had come to make a professional visit to the University of New York, and while in the city had come to call upon his esteemed Uncle, Lee Cheng, head of a prosperous merchant family. In Cheng’s study, they sat as Uncle admired the handiwork of the tea set they were using. “An exquisite gift, Lee Chen. Ming, I suppose.†“Yes, Uncle. I knew that was one of your favorite styles.†Cheng nodded and went straight into business. He said, “While you are here, I need you to secure a Shang Dynasty artifact that is to be delivered to the Tempest family, who are sponsors of our family’s archaeological efforts. It is supposed to be delivered to Alexander Tempest’s son, Roger. I hear you are acquainted with him.†Chen said, “Yes, Uncle. He is attending university here.†“The note I received said that we were to make sure the item was delivered to this Roger Tempest personally. I do not know why- I think this is what they call a Christmas gift.†“Of course, Uncle Cheng.†Cheng lifted his head as a manservant arrived with a tray. The old man lifted a piece of paper from the tray and the servant went to work picking up the tea set. Cheng handed Chen the paper in a half-second span between the servant lifting cups. Cheng said, “That is the invoice for the shipment. Go to the Maidenhead docks and procure it, then bring it back to Roger Tempest at his father’s offices in New York.†Chen put the invoice in a vest pocket and rose, bowing deeply to his Uncle. He turned to the coat rack and as he did, Uncle Cheng yelled, “Nephew! One more thing!†“Yes, Uncle?†“You will go see your niece Lien, when you have the time. She is attending Catholic school here.†“Catholic school?†Chen asked. Cheng nodded. “As long as we are going to live in the West, we should try to learn from their better traditions. And their nuns are supposed to be strong disciplinarians. Worse than the Peking Opera.†He cleared his throat. “But while your brother Shen is in London, I promised you would help me look after his family here.†Chen said, “Certainly, Uncle Cheng.†He bowed slightly and said, “It is always good to see you.†As Chen walked toward the doorway, Uncle Cheng yelled out, “One more thing-†At that point, Chen noticed that the manservant had left a kettle on the table. And then he noticed that the pattern on the china did not match the gift set he had given Uncle. And then he noticed that the kettle was ticking. Chen ran past, saying “Excuse me, Uncle,†and with a quick motion grabbed the kettle by its handle, and ran out the back. In the hallway connecting the kitchen a woman screamed, and Chen had to dodge the family cook, Mei Ling, who outweighed him by at least 50 pounds. Pivoting around Mei Ling, Chen ran out the back door only to see a crowd of schoolchildren going by- so he leaped over them across the street to the dumpster next to a Chinese restaurant, lobbed the kettle in the garbage can and closed the can lid as the thing exploded. One of the men outside the restaurant yelled, “What was that about?†Chen shrugged and said, “Bad tea.†Just then, Chen looked up to see Cheng walk out into the street in his silk robe and say, “I just wanted you to get some ham at the Italian deli.†“Of course, Uncle,†Chen said. ---- Cain had been staying in New York for a few months and had gotten fairly comfortable. This week, the shelter where he was staying had some pretty good chow, and one of the serving girls had to take a day off, so he’d convinced her stand-in to give him an extra soup ration for the day. While eating in the lunch room, he heard Mike, one of the other residents, tell him that there was a floating dice game running that night out by the docks. Cain decided that would be a good way to pass the night after a hard day of looking for work. In the afternoon, the drifter had to get transportation over to the south end of Manhattan Island and reach the game. He saw one of the passing trolley cars and ran into the street but tripped. Cain had gotten used to running everywhere he needed to go, but was tired and really wanted to catch a break that day. Dodging another passerby, Cain redoubled his effort and paced the trolley, unsure if he could make it. But then he saw a young Chinese-looking gentleman look down at him and Cain looked up and motioned with his hand. With a strong arm, Lee Chen lifted the poor gentleman up and the man grabbed the rail to get on the trolley car. Chen apprised the man; he was dark-complexioned and shorter than he was, maybe 2 inches over five feet, and rail-thin. His hair was black and curly, and he had that haunted look Chen had seen in poor people around the world, but there was something unusual in the man’s bearing that Chen couldn’t pin down. The drifter told Lee Chen, “Much obliged.†Chen said, “No trouble. After all, it’s going to be Christmas season.†The drifter responded, “Christmas. Don’t remind me. I got a nephew who died around Easter. How wrong is that?†Chen said, “I also believe it is the custom to offer gifts to strangers.†He removed his dark coat and handed it to the drifter. “You seem to be in need of this.†Cain paused. “Much obliged. Thanks. I suppose it’d be fair if I gave you this.†Before donning Chen’s coat, the drifter handed him his own. “Why, thank you, sir,†Lee Chen said. He looked the coat over but did not don it. It was a solid grey; one might even call it a field grey, with some brass buttons up the sleeves and at the collar. He almost felt guilty taking it- while obviously well-cared for, that very fact probably made it the drifter’s heirloom. It looked to be of a style that hadn’t been worn in decades. The drifter found a place in the stalls where he could lean, and he nodded to Lee Chen. “Merry Christmas,†Chen told him. “Merry Christmas, stranger.†---- That afternoon, Roger Tempest was sitting with Woodrow, a college friend, and Woodrow’s brother John, waiting for drinks at a sidewalk café. A well-dressed yet rumpled looking character came up to the trio from the street and yelled, “Mister Tempest! James Francis Dugan of the New York Observer!†Roger nodded to the reporter and said, “Yes?†The reporter said, “Mr. Tempest, what is your reaction now that your father has been declared legally dead and you have inherited the family industries?†Roger’s long frame shrugged in his seat, his grey eyes never exactly meeting Dugan’s. “Frankly, my reaction is that I’ve been busy. Fortunately Dad had made plans long in advance in case he went missing like this. A hazard of our business, I suppose. I’ve had to spend most of the last two weeks arranging things with the lawyers.†John said, “What exactly did they say happened to Alexander?†Roger said, “He was helping supervise a dig in western China, supposedly. The company representatives say there’ve been attacks by bandits.†James Dugan asked Roger, “Any truth to the rumors that The Storm was spotted in the area?†“The mystery man? I’d hardly expect him to be showing himself this far out,†Roger scoffed. The reported shot back, “It’s also been reported that The Storm was found dead on a Burmese transport ship bound for San Diego. Supposedly he was killed by pirates, but he may have been on the trail of something else!†Woodrow piped up and asked, “Is that the sort of thing you’re reporting on? Rumors and fancies?†Roger said, “Yes, weren’t you originally with the Times?†Dugan flustered slightly and said, “Well, not all of the stories I’ve reported were so salacious… but at the same time, not all of those stories were well-received in certain editorial circles.†John sneered, “So that’s why you’re working at the Observer?†Dugan said, “Nobody wants to hear the truth, that’s what it is! The Storm getting assassinated in the East Indies, Countess Bathory killing young girls in Paris- some people don’t want to admit these things can happen!†Woodrow said, “Countess Bathory?†â€Now you’re raving!†John laughed. Dugan, undeterred, told Roger, “Maybe the public doesn’t want to think of what’s rotten in the world, but they DO have a right to know, and make up their minds.†Roger just smiled evenly. The reporter said, “Look, sir, if there’s anything you do need to talk about, I can be a very good source of information, and it helps to have friends in the right places. Here’s my business card!†Roger took the card, and said, “Thanks very much… Mr. Dugan.†The reporter bowed his hat slightly and left the men to their luncheon. Roger looked over the press card and made a mental note to save the phone number in case there was someone he wished to annoy. ---- Toward evening, after making the deli run, Lee Chen finally got to the Catholic school where Lien was supposed to be. He saw the eight-year old out in the yard with a few of the other children waiting for their parents. He came up and said in Mandarin, “Good evening, Niece. It is good to see you.†Lien responded, “It is good to see you, Uncle Chen.†To Chen, it was odd that Lien could barely speak Cantonese, and spoke American English better than Mandarin. But still, she was family. They walked out together and Chen asked in English, “How do you like the school?†Lien said, “I hate it here! They’re no fun! They don’t let you do anything! They won’t let you say ‘damn’ or ‘hell.’ Which is weird, cause they keep talking about damning people to hell all the time.†“Perhaps they do not use the term in the same way you do, Lien,†Chen told her. “You should be more respectful.†“Of course, Uncle.†Lien asked, “Where are you going?†“For now, we are going back to Chinatown so you can go home to your mother. Then I must run an errand for Uncle Cheng at the docks.†“Sounds keen! Can I come?†“No! I mean, it’s very late. And it’s no place for a young lady, I’m sure.†“Okay, Uncle Chen,†Lien said. “But thanks for picking me up. It’s been really dull since I started going to school here. I hope you’ll come around more.†--- That night, Lee Chen got to the Maidenhead Docks, with his invoice in one hand and the drifter’s grey coat under one arm. Everything seemed quiet enough. As he made his way toward Dock 43, Chen’s eye caught a flicker of movement, and he thought he saw a man in the air- a man in a cloud-grey suit and trenchcoat leaping from one roof to the other. Chen paused and said, “Things are very strange here at the docks.†He decided to move a bit more carefully from that point. At the same time, Cain had just gotten his stake back in the craps game after being forced to wager the Chinaman’s coat. He looked off in the distance and noticed that very same gentleman going toward one of the unloading areas, attempting to be sneaky and not being very professional about it. The drifter stood up and said, “Sorry, guys. I’m bowing out.†The grey-clad vigilante had received a rumor as to what would be on the dock that night, and who would be looking for it. From a warehouse roof, he found an open window and clambered down to conceal himself among the storage boxes. From his position he observed the scene. Lee Chen finally reached Dock 43. He held out the invoice and looked for the crate number. And as he found the right box, Chen was confronted by a dark-clad young man- and in a second, Chen realized him to be none other than Uncle Cheng’s traitorous manservant! “You, I see.†The man glowered at Lee Chen. In Mandarin, he said, “You cannot be allowed to obtain what is inside.†Chen glowered back. “Is that why you attacked my family?†The assassin said, “It was regrettable. But you cannot be allowed to give our secrets to the Westerner.†Chen said, “I cannot allow you to strike at my uncle without some form of retribution.†Lee Chen crouched in a fighting stance. The manservant drew a wickedly curved dagger. He charged- and Chen whipped the coat from under his arm to catch the blade and yank the assassin’s hand, quickly disarming him. But Chen failed to see a second assassin sneak up with a knotted cloth between his fists. At just that second, Cain ran up from a position of concealment and punched out the second assailant, and the man fell- with an exotic throwing dagger in his other side. Not sure where that came from, Cain just looked up at Chen and said, “Nice coat.†“Thank you.†Chen then flipped over the ex-manservant’s head and kicked him in the face, but the assassin was not brought down. Cain yelled out as he saw two more Chinese thugs grab the crate. Chen looked in that direction and said, “Be careful! Don’t let them drop that!†Moving even faster than Cain’s ability to react, Chen leapt toward the men onto a taller box and kicked one of them in the face. That man fell and dropped the crate on one end. From a wad of excelsior and stuffing spilled a large metal vase. Cain yelled out- in Mandarin- “That’s Shang Dynasty, you idiots!†(Chen thought to himself, ‘There is more to this one than meets the eye…’) Having helped dispatch Chen’s second assassin, the grey-clad stranger made his move from his concealed position. The vigilante stood and pulled out a strange device from his trenchcoat. It resembled a shotgun but actually fired a gas-powered grapnel line, and as it shot out, the hooks on the end unclamped and then clamped again once they hit the handle of the ancient vase. And at that second, Chen yelled, “NOOO!†In a flash, Chen leapt to the scene and grabbed the artifact with both arms. He looked toward the shadowy figure on the other end of the grapnel. He gave the vase a mighty pull, but the vigilante was braced, and neither man budged. The drifter yelled at them, “Excuse me? There are people here with knives!†Just then, the assassin fighting Cain swung and missed, and Cain responded with a swinging kick that likewise failed to connect. At that point, the vigilante let go of his line gun, noticing the second thug making a break for the docks. The grey-clad mystery man did an acrobatic tumble off the boxes, and in mid-somersault drew a metal rod from his coat that with the flick of a button telescoped a flexible prod from each end, turning the item into an instant quarterstaff. And then, at the end of his move, the masked man lashed out with the staff end and connected solidly with the thug’s torso, cutting the man down as he ran! Chen moved up to Cain’s opponent and said, “It’s lights out for you!†He kicked out, missed, and then punched, stunning the assassin and dropping him to the ground. The drifter took advantage of this to give his foe a vicious kick to the throat. The last foe standing was the short-haired man who confronted Chen, and he tried to make a run as Chen was engaged, but the grey-clad stranger did a follow-up sweep with his staff, smashing the assassin in the face and dropping him. The drifter took further advantage by looting the petty cash from the Chinese thugs, while the masked man pivoted back to grab his line gun. He looked inside the Shang vase and noticed something: The interior of the vase actually contained an inner lining, one that actually seemed as though it had been painted the same color as the natural green of the vase. But the paint had come off just enough for the adventurer to see that it was a parchment inside- perhaps a scroll. He reached his hand out to the vase edge, only for it to be slapped back by Lee Chen, who looked at the masked man and told him: “I am very sorry, sir, but this does not belong to you.†Whether the vigilante would have responded, at that point the manservant-cum-assassin lifted his bloody face up from the ground and groaned a warning to Lee Chen: “No… you must stop him.†And Chen said, “What are you talking about?†The assassin raised a trembling arm and pointed to the masked stranger. And he shouted in English, “The Storm! Y-you must stop him! He will resurrect the Emperor Chin!!†--- JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OddHat Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! Thank for sharing that. Repped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! What Oddhat said. Repped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted December 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! Thanks. JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! Glad to hear the campaign's off to a good start! Hopefully my soon-to-start PH campaign will do likewise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Desmarais Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! Glad to hear the campaign's off to a good start! Hopefully my soon-to-start PH campaign will do likewise. Everybody's playing Pulp Hero except me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentor Posted December 26, 2005 Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! Great write up, James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted December 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2005 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! Glad to hear the campaign's off to a good start! Hopefully my soon-to-start PH campaign will do likewise. Awesome. jg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted January 5, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! As I said on January 3, my resolution on January 1 was to quit procrastinating. First off, thanks to Steve and everyone else for all the compliments. I also got a Reputation hit for this Pulp campaign from GestaltBennie. Coming from the author of "Billy Deighton," that is truly high praise. Second, thanks for the "Emperor Chin" thread; I'd already thought of the root idea, but the posters gave me a lot of details in their links. Too bad I didn't get to use most of them... Third, I should mention that the campaign is already over. At least for now. You see, Aaron (who plays Cain) mentioned to us that he ran D&D 3.5 and the fact is, none of us have actually played D20 and we were genuinely curious to see how it worked. So we're setting up a game this week. I am however, supposed to alternate with Aaron as GM. So last week, when shopping on DriveThruRPG, I not only got the Shadowrun 4th Edition PDF, but at least three of Steve's HeroPlus adventures, which will probably serve as root material for the next game, assuming I don't just use them as is. Without further ado, here's Chapter Two: 12/1 Chapter Two Lost Secrets! An Ambush in the Market! The three heroes had only a second to ponder the Chinese thug’s warning before a spotlight cut close to the side of the docks. In the distance, a Coast Guard cutter was passing toward Dock 43. Lee Chen turned to his side to face the stranger in the grey suit only to see that he had suddenly vanished. The young Chinese shrugged. Cain said to him, “We’re gonna need to leave. I don’t care to explain this.” Chen said, “I agree.” He took the Shang vase in both arms, careful to make sure he kept the invoice in his pocket. “And I still need to take this to its rightful owner.” Cain, not bothering to mention the fist weapons and petty cash he’d ripped off the thugs, asked, “Could you spare a little bit for bus fare?” ”Why, of course.” Chen gave the drifter a half-dollar in coins and the man bowed slightly, and then ran to avoid the authorities. Chen took the vase again and calmly walked up toward the street to hail a cab, leaving the beaten thugs to be captured. Even in that neighborhood, it was not hard for Chen to get a taxi, although the driver seemed a bit suspicious when he saw who his fare was and what he was carrying. But he just said, “Where to?” Lee Chen said, “Tempest Industries.” As they drove away, Chen thought he caught a movement in back near one of the warehouses- perhaps the man in grey, he wasn’t sure. Chen asked, “Somebody’s looking at me funny. Could you step on it, please?” Roger looked out as Lee Chen drove off in the taxi. He was a bit amused that Chen said the vase didn’t belong to him. It did, of course, but he couldn’t afford to let his old college acquaintance know that he was The Storm. He was pretty sure where the taxi was going to go, so he had to get his own vehicle and take a shortcut to reach his family offices to meet Chen. Again. It was almost 10 o’clock at night by the time Lee Chen reached the door of Tempest Industries. He had to be let in the alarm door by the guard, who continued to watch Chen and his prize curiously as he was led into the office’s main lobby, now uninhabited except for a late-working secretary. Chen told the woman he was in for Roger Tempest, and asked to be let into his office. The secretary simply told him to wait for Mr. Tempest to arrive. Chen had waited in the lobby some twenty minutes before a side door opened and Roger Tempest came out to greet him. He was lankier than Chen, not as muscular, but definitely well built. His suit was of good quality but not so good as to betray his social class. Roger said, “Mr. Lee- or is it Dr. Lee yet?” Chen said, “Mister. I don’t have the doctorate yet.” Roger walked to a double door and opened it for Lee Chen. “Please come in.” The men walked into a large study lit from outside by the bright streets of New York nightlife, the walls papered with yellowing maps of the globe and several of the locales that Alexander Tempest or one of his ancestors had visited. The guard closed the doors behind. At that point Roger helped Lee Chen carry the vase over to the main desk by the windows. Roger asked, “So what’s the story behind this?” Chen told him, “My family was given this delivery by your father. I was told that it must be given to you personally. I had a bit of trouble getting it here.” “How so?” “Someone called ‘the storm’ tried to take it from me, and some other Asian gentleman wanted to keep it away from this Storm character.” “One of those mystery men, eh?” Roger smiled. “Did this man say why?” Chen said, “He said that the Storm would revive the Emperor Chin. Which would be a rather evil thing.” Roger shook his head. “That doesn’t sound like the Storm’s style.” Chen then said, “The mystery man did notice something in the vase. Look.” He pointed out the false lining of the vase interior. “I think my father must have concealed this for me,” Roger said. “I agree,” Chen told him. Roger nodded and Lee Chen ran his fingers around the edge of the parchment and carefully removed it from the inside of the Shang vase. He then laid it flat on the desk and then slowly turned it over on its painted side, revealing handwritten characters on the surface. Chen and Roger then looked down to study the piece. Chen only saw a pictographic script that only vaguely resembled the Chinese alphabet. To Roger Tempest, the characters were something more: They were an ancient tongue spoken in the land of Thon-Sa, a land destroyed several ages and several breakings of the world ago. And Roger was now the only man on Earth who could read what was written for him: My Dear Boy Roger, If this message reaches you before I can see you in person, you must assume the worst. But this is what I have tried to prepare you for in the same fashion that my father prepared me. You must be ready to assume our sacred task. On 21 October, the dig I was sponsoring near the city of Sian found a cuneiform tablet written in a style not native to the area, and I was able to recognize the script as one used in a pre-Atlantean civilization unknown to most people of our modern age. More disturbing was where the text was found- in a scroll library whose contents indicate its use for alchemical and arcane discoveries. One of the scrolls, written in very refined characters, translates from the Chinese as this: “This world is built upon the bones of the dead. And thus, that world is built upon the dead who lived before. If I can find the resting place of the Never Born, I can achieve the core of this world’s power, and conquer death itself.” According to local tradition, the surrounding area was the burial place of Shih Huang Ti, or the Emperor Chin, founder of the Legalist tradition. It was Chin who unified China, giving the land its name in the West, but with the utmost degree of ruthlessness, killing on a scale unprecedented in Asian history in order to consolidate power. Perhaps this might have been justified for the sake of the nation, but Chin was foremost concerned with his own pleasure. He not only sought to rule absolutely, but to rule eternally. Before he unified China, and throughout his reign, he sought longevity potions and other magic to cheat the inevitable, and when he died, by his instructions a tomb complex was made in the style of a great necropolis so that Chin could rule the underworld as he had ruled the living. But it was always rumored that Chin’s funeral preparations were merely an attempt at resurrection. If Chin had managed to find a source of true magic, he might have found the spell that would reverse his death. If only we could leave the land alone, we might be able to assume that Chin- or whatever he had buried down there- is safely hidden and unable to reach the light of day. But if our company had not made the find, some other Westerner surely would have. More pressing, the land in West China is contested by various warlords as well as the Communists. While Mao may not believe in the old legends, other generals do, and many think that the man who controls Chin’s tomb will find untold riches- or the secret of magical power that Chin used to seize a nation. This is what I have been told by many of the locals who have contacts with the generals. But I cannot trust that these people haven’t also told others of what we discovered. That is why I had to act in secret, in hopes that I could find the truth and prevent the outside world from doing so. I know for a fact that I am being stalked, either by spies for the nearby general Chun Tzu, or by cultists who seek to gain the Emperor’s black magic for themselves. Since this has reached you, we must assume that I could not act in time. You must go to Sian and contact Tempest Industries’ archaeological site director, Brian Thompson- he will brief you on what we’ve uncovered here. Obviously, though, he and the rest of the staff cannot be allowed to know what is at the heart of the tomb. If my suspicions are correct, it is a threat to the Earth that must be destroyed or at least sealed off from humanity. The legacy now passes to you, Roger, as we knew it would. Guard it as your ancestors did. And know I love you still. Chen watched Roger concentrate on the message for several minutes. When Roger looked up, Chen asked, “What is it?” Roger said, “I can make out bits and pieces of it. It’s in an ancient Native American dialect called Thona.” It occurred to Chen that Roger’s intense study of the message indicated a greater familiarity with the language than he let on. But he chose not to press. Chen then asked Roger, “What does it say?” ”It mentions the Emperor Chin. Apparently his tomb has been found near Sian.” “What would the Indians know about Chin?” “They wouldn’t. That’s why this language is used as a code,” Roger replied. Chen said, “So who ever tried to attack me wanted to keep me- and you- from finding this out.” Roger said, “I need to go to my father’s dig and see what they’ve uncovered. At first opportunity.” Chen said, “A voyage over the Pacific could take weeks.” Roger straightened up. “I’m going to charter a flight to San Francisco first thing. From there I’ll arrange a relay of flights over the Pacific to Shanghai, and from there I’ll tell my people to get me to the site in Sian.” “I should like to go, Roger,” Chen said. Roger asked, “Why?” “You will need an archaeologist, by what you are telling me. It would help if he is native Chinese. Besides, one of the guys I beat up, or had a hand in beating up, tried to kill my uncle with a teapot.” “That must have been some bad tea,” Roger said. ---- The next morning, the drifter decided to go back out to the docks near Chinatown to look for day labor. He fell into a crowd composed of men of many races and tongues, standing around waiting for a few well-heeled men to pick them out. One of those well-heeled men looked toward the drifter’s side of the crowd and said, “We’re here for Tempest Industries. We’re gonna need at least one porter with good shoulders to handle luggage for a cross-country flight. There’s extra pay for anyone who’s willing to leave the country. Does anybody here speak Chineseman?” --- Around noon of the same day Lee Chen took a couple of travel bags to the private airport where Roger Tempest had told him to go. Tempest was waiting for him, wearing a bright suit and directing the hired men with his luggage as they loaded the charter plane. Chen suddenly realized that he’d seen one of the porters before, back when he was wearing his coat. The porter looked back and Chen said, “I think you are following me.” Cain said, “Not really… I’m just getting a little antsy to get outta New York- see the world, y’know?” “If you say so,” Chen responded. “It’s just… a bit odd.” “People say that about me a lot,” the porter said. --- Crossing America, Cain and Roger passed the time with another porter playing cards. Lee Chen decided to read one of the architecture books he brought instead. After a while he went up to the shelf where the snacks were kept only to see that an entire can of peanuts was empty. He asked the men, “Who ate all the peanuts?” “I haven’t touched them,” Cain said. “Me neither,” said the other porter. Roger said, “There should be some more on the shelf. We just supplied before taking off.” ”Well, I don’t see any here,” Chen told him. “Maybe we can help look,” Cain said. “You check the supply shelf; I’ll check the shelves in the bathroom.” Cain checked the bathroom, which was itself something of a hall closet that happened to have a toilet in it. He took a flashlight and checked the bottom shelf near the door. He saw what appeared to be a bundle hidden in one of the shelves, and when he checked he realized it was a little girl, maybe eight, with a pageboy haircut and Chinese features. The girl woke up. “Uh… hi,” she whispered. Cain closed the door behind him. “Hi,” he said. “My name’s Cain, what’s yours?” ”Lien Lee,” the girl said. “Do you know Lee Chen?” The girl said, “He’s my uncle.” Cain asked, “Does he know you’re on this plane?” ”Not yet…” “How’d you get on?” Lien said, “I was checking you guys fight last night, and I heard somebody mention that you were going to China to find the Emperor’s tomb. I got in Mr. Tempest’s car and got in the plane with the luggage.” “Ah-hah,” Cain said. “And why shouldn’t I tell Lee Chen so he can take you back home?” Lien became all wide-eyed. “I don’t wanna go back! I’m in Catholic school! I’m escaping from nuns!” Cain nodded heavily. “Oh. You should have just said so.” ”Nuns are mean, aren’t they?” Cain said, “Let’s just say I don’t have a good relationship with the Church.” Cain came back into the main cabin. Chen asked him, “Did you find the rest of the peanuts?” “No.” --- Thus the trip from New York City to San Francisco passed without further incident. Cain got the little girl a second blanket for warmth, given that contemporary planes were not terribly well-heated. He also managed to move her during the period that Roger was checking the compartments on the second plane, since by this time Chen had noticed that some of the other foodstuffs had been filched during the flight from California to Hawaii. However, at the Honolulu airbase where Tempest Industries was loading the third plane bound for Guam, Roger checked the luggage compartment again, and looked over one of the overhead shelves to see the rolled blanket where Lien was hiding, pretending to be invisible. Roger smirked and said, “Why, hello there.” Lien said, “Hi.” “I take it you’re Lee Chen’s family?” ”I’m his niece,” Lien said. “He said we’re going to China.” ”Did he say you were coming along?” ”No… I don’t think he would mind, though.” Roger said, “Where we’re going is a dangerous area for a little girl. Why would I want to bring you along?” “I could be your translator,” she said. Roger asked her, “Really? Do you know any Mandarin?” ”Ai Chir Sze Se Duh Fon Diang Gho,” Lien said. “Good enough for me,” Roger told her. “How does a dollar a day sound?” “Okay!” On the trans-Pacific flight, Lee Chen rested on a cot in the main cabin, reading his book. When he woke up, he heard conversation at the poker table. Roger said, “Three kings.” Lien said, “What does it mean when they’re all in the same suit?” Cain growled and dropped his hand. Chen brushed the sleep out of his eyes and Lien said, “Hi Uncle Chen.” Chen paused for a second to confirm he was awake. Then he got up and said “What the- what is going on here?” Cain said, “We found the girl in the baggage compartment after leaving Honolulu. By that point it was too late to send her back.” Roger was trying his best to maintain a serious expression. Chen said, “Lien, how can you do this? You have run away and disobeyed your family!!” The little girl said, “But Uncle Chen, this is so neat! We’re going to China! I’m from China! I’ve never been to China since at least when I was born!” “What do you think Uncle Cheng is going to do when I tell him?” Lien said, “Well, you won’t tell him, ‘cause he’d be upset!” Chen almost reddened. He said, “And now that the nuns know you’ve been gone, what do you think they’ll do to you when you come back home?” She said, “Well, you don’t have to tell! You can say… I was kidnapped! By Chinese pirates! And they took me back to Shanghai to work in the mines, and you had to run after them to get me back!” Chen shook his head. “Uncle is going to be so upset…” Roger told Chen, “It’s not going to be a problem. I’m sure all of us can protect her.” Chen said, “You expect her to be safe in a city that English use as another word for ‘kidnapping’!” Cain shrugged his head and told Chen, “You know, it’s very irresponsible of you, taking your niece on this flight.” --- After about a week on airplanes, Roger Tempest and his companions finally reached Shanghai, where they were directed to the Customs department in the International Settlement. By this point the pilots were getting the plane ready for its flight home and Cain was the only “crew” accompanying Roger, Chen, and Chen’s niece. The three of them were being eyed suspiciously by British soldiers as the English customs official talked to Roger. The man asked Roger, “The two Chinese, do they have family in the area?” ”I assume so.” ”They’ll have to stay in the native neighborhood, then,” the Englishman said. Chen was looking at an English sign by the gates, “NO DOGS OR CHINESE ALLOWED ON PREMISES”. Roger said, “I’m sure that won’t be necessary. They’re longtime members of my domestic staff.” The official said, “Including the girl?” ”She’s my Mandarin translator.” The Englishman looked up at Chen and said,”What about him?” Lee Chen deadpanned, “I’m his chauffeur.” In a few minutes, Cain had gotten the group’s luggage on transport dollies as they waited for a limousine to the city. “I think we should go to your hotel first to set things up. I may need to contact my relatives,” Chen muttered to Roger. “All right,” Roger said. “Personally I want to be a tourist for the night before we go to Sian. Maybe go shopping.” Cain said, “There should be plenty of fine shops near here.” Roger said, “I was actually thinking about going into the Chinese section. I can get Western goods in New York.” “It wouldn’t be a good place for a white man to go,” Chen said. “The customs people told me that there are some Canadians who’d be willing to hire out as bodyguards nearby.” “They won’t speak Chinese, most likely,” Chen said. Cain said, “Let me go with Roger. I know my way around here.” “You know your way around here?” Chen asked. “I did a few odd jobs near Hong Kong and Shanghai. A few years back.” “So you speak Mandarin?” Chen asked. Cain responded in Mandarin, “Just a little bit.” Chen responded back in Mandarin, “There is indeed more to you than meets the eye.” While the others went out shopping, Lee Chen went to the nearest telegraph station to send a message to Uncle Cheng: “LIEN IS WITH ME- STOP- WE ARE IN SHANGHAI- STOP- WILL CONTACT RELATIVES IN AREA TO SIT WITH HER- STOP- STOP PANICKING- STOP” --- Roger and Cain went out with Douglas and Robert, the tall young men they’d hired as protection, and proceeded to wander the close-packed dirt streets in the “native” zone of Shanghai. Cain started asking around for the marketplaces with the sort of tapestries Roger was asking for. Then Roger told him to start asking for the Muslim neighborhood where the merchants sold the items from Sinkiang. One of the Chinese in the street smiled and gave Cain the right directions to the bazaar. The four started walking an alleyway past the crowds and Cain mentioned, “I’m surprised. I thought I knew this area better than you did.” ”Well, my family did do a lot of traveling,” Roger said. “Dad thought it was important that I be exposed to the world…” Robert lifted his head and said “Huh?” Roger and Cain turned to see that both of their bodyguards were falling down with startled looks on their faces. Shockingly, they had throwing knives in their backs- and in a corner alleyway, almost concealed by a now panicked throng, was a hooded Chinese clad entirely in a baggy costume in a cloud-grey hue- almost like the Storm’s, Roger thought. Cain threw one of the various knives he smuggled on his person, but it went wide of the mark as the crowd parted. Roger pulled the blade out of Doug’s back and threw that very blade at the mysterious enemy- only to see the assassin catch the knife in one hand and flick it back in a single motion! The knife drew blood a second time, cutting across Roger’s bicep for a flesh wound. Faster than Roger could react, the assassin ran towards him, and Roger decided to meet him halfway. He connected with a punch to the solar plexus, and the Chinese grunted but did not yield. At this point Cain ran into the melee and swung at the assassin, grazing his jaw with a fist. Roger and the enemy threw lightning-fast punches at each other, each failing to connect. The assassin then directed his attention to Cain, but Cain barely managed to block a punch with his arm. Roger used that opportunity to move in. The assassin attempted his own block, but Roger suddenly moved under his defense, scoring another solid blow, bringing the man down. But why did he try to kill Roger Tempest? --- JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 5, 2006 Report Share Posted January 5, 2006 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! An Ambush in the Market Dagnabit, I told you to sell those shares of Amalgamated Buggywhip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted January 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! 12/8 Chapter Three The Assassin Bound! Ancient Chinese Secrets! Surrounded in Shanghai! Around the same time that Roger Tempest and his group were being attacked, Lee Chen was walking Lien through the marketplace. Chen wanted to shop for the little girl, but he didn’t tell her that he was also en route to contact his family in the area so that he could have her taken care of while he went to Sian with Roger. The two reached a junction of dirt streets when they saw a great commotion towards the rug-sellers’ stalls. Lien looked through some people’s legs and told Chen, “Hey, I see Cain!” Chen looked over the heads of the crowd as best he could and saw that Cain was indeed in the center of the stalls, along with Roger and his bodyguards. He saw blood on at least one of their shirts. They seemed to be surrounding someone else, and the Chinese were giving them a wide berth. Cain picked up Lien and moved his way through the crowd, this way and that, until he got to the clearing and noticed that Cain was looking over an unconscious Chinese man in a powder-grey martial arts outfit. Looking closely, Chen saw that one side of the robe had the characters Tien Lung embroidered in the same color as the rest of the robe fabric. The man’s face was fairly handsome, although Chen also noticed that Cain was carrying a hood that obviously came off the intruder’s costume. Lee Chen put down Lien. He looked over at Cain and said, “Are we not having a good afternoon?” Cain said, “Ran into a spot of trouble,” kicking the Chinese man for emphasis. The two big Canadians with Roger started getting up. Douglas said, “Ow, what happened, eh?” Roger said, “This fellow happened. But we’ve got it under control.” Robert looked at Roger’s arm and said, “Hey, you look hurt.” Roger told him, “It’s not much, really. I think you two are a bit more hurt.” Lee Chen said, “I can help with that.” Cain said, “Really?” Chen said, “My family taught me some of the basics of traditional Chinese medicine. I’m not a master, or a medical doctor, but I can at least help the wounds start to heal better.” Cain nodded. “Well, it wouldn’t be a good idea to go to a hospital around here. Authorities can be bribed.” Roger said, “Well the good news for ME is that authorities can be bribed.” Chen said, “What are we doing with him?” indicating the fallen warrior near Cain. Roger and Cain looked at each other, and Roger said, “We need to take him with us. I need to find out what’s been going on- and who’s really after us.” Even as Roger said this, Cain picked up one of the large round baskets from the sellers’ area and checked it for contents. He then gave a few coins to the seller and took the basket over, depositing the assassin unceremoniously head-first. “You guys ready?” Roger told Cain, “I think I need to help Robert, here. Our hotel isn’t too far off, but we’ll have to walk.” Chen said to Douglas, “I suppose I’ll have to help you, sir.” Lien said, “No one’s going to notice you guys walking into the hotel like this?” Douglas said, “Well, this sorta thing happens all the time in Shanghai. Or so I hear.” --- After dragging the basket past the front desk as “laundry,” the group walked into Roger’s suite at a posh American-run hotel. Then they locked the doors for privacy. Lee Chen insisted that Lien stay in the side room, because one of their precautions required them to strip the young Chinese man down to his loincloth-like briefs and tie him up, putting both sets of limbs in front. Cain had already searched the man for valuables and weapons. To his surprise he found that other than the two wicked knives he put in the Canadian guards, the assassin was only carrying a few random coins and rocks in his pockets. Meantime Lee Chen put himself to work using a few herbal compounds he picked up in the market previously, cleaning the men’s wounds and applying some makeshift bandages. Chen asked, “What about the attacker? He looks fairly bruised.” ”So he does,” Cain told him. “I don’t want to waste too much sympathy on him yet.” Roger said, “Wake him up.” Cain grabbed the man’s hair and slapped his face gently. The Chinese opened his eyes. Cain asked him in Mandarin, “So, who are you?” The man responded, “No one you know.” Roger said, “Could one of you translate?” The man told Roger, “I speak English well enough.” Roger smiled. “So. Why did you attack us?” The man said, “I am pledged to stop you and your father’s company from despoiling our land- and unearthing the Emperor’s Tomb.” “Why is that necessary?” Roger asked. “Because the Tomb is Shih Huang Ti’s earthly prison. If he is exposed he may rise again.” Cain said, “In spirit or in flesh?” “He already rules the Underworld.” ”In spirit or in rotting flesh?” The man said, “I don’t wish to find out.” Roger said, “Who do you represent?” The man said nothing. Roger continued, “Do you know anything about the people who tried to attack my friend here in New York?” Lee Chen said, “Tien Lung.” Roger noticed that the man seemed to respond to the name. “What’s that?” he asked. Chen said, “It means Celestial Dragon.” For some reason, Cain thought he should know if that name meant something. As it turned out, he didn’t. So he asked, “What does that mean to us?” Chen said, “It is something of a legend in China, but a fairly obscure one. The Celestial Dragon Society was supposed to be a group of scholars and monks who protected the Chinese heritage and cultural artifacts from various greedy emperors and foreigners. But no one has confirmed their existence.” He nodded at the man. “I saw that name on his costume.” Roger said, “So then, do YOU have a name?” The man smiled. “Fei Yun.” Cain said, “So… how does one get to learn those dagger tricks?” ”That is part of the Initiation.” ”What kind of initiation was this?” Fei Yun smiled and said, “You could not survive it.” Cain said, “I dunno about that.” Then he said, “How do we get to meet up with your friends?” Fei Yun glared. “Why should I tell you?” Lee Chen said, “Because we want the same thing.” Roger and Cain both looked at Chen. Chen said, “We need to stop the dig. That is why Roger and I came here.” Roger asked Fei Yun, “How did you know to find me?” ”I am a worker on the site. We received word you were taking a plane out.” Cain said, “I think we should talk to this guy’s superiors. Where are they?” Fei Yun said nothing. Cain looked down at him calmly and socked him on the jaw. Douglas said “Ow” again. Roger came up to Cain and said, “Was that really necessary?” ”You’d be surprised how effective torture can be in these situations,” Cain said. “It won’t be necessary. I think we can deal with this one.” Fei Yun looked up at Roger and said, “Why would you want to?” Roger said, “Because we really do want the same thing. Maybe it would work better if you talked to Westerners instead of throwing knives at them.” Fei Yun shook his head. “We had previously had trouble at the site with a costumed mystery man called The Storm.” Later, Lee Chen would think it was odd that the Storm had managed to get himself into New York in advance of the Tien Lung going after Uncle Cheng. Almost as if he were in two places at once. --- An hour after nightfall, Lee Chen and Cain were escorting Lien to a moderately sized apartment house in the Chinese section of the city. Chen stood at the doorway silently. “Who is this guy?” Cain asked. “Lee Shen. Shen is my Uncle’s cousin’s second son,” Chen responded. “Very close, then.” “Yes,” Chen responded. The next second, the door opened and a man about Chen’s age stood there in Western-style suit and haircut. He said in Cantonese, “Greetings, Lee Chen.” ”Greetings, Lee Shen. This is my niece Lien of New York City.” Shen bowed slightly to Lien and said, “I am pleased to meet you, Lee Lien. You will stay with us while your Uncle Chen is in China. I have three children who would be delighted to play with you.” “Thank you,” Lien said in Cantonese. But she was obviously unhappy. Then she said in Mandarin, “Do I have to? You guys are staying at the hotel.” Chen said, “You said you wanted to see China.” ”I wanted to see China with YOU. This isn’t gonna be any fun,” she said in English. Cain broke in and said, “If you come along, it’ll just make him mucked in the head,” nodding to Chen. Chen looked perturbed but didn’t object. “It’s very dangerous where we’re going, Lien,” Cain said. Shen spoke in English. “You will come in, please, Lien. My wife is making our dinner now. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” Lien nodded blankly. Cain and Chen left the apartments and met up with Fei Yun and Roger Tempest on the street corner. Roger had brought along some kind of satchel from the hotel and was carrying it over his shoulder. They had gotten Fei some Western clothes from Chen’s luggage, which fit loosely, since Fei was somewhat slimmer than Lee Chen. Cain remarked, “Her feet better not be any smaller when I get back.” Chen told him, “Lien will be fine while we take care of things in China.” He paused. “You seem perhaps overly fond of her.” Cain said, “What gave you that idea?” “Nevermind that,” Roger said. Fei Yun broke in and said, “It isn’t far from here. I am not sure you’ll like the neighborhood, though.” --- The neighborhood was indeed close, given how crammed together everything in this part of the city seemed to be. It was almost jarring to Roger and even Cain how quickly the nice buildings in Shen’s neighborhood changed into the unlit roads and shacks near the dockside. Several girls, fairly attractive ones, took notice of the group and especially of the two Westerners. One of the older women on the street looked at Roger, pointed to one of her female companions and said, “Do business?” ”What kind of business?” he asked. The younger girl responded by briefly pulling down her blouse for a flash. Roger smiled. Before he could respond, Cain said, “Well, we won’t have time tonight. Wish we did, though.” The men continued to walk down the streets, past some other women who eyed them more suspiciously. Cain looked at Chen and said, “You don’t come out here much, do you?” Chen shook his head a little nervously and said, “No. I haven’t had much reason to.” Cain shrugged and said, “Well, after seeing a few million pairs of female breasts, they kind of lose their appeal.” Chen looked at him and asked “Really?” ”No.” After what seemed like hours of walking- and probably was- Fei Yun pointed and said, “There.” The building he led Roger to was a rather modest red-brick affair, with a traditional pagoda-type roof. From its size and state of rough-but-sturdy repair, it seemed to be either a Buddhist temple or a house of ill repute, possibly both. Fei Yun said, “You will speak to my contact in Shanghai.” Roger asked, “He’ll tell us what you’ve found out so far, then?” The Chinese only nodded. Then he said, “Come in behind me. I must introduce you.” Chen muttered to Cain, “Be respectful here. They do not like flippancy.” ”I can be dead serious,” Cain responded. They entered the building through gauzy curtains and walked down short halls dimly lit by red lanterns. There were a few men in the side rooms, although it was a bit hard for the adventurers to tell what they were doing. Fei Yun approached a beaded curtain and spoke quietly to a guard inside. He was given leave to enter. Fei Yun nodded and bid the group follow him inside. They seemed to be in a traditional teahouse room, with long benches down the hall, most of them set apart with partitions, contributing to the confined feel of the place. At one of the nearer benches there was a very elderly Chinese- to judge from the long fingernails- in heavy crimson robes and headdress sitting away from the group playing some sort of tile game ‘solitaire.’ A faint female voice spoke up in Mandarin, “Approach, Fei Yun.” The young man took a few steps forward. Cain did likewise, looking around the bench to see that the elder was indeed a woman of quite wrinkled visage and eyes that reflected the dim red light- most likely because of cataracts. “Why do you come, Fei Yun?” she asked. Fei bowed deeply. “Grandmother Red Moon, the Westerner is already aware of our activities. I had tried to assassinate him and was unsuccessful.” Grandmother Red Moon rose her head up with effort. “And you have brought him here.” Cutting into English, she said, “And he is not alone. You have failed us, Fei Yun, and more so, you have brought the strangers, along with this- bird of ill omen,” waving her robe sleeve around toward Cain. “Bird of ill omen,” Cain thought to himself. “Sounds about right.” After an uncomfortable silence, Grandmother Red Moon said, “Roger Tempest. I bid you sit.” Roger approached with Lee Chen behind. Roger quietly sat down to face the ancient dowager, with Cain standing where he was and both Fei Yun and Lee Chen standing on the other side of the bench. The woman stared, and Roger spoke up. “You sent Fei Yun to kill me.” “You were deemed a threat to our nation, as was your father. It seems however, that he was not the one who was the threat, yes?” Roger chose his words carefully. “My father… has disappeared. He sent a message telling me what his crews had found and why it was important that it not be uncovered.” Cain said, “You could just radio and tell them to end the digging.” ”My father was a bit suspicious as to what was going on, and it seems he had reason,” Roger told him. “It also seems that some people from China wanted to get their hands on the Emperor’s treasures, and up to now we thought your assassins were among them.” Grandmother Red Moon said, “The land is fought over by unscrupulous men. Not merely the Japanese, but the Chinese warlords who steal from the country and undermine our law. The greatest threat in the Sian area is Chun Tzu, called by some the “Warrior-Sage.” He styles himself a student of the classics. Mao tse-tung is also nearby, but Chun Tzu would be more interested in claiming the Tomb as a symbol of Chinese heritage.” “Exactly what would be the problem with this?” Roger asked. Fei Yun said, “As I say, if he got far enough, he might broach the seals that keep the Emperor within the Underworld.” Cain asked, “Which were?” Grandmother Red Moon spoke up. “The Tomb is said to lie behind three jade gates and the walls and ceilings are painted and carved so as to resemble the lands the Jade Emperor ruled in life. The inner palace is behind a great river of mercury, cut into the earth so as to follow the flows of the Weihe River.” “Mercury?” Roger asked. Lee Chen said, “As I recall, mercury is an element of longevity and was used in Chinese alchemy to prolong life.” Fei Yun said, “That is also the barrier that separates the world of the dead from the world of the living.” Roger said, “So perhaps if we used construction to cut the flow of that river, it might kill his power.” Grandmother Red Moon sighed. “Not even our order knows. Our studies confirm the arrangement of the gates and the wards the Emperor placed in his coffin. Whether to preserve himself in the next world or to bring himself back to this one, we cannot say. But the underground caves have power, and they are vast. The inner sanctum is arranged to take advantage of that power. Whether to sustain the lord’s power or to keep him inside, we cannot say.” ”Feng Shui,” Cain muttered. The woman blinked. “Use of the local geography to take advantage of magical energies by placement of objects in the area,” Cain said. “I guess.” Suddenly the woman raised her face up with a startled look, as if she were hearing a distant sound- or actually seeing something in the darkness. “Soldiers,” she whispered. With that, she raised her arm towards the nearest candle and dramatically waved it out with her sleeve. And the entire house was cast into pitch blackness. Lee Chen and the others could hear movements outside. They heard what sounded like a muffled rifle shot. There was a pounding on the entrance door. Abruptly, it crashed in. --- JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted February 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! [WHEN LAST WE LEFT: Matt, who was actually holding the game at his apartment, finally had his schedule changed to where he could attend on a regular basis again and make a character for the game. It took until about the point where the last adventure ended for him to finish it, so that by the time he was ready, I'd already gotten to the cliffhanger for the coming week's battle. So with the stage set- here we go.] 12/15 Chapter Four Blood Spilled in the Teahouse! The Coming of a Great White Hunter! Christian Leary was in a bad mood as he walked down the alleys of Shanghai. As long as he was stuck in this weird Chinese city, he thought he might as well enjoy himself, but he ended up in a strange neighborhood and he didn’t like the feeling he was getting from the locals. He turned to hear a commotion near the dock area. Some old lady in red robes was being chased around an old whorehouse by a Chinese soldier. Christian didn’t like that idea much. He drew his sidearm, but at that point the man noticed him and fired a shot. With a heroic charge, the adventurer ran straight up with his left arm extended, smacking the enemy down. Inside the teahouse, light from the streets streamed in as a soldier kicked in the door. The troop was coming in to take down the adventurers. One soldier advanced only to be cut down by two thrown coins from Fei Yun. Meanwhile, Lee Chen looked about and Cain moved past the tables towards a staircase on the opposite wall. Chen, seeing what Cain was doing, did a handstand leap off his table toward his position. But at the same moment, the door at the head of the staircase likewise burst in, and the heroes were faced by more soldiers. Cain was directly in their path. He weaved right, but they fired. A shot towards Chen’s direction went wild, striking an oil lamp on a table and igniting it. Cain’s attempt to dodge went straight into the path of the other two shots, and the wanderer took both shots in an arm- and amazingly, did not fall down! “Shoot them!†Cain cried out to Lee Chen. “I don’t shoot people!†Chen yelled. “What good are you?†Cain drew a knife from his pocket and lobbed it at a man on the stair, but it went straight past him. The men fired at Cain again, but at this point he was too close for their arcs. At that point Chen leapt onto the stair, balanced on one foot and did a spin kick to an attacker’s head, bringing the man down. “And THAT is what I do!†Chen told Cain. Off to the side entrance, more soldiers moved in to take on Fei Yun after their initial shots missed the wily assassin. One of the men caught movement inside past the burning table. He advanced toward it, and without warning, the grey-clad mystery man known as The Storm charged the soldier with his battle staff, taking him down with a hard blow! At that point three of the soldiers near Fei Yun fired again, one shot taking down a chandelier and crashing it into the burning table- spreading the fire even further. The Storm ducked the whooshing flame even as another shot went by his head. But Fei Yun himself took a shot to the chest, and the wounded man went down. Lee Chen took down a second soldier with his kick attack. Cain, as was his custom, kicked the fellow while he was down. The two looked and saw that the stairway door was clear- but they had seen other men behind it. Chen looked left and saw that other soldiers remained nearby Fei Yun while the center of the floor continued to burn. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw the masked vigilante from New York backing away from the flames. Doing a headstand off the stair rail, Lee Chen leapt onto the nearest table to face the reinforcements. Meantime, the Storm drew another amazing gadget from his trenchcoat, holding a compact dispenser towards the burning table, spraying it down with extinguishing foam. Cain walked up the stair and outside into the open air. And at that point he saw a black-haired, tan and rugged Caucasian, well over six feet tall and dressed as though he’d just come off safari, lifting three Chinese soldiers one by one and throwing them off the docks. After manhandling the three other punks outside, Christian decided to toss them over the docks. But as he was throwing the punks into the ocean, Christian heard another American yell out, “Hey, Mr. Cornbread, there’s more in here!†He looked over and saw a short guy in a bloody shirt standing at the side entrance. The short guy then ducked back in the building. Somewhat curious, Christian looked in to see flames and smoke inside a teahouse, with some kind of firefight going on. A stray shot went nearby as the short man ran back in. “Well, there’s a good reason not to go inside,†Christian muttered. Instead, he decided to go around toward the side entrance. Inside, another shot hit the Storm but bounced off the adventurer’s bullet-proof suit. The mystery man continued to apply his extinguisher to the flames. Lee Chen ran up from the table with a jumping spin kick that took a soldier square in the torso, propelling him into the wallboards. As he moved around the building, Christian saw the wall break as a soldier crashed through the wood. Christian merely stepped over him and continued on. Lee Chen continued to dodge and weave as two soldiers ran up to him. He jumped back on a table and used the height to kick one man in the face. He then did another springboard jump to take down the second man- and the jump missed! At that point, the Storm advanced with the staff and struck another Chinese, knocking the man out. Christian ran to the side entrance and down to where the last of the men was standing guard. The soldier was still somewhat surprised to see the American’s giant fist make contact with his eye. Christian then looked inside to see the little man punch out the last of the intruders. He also saw another Chinese in Western civilian dress near the little man, and the two standing over a fallen comrade. Christian thought he saw some other movement near the wall, but in the dark, it was hard to tell. To his own surprise, the old Chinese lady came from nowhere behind Christian, and she came up to check on the other Chinese civilian who’d gotten wounded. She muttered something to the other Chinese guy and he nodded, apparently in relief. Christian looked at Cain and then looked over to Lee Chen, saying, “Is he with you?†Cain said, “Yeah,†as he looted the soldiers for ammo and spare change. Lee Chen looked up at the muscular newcomer. The hunter looked over the group and their fallen foes and said, “So. Did you fellows forget your bar tab?†“Not quite,†Cain said. Chen said, “I think we’re being followed. I just saw The Storm.†Christian asked, “Who?†The Grandmother looked toward Christian and told him “It was indeed fortuitous that you arrived to save us.†“Chiang’s men?†Christian asked. “No,†the old woman said. She pointed to a Chinese character on a yellow field that each man had on his uniform’s arm lapel. Lee Chen looked at Christian and said, “It’s the character for One Land.†“The symbol of Chun Tzu’s army,†Grandmother Red Moon said. “Whatever,†Christian replied. Roger Tempest came up from the darkened corner of the room. “I take it the fight’s over then?†Cain asked, “Where were you?†Roger smiled blandly and said, “Just laying low ‘til it was safe.†“So who would you be?†Christian asked. “Roger Tempest. This is Lee Chen, late of London, and… Cain.†“Christian Leary. Good to meet you.†Cain said, “Thanks for taking out those other guys.†“It didn’t seem like a fair fight,†Christian said. “What’s going on?†Roger said, “We’re just trying to investigate who’s trying to kill me, and also stop an archaeological dig that might bring an Un-dead Emperor back to Earth.†“Oh.†“Wanna come along?†Cain asked. The big man shrugged. “Where exactly are you going?†Roger said, “It’s about 350 miles inland from Shanghai to Sian.†Christian said, “Well, apparently the bigwigs in charge of my last hunt in East Africa needed to have me accompany some animals to the local zoo, and my passport got lost in the shuffle. So I’m stuck in this place until they can get that fixed up.†Roger said, “That shouldn’t be a problem. If you’re willing to work with me, I can help grease the wheels of the bureaucracy a bit.†“Just as long as there’s something to shoot.†“I don’t think that’ll be a problem,†Cain said. --- JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted March 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! [back from Writer's Block:] 12/22 Chapter Five Foretellings of the Future Past! A Double Betrayal! Before the group set out for Sian, Roger Tempest decided to host the group’s new friend Christian Leary at the American hotel in Shanghai. In the dead of night, however, Roger had a strange dream. He was dressed as The Storm. It felt like he was actually in the dig, somewhere near Sian. He had gotten past guards outside and after moving down an earthen hallway, had reached a tile passageway that hadn’t seen light in at least a millennium. He moved into a chamber and caught a movement at the corner of his perception. The Storm turned, and saw Fei Yun- or at least another man in the same hood and grey martial-arts costume. The Chinese warrior threw two sharpened coins at him. The Storm snapped his fingers out and caught one in each hand. At that moment a light shone in the chamber behind the vigilante, illuminating the Chinese, who started to back away into a side corridor. Reflexively, The Storm turned, and it seemed as though the lantern light before him moved to catch him in the face. Before Roger could see who held it, a shot rang out and he fell. Then he woke up. --- Lee Chen awoke around dawn and immediately went to Lee Shen’s residence to check on Lien. She was not there. Shen said that the girl had apparently managed to open the window outside the children’s room while they were all sleeping. He seemed a bit cross. Chen went back to the hotel to find that Christian was getting his suitcases together in the lobby in order to have them driven to the airport in one of Roger’s limousines. The man was in a warm-weather variation of his hunter’s outfit, with a large satchel strapped over one shoulder. Chen asked, “Mr. Leary?” “Yes?” “Have you seen this little girl, Chinese, maybe eight years old?” “Around here? Lots of times.” “NO, this is my niece Lee Lien. I thought she might have come here. I had to look after her, but she ran away from her relatives.” “Does she do this often?” Christian asked. “Apparently so,” Lee said. “I am very unhappy.” Roger and Cain reached the airport around 8 in the morning to prepare the plane. Once they got there, one of the mechanics said, “The girl’s with you, Mr. Tempest?” Roger looked over at the plane and saw Lien sitting at the foot of the plane. “Well, not exactly,” he said. The mechanic said, “Well, we didn’t think so, but she knew you and we didn’t know where she was supposed to go, so we figured we’d wait.” ”Good idea.” Roger walked over to the short stair of the plane to load his personal baggage. He looked over at Lien and said “Hello.” Lien looked up at Cain and Roger as they arrived. She said, “Hi, Mr. Tempest. Have you seen Uncle Chen? I think he’s lost.” “No, I don’t think so,” Roger mused. “All he’s got to do is find you.” Sure enough, in about five minutes of Roger boarding the plane, Chen and Christian arrived in their vehicle. As Christian took his gear onboard with a neutral expression on his face, Chen looked over at Lien. The girl ran up and hugged Lee Chen’s leg. “Hi, Uncle Chen!” she yelled. Chen looked down. He said, “Lien. This is the second time that I bother to count that you have run off and disobeyed me.” She said, “We’re not going with Mr. Tempest? I’m supposed to be his translator, remember?” “I’m-“Lee Chen stopped himself. “There is now no choice, since I have no time to grab you again and explain things to Lee Shen. But this is deadly business we are in now. You MUST do as you are told and stay out of trouble from now on.” Chen’s face was fixed in a stern expression. He told Lien, “If you do not do as I say, I shall have to nail you in a box, and ship you to New York.” She looked up at him for a second. She said, “Box. New York. Got it.” --- It took the better part of the day for the plane to reach its destination just outside Sian. As the charter plane landed at the small airstrip, the group caught sight of a limousine attended by a few Westerners. Roger nodded to the others. Also inside their plane was Fei Yun, who had put on his work uniform and was ready to sneak back into the site dig via his own methods. For the moment, Roger came out, followed by Lee Chen, Lien, Christian and Cain, who carried their main baggage. The tallest Westerner, a broad-shouldered fellow wearing sunglasses, hat and trenchcoat to protect from the glare and wind, strode up to Roger Tempest to shake his hand. “Mr. Tempest,” he said, “Brian Thompson. It’s good to meet you, sir.” “I wish it were under better circumstances.” ”Agreed.” “Any news of my Dad?” “I’m afraid not, sir. Well, I needed to talk about what’s been going on, if you want to wait until we get to the dig.” “Of course.” Roger made brief introductions, and Thompson’s staff helped Cain lug the suitcases and gear into the spacious trunk of Thompson’s vehicle. The dig was based at the plateau of a forested hill toward Lishan Mountain, and the ground had become rather spare-looking with the oncoming winter. There were several tents and makeshift buildings set up, with a netted building in the center, apparently the headquarters. The men got out to stretch their legs. Thompson said, “Mr. Tempest, that hut to the left is mine and the larger one to the north is your father’s. It’s fairly well set up. We can have you stay there.” He then directed his assistant to move Roger’s bags to the building. Lee Chen said, “Roger, if you don’t mind, I think it would be best if Lien and I stayed with you.” Roger nodded. Christian came up to him and muttered, “So what’re we doing here again?” “I need to find out what Thompson is doing with the excavation.” ”Wasn’t there something about stopping E-E-Evil?” “That’s the idea.” ”Fine,” Christian snorted. “Get ready for that. I think I need to look around for a place to camp.” The hunter wandered off to look over the site. Cain muttered, “I’ll just stay with the work crew, then…” A few minutes afterward, Thompson had the group join him at the main shed, and directed them to a table where his men had laid out a startling artifact: A statue of a Chin Dynasty warrior, made from terra-cotta, was on its back, sculpted with the full brigandine armor of Emperor Chin’s soldiers. The face almost seemed to stare back at them in its individual expression and mindful gaze. Even the fingers of the right hand seemed articulated so as to hold a weapon. “It’s almost like a mummy,” Lee Chen mused. Thompson said, “You’ve been to Egypt, then?” ”Not as often as I’d like,” Chen said. “I’ve seen the exhibits.” “Truly impressive,” Roger said. “Where did you find it?” Brian Thompson said, “It actually has to do with some of the mysterious goings on. One of our men went missing near the tomb, and we went looking for him. The main was found with an ancient bronze spear in his chest. And nearby- was this.” “That was the reason my Dad came here?” Roger asked. Thompson did not look at him. He said, “It seemed that someone was trying to sabotage the expedition, most likely some Chinese criminal organization. They may have planted the Chin Dynasty weapon when they killed our crewman. But we were missing supplies, the other men were getting intimidated… I wanted to get to the bottom of this. So did Mr. Tempest. He came at the end of October. That was when we started seeing assassins.” ”Assassins?” Chen asked. “Men in masks with grey outfits,” Thompson said. “That was according to eyewitnesses. Odd thing is, according to one report, they were fighting each other. At one point-“he looked toward Roger- “Mr. Tempest and I went into the complex to see if we could find the origin of this strange statue. I saw one of the assassins and went after him with my pistol. I ran into an adjacent room and the man was gone. But when I tried to find Mr. Tempest… I’m afraid he was gone. I haven’t seen him since.” “I had at least gotten a message from him,” Roger said. Chen broke in. “Men vanishing from here to there… and no one knows where the statue came from?” ”I don’t think the assassins had it,” Thompson said. “But again, I’m not sure where it came from, or where Alexander Tempest went when he was in the tomb. There seems to be some sort of complex that we need to access to find the deeper levels of the tombs. I was hoping the two of you could help us with that.” ”I’d be very interested in doing so,” Roger said. “But it’s getting late. Let’s sleep on it.” --- In the evening, Roger woke up in his bed. He didn’t suffer the same premonition he had the other night, but something seemed suddenly amiss. Then he noticed that the niece wasn’t in the room. Realizing that stealth was of the essence, for Lee Chen’s sake if nothing else, Roger dressed hastily and left Chen in the hut, moving with trained reflexes to go silently into the night and toward the tent where Thompson had boxed the team’s latest digs, figuring- correctly- that that was where Lien would be. He looked between canvas flaps to see the kid looking over some funerary objects, and then setting them aside to pry open another case that Thompson had marked with a personal shipping address. In a second’s motion, Roger moved into the room and to the side of Lien. “Hello again,” he said. “Huh!” Lien looked up. “Oh, it’s you, Mr. Tempest.” ”And what would you be doing up?” ”Well, it’s not a school night.” Roger kneeled down by the girl. “That’s only because you’re not in school. What’s this?” ”Looks like some of the stuff that they got out of the tombs so far. I knew Uncle Chen would never let me see this… hey, this isn’t Chinese…” Roger looked at the crate Lien had just pried open. He noticed it contained a very well-made chrome handgun, apparently designed for some non-standard ammunition, along with blunt throwing weapons that he recognized as those used by The Storm. Lien and Roger looked at each other. Then they looked up to see a large man with a pistol. “So, Mr. Tempest,” Thompson said. “I guess you’ve found out what happened to your father.” Inside one of the other tents, some of the Chinese crew was with Cain, Fei Yun and Thompson’s assistant, shooting dice. Cain was a few yuan behind when he and the others saw the tent surrounded by a squad of soldiers. One of them came in and waved a German Luger at the civilians, and Cain caught sight of the man’s officer’s bars and “One Land” unit patch. The officer looked at Cain and the American and said, “You. Come with us.” Roger raised his hands up. “So what’s the meaning of this, Thompson?” ”Well, I got a better offer,” Thompson said. “We’re never going to be able to hold this land for ourselves, and if Chun Tzu doesn’t take it, the Reds probably will.” “So why hold the gun on me?” ”As I said, we had to deal with various bandits on this expedition. And when I contacted your father, he seemed a bit reluctant to continue. Then of course, I found out why. And I realized you’d be following him up. The Storm ended up piled into a freighter on the South Seas so that we could spread the rumor of his death. As for you, it’d be fairly easy to explain a fatal accident on a dig in a strange country. It might be suspicious, but it’s not as though I was ever in your will.” “Good guess.” Brian Thompson motioned with his gun for Roger and Lien to move. He backed into the tent flaps and as he steadied himself to exit, Roger made his move, vaulting off a crate faster than the tall man could react, performing a flying kick into Thompson’s solar plexus. The two men were propelled outside, and as Roger prepared to follow up on his downed foe, Lien shouted behind Roger, “Look out!” Before Roger could turn his head, his legs were cut out from under him, and his face hit the ground. Reeling, he looked up to see a Chinese man of medium height and stocky build, with scars crossing the left side of his face and a spare, traditional beard. The man wore a plain soldier’s uniform with a sidearm but carried an ornate spear. He looked down at the two Americans and spoke with a cultured accent: “Mr. Thompson. Glad to be of service. Mr. Tempest… I am General Chun Tzu.” Thompson got up with some difficulty. He told Roger, “You didn’t think I wouldn’t have reinforcements, did you?” --- Cain was in a huddled group of sixteen men, plus Fei Yun and the American, led off a few yards outside the tomb entrance that the crew had excavated. He counted eight men with rifles guarding them. He also caught sight of that officer leading Lee Chen down towards Brian Thompson’s shed at gunpoint. It occurred to Cain that Mr. Leary was still sleeping in one of the other tents. Certainly he would have noticed if someone of that height had been picked up by the Chinese troops. Losing himself in the crowd, Cain ducked down and crawled while the soldiers were still looking at eye level and focusing on the other Chinese. Cain’s guess was correct. The men seemed to have mistaken the small pup tent off the north edge of camp for a small supply depot, and rather than guard or investigate it, they just decided to gather everyone from the common area. Cain checked the tent and quickly ducked in. There wasn’t much space between him, Leary’s gear, and the big game hunter laid out on a blanket. Cain reached his hand over to wake him. As he was about to touch Christian, the man said, “Yeah?” Cain whispered, “The camp’s been surrounded. I think it’s the warlord’s army that the Chinese were talking about in Shanghai.” Christian rose up. “Where are the others?” ”I saw them take Lee Chen to the warlord. I think they got Tempest too.” “Lemme get my satchel,” Christian said. “What do you expect us to do about it?” “I have an idea.” Waiting for the right moment, Cain led Christian to one of the supply tents and opened a box of the excavation equipment, namely bundled sticks of dynamite, each with a short ignition cord. Cain showed the box to Christian. They smiled. Cain reached for a few bundles and started stuffing them in his clothes. “I’m going to give us a distraction.” Christian said, “First use that on that damn Chinese warlord.” “You need to be careful,” Cain said. “This warlord has Chen’s niece held hostage.” “Damn you and your logic! He was threatening to put the kid in a box anyway!” “You got a better idea?” ”Give me that distraction,” Christian said. --- The warlord’s men led Lee Chen near the spot where Roger was standing opposite Brian Thompson and the warlord. Chun Tzu bowed slightly. “Lee Chen,” he said. “Your professional reputation precedes you.” ”Chun Tzu. So does yours.” The general said, “I require your assistance. We are seeking the opening of the tombs to find the Emperor’s inner sanctuary and treasure. The Americans haven’t managed to find it yet. I am confident that your skills will enable us to find the entrance.” Lee Chen smirked. “And why would you think I’d do such a thing for you?” “Maybe not by choice,” Chun Tzu said. He looked carefully in the tent, then aimed a pistol toward it. One of Chun Tzu’s guards came in the tent. There was a brief struggle and the soldier brought out a screaming Lien, lifting her by one arm. “Lemme go, horse-face! Lemme go or Roger and Uncle Chen’ll kill you!!” Lee Chen jumped forward but Chun Tzu blocked his path with his spear. “No, Mr. Lee. Back off now. You will do as I say, or I kill your relative.” “You would kill a child for your purposes?? You are wicked!” Lee Chen said. “Ruthless, perhaps,” the general told him. “Rest assured, Lee Chen, I am responsible for the lives of several women and children at our main headquarters, and I protect them from the Japanese and the Communists, who would do far worse things to a little girl than merely kill her. I have no interest in her except as a means. So I would give her a quick, clean death. But she would still die.” Chen glowered, but stepped forward to stand with Roger. A soldier hustled Lien to stand with Chun Tzu. Chun Tzu said, “I will need further steps to ensure your performance.” Snapping orders in Mandarin, the warlord had two of his men pick out a worker- who turned out to be Fei Yun- and bring him. “We will have one of the workers assist you and Roger Tempest in opening the tombs.” He then nodded to Brian Thompson, and another two men drew pistols on him. “You as well, sir,” the warlord told him. Thompson looked somewhat taken aback. Chun Tzu smiled with his scarred jaw. He said, “You betrayed your own employer so easily, and you expect loyalty from me, Mr. Thompson? You forget who the superior in this relationship is.” He directed the two Chinese and two Americans to move toward the tomb entrance, and two riflemen escorted them. As they walked, Chen said “Listen to me, Chun Tzu. What you plan to unearth should not be loosed on the earth.” ”If it will increase my power and my claim to rule the whole of China, it can only be a good thing, for me and the nation.” “You haven’t heard the rumors of the ghosts? The guardians of the tombs?” ”Please, Lee Chen. We respect the traditions, but we are both modern men. If such things existed, they would have haunted the land already. There are indeed secrets in the tomb, unknown technologies of the Chin Dynasty, but riches also, and those things I can seize are the ones I am concerned with.” Chen told Chun Tzu, “There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” ”Shakespeare. How quaint.” Thompson and Fei Yun were provided with bullseye lanterns by Chun Tzu’s men. The soldiers stood behind the men as they looked over the dug-in passage. Then Roger took the first steps forward. The group followed. As the dark hallway opened into a tile passage opened from the side, Roger felt an odd sense of déjà vu. The group went in and looked around with the lanterns. Other than the space where the crew had broken in, the hall seemed remarkably clean and free of dust, with tiled floor and walls. The ceilings were carved with fascinating scenes, some resembling typical Chinese nature studies, others seemingly based on the Emperor’s life. Thompson pointed. “This way. There is an antechamber near by where I last saw the assassin.” The group moved to the right, with the soldiers aiming rifles behind them. The passage opened into a rectangular chamber, colored in soft yellows and gold tile, with some Chinese characters on the walls. Thompson said, “We need to look around and see if there are any clues that can get us past this point.” Lee muttered to Roger, “You want him to get into the secret chambers?” Roger said, “No. I’d rather not have to face what’s in there, especially if we don’t know what it is.” ”Then we need to do something.” ”Just let me know what it is.” ”Gentlemen!” Thompson glared. “If you would, Mr. Chen.” Thompson directed Chen towards the far wall while Roger held back, toward the riflemen. Lee Chen noticed a set of carvings in the wall, surrounded by characters in a verse detailing the Emperor’s command of this world and the next. In the center of the piece was a bas-relief yin-yang symbol, the white ‘yang’ on top and a black ‘yin’ at bottom. It occurred to Chen that the pieces were intended to be removed. He looked over to Brian Thompson, and said, “Mr. Thompson, come take a look at this.” Thompson said, “Yes?” He came over. Chen stepped back. Over his shoulder, he looked at Roger and nodded. Then he took the back of Thompson’s head and rammed it into the wall. The rifleman behind Roger immediately lifted his weapon to shoot Chen. Roger pivoted back, grabbed the rifle barrel and used it to help throw the soldier to the ground. Fei Yun immediately picked up on the heroes’ actions and disarmed the soldier by him before the man had a chance to react. --- Outside, towards the north end of camp, some of Chun Tzu’s soldiers were standing by their troop truck, having set up a fire inside a garbage can. Cain took cover from several meters away at the corner of a shed. Then he lit his first bundle of TNT and made a quick standing throw. The charge hit near the fire and three men went flying. Chaos erupted. Christian Leary had climbed up the rock face just above the tomb entrance, getting a purchase and finding an angle with a perfect view of the camp site. While Cain was busy causing havoc to the side, Mr. Leary prepared to make his move. Christian lifted his “satchel” and extracted his specialty weapon: The H&H Nitro Hammerless. It was an elephant gun that chambered rounds roughly the length and width of a Cuban cigar. Animals shot with this weapon had a tendency to not get up again. The American hunter assembled the components of the rifle with a veteran’s ease. Raising it to a position on the rocks, he aimed carefully. From about forty-five yards away, the guards watched over the young girl as Chun Tzu took a drag off a cigarette. And just as Christian shot, the warlord reflexively straightened up to exhale between puffs. A shower of blood exploded from the Chinese general’s face. Chun Tzu fell on hands and knees as the guards frantically looked about. Christian growled to himself as he realized that his target had somehow survived. Lien made her move to escape, and one of the guards reached to grab her. Christian aimed again and shot a round straight through the soldier’s outstretched hand, bringing him into convulsions. In the panic, Lien ducked around and towards the mess tents as the other guard helped Chun Tzu get up, the older man clutching the space where his nose used to be. --- Inside the antechamber, Brian Thompson growled. He picked himself up and swung at Lee Chen. The Chinese scholar made a quick punch and hit the American again. He did a follow-up and the man blocked. “You’re fairly tough, Mr. Thompson.” “Thank you.” Fei Yun grappled with his target just long enough to get a hold of the man’s gun. To his side, Roger Tempest jumped up and scored a body blow against the other soldier, knocking the man out. Then he looked toward Chen. After a second, Lee Chen made a flying kick to connect with Thompson’s side, and the man finally went down. Chen looked at Roger. “I was getting bored,” he said. Fei Yun directed the second soldier to stand toward the wall while he listened for something. At the bas-relief, Lee Chen decided to take the yin-yang pieces out of the wall. Nothing happened. He did however notice that the ‘yin’ piece seemed to be somewhat heavier than the ‘yang’ one even though they were about the same size and thus interchangeable in the slots. A hunch occurred to him, but he decided not to act on it. Instead he told Roger, “I think I have the door mechanism. This will make sure that the entrance can’t be accessed.” Fei Yun asked them, “What do we do now?” Roger said, “We go outside.” Lee Chen said, “There’s a LOT of people out there.” Fei Yun said, “They seem to have problems of their own…” --- JG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Gillen Posted March 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 Re: [Campaign] Thrilling Tales of Adventure! [Last one, people...] 12/29 Chapter Six Blood and Dynamite! A Final Decision! As Fei Yun checked the passage to the outside, Cain’s first round of dynamite went off. Near the mess tents, Cain threw a second bundle, this one going into the soldiers’ trashcan-fire and killing one instantly, blowing two more several feet back. Cain then decided to cause another “distraction.†He lit a cut fuse and took two unlit bundles of dynamite and started running towards the north gathering of soldiers, a TNT bundle in each hand. The first soldier to raise a rifle against him got cut down by a sharp-eyed Christian Leary, firing his elephant gun like Death from Above. This caused two more in the same group to fire towards him, failing to catch Leary from behind the outcropping where he’d taken cover. But three other soldiers fired straight toward Cain, and two shots connected, one straight in the chest. Blood poured out of the wanderer as he fell to the ground. From several yards away, Lien had been running towards Cain’s direction, and the little girl screamed as she saw Cain drop. Christian fired another round into one of Cain’s assailants, taking the man out. But another group of four soldiers, camped due south of the tents where the General Chun Tzu confronted Roger Tempest and Lee Chen, ran up into the cave passage, most likely to kill the two adventurers. Christian had to reload his rifle at the moment that the men dashed inside. One of the soldiers surrounding the work crew yelled as he saw the four other troopers go in the chambers, and at that moment one of the crew made a move to strike him. As the other soldiers raised weapons, the angered civilians made their move. They leapt at the riflemen and grappled as the soldier who had looked behind shot towards the attacking crewman and missed at very close range. Christian decided to settle things by firing a round into the guy. The shot went low, effectively blowing off the soldier’s kneecap. There was little further resistance as the assembled crew pummeled the squad senseless. --- Back inside the antechamber, Lee Chen moved past Roger Tempest and Fei Yun towards the passage outside. Fei Yun, still aiming the rifle, directed Brian Thompson and the remaining Chinese soldier to stay where they were. The other civilian who was sent in with Fei Yun followed behind at a distance. Chen, in the lead, ran into the four troopers just as they were coming in. They raised rifles, but Chen ducked into range before they could fire, then slapped the nearest soldier. He then leapfrogged over the man’s shoulders and did a back kick on him, stunning the trooper. The man’s nearest comrade closed in and did a rifle-butt on Chen a split-second after Lee Chen tried to punch him. Chen took hold of the man’s rifle and used it to jump up and kick the foe in the shoulders. At this point, Roger came up and raised the rifle he’d captured from the soldier inside, firing and clipping a third trooper in the arm. The wounded man fired back and missed. Chen seized the second foe’s rifle and did a rifle-butt on the fourth soldier before he got a chance to react to the sudden turn of events. Finally, Roger came up and did a rifle-butt of his own to club the wounded man unconscious. This took all of twelve seconds. Chen nodded and went back to the outside, Roger behind, Fei Yun escorting the other worker. As Roger and Lee Chen reached the mouth of the passage, they heard a blood-curdling, possibly human scream behind them. They looked back, and the Chinese crewman with them looked back and shook his head. “From inside,†he told Roger in English. Christian looked down at them and yelled, “So are you all just gonna stand there and kiss, or are you going to join the party?†Roger gestured to the crewman and said, “Go with Lee Chen. Fei Yun, come with me.†Then Roger ran back into the complex. Besides the downed riflemen, there was no one inside the passageways. Roger came back into the antechamber, Fei Yun just behind. The Chinese warrior noticed that the soldier that Roger had knocked out was still inside, and still unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. Of the other soldier that they’d left in the room there was no sign. Roger looked at the wall where Lee Chen had taken the keys out of the bas-relief and noticed that Thompson was slumped in front of the wall, on his knees, apparently having tried to find some other entrance into the greater complex from that point. The man was not moving. Roger turned Thompson over. The ghastly face of an elderly man stared back at him, eyes agog at whatever unnamable horror had appeared before them. It was almost a second before Roger realized that Brian Thompson was dead. Fei Yung looked at the decrepit body and said, “This is an example of what we could have unearthed.†Roger looked at him and said, “Who’s to say we didn’t?†--- Back outside, Chen got the other worker outside, and he joined his celebrating fellows as the camp was reclaimed from Chun Tzu’s forces. Christian looked off in the distance and saw that one of the army trucks the general had positioned outside was revved up and moving- away from them and down the road. Lee Chen looked around, and Lien came running up to him. “Uncle Chen! Uncle Chen!†â€Lien!†Chen moved quickly to grab the child. Before he could even speak, the girl yelled, “They killed Cain!†Trying to take it in, Lee Chen said, “But you are all right?†“Yeah- I’m sorry Uncle Chen—“ And from the north side of camp, Cain staggered toward the others in bloodied work clothes, a stoic expression on his face. Lien for once was speechless. Lee Chen was almost as surprised. He walked toward Cain and got him to sit down. Lee Chen said, “Cain, let me see about those wounds.†Cain shrugged and muttered an agreement. Chen looked at the drifter, whose skin was unusually pale from blood loss. Cain’s face was more haggard-looking than usual. By rights, the man should have been dead. Cain looked back to Lee Chen. He gave Chen a slug covered in his own blood. He said “Hold this. It’s the bullet they shot me with.†Chen stared back and said, “How’d you dig that out?†--- By dawn’s light, the crewmen and the adventurers had managed to round up and detain all the injured soldiers, and secure the grounds to make sure no further damage was done. Scouting the area, the heroes could see that Chun Tzu’s men had indeed left, and their vehicles were nowhere to be seen from the mountain view. That morning, Roger Tempest got his companions together with Fei Yun, after leaving Lien with a hearty breakfast and discreetly confiscating the materials Thompson had found linking Roger’s father to the costumed identity of the Storm. Sitting at the map table that his father’s expedition had set up in the center of camp, he asked, “Is this Chun Tzu gone for good?†Lee Chen said, “I don’t think the troops would have retreated if they thought they could hold the territory.†“Or they were just demoralized by losing their general,†Cain cut in. “He’s alive,†Christian said. “Just as soon as he recovers from having his nose blown off, he’s probably gonna come back, wearing a big iron mask, swearing revenge on me. Stuff like that happens.†Fei Yun said, “What do you propose to do with the tombs?†Roger said, “I’m NOT opening them, that’s for sure.†Cain said, “The old woman in Shanghai said that the rivers of mercury underground were a method of preserving the Emperor’s power. Maybe if we dynamited those and interrupted the flow?†Lee Chen said, “First, we don’t know if those are real. And as Roger said, I’m not sure we need to find out, if we’ve done no damage so far. Second, we don’t know what effect that would have on the area underground.†Christian said, “Supernatural evil aside, rivers of mercury being accessible to the public is NOT a good idea.†Roger nodded. He said, “Fei Yun, get the crew together. Tell them we’re going to collapse the tunnel.†“And then what?†Cain asked. “We’re going to have to leave this to the local authorities,†Roger said. “As long as the site isn’t disturbed and they can keep Chun Tzu from it, we don’t need to stir things up any further.†Lee Chen said, “We’re going to have to go back to Shanghai so we can have Fei Yun speak to Grandmother Red Moon.†“You talk to Grandma,†Christian said to Chen. “I’m pretty sure that us white men staying in Asia is a bad idea.†Chen told Christian, “The Tien Lung will be able to help keep an eye on the mountains.†Christian responded, “What do you think Grandma’s gonna do? Her secret weapon is a dude in pajamas who couldn’t beat you up.†Fei Yung said, “Hey…†Cain said, “Better to just leave it as a disaster area and let it be forgotten.†Roger shrugged. “Well then… I recall that we needed to get Mr. Leary his passport at the consulate, we need to get Fei Yun back to Shanghai anyway, and from there we’ll be able to get back home.†“Great idea,†Cain said. “But no plane this time. Too much turbulence.†Christian nodded. “I ain’t getting on no plane.†Roger said, “So, we take a cruise back. I’m good for it.†And the others agreed. It only occurred to Lee Chen after the fact that taking the boat meant that he would have to spend that much more time trying to keep an eye on Lien when her family expected her home. But he figured that was all right. After all the craziness of the last few days, he needed a slow vacation to relax…. THE END ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.