The party is transported to Nam, where they become acquainted with Thien’s parents and the local Tigers of Nam.
Characters Interacted With
Master Hua: Taught the party how to fast travel via the elements. Warned them that the government was looking for the plant constructs.
Gui Ying: Seen comforting and praying with an upset Mei.
Michael: Seen hurriedly writing a letter. Gave the party a sending stone to use in emergencies, and told them that they needed to get the herb in a few days if there was any hope of Donovan fully recovering.
Mei: Seen praying with Gui Ying. Accompanying the party on this mission as well.
Thien’s Mother (Linh): Hosted the party in Truong Giang. Loves Nam’s Next Top Idol. Really good at dominos.
Thien’s Father (Minh): Hosted the party in Truong Giang. Loves his wife.
Tigers of Nam Grunts: Present at Fireball. Agreed to meet with the party the next night.
Other Characters Mentioned: Soup, Shengdu Police, Donovan, General Durand
Locations
- Eastern Shengdu Temple
- Vinh Phuoc (Wanfu)
- Truong Giang (Changjiang)
- Thien’s House
- Fireball bar
Session Overview
The party woke up in the early morning and quickly went to find Master Hua. During their search, one of the temple workers told the party how the police had arrived a couple hours ago with questions, and Master Hua had been talking with them privately in his demi-plane since. After the party asked her to contact Master Hua for an estimation of when he’d be available, she returned and informed them he’d try to wrap up the meeting in half an hour. The party decided to get breakfast while waiting. Upon going into the entrance hall, they heard the voices of Gui Ying and Mei. It looked like Gui Ying was comforting an upset Mei, and the two were kneeled in prayer in front of three statues: Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, who hears the voices of the suffering, Jiutian Xuannu, goddess of warfare, longevity, and feminine sexuality, and the Weaver Girl, representative of the plight of young women, particularly those in love, and whom they pray to for protection and blessings. Fanna asked if the two needed anything, but Gui Ying assured them that they were fine, before turning to Mei and asking if they wanted to go somewhere more private. Thien, getting the memo, encouraged the party to leave and give them privacy.
After a breakfast of jianbing, youtiao, and rice porridge, the party returned to the temple. Gui Ying and Mei were gone from the entrance hall, seemingly done with their prayers. They passed by Michael sitting at the desk in the infirmary, hurriedly writing something. He had shed his suit jacket and donned his traditional Lingguoren priest robes—the same teal color as the Michael Echo’s—something the party actually hadn’t seen him do before. Deciding not to bother him, the party waited elsewhere for Master Hua’s return.
After some time, the party heard several pairs of footsteps. Two policemen, with Master Hua following close behind, were approaching the party. While the policemen split off to go into the infirmary, Master Hua went up to the party. He apologized for the wait, saying how he was busy answering questions and testifying for the Shengdu police. They were trying to find out what happened with Donovan after the scene he made the day prior collapsing at the temple. Michael then emerged from the infirmary, tucking the paper he had been writing on into a sleeve, and joined Master Hua and the party. In the temple courtyard, Gui Ying and Mei were waiting for the party. Gui Ying spoke for Mei, asking if it was okay if Mei joined them. The party was fine with it, and Mei was thankful, expressing how the mission was of vital importance to her.
In the courtyard, Master Hua also casually mentioned that the policemen were looking for the plant constructs, as they so far have been unable to locate them within the Shengdu Colosseum. Michael went to Donovan’s apartment overnight to grab anything important, including any more of the plant constructs, but did not locate any. Pausing to carefully phrase his words, Master Hua said that as he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that the party had the plant constructs, he did not mention it to the policemen. However if they did find out the party had them, they surely would approach the party in the interest of acquiring them.
As his words sunk in for the party, Master Hua held up a magical needle in front of him and tapped it once. A magical pulse went through the air and the party’s bodies, as all of the threads tying the universe together showed up briefly in front of them. Master Hua asked the party if there was a specific location in Nam they wanted the needle to be tuned to, and the party decided on the capital of Nam, Vinh Phuoc. Master Hua obliged, saying it’d take him a few minutes to tune the needle to the destination.
In the meantime, Michael took the party aside, where he told them a couple things: 1. While Master Hua said that Donovan had about a week left to live, the truth was, if it took that long, he’d be left with lifelong affects from the illness. If there was any hope for him to make a full recovery, he had a few days at best. 2. He had prepared a sending stone for the party so they could communicate with him if needed, but it unfortunately had three uses at max.
Master Hua finished tuning the needle, then placed it down, got out a bag, and poured out several pieces of magically charged jade. The magic pieces of jade were to amplify the magic and guarantee that the teleportation would go off without any issues, such as the party accidentally being teleported into a wall. He then explained the steps: One must have a pure sample of the basic elements—fire, water, wood, earth, or metal. The user then tosses the sample into the air, and hurls the needle into it. He demonstrated with some soil grabbed from the courtyard, tossing it into the air and then hurling a nonmagical needle through.
Before handing the magical needle over, Master Hua asked if there were any other questions the party had before leaving. The party asked for advice in looking for the Maiden’s Bell. Master Hua explained what the Maiden’s Bell looked like—a small flower, similar to a Lily of the Valley, but with a layered structure and a pale, creamy yellow color. Its spread is very rare, only found in southern Lingguo like Nam and Liya, and access was even more restricted with the Tigers of Nam hoarding it.
The party had no more questions after that, and Master Hua handed the needle to Thien, who volunteered to do the deed by shooting the needle from his crossbow. Unfortunately, the Spirit inside it protested at having a foreign object inserted inside him, so Thien let Fanna do it instead, smacking the needle into the soil sample with the blunt side of their scimitar.
The party emerged in the middle of a park in Vinh Phuoc, much to the chagrin of the parkgoers. The party then took a train down to Truoc Giang, where Thien’s parents were. After being led by Thien to the more working-middle class area of the city, the party finally arrived at his parents’ house. Thien’s parents were overjoyed at his arrival, and his mom hurriedly made lunch for the party.
While catching up with her son, Thien’s mom mentioned that the Tigers of Nam had gotten worse and more aggressive in the past year. When asked, she admitted that she had been paying a small “protection fee” to the Tigers. Thien, upset at the Tigers, reassured her that he’d take them down. His parents told the party that the Tigers liked to hang out at a bar on the edge of town, so the party waited around for evening when the bar would start being busy before setting off.
The party saw a building decorated with fire-themed decor, and an old painted fireball on top of the sign. The bar was aptly named “Fireball”. Before going in, the party made a quick game plan: A disguised Thien and Fanna would go inside, while Mei and Brooks would keep watch outside in the bushes. Thien, with a fake mustache, and Fanna, transformed into a businessman, then went inside under the pseudonyms of “Quan” and “Tao” respectively. A group of Tigers were sitting in one of the distant corners, and after Fanna and Thien sat down at the bar, Fanna ordered drinks for them.
Sure enough, this caught the Tigers’ attention, and two of them strolled over, slapping Fanna hard on the back as their “greeting.” They asked what a businessman like Fanna was doing at the bar, and Fanna explained how they were interested in doing some under-the-table business dealing with the Tigers. The Tigers were less than convinced, but through Thien and Fanna’s combined efforts, they were able to slowly convince the Tigers to hear them out. When Fanna mentioned they had acquired the plant constructs Donovan had made, this caught the Tigers’ attention. While they deliberated on what to do, Thien overheard them speaking in Namese about a “deal with the Leferinese” and the plant construct blueprints being leaked.
Finally, the Tigers agreed to go into a nearby alleyway, so Fanna could show them the goods. Fanna took out their bag of holding and opened it, letting the Tigers see what was inside. After asking to see them once again, the Tigers reached inside and took out a couple parts, examining them closely. They asked Fanna where they got the parts, but Fanna told them that a good businessman never revealed their secrets. Fanna then made their offer: They’d collaborate with the Tigers and hand over the plant constructs, but the Tigers needed to introduce them to their boss first. Having been convinced enough to go along, the Tigers agreed to meet with Fanna and Thien the next night, at 9pm, in the same place.
The Tigers went back into the bar, while Fanna and Thien met back up with Brooks and Mei. They told them of their success and the plan going forward, including the details of the plant construct blueprints being leaked. Concerned and confused, Mei told them that it was The Atracidae who had leaked the existence of the plant constructs to the public, but that they did not leak the full blueprints and details on their construction, just enough to make it clear that they could be used as tools for war. As a result, the party hypothesized that Lauran could’ve been the one to leak the blueprints. Given that he’s already shown the ability to enter people’s minds, he could’ve easily entered Donovan’s and found out how to make them from there. After all, he’s already shown a great interest in Donovan himself.
Mei, remembering how the party already warned her that Lauran kept asking them to bring him Donovan, asked who exactly Lauran was and what he did. Fanna explained, with distaste, how he was their creator, a result of one of his many experiments. Mei held her hands to her face, exclaiming how this was giving headache. Then she appeared to have a sudden realization, remarking with horror that “he knows.” Thien, suspicious, asked what exactly was it that Lauran must “know”, but Mei grew defensive and told him that it didn’t matter, as the party was already focusing on what would solve the issue, getting the Maiden’s Bell and eventually taking down Lauran.
She started heading back to Thien’s house, and the party followed. There, the party celebrated their victory, eating another hearty meal prepared by Thien’s mother. As the session ended, an eagle, which had been watching the party from its perch, flew off to elsewhere in Nam. It circled around a traveling caravan, before landing on the shoulder of General Durand, one of the top generals of Leferin and currently on a diplomatic tour of Lingguo.
Key Learnings
- The Shengdu police and government are looking for the plant constructs, and may come for the party if they figure out the party has them
- If Donovan were to make a full recovery from his injuries, the party had a few days at most to acquire the Maiden’s Bell
- The Tigers of Nam were knowledgeable about the full blueprints to Donovan’s plant constructs, and had a deal of some kind with “the Leferinese”
Items Of Importance
- Charged Needle
- Pieces of Jade
- Sending Stone (3x uses)