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Jadeclaw Journal - 3rd Session
12 years ago
The third session of my Jadeclaw campaign has concluded. I'm attempting to keep a campaign journal. I won't be recording any of the behind the screen notes or spoilers for future adventures, so this should be safe for the players to read. The first adventure journal can be found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/4956611/ and the second can be found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5124896/
The cast of characters:
Alfonse – Male Red Fox Bounty Hunter
This fox hails from Calabria, the main continent setting of Ironclaw. He has traveled to the land of Zhongguo, sent there by the Renaldi, a powerful vulpine merchant family, to hunt a number of dangerous criminals. His arms bear many scars inflicted both by his enemies and mishaps with his own gear. Armed with a mace, for pounding his prey into submission, a stiletto for silencing those in his path, and a pistol for emergencies, he has undergone a lengthy ocean voyage to reach the strange continent of Zhongguo and it's enigmatic inhabitants. First on his list of targets is a regional bandit leader known as Heng Xue or Permanent Snow.
Zho Ti – Male Elephant Martial Artist
This gruff and laconic elephant originally hails from the barbarian lands of Yindu to the south of Zhongguo, though he has traveled civilized lands for many years now. He may be armed with a small variety of weapons, but he is truly fierce when using feet or fist, trunk or tusk. What led him to Zhongguo and why he travels remains a mystery.
Shi Mian – Female Snow Leopard Archer
This snowmew was a natural with the bow before these skills were honed as an auxiliary to the mighty armies of Zhongguo. Through her flows the blood of mountain nomads, who live tough lives in snow and ice, high above the fertile plains and forests. Recently, she has acquired sacred and rare texts which details the very secrets of the bow and has set out to learn their secrets.
Huang Zhi Ling – Male Red Panda Volcano Mage
This shining cat has studied for many years under the tutelage of a master of the ways of fire and fist, possessing the mastery of the five elements and combining it with unarmed combat. Huang Zhi Ling has recently mastered the basics of his school and has been sent out by his master to wander the world and hone his skills.
The party stumbled back home, exhausted and worn out from the harrowing adventure, arriving back mid-afternoon. As the elephant and snowmew collapsed in exhaustion, the fox stayed up to clean while the red panda decided that he both the party and the inn needed supplies. The town is small enough that there are no real shops other than the smithy, but there are stalls set up for a market. Every day there are a different set of merchants selling their various wares.
Huang Zhi Ling first approached a female pig merchant by the name of Su Mei (Respectful Beauty). A portly lady, she seemed to deal in general goods, with connections to got most basic supplies. Honest and straightforward, she spoke with the mage and gave them a general welcome into town, expressing that they seemed like nice people to know, though with a glance to the money purse Huang Zhi Ling carried. Su Mei cheerfully sold them various short term supplies for the inn, such as oil for lamps and to repair the existing wooden furniture. When asked, she spoke briefly of the history of the Numbers family:
The matriarch of the clan had five identical daughters. These Siamese kittens were difficult to tell apart by the overworked parents, who finally just started referring to them by number. This became a term of affection as the daughters grew. When Number 4 married and had identical triplet girls, she officially named them 5, 6, and 7. As her sisters found their own husbands and found every child to be girls, and never less than twins, the tradition was born. The Matriarch of this clan, still alive though very old these days, is still alive. The family serves as guards for the town and soldiers for the army when called. The party still has no way to tell the apart, but the villagers seem to be able to.
After getting general supplies, the other merchant present was Ping Bao (Peaceful Treasure), a young rabbit rice merchant. The party was well stocked with rice from purchasing information previously, but Ping Bao had a variety of other vegetables in small quantities. Upon approach, the excitable rabbit immediately began asking questions, often not letting Huang Zhi Ling to answer. Ping Bao seemed to never need to breathe between questions and only got a handful of answers, but seemed cheerful enough with that.
After a fitful night of rest, the group began taking stock of their situation. They had a crushing tax burden, but right now the tea house/inn wasn't functional. It had been mothballed for too long. They had made small improvements, but more work was needed. First, however, Shi Mian decided she needed to get barbed arrows. The snow leopard went to the local smith. Inside were a pair of mice, making small metal objects for the town. The male continued hammering away while the female set aside her work to greet the new arrival, who without preamble gruffly announced that she needed barbed arrows. The mouse curtly asked for her name, which was given curtly. The lady of the smithy, knowing that this foreigner had already killed one person in questionable circumstances, picked up a hammer and, in no uncertain terms, declared that they would not do business with murderers. Shi Mian, sensing disaster, departed and the party decided to give the smithy a wide berth for some time.
It was then decided that the inn had no real place to cook more than rice, as it had functioned largely as a tea house and inn only, and that they wanted to serve actual food as well as having a place to make food for themselves. Huang Zhi Ling approached Su Mei about arranging for a minor improvement to the inn. An area would be turned into a covered cooking area for mongolian style stir fry, with the covered area floored with flagstones. Further, the small storage area on the first floor would be changed to another exit into this new cooking area. Further, they needed to go into the city to arrange for the purchase of alcohol, tea, and other supplies to improve their new home. The nearest guard, 26, was informed that they would be departing to the city the next day, and she indicated that they would watch the inn closely during that time.
With arrangements made, they spent the next day traveling to Cheng Dou. This massive city is the capital of the province, and is a center of learning. Here, they purchased a number of upgrades for their tea house: Better furniture and finishes for the tea room
Improved quality beds and furniture for half the rooms
Really good quality beds and furniture for the rest of the inn rooms,
Simple Locks for all interior doors
Good Locks for all exterior doors
A supply of poor, medium and fine quality alcohol
A supply of poor, medium and fine quality tea
Mountain Scale armor for Alfonse and Zho Ti (Armor made
The sum total of this will allow the party to provide good quality meals, drinks, and lodging to travelers. Departing, loaded down with the first of the goods with the rest to be delivered shortly, the party began their return to their small village.
About half way back, all the bushes start shaking around them and crossbow bolts fly through the air, missing three of the party, but grievously wounding Alfonse. Confused, as no enemies are immediately visible but the bushes all around them are shaking, they start preparing to face an unseen enemy. More crossbows fire each turn as they investigate one of the shaking bushes to find it empty, but a rope attached to the base of the bush and hidden in a shallow trench.
After a couple rounds of being attacked and firing blind into the bushes, they find one of the culprits, a squirrel who sprung out of a bush to attack, though half the bushes went silent when he did so. The red panda finally prepared his massive area effect spell, dropping it on a suspected area and blasting two assailants, revealing them (a rat and an otter). The elephant charged forward at the squirrel, only to find a second squirrel jump out and attack. The pistol shot from Alfonse went wide, missing his target. The party continued to fight, eventually slaying the two squirrels and the rat. During this time, one of the hidden archers charged forward at the elephant from behind. The hedgehog attacked the elephant with spines, mildly hurting him.
The mage blasted the hedgehog, slaying him, before the surviving (if singed) hedgehog and final unknown attacker fled into the woods. On the dead, they found various supplies, plus a crude map of the area, with one X marking the spot where they were attacked, but another mysterious X inside their home valley, though far from the village itself. What could this other X be? Tune in next time to find out.
The cast of characters:
Alfonse – Male Red Fox Bounty Hunter
This fox hails from Calabria, the main continent setting of Ironclaw. He has traveled to the land of Zhongguo, sent there by the Renaldi, a powerful vulpine merchant family, to hunt a number of dangerous criminals. His arms bear many scars inflicted both by his enemies and mishaps with his own gear. Armed with a mace, for pounding his prey into submission, a stiletto for silencing those in his path, and a pistol for emergencies, he has undergone a lengthy ocean voyage to reach the strange continent of Zhongguo and it's enigmatic inhabitants. First on his list of targets is a regional bandit leader known as Heng Xue or Permanent Snow.
Zho Ti – Male Elephant Martial Artist
This gruff and laconic elephant originally hails from the barbarian lands of Yindu to the south of Zhongguo, though he has traveled civilized lands for many years now. He may be armed with a small variety of weapons, but he is truly fierce when using feet or fist, trunk or tusk. What led him to Zhongguo and why he travels remains a mystery.
Shi Mian – Female Snow Leopard Archer
This snowmew was a natural with the bow before these skills were honed as an auxiliary to the mighty armies of Zhongguo. Through her flows the blood of mountain nomads, who live tough lives in snow and ice, high above the fertile plains and forests. Recently, she has acquired sacred and rare texts which details the very secrets of the bow and has set out to learn their secrets.
Huang Zhi Ling – Male Red Panda Volcano Mage
This shining cat has studied for many years under the tutelage of a master of the ways of fire and fist, possessing the mastery of the five elements and combining it with unarmed combat. Huang Zhi Ling has recently mastered the basics of his school and has been sent out by his master to wander the world and hone his skills.
The party stumbled back home, exhausted and worn out from the harrowing adventure, arriving back mid-afternoon. As the elephant and snowmew collapsed in exhaustion, the fox stayed up to clean while the red panda decided that he both the party and the inn needed supplies. The town is small enough that there are no real shops other than the smithy, but there are stalls set up for a market. Every day there are a different set of merchants selling their various wares.
Huang Zhi Ling first approached a female pig merchant by the name of Su Mei (Respectful Beauty). A portly lady, she seemed to deal in general goods, with connections to got most basic supplies. Honest and straightforward, she spoke with the mage and gave them a general welcome into town, expressing that they seemed like nice people to know, though with a glance to the money purse Huang Zhi Ling carried. Su Mei cheerfully sold them various short term supplies for the inn, such as oil for lamps and to repair the existing wooden furniture. When asked, she spoke briefly of the history of the Numbers family:
The matriarch of the clan had five identical daughters. These Siamese kittens were difficult to tell apart by the overworked parents, who finally just started referring to them by number. This became a term of affection as the daughters grew. When Number 4 married and had identical triplet girls, she officially named them 5, 6, and 7. As her sisters found their own husbands and found every child to be girls, and never less than twins, the tradition was born. The Matriarch of this clan, still alive though very old these days, is still alive. The family serves as guards for the town and soldiers for the army when called. The party still has no way to tell the apart, but the villagers seem to be able to.
After getting general supplies, the other merchant present was Ping Bao (Peaceful Treasure), a young rabbit rice merchant. The party was well stocked with rice from purchasing information previously, but Ping Bao had a variety of other vegetables in small quantities. Upon approach, the excitable rabbit immediately began asking questions, often not letting Huang Zhi Ling to answer. Ping Bao seemed to never need to breathe between questions and only got a handful of answers, but seemed cheerful enough with that.
After a fitful night of rest, the group began taking stock of their situation. They had a crushing tax burden, but right now the tea house/inn wasn't functional. It had been mothballed for too long. They had made small improvements, but more work was needed. First, however, Shi Mian decided she needed to get barbed arrows. The snow leopard went to the local smith. Inside were a pair of mice, making small metal objects for the town. The male continued hammering away while the female set aside her work to greet the new arrival, who without preamble gruffly announced that she needed barbed arrows. The mouse curtly asked for her name, which was given curtly. The lady of the smithy, knowing that this foreigner had already killed one person in questionable circumstances, picked up a hammer and, in no uncertain terms, declared that they would not do business with murderers. Shi Mian, sensing disaster, departed and the party decided to give the smithy a wide berth for some time.
It was then decided that the inn had no real place to cook more than rice, as it had functioned largely as a tea house and inn only, and that they wanted to serve actual food as well as having a place to make food for themselves. Huang Zhi Ling approached Su Mei about arranging for a minor improvement to the inn. An area would be turned into a covered cooking area for mongolian style stir fry, with the covered area floored with flagstones. Further, the small storage area on the first floor would be changed to another exit into this new cooking area. Further, they needed to go into the city to arrange for the purchase of alcohol, tea, and other supplies to improve their new home. The nearest guard, 26, was informed that they would be departing to the city the next day, and she indicated that they would watch the inn closely during that time.
With arrangements made, they spent the next day traveling to Cheng Dou. This massive city is the capital of the province, and is a center of learning. Here, they purchased a number of upgrades for their tea house: Better furniture and finishes for the tea room
Improved quality beds and furniture for half the rooms
Really good quality beds and furniture for the rest of the inn rooms,
Simple Locks for all interior doors
Good Locks for all exterior doors
A supply of poor, medium and fine quality alcohol
A supply of poor, medium and fine quality tea
Mountain Scale armor for Alfonse and Zho Ti (Armor made
The sum total of this will allow the party to provide good quality meals, drinks, and lodging to travelers. Departing, loaded down with the first of the goods with the rest to be delivered shortly, the party began their return to their small village.
About half way back, all the bushes start shaking around them and crossbow bolts fly through the air, missing three of the party, but grievously wounding Alfonse. Confused, as no enemies are immediately visible but the bushes all around them are shaking, they start preparing to face an unseen enemy. More crossbows fire each turn as they investigate one of the shaking bushes to find it empty, but a rope attached to the base of the bush and hidden in a shallow trench.
After a couple rounds of being attacked and firing blind into the bushes, they find one of the culprits, a squirrel who sprung out of a bush to attack, though half the bushes went silent when he did so. The red panda finally prepared his massive area effect spell, dropping it on a suspected area and blasting two assailants, revealing them (a rat and an otter). The elephant charged forward at the squirrel, only to find a second squirrel jump out and attack. The pistol shot from Alfonse went wide, missing his target. The party continued to fight, eventually slaying the two squirrels and the rat. During this time, one of the hidden archers charged forward at the elephant from behind. The hedgehog attacked the elephant with spines, mildly hurting him.
The mage blasted the hedgehog, slaying him, before the surviving (if singed) hedgehog and final unknown attacker fled into the woods. On the dead, they found various supplies, plus a crude map of the area, with one X marking the spot where they were attacked, but another mysterious X inside their home valley, though far from the village itself. What could this other X be? Tune in next time to find out.
