Jiangu!, Chapter 7 Conclusion

[crueldespot]

Jiangu!, Chapter 7 Conclusion

Once the heroes regroup, they ascend through the tombs and dungeon. They emerge into the gallery and proceed into the Court of Glory. The Emperor is disturbed by the deteriorated condition of the palace. They waste no time. The emperor performs the ceremony with the henchmen assisting him. After the ceremony is complete, there is no immediate visible effect, but the emperor states “It is done.”

Leaving the palace, the henchmen discover that the gate tower has been abandoned. The sentries and heiracosphinx have gone. The heroes have vanquished a patrol, the mighty ettins below, the hellhounds, and finally the mastermind who led their cause. Now the cause has been abandoned.

Soon the sun rises, and before it sets again they are approaching Ichiba. Once the government in exile discovers that the emperor is approaching, they race out to meet him with a palanquin for him to ride. The emperor is quickly whisked away from the henchmen as the courtiers restore proper decorum.

The next day, the Imperial Army marches into Dian Province and escorts the Imperial Court to reoccupy the palace. They begin the slow process of restoring the glorius citadel.

In short order, the civil war stalemate is broken. The Cuanwei General insists that Major Ling, Scholar Jun, and their group were acting on their own initiative, and he denounces them. The Cuanwei faction submits and renews its vows of obedience to the emperor, losing much prestige and power as a consequence. The general is forced to retire, and the Cuanwei clan loses many imperial appointments. With the Cuanwei faction and the imperial loyalists united, the Aikou clan retreats. They withdraw to the fortress guarding the narrow mountain pass and prepare for a siege. It will be a long process for the Imperial army to defeat Clan Aikou and restore order.

The henchmen are honored with a grand ceremony where they receive the highest awards of the empire.

Termix takes over his grandfather Golock’s tower of magic. He strengthens its defenses, and then pursues a quest for revenge against the lich Nakigara that killed Golock. The feud between these two mighty spellcasters is a legendary tale in its own right.

The Church of Sha-gaat mourns for an entire season after burying Gizerak, and erects a glorious memorial over his resting place. He only served as high priest for a matter of weeks, but he saved the church from the evil rule of Bon Quo and then gave his life to save the emperor. He becomes their greatest saint.

The mysterious elf Kierna is buried on the grounds of the Imperial gardens near the library. Her name lives on as a character in the epic poems that are written about the henchmen. From these tales, her name becomes synonymous with deadly accuracy.



OOC
Post the “happily ever after” or “adventure continues” conclusion for your own character. What happened to him after the emperor was saved?


Ettin 2400xp
Hellhound 1800xp
Lamias 3600xp/2= 1800xp
Major Ling 1200xp/2= 600xp
Scholar Jun 1400xp/2 = 700xp
Cuanwei Priest 1000xp/2 = 500xp
Cuanwei Archer 1000xp/2 = 500xp
Brother Cobra 1000xp/2= 500xp
Other Serpent Monks 1200xp/2= 600xp
E Hai Pi Aikou 2400xp/2 = 1200xp

Total 10,600xp
+30,000 for rescuing the emperor =
40600 total
5800xp each.

Fugen , 22399xp, 7th level
Flarrgj , 21599xp, 7th level
Gizerak , 21786xp, 7th level
Kierna , 24564xp, 7th level
Nimdor , 18131xp, 6th level
Takeshi , 21800xp, 7th level
Termix , 22493xp, 7th level

[Exarzun]

Only months after the Emperor had been rescued and already Flarrgj is being forgotten, his roll downplayed. He was honored just like the others, given riches and citizenship, but even as these were reverently placed at his feet he could feel the discomfort of these xenophobic courtiers, men who could barely accept their neighbor a county over let alone a pale, round eyed barbarian from across the seas.

Only months after their decent into the haunted province, into the captive palace, and already the tales circulating the country are failing to mention him, or at best, calling him 'hired muscle', a big, brutish, stupid, barbarian from the foreign lands, more a tool then a comrade. Flarrgj doesn't care. He didn't do it for fame. He didn't even really do it for the money. In a way he feels as if he had no more control over his fate then when he was stuck in a long boat, lost at sea with his brothers, praying to the gods that they would not sink.

In the end was even more at a loss then when he was under the employ of Golock. With no employment he had no purpose. Too revered to return to common mercenary work, too feared to be allowed into the military he had no other real skills to peddle. Gizerak haD no need for the fearful barbarian, and Termix was lost in his magic, with no need for Flarrgj's muscle. In the end the foreigner threw himself at the feet of the Emperor. Taking pity, the Emperor commissioned Flarrgj as commander of an unique military force comprised of wondering foreigners. For several years his band played a minor, but effective role in the unification process, more noted for their use as terrifying shock troops then any tactical genius on the part of Flarrgj.

But again, as war began to die down and peace began to regain a foothold, Flarrgj began to grow restless. In the end, the Emperor would grant him one last favor. A ship, and a crew to sail it. The last that was seen of them, they were sailing off, Flarrgj standing tall and proud at the prow, his eyes pointed north...

[Linklegacy77]

All of the mighty heroes who appeared at the ceremony may have been honored by the masses, yet few who watched noticed that one was unaccounted for.

Soon after receiving his pay, Nimdor left his companions. He did not travel with them for long, and although his battles were deadly and fierce, he felt no need to remain with them.

Nimdor was never heard from again, at least, not under that name. He returned to Haigang and once again took up the mantle of Shadow Heart, becoming a boss of his own guild and controlling much of the city.

Years later, he retired, rich beyond his hopes and imagination, and spent a life of leisure out in the countryside, with his servants, his palace, and the paintings he had commisioned of himself with the heroes of legend....

[Black Plauge]

Embarassed by the alcolades for simply doing what he felt was his responsibility, Fugen attends the ceremonies out of a sense of duty, but stays no longer then protocol and politeness require.

The restoration of the emperor also brought a restoration to routine to Fugen, who resumed his post as an Imperial Courier without any fuss. The months of chaos, however, had changed the courier in subtle ways, and forced him to reconsider some of his training. Before he had been dependent on the Imperial rodes to get him where he needed to go and on the one commissioning him to carry a message to give him directions to the more out of the way places. The months of self-reliance, however, had taught him the value of knowing the geography of the Empire for one's self, and of being able to deal with obstacles that others would find hindering. Indeed, his first step along this path he took almost immediately, despite the pain that it caused. The incident at the rope bridge had taught Fugen that reliance on a horse was bound to create difficulties in places, and while Kierna had successfully been able to get each horse across the rope bridge, it had been a close thing as no one knew whether the rope bridge would support a horse until that peseant had come along to show them it was possible. With reluctance, therefore, Fugen parted with Fig, his faithful steed, and took to delivering messages by foot. While this does slow him a bit, it is not nearly so much as Fugen would have expected, and indeed, Fugen finds that his own stamina generally is greater than that of a horse, allowing him to push himself harder to more than make-up for the loss in speed.*

Fugen also continued his studies of the Empire's geography: buying, marking, and eventually making a large collection of maps, learning the small cart routes and back pathways that allow him to shave miles off of a journey by staying away from the main roads. He learned to deal with various conditions of the road, and navigate through them successfully and quickly. Where others must detour for miles, Fugen eventually learned to go over, under, or through some obstacles and thus save precious time.

Through all this, many of his Imperial Trusted Courier brothers laugh, mostly behind Fugen's back, at the way he pushes himself. Why take the difficult route, many say, when the Imperial Highways will get one to where most messages need to be delivered. Time is a concern for those who send and receive the messages, not those who deliver them.

Fugen's efforts, however, eventually payed off in a major way. Through consultations with Termix when he passed through Ichiba, Fugen learned to tap the secrets of the planes and to transport himself nearly any where within his line of sight, and to do it repeatedly. Combined with his already phenomenal speed and stamina, Fugen was able to deliver messages over 10 times faster than any other Imperial messenger, and indeed, was only rivaled in speed by the greatest spellcasters, who can deliver messages immediately, when so inclined.+

This breakthrough brings Fugen further fame, and once more he finds himself hiding from the attention. His modesty only encourages some young Couriers to imitate him, however, and in the end Fugen's example lead to a revolution in the Imperial Trusted Couriers. Not in his lifetime, as the old guard were not inclined to push themselves as hard as Fugen generally did, but a growing number of new Trusted Couriers desired to imitate the famous Fugen who had helped restore the Emperor to his throne.


*At the end of the campaign, Fugen is a Monk 6/Horizon Walker 1 with Desert Terrain mastery. This gives him a speed of 50ft and immunity to fatigue, allowing him to move nearly as fast as a light horse and to force march himself far longer and harder than a horse can be. With his Endurance feat and immunity to fatigue, Fugen can, on average, travel 10 hours a day. This means he can travel 50 miles a day, 2 miles more than a lightly encumbered light horse. Furthermore, if necessary, Fugen can hustle for about 5 hours each day (forcing himself to the point of passing out) to extend that range to 75 miles. Also, because the damage Fugen takes from this kind of effort is all non-lethal, he can do it day after day, a feat which would kill a horse (who takes lethal damage from the process).

+At this point Fugen has reached Monk 6/Horizon Walker 7 and gained Shifting Planar Mastery, allowing him to use dimension door at 13th caster level once every 1d4 rounds. This gives him an average speed of 300ft per round (by cycling between dimension door when it is available and walking when it isn't). Combined with his above mentioned ability to force march himself longer than normal, it is not unusual for Fugen to cover over 300 miles in a single day and he can push himself to cover over 325 miles. In addition, Fugen can now travel in essentially a straight line from place to place, regardless of the obstacles involved. This means that he can literally deliver a message from one side of the Empire to the other and carry back the reply in the same day.