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Challenger Campaign

040512          Volume III, Episode 9: Sacred Bones, Sacred City

[There were 2 EPs awarded, 32 total(a);
2 EPs, 23 total(b);
2 EPs, 8 total(c).
There were N SPs awarded, N+9 total(a); N SPs, N+5 total(b); N SPs, N total(c) The amount of SPs is dependent on information returned to Anglia .]

The Ancient Hunting Lodge of Kublai Khan , Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
In the near death experience caused by their injuries, Voronika had an interview with her Grandfather; Po found himself conversing with his mother.

Our Heroes put a groggy Voronika on the horse that Sister Sunshine had begun to call "Wang Thang". The druidess had the impression that the horse told her, "Don't make a habit of handing out pony rides. I don't do this normally."
Voronika: "Don't go down the stairs; that's what they want. They're hiding it."
Penrington: "Down is where a tomb ought to be."
Voronika: "They chase animals down into a hole and slaughter them. My grandfather told me."
CRASH! Forester put up his Force Wall to bar the glowing Mongols that had breached the corridor.
Penrington stealthed into the main room and started climbing the stairway up. The building had three high-ceiling stories. Po Clairvoyed the building and realized that, despite the apparent cross-shape of the building, the dome and the stairs were not the center of the structure. In the main room, Po examined the architecture and recognized that the four "equally spaced doors to the left of the stairwell" were not equally spaced. One was central. It opened into a janitorial supplies closet.
CRASH! The sound came from the main door of the building that would, no doubt lead to the right hand door of the main room. Mongols to the right, Mongols behind. There was another door across the way which, probably, led down another corridor to another door to the outside and more Mongols?
Forester: "My Force Wall just went down."

Forester noticed that the wooden floor of the closet was unsteady. Voronika: "Please break through the floor." Sister Sunshine: "Mr. Steele, please come open the floor." The mechanical man stamped [10 Body!] smashing through in a shower of splinters and recovering himself three steps down. A tunnel led down and then back in the direction the Party had come, perhaps as far as the Small Building. Penrington brought up the rear while Forester cast another Force Wall to slow the Mongol horde. The former's military experience told him that there were "lots of enemy".

Down the tunnel Po thought he saw overlays of red, black and white, and visions through his clairvoyance. He decided to stop the spell and see through his ordinary eyes.
Ramsey said: "Any one else see wings on that horse?"
Sister Sunshine: "Yes, Mr. Ramsey."
Ramsey: "Why?"
Sister Sunshine: "It must be an aspect of the Old One of this place."

As Steele, at the head of the Party, entered an 8-sided room, Forester again said, "My Force Wall's gone down." Steele and the two women with the horse could see a stone pedestal in the center of the room, undefined murals, and a glowing lattice of magic fluttering like cloth in a non-existent breeze. Spot lights of red, white, and black coloured the scene. Moreover, a hale and hearty FitzCardiff was directing a skeleton in the marking of a pentagram in chalk around the pedestal. To the left stood a pregnant "Dr. Davis": behind whom Mongols in fur hats crowded.

Steele yelled, "FitzCardiff!" as he charged the skeleton, his sword whistling as it arced through the chest of the skeleton. Splinters of bone exploded as the undead ceased to exist.
Voronika to her mount: "Can you fly over there, please?"
Horse: "I'll get an apple and a sugar cube?"
FitzCardiff: "Steele, damn you! Get him!" The Mongol warriors surged towards the lattice barrier.
Sister Sunshine lost her grip on the bridle lead as a glowing Pegasus carrying an insubstantial gypsy woman flowed through her.
Voronika, leaning from her perch to place the casket on the stone pedestal, "Wang Jian, I hope this is where you want to be." A Mongol blow aimed at the gypsy was suddenly blocked by a miniature Wang Jian standing atop the red box.

Po cast his Force Fields but was not sure he could affect Voronika and the horse. Forester recast his Force Wall behind the Party. Steele shook from an unseen attack [24 stun, Ego against which he has no defense] and toppled with a metallic BOOM. Ramsey and Penrington surged past the druidess, the former headed towards FitzCardiff, the latter towards the Davis woman.

Wang Jian expanded to midget size and swept his sword through three Mongols, pushing the lattice barrier back. He declaimed poetry in Mandarin, speaking about being remembered for his rose bushes and not his battle actions. Then he grew again and, again, slew a swath of Mongols. The barrier retreated from his growing sword.

Seeing FitzCardiff concentrating on the fallen steel man, Voronika took her rifle and shot the necromancer in the chest. Ramsey, too, shot him in the head. Penrington shot the Davis figure. The surfaces of the two figures seemed to shimmer and wobble and the villains started to fade away. [Steele, unfortunately, took a Body point each in the chest and head.]

Forester, looking back down the tunnel, saw a flash as a giant glowing sword reached through him and sliced on-coming Mongols in half. In the central room, only the feet of the enlarging spirit warrior were still visible.

In the sudden quiet, the druidess realized that she no longer held any spiritual power; her ability to cast spells was, again, gone. But, looking across the room, no longer barred by magic, she saw in a niche another piece of the prayer wheel. Silently she took and displayed it: it had the symbol for horse. She looked up: across from the niche the wall now was engraved with the poem Wang Jian had recited. The decorations on the walls were all Daoist. Her horse was just a shaggy horse again.

Wearily, the group worked its way up into a now time-crumbled building. The small building - a gazebo - had become an unrecognizable, weed-grown pile of rubble. The musician statues had toppled and showed some of the erosions of time. Forester found his camera functioned properly and began recording the ruins.

Near the arch dedicated to Wang Jian, Sister Sunshine found a mass of abandoned and dilapidated rose bushes. Quietly she set to work, pruning, weeding and spading. Penrington suggested that "Po's people" could look after the place. The druidess paused to disagree, noting with a note of possible reproach, to Po that here the indications were that "his teachings" had become a "militant Buddhism." The lad seemed uncertain as to how to respond. Sunshine continued, assuring the hunter that she would make arrangements with the Daoist temple in Chengdu to have Wang Jian's site tended. She also realized, with no surprise, that the horse no longer winked at her or showed her any special interest. He seemed more interested in the gypsy's pockets, like any normal horse searching for a treat.

The gypsy's wounds were quite serious and, lacking the druidess' regenerative spells, the Party was compelled to spend the next month in Chengdu so that all their injuries could heal. Steele spent a bit of time repairing himself, from both the one-point "sympathetic wounds" when FitzCardiff was shot and the earlier lava damage. But that actually didn't take very long once he managed to stop fumbling the tools. :) Voronika, Sister Sunshine, Forester, Ramsey and Po all took the opportunity to start studying the Tibetan language with Po's monks. Words that had cropped up in earlier adventures were again mentioned and better explained, including:

Steele and Penrington took off a week to practise mountaineering, albeit neither spoke the language of their guide. They climbed Mt. Emei where they visited the stone building at its summit that was decorated with Buddhist symbols although it did not seem to be a temple. When they described their experience, Sunshine reminded them of the tale they'd heard about the great teacher Samantabhadra who had preached on the Emei Mountain. In town, Penrington still found opportunities to introduce Forester to the flesh pots of Chengdu. The pedagogue did not seem to benefit much by the instruction.

Once up and around again, Voronika insisted on replacing her shawl with something fine from the City of Brocade. Penrington resolved to make a bandolier of the remaining blankets designated for the prayer wheel gift exchange, and to have that with him always.

It was still summer when Our Heroes resumed their long trek up towards the Forbidden Plateau. Walking, they found it much easier to acclimate than they had traveling the European mountains by train. Steele, however, laboured as much as before. As time passed climbing into the mountains, the druidess noticed that, once again, the horse was watching her with a familiar eye and that gave her a reassuring feeling.

The hill people were a mix of Mongol and Chinese, much as Norgay had been. This made Po a little wary. However, the natives were far more amazed at a party that included two women and a mechanical man. Voronika and Ramsey acquired appropriate sheep-skin-lined clothing and worked on the disguise until the gypsy and the druidess could pass for young men. Thereafter, the steel man still got strange looks.

Above the tree line, Steele had to resort to burning animal dung. The Party kept him down wind. [Note: river valleys on the plateau still have trees, but the locals do not use the wood for fuel.]

Lhasa, the Sacred City. Tibet. Weeks later.
The town spread out in a valley where a river widened and slowed. The buildings were made of stone. There were small stretches of cold-stunted trees. A troop of fierce heavy-coated warriors rode out to ask Our Heroes' business. Visiting the "wonders of Tibet" was not an impressive answer. It was clear, as well, that the guards of the Sacred City could not be bribed. "You are not permitted in. You must go around Lhasa." Penrington muttered, "Don't mess with the cops."

Instead, the Party found an inn for the night. Ramsey saw that the innkeeper wore an anhk on a chain around his neck. "It was given me on my 12th birthday; it is the symbol of life." The archaeologist was intrigued by the parallelism between Tibet and Egypt.

The innkeeper told the group, "Lhasa is the holy city. Only those born there or holy pilgrims can enter it." Sunshine recommended finding Norgay's cousin. Penrington started working out how the group could pass as holy pilgrims.

The next day the barley farm of the Norgay family was located and the Norgays invited the Party to enjoy their hospitality. Mr. Steele, as an appliance, was put in the warm kitchen; a location the warm-weather machine much appreciated. The two women were given a small room together while each of the men were offered private rooms. That night Penrington found his hostess warming his bed, while the family's two daughters joined Ramsey and Forester. The latter, however, had profited little from Penrington's patronage. He tried escorting the girl from the room but she broke down in tears and he had no choice but to comfort her.

Cousin Norgay was willing to act as guide outside the city. He knew that the closest route to Nepal was through the city of Katmandu; that trip would only take a week. He didn't know of any temples in Lhasa featuring roosters (which was the first of the missing prayer wheel symbols mentioned) but did describe the oldest temple in the Sacred City as the "Temple of the Birds", the end of a 100-temple pilgrimage. Resolved to learn about the 100-temple pilgrimage which, reportedly, normally took years, the men of the Party visited the first temple of the route which happened to start on the outskirts of Lhasa. They entered. No gong sounded, no prayer wheel was in evidence. After prayers and a donation, each was given a flask of water to take to the 2nd temple. [Too much EverQuest; someone suggested writing a macro.] All of them left the temple with shaved heads and saffron robes.

Clearly the actual pilgrimage had to be cut short. Ramsey and Penrington eventually convinced Po that he must simply enter the Sacred City on his own recognizance. If he was what he said he might be, he would be allowed in. If he displayed his glowing magic powers, he would be let in. The Chinese boy submitted to the inevitable. The men stayed near the city gates rather than trekking back to the farm.

Meanwhile, when evening came to the Norgay farm, the gypsy and druidess were each shown to separate rooms, larger and nicer than the one they had shared. When her host entered the room, Voronika drew her dagger and thrust it into the bedside table as a warning. The man was confused and the gypsy called upon her language and persuasion skills to extricate herself from the situation, to gather up the druidess trapped in the corner of the other room by another of the family's males, and to return to the small bedroom of the previous night.

However, come morning, the household attitude was a little chilly. They had shared with the Anglishmen, but their hospitality had not been reciprocated. Sunshine reflected that her father probably would have adjusted to the local custom enthusiastically but that she herself was simply a more romantic Anglishwoman - although Maddy would scarcely think so.

At the main gate of Lhasa, a guard questioned Po, determining that the others were the young Chinese' students. Then he questioned Ramsey whose knowledge of the language and philosophy was proof enough that the guard said, "You may pass." However he did not stand aside.
Po: "Is there something else?"
Guard, frowning: "There is everything else."
Po: "I am uninformed as to the appropriate ritual here."
Guard: "Perhaps you have more to learn from your teacher."
Po: "We shall retire." The men returned to the farm.

The second time at the Lhasa gate, Po gave his name and answered the questions, again getting the response, "You may pass." This time he answered, "Would you please step aside?" to which the guard complied and the pilgrims entered the Sacred City. There seemed to be one temple in every block of the city and troops of people following inexplicable patterns. At one point there were three poles with discs that pilgrims were moving from pole to pole. In another, there were round stone balls being moved around a courtyard with depressions (a bit like Chinese Checkers) (quite a bit, in fact). Throughout it all, there was no sign of a woman anywhere.

None of the bird decoration on the Temple of Birds was a rooster. All those entering the Temple were quite elderly although Guards and Acolytes barring the outer areas were somewhat younger. The Guards bowed each time a Elder left the temple.
Po greeted an Elder and was addressed as "young student."
Po: "I am an individual seeker of knowledge, not a student."
Elder: "We are all students on the path...."
Po: "My path is short."
Elder: "It is rare to know when one is close to enlightenment."
Po: "Will the guards stop me if I try to enter?"
Elder: "This is the temple after 100 temples. To enter is to demonstrate the greatest of understanding."
Po approached one of the guardian acolytes.
Acolyte: "What do you bring, young pilgrim?"
Po: "I bring my open hands and the path I have already walked to get here. And I wish to complete my journey."
Acolyte: "You mean you bring no - thing? Do you claim to be the Shattered?"
Po: "I think I am one of the shattered."
Acolyte: "If you are really the shattered, you will have something else." Po pulled out the cord with the coin his father had given him. The acolyte touched the coin and fell back unconscious; a more severe reaction than Voronika had had touching ancient objects. There was consternation; Our other Heroes held back. When the acolyte came to his senses, he said, "Wait here" and hurried away, returning with a posse of Elders. As the most wizened looked at the coin, the elderly phalanx parted to allow one individual to approach: a loin-cloth garbed Old Man with a single tooth. Penrington stepped out of the crowd and proffered his bandolier; Po traded a blanket for the prayer wheel piece with a bird symbol.

Po spent the afternoon speaking with the Elders on the steps of the temple. Ramsey listened intently, adding to his understanding of the Buddhist philosophy. As the afternoon drew to an end, Penrington told Po, "You can go into any temple here and get admitted." Po stopped at the Temple of the Tiger but there was no time to achieve anything. Nothing untoward happened.

The Party discussed goals as a next destination needs to be determined.

Cousin Norgay said that he'd heard of the carving of an ankh above the Valley of Life where there was a river and town between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna in the far west. It was dedicated to an Old One, a woman with lots of arms. Such a trip would be long, but it could be made before winter set in.



Next Run: Where to go?

(a) Cumulative (b) Cumulative since Volume II (c) Cumulative since Volume III

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