LOTUS IN THE STORM
  An Adventure for GURPS China by Greg Littmann (gmlittmn@email.unc.edu)
  If you have any comments, I would love to hear them!

 "The intelligent man's way is to accept and follow Nature, rather than 
  to oppose Nature" - Lao Tzu.


THE CYCLE OF CHANGES

Wood conquers Earth, but Metal controls the process, and Fire limits it
Metal conquers Wood, but Fire controls the process, and Water limits it
Fire conquers Metal, but Water controls the process, and Earth limits it
Water conquers Fire, but Earth controls the process, and Wood limits it
Earth conquers Water, but Wood controls the process, and Metal limits it


G.M.S SYNOPSIS

What Has Happened Already

  "It is because we single out something and treat it as different from 
  other things that we get the idea of its opposite.  Beauty, for 
  example, once distinguished, suggests its opposite, ugliness"
  - Lao Tzu.

  The Five Brothers of Thunder were evil sorcerous spirits associated 
with Earth and having power over Water.  They were imprisoned 
underground millennia ago.  Much later, the village of Hung Lian ("Red 
Lotus") was built above their prison.  Hung Lian, unbeknown to its 
inhabitants, is associated with Fire.  Its founder erected seven red 
poles about the village as a magical protection (seven and red being 
associated with Fire).

  The Brothers plotted their escape.  One of them, Lying Brother, used 
his powers of illusion to trick the village on two separate occasions.  
The first time, Lying Brother appeared as a messenger from the local 
Shih, instructing the village to cut down the red poles and to use them 
to erect a temple to a god called the Pig King.  On the second occasion, 
he appeared as a traveling master of Feng Shui, who advised the 
villagers to build a well in the very center of town.

  All of this work had magical import.  As already mentioned, Hung Lian 
is strongly attuned to Fire and the Five Brothers of Thunder to Earth.  
Earth controls the overcoming of Fire, and Fire is overcome with Water.  
The seven red poles erected by the founder stood for Fire - seven and 
red are associated with Fire.  The black six-pillared temple of the Pig 
King and the new well stand for water - black, six, pigs and wells are 
associated with Water.  Moreover, the fact that the villagers were 
performing these labours for the local Shih was also symbolic - labour 
for the state is also associated with Water.  The luck and vitality of 
the Fire village "Red Lotus" was being carefully broken by magic.

  So great did the hold of The Brothers become over Hung Lian that they 
were able to use the well in the village to escape from their 
subterranean bondage.  The Brothers demanded that Hung Lian swear fealty 
to them.  The villagers refused.  Since then, The Five Brothers of 
Thunder have been tormenting Hung Lian with rains and pestilence.  If 
the village is not rescued soon, it will have to choose between giving 
in and being destroyed.

What Happens Now?

  "Wise behavior adapts itself appropriately to the particular 
  circumstances" - Lao Tzu.

  Hung Lian needs heroes!  If it is to be saved, the P.C.s will have to
1.  Realize that they must ask advice from the sage Li Hsien.
2.  Discover the Li Hsien can be found on Nightingale Mountain.
3.  Learn the way to Nightingale Mountain.
4.  Get to the peak of Nightingale Mountain.
5.  Speak to Li Hsien and do what he tells them to.


THE ADVENTURE

  "Nature can never be completely described, for such a description of 
  Nature would have to duplicate Nature" - Lao Tzu.

A Preliminary Note on Names:  It can be hard for an English speaker to 
remember a lot of Chinese names.  Don't sweat it.  If you address the 
blacksmith Fan Shu as "blacksmith", he will know who you are talking to.

  It is some time in the fifth century B.C., in the sixth month of the 
Year of the Ox.  Thus, it is a time very propitious for the element of 
Earth.  The mighty Chou dynasty, rulers of the civilized world for half 
a millennia, is in the last stages of its long decline, spiraling 
towards total collapse.  When trouble strikes, no help can be hoped for 
from the over-stretched imperial forces.  What the world needs now is 
heroes...

  Hung Lian, literally "Red Lotus", is a small and remote Chinese 
village in the state of Ch'u.  Not that the concept of statehood means 
much out here.  The four hundred inhabitants of Hung Lian are mostly 
poor landlord farmers who scratch a living from the soil by growing 
wheat and beans - a diet they supplement with a little hunting and a 
little fishing at the local river - the Shou.  There is a local petty 
noble Shih, Feng Fa ("Wind Law"), who reigns over the area, but even a 
petty prince has more important matters to attend to than sleepy Hung 
Lian.

  That is unfortunate, because Hung Lian needs help.  The bean crop has 
been struck down by pestilence, the geese have been struck down by 
disease, and if it doesn't stop raining, the wheat crop will be entirely 
washed away as well.  And it doesn't look like it is going to stop 
raining.  In fact, well into the dry season, it is raining on Hung Lian 
every day.  It isn't raining in the surrounding area.  Just on Hung 
Lian.  Isn't that strange?  It gets stranger.

  However, before it gets stranger, we need to get the P.C.s involved.  
Why should they care about the plight of this village and why should 
they think that they can do anything about it?

  First question first.  Why should the P.C.s care about the plight of 
Hung Lian?  There are at least three appropriate motives that the G.M. 
might use.
1.  Charity.  The village needs help and so should be helped.
2.  Anger.  There is a score to be settled with Lying Brother (or one of 
the other Brothers of Thunder) - and this is where he has been tracked 
down to.
3.  Greed.  The characters are offered 30 tael ($510) by Wang Leng.

  The first two motives are preferable for purely mystical reasons.  The 
problems faced by the village are symbolized by the Chinese element of 
Water.  When Water is overcome, Wood controls the process.  Charity and 
Anger are symbolized by the Chinese element of Wood.  However, the party 
will still be Wood even if they are motivated by greed.  After all, 
whatever inspires them to help, they will have to become detectives, and 
the eye is also symbolized by Wood.

  If the first or the third motives are in operation, the party will be 
proceeding down a road when they come across a peasant standing in the 
doorway of a small road-side shrine to Mu Kung, the Duke of Wood.  As 
they pass, the man will rush down excitedly and bow low, greeting them 
as "the heroes sent by Heaven".  He will introduce himself as "your 
humble servant, Wang Leng" and beg them to return with him to the 
village of Hung Lian so that they may "deliver it from the fatal 
calamities that oppress it".  If the P.C.s are surprised at being asked 
and/or doubt their ability to help, Wang Leng will assure them that the 
Taoist priest and diviner Li Hsien assured him that only men fitting the 
party's description could save the village.  If necessary, he will also 
offer the party 30 tael ($510), which is all the riches that the village 
has.

  If the party, or any of its characters, is motivated by anger, things 
will be more complicated.  You will have to arrange for one of the 
Brothers of Thunder to have crossed their path in such a way that they 
will wish to track him down.  You will then have to make the trail lead 
to Hung Lian.  As you know your party and their situation a lot better 
than I do, the ball is in your court on this one!  However, considering 
that Lying Brother is so fond of tricking people, he is the obvious 
choice as bait.

  Whatever happens, Wang Leng will refuse to explain the situation in 
full until after they have has a meal at the village.  The Taoist priest 
Li Hsien said that it would not be propitious to do otherwise.





COMING TO HUNG LIAN

  "He who willingly takes blame for disgrace to his community is 
  considered a responsible person" - Lao Tzu.

  The P.C.s first sight of Hung Lian will be as they come to a turning 
in the forest and a luscious green valley stretches out below them.  A 
blue river dotted with red flowers winds its way through the valley, and 
on the river's left bank is a seemingly peaceful hamlet that can't hold 
many more than four hundred people.  Fields of young wheat stretch out 
all around the cluster of simple houses and up on the rise is a small 
blockish black temple.  The gray clouds that drift in the sky above the 
village don't seem ominous at all, but rather add to the impression of 
gentle serenity.

  The residents of the town have been waiting for deliverance for quite 
some time, and as much as many scorned Wang Leng's quest when he set 
out, all the locals are pleased to see that he has brought back help.  
They will immediately throw a feast for the P.C.s!  This means that many 
colourful streamers and ribbons will decorate the town and a pitiful 
amount of food will be scraped together to eat.  The villagers will 
insist on the character's eating - consistently refusing their 
hospitality can only insult them.  There will be a little rice and some 
stale bread with goats cheese and a few dry beans.  The only thing that 
doesn't taste bad is the water from the village well, which is lucky 
because that is all that there is to drink.  The villagers themselves 
only pick at their food, preserving what they can for later.

  Almost everyone listed in "Who's Who in Hung Lian" will be there - but 
not quite everyone.  The magistrate Cheung Ch'i will not attend, as he 
has no faith in the prophesy.  The hunter T'ung Pailanti will not attend 
as he is socially unacceptable.  The oldest man in the village Shan Tsai 
and his young wife Shan Chin will not attend because the old man isn't 
feeling well.  The characters may meet anyone else, although if they 
pick people at random to meet, they may well end up with a generic 
peasant instead of someone in the "Who's Who".

  Wang Leng has explained Li Hsien's prohibition to the other villagers, 
so they will not feel that it is appropriate to explain the situation 
until everyone is finished eating.  Even so, by talking to the crowd, 
the P.C.s should easily be able to find out that there is a problem with 
too much rain.  When the "feast" is over, Wang Leng will be the one to 
explain things to the party, with other members of the village listening 
and earnestly agreeing behind him.

  The whole thing started on the night of the first full moon of last 
winter.  The village had finally given up on the new well, which they 
had been digging for some time without the slightest sign of water, 
despite the proximity of the river Shou and despite the fact that a 
(nameless) traveling master of Feng Shui has assured them that this was 
the appropriate place for it.  However, on this particular night, there 
was a great roaring from the bottom of the well, "like the bellows of a 
million dragons".  It sounded as if all the oceans of the world had 
suddenly decided to rush there at once.  By the time the whole village 
had arrived and were standing there, quaking with terror, a huge spout 
of water shot out from the top of the well a "thousand feet" into the 
air, and came raining down again all over the village.  One by one, the 
forms of five laughing men flew out in regal yellow robes (and even 
peasants know that yellow is reserved for kings and their personal 
agents).

  The newcomers announced themselves as "The Five Brothers of Thunder", 
also adding that they were now "the restored kings of Hung Lian".  In 
short, they let it be known that they were now in charge and everyone 
had better do what they say, or else.  The first thing they wanted was 
the firstborn child of each family - to eat.  The villagers were told to 
drown the children and throw them into the Shou, after which, the 
corpses would eventually arrive at the Five Brother's table.  The last 
thing that the brothers told the horrified villagers was that if the 
human sacrifices weren't made within six days, there would be no more 
luck in Hung Lian.  Then the spout of water stopped and a burst of 
thunder rent the air.  Everyone ran in terror.  When next anyone had the 
courage to look, the Brothers were gone.

  The villagers, to their credit, were not willing to slaughter their 
own flesh and blood at any price.  For six days they lived in terror and 
at the end of the sixth, there was a storm of such ferocity that it blew 
down half the houses in the village.  Six days after that, the bean crop 
was struck with a pestilence that not even the oldest man in the 
village, Shan Tsai, had ever seen before.  The crop was almost entirely 
wiped out.  And still the rains continued.  After yet another six days, 
the few geese with which the villagers supplemented their diet were also 
struck down with a mystery plague.  So sudden was the affliction that 
not one of them survived the night when the first symptoms appeared.  
And still the rains continued.  The wheat crop is all that the villagers 
have left now, but unless the rains let up very soon, there is almost no 
chance that any of it will survive to be harvestable.  Alas, letting up 
is one thing that the rains don't look like doing.

  As if on cue at this point in Wang Leng's story, thunder bursts 
throughout the sky and the clouds grow black as if by magic (!).  The 
rain starts to fall again, and the villagers scatter to their homes.  
Wang Leng will ask the P.C.s to stay with him at his humble abode, and 
will want to get under cover very quickly.  Who wants to stand in 
supernatural rain after all?


WHAT WILL THE PARTY DO NOW?

  "One must comprehend the way in which the original Nature operates, if 
  he wishes to control present conditions" - Lao Tzu.

  If they are going to get anywhere, the P.C.s are going to have to 
indulge in some detective work.  They are going to have to talk to the 
people of Hung Lian in order to determine why the troubles started and 
to find out how the troubles are to be stopped.  They may also have to 
convince the people of Hung Lian to give whatever practical help is 
required to get the job done.
  The section "Who's Who in Hung Lian" will give you an idea of who 
knows what and what they can do to help.  The most vital people to pump 
for information are the initial contact; Wang Leng (who knows about the 
Taoist diviner Li Hsien), the oldest man in the village; Shan Tsai (who 
knows the village history), and the hunter; T'ung Pailanti (who knows 
the way to Nightingale Mountain).