BARRIERS OF METAL "You cannot prevent the buds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from nesting in your hair" - traditional Chinese proverb "Forethought is easy; repentance is hard" - traditional Chinese proverb The Five Brothers of Thunder will now use their magic to try to make the P.C.s break their taboos. If any of the magical prohibitions is violated, such as if the P.C.s wear something white, bad things will happen. Any P.C. who breaks a taboo will be at -1 to all skills until The Five Brothers of Thunder are defeated or until the P.C. gives up on helping Hung Lian. If they break more than one taboo, or if they break the same taboo on multiple occasions, the negatives will be cumulative. By the way, if any of the characters was born in the Year of the Dog, then they have already broken one of the magical taboos and will be at -1 to skills. Unfair, but that's life in mystic China. The return to Hung Lian should be relatively uneventful, although rain will become more common and heavier as they approach Hung Lian once more. The moment the P.C.s approach the village, Mr Wu will come rushing over the fields to meet them. Mr Wu, you may recall, is the beloved ciao dog of the magistrate Cheung Ch'i. You may also recall that the P.C.s have been warned by Li Hsien to avoid dogs for fear of the Brothers of Thunder gaining power over them. Nothing the players can do can change Mr Wu's sudden friendliness towards them. Even if they shout and throw things at him, he will insist on interpreting the whole thing as some kind of game. There are at least three things that the P.C.s can do to stop Mr Wu from jumping all over them. 1. The P.C.s can attack Mr Wu. If they do at least one point of damage, he will finally get the message and leave them alone. This will make the magistrate Cheung Ch'i very angry, especially if they kill his dog. He can be made to understand the necessity of it - but the players will have to roleplay their way out of trouble. There may be a trial if you think that it would be fun, and Cheung Ch'i might even make them kneel on chains in order to get a confession. However, the P.C.s should eventually be freed and allowed to get on with saving the village. 2. The P.C.s can run from Mr Wu. Mr Wu has a move of 4 and anyone with that move or higher can keep ahead of him. Detail the chase between the dog and our brave heroes for as long as it is funny. Sooner or later, though, the characters are going to have to arrange for the magistrate to grab his dog and tie it up for a while. 3. Lastly, a bright P.C. might decide to throw Mr Wu a stick. They had better either throw it somewhere where Mr Wu will take a long time to get it, or they had better have a series of sticks to throw so that they don't have to take an old stick back from the animal's jaws. As with running away, throwing sticks will only work as a short term measure, and eventually, the characters will have to arrange for the magistrate to keep his pet out of their way. Once any confusions over dog-murder are cleared up, the villagers will be delighted with the prospect of release from the oppression that they have suffered at the hands of The Brothers and will willingly offer their help to the characters. If the P.C.s do not think of constructing shelters to protect the burning incense from the rains, then the villagers certainly will do so, and will help to construct the shelters to boot. DAY 1 The Brothers themselves will not make their presence felt until the five sticks of incense are all lit and in place, or until the dawn, whichever comes last. Terrified villagers will come running to the P.C.s and inform them that eerie flute music is coming from the village well. When the characters arrive, they will find Lying Brother sitting cross-legged on the side of the well with his feet inside. He is playing a very unsettling tune on a long bone flute. He will pay no attention to the P.C.s unless he is addressed or attacked. If attacked, he will fight to the death using his Judo and Karate skills. Once killed, he will vanish in a puff of yellow smoke in accordance with his Brothers of Thunder Resurrection advantage, and then reform down the river at the Brothers of Thunder's lair. If addressed, he will say "I have been sent to speak to you, but you shouldn't bother to believe me. My name is Lying Brother, so you can guess that what I say cannot be trusted. However, I have to tell you to depart from Hung Lian before my brothers and myself extinguish your puny mortal lives with our invincible powers. But why believe me? In fact, I want you to stay. I will look forward to destroying you, you presumptuous humans". Having delivered his speech, Lying Brother will now just be looking for a dramatic moment to either die fighting or to cast Invisibility and escape. He doesn't mind which - he had died many times before and it doesn't bother him at all. He will not answer any questions unless he thinks that he can give a dramatic answer - and then vanish with an evil laugh. That afternoon, the skies with slowly darken to almost complete blackness, relieved only by ferocious flashes of lightning. A wind will steadily rise up, bringing lashing rain with it. The task for the P.C.s is to keep the incense burning rather than being put out by the wind and rain. This shouldn't be too difficult. Allow the storm to build tension for the players, but don't let it actually put the incense out. DAY 2 On the second morning, thunder will be heard to grow nearer and nearer. A glance towards the sky will reveal that flashes in the clouds are also growing nearer, even though the clouds themselves are not moving. Give the P.C.s a chance to all get out into the open, then have Brother Lightning come tumbling from the sky. He has been using the Cloud Vaulting spell (with a few special effects thrown in) and has come back from business some distance away. He will come somersaulting down out of the clouds and land on his feet impressively in the midst of whoever has come to see. He will address the crowd in general with much relish in a booming voice. "Greetings! My name is Brother Lightning and I have been sent here to bring you glorious news. You had your chance, you pathetic creatures. Now you forfeit your village and your lives. Did you really think that Wood could stand up to Metal? When wood and steel meet, the wood is hacked in two. So will it be for each of you! Know that we have hired a bandit army to wipe you from the face of the world! The White Knife Society rides here even now, steel blades in hand! You have three days, and three days only. On the fourth, you all die!". Like Lying Brother before him, Brother Lightning does not care whether he dies fighting (in which case he will resurrect), or whether he just makes a dramatic exit. If he makes a dramatic exit, it will consist of somersaulting back up into the clouds with manic laughter. Brother Lightning is telling the truth about having hired a group of bandits named the White Knife Society - although rather than an army, the number of bandits is nine. It is also true that the bandits will arrive soon and will attack on the fifth day. Whether it is true that they wipe Hung Lian from the face of the world remains to be seen. How will the players prepare to defend the village? That is for them to decide. If they want the natives to help them fight, then they will need to organize them and perhaps give them some hurried military training as well. Whatever they do, they had better outwit the Society rather than simply oppose them with force. The characters already know that the bandits are riding horses, so the bad guys will probably have speed and mobility on their side. What they don't yet know is that each member of the White Knife Society has a crossbow, giving them a powerful range advantage over the peasants of Hung Lian as well. Defence won't be an easy task. As if things weren't bad enough, that evening Hung Lian is invaded by a violent, rampaging Brown Bear (GURPS Bestiary p.8). Hairy animals are, of course, bad luck for the P.C.s - something that they will find easy to appreciate as the enormous animal bares down on them with huge paws and gleaming teeth. Don't bother to assess taboo-breaking penalties for anyone struck by the animal - being hit by a bear is penalty enough. The bear will attack anyone is comes across and will maul them until they lie still - whereupon it will look for someone else to attack. It will fight to the death and all Animal skills will be completely useless is frightening it off or even predicting its behavior. The animal has been driven insane by magic and is interested only in killing. Having said this, the players could take the bear over with their own magic if they know any appropriate spells from the Animal College. If they attempt to do so, the spell of The Five Brothers of Thunder will resist with a skill of 15. The citizens of Hung Lian will only band together to fight the animal if they are rallied together by a P.C.. Otherwise, they will simply panic ineffectually. The animal is huge even for a brown bear. This 750 lb monster is ST 20, DX 13, IQ 5, HT 14/22, Move/Dodge 7/6, PD 1, DR 2, Damage: 1d+1 cr. DAY 3 Brother Thunderclap will turn up in the morning without any ceremony and will proceed to cast his Thunderclap spell over and over wherever it will be most disruptive. As per usual, the peasants of Hung Lian will simply panic and run about unless rallied. If Brother Thunderclap is attacked, he will defend himself with his martial arts, and will fight until he is killed - and thus dispelled into a cloud of yellow smoke to reform at The Brothers' lair. He won't bother making any clever speeches, but may laugh maniacally if events warrant it. In the early afternoon, the skies will grow dark and gray and wind will slowly pick up from the west. Although wind from the west should bring warm air, instead, Hung Lian grows progressively colder and colder. By nightfall, it will start to snow. The challenge for the P.C.s here will be to keep the peasants doing anything that they have organized them into doing - such as building ramparts or practicing with weapons. The peasants are both cold and afraid of the supernatural nature of the cold, and will just want to go home. Although the Bard skill should be very useful here, don't let this matter be resolved with a simple Bard roll. The P.C.s should roleplay their attempts to keep the peasantry in order.