NOTES Qi Lung: Mines of the Elephant

NOTES Qi Lung: Mines of the Elephant

The Story So Far:

Our protagonists were able to successfully travel from the Great Wat of the Posion Lotus in Mandul Xiem to Accipiter Castrum despite an ambush by naga-kin, and a bonestorm created by a trio of rakshasa. A successful parley with the leader of the Varangian mercenaries thereat resulted in two things:
* permission to borrow and use the last remaining aeolian wind-flute to purge tainted Chi fron Hana
* an agreement to retrieve Zheng Zu, a sage to the Varangian mercenaries who was kidnapped by a witch exiled from the Society of the Crippled Lotus and who is being held in the Mines of the Elephant.

The Mines of the Elephant are legendary in Qi Lung, so named, the story goes, because their discoverer needed an elephant to remove all the jade found within them. The Yama Kings currently warring in the nearby Yomi Wan, however, smashed all the mine works and killed everyone within miles tryng to get at the puissant jade stored within. The land all around the mine shrieks with the ghosts of miners, blasphemously buried alive in the ensuing cave-ins. It is deep down in the dark forboding mine tunnels that The Witch has decided to make her home, and where it is suspected she holds the sage Zheng Zu captive! Will our intrepid protagonists be able to navigate the haunted mine and its surroundings, locate and parley with the witch, and reclaim and return the sage to the Varangian mercs?

BOY, Danny is getting REALLY GOOD at navigating the dragon lines via his weird ritual death-magicks. Once again, the second Jin plunges the ceremonial dagger into his heart, after everyone has joined hands and fallen into the inky waters of the Yin pool, does the entire party get transported along the dragon lines and into Qi Lung, manifesting in the reflecting pool of the the Great Wat of Mandul Xiem. Greeted by Master Prem and his attendants, everyone is shown to a ready room so that they can make preparations and review their plan for the evening.

"The mines of the elephant are a few hours march north and east of here," offers Prem. "The path there is largely abandoned. because the suounding land is haunted. The land and mine itself is full of Yin, the jade to be mined there once scarlet and rich with Yang is now white and full of Yin. The ancestors of the miners buried alive have grown mad with rihteous fury at the Yama Kings who killed them so callously, and are prone to lash out indiscriminately. The Witch, an exile of the Crippled Lotus Society must be strange or powerful, or both, if she's hone to ground there. Good night and good luck," he sys by wya of departure and blessing as he turns to leave. GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK?

THE MINES
As the party approaches the mines, they'll be greeted by a notable drop in temperature. Those that breathe will see their warm breath mist out into the cold air in front of them, and a supernatural chill will wrack its way down /everyone's. spine, as if someone was walking over their grave. This? This is NOT a Happy Place. Smashed buildings, marred with scorch and blast marks of eldritch enegies. Abandoned mining equipment covered n a long dried patina of blood. Rusting tools in a state of decay. All of these things tetiify to the ruination of the mines by the Yama Kings.

A thick wall of mist lingers in the direction of what must be the mouth of the mines. Opaque and heavy, it obscures any view any further than two feet around.

ENCOUNTER: BEISAQS!
As the party enters the mist or whatever's left of it should they find a way to dispel it, they will suddenly find themselves in the center of a storm of angry, agitated debris - shards of rocks, pieces of mining implements, if its sharp or pointy, you name it, its part of the violent storm that sweeps out of the dark mouth of the mines and over the party. The source of the debris storm? Beisaqs! Hungry Ghosts - spirits of men killed by violence and left unburied, known to haunt desolate areas and cast decay at the supplies of those unfortunate enough to cross their paths. Those with ghot-sight will see them in all their terrible glory, while those without will only glimpse horrible flashes out of the corner of their eyes.

ENCOUNTER: CLOCKWORK ELEPHANT HEAD!
Once past the beisaqs and into the darkness of the mine proper, things go from spiritual to clockwork! A gigantic mechanical clockwork elephant's head has been erected inside the entrance of the mine. A deterrent to trespassers? Probably. Its made of metal, and seems resistant to the corrosive decay of the area. Its eyes gleam like fiery rubies. The head is mounted on a solid stone axle and does not look like it can be dislodged or knocked over. Inside the mine? There is no cover from its baleful ruby-crystal gaze and its trunk, easily 60 feet long, looks like it can telescope out and sweep from one side of the cavern to the other in short, brutal order.

ENCOUNTER: RICKETY WOODEN BRIDGE OVER THE CHASM OF UNBORN SOULS!
This is just what it looks like. A rope-and-wood bridge, suspended over a seemingly bottomless chasm. There is no light down there, and the sound if that of a thousand howling infants, carried upwards n an ill miasmic wind. the bridge is missing planks here and there, and the rope on either side looks old and frayed. But its the only way to the other side, unless anyone can fly, or teleport.

ENCOUNTER: THE WITCH, EXILE FROM THE SOCIETY OF THE CRIPPLED LOTUS
A small, slight, and feminine figure. Shrouded in a loose fitting, cowled black robe, wisps of inky shadow trail alog her edges when she moves, rendering her exact position and location somewhat circumspect. Glimpses of her her ace or hands reveal pale skin, white as ivory, with nails painted a red so dark that it might as well be black. "Do you come on behalf of the demon lord Ku of the Thousand Tears ?" her voice is a hoarse, ragged whisper.