Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger

Heroes: Jag, Atobe Keigo, Pacci, Dust, Zeke and Lord Flash
Enemies: The Jungle Wilderness, Male Chauvinism, and Rivagris the Hellknight


Jag – Officer’s Dispatch 32

Recent Duties: Hah hah hah: primitives! You have to admit, this habit of laughing smugly three times and then stating some relevant noun is really catching on. Unlike this primitive tribal society in which you seem to have found yourself. While some wussy bleeding-heart liberals might try and make some argument about protecting tribal culture, as far as you’re concerned, these people are as much subject to the law as anyone else.

Troop Status

-There is currently no sign of your troops, or your subordinates. Although you wouldn’t be too concerned if something happened to Mattar, you hope the rest of them are still alright.

Military Communiques

-None.

Personal Notes

-You can’t believe the backwardsness of this primitive Uwok society. Naturally, the whole place is just filled with silly superstitions, but as an educated man, you’ve certainly paid them no heed.

-More importantly, while exploring the jungle Bazaar, you’ve come across a disturbing presence: Jackie Chiles. Apparently, he’s been asking questions about the local area and hiring up jungle guides. What in the world could he be doing here?

-Apparently, Electran tea mogul Earl Grey runs one of its major plantations in this area. Frankly, you’re more of a coffee man yourself. You can only hope for his sake that he’s complying with all necessary labor laws and not exploiting the local primitive inhabitants.

Mini-Objective

-Use the phrase ‘Hah hah hah’ followed by a random word as many times as possible.

Atobe Keigo – Officer’s Report 31

Recent Duties: While you seem to have survived your present circumstances, you have to say that being burned alive tied to some wooden totems would not have been such a bad way to go. Maybe even better than jumping in front of a bus. Unfortunately, that appears to be the only good thing this primitive tribal society had going for it.

Troop Status

-There has been no sign of either Seigaku or your subordinate officers thus far. You had better find them soon, you don’t want those boys to forget just who’s in charge in your absence!!

Military Communiques

-None.

Personal Notes

-You find it hard to believe that such a backwards place could still exist on your civilized homeworld of Electra. Not only are there no tennis courts or modern amenities in sight, but gender relations seem to be stuck in the stone age. Every tribal man you run into is either telling you to cook some dinner or asking whether you’re a servant of Jag’s, Pacci’s or worst of all, General Quackers. You intend to show these backwards neanderthals that the only thing this woman cooks is people!!

-Speaking of male chauvinism, you don’t know how it happened, but Dorn is here. You saw him while perusing the goods of the jungle Bazaar, and what’s worse, your friend Lt. Ivy was all over him, much like most of her clothes. One way or another, she needs to be saved from the dark realm of Mansville before it’s too late.

-Apparently, you are not the first soldiers to wind up in this area recently. Some of the tribal hunters have been complaining about unknown but heavily armed men cutting in on the local hunting scene. It’s said to be rather difficult to find them, or even tell who they are, what with all the camouflaged face paint they wear.

-After all the sweat and grime of this uncivilized jungle, you could really use a good bath. While naturally, this hellhole is bereft of running water, the local women have told you that most of them go bathing in the pool located near some place called Splash Mountain.

Mini-Objective

-Condemn any and all examples of outrageous male chauvinism that you can find.

-Rescue Ivy from Mansville.

Pacci – supreme Commander’s Report 23

Recent Duties: Wow! This jungle village you’ve wound up in is so AMAZING! Not only is it chock full of both sticks and shiny rocks, but there are also even more superstitious tribal legends floating around. You’re also sure that in such an exotic locale, you’ll be able to find things that just aren’t available anywhere else…

Troop Status

-You haven’t seen any of your poor men ever since the battle on that bridge that was allegedly destroyed by the drakkhaan (though you suspect one of Crashman's left-over bombs). You sure hope Bumblebee hasn’t managed to get himself captured, you hear that can happen a lot to him.

Military Communiques

-None.

Personal Notes

-You really think everyone should be more thankful to General Quackers for saving you from near-certain drowning in that river. He saved all your lives after all!

-Not only is the Uwok village itself amazing, so is the exciting jungle Bazaar located just to the south. It seems that exotic travelling merchants from all over have come here to peddle their wares. By far the most exciting of these, though, is the Magic Health Elixir offered by a merchant known as Dr. Ewell B. Saari. As you well know, consuming healthy items is the one sure way to becoming more powerful, and you know you’ll be sorry indeed if you miss this amazing purchase.

-The Bazaar offers many other forms of entertainment as well. One of the most popular is the performance of an exotic dancer by the name of Little Egypt. Apparently, the wild twitching of her abdominal muscles and tantalizing irregular heaving of her bosom have left many an onlooker sighing hopelessly in heartfelt admiration.

-The Uwok villagers speak with great trepidation of a place known as Voodoo Valley. Apparently, to venture into the depths of this unholy place is to never return.

-The so-called Thunder Falls are said to be aptly named. According to the villages, great crashes of thunder can be heard to emanate from the mighty waterfalls. These sounds have been even more frequent than usual lately, which has led many villagers to believe that there is great unrest in the spirit world.

-Exploring the Crystal Grotto is a popular past-time among the Uwok villagers. The place is veritably an underground maze, where it’s said that the crystal ‘shines’ that the natives value so highly can be found in great abundance. Of course, there’s no one around who knows mazes like you do!

Mini-Objective

-Obtain Dr. Ewell B. Saari’s Magic Health Elixir.

-Make as many puns as possible involving Dr. Ewell B. Saari’s name.

Lord Flash – Officer’s Report 10

Recent Duties: By now, you’ve surely got those Spherans running scared. So scared, that they’d sooner crash into a bridge than come around for another pass against YOU. WAAFF! Unfortunately, all of your admirers were unable to get out of the way in time because they were so busy looking up at you, and were swept away in the river. You tried to fly after them, but had trouble spotting them from the air. You thus decided it was time for a heroic parachuting rescue. Unfortunately, you may have spent a little too much time posing dramatically on the nose of your plane, and ended up missing the river and landing in the middle of a jungle instead.

You weren’t alone either, and found that you had managed to parachute into the midst of some kind of primitive tribal society who called themselves the ‘Uwoks.’ They were so impressed by your dramatic arrival from the sky (like everyone else would be) that they seemed to consider you some kind of spirit and declared you their Sun-God. You have to admit, it’s rather refreshing to finally meet a people who really know their place, and yours. WAAFF!

Military Communiques

-Your plane must have crashed in this jungle somewhere after your dramatic fall from the sky. You’ve ordered your Uwok followers to retrieve your ‘Solar Chariot’ so it shouldn’t be too long before they do.

Personal Notes

-This Uwok society is rather tribal and primitive, but they’re sure to see the light now that you’re around. Scratch that, you ARE the light! And they’re seeing you right now!! WAAFF!

-Apparently, there’s only one other fellow around here who might command some smidget of authority aside from you. He’s said to be some kind of guru living atop the nearby Splash Mountain who sees all that goes on in the surrounding jungle. If you have your way, though, no one will even remember that guy what with you around now.

-There seems to be quite a lot of interesting entertainment in the jungle here. Not only has a travelling bazaar set up just a little to the south, but one enterprising tribesman is even holding female mud-wrestling matches down by the river. You might have to check this out sometime if you weren’t already so busy looking at YOU!!

Mini-Objective

-Perform as many religious miracles as possible to reinforce your position as the Sun-God.

 

Dust – Officer’s Report 28

Recent Duties: Normally, you’re not the kind to go out looking for trouble. But this time, people have been sticking it to the Denchulli man for too long. Your sister Daria’s birthday party is in just three days, and you have serious trouble, in that your main entertainment seems to have skipped town! First, Lubosh disappears from the city, and now Jag is gone as well, by all appearances in an attempt to duck the match. Well, you weren’t going to stand for this, and you promptly set off on their trail.

Checking through Lubosh’s pro-shop, you came across a travel brochure advertising one ‘Uwok Village,’ a ‘tropical vacation paradise.’ Apparently, this quaint tribal community is located in the depths of the Electran jungle. With this as your only lead, you filed for some personal leave, grabbed your trusty hat and rifle, and set off for what looked to be quite the jungle safari.

Troop Status

-This mission was a personal one, and you saw no reason to involve your poor Boyos. After all, you’re not scared of the Spherans, but jungle animals are another matter. Besides, you still can’t find most of them anyway.

Military Communiques

-You’ve heard news that the Spheran Coalition has broken their cover and is on the attack once again. The river city of Current has already fallen, and reinforcements were being rushed to the important spaceport centre of Ellivir. With any luck, though, they won’t have penetrated as far south as the jungle before you get there.

Personal Notes

-The jungle is even hotter and more humid than you anticipated. Still, as a rugged Denchulli outdoorsman, you anticipate no trouble in surmounting any physical obstacles you come across.

-Back on Denchul, a promise is a promise, and you don’t plan on letting Jag, Lubosh or anyone else duck out of their promised match. One way or another, you’re going to track them down and find out what happened to them.

Mini-Objective

-Discover what has happened to the tennis pro-star, Lubosh.


Zeke – Officer’s Report 23

Recent Duties: Fortunately, due to your troops’ status as a mobile unit, you’ve managed to keep yourself out of the line of fire for the past little while. While the rest of the army was off fighting Gol Draam and his Conventionals, you managed to run a little patrol action around some peaceful nearby farms, on the look-out for approaching rogue Auxiliary units, which thankfully never materialized.

However, it seems the Spherans have made their move, and you’re being called into service once again. The city of Ellivir has just fallen to the Coalition forces, and several Republic units – who it turns out you know all too well – have gone MIA. According to most recent communications, they’re believed to be somewhere in the vicinity of the Electran jungle, and a mobile rescue unit needed to be dispatched to find them.

You volunteered yourself for the job, ostensibly because a) these guys are your buddies, right? and b) it sounded better than being deployed against the Spheran positions in Current and Ellivir.

Troop Status

-Supplies: Hacksaw Shotguns, Biker Helms, Steel Breastplates, brand new leather Wheel jackets, Zeke’s Tent of Horrors, different multiple watches, Delta Mark IV motorcycles!! and a wooden walking stick.

-Morale: Your Haunted Tent of Horrors was recently revived with new special effects, and your men are pleased with the financial results. Unfortunately, it was eventually shut down by someone claiming to be the Supreme Conventionals Commander, who told them that making up ‘ghosts’ is serious business.

-Health: Being dispatched to a jungle area, some of your men are a little worried about contracting various tropical diseases. Surely, though, all it will take is a little bit of ‘medicine’ to put those worries to rest.

Military Communiques

-Your official orders are to locate and rescue the missing Republic soldiers who are reported to be in the region. Given how trouble seems to be drawn to these guys, you don’t imagine that finding them will be too hard.

Personal Notes

-An exotic jungle bazaar is a great place to do some business, especially given the famous superstitious gullibility of native inhabitants. You’ve still got some of Zeke’s White Lotus Lager kicking around, and this could finally be the opportunity to move it. You’re sure you can pass it off as some kind of magic health elixir or love potion or something of the sort.

Mini-Objective

-Sell as much White Lotus Lager – err, ‘magic health elixir’ – as possible.


Adventure Summary
  • The adventure opens with a rather hefty looking duck, dubbed General Quacci by the PCs, dragging Pacci's semi-conscious body out of a river in the jungle, as well as with Garrett's incredulous, "Wait, he pulled me out last?!"
  • Dust, formerly hidden in the bushes, makes himself visible. Jag demands to know where the Denchuli has been, to which he replies that he's just making sure that nobody ducks out of any pre-scheduled tennis matches. At this terrible double-entendre, General Quacci quacks his approval.
  • But seconds later, Dust feels something very sharp pressed against his back. Holding his arms up to show them free of weapons, he turns around, and sees a little tribesman holding a spear.
  • A number of tribesman emerge from the bushes, and tie them up. Hearing talk of a "sun god", they get some ideas about who it might be, and ask to be taken to him. The Uwoks nod.
  • But arriving at the village, they soon find themselves tied up and totem poles filled with oil and other flammable substances. But soon, the "Sun God", a.k.a. Lord Flash, arrives, and manages to secure their release, proclaiming the ever-bright Pacci as his "chief disciple."
  • It isn't long before they find out that Flash's "sun-chariot" has crashed somewhere in the jungle, and that he's working on getting it back. But with that said, they get some rest, and spend the night in the village.
  • They are all rudely awoken at the crack of dawn by Flash throwing a bomb from atop a building, and "summoning the sun". The Uwoks are, of course, terrifically impressed, and don't think too hard about how the sun rose before Flash got there.
  • Uwoks, back from scouting, tell them that they've seen "strange figures" skulking about in the woods. The heroes assume Spherans, and units are quickly formed from the villagers: Jag leads a squad of Uwok Bowman, Pacci a bunch of slingers, Keigo a group of spearmen, Dust a number of rock-wielding Rockers, and Flash the official Sun Guards.
  • They set up, and soon, a number of units emerge from the trees. Rivagris and her Hellmaidens are supported by two units of Spheran scouts.
  • Despite being generally outmatched by the Spherans, the group manages to hold their own, killing quite a few (and even taking down a couple of Hellblazers) before there is a huge roar, and Zeke comes riding in with the wheel, quickly turning the balance of the fight in the heroes' favour. Flash laughs, and points out to the Uwoks that he had just summoned his "great metal beasts." Rivagris and a unit of scouts escape, but the Uwoks, led into a frenzy by the heroes, easily destroy the other unit of scouts.
  • The group heads back to the village, where after a bit more rest, they head off to what the Uwoks call the "bizarre Bazaar" with some of the local currency, "shines", in hand for helping to save the village.
  • Nestled in the forest, it does indeed seem to be a sort of bazaar. All manner of merchants have set up stalls. Crazy Akhmed sells carpets and a somewhat rusted suit of chain plate armour, Dr. Ewell B. Saari has his "revigorating healing tonic" to sell for 10 shines, a Fenixan named Feyne is selling all manner of mystic devices, Panoramix the druid is selling his all-natural wares, a strangle goblin man sells strange brew and acid bombs, and then there is the star attraction - Little Egypt. The heroes, save Keigo, are rather curious about this last one.
  • Zeke sets up shop across from Dr. Saari, promoting the virtues of his own "magic potion", for a mere 5 shines. Flash makes some money "blessing" everything he can, thus ensuring many Uwok customers.
  • Dust heads towards the travel agency. Having found one of his tennis-dodgers, he now seems determined to find the other, Lubosh. The others don't understand, and seem quite happy to have the Russian?/Czech? man gone.
  • Wandering the bazaar, Keigo runs into a beast of a man - Dorn! He has Lt. Ivy in one arm. Young Keigo is infuriated by his displays of chauvinism, and loudly denounces his sexist ways. Dorn doesn't seem to care, because caring's something women do.
  • Dust hires a guide, Eduardo, for 3 shines. The two head off in search of Lubosh. They head first to the Uwok village, who say only that they think they saw him going east. This leads Dust to the fruit groves, where he manages to eat a few grapes on his way, but doesn't find the Pro Shop owner.
  • Meanwhile, Zeke and Keigo heads down to the Mud Flats, site of a relaxing spa and mud wrestling. Seeing skimpily dressed women battling it out for the pleasure of the oppressing males, Keigo turns bright crimson, and loudly denounces mud wrestling as an oppressive sexist enterprise. The proprietor responds with, "Yeah, but if you beat Ayla, you could win free tuition for a year to an Electran University." This doesn't stop Keigo from swatting the man with her racket. Keigo leaves for the plantation.
  • Zeke, on the other hand, is always an entrepeneur, and seeing all these men looking awfully thirsty, starts hawking his White Lotus Lager. He manages to sell a six-pack for a few shines, and decides to leave before they actually taste the stuff. He heads towards Mr. Robles' industrial plant.
  • Arriving there, he finds two armed guards. Despite professing himself to be a good friend of Mr. Robles, the guards tell him that they are under strict orders to let nobody in. Deciding that they don't look particularly bribable, Zeke moves on.
  • Zeke arrives at Thunder Falls. Behind the waterfall, which he ramps through by means of a conveniently placed ramp, he finds a hollowed out area. It looks to have originally been natural, but scorch marks in various places lead him to believe that explosives were used in that area.
  • Keigo arrives at the plantation. Hoping to find evidence of discriminatory policies, she talks with the owner, one Lord Earl Gray. He assures her with a smirk that all of his employees are treated equally. Not allowing her in, Keigo is forced to move on to Splash Mountain, but not before she calls Jag to report a possible worker rights violation.
  • Dust arrives at Splash Mountain before the others, and one Br'er Fox offers to sell him the location of a spot where he can watch the ladies bathe without getting caught. Dust scoffs, and tells him that he could find a better spot on his own, and climbs up the mountain. Dust finds one Br'er Rabbit there, but finds him eminently unhelpful due to the Denchuli's lack of shines. He leaves in disgust.
  • Meanwhile, Keigo, overhearing the earlier conversation between Dust and Br'er Fox, is outraged, and decides to battle sexism physically, laying into Fox with her racket.
  • All this time, Pacci has been hawking his wares, and not being particularly successful. But to his happiness, he has stopped the sales at Dr. Saari's booth. Using his master hucksmanship, Pacci manages to sell the rest of his business to Dr. Saari for 5 shines plus one of his "magic elixirs". Happy, the Pac-Man moves on to the Crystal Grotto. There, he finds mazes full of crystals, and leaves with two more shines.
  • Back at the Bazaar, Flash uses his shines to buy the services of a guide, and heads off to the plantation. Not one to take any guff, Flash manages to "talk" his way into the plantation (which naturally involves decking Earl Grey and laying him low). Finding a dark building full of Uwok workers, Flash throws open the doors to a cry of, "Let there be light!" The Uwok workers are awed, and he makes them promise not to work one day of the week. They nod, and in a masterful pun, reply that this day shall be known as "Sunday". Somewhere, General Quacci quacks in approval.
  • At Splash Mountain, Jag meets Br'er Fox, who offers Jag a prime viewing spot. Jag looks and sees a Spheran bathing. When he comes out to confront her, she turns into some form of large cat, and takes off in the direction of the briar patch, to which Dust has headed.
  • Though Dust talks to Jag on the radio, he is unable to spot the Spheran cat-woman. He checks the briar patch, but finds nothing, and heads back to Splash Mountain.
  • Jag and Dust make their way north to the hunting grounds, along with Keigo, where one Davey Crocket is firing off his musket at anything that moves. He offers to buy any pelts they get. At this time, Dust's guide, Eduardo, declares that his contract is up, and leaves.
  • Dust spends a while hunting. Despite his skill at it, the Denchuli has terrible luck, and only bags two rabbits, netting him two shines. But he hears from Crocket that a big man and a more weasley one went off to the north-east, so he heads off there with Keigo, but not before she smacks Crocket for making disparaging remarks about women.
  • Jag makes his way back, and to the briar patch which Dust had earlier briefly searched to no avail. He finds a path in the briars, which leads him to a trap door. Dropping down, he hears the "click-click" of about twenty automatic weapons, and sees the face of Sir Karsh of the Tiger. The rest, as Jag put it, is confidential.
  • Dust and Keigo make their way towards Voodoo valley, where it is said that none ever return. Dust goes ahead, and from a precarious old tree branch, he hears the pleas of none other than Lubosh. Getting the tennis player to promise to play a singles match versus Jag, Dust hauls him up. When safely up, Lubosh berates the Denchuli, declaring that he didn't need his help and that Dust wasn't a real man, not even married like Lubosh. The two begin the long, long walk back to the bazaar.
  • Flash arrives up at the hunting grounds. His own guide declares that his contract is up, but with a yell of, "Not so, Mexico!", Flash decks his guide like so many other men before him, and heads up to the Spirit Tree. There, he finds the glowing spirit tree, with a number of reverent Uwoks around it. As he approaches, the tree glows, to which Flash quickly responds, "let there be light!" The Uwoks are impressed. Still, there's something mystical about the tree, as Flash finds his psychic powers restored somewhat.
  • Pacci, now at the grove of fruit trees, is told by the women picking fruit for the men that he'd be allowed to pick if he donates half to the Uwok village. Pacci considers this a great idea, and picks a disturbingly large amount of fruit, devouring half of it.
  • Eventually, all the heroes arrive back at the bazaar. They spend their shines, buying potions, an acid bomb from the goblin-like man, and a number of scarab pendants from Feyne. Lubosh struts up to Dorn, who looks shocked to see the man. When told about what happened, Ivy is furious, and slaps Dorn, leaving him for Lubosh, declaring him to be a "real man". Disgraced and humiliated, Dorn flees into the jungle screaming in rage.
  • Heading back to the village, they are confronted by a bloodied McMason. He tells them that the Spherans have captured Bumblebee, and are holding him at the spirit tree. When asked how he got past the Uwoks that had earlier tried to burn them, he replied that he was taking their picture, and the blinding flashbulb convinced them that he was a disciple of their "Sun God".
  • The heroes, plus a newly 'liberated' Ivy, head to the Spirit Tree to see what has happened. When they get there, Bumble bee is bound and gagged and hanging from one of the top branches. Pacci screams in distress, and orders General Quacci to get Bumblebee down. In front of the tree, armoured, sword out, they see none other than Rivagris. Declaring that they would pay for the deaths of Tanzer and Lohengris, she draws her sword, and attacks.
  • Ivy weathers a direct deathblade from the Spheran woman, relishing every painful second of it, and dishes out a duo-strike of her own. The others take up position, Dust disappearing in a cloud of Dust, and the others nearby. Suddenly, a bomb is tossed at Rivagris' feet, and explodes, hitting her with shrapnel.
  • Flash then tosses the acid bomb he had bought earlier, which seems to temporarily eat at the Spheran's armour. Swigging down a gourd of Panoramix's Magic Potion, Zeke's strength is temporarily as great as it can be, and he lays into Rivagris with a straight kick and an eye gouge. After being hit by Keigo and sniped by Dust, Rivagris is looking very hurt. But the next round, with the effects of the acid gone, Rivagris is able to hold off their attacks far more easily. The PCs, aided by Pacci's AMAZING! sparkling spin, are able to heal from her attacks for a short while. She takes down a number of them, and after being brought down to 1 HP and showing a desire to fight to the death, Dust breaks from his cover, and fires with his Schmitzer, killing her, much to the disappointment of Keigo. This marked the end of the adventure - Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger.

Major Characters this Session

Lady Feyne
Race: Fenixan
Rank: Civilian
Affiliation: Unknown

Lady Feyne was an exotic merchant from the distant, burning sands of Fenixa, selling the desert's mystical treasures at a bazaar in the Electran jungle. Her skin-tone is darkened by the sun, and her thick hair is a spiky red, like many of her race. A while veil hangs over her face, adding to her exotic and mysterious allure, and a great scimitar is carried with each over her back. Although claiming a purely mercantile profession, she seems to have some interest in a certain infamous Special Forces Major, and is likely more than she seems.

Dr. Ewell B. Saari
Race: Tortalian
Rank: Civilian
Affiliation: Himself

The name of Dr. Ewell B. Saari is most famously known attached to his special magical health elixir, which he was seen hawking at the Bizarre Bazaar in the jungles of Electra. He claims that with his prestigious medical degree, his is the only so-called 'magic' potion clinically proven to improve health and cure disease. Although his prices are steep, you're sure to be sorry if you pass up on such an amazing offer.



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