Mu-Pan is proceeding nicely – about thirty more encounters to write up. I got some great material from the Weird Asia post, and Theodoric the Obscure, JD Jarvis and the wondrous Mr. Huth definitely have a free PDF coming their way.

The image in the corner is the cover of the next issue of NOD – coming soon. Now, a quick encounter and then back to work.

3018. The wooded hills here hide a coal mine worked by a gang of slave labor – convicted felons – under the tender mercies of a half-ogre called Suke. Suke is especially savage-looking for his breed, and he paints red radiations on his face to make himself look more fierce. He is assisted in his duties by five shashu no ashigaru.

The slaves of the mine are fifty men, ashen skinned and bleary eyed. They look like living dead, dragging leather sacks full of coal to ox-drawn carts or chipping away at the walls of the mine with picks, slim amber-colored lanterns hanging from their iron slave collars. In the evening, one can find them lying on the ground outside the mine, coughing and wheezing, praying for death but lacking the strength to even pretend to escape.

Of late, the place has attracted a gang of seven fire mephits. The mephits have made the mines too dangerous to work, enraging Suke. The mephits “arrived” when a bronze mask was uncovered embedded in a wall of the mine. The mask depicts a demonic face with a pointed chin and two pointed horns, and gives one complete immunity to fire as well as the ability to polymorph into a fire elemental once per month for a total of one hour.

| Fire Mephit: HD 3; AC 3 [16]; Atk 2 claws (1d6); Move 12 (F21); Save 14; CL/XP 5/240; Special: Immunity to fire, +1 or better weapon to hit, regenerate 2 hp/round when touching flame, double damage from cold, breath fire 1/day (3d6 damage, 15-ft cone).

| Suke, Half-Ogre Bujin Lvl 4: HP 4d6+1; AC 4 [15]; Save 13 (12 vs death, 9 vs. poison & disease); CL/XP 4/120; Special: Follow through, ogre’s ferociousness, open door on 1-4 on 1d6. Do-maru, suneate, kote, jingasa, tetsubo (1d6+2).

Back from the Magic Kingdom. Much work to catch up on, but the weather was beautiful, the park not too crowded and the Candy Cane Inn (yes, I say it with pride) was excellent as usual. Two encounters today – a bit of a fight brewing between them.

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2842. The deforested hills around a sprawling castle of cream-colored stone are alive with the activity of two companies of shashu no ashigaru, three companies of yari ashigaru and a squadron of samurai in training. Further afield there are meadows of grazing sheep and fields of pulses and barley worked by busy, nervous farmers. The villagers dwell in simple huts located about half a mile from the castle. The village boasts a small tavern run by Myshulai, a raven-haired beauty with a wicked jaw and purple burn scar decorating the right side of her face. A former paramour of the lord, she is the only person known to have defied him and survived, though none know the details of their romance or parting.

The lord of the castle is Chinegan, a thin, malevolent sprite of a man with a long mustache and thinning hair pasted over a spotted scalp. Chinegan always appears swathed in silks, a poisoned dagger grasped in one hand and hidden in a long sleeve. Chinegan covets 2942 more highly than the lives of his wives and daughters, and has long been preparing his forces for an assault. His little army has been funded by a fabulous mine of peach-colored agates discovered many summers ago underneath the castle behind a dungeon wall. Dozens of peasants now labor in the dark, day and night, digging out the stones.

When not plotting the destruction of his neighbors, Chinegan amuses himself hunting outlaws in the woods surrounding his castle using a pack of three shocker lizards. The lizards are wrangled by Anq, a half-ogre who raised them from the egg and keeps them under control with nothing but his commanding voice and a series of hand movements.

Chinegan owns a treasure of 1,630 sp, 1,645 gp, a terracottage aquamanile (painted with a code that means nothing) worth 1 gp, a lapis lazuli water buffalo worth 50 gp, an amber vase worth 70 gp, a sack of agates worth 115 gp, a granite statuette of a five legged gryph worth 80 gp and twenty pounds of red (iron) dye worth 5 sp per pound, and meant for the manufacture of battle flags.

| Shocker Lizards (3): HD 1-1 hp; AC 6 [13]; Atk 1 bite (1d3); Move 6; Save 18; CL/XP 2/30; Special: Electric shock.

| Anq, Half-Ogre Bujin Lvl 6: 34 [45]; AC 4 [15]; Save 11 (10 vs death, 7 vs. poison & disease); CL/XP 6/400; Special: Follow through, ogre’s ferociousness, open door on 1-4 on 1d6. Hara-ate, jingasa, kote, suneate, tetsubo (1d6+1).

| Chinegan, Bujin Lvl 10: HP 36 [55]; AC 3 [16]; Save 7 (6 vs death & poison); CL/XP 10/1400; Special: Follow through, parry death blow. Do-maru, kote, suneate, kabuto, katana, wakizashi, tanto, daikyu, 10 arrows.

MON: Red field, white gryph

2942. The gaijin warlord known as the Lord of the Granite Chrysanthemum dwells here in an unyielding safehold (the aforementioned Granite Chrysanthemum). The Granite Chrysanthemum is a castle of concentric rings protected by tall towers that encircle an inner keep. The structure is constructed on the Motherlander model and is ruled by a dwarf warlord called Inthor, a former servant of the Tiger Empress who now rules as a freelord in brazen defiance of the Jade Empress and her court. The castle is constructed of yellowish stone with roofs of red tile and ample stonecarving, as is the wont of dwarves.

Within the inner court of the castle, surrounding the keep, there is a grove of gingko-biloba trees. The gingko is harvested by Inthor’s harem of maidens – all the eldest daughters of foes he has vanquished placed in Inthor’s protective custody to insure the loyalty and good will of their fathers. Despite their imprisonment, the maidens are treated well. The gingko’s essence is extracted by a half-mad wise woman called Gombe. Her elixirs are much sought after by shugenja, for whom they have a 1 in 6 chance of acting as a potion of mnemonic enhancement.

Inthor commands three companies of dwarf warriors armed with teppo or chu-ko-nu and masakiri. They wear Motherlander-style mail and carry shields, as does their lord.
Inthor rules over a tribe of cavemen who dwell in leather tents on the wooded grasslands surrounding the keep. The holding is rich in copper and malachite, and the cavemen are employed as able miners.

| Inthor: HP 31 [57]; AC 1 [18]; Save 4 (2 vs. magic); CL/XP 12/2000; Special: Note stonework. Platemail, shield, battle axe, dagger.

2532. As one passes through this woodland of pines and pale blue rhododendrons, they might (1 in 12 chance) be accosted by a sort of clown – a short, slight man wearing a frightful blue mask and brightly colored silks and going barefoot. The clown appears about 20 yards ahead of the adventurers, performs a series of comical acrobatics and motions them to follow him.

The clown leads the adventurers to a secret grove of tall, black pines. Black moss covers the ground and the boughs of the trees are thick with spider webs. Sitting on the ground in the grove is a porcelain bottle decorated with black moths. The bottle contains a powerful narcotic, that, when imbibed, causes one to fall instantly and deeply asleep. As a person falls into unconsciousness, they also fall through the mossy ground, which becomes spongy, then more and more insubstantial until it can no longer hold the sleeper’s weight.

The sleeper passes through the ground for about 100 yards, finally emerging in an etheric chamber of mists and half-heard whispers. This chamber leads into the lair of a coven of nine witches (shugenjas, level 1d4+1) loyal to the Yozi. Like the grove above, it is lousy with spider swarms and giant spiders, as well as a tribe of twenty-five blue faced bugbears (HD 3+1) with long, golden brown fur that lightens to silvery white at the tips. The leader of the witches is Gatachru, a creature that appears to be female from the waist up and spider below. She has skin the complexion of black currants and eyes that shine like sapphires. On Gatachru’s head is an ivory crown set with two large emeralds, one containing the trapped soul of a holy bujin, the other that of a sohei.

The chambers of the bugbears and Yozi cult connect to the wider underworld of demons, devils and the unquiet dead.

| Gatachru: HD 6; AC 2 [17]; Atk 1 weapon (1d6) and bite (1d4 plus poison); Move 12 (C9); Save 11; CL/XP 10/1400; Special: Poison, magic resistance (40%), casts spells as a 6th level sohei and 6th level shugenja, surprise on roll of 1-3 on 1d6.

Another glimpse into Mu-Pan – tomorrow, Megacrawl 3000.

2202. The central three miles of this hex, running from north to south, is occupied by a massive wall. The wall is 15 feet side and 30 feet tall, with a 40 foot tall tower every 100 yards. The wall is constructed of ebony, semi-glossy stones and appears to have been constructed a millennium ago by the ophidians. Stairs leading up to the wall are located on the west face of the wall, and the east face shows signs of salt encrustation and heavy weathering, as though by the sea. Although not manned by any soldiers, the wall is sometimes used as a hideout by bandits. Many charred and shattered sections speak to attacks from armies on the wall. Each tower has a 1 in 20 chance of being home to a CL 1d4+1 monster.

CL | Possible Monster
2 | Aka-name, centipedes (giant), kaeru-ningen, nezumi-oni, zombies
3 | Banshee, bugbears, ghouls, lizard samurai, mogura-jin, yellow mold
4 | Bakemono-toro, ogres, ragged craws, tesso, tsurube-otoshi, wererats
5 | Doppelganger, grey ooze, jiki-niku-gaki, shamshir, spider (giant), wights

No posting tomorrow – out of town (in an airplane that hopefully will maintain its roof integrity for the entire flight). Here’s a couple more encounters from the Mu-Pan map. I’m still working on the next Megacrawl episode – sorry for the delay. More Mu-Pan monsters, comic book characters, a sample chapter from the MM! book (so you can get an idea of what it’s going to look like) and the Gods of Mu-Pan on the way. Busy busy. Have fun on the internet.

2032. Three leprous zombies (HD 2; bite causes disease) are chained to a large stone post carved to look like a column of koi. One zombie has an ivory pin (worth 40 gp) stuck through its left temple. This pen, when put to paper, causes the person’s memories or current thoughts to pour onto the page as though a watercolor painting.

2045. A trader, Kaith by name, sits by the side of the road nursing a wounded leg. He was attacked by a wild cat two days back, and now has a bad infection and a fever. If he sees people coming, he struggles to his feet and grabs his cloak, warning people to stay away. If they continue to approach, he raises the edges of his cloak like wings and a swarm of twelve giant bats (HD 4) emerges from the unnatural darkness within. As they emerge, he becomes noticeably paler and falls to the ground. The magic cloak summons the bats, but inflicts 1d12 points of damage when it does so – the damage sustained by Kaith is enough to knock him unconscious.

So begins the day of too many posts! First up – another encounter for Mu-Pan. Later, I wade into the ABC challenge thing and later I’m going to post a few new monsters for Ruins and Ronin.

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1611. A number of winding catacombs are dug into the side of the mountains here. The catacombs run for several miles, have arched ceilings and are lined with shelves (3 feet off the ground, 3 feet deep). The floor of the caverns are cut to allow water to flow down the center, and small streams do run from the catacombs. The entrance to the catacombs is protected by a bronze portcullis that can only be opened by playing a hunting melody on a bamboo flute (or by physical force – requires 2 hours of pounding with weapons or a combined strength of 60 to pull open).

The catacombs contain numerous skeletons wrapped in leather and tied with silken cords. Several of these bodies seem to shift as one walks past them – a trick caused by thin trip wires. At each juncture of the catacombs, there hangs a bronze temple bell by a red cord. When a bell is passed without being rung, the corpses in the tunnel the adventurers have just left animate as skeleton warriors, crawling from their wrappings and relying on their claw-like finger bones to attack. There are 1d10+7 skeletons in each tunnel. Ringing a bell after the skeletons have animated does nothing.

The main inhabitant of the catacombs is Bzisfisihm, a poet and high priest of the shamshir who died over 1,000 years ago. His main tomb is located in the center of the catacombs. The tomb is preceeded by an antechamber with three red doors. The center door leads into a small chamber with a collapsible floor. Beneath the floor is a stone chute that is both covered in oils and embedded with shards of glass. Those falling down the shaft suffer 2d6 points of damage minus their total armor bonus. They are deposited in a small stone tomb, already piled high with bodies.

The other two doors lead into the tomb proper. The tomb is clad in red stone and features a white, marble dais in the center surrounded by a dozen terracotta warriors. Atop the dais there is a gaudy sarcophagus of marble and brass containing the body of Bzisfisihm wrapped in red silk and tied with golden cords (worth 100 gp). Set in the mummified remains of the high priest there is a tiger’s eye gem. This gem contains the high priest’s spirit, which can leave the gem to inhabit and animate the terracotta warriors.

The lid of the sarcophagus is heavy, requiring a combined strength of 30 to lift and move about. If placed flat on the floor, it becomes a doorway into a pocket dimension containing the high priest’s treasures. The pocket dimension appears as a stone staircase descending 100 feet and emptying onto a small island seemingly floating in space. The “walls” of the island, though invisible, do exist, and strange creatures can be seen beyond those walls, some noticing the adventurers and moving to glare at them from the walls, like curious children or hungry dogs.

This island/room contains a stout, iron chest embedded with 2-inch long spikes. The chest is locked and trapped – should one walk away from the chest, it fires its spikes throughout the room (1d4 attacks person from 2 HD creature, 1d4 damage each), accompanied by a blinding flash of light (save or blinded for 1d4 hours). Inside the chest there are a number of large aquamarines – one for each adventurer and two of each shape – circle, oval, square, triangle, etc. Each aquamarine is worth 500 gp, but they are cursed. The two holders of the same shape have their spirits switched – in effect, the players trade character sheets. The only way to switch bodies back is to bath in foamy surf of the Sea of Stars at sunset.

| Terracotta Warrior: HD 3; AC 3 [16]; Atk 1 slam (1d6+1); Move 9; Save 14; CL/XP 3/60; Special: None.