DRP: FENG SHUI - Stage

[Sensei Grae]

Feng Shui:
the Dynamic Roleplaying Storytelling Game

Book 1 - The Dragon Awakes

By
Ayaji
Radjulon
Kazu Faiya
Maeth
Miko-dono

Edited by Sensei Grae

 

[Sensei Grae]

Prologue

"China is a sleeping dragon. When it awakes, the world will shake." - Napoleon Bonaparte.

AD 65: Northern China

The young dragon struggled against the silvered ropes that bound him. As he was now, in the shape of a man, he possessed not even half of his normal physical strength. Deep within his veins his ancient heritage swirled in a golden rage, roaring to be let out and raze his enemies� home to the ground. But Tian couldn�t � something was hurting him deep, in a way that no mere ropes could. He was trapped within the shell of his man-form.

The vile eunuchs who had bound him in these enchanted ropes had also given him bitter potions which had until recently robbed Tian of his wits. But it was all coming back to him now � the high-pitched voiced humans and their foul smell, their plot to rob his family of their estate, and the murder of his people which had led him to this candlelit room on top of one of their pagodas.

Just then Tian heard the door creak open and the raspy sound of one of the eunuchs breathing. Tian�s visitor was carrying a torch and so for the first time in a long while, Tian had a better look at his imprisonment � an otherwise elegant bedroom, most likely the chambers of an imperial bureaucrat in service to Gao Zhang and his brotherhood of eunuch sorcerers.

When the visitor made his way around the bedroom, wheezing and coughing, Tian saw that this man was surprisingly young, dressed in simple white robes, almost like a monk. Although Tian could see dark splotches beneath the man�s eyes and around his lips, he did not have the sunken in look of the others � perhaps he had only recently began his journey down the path of his patron�s dark arts. Tian couldn�t resist a shiver which came at the thought of the Lotus� sorcery. His people feared little else in the world than the perversion of the lifeforce known as �magic�, an ancient craft which made the primeval blood begin to boil making it hard to hold on to his humanity.

�Good evening, my prince� rasped the visitor. �Sleeping well, I hope?� The eunuch wheezed a pitiful squealing laugh and set about removing a thin ceremonial dagger and tall vial. The Lotus Eater moved quickly, poking Tian on the arm and collecting the blood which dripped from the wound. Tian bit hard to stop himself from screaming out, not in pain but in sheer anger.

The young sorcerer gave Tian one more look before turning towards the door. Suddenly there was a shout and two more men came into the room.

�Char Yun!� one of them said breathlessly, addressing the younger sorcerer.

�What is it?� he snapped, putting the dagger and vial within the folds of his robes. �Have they come so soon?�

The second man answered that they had, and all three of them turned quickly to gaze with fearful and hateful eyes towards Tian. �Has the master given the order for the young one�s death?� asked Char Yun.

The second man answered that the master had, and all three of them strode with purpose toward Tian. This is it! Tian thought to himself. I go now to join my ancestors.

The wall in front of Tian suddenly exploded in a shower of wooden shards as a tall and burly shape came charging into the room. It bellowed and attacked the closest Lotus Eater with bestial claws.

�They�re here!� cried one of the eunuchs and the room suddenly became hot with magic. The bed shot into flame as Char Yun unleashed a stream of fire towards his companion and the attacker. The other eunuch yelled out in a shrill death cry as the flames engulfed him. His attacker however, jumped over the bed, unphased by the magical fire and launched himself at Char Yun.

The remaining sorcerer stepped forward, lifting up his hands and crying out in a harsh language that made Tian shiver despite the immense heat. The beast-man froze in mid-air, floating over the ground with an enraged but confused look on his furry face as both Char Yun and his remaining companion regrouped at the other side of the room.

They had no time to act, however, before another explosion � this one coming from the ceiling - forced the Lotus Eaters to look up and watch in horror as a second attacker, a thin and long-legged man dressed in black, slid down from the floor above on a long silky rope.

The new combatant shrieked and from his mouth spewed silvery lines of pure energy which wrapped around both eunuchs, binding them to one another. As the sorcerers struggled against the web, the thin man quickly pulled his ally to the ground and spoke to him in a language that Tian didn�t understand.

Tian saw Char Yun free one hand and begin to move it in an arcane pattern. �Watch out!� he yelled and the two rescuers jumped out of the way as a wave of dark shadow struck the bed, melting it instantly into ash.

The thin man twisted around and from his sleeves he produced several wicked-looking knives. These he sent flying towards his two bound enemies. The blades plunged into the Lotus Eaters in various important parts of the body and they both slumped to the ground, their hideous wheezing breath finally silenced.

The thin man spoke again to the large beast-man, but his companion did not answer back; instead it growled warningly. The thin man looked worried, but turned his attention toward Tian, speaking to him in the common language.

�Well, young one, you are safe for now. Our brethren are leading some of our vassals to secure this and other important sites on your family�s property. I wish I had time to explain more�� the thin man paused to look back at his friend who was now on all fours scratching himself. The rescuer sighed and cut Tian free of his bonds, adding ��but time is running out for my friend there. The sorcerers� magic has a very ill effect on us, as you probably already know.�

The thin man walked back to his friend and began to coax him out of the room. Tian stood up and weakly walked toward them. �Wait!� he said, grabbing the chair to keep himself upright. �Please, let me go with you! This land is so filled with the Lotus� magic that I don�t know how much longer I can stay in control of my senses.�

The thin man turned to Tian with profoundly dark ebony eyes. �No, my prince, you must stay here and stand against Gao and his demons for as long as you can. If fortune is with our people, you�ll soon be safe from the foul power � as will all of humanity. But that is not a war for you to wage. We need you here�at this time.�

Tian blinked, confused at the thin man�s last words, but promised, �I will. And I�ll never forget what you did for me, for my family.�

As the thin man and his wild companion went out the door, Tian heard him answer back, �If tonight goes well � you won�t remember any of this.�

 

[Sensei Grae]

Chapter One

AD 2006: The City, California

Derrick Fletcher tossed today’s newspaper in a growing pile by his trash bin. He sighed and turned back to his computer. It was an ancient bucket of bolts and he was still waiting for the webpage to load.

“Oh, for goodness sake!” he cried, having waited now for over ten minutes for the website, Lost Paws.com, to load. He jumped out of his chair for fear that he would soon resort to using physical violence to urge his confounded contraption to work faster.

Fletcher walked over to the other side of his studio apartment slash office. In the corner was a full-length mirror beside a hanging punching bag. Fletcher loved to watch himself work out. Pretending the bag was his computer, Fletcher practiced some of his forms.

After a few minutes he had a nice sweat going on. He decided to take off his dress shirt and stood there in a white tank top and black dress pants, glistening with perspiration. He smiled at himself in the mirror. He looked pretty damn good.

Just then his eyes drifted to the picture on the wall, the only other faces he loved to study more than his own. With a violent growl Derrick Fletcher threw all his weight into his next punch. He overexerted himself, however, and stumbled, tripping over his own left foot, and slumped down against the wall.

He was panting…he was gasping…He was trying not to cry.

“I’ll find them,” he murmured himself. “I’ll find them both.” Fletcher stood up and walked back to his computer. From the top drawer he moved some case files out of the way and took out his gun. From time to time he just liked to hold it. It gave him confidence.

“I’m going to find them….both of them.” He looked back over to the wall, to the picture of his beloved Li Mei and his cat, Spike. After a moment he put the gun back and walked over to the freezer to grab his carton of strawberry ice cream. Li Mei hated strawberry ice cream. And she hated it when Derrick ate from the carton.

Fletcher chuckled, grabbed a spoon from the sink, rubbed it on his pants, and sat down in front of his computer. His profile on Lost Paws.com still hadn’t produced any leads. As he was scrolling back up to change his classified, there was a DING! sound which signaled that he had just received an e-mail.

It was from Chuckles, one of his most reliable sources in the City justice department. “Come to Green River Chinese buffet at 6pm tonight.” That’s what Derrick loved about Chuckles. The man never said more than he had to.

Derrick looked over at the clock. He still had time to take a shower and run some errands. To be polite, Derrick decided to write Chuckles an e-mail and let the fat attorney know that Fletcher would be there. Derrick clicked ‘Reply’ and began to growl at the computer to speed it up a little.

Unfortunately, the computer wasn't intimated.

 

[Maeth]

AD 2006: Chicago

It was a dark and stormy night...
"Yeah right, get sued for plagerism on the first line... good job, Danny boy."

It was indeed a dark night, but hardly stormy. The sky was clear with starlight and the moon barely peaking out from between Chicago's skyscrapers. Somewhere below a car alarm blared.

Danny Marigliano sat at his old desk on which a large typewriter took up most of the space in front of him. Blank paper mocked his lack of creativity. He glared at it, daring it to go ahead and verbalize his already frustrating thoughts. To the relief of the neighborhood the car alarm finally quit.

Danny had decided to use a typewriter instead of a computer to do his writing, he told people it was to help inspire him.
"For what?" His friends had asked, "Take forever correcting spelling?" Indeed Danny made many mistakes and his trash can, full of scratched paper and empty white-out containers, is testament.

"Curse it all!" He cried and went into the kitchen for a beer. The bright light of the refridgerator made his eyes hurt in his dark apartment. Grabing for a bottle he shut the door; the bottle was empty. Sighing, Dan threw it away. "Hey, Cat! Where are you?"

Danny had gotten a cat for the same silly reason he got the typewriter - inspiration. He heard somewhere that cats where good muses for writers, with so many owning them. He never bothered to name it.

Cat slowly crawled out from his resting spot underneath the sofa pillow.
"I need help, Cat. Inspire me."
Cat yawned and looked back passively, Idlely licking his paws where some old ice cream had stuck.
"Don't you have anything? I'm gonna have to throw you out in the streets now."

He had made this threat several times and never once attempted it. He suspected the cat knew he never would get to guts to do so.
Cat 'meowed' softly and went back to sleep.

Dan sighed and sat back in his chair. He stared at the noisy old fan on the ceiling. He had become a writer after a not so long foray into the private detective business. Before that he barely passed police academy and didn't last long in the force. Now he prefered writing about dangerous drug dealers and heroic gun fights, explosions, and rich beautiful daughters needing rescue than actually doing any of it. He never did any of that but he would still prefer to write about it, except maybe for the rich daughter part.

Danny didn't even realise he was starting to drift to sleep when there came a quick tapping at his door.  

[Radjulon]

2006 AD, New York, New York

Among the ruins of the world, there was two. A young angel on one side, and the devil on the other. They stared at each other for a long time, both with fury in their eyes. It seemed like an eternity, finally they leaped at one another with their weapons clashing, and all turned black. There was nothing. Suddenly, a random panda bear in a tutu came out from the side. She paused in the middle of the blackness and started to do little twirls as strange music played in the background.

“Random Dancing teddy bear
lalalalalalala
dancing here and every where
lalalalalalala
round and round and round she goes
lalalalalalala
see her dancing in the snow.”

Joanna bolted her head up with a large gasp. She looked around in a panic and found herself back in her apartment, she was just dreaming. Ever since the accident all she had been having was weird dreams, perhaps it had something to do with her change in eating habits. She looked down to see her not quite finished painting of a Ben & Jerry’s carton on a table, bare. She had been working on it all week, getting near to no sleep. But as she looked on it all she could hear was her crazy professor say,

“Look at this! It looks like crap, what the heck is wrong with you? What’s with the ice cream?!”

May sound a little harsh, but by now it was routine. It’s amazing what you learn to deal with during art critiques. But this painting, unfortunately, held her final grade on it’s shoulders...or canvas rather.

She sighed and looked around for her oil paints only to find that her dalmatian puppy, Joji, had been sleeping on them. Another mess Joanna would have to clean up. She tossed her painting aside, coming to terms with the fact that since the project was due in the morning and it was already 5 am, she should just give in on defeat. It was practically done anyway, she just couldn’t manage to give it that certain feel that she use to give her paintings.

She walked into the kitchen and grabbed her own carton of Ben & Jerry’s, The special Monty Python edition and sat on her couch to watch tv. Lucky her, she just caught Alton Brown on Good Eats.