All Things Under Heaven, Session #3

Our Setting: Iron Springs is a moderately-sized town at the north-western frontier of civilized Tianxia, looking out over a region that many call only The Wastes. The town is built on the broad banks of the Lièkǒu River, the only lifeline that it has back to the Imperial world of bureaucracy and well-tended order, and is supported by terrace-farms cut into the surrounding hill country. It is home to around a thousand souls, making it the largest inhabited center in the surrounding lands.

From Iron Springs a rich tapestry of terrain stretches out towards the sunset: vast and trackless forests, stinking marshes, windswept plains, rugged hills and towering mountains where the workshops of the old Zhang witch-alchemists may still stand. These Wastes are wild, untamed, dangerous, and haunted by beasts and spirits and yet stranger things.

Iron Springs’ extreme remoteness and the wild and untamed nature of The Wastes have contributed to its reputation as a place of last resort, somewhere that only the greedy, the foolish, or the desperate would try and make a life. Those who chafe at the yoke of Imperial authority find the distance from any real governance appealing, while scholars and seekers after the weird and macabre find it a valuable source of information and research subjects.

The Wastes beyond Iron Springs are the stuff of many a legend, promising all those things that are best in life: wealth beyond measure, endless opportunity, danger to be faced, glory to be won, secrets and wonders to behold and uncover, and a means to transform your life. Tame the Wastes, the buzz in the teahouse goes, and the Emperor has promised that a noble title will be yours along with deeds to whatever you manage to wrest from the trackless wilderness.

Our Cast:

• Mei-Xiu, a human Monk. Given away as a child to a warlord, one of the Rén catfolk. She was raised as an assassin, and now wanders the Wastes to challenge the strong.
• Ming-Hua, a Wizard (School of Evocation). One of the Guàn birdfolk, from the Tribe of the Ibis. She tired of reading about the arcane in dusty libraries, and now wanders the Wastes to study the weird.
• Shi, a Fighter. One of the Rén catfolk from the Tribe of the Leopard. He was a criminal back in the civilised world, and now wanders the Wastes to encounter the strange.
• Sun Thuy, a Rogue. One of the Rén catfolk from the Tribe of the Fox. She was heir to a noble family back in her homeland, and now wanders the Wastes to protect the weak.
• Xiang Wang, a Druid (Circle of the Five Elements). One of the Guàn birdfolk, from the Tribe of the Heron. They were a roamer and a vagabond already, and now wander the Wastes to seek the path.

The Session

Day Seven: The group press onward, deeper into the Tomb of the Nameless Hero into another rectangular chamber. A dusty rolled scroll lies in one corner of the room, while a pair of large chests covered in sacks of treasure sit along one wall. This mural depicts another battle, with a small army bearing the sigil from the last mural being surrounded and cut down by a larger army in a valley. In the central foreground stands a gravely-wounded figure from the losing army faces off against four enemy soldiers.

Wary after the last chamber, the group prepare their weapons as Xiang performs the same ritual to see into the spirit world that was aborted last time. The ritual is successful and reveals the chamber to be empty of magic except for the mural, which Mei-Xiu throws a dart at. She aims at the painted soldiers confronting the several figures, assuming them to be the true threat, but realises her mistake as the central figure comes to life.

Suffering emerges from the wall, sculpted with grievous wounds and dripping blood included in its glazing. Shi, Ming-Hua, and Xiang hang back and attack from a distance with arrows and throw balls of flame, while Mei-Xiu and Sun charge into close quarters.

Suffering draws a cat o' nine tails from its side and brutally lashes Mei-Xiu into unconsciousness before grabbing Sun and forcing her to look into its ruined eyes. She psychically experiences every moment of pain the group has inflicted on it before reeling backwards, weeping blood.

Xiang heals Mei-Xiu as the group continues their assault. Now crumbling and moving like a physical wreck, Suffering whips Sun into unconsciousness before forcing Ming-Hua to stare into its eyes and sharing its pain until her mind retreated into unconsciousness.

The resurgent Mei-Xiu charges forward and inflicts the killing blow on Suffering, causing the mural to shatter just as the last did. Shi applies his healer's kit and manages to make Ming-Hua comfortable as they wait for her to recover, while Xiang heals Sun and brings her back to consciousness.

The group pull back to the first chamber and a spirited debate ensues over their options: push ahead now, rest again before pushing onward, or leave and sell what they have gained and returned later. Mei-Xiu and Ming-Hua champion pushing on, and after an hour's rest the group advance into the doorway of the third chamber.

Seeing the empty black mural on the side of the wall and the weight with which time hangs upon the chamber, they conclude that it corresponds to Death and make the call to pull back and leave. They gather up the treasure from the Suffering chamber: a pile of ancient silver coins, a bolt of exquisite black silk, a finely-painted wooden fan, and a painted poetic scroll that indirectly describes an ancient school of swordsmanship.

Xiang uses their elemental attunement to earth to pile earth into the tomb's entrance and seal it. The group travel make use of the afternoon to begin their journey back to town before finding the best camp they can (the lee of a subsided hill where their fire will be less evident) and making camp. The night passes quietly.

Day Eight: The group set off early the next day and set out with speed their main goal, making excellent time and making it nearly halfway back to town during the day's march. Setting up their camp in the late afternoon to take advantage of the light, the group are eating their evening meal when they spot an approaching figure that Ming-Hua identifies as a demon.

Mei-Xiu and Ming-Hua attempt to negotiate, but a poor choice of words (describing the Fallen Celestial using the Heavenly referent, 'failed Celestial') escalates the encounter. The demon, bull-headed and leopard-skinned, flares the campfire and blinds much of the party before wading into combat.

It strikes with terrifying force using only its bare hands and exercises preternatural powers of control over the fire and its embers to scorch and burn members of the group while staying largely unharmed itself.

The group defend themselves but are on the backfoot from the beginning, dragging unconscious allies out of harm's way while attempting to make a retreat. Mei-Xiu is revived (yet again) by Xiang after being dragged to safety by a summoned panther-spirit, while Sun drags Ming-Hua away and pours a potion of healing down her throat.

It settles into their campfire and consumes the heat in a flaring pillar of flames to fuel its strength and the group flees.

They spend an hour putting distance between themselves and the Fallen Celestial before slowing to a stealthy and cautious crawl, trading distance for safety. They go to ground to make camp, spending an uncomfortable night concealed among a stand of high wispy grass.

Day Nine: The group spend the day moving at a crawl, travelling with the utmost care as they extract themselves from the vicinity of the Fallen Celestial. They make less distance than they could have in a few hours pushing at full speed, but have no unwelcome encounters during the day of cautious journeying.

Alternate 5E D&D Fighter

I have a long-standing dissatisfaction with the way that the Fighter has been handled in D&D. 5E has done slightly better in this regard, but the Fighter remains bland and boring, as well as underpowered. The most promising aspect of the 5E execution is the Combat Superiority mechanic, which was originally a core part of the class in the D&D Next playtesting but got shifted into the Battlemaster archetype. 

The following represents the best attempt of myself and the players from my All Things Under Heaven campaign to create a more tactically-interesting, evocative, and balanced interpretation of the Fighter.

(Credit for inspiration and some mechanic ideas goes to the discussion in this thread).

Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d10 per fighter level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 10 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d10 (or 6) + your Constitution modifier per fighter level after 1st.

Proficiencies
Armour : All armor, shields
Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Strength  and Dexterity OR Constitution
Skills: Choose two skills from Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Insight, Intimidation, Perception, and Survival.

Equipment: You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) chain mail or (b) leather, longbow, and 20 arrows
• (a) a martial weapon and a shield or (b) two martial weapons
• (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) two handaxes
• (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack

Fighting Style: You adopt a particular style of fighting as your specialty. Choose one of the following options. You can’t take a Fighting Style option more than once, even if you later get to choose again. You choose an additional Fighting Style at 13^th level.

• Archery – You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.
• Defence – While you are wearing armour, you gain a +1 bonus to AC.
• Duelling – When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.
• Great Weapon Fighting – When you roll a 1 or 2 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 or a 2. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
• Protection – When a creature you can see attacks a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to impose disadvantage on the attack roll. You must be wielding a shield.
• Two-Weapon Fighting – When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the bonus attack.

Tireless: If you are under half-health and not unconscious, you regain hit points equal to half your proficiency bonus (rounded up) at the start of your turn.

Combat Superiority: Beginning at 2nd level, you learn manoeuvres that are fuelled by special dice called superiority dice.
Manoeuvres. You learn three manoeuvres of your choice, which are detailed under “Manoeuvres” below. Many manoeuvres enhance an attack in some way. You can use only one manoeuvre per attack. You learn two additional manoeuvres of your choice at 7th, 10th, and 15th level. Each time you learn new manoeuvres, you can also replace one manoeuvre you know with a different one.
Superiority Dice. You have four superiority dice, which are d8s. A superiority die is expended when you use it. You regain all of your expended superiority dice when you finish a short or long rest. You gain another superiority die at 7th level and one more at 15th level.
Saving Throws. Some of your manoeuvres require your target to make a saving throw to resist the manoeuvre’s effects. The saving throw DC is calculated as follows: Manoeuvre save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier (your choice)

Martial Archetype: At 3rd level, you choose an archetype that you strive to emulate in your combat styles and techniques. Choose Champion or Mage Slayer, all detailed at the end o f the class description. The archetype you choose grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 10th, 15th, and 18th level.

(Details of the archetypes to follow in a future post)

Ability Score Improvement: When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Extra Attack: Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take an attack action on your turn. The number of attacks increases to three at 19th level.

Indomitable: Beginning at 6th level, once per long rest you can choose to reroll a saving throw that you fail with advantage and using Strength. You can use this feature one additional time between long rests beginning at 11^th and 16^th levels.

Heightened Defenses: Beginning at 8th level, you gain proficiency in whichever saving throw (Dexterity or Constitution) you didn't choose at 1st level.

Improved Combat Superiority: Beginning at 9th level, your superiority dice turn into d10s. At 18th level, they turn into d12s.

Parry: Beginning at 9^th level, you can spend a reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC against one melee attack that would otherwise hit you. You can use this ability a number of times equal to 1 + Con mod per long rest.

Improved First Fighting Style: Beginning at 11^th level, you advance further in your mastery of your first Fighting Style and gain the further benefits listed below:

• Archery – When there are no creatures in melee range with you and a creature attempts to enter your space, you may spend your reaction to take a ranged attack against them.
• Defence – While you are wearing armour, your bonus to AC increases to +2.
• Duelling – When you are wielding a melee weapon in one hand and no other weapons and you roll a critical hit against an opponent, they are disarmed and their weapon flies 15ft away from them in a direction of your choice.
• Great-Weapon Fighting – Now, when you roll a 1, 2, or 3 on a damage die for an attack you make with a melee weapon that you are wielding with two hands, you can reroll the die and take the higher of the two totals. The weapon must have the two-handed or versatile property for you to gain this benefit.
• Protection – When a creature you can see hits a target other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to roll a number of d6 equal to your proficiency bonus and reduce the damage the target takes by the result. If this would reduce the incoming damage to 0, the target takes no damage.
• Two-Weapon Fighting – When you engage in two-weapon fighting and hit with your first attack, you gain advantage on the bonus attack.

Adrenaline Surge: Beginning at 14^th level, on your turn you can use a bonus action to regain hit points equal to 1d10 + your Constitution modifier + your fighter level. You may use this once per rest at no cost, but each use after this costs one level of Exhaustion.

Battlemaster: Beginning at 20th level, your expertise in combat becomes the stuff of legends.  You may double your proficiency bonus for any attack you make.  You may apply this feature after you roll, but not more than once per turn.

All Things Under Heaven, Session #2

Our Setting: Iron Springs is a moderately-sized town at the north-western frontier of civilized Tianxia, looking out over a region that many call only The Wastes. The town is built on the broad banks of the Lièkǒu River, the only lifeline that it has back to the Imperial world of bureaucracy and well-tended order, and is supported by terrace-farms cut into the surrounding hill country. It is home to around a thousand souls, making it the largest inhabited center in the surrounding lands.

From Iron Springs a rich tapestry of terrain stretches out towards the sunset: vast and trackless forests, stinking marshes, windswept plains, rugged hills and towering mountains where the workshops of the old Zhang witch-alchemists may still stand. These Wastes are wild, untamed, dangerous, and haunted by beasts and spirits and yet stranger things.

Iron Springs’ extreme remoteness and the wild and untamed nature of The Wastes have contributed to its reputation as a place of last resort, somewhere that only the greedy, the foolish, or the desperate would try and make a life. Those who chafe at the yoke of Imperial authority find the distance from any real governance appealing, while scholars and seekers after the weird and macabre find it a valuable source of information and research subjects. 

The Wastes beyond Iron Springs are the stuff of many a legend, promising all those things that are best in life: wealth beyond measure, endless opportunity, danger to be faced, glory to be won, secrets and wonders to behold and uncover, and a means to transform your life. Tame the Wastes, the buzz in the teahouse goes, and the Emperor has promised that a noble title will be yours along with deeds to whatever you manage to wrest from the trackless wilderness. 

Our Cast:

• Mei-Xiu, a human Monk. Given away as a child to a warlord, one of the Rén catfolk. She was raised as an assassin, and now wanders the Wastes to challenge the strong.
• Ming-Hua, a Wizard. One of the Guàn birdfolk, from the Tribe of the Ibis. She tired of reading about the arcane in dusty libraries, and now wanders the Wastes to study the weird.
• Shi, a Fighter. One of the Rén catfolk from the Tribe of the Leopard. He was a criminal back in the civilised world, and now wanders the Wastes to encounter the strange.
• Sun Thuy, a Rogue. One of the Rén catfolk from the Tribe of the Fox. She was heir to a noble family back in her homeland, and now wanders the Wastes to protect the weak. 
• Xiang Wang, a Druid. One of the Guàn birdfolk, from the Tribe of the Heron. They were a roamer and a vagabond already, and now wander the Wastes to seek the path. 

The Session

Day Five: The group settle back into sleep after their early-morning encounter with the rat-demons, sleeping in to try to make up for being woken in the middle of the night. Shi and Sun Thuy, the Rén catfolk, slumber through the morning into mid-afternoon in the pale winter sunshine, while Xiang Wang, Ming-Hua, and Mei-Xiu wake mid-morning and go out to examine the corpses of their foes. 

They find that the degradation of the night before has only continued: all that is left is sticky black marsh-mud, rotten reeds, and green gnarled wood arranged in rough semblances of skeletons. Ming-Hua performs a ritual to allow her to visualise the flow of chi and identifies a fading dark brown-black energy that clings to the rat-demons as aligned to swampy marshy places and animals, but concludes that the creatures were spirits animating matter rather than actual living beings. She also identifies 'clots' of crimson energy flecked with gold running through the residue, a well-recorded sign of demonic corruption. 

Stranger yet, she spots wisps of the decaying auras being carried in an unseen breeze over the river to the north-west towards a low long hill. She shares these findings with her companions, and then with the Rén catfolk when they finally stir from their naps. The group press onwards, carefully crossing the river and following the direction the chi was going until they arrive at the hill not too long after sunset.

Sun Thuy's keen eyes catch the gleam of firelight off an exposed piece of elegant white stonework, and drawing on her knowledge of the architecture of the Nine Kingdoms period (when the Tomb of the Nameless Hero was built) she locates the entrance. Some digging later and the broad stone-lined tunnel that leads down to the door is revealed.

Meanwhile Ming-Hua climbs to the top of the hill and repeats her ritual, confirming that wisps of chi are indeed flowing inside the tomb and also spotting a slow 'downhill' drift in the currents of chi all around into some nadir or well off the south. 

The party make camp, taking advantage of the tunnel's shelter to light a merry fire and spend a warm and relatively comfortable night. Nothing disturbs their slumber.

Day Six: The group awake in the middle hours of the morning, and Shi and Sun Thuy manage to batter down the slab of stone that sealed the tunnel and obtain entrance. Lighting torches and travelling for a minute or so, they come across a rectangular chamber with starkly-painted terracotta vases in one corners and a number of small chests in another. 

On the wall opposite the entrance a great mural is painted. It depicts a battle outside a burning city, with a despairing weeping figure in the foreground on their knees with the sigil of the city on their robes. The group split up to investigate the room, tentative observation of the vases and chests beginning and Xiang Wang beginning to perform a ritual to see into the spirit world as Mei-Xiu and Ming-Hua go over to examine the mural. 

Mei-Xiu realises the central figure is sculpted to stand out slightly from the wall as its eyes snap open and the terracotta guardian emerges from the wall. It fells Mei-Xiu in a single blow and proceeds to occupy the entire group's attention before it closes a hand around Sun Thuy's face. She sees the room fall away and finds herself back in her home, liege-lord to her people, watching helplessly as her protection fails them and everything they have and love is destroyed.

Ming-Hua realises what the creature is: a breed of sentinel construct popular during the Nine Kingdoms period. Its kin were usually featureless, however, and she puzzles for a moment over the identity it has been sculpted and painted with before she and Mei-Xiu - recovering from the vision - realise the answer. 

It is Failure, a reference to the five Deadly Fates (Suffering, Death, Failure, Shame, and Insignificance) that gave their namesake to demon-lords who toyed with the lives of warriors. It was customary for great warriors in the time of the tomb's making to have monuments built to those of the Fates they had conquered, and in the case of the Nameless Hero the monuments had been turned into guardians to protect against grave-robbers for millennia to come. 

 The group consider retreat as Sun Thuy drags the unconscious Mei-Xiu to safety and the monk is revived by magically-wholesome healing fruit by Xiang Wang. But Mei-Xiu seeks to challenge the strong, and charges back in to engage with Failure before it seizes her and inflicts a vision where she is forced to watch, helpless and hopeless, as her warlord-mentor is slain and tortured. 

The reminder of her very real failure drives Mei-Xiu to rage, stripping away her grace and technique as she hammers into Failure with brutal savage strikes in a style learned from the warlord. The group rally around her and keep the creature distracted and off-balance while Ming-Hua provides ranged support with a crackling arc of electric energy. 

Two lasts blows and a shout of defiance from Mei-Xiu shatter Failure's leg and remove its head, at which point the entire mural crumbles and is destroyed. 

The terracotta guardian is no more, and the group waste no time searching the chests for anything of value (a single uncut fist-sized gem) and packing up the small vases to take with them, before making camp in the chamber and warding the entrance that leads further into the tomb to warn them of any approaching danger. And then, they sleep...

All Things Under Heaven, Session #1

Our Setting: Iron Springs is a moderately-sized town at the north-western frontier of civilized Tianxia, looking out over a region that many call only The Wastes. The town is built on the broad banks of the Lièkǒu River, the only lifeline that it has back to the Imperial world of bureaucracy and well-tended order, and is supported by terrace-farms cut into the surrounding hill country. It is home to around a thousand souls, making it the largest inhabited center in the surrounding lands.

From Iron Springs a rich tapestry of terrain stretches out towards the sunset: vast and trackless forests, stinking marshes, windswept plains, rugged hills and towering mountains where the workshops of the old Zhang witch-alchemists may still stand. These Wastes are wild, untamed, dangerous, and haunted by beasts and spirits and yet stranger things.

Iron Springs’ extreme remoteness and the wild and untamed nature of The Wastes have contributed to its reputation as a place of last resort, somewhere that only the greedy, the foolish, or the desperate would try and make a life. Those who chafe at the yoke of Imperial authority find the distance from any real governance appealing, while scholars and seekers after the weird and macabre find it a valuable source of information and research subjects. 

The Wastes beyond Iron Springs are the stuff of many a legend, promising all those things that are best in life: wealth beyond measure, endless opportunity, danger to be faced, glory to be won, secrets and wonders to behold and uncover, and a means to transform your life. Tame the Wastes, the buzz in the teahouse goes, and the Emperor has promised that a noble title will be yours along with deeds to whatever you manage to wrest from the trackless wilderness. 

Our Cast:

• Mei-Xiu, a human Monk. Given away as a child to a warlord, one of the Rén catfolk. She was raised as an assassin, and now wanders the Wastes to challenge the strong.
• Ming-Hua, a Wizard. One of the Guàn birdfolk, from the Tribe of the Ibis. She tired of reading about the arcane in dusty libraries, and now wanders the Wastes to study the weird.
• Shi, a Fighter. One of the Rén catfolk from the Tribe of the Leopard. He was a criminal back in the civilised world, and now wanders the Wastes to encounter the strange.
• Sun Thuy, a Rogue. One of the Rén catfolk from the Tribe of the Fox. She was heir to a noble family back in her homeland, and now wanders the Wastes to protect the weak. 
• Xiang Wang, a Druid. One of the Guàn birdfolk, from the Tribe of the Heron. They were a roamer and a vagabond already, and now wander the Wastes to seek the path. 

The Session

The group gather around a table in the corner of Iron Spring's second teahouse, a worn and comfortable establishment with some rougher edges run by an ex-adventurer called Broken Spear. Some nights before, sat around this very table, they had clumsily spilled a teapot and watched as the near-boiling water raised decades of grime to reveal a crude map of the Wastes carved into the wood, an unknowing gift from some past adventurer. 

Pooling the rumours they have recently heard around town, the group are tempted momentarily by tales of the legendary internal-alchemist Xianbal but decide instead to pursue whispers of a tomb out on the Āoxiàn Plains. Cunningly hidden by its architects and lost for centuries, the tomb is said to hold a forgotten hero from days long past and the enchanted sword that he bore. 

Gathering their resources and failing to convince the captain of the town guard to give them any advice other than "don't get killed", the group set off from the town due north-north-west. 

Day One: Travelling at a slow pace (this being their first venture out into the Wastes) the group move through the foothills around Iron Springs, making good time and reaching the river that divides the foothills from the flatlands beyond by early evening. Making camp in a sheltered crack in the last of the hills, they settle in for the night with Ming-Hua's owl familiar keeping watch.

Ming-Hua is woken by her familiar some time around midnight. She douses the fire, wakes the group, and they all watch in horrified fascination as six shrouded figures come into sight following the river and settle down by the river. Familiars are used to investigate and reveal that the creatures are horse-spirits robed and veiled in human-hair cloth, and the group decide not to engage. The horse-spirits unpack miniature looms and settle in to work for a long hour with an eerie clicking and clacking of shuttle and bobbin before slowly moving on. The party return to sleep.

Day Two: While crossing the river, Mei-Xiu's elegant slippers cause her to badly twist her ankle on a loose rock and she goes under for a moment. Weighed down by her water-logged silk robes, she is rescued by Xiang Wang and the rest of the group. Shi is able to fashion a splint with his healer's kit, and the group resumes their journey. 

The group move out onto vast flat grasslands, dry and broken only by spikes of wispy flat-seed, and continue their careful progress. Come nightfall, they find an area where the grass has been trodden down by the wild horses native to the Āoxiàn Plains that means they are safe from ambush and make camp. Despite the chill of early winter they cannot risk a fire, knowing that it would be seen for miles around. 

Day Three: Xiang Wang and Shi, who suffered worse from the fireless sleep, wake the next morning little rested and feeling miserable. The group pick up their pace as they head off again, the landscape changing around them as dry grassland gives way to lusher floodlands fed by streams and rivers from the north-east. 

By nightfall they are fully into greener grassier country, but fail to find a natural camp-site. They are forced to make do, and after the troubles of the night before decide to light a small discreet campfire. The night is even harsher than the last, however, and it is only through the hardier members of the group sacrificing cloaks and blankets that hypothermia is warded off.

Day Four: Turning from their north-north-west heading to go due west, the group push themselves for a gruelling twelve-hour march and by nightfall reach the heartland of the Āoxiàn Plains proper. Having learned their lesson, they make camp by one of the larger streams that run through the area and feed the lush grasses and light a proper campfire. 

Around halfway through the night they are woken again by Ming-Hua's familiar with a report of eight dark shapes moving towards them from the river. Most of the group huddle around the fire defensively, as Mei-Xiu slips away into the darkness to prepare a flanking maneuver. Archery from Shi and bolts of magefire from Ming-Hua manage to bring down one of the creatures as they advance, while Mei-Xiu spots three of them detaching from the main group to deal with her.

As the creatures close into the firelight their nature is revealed: filthy mud-smeared rat-demons, wielding stolen farming tools and broken pieces of metal wrapped and adapted into wicked blades. The battle with the rat-demons is hard fought, and Ming-Hua is knocked unconscious as one slips through her guard after shooting a blazing cone of magefire. 

But through a combination of archery, martial prowess, devastating blows from surprise by Sun Thuy, clever spellwork, and cooperation the rat-demons are overcome, and Xiang Wang is able to revive Ming-Hua. The bodies of the foul creatures slough away into sticky black mud and rotten reeds as the group return to sleep and the owl-familiar resumes its watch. 

And as the group slumber around their fire, a gleam of the waxing crescent moon glints off exposed white stonework on the far side of the river, not too far away...