Futures Past

Welcome to Future’s Past, a epic tale of several adventurers spanning across time.

The story is based on the Feng Shui game system source material, but we recently switched the rules to Wushu.

69AD:

3 years ago, Prince Jing of Guanglin hired warlocks to curse Emperor Ming. His plan failed and in 67AD was forced to commit suicide. However, such an attempt led the Emperor to form an elite task force of warrior and sorcerers entrusted with the task of finding and confronting rogue warlocks and warriors and forcing them to pledge allegiance to the emperor at pain of death. The team worked under the direction of General Xiao, and on occasion directly for Emperor Ming himself.

After 2 years of successful service, the reports of rogue elements in proximity to Emperor Ming have been minimised. However, now Emperor Ming has requested the attendance of his task force for a new mission…

2056AD:

The Jammers have finally found something that can give them an edge against the Buro. After years of research, they finally think they have found a way to reawaken magic in this late Juncture. They are confident that they can control the new magical energy they release and use its power to battle against the technical superiority of the Buro, who have done little research into pure magic, concerned as they are with their arcanowave technology. But first, they must travel to the past to initiate their plan…

Gah! No one listens to me! No one! Even though I am always right, and always advise the best course of action, no one listens!

I mentioned in my last entry that the waters where getting choppiness. Well, after I put the journal away I mentioned it to Shen. He agreed and the water became ever swifter. I mentioned it looked like we may be be about to head over a waterfall, and the best place to be was in the boat. Of course the silly fool ignored my instruction and leapt over board with the punting stick. As if that could save him! Exasperated, I woke Yi Lian to make him aware of the situation. Again the mighty fool panicked and instead of simply holding onto the boat he slung me over his shoulder [the indignity!] and attempted to flee the boat, jumping from rock to rock to reach the shore. By a strange quirk of fate, as Shen was floundering in the water, the pole he was keeping hold of shot up through the water, smacked Yi Lian on the back of the head and sent he and I into the water, and the whole lot of us went over the falls…

We woke sometime later in the care of Meixiu Wu. I might add that we awoke naked, much to my shame. Our clothes though had been saved, as had the rest of our gear. You might notice the water stains on this journal – I will get some form of waxed paper cover for it as soon as I am able… Yi Lain was the first to awaken, and dressed swiftly. As I dressed, Yi Lain and Meixiu spoke in an adjacent room over bowls of rice. It seemed that she worked in a rice house. She and some others had brought us back here to recover. As I joined them, Meixiu told us that two passing sorcerers had healed us. I questioned her about them and she told us that their appearance was somewhat unusual. They carried peculiar staffs, and they did not dress in the traditional robes of the sorcerers. However the most telling thing was they were exceptionally tall, and their shin was lilly white. I tried not to show my excitement and instead excused myself and Yi Lain. We walked some way from Meixiu trough the other workers. As we walked I commented that it seemed we where finally on the trail of those we were to bring to the empire's fold. Yi Lain agreed with me, and we headed back to Meixiu to announce our departure. She seemed most upset when we told her we would be leaving to search for the rouges. She cautioned us that they were headed towards the palace through a thickly wooded jungle filled with tigers and demons. I told her we could take care of ourselves. I write this now as I am waiting for Meixiu to finish packing the rations she insists on providing, and for Yi Lain to say his good byes…

——New entry begins here —-

We had not travelled more than a few miles into the forest when we were set upon by tigers. After a slightly protracted battle [they were tougher than we had anticipated] we continued on. Again, after only a few miles, we came across an interesting scene: There were the rouge sorcerers, arrayed in their odd clothes and with their strange staffs [much like a baton, but they seemed to be made of metal and the sorcerers held them wrong] and the giant purple demon Meixiu had told us of, surrounded by many, many tigers and demons. Yi Lain and I held back, unsure of what to do. I considered offering our support to them. But, as we watched, we heard the man complain to his female companion about the demons and tigers, as though they were nothing but a minor annoyance. The female responded that they had better get on with it, and with that their staffs lit up and beams of magic cut through the tigers as though they were nothing, while the demon roared and crushed the demons with one hand, whilst also blasting the remainder with some form of magic. Yi Lain stood there aghast, and I have to admit my jaw dropped a little too. But, after some consideration, I figured they weren't so tough. I have been up against mages of equally tremendous power. I have always succeeded in my missions. I wasn't about to start failing now.

Without a backwards glance, I stepped forward to confront them…

I write this as we sail down the Yangtze river. So far our mission has gone according to plan. We left at dawn a few days ago and swiftly travelled to the village of Tutse. Along the way however, our path was blocked by bandits, thirty of so of them in all, including their leader – a giant of a man. Of course they posed nothing more than a minor irritation for our little group. Quickly we restored order to His Divine Majesties highways and went on our way.

We arrived in Tutse in the late evening. Shen stabled the horses while Yi Ling and I entered the tavern. We had been told to look out for a symbol that would announce the presence of our contact. Shen was looking outside, but I spotted the symbol on the back of a chair. Leaning over I spoke to it's occupant, and old man. 'I'm enquiring about a dog,' I told him. 'Then you must speak to my daughter' he responded, and lead us out of the drinking house and to the general store across the street. Shen was no where in sight, so we entered and spoke to the young lady therein. She introduced herself as Chun Li and we explained our mission to her. She agreed to help us obtain a boat to sail down the Yangtze. With that settled we left. On the way out I spotted Shen talking to some pretty girl. I caught hold of his arm and pulled him away, updating him with our mission statement. Chun Li told us rooms had been arranged in the drinking house, so after a frugal meal of rise and fish, we retired.

The next morning, Chung Li was waiting for us on the bank side and we sent off in her little boat. The day passed uneventfully, and as evening approached we drew alongside another village. Chun Li explained that this area was her ward and she could not travel any further with us. We thanked her for her assistance and she gave us instructions on how to get to Qinghai.

We have been sailing now for two days after she left. Shen is punting us along, though the current is swift, and Yi Lang snores in the bow. I am in charge of the tiller, and here I will stop writing, for the water is getting choppier still, and it looks like we may be approaching some rapids…

Just a brief note.

After the first session, I decided I couldn’t be bothered with the vagaries of the Feng Shui system and we have switched to using Wushu

Ah, but what a day today! I write this on the evening before my comrades and I set off on another mission for the Emperor. We had a meeting with him this day, but getting there was such a hassle! The streets were packed, and in my attempt to attain the back streets so that I might more swiftly travel to the palace, I rather accidentally came into conflict with a number of the general populace. And a cart containing vases of blisteringly hot oil. Needless to say I quashed this rude conflict with ease [a case of mistaken identity that was still an insult to my honour] and attempted to save the crowds. But alas in that my efforts where in vain and I could not stop all the vases from crashing onto the street and bathing people in the oil. I swiftly cut my losses and gained the back streets and hurried to the Palace. However, some small-minded peon attempted to halt my entrance, and thus my audience with his Divine Majesty, by suggesting I had cause the accident intentionally! Such outrage. However I informed the duty guard of my status and with much grumbling he admitted me to the palace.

Once in, twenty minutes late, I had the keep the Emperor waiting a further ten before my comrade, Yi Lian, showed his manure drenched face…

I will not record here the details of our mission as directed by the Emperor and General Xiao, but suffice it to say a lot of travelling will be involved.

Further excitement entered our day when General Xiao decided we needed a refresher on how to beat sorcerers. It was not a drawn out encounter, however it took Yi Lain some time to get himself back in the fighting way. I fear he has spent too much philosophising these past few days. However after an initial lull where I took out the two grounded sorcerers, Yi launched himself at the remaining two flying ones, and took them down fairly speedily. After that small test the General decided we were ready to go back into combat. We availed ourself of horses and provisions and now await the coming dawn.