• Player Group

Viktor Haag (ref)
YU Jian Mo, newly appointed magistrate of Penglai, a town district on the northeast coast of East Jingdong Circuit. Referred to as "Judge Yu" or "the judge", "the magistrate", and so forth.

James Nicoll
GONG Fang, Judge Yu's trusty physick and apothecary. Referred to as "Younger Brother Gong", "Apothecary Gong" or "Doctor Gong".

Vidal Bairos
GONG Shen Yao, a close friend of the Yu family and confidante of the Judge. Referred to as "Elder Brother Gong", "Scholar Gong" or simply "Scholar".

Dave Ferguson
FU Sheng, a reformed gambler placed under the guidance and tutelage of Judge Yu. Referred to as "Fu".

Pat Phillips
LI Fang Zhang, a trusted assistant of the Judge. Referred to as "Instructor Li".

• Administrative Notes

This story took two sessions to play through, but the first was really only a lead in. I used this story as a general introduction to the campaign, so that the players could get their feet wet and start getting used to their characters.

This page contains the game writeup of the session, and isn't intended to be very detailed, or lyrical, but merely to remind players what happened when. There's also a narrative version of this story, which captures the general flavour and events of the play session. Some of the details of the play session were munged for the narrative story, though, for dramatic license.

Outlaws of the Water Margin is © 1998 by Paul Mason, and is published by Panurgic Publishing. The contents of this page are not in any way intended as a challenge to this copyright.

Made with GNU Emacs.

The Case of the Woman in the River

At the start of the adventure, the group was just finishing supper at a travelling inn, on the road to Penglai. A few days back, the party had left Beihai, the capital of Weizhou prefecture, and the road to Penglai would take them down the banks of the Wei river to Maoyi, and then across the river in the direction of Yexian, the capital of Laizhou prefecture (in which Penglai is a district). Penglai lies on the road between Maoyi and Yexian.

Discovering the woman
After supper, the group's relaxation was interrupted by a scream from outside the inn, in the direction of the river. They rushed outside to investigate. Judge Yu spied a person flailing around in the river a little upstream from their present location. He directed the doctor and the instructor to take a nearby boat, and row out to get the girl.

Note: I can't remember who exactly was in the boat. It might have been Fu Sheng and the Instructor, or the Doctor, but it isn't terribly important. In general, the Instructor acted as an NPC, since Pat wasn't present to play the character at the second session when most of the action took place.

The group hauled the woman out of the river, and into the inn. She threw up on the way, and the Doctor noticed from her stomach contents that she had eaten quite recently. They also noticed a kerchief tied around her neck, but it took them some time to figure out that it had been used to gag the woman.

They tried to warm the girl up, and wake her up to get her story. She awoke after a bit, and told them she was Cheng Mai, a maidservant to a Mrs. Yee, who was travelling to Maoyi on a river boat. On the boat was also a number of travelling musicians, and a pair of officials transporting a coffin. She and Mrs. Yee had been relaxing after supper, listening to the musicians perform when Mrs. Yee had sent her below to fetch a shawl, as it was getting quite chilly. She went down into the hold to do so, and heard a noise. When she turned around to investigate, she saw a man crawling out of the coffin. She was frozen in fright, and her memory got quite spotty from that point on.

She remembered being attacked, and whacked on the head, and she remembered hitting the river water. When she came to her senses, she noticed that she had grabbbed on to a tree branch floating in the river, and that she was gagged. She floated for a while, and then noticed the traveller inn's lights. She worked frantically at the gag, loosened it, and was able to scream for help.

Judge Yu immediately instructed Fu Sheng and Instructor Li to take fresh horses and ride quickly to Maoyi to intercept the river boat. Fu Sheng was terribly worried that the man in the coffin was some kind of vampire or ghoul, but the others discounted the suggestion. They thought it was much more likely that some sort of smuggling operation was going on, and that was the reason they had gagged the woman and thrown her overboard.

Judge Yu was able to question the girl further a little later, at which point she was able to furnish descriptions of the two "officials" accompanying the coffin. She reported that one was small, thin, and rather weaselly looking, while the other was large, brutish, and didn't look entirely comfortable in his robes.

Fu and Li arrive in Maoyi
Fu Sheng and Instructor Li left for Maoyi, riding hellbent for leather, and arrived there just after dawn. They approach the gates, and suddenly realized that neither of them have a bonus in manners. (Li is grumpy and generally unresponsive due to his lack of PC aura). Fu informed the wall guards at Maoyi's front gate that he was on a mission from Judge Yu of Penglai, and that they should open the gate immediately.

The wall guards replied that perhaps the two were a little out of their jurisdiction (since Maoyi's in an entirely different prefecture), but they nevertheless open the gates, once Fu and Li show them their letters of identification as assistants of the Judge.

Fu and Li decided to go directly to the wharf, so they passed right by the courthouse. By this time, the gates to the wharf had been opened, and Fu and Li passed through and begin looking for the harbourmaster's office. Fu went inside to consult with the harbourmaster while Li started asking around to find the boat.

Fu asked the harbourmaster how many boats have arrived in Maoyi since supper time the previous day. The harbourmaster, after seeing his credentials, informed him that five or six boats arrived since last night, and three of them had yet to hand in manifests declaring their cargo. The harbourmaster summoned some constables to "assist Fu in his investigation", but it was clearly to keep an eye on him and to cover the harbourmaster's butt.

Fu told the constables most of the story, informing them that Judge Yu would be arriving in the early afternoon, and that he would then go to show the details of his investigation before the magstrate. The constables were perhaps a little snowed by Fu's fast talk, and so they didn't press the issue. However, they did start to get suspicious when none of the three boats who hadn't filed a manifest show a coffin on board. It's at this point, that Li shouted to his partner that he'd found the vessel.

It was one of the boats that had filed a manifest, and Fu had never actually asked the harbourmaster if there was a boat that had filed a manifest had a coffin on board. Net result -- they find the boat after some doddling about.

Fu and Li begin to question the passenger and crew
Li managed to persuade the third mate to give him some information about the boat's passengers and contents. After some persuasion, the third mate revealed that he assisted the young official to unload the coffin in the wee hours of the morning, and to get it on a cart. He remarked that the coffin was quite heavy. He pointed out the place where the young man had borrowed the cart.

Fu and Li boarded the boat, with the officers, and woke up Mrs. Yee (who still thought her maid was on board). Mrs. Yee never suspected anything, because the previous night, the young official (named Chou Po) had kindly brought her shawl for her, and told her that Cheng Mai had taken motion-sick and had gone to her quarters. They also established that the coffin was gone, and that there was no sign of either of the officials accompanying it, nor their goods.

None of the passengers, or officers of the boat, know the identities of the officials with the coffin. Only that they had come from Anqiu and were accompanying the coffin to the dead man's home in Maoyi. The officials claimed to be friends and associates of the dead man, who was also an official. The smaller of the two officials was quite polite, but remote and stand-offish. The larger of the two officials hardly spoke to anyone.

Fu and Li spent a little time on the wharf tracking down the person who lent the official a cart. He said he was given a little money to lend the cart, and that the official promised to bring the cart back that afternoon, after the family of the deceased was done with it.

Fu and Li go to the courthouse and rejoin Judge Yu
By this time, Fu and Li came to the conclusion that it would be a good thing to present themselves to the local magistrate, so, accompanied by the constables, they went to the courthouse.

There they learned that the magistrate was out of town on business, and that the assistant magistrate was in charge. He seemed young, inexperienced, and rather eager to let Judge Yu handle things. From the registrar's records, they learned that the Li family (a fairly prosperous local family, no direct relation to Instructor Li) had recently registered the death of their youngest son, Li Hou Wei, and notified the court that his body was being transported to Maoyi for burial in the family plot, on their estate outside the city.

At this point, Fu and Li decided they had done enough ground work, and so rested and at some lunch while waiting for Yu to arrive, which he did, with Elder Gong (the scholar) and Younger Gong (the doctor), and the girl.

The Investigation Heats Up
Judge Yu heard Fu's report about their progress and the assistant magistrate basically handed over the responsibility for the case to Judge Yu. Yu thought that the first step that needed taking was to go and visit the townhouse of the Li family, and so set out with his lieutenants.

When they arrived at the townhouse, they were immediately shown in to visit Li Ching Shia, the head of the house, and Li Hou Wei's father. Li Ching Shia informed the judge that his youngest son had passed his examinations several years back, and had received a post as an entry level clerk in the city of Anqiu, where he had been for the past two years. His recent death was quite a shock, and quite unexpected. Li Ching Shia also told Yu that he had two other sons, both older than Li Hou Wei, who had both returned to the Maoyi for the funeral.

Li Ching Shia reported that, early that morning, a young official had presented himself at the townhouse, with the coffin on a cart. He had introduced himself as Chou Po, who had earlier written to Li Ching Shia to inform him that he and another friend, named Wu, would be accompanying the body on the trip to Maoyi. Li Ching Shia then told Judge Yu that the family servents had immediately assisted Chou Po in conveying the coffin outside the city to the family's country estate.

Scholar Gong then inquired what had happened to the other fellow accompanying the coffin, called Wu, and Li Ching Shia replied that Chou Po had told him that he was busy securing rooms for them to stay in until the funeral had taken place. Li Ching Shia did not know where the young official was staying.

Yu and the others took their leave. Gong informed Yu that he thought Li Ching Shia seemed nervous and evasive about something, and Yu agreed. Yu wanted to see the body, and so instructed Doctor Gong to accompany him with a Li family servent, to their mausoleum outside the city. This would take a few hours round-trip. Meanwhile, Scholar Gong thought it would be a good idea if he were to keep an eye on the Li's townhouse, to see if anything suspicious happened. Fu and Instructor Li meanwhile, were instructed to find out where the Chou Po was staying and to then check up with the person who had leant Chou Po the cart he used to carry the coffin.

Fu and Instructor Li find the inn

It took Fu and the Instructor a few hours to locate the inn where Chou Po had secured rooms. The innkeeper told Fu that a young official had arrived early in the morning, and had paid handsomly for one room, to use for a few days. He told the innkeeper that he was accompanying a coffin and needed a place out of the way to place it (to avoid disturbing guests and passers-by), and that it would be conveyed to its destination quite soon (he explained to the innkeeper that he was in town bringing the body of a friend back to the family). The innkeeper was taken with Chou Po's polite attitude, and so showed him around the back of the inn where he could keep the coffin until later that morning.

Fu and Li then decided to return to the wharf and meet up with the cart-lender. When they arrived, they found that the young man had indeed returned the cart, and had paid him well, but hadn't left any more information. At this point, it was getting late, so Fu and Li decided to return to the courthouse, and wait for Judge Yu to return from the Li family's country estate.

Yu and Doctor Gong examine the body
It took Yu and the Doctor about an hour to get to the Li's country estate, and to the mausoleum where the Lis interred the family remains. The coffin was in a shed nearby. Yu and the Doctor opened the coffin, and to their surprise found the body of Li Hou Wei inside, and not the body of Wu, the large hulking official, as they expected. The Li family servent confirmed the identity of the body.

Yu immediately ordered the Doctor to do a cursory examination of the body to help determine the cause of death. He did so, and determined that Li Hou Wei had not died from any obviously violent means, and judging from the state of the body, and it's relative lack of decay, it had only been dead a day or two. This was most mystifying.

Yu then asked the family servent when they had been informed of the son's death, and he replied that Li Ching Shia had been informed four days ago, by a urgent messenger sent from the city of Anqiu. Yu thus deduced that the the son should have been dead for about a week, and not the two days as asserted by Doctor Gong. Yu thought that an immediate and thorough autopsy would be required, and so commanded the servent to assist them in taking the body to the courthouse without delay. There, Yu would get the assistant magistrate to approve the autopsy, and have it performed by the local coroner that afternoon. Doctor Gong packed up the body, and with Yu and the servent, returned to the city.

Scholar Gong observes Li Ching Shia's visits
Meanwhile, Scholar Gong was occupied staking out the Li's townhouse. Within an hour, he observed Li Ching Shia leave the house. He followed from a discreet distance. Li Ching Shia walked quickly to the business district in Maoyi, where he entered the offices of a moneylender. He left carrying a small box and returned immediately home. Gong Shen Yao resumed his stakeout.

A short time later, he noted with interest as a young, polite official came to visit the Li house, and was immediately admitted. A short time later, he left the house, carrying the box.

Scholar Gong immediately accosted the youth, informed the youth he was wanted by the magistrate for questioning, and demanded that they youth accompany him to the courthouse. The youth immediatley looked crestfallen and acquiesced, saying that "none of it was his idea". Scholar Gong sternly informed that he should tell it to the judge...

Meanwhile, back at the courthouse...
Judge Yu and Doctor Gong had returned with Li Hou Wei's corpse, and the assistant magistrate had agreed that an immediate autospy should be performed. The body was taken to court coroner's workroom, and the assistant magistrate first asked his coroner to do an exterior examination of the body. He did so, and came to the same conclusions as Doctor Gong. The body had only been dead at most two days, and there were no signs of violence on the body.

At this point they were preparing to cut the corpse open to begin an internal examination for signs of poison, when they were interrupted by Scholar Gong, Fu and Instructor Li, who had returned to the yamen accompanied by the various witnesses they had collected (the cart lender, the innkeeper, and Chou Po). Scholar Gong reported that something curious had just happened. When he had asked a court scribe where the Judge was, the scribe had informed him that they were performing the autopsy of the young Li fellow. At this point, Chou Po had turned white as a sheet and immediately swooned.

It was also at this point that Doctor Gong noticed that the hand of the corpse on the table had twitched. And then twitched again.

After much ruckus, the Doctor made a successful attempt to "revive the corpse" who turned out not to be dead after all...

The wrapup
Yu and the assistant magistrate shoed everyone upstairs to get the full story. It appeared that what had happened was something like this.

Li Hou Wei was not a terribly bright light. He hadn't done particularly well on his examinations, or in his post as a minor bureaucrat, but he had always evidenced a certain cunning. He had also always evidenced a love of games of chance. Left to his own devices in a city away from the confining influence of his father, he soon came to owe a local gangster a great deal of money. Annoyed with the profligate spending of his son, Li Ching Shia had cut his son off his allowance. Li Hou Wei was at his wit's end, and then he hatched a plot to screw everyone over, and make off with lots of money.

He procured a poison that made someone appear to be dead, and then he engaged the help of one of his closest friends (Chou Po). Together they faked his death, using the poison. Chou Po then suggested to the local gangster that they could sell Li Hou Wei's body back to his family, who were quite respectable and wouldn't want the scandal. The gangster agreed and sent one of his heavies (Wu) disguised as an official with Chou Po on the trip back to Maoyi.

On the trip, Li Hou Wei was just walking up when he was discovered by Cheng Mai, the young maidservent. Luckily for Li, Chou Po was just coming down to assist Li Hou Wei and to deal with the next part of their plan (disposing of the body of Wu, who they had just poisoned by slipping the drug into his supper). With Chou Po's help, they knocked Cheng Mai over the head, gagged her, and tossed her over board. Then they strangled the comatose body of Wu, and put him in the coffin.

The next morning, Li Hou Wei once again took the poison, and climbed in the coffin himself, with Wu's corpse. The body was carried off the boat by the third mate and Chou Po, and then carted first to the inn, and then to the Li's townhouse where it was immediately conveyed out of the city. With some difficulty Chou Po removed Wu's body from the coffin, leaving Li Hou Wei's sleeping form inside, and hid Wu's body in a stand of brush nearby.

He then returned to the Li's house later to collect the blackmail fees he'd extorted from Li Ching Shia, where he'd been arrested by Scholar Gong.

Yu and the assistant magistrate conferred, and they immediately sent out constables to retrieve Wu's body, which was found where Chou Po said it would be. They then charged the two young officials with murder, attempted murder, blackmail, conspiracy, etc, etc. They charged Li Ching Shia with conspiring with a blackmailer and obstruction of justice. Then they wrapped up the case. Chou Po and Li Hou Wei were sentenced to die in a particularly nasty fashion, pending the review of the case by Maoyi's magistrate upon his return to the city.

Mrs. Yee was so greatful for the safe return of her maidservant that she told Yu and his assistants she would pay for their travel expenses for the duration of their trip, and that she would convey her commendation on their behaviour to her brother in law, Yee Pen, who was a wealthy shipowner in the city of Penglai.

All in all, a reasonably successful adventure.