The Time of Chaos: Six Devil City, Prosperous Devil District
Auspicious Beginnings [Adventure] Cost: 0
Secrets of Destiny: Auspicious Beginnings
* Bonus: You gain 5 free Destiny to spend on this Lore. You may keep some or all of this to spend later in the adventure, but you may not spend this destiny on anything other than Secrets of Destiny from this Lore. This Destiny does not contribute towards the character's running total — ie it is not tracked for the purpose of Rank.
You must purchase one of the following treasures as your objective — it's the reason you're in Only Six Devils! The cheaper the treasure in terms of destiny, the less useful to a member of the Wulin and the more inconvenient to obtain it is; easy to obtain or useful Splendours are more expensive!
Only one character can be entangled with each Splendour. A character can entangle themself with more than one Splendour, but that's generally just buying trouble! Note that these are Entangled Destinies, not Victories — you'll have to work to get them, and they may pass through your hands soon after...
DESTINY COST:
0 Entangled Destiny: Statue of Huang Di. The pride of an otherwise humble country was a great golden statue of the Yellow Emperor which had stood untarnished over the centuries, seeming to dispense good fortune on all who lived there. However, war blew past like a terrible wind, and with it mercenaries of Xia — no shock then, that the statue would appear in the markets of Only Six Devils. The poor nation has suffered terrible misfortune since the statue vanished!
0 Entangled Destiny: Wind Monkey. A strange little monkey spirit and legendary companion to Daoist immortals, Wind Monkey capers and dances with the swiftness of a storm, and is nearly as destructive. Only the most serene of souls can calm the monkey — everyone else has to put up with its constant capering. Wind Monkey has many powers attributed to it by legend, and perhaps you are acting on behalf of someone who desperately needs those powers — but for you, and the merchant trying to sell him, he's nothing but trouble!
1 Entangled Destiny: Ying Zheng's Mirror. It's hard to say whether this is truly the First Emperor's mirror — though it's certainly old enough! Most important, however, is its marvellous property — it reflects an ancient palatial bedroom, filled with scrolls and classics carved into stone slabs. Of course, the script is reversed and difficult to see (it's a large bedroom — the texts are far away!), but it seems each one is a text lost forever during Ying Zheng's reign. The Mirror provides a +10 modifier to any Learning roll, if and only if there is no other way in Shen Zhou to get a bonus to that roll. It's also extremely fragile!
1 Entangled Destiny: The Marvellously Inappropriate Censor. This remarkable incense burner never stops burning, which is miraculous in of itself, but still more amazing is that it always gives off a perfectly inappropriate scent for the occasion at hand! Any social rolls within six round's distance suffer a -5 modifier, which would be much more useful if the object wasn't so blatantly obvious! A -15 modifier applies to any attempt to be surreptitious or sneaky with the Censor.
2 Entangled Destiny: The Catalogues of the Ninefold Prosperity Pavilion. Scrolls detailing the wonders currently gracing the Pavilion are everywhere in Prosperous Devil — but they are poor copies at best. The originals are created by a blind artist-savant, who uses a magnificent Formless Technique to capture the wonders perfectly in minature with his paints. Catalogues stretching back years are kept in the market — even a handful are as good as a library of legends and esoterica! The catalogues provide +5 to any Learning roll to identify an item.
2 Entangled Destiny: The Wedding Dress of Lady Zhou. This magnificent dress is some of the finest silk-work ever known! It provides +10 to Grace rolls on your wedding day if worn, and makes a superlative gift.
3 Entangled Destiny: The Black Mandrake. This small, gnarled root is a thing of legend, one of the most powerful sources of Jade Chi in all Shen Zhou! Ingesting a sliver provides a +15 bonus to five consecutive recovery rolls to recover from a major Sick or Dying condition inflicted by poison or disease. However, so potent is the root that anyone not so afflicted who comes into contact with it, even through cloth or wood, will immediately contract a major Kuan inspiration (Jade Breath, Recovery 40, Duration Five Scenes, Interval One Scene), and lose their breath in Crimson, Gold, Silver and White chi until they recover from the inspiration.
4 Entangled Destiny: The Porcelain Maid. This marvellous creation is a living girl, made of porcelain through use of ancient Secret Arts long thought lost! She longs for her freedom from the merchant who is trying to sell her, and will actively aid in any attempt to rescue her.
Choose one of the following to explain why your character has come to Shen Zhou and decided to steal one of the Eight Splendours! Does your righteous character see this as a just, necessary act, or does your scoundrel exult in such a bold robbery?
DESTINY COST:
0 Fortune: An Earth destiny drives you — you are in Only Six Devils less to have the Splendour than to show that you can take it. What did the merchant do that you need to defeat them so?
0 Fortune: Your destiny is white — the Splendour belonged to someone who is now a ghost, and you grieve for them. It is your intention to send the Splendour into the afterlife with them!
1 Fortune: The Splendour was taken from someone close to you unjustly, and you mean to rectify this by returning it through any means necessary. Shen Zhou itself aids this attempt to restore balance — during the final scene, gain +5 to any roll to bring the item into your possession, as it flows towards you as naturally as water flows downhill.
1 Fortune: A Jade destiny! You seek the Splendour for someone whose need is greater than the merchant's need for silver — either selflessly risking your good name for others, or putting yourself first because you want it! At the start of the final scene, you gain 3 points of joss (either kind), that must be spent during that scene.
2 Fortune: Your destiny is that of fire. You are here not for yourself, but out of loyalty to another who desires the splendour. Their motives may be pure or corrupt, but either way your oath to recover the treasure drives you — gain +10 to any rolls during the final scene to bring it into your possession.
As a group, decide which of the three Sponsors chooses your band for admittance to Prosperous Devil District. Your Sponsor will shower you with hospitality and offer unique aid in your quest to recover one of the Splendours! However, as good guests, naturally you'll complete one small task before that aid materialises...
While each Sponsor belongs to a different Archetype, the favour they ask will demand a wide spread of abilities.
DESTINY COST:
0 Entangled Destiny: Ironhand Nan, master of the Sheathed-Blade Empty-Hand Prosperity Society. This fierce warrior, a renegade member of the Nan clan, is master of the foremost mercenary company in Prosperous Devil, and responsible for most of the security of the Ninefold Prosperity Pavilion. If he extends his hospitality to you, you can expect less armoured troops preventing you from taking away the Spendours! He is also concerned about the corruption of the Guild of Gentleman Appraisers, and will likely ask you to raid their library in order to recover rare texts and return them to their rightful owners.
0 Entangled Destiny: Red Lotus Ling, Headmistress of the Blossoming-Towards- Crimson Academy. This beautiful Courtier runs one of the most exclusive educational facilities in all of Shen Zhou: a school training the world's most eligible young ladies for a life of marriage and motherhood! Strangely, though, many of the girls seem to turn out to be fierce courtiers and members of the Wulin themselves... If Red Lotus offers you her hospitality, you will be able to mingle with these clever girls, and sneak into the markets as part of the retinues of their wealthy parents. She is concerned, however, about the tendency of the Sheathed Blade mercenaries to interfere with the business of the school, and will likely ask you to petition the Governor to ban them from the grounds — a move the mercenaries will resist with debate and violence.
0 Entangled Destiny: Razoreyes Gongsun, head of the Guild of Gentleman Appraisers. This wizened and acerbic old man remains a brilliant Scholar, head of a guild of similarly ancient and knowledgeable savants. They are the only party trusted to appraise and identify the wonders of the market, and thus know more about what is in the market where than any others — if they sponsor you, you'll have excellent information with which to develop a plan of attack! Razoreyes is also affronted by the profound risk Red Lotus is taking with the reputation of the district: she's having her students offer to appraise and identify wonders at a bargain price! It's beneath the dignity of the elderly to bandy words with the young, so you'll have to prove these girls ignorant in a test of wits — and likely defend yourselves from their burgeoning kung-fu abilities!
DESTINY COST:
1 Entangled Destiny: Your destiny is linked with one of your rivals from the tourney, and you are guaranteed to encounter them again.
(+1) Fortune: They are destined to meet defeat at your hands and suffer a -5 modifier on any contested roll with you.
(+2) Victory: You're destined to be fast friends or lovers! You will win them as an ally.
1 Entangled Destiny: A character of your choice is romantically entangled with one of Red Lotus' students.
(+1) Fortune: The relationship turns out badly, causing major inconvenience.
(+1) Victory: It's love! She becomes an ally of her paramour.
(+2) Victory: It's love, and she's determined to make the match, and drags her influential parents into helping her paramour, despite their objections.
2 Fortune: One of your rivals will be using a Bei-forged Quality Weapon suited to your fighting style.
1 Fortune: Random bad luck befalls a rival of your choice!
1 Fortune: Random good luck befalls you!
This text is copied from the pdf of Jye Nicolson's Auspicious Beginnings without permission, but it's a free adventure so I expect it's basically ok (if you're going to play this you probably don't want to read the adventure in advance).