Adventures in I'Cath

Ts 1 E N C H I A N G

TSI E N C H IA N G

When Tsien Chiang was a child, her home was destroyed by a colonizing force, forcing her to flee into frozen mountains where she expected to die. Fortunately, a gold dragon took pity on her and gave her shelter. With nowhere else to go, Chiang promised to serve the dragon.

During the years that followed, Tsien Chiang attended the dragon, learning mysterious magic and medicine. I n time, she became an accomplished wizard. Yet when she spoke of avenging her family and reclaiming her people's land, her dragon mentor chided her for holding onto her hatred and refused to teach her dangerous magic.

Eventually, Chiang could deny her revenge no longer. Among her mentor's records, she had learned of a bell that could make its ringer's dreams come true-but creating the bell required the scale of a gold dragon. Knowing her mentor would never provide a scale, Chiang drugged the dragon with a rare herb, planning to steal a small scale while he slept. But in her haste, she mixed the herbal concoction poorly. The dragon's body and everything nearby rapidly aged and decayed, killing her benefactor and destroying a hoard filled with ages of treasures and wisdom. Chiang's home had been destroyed again, but a single golden scale remained. Using the scale, Chiang constructed the Nightingale Bell and dragged it into her occupied city. Tolling it, she wished for a city devoid of invaders-and instantly they vanished. Awed and delighted, the nation executed the few invaders lingering outside the city and made Tsien Chiang their queen. Chiang ruled for years, enacting vast reforms and strict but sensible laws in pursuit of creating the perfect empire. She had a family, taking particular pride in her four beloved daughters. As the memory of Chiang's past victories faded, her people grew frustrated with the queen's stern laws and demanding orders. Though her capital had become a radiant center of learning and art, the citizens revolted . Chiang acted swiftly to quell the uprising with numerous executions, yet the revolution grew. Everything she had wished for fell into flames. She showed no mercy to the rebels, ordering her armies to kill the families of all insurrectionists. In response, assassins struck Tsien Chiang's palace. Although she survived, her family did not. Distraught, Chiang climbed to the highest tower of her palace, looked out over her burning dreams, and struck the Nightingale Bell. Rather than granting her vengeful wish, the bell cracked and spilled a golden mist across the land. When the mist cleared, Tsien Chiang's perfect city was gone, replaced by the unreal prison-city of I 'Cath. C HIANG'S POWERS A N D D OM I NI O N

Tsien Chiang's statistics a r e similar t o those o f a mage with access to a variety of magic items-her favorite being an ornate robe that functions similarly to a Heward's handy haversack and wings of flying. She uses this robe to store scrolls detailing her most recent plans for l ' C ath's renovation. Additionally, Tsien Chiang enforces her will upon her domain in a variety of other ways.

Dream of Perfection. Tsien Chiang's magical creation, the Nightingale Bell, traveled with her to I'Cath. Soon after the city's rebirth, Chiang used the cracked bell to wish for her perfect city. I nstead, her wish created a persistent dream world that occupies the dreams of all who sleep in I'Cath. In this dream, Tsien Chiang's every plan is executed to perfection. As her city moves with brilliant efficiency, Chiang luxuriates with perfect dream versions of her lost daughters.

Renovating the City. Each evening, Tsien Chiang relays her orders for I'Cath's reconstruction to her droves of jiangshi agents, led by Minister Suen. Suen then disseminates these orders to the jiangshi of the Gemstone Garden, who work through the night. Every morning, Tsien Chiang finds some aspect of the city's miraculous changes unacceptable and returns to her palace, where she spends the day assembling new orders for her jiangshi servants.

The Darklord's Daughters. When Tsien Chiang arrived i n I'Cath, she used the Nightingale Bell to revive her four daughters, who had been murdered in the uprising against her. The bell created two sets of interpretations of her daughters. The set inside the dream city are perfect recreations of Chiang's lost daughters. Those in the waking city are monstrous interpretations of Chiang's memories, innocent but unnatural beings. The eerie daughters in the waking world hold the key to undermining Tsien Chiang's hold over the city's dreams.

Closing the Borders. I'Cath is surrounded by walls and by the Mists beyond that. Chiang believes everyone in I'Cath has a responsibility to strive for perfection, so she keeps her people imprisoned within the city. As a result, the domain's borders are always closed, as detailed in the "The Mists" section at the start of this chapter. Should Chiang choose to open the domain's borders, the Four Trees Gate appears, and the Mists beyond the walls don't prevent passage. C H IANG'S TOR M E N T

Fortune confounds Tsien Chiang in numerous ways, but the following are the most pronounced examples: • Chiang wishes to make the dream of I 'Cath a reality, and though her servants follow her plans per• fectly, the city grows endlessly more disordered. Chiang relishes the dream vision of I'Cath, but it makes the reality of her city all the more unbearable. She won't let the corruption of her real city invade her dream, and aggressively stamps out • any imperfection in the dream realm. The loss of Chiang's daughters haunts her. She knows the idealized dream versions of her daughters are fictions, but she still spends as much time with them as possible. She avoids their eerie waking-world versions, whom she fails to love. ROLEPLAY I N G C H IANG

Tsien Chiang pursues an unattainable s e t o f goals: a perfect city, a thankful populace, and an ideal family. Yet she is unable to articulate the specifics of her desires and unwilling to compromise. She lashes out at those unable to match her visions of perfection, seeing others' failings but not her own. Only the dream created by the Nightingale Bell offers her any respite.

Personality Trait. "I see what's best for my city and its people. I will lead them to perfection."

Ideal. "Once my city knows harmony, then I can rest."

Bond. "What I want and what's best for my people are one and the same."

Flaw. "Perfection is the only acceptable standard. The flawed must be remade, and the lazy must serve." I ' C a th presents two worlds: a reality o f want and desperation, and a dream of beautiful control, both dominated by Tsien Chiang. The reality of I'Cath is an inescapable ghost city, overrun by jiangshi and ghosts. Escaping means engaging with those who know the city's secrets, whether sleeping residents, wandering ghosts, or deadly jiangshi. The dream of I ' Cath presents a second layer to the prison city. The characters might find ways to move in and out of the dream. I 'Cath's people have no such recourse on their own, but if the characters wake individuals or disrupt the dream, they could allow those caught within to escape. (See "The Dream of I'Cath" later in this domain for details.) Darklord Tsien Chiang and her daughters dwell at the heart of both these worlds. Working with or undermining them provides paths to disrupting the Dream of I 'Cath and ultimately escaping. But Tsien Chiang holds great power over both her realms, and if she is convinced that either her city or her dream is beyond redemption, her edicts turn dire. Consider the plots on the I ' Cath Adventures table when planning adventures in this domain.

l 'CATH A DV E N TU R E S d l O Adventure

A d e s p e rate local n e e d s m e d i c i n e fo r a s i c k s p o u s e , b u t the o n ly m e rc h a n t i n Gwa i - H u it Center with the necessary herbs d e m a n d s fres h fru i t from the G e m ston e G a r d e n s . The l o c a l entreats t h e c h aracters to i n filtrate t h e jiangshi-h a unted p a r k (see c h a pter 5 ) . 2 A c h i l d h a s gon e m i s s i n g on the streets of l 'Cath.

T h e c h i l d 's p a rents plead with the c h a racters to find the y o u ngster before d u s k . 3 A spy k nown as a c ri m i n a l in l 'Cath's d re a m city i s i mp r i s o n e d and tormented every time h e fa l l s a s l ee p . H e begs for t h e c h aracters' a i d t o h e l p keep h i m awake. 4 A gro u p of bandits waylay anyone w h o passes t h ro u g h their territory, d e m a n d i n g fres h meat for passage. Trapped locals seek help i n moving t h ro u g h the gang's territory. 5 A m e l a n ch o ly elf is u n a b l e to enter Tsi e n C h i ang's d re a m to join his fa m ily. H e entreats the c h a racters to h e l p h i m fi n d a way. 6 A jiangshi a p p roaches the c h a racters a n d a s k s them t o locate o n e o r m o re of h e r l o s t fam i l y m e m b e r s with i n the d re a m city. She's worried a b o u t w h a t ' s become of h e r fam i l y-the i r b o d i e s s h o u l d be i n the city, b u t s he's l o s t t r a c k o f t h e m .

dlO Adventure 7 A fa m i ly in the M an s i o n s m a d e offe r i n g s of food and rem e m b r a n ce s to p l acate a h un g ry ghost. This h a s attracted dozens of oth e r ghosts. T h e fam i l y s e e k s h e l p p lacatin g the u nd e a d m o u t h s t h e y c a n 't fee d . 8 Tsi e n C h i an g's l ib ra ry in t h e Palace of B o n e s h o l d s secrets a bout the border between d re a m s a n d rea lity. T h e c h a racters m u s t i n filtrate t h e p a lace, find t h e i nformation they n e e d , and escape before

Tsi e n C h i a n g ret u r n s at d a w n . 9 A d e s p e rate veteran wakes from t h e d re a m a n d att e m pts to set l 'Cath on fi re , b e l i evin g it's better for everyt h i n g to b u r n t h a n to l ive a l i e . The c h a racters must c h oose how to conten d with the m u rd erou s a rs o n i st . 1 0 A l l b u t o n e ofTs i e n C h i ang's d aughters h ave gon e m i s s i n g- a n d the rem a i n i n g d a u ghter i s either

Tsi e n S e u - M e i o r Tsien Lei - A n , n e i t h e r of whom c a n s p e a k . This d a u ghter crosses the p arty's path and s i lently begs for h e l p .

THE D RE A M O F I 'C AT H

For some, the unending dream Tsien Chiang forces upon her populace presents a tempting alternative to the bleak, haunted reality of I'Cath. However, those who succumb to the dream retain little hope of escaping the city. D R E A M S OF P E R FECTION

Anyone w h o sleeps in I ' Cath enters Tsien Chiang's dream of a bustling, beautiful city filled with smiling people. But the forced smiles hide desperation from the watchful eyes of Tsien Chiang's stoic jiangshi ministers. The people undertake endless, repetitive tasks-such as scrubbing the city's coinage or counting the seconds. Those who fail to keep up are reassigned to exhausting labor. Those who rebel are either dragged off to lightless cells or slain outright, forcing them to awaken in the real world.

Nature of the Dream. Creatures in the dream of I'Cath have the statistics they do in waking life. If a creature dies in the dream, it takes 3d6 psychic damage, returns to the waking world, and does not receive any benefit from the rest that just ended.

The Nightingale Bell. The Nightingale B e l l fuels Tsien Chiang's dream. Chiang must ring the bell once per day to maintain the dream. Otherwise, the dream fades and everyone in the domain wakes. Only Tsien Chiang can use the Nightingale Bell to maintain the dream of I'Cath. However, anyone can ring the bell to enter the dream bodily as though it were a demiplane. A creature that physically enters the dream leaves behind no body, and if killed, dies for real. The Nightingale Bell is protected by the Dark Powers and can't be destroyed.

Dreaming the Dream. A character cannot remove levels of exhaustion by finishing a long rest in I 'Cath if they spend any part of that rest in Tsien Chiang's dream. Characters with no levels of exhaustion wake from the dream after 6 hours. Characters with 1 or more levels of exhaustion can try to wake up after every 6 hours they spend within the dream; to awaken, they must succeed on a DC 1 0 Wisdom saving throw. Those who fail remain within the dream for another 6 hours, after which they can try to escape again. Creatures that do not sleep can choose to enter the dream by meditating. I f they enter the dream, they are affected by it as if they were sleeping. Many residents of I'Cath don't attempt to escape the dream, considering existence within it preferable to life in the real city. TSI E N C H IANG'S DAUGHTE R S

I n h e r desperation t o b e reunited with her daughters, Tsien Chiang used the Nightingale Bell to wish her murdered children back into being. To her shock, each daughter reborn into the waking world took on an unnatural form. Although these young women mirror the personalities of Tsien Chiang's true daughters and their doubles in the dream version of I'Cath, their forms and abilities are radically different. Chiang shuns them, but doesn't do them harm. Now these four strange beings wander I'Cath, curious about the city and eager to please their mother. Every dusk they assemble at the Palace of Bones, hoping for kindness from Tsien Chiang as she hurriedly passes them to ascend Ping'On Tower.

Tsien Chiang's daughters are generally good natured, but anxieties prevent the daughters from sleeping. If offered comfort and kindness so that the four sisters are all equally at ease, the daughters are able to fall asleep (see "Disrupting the Dream").

Tsien Chiang's four daughters have the following names, forms, and simple dreams: Tsien Lei-An. Voiceless Tsien Lei-An is made entirely of eyes and has the statistics of a scarecrow. She wishes for a robe of ghost hair silk or a jiangshi's slippers. She spends much of her time wandering the Mansions, rooting through the possessions of sleeping city-dwellers.