Bring Me the Heads of the Seven Jade Disciples

Campaign: Cinderheim, the Land Under the Demon Sun

Characters: Ka-Seti Blackhand, aasimar paladin; Shaasha, half-orc paladin; Tanni, human druid; Kyzzak Sloogh, lizardfolk sorcerer; Meatpie, tiefling monk.

The party had tracked the Seven Jade Disciples, a gang of raiders and desperadoes, to the mining town of Salamara. The party's motivation--REVENGE! Each of them were seeking vengeance for someone killed by the Seven Jade Disciples. Sweetening the deal, the warlord Lesedi Gheda had placed a bounty on the heads of the Disciples, payable in gold.

The first of the Disciples to die was Fareed, who was caught otherwise occupied with a prostitute in a brothel and didn't see the attack coming. For the rest of the melee, he fought stark naked. His lackeys entered the fray too late to save him; they were slain as well. Three down, four to go.

An impromptu game of demon chess with an old miner in the town alerted the party that the many of the miners in Salamara had been part of a warband led by Fareed and his brother Samir, so the village was largely loyal to the Seven Jade Disciples.

As the group prepared to find and kill Hassiba, the Seven Jade Disciples' sharpshooter, they were interrupted by the arrival of Phineas Sharpe on his giant lizard steed. Sharpe attempted to get the group to clear off, claiming to represent "the law" in the desert. 

When the group wouldn't be dissuaded from their vengeful purpose, Sharpe offered to join forces with them and split the bounties fifty-fifty: half for him, half for the other five to divide among themselves. Surprisingly, the group agreed--but they were also using magic to secretly communicate among themselves and agreed to kill Sharpe when the job was done.

As they began to plan out how to take down Hassiba, Sharpe immediately proved his worth by taking a bolt to the back from the Disciples' sharpshooter. The group wouldn't have to worry about splitting their take or murdering the bounty hunter after all. Sharpe's corpse, however, did make for an effective shield. What followed was a dangerous fight (involving crossbow fire, hurled javelins, magical flame, martial arts, and heavy bludgeons) in which three members of the party were momentarily taken out--but they were ultimately victorious. Six down, one to go.

Just before the fatal blow fell on Hassiba, she looked to the strangely verdant hill in the distance and smiled. Using Sharpe's spyglass (he certainly didn't need it anymore), the party could see the last of the Seven Jade Disciples, Samir, atop the hill--seemingly conducting some sort of ritual. The group raced to meet him and conclude their vendetta.

As they neared him, his ritual was completed: he animated two of the corpses buried on the hill as zombies. Samir fell back, leaving the group to deal with his summoned undead. Tanni attempted to use Sharpe's giant lizard mount as a beast of war, but the unruly creature proved difficult to control. The zombies were dealt with, as was Samir--who had his wand slapped from his hand before he was killed and decapitated.

The Seven Jade Disciples had fallen; blood paid for blood.

REWARDS:
XP - 165.

Bounties on 7 Jade Disciples - 170 gp for each member of the party
Looted coin - 400 cp, 28 sp, 16 gp, 4 ep, 1 pp for each member of the party.
Gems - 1 gem worth 25 gp for each member of the party.
Magic items - Handy haversack, scroll of mage hand, scroll of mending.
Misc. items - Giant lizard mount, rifle (20 shots), pistol (20 shots), spyglass.