part 4-the mandaru brethren

8/2/2019 Part 4-The Mandaru Brethren

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/part-4-the-mandaru-brethren 1/7

Written by

Andrew Roberts

These stories are based on

characters and settings by Pinnacle

Entertainment and Great WhiteGames.



Nepal, 1936

Doc Gold set down to the snow drift using his special flight gear. There was no sign of life. He

began to dig through the snow frantically. As he dug, he caught a glimpse of something golden.

He pulled it out, revealing the Sword of the Guardian with the inscriptions on the blade. Next to the

blade, he saw Buck Savage’s fedora and examined it.

“I’m sorry Savage.” He said mournfully, “That ruffian Viteri shot out my anchor. I wi ll find Atlantis

for you. I wish you could see it.”

As he spoke, a hand shot out of the snow and grabbed the fedora. Doc looked in surprise as Buck

tunnelled out of the snow.

“Thanks for the promise Doc.” He said, putting on his fedora before digging through the snow. As

the pair dug, Buck unearthed another hand. He cleared the snow around that spot, finding Virginia

Dare. She came round and saw Buck. They embraced while Doc Gold continued to dig up Anish

and Danny.

“I’m so glad you’re alright Virginia!” Buck said softly, “And now we have the Sword of the

Guardian.”

“We have no time to lose Buck.” Virginia replied. She picked up the swor d and helped Anish to his

feet.

An hour later, the party had returned to their hotel in Kathmandu. The Sword and Shield of the

Guardian had been laid out on a table so they could read the inscriptions that adorned them.

“So let me get this straight,” Doc said as he lit his pipe, “Your friend Professor Sawyer said that theshield and sword need to be brought together and they tell you where the Dragon is being kept.”

“That was definitely what he said;” Buck replied ponderously, “The only problem is he didn’ t say

how.”



“Maybe they need to be taken to a certain place.” Virginia suggested, “Some kind of map -room

perhaps?”

“That sounds likely, but if that’s the case; where would it be?”

“What about the inscriptions?” Danny asked, “Perhaps Sawyer’s notebook has translations.”

Buck pulled the notebook out of his pocket. Danny and Virginia examined it, comparing its

contents to the inscriptions on both treasures. As Virginia shook her head and shrugged at Buck,

Danny continued to examine them, now in a state of deep thought.

“Does it say anything Miss Dare?” Doc asked.

“We might have translated the symbols.” Virginia replied, “But they just seem to be a bunch of

numbers.”

“What, are they supposed to be serial numbers?” Buck sneered.

“Wait a minute!” Danny shouted, almost jumping out of his seat in surprise, “The numbers might

be lines of latitude and longitude. We can get any map!”

The others stared at him in awe. Buck pulled an atlas from the nearby desk and handed it to

Danny.

“If I’m correct,” Danny explained, “The Dragon of the Khan is being kept on a place called

Mandaru, a small island in the South China Sea. We could get there fairly easily from Macau.”

“Well, I guess there’s no time to lose.” Buck commented.

Upon arrival in Macau, the group proceeded to the harbour, in the hopes of securing a charter to

Mandaru. They began making inquiries at a small bar frequented by local fishermen and

stevedores.

“We’re looking for a charter service.” Doc asked the bartender, “Do you know anyone who canhelp us?”

“If you want a charter service, you should find Chun Zhou.” The bartender told them.



“Where can we find him?” Buck asked.

“He’s doing some work on his boat.” The bartender replied, “You can find him here.” He handed

Buck a piece of paper with an address. Buck thanked him and left with the others.

Later that afternoon, the group found themselves walking up an older jetty, where four men were

performing simple carpentry work on a small fishing junk.

“Are you Chun Zhou?” Buck asked one of the men. The man nodded.

“You look like you want a charter service.” He said bluntly. “It’s 100 patacas up front.”

Buck produced a small purse from his jacket and handed it to Zhou. He opened it and emptied the

contents on top of a nearby crate he was using as a crude workbench. It contained several 17 th

century Spanish doubloons. “These should be worth about 500 patacas.” Buck said, “Consider it a

bonus. We’re trying to reach Mandaru.” Zhou’s crewmen all fell silent upon hearing the name.

“Mandaru is very dangerous. You shouldn’t go there.” Zhou whispered softly. “That place has been

ruled by pirates since the 13th

century.”

“We’re not worried. The British Museum will compensate you for damages.” Buck reassured him.

“We head out tonight.” Zhou said after a contemplating the danger and the payment.

It was a calm night as the fishing junk sailed out of Macau. Buck and Virginia stood out on the

deck, admiring the moonlight reflecting on the open sea.

“I was thinking about what you said in Venice.” Buck said as he watched dolphins leaping out of

the waters, “You said you’d been hired by Dr Wetmore in New York to find the Dragon.”

“And you were hired by the British Museum.” Virginia replied, “Are you trying to set up the debate

about the Dragon’s exhibition?”

“No.” Buck replied, “I know that the Dragon will go into circulation when donated to either

museum.”

Virginia moved closer to Buck’s side. Buck put his arm around her shoulder.

“Buck, we made the right choice to work together. We can’t let Viteri find the Dragon. The BritishMuseum would be hurt financially if we fail.”

“You’re right. Viteri must not acquire the Dragon. We can stop him together. We can stop him as

partners.”

Virginia felt a grip of fervour coming from Buck’s ultimatum. After ten years of encountering each

other on their adventures, she felt charmed by Buck’s devotion. They both turned to each other

and kissed, their long-suppressed feelings for each other finally brought out. One of Zhou’s

crewmen smiled at them from the rigging, thinking about the love of his own life.



Dawn had broken. Buck and Virginia were both asleep on the deck when they were shaken awake

by Zhou. Buck groggily climbed to his feet to see Zhou pointing at the port side of the junk. Virginia

handed Buck her binoculars and he attempted to comprehend the cause of Zhou’s panic; three

large war junks were approaching them rapidly. As Buck focused his view, he noticed men on the

decks preparing cannons and a Maxim gun. He also noticed an insignia on the closest ship

bearing a Chinese dragon wielding two crossed swords.

“It’s Li Kuang!” Zhou said in fear, “The feared Pirate Lord of Mandaru!”

Buck listened to the crew’s panicked bickering and drew his revolver. His companions took cover

as cannon shots flew across the decks. One of the war junks was approaching rapidly. The sound

of cannon fire rung out again, this time near the stern. Zhou’s junk began to drift in the wind.

“The rudder’s dead!” one of the crewmen shouted before being killed by a sharpshooter . Doc Gold

took careful aim with his Electromagnetic Dischargement Apparatus. A bolt of lightning struck the

starboard side of the junk with no effect. A Maxim gun tore through the mast, sending it tipping

over onto of the other crewmen. Doc fired another bolt at the junk, igniting the sails. Flaming

rigging came loose and dropped on the deck which in turn ignited the spare ammunition andgunpowder on the decks being used for the cannon. Virginia grabbed her binoculars and noticed

the men jumping off the burning ship, attempting to shelter from the subsequent explosions.

Before Doc could fire again, he was hit in the shoulder by a stray bullet. Collapsing to the floor of

the deck, he painfully attempted to treat the wound with his Amazing Wonder Tonic. The bullet

was disintegrated while the wound healed over.

The second junk sailed towards the burning one to pick up the survivors while the last junk,

carrying an alternate design to suggest a flagship, continued to sail towards Zhou’s junk. As it

closed in, Buck dispatched the Maxim gun operator with his revolver while Virginia fired at the

other crewmen with her Colt. When the ships were parallel, the pirates began to extend boardingplanks onto Zhou’s junk. Danny grabbed a long wooden pole and began to knock the planks away

as Buck and Virginia fired at the sharpshooters on the other junk. He was successful in dislodging

one of the planks, sending the boarding party into the sea.

While Buck was attempting to reload his revolver, a screaming sound was heard from above.

Another pirate leapt onto the deck with a summersault jump and delivered a roundhouse kick

which knocked Buck’s revolver out of his hand. Buck grabbed another pole and lunged at him. The

pirate back flipped out of the way and drew a dao, waving it intimidatingly while parrying further

attacks with the pole. Virginia grabbed the pirate from behind and threw him over the edge. Before

either of them could confront the other pirates, a burst of machinegun fire over their heads sent

them diving to the ground. More pirates boarded the junk while the Maxim gun was kept trained on

the deck. The group was assembled on deck by the pirates who threatened them with daos, axes,

spears and clubs. A large, imposing man with long hair climbed aboard.

“I am Li Kuang. We are the Mandaru Brethren.” He proclaimed, “You ar e trespassers in these

waters.” He turned to the other crewmen. “Take them below decks and search the ship.”

As the group was brought aboard the war junk, a whooping sound was heard. The Sword and

Shield of the Guardian had been found.

“You are looking for the Dragon of the Khan.” Kuang guessed.



Buck and his companions were taken to the brig and clapped in irons. The air was suffocating as

they were locked inside brig. Buck sat down and contemplated the next move.

“What do we do now?” Doc asked, “Are you thinking of a daring escape Savage?”

Buck nodded. “That’s my only way of thinking.” He whispered, “But we should wait until we arrive

on Mandaru.” He pulled his fedora over his eyes and slept. Virginia sat down next to him, noticing

Danny pulling his notebook out of his front shirt pocket.

“This is not the time to write about adventures boy!” Doc hissed sternly.

“Doc, shut up.” Virginia hissed back, “I know what he’s doing.” They both watched as Danny pulled

a set of lock picks hidden inside the notebook. He started picking the locks on everyone’s irons,

but left them on.

“They should break off easy.” Danny whispered.

After a short but rough voyage, the group was escorted out of the brig. As they were brought onto

the deck, they found themselves inside a large cavern serving as Kuang’s port. Buck noticed a

crane being used to unload larger hauls from the junks. He was ushered along by one the pirates

to a small wooden platform being carried by the crane, which was used to take them to a set of

wooden walkways that spanned the cavern.

“Now!” Buck yelled as they were escorted along the walkways. His companions broke out of their

weakened irons and attacked the escorts. Buck turned around to see the pirate behind him take a

swing with his dao. He blocked the swing with his irons before delivering a hook to the pirate,

disarming him while knocking him off the catwalk. As another pirate attempted a thrust with hisdao, Virginia attempted to throttle him with her irons, giving Buck the opportunity to stab him in the

chest. As the pair fought the other men off, Danny noticed more pirates armed with rifles on the

other walkway. He vaulted over the railing onto the walkway below and barged through the

approaching pirates, using his irons to deflect swings from daos and axes.

The other pirates opened fire on Buck and Virginia, wild shots hitting several of the other pirates

while causing the catwalk to collapse. As Doc and Zhou fell to the next catwalk, Buck and Virginia

clung onto the remains of their walkway and climbed up the top while avoiding more rifle fire. As

they climbed to the top, Virginia caught notice of another man attempting to fire at Doc and Zhou.

Buck grabbed a discarded axe and threw it at the man, sending him falling from his vantage point.The pair took off down the passageway. Cavernous walls soon gave way to masonry. Doc and

Zhou caught up with them.

“There might be a radio here.” Zhou suggested, “Kuang will be using it to monitor shipping for

potential targets.”

“If we can find it, we can alert the Portuguese Navy in Macau.” Doc added.

“If Polo’s research is correct, the final part of the key is here.” Buck told them, “The Helm of the

Guardian may be here on Mandaru.”



Buck and Virginia ran through the corridors of Li Kuang’s mighty citadel, evading the patrolling

guards. After a frantic search, they met up with Danny and found themselves in a large room full of

snakes. On a raised platform at the opposite end of the room, a ‘great helm’, traditionally worn with

plate armour, lay on a mannequin in front of a large golden disc in the wall. Like the Sword and

Shield of the Guardian, the Helm was made of solid gold.

“You’re not afraid of snakes are you?” Danny asked.

“No, I’m not.” Buck replied, “There’s a way across this.” He pointed to a row of missing bricks in

the left wall, creating impromptu handholds. “Wait here.”

Buck placed his hands inside the holes and shimmied across to the other end of the room without

any problems. As he removed the Helm from the mannequin, a sliding sound was heard. Buck

turned around to see more bricks slide in and seal the holes in the wall, trapping him at that end of

the room. The door behind Virginia and Danny was blocked by a set of metal bars. As Buck

attempted to dislodge the bricks sealing the handholds, the platform with the mannequin slowly

began to sink into the ground. As he felt the platform descending, he realised that he was being

lowered into the snake pit.

i Savage Worlds, Smilin’ Jack, Deadlands, and all of our other Savage Settings, and the Pinnacle logo are Copyright

Great White Games, LLC; DBA Pinnacle Entertainment Group. All rights reserved.

iCharacters by Shane Lacy Hensley and Andrew Roberts. Written by Andrew Roberts

part 4-the mandaru brethren

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