Men of Bronze, Iron and Gold

The monks of Kuye Temple went into the tower in waves. Some came seeking a master who had vanished, some to look into the strange events gathering around Pangzhen, some only to meet senior brothers who were long overdue.

When the Sha-Chi Furnace burst, scalding copper and molten iron came down and took most of them at once. Those who held on lost their reason and kept only a shell harder than the metal poured over it.

They stand guard inside the tower now and strike at anything living. Fist, blade and staff are still the sets drilled at the temple; they are simply no longer used to subdue demons.

• Bronze Man: Fist: skin gleams like brass, and flesh and bone harden to copper in an instant. It circles and probes, then lunges through an opening with one crushing punch.
• Iron Man: Fist: scalding iron pours over it day after day and it does not stir, as though it had always been part of the tower. Let a living intruder in, and Sha-Chi drives it to perform every demon-subduing fist form it once learned.
• Iron Man: Blade: broad and heavy, a ringed blade cold in its hand. The rings clatter with each swing and mingle with the wind off Meigu Lake, carrying a killing chill.
• Iron Man: Staff: the monk staff it carries is dark with age, once a weapon for subduing foes; now it chops, swings, thrusts and sweeps at anything living. Only after Sha-Chi swallowed them did they see that every clue leading them inside was a trap.
• Gold Man: Fist: when it channels its power the skin turns red gold, blades and spears glance off, and its fists land with terrible force. Heavy weapons such as a great axe can break its stance and shatter the Sha-Chi around it.
• Gold Man: Blade: the whole body seems cast from gold, the ringed saber cold and bright, iron rings lining the spine of the blade and ringing with every cut. After Transcension they used their last thread of clarity to drive out the men who had performed it, then sealed themselves in the tower.
• Gold Man: Staff: it grips a heavy bronze staff carved at both ends, staff work still disciplined, every chop and sweep showing years of drill at the temple. Stray too far from the tower, or let anything disturb the balance, and it becomes a husk driven wholly by Sha-Chi.

The bronze and iron men still fight with the forms they drilled, and a familiar form shows its wind-up early; closing in is steadier than backing away.

The gold men wear a sheath of Sha-Chi that turns ordinary steel aside and leaves only a pale mark. Bring a great axe or another heavy weapon, break the stance, and the opening appears.