Hishep-Ratep debrief

Gam Saan Mine - Xianyin(#17151RM)

	Welcome to Xianyin. The Grey Maze. The Necropolis of the Lost. Essentially, a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. This city of the dead is modeled on the Qin capital Xianyang, divided into inner and outer cities. The circumference of the inner city is 2.5 km (1.55 miles) and the outer is 6.3 km (3.9 miles). The central tomb is located in the southwest of the inner city and faces east. The main tomb chamber housing the coffin and burial artifacts of the Lost Emperor is the core of the architectural complex of the mausoleum.

	A garrison of terracotta figures stands silent sentinel at the entrance to the outer city, locked in precise military formation according to rank and duty, in eternal vigil facing east. The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots and horses.

	Standing similarly sentinel on the periphery of the inner city is a group of other terracotta non-military figures including officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians.

	In the very center and heart of the inner city is the Lost Emperor's tomb itself, surrounded by a lifeless garden maze where two large Imperial Guardian Lions, or Shishi (a traditional Chinese architectural ornament typically made of stone), stand watch at the mouth of the maze that leads to the tomb. The lions are presented in pairs, a manifestation of yin and yang, the female representing yin and the male yang. The male lion has its right front paw on a type of cloth ball carved with a geometric pattern. The female is essentially identical, but has a cub under the left paw, representing the cycle of life. Symbolically, the female lion protects those dwelling inside (the living soul within), while the male guards the structure (the external material elements).

	*** PLACES CONFIGURED ***

	*** Nightzone ***

Obvious Exits:
  Mine Shaft <MS>

	Mo is at the base camp, a lantern lit and providing illumination as he and Mr. Fu seem to be studying a map while listening to a recording on some sort of technological contraption.

	From the direction of the stone-guardian lined entrance, a familiar figure can be seen moving into the courtyard. Xiu! And this time around, an overall human Xiu from the looks of it, unlike adventure-mode Xiu. Her garb is her usual one. Those little pieces of leather to hold things to her body without needing to use her hands. Painted runes. And that's it.
	Her approach is a casual stride, but should one of them spot her early she will smile over. And as is her habit, as she arrives the first one to get her attention is Fu. Because little dragons deserve petting and scritching. "Greetings to you two!" she sing-songs as her fingers already get to work, this time trying to scritch along Fu's back in a near-massage. "What is this stuff I am hearing there?" She nods towards the recorder.

	The little dragon leans up into the friendly and welcome scritches, a low rumble like soft thunder welling up from with his core. Mo sets his luopan down, the device used as a sort of paperweight atop whatever star charts he was looking at. "Signals, maybe. Or nothing, and just our imagination. Hard to tell which just yet." A smile is offered Xiu. "Hey, thank you for helping us retrieve the orb of Hishep-Ratep the other evening. We couldn't have done it without you."

	The base camp inside the first courtyard of the Necropolis has a visitor! As much as Xiu is actually a visitor, and Mo and Mr. Fu are kind of residents these days. The witch is crouching behind the little Mr. Fu, seemingly intent on kneading and massaging the life out of the little eastern dragon - and Mr. Fu making sounds of clear appreciation. There is a map laying in front, under some illumination, and a recorder playing back...weird things. "I'm sure those sounds aren't my imagination." Xiu is just remarking with a light grin, accompanied by a tilt of her head. "And it was a group effort. Everyone helped. As it should be. Reminded you of old times?"

	Mo looks up at Xiu, turning the device off for now so that he can focus on the conversation at hand and give it its due, "Yeah, actually. It kinda did. It was nice - real nice - to be part of a team again. Even if just for one day."

Lana makes her presence know, having finished her discussion with the Great Dragon she now moves into the base camp as she stuffs the phone into a back pocket of her jeans and nods her head slightly. She carries with her a duffle bag over one shoulder, one can't be to sure about things after all. "Mo, pleased to meet you." she offers, as she then glances at the nude Xiu and stretches the corners of her mouth.

	"Well. There will be more days." Xiu remarks with a smirk on her lips. "I have a feeling you will be calling people out on adventures regularly. You are just that type." She then leans forward and down to the little dragon. "Or should I say Mr. Fu will call us out, hmmmmmmmmmmh?" Scritchscritchscritchscritchscritch.
	When Lana approaches from the entrance of the courtyard, Xiu lifts her head and she grins at the sight. "Ahh. There she is." she remarks.

	Mo's mouth opens, as he was about to say something, but then OH LOOK! A LANA! Mo smiles and rises up off the crate he was sitting on, during his hands off on his pants and making his way over to greet the latest arrival. "Hey. Thanks for helping out. I was just telling Xiu how great it was, working together."

Lana nods her head slowly as she places a hand upon Xiu's shoulder. <<"Ah, there I am?">> she smiles and then looks towards Mo and nods her head once more, as she adjusts the duffel bag on her shoulder. "It was my pleasure, naturally I had to inform the Great Dragon that nothing truly came off it that would benefit the Wing Kong, save the gratitude of MoGui and Mr Fu."

	<<Ah, there you are.>> Xiu says with a grin, before she turns her head and nuzzles the hand on her shoulder before it pulls away. "That actually reminds me, Mo. Did you put what we found in our first grand adventure to good use?" she wonders.

	Mo looks to Lana. "Well, we could always go back and retrieve the gem from the statue? We kinda forgot about in the all the pell-mell of fighting the Root Thing for the orb." Then he looks to Xiu, quizzically. Mo, he had many strengths, but sometimes the "youth" could be a little slow on the uptake.

Since Mo most likely can be slow on the uptake, the affection Lana shows towards Xiu must be nothing more than friendship as she gently caresses the other woman's shoulder, while watching Mo. "I just might do that." she then tilts her head, eagerly awaiting to hear if it's the discs or not.

	"...the three discs." Xiu remarks and grins. "You remember. Heck, Lana was there." she points out. There is another nuzzling to the hand on her shoulder, before Xiu reaches into the satches tied to the leather cord across the torso, and then she begins to patiently and slowly assemble a long, chinese pipe.

	Mr. Fu perks up at all the inquiry. "The discs are being saved for the Tournament of Celestial Cities, and the matches that we will host here in our little corner of the middle kingdom - myself presiding over one as the dragon of the East, and Lao presiding over another as the Dragon of the North."

Lana nods her head slowly, not mentioning where the third disc went but simply smiling softly as she stands there.

	Xiu just...nooods, because quite frankly, yeah. She already expressed once that she has no idea about the celestial order of the east. She just smirks. "I hope the second disc comes to good use." she remarks, before she eyes the recorder again for a moment, the thing now silent. "...you never answered inquiries during our last adventure. About what that orb of life actually *was*"

	Mo grins. Whatever it was, it went into Mr. Fu's belly! Had it come out yet? And perhaps the better or more interesting question - which way had it come out?! "A dragon pearl, that had been obtained in an ill-gotten manner by the sorcerer Hishep-Ratep. We'd been looking for that thing for a while now, hadn't we Mr. Fu?" said the youth as he looked over at the little dragon.

	As if on cue, Mr. Fu gets some more scrrrriiiitches, before the motions of Xiu's fingers gentle down, and she just idly brushes under his chin for a moment. "I hope it is not digestable by dragons." she remarks.

	Mr. Fu nods, looking up at Xiu. "Indeed we had. It belongs to Zhulong, the Vermilion Dragon of the South. But I haven't had any contact with them ... in an age."

	"An age." Xiu playfully echoes. She has a rough understanding what kind of timespan is meant with that, and smirks. "Well, I do not know how well you got along with Zhulong, but I am sure they will be quite grateful - or indebted - if you return that pearl to them." she remarks, wiggling her eyebrows.

	Mr. Fu nods. "Better to hold in safekeeping for its eventual return, than have its powers be misused by whatever cult had been squatting at Hishep-Ratep's tomb, yes?"

	"Speeeaking of..." Xiu says, as she lowers herself from her crouch into a kneel, and gently pulls Fu onto her lap, crading the dragon there in a comfortable way before she looks over at Mo. "...that...gray..creature." she remarks. "...you know it. It certainly knew you."

	Mr. Fu makes a rumbly sound, "We'd crossed paths before, once or thrice. A trickster from one of the Otherworlds."

	Mo gives a nod at Mr. Fu's words. "Yeah, what Mr. Fu said. We ran into him during the war, and then afterwards a couple times."

	"..huh. See, what.." the witch begins.. "...what was he doing in that coffin?" A frown moves her expression. "You say it is a trickster. You figure it was actually waiting for us? I doubt that cult caught it. It made no sense that all but one of the same coffin would hold such a strange cultist, and then that creature."

	Mo considers, "I dunno. Good question. His motives, they're always ... uncertain at best. I can see if I can bring up his file from the Nashira's datalogs?"

	"Oh, right! You recovered the ship." the witch says, lightly grinning. "No need to get them for me. I am just.." she wiggles the fingers one of hand.. "..planting little seeds of advice and thought in your head. I just think his presence was no coincidence. Of all places, and all times, in all the worlds."

	If a dragon could frown, that dragon would be Fu. He gives a small noise in assent. "We'll gather the logs. Perhaps you can help us review them and see an angle we might be missing."

	Xiu nods. "Glady. I often have a quite different view of the world than most people. But it really depends on the topic in question." She grins. "Although, as you know, I don't have experience with the otherworlds, nor the east. You are the experts there. But I know creatures, and natural motivations."

	Mo grins, "The Gray Man isn't particularly of the middle kingdom. Though he has interests there, for sure."

	"But he is of the otherworlds.." Xiu says and lifts a fingers. "However, I shall simply treat him as I do any other creature. Basic needs. Basic wants. Basic interests. Coated up and enhanced and complicated by intellect and experiences in this world." She lowers the hand and leans down to Mister Fu. "Even Mr. Fu here, in all his glory and wisdom is, in the end, simply a dragon that has dragon needs, dragon likes, and and enjoys a nice massage."

	Mo reaches up to cover his mouth with his hands to suppress a laugh, lest Mr. Fu get after him!