Where Fate Leads, Destiny Follows

===> COH <===> 11/21/2019, 11:00:29 AM <===

Gam Saan - Oasis


     Once you get through the gate in the ten foot tall chain link fence with it's white wooden slats interwoven in the links to improve privacy. Along the entire length of the inside of the fence you see newly planted three foot tall Emerald Arborvitae (which can grow up to fifteen feet), you can finally see the grounds proper. The focal point is an oasis. A small relatively shallow pool of water about fifteen feet long and six feet across at it's widest. A spring feeds one end, and a small stream runs out of it for a little ways before vanishing back in to the desert sands.  The pool it's self is surrounded by mossy stones, short hearty grass, and small shrubs native to the area. (for those that can sense it and make the effort to do so, the oasis is a relatively weak place of power)

     A well manicured gravel path leads to the oasis, forking off about half way from the entrance to also lead you to either a large glass greenhouse, or a small house that has seen better days. At the fork in the trail is a hand pump attached to a pipe sticking out of the ground, probably the sole source of water for the house proper, An outhouse can be seen behind the house proper. On top of the house is a rather new set of solar panels providing personal power as needed.

     The greenhouse on the other hand looks to be almost as new as the freshly planted potential hedge wall. Off to one side, and out of the way so as to maximize sunlight there's another set of solar panels to power the greenhouse.

     There is probably a battery bank somewhere inside the Greenhouse to prevent interruptions in power.

     <Rank 1 Dragon Nest>


Contents:
Xiu
Zua
Obvious Exits:
  Gam Saan - Greenhouse <GG>   Gam Saan - House <GH>   Mojave Desert <MD>

	MoGui had been invited out into the Gam Saan desert on a social call after some earlier conversations with Zua. Out here, in the middle of nowhere? A small pool of yang chi was /thriving/ and being put to use. The two were near the greenhouse, Zua having just completed the nickel tour.

	"So interesting, your spot here and then that of Xianyin just out the way over by the mines. Even here in the west, yang and yin seem to find a way," mused Mo.

	And outside, moving along the highway, a lone figure shuffles along. A backpack is slung over the girl's shoulder as she just seems to stroll along the path, hood drawn up, the oh so long mass of braids lightly waving in the sandby breeze at times.
	It's when the walls and gates come close to her path that she turns her head and..stops, straightening a bit as she looks at the setup of buildings and greenery in the middle of...well. Here. she just stands there for a moment, before she lets out a soft "Hrm." and begins to subtly change directions, adjusting the backpack a bit as she draws closer to the main gates.

Zua chuckles, "From death comes new life. It is the way of the world. Myconids are extremely good at converting decay in to new life." A small shrug, "I'll probably start growing some of the edible mushrooms as well. It's not to difficult...." She trails off as the sounds of footsteps approach the barrier.

	Mo's hand drops to where a holster and pistol would be, but. Then he remembers he hasn't acquired a gun yet, and was doing his best to leave that life behind him. A sigh, as the attempt to leave said life behind meant being underprepared to deal with the unknown should things tend towards the ultra-violence. WIth no gun in hand, he'll relax into a stance that lends itself to either fight or flight.

	The girl stops. Slanted eyes peek out from beneath the hoodie's..well, hood. And she eyes the walls and gates, though mostly she just peeks past the gate the fancy setup inside with interest. One hand on the strap of her backpack, the other just stuffed into the pouch of her hoodie. The clothes seem a bit worn, dusty from no doubt quite a walk along the highway. Her expression? Hard to read, really. A bit grumpy maybe, but that just might come with the discomfort of walking a long distance in the weather. She does not seem to notice the two figures quite yet.

	Mo looks to Zua, "No one knows I'm out here - I left my pager in the saddlebags of my motorcycle a ways off." Curiosity will triumph over fear - Mo was generally fearless, owing to his unique role in the celestial bureaucracy and middle kingdom. "Olly olly oxen free," he shouts out, by way of greeting. Whimsical? Maybe. Unconventional? Decidedly!
Zua chuckles softly, letting Mo take the lead for the moment.

	Mo makes enough noise on the path to the entry gate that you'd have to be blind or deaf to miss his approach. Its deliberate on his part, has to be, right? "Who goes there?! We invoke the laws of hospitality!" The laws of hospitality?!

	Xiu blinks. She blinks again. 'Olly olly oxen free'? She leans sideways, takes a few steps and blinks again as she spots the two figures. Her surprise is growing just a bit as she notices that both of them seem asian - and at least the male seems quite...chinese. She lets out a grunt, then clears her throat and stants a bit more straight. /"Hello! I was just wondering about this pretty place, out here in the nowhere."/ she says - in Mandarin. /"...you're understanding this, right?"/

Zua replies in fluent mandarin, "Of course I understand. This is only a nowhere when you look at western society, for me it is exactly where it most needs to be. What brings you out here, to my little domain?"

Mo stops. Like a dead stop, right in his tracks. "Holy shit, the Quincunx musta found me, but I was careful, I swear," he mutters to Zua under his breath. "Don't worry, I /got/ this," he appends, putting a hand up, palm outwards. In the sharply inflected tones of Mandarin, comes his reply. <<I understand! I seek no quarrel, and promise to come peacefully, but no harm must befall this yang nest! I'm putting my hands up and surrendering! Step forward, and show yourself!>>

	"Ha!" The girl lets out, amusement in the tone at the jab at western society. The question though has her slightly cock her head. /"Just wandering. I've actually planned to head towards Needle, and camp out on the way. I didn't expect.." She turns her head left and right a bit along the outside wall for a moment. /"...this. You're the owner?"/ she asks, eyes back on Zua for a moment, then Mo. There is, finally, a light smile on those lips before she glances back at Zoa. /"And what is his deal? He...seems kind of nervous."/ To make an understatement. She does step forward, towards the gate, given that he asked for it. /"I'm Tong Xiu. I even less expected to find other Chinese out here." Her head tilts a bit to the side. "Or Chinese descendants."

Zua raises an eyebrow, "Recent immigrant. I inherited the property, and have taken up residence for now." She shrugs, "We're far enough out of the way that any traveler, especially one on foot is extremely unusual."

	Mo shuts his eyes when Xiu steps thru, but hen peeks out through them at her. His wrists come together, as if ready for Xiu to place manacles on him. But then ... <<Waitaminnit - you don't look like Quincunx. Did - did my father send you?>> His brow furrow as he withdraws his hands and wrists for manacling. <<If father did send you, you came all this way for nothing. I've still got no desire to throw in with the akuma in servitude to the Yama Kings. Nor will I allow the lore hidden within Xianyin to fall into their hands!>> Oh, that Mo! He's quite the excitable character!

	And as Xiu steps through, she...blinks. Stopping, she blinks. And blinks again as she just stares at Mo for a long, long moment. it's almost a cliche addition of silence, after he is done with his tirade - accented by a light gust of desert wind, before the girl just....turns towards Zua again, both eyebrows arched a bit. /"....*I* am the unusual here?"/

Zua grins continuing to speak in Mandarin, "Yes. You are the aberration. I live here, he is an invited guest, we are in the middle of nowhere, and you are on foot. I am called Zua, Hua. What are you called?"

	Mo sets his jaw defiantly, <<The Desert Tortoise court of the great Gam Saan desert stands independent from the foolish games played by the servants of jade and yomi.>> He now regards Xiu more carefully, having revealed herself as she has. A smile as the desert wind gusts dramatically around her person. <<Have you come to help us then? Friend, not foe?>> He seems to have settled down a bit, shoulders less tense, jaw less tight, eyes hopeful. <<I am Hu Mo Gui, son of the akuma known only as the Horseman with No Name.>>

	/"...as I said, Tong Xiu."/ the girl repeats to Zua. By now potentially confused by both of them. Still, she has passed the gates and thus, she lightly bows. /"And thank you for allowing me inside your domain."/. She then straightens and looks at MoGui. /"...and really, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Nobody sent me, there is no quarrel, I don't plan on taking you away, and I don't know who Quincunx is, and I hope I don't look like an akuma."/ she patiently goes through the small list, her lips curling into a smile the longer she goes through it. Though then her expression sobers up again, being..well, friendly.

	And then he just continues with more strange words. /"...I am really just a wanderer passing through..."/ she reiterates, her expression of friendliness gaining some degree of confusion again.

Zua puts a hand on Mo's shoulder, "I think we have a westerner. One not versed in the ways of her ancestors. The servants of the Yama kings don't always know who they are, but you don't smell of the taint of the thousand hells, and you look quite Human to my eyes."

	Aha! Not an agent of the Quincunx! Nor a servant of the Yama Kings! Mo's day has officially gotten better! The man relaxes, <<Well, then, please enjoy our hospitality.>> A pause. <<Tea?>> he offers. <<Smoke?>> For Mo, it was the small pleasures that he enjoyed, and so he instinctively offered them in turn to those he sought to make nice with - a hot beverage and a hand rolled cigarette were modest offerings but to a vagabond prince like Mo, they were luxurious. A nod to Zua, the woman's hand on his shoulder fully relaxing him.

	Xiu's eyes flick towards Zua. /"Yes, I was born in these lands. My parents were immegrants from our ancestral home."/ she explains, and softly chuckles. /"So, I'm afraid you are indeed dealing with somebody who..as you say..might not be very versed in the ways. My parents told me some stories. Tales and legends, of course."/ Xiu explains as she slowly unshoulders the backpack - just glad to have it off for a change, and sets it down on the ground. The mentioning of *tea* though, has her straighten and those eyebrows rise again. /"...i would be really glad for a cup of tea, yes."/

Zua nods and says to Mo, "Do keep her entertained while I fetch the tea from the house. It should only be a few minutes."

	Mo smiles as he listens to the stranger's tale, then nods at Zua's words and does as told. <<My apologies, then. The mongol blood, it runs strong in my family. I can be a little excitable.>> He pulls out a pouch containing hand harvested and cured tobacco. <<Just tea? No smoke?>>

	The young man gestures all around him with a free hand, <<The Gam Saan, it is special, you see? The yang found here, the yin found in the lost necropolis. It falls to those like Zua and I to do our best to nurture and defend it from depredations, lest the lores be lost to the vagaries of time and our histories with it.>> He looks quite saddened by the prospect. The man's face is quite expressive, really, whether animated or crestfallen.

	Xiu watches zua head off to fetch the tea, before her eyes find Mo again. She smiles right back, then lets out a soft laugh. /"Very excitable. Which is not bad. It makes for very interesting conversations."/ she remarks, before she eyes the pouch, then actually takes a couple steps closer and uses a hand to wave the aroma of the pouch's contents towards her. /"Mh..ah, no, I do not tend to smoke tobacco."/ she remarks with a soft smile. That hand in the hoodie's pouch rummages for a moment, there is a metal sound - something made of tin - before the hand finally comes into view and also holds a hand-rolled cigarette. She sniffs at it with some distance to her nose, before she offers it to Mo. /"It is usually more something like this."/ The sweet smell makes it clear just what's rolled up in there. She then follows his gesturing hands with her eyes, taking in the words with a certain silence for a moment. Necropolis. Her eyes find him again. /"Necropolis. The dead?"/ The word alone has the roots of that.

	Mo puts his tobacco away and decides to be helpful and offer Xiu a light. <<Xianyin - the lost necropolis. Established here by our ancestors who worked the railroad. The legend says a secret son of the emperor fled to the west, in search of a secret that would ensure the survival of our people past the turning of the age. He was assassinated. Poisoned by nefarious forces. And buried in Xianyin, which was lost up until very recently when a wu zao found it. But the wu zao has gone missing. I am hoping to explore the ruins of the necropolis soon.>> A pause to allow Xiu to smoke her smoke before he looks at her hopefully. <<Wanna come with?>>

Zua comes back out with a hot tea pot, a couple of stoneware mugs. and a round cardboard box with a handle. She says "The ground is more comfortable by the oasis. Do come and have a seat."

	The girl leans forward, bringing the joint to her lips before she accepts the fire of the lighter. She takes a puff or two to get it lit, before she leans back, inhales deeply...and slowly exhales. After the long wandering, her body is already enjoying the relaxation of just standing about and talking - this will surely add to it. /"Thank you."/ she says and smile, before she takes another drag and then holds the thing out, offering it to Mo while she softly exhales. /"Ruins, then?"/ she wonders as she listens to the tale - though the sudden offer of her actually accompanying the man has the girl blink in surprise. /"..you want me to accompany you?"/ she wonders...and then softly laughs. Not in amusement, more as a way to get rid of the tension of the surprise. /"I am not sure whether this implies a casual stroll, or climbing dangerous ledges."/ she says.

	Her eyes find Zua as the other comes into view again. She nods, kind of a light bow again actually, before she picks up and shoulders her backpack.

	Mo falls into step beside Xiu as he makes his way to the oasis as ZUa directs. <<Our court, the Desert Tortoise is small, but, our inspiration, the Black Tortoise court, was similarly so." He takes a smalls social puff of XIu's hospitality, then hands it back. "Ruins, yes. Traps, maybe. But definitely clues. Mysteries. Perhaps even the key to helping our people persevere through the End of Times.>> The little dhampyr was certainly dramatic, that was for sure. But Mo was also oh so very hopepunk earnest. He was hopepunk as F***.

Zua shoos the gathering towards the grass and mossy stones around the oasis, where she sets up the tea. Carefully shaking loose leaves in to each cup before pouring the very hot water in on top of them. What ever is in the tea, it's not just tea leaves. There's also scents of jasmine and rosehips.

	The simple for-social's-sake puff gets noticed, but still the gesture draws a smile on Xiu's lips. She takes the thing back and takes a proper drag before she softly exhales. Once they reach the Oasis edge, she sets down her backpack again, and then she settles down on the grass - exhaling loudly as she does. Her hands reach up, and she finally pulls back the hoodie of her hoodie, revealing her face completely to the sunlight. And even more braids stuffed down the back of the hoodie, which she begins to pull out, taking several seconds until the lengths are free and spilled around her. She must not have cut her hair for years and years, and re-braided it all so many times. "Thank you." she says as her tea is poured, though she does not touch it yet. Instead she glances at Mo and hrms. "Traps. Clues. Excitement." she says with a light smile on her lips - a smile that just grows at that excited nature of the man. Hopepunk as Fuck. She'd wear that as a t-shirt. "It sounds dangerous. I am not sure why you'd want to take a complete stranger on an undertaking like that. Minutes ago you were still assuming I was here to, uh, take you away."

	"That was my own baggage that I haven't worked through," he offers apologetically with contrition. "But some things though, are bigger than our own smaller stories. The legend says that the emperor's lost son fell into darkness as the poison consumed him. But I think that's far too literal a meaning. He was a beacon of hope for a better world. A candle in the big empty of the dark. Guided by an unwavering love for his people. One lone candle is enough to hold the dark back. Love is more than a candle. Love can ignite the stars." Mo grows quiet as he finishes his story, a hand coming up to wipe a tear away from his eye. "I try and find balance between my personal story and the larger one in which I'm caught, but balancing the two sides of my person is ... challenging. "

	"I'm just meant to be a sidekick, not a proper hero. But sometimes, heroes are few and far between, and you gotta work with what you got," appends the youth.

Zua finishes prepping the mugs of tea and passes them out to the other two here, before claiming one of her own. She swirls her mug to try coax it in to steeping a bit faster, <<Heroes aren't always who, or what you expect them to be.>>

	Xiu seems to be fine with letting her teacup just sit there as it steeps. She takes another drag off her joint, then tilts her head back to exhale the smoke high above them, slowly. "Mmmh...you are very very endeared with that story." she murmurs and glances at Mo next to her. A light smile moves her lips, before she then focuses on Zua - and she does the same thing she did for Mo earlier, she offers to share the joint while she says "And you? Is your plan to explore the Necropolis as well?" she wonders.

	Mo accepts the mug and let's it warm his hands and help ground him in the here. and now, given the acute bout of flights of fancy he had just weathered. "Yeah, I ah. Didn't have much growing up. Raised by an isolated society of zealots? You take what you can get - my mother's stories were the best of it." He then grows quiet and contemplative.

Zua shrugs, <<I Have not yet decided. My skills are mostly focused on diplomacy and growing things. I'm not much good with traps or whatever else might be down there. I am only a humble student of the Tao after all."

	The girl lets out a soft laugh. "I have never went down an ancient ruin, and I certainly haven't touched any traps. Nobody expects to be even offered that in California." she remarks, and as the joint is not taken, she just brings it back close to her lips She eyes Mo. "Were you really planning on going down there alone?" she wonders. She's not seen it - but by the description, she surely imagines something grand.

	"I'm good with traps. Or setting'em off and surviving'em, at least. But some of the obstacles require a s full a wu as can be managed. The grey maze isn't meant to be navigated nor solved alone. If it was someone woulda done it already. A few tomb robbers have undoubtedly tried." Mo's brow furrows. "The wu zao went in alone. And then he disappeared. And this is like those guys' bread and butter. Their sweet spot."
You say, "I - I need help."
You say, "I'm not a peer of the realm, just- Just somebody that gives a fuck."

Zua sips her hot tea and listens to the two of you talk.

	Xiu..does not reply for a long moment. She just takes a final drag off her joint, and then holds the glowing stump, one hand beneath - she does not quite yet know where to put it, but her eyes are on Mo. "...you are saying that people, who are experts in traversing ruins have gone in there. And they have disappeared..." she says. "...and you wish to have a random wandering girl accompany you to make it successful." She lets that hang there for a moment. "I know you are excited, but have you thought this through to its end?" she asks. "I am not criticizing. But understand how those words sound to me. You want me to go with you into a place where several other people disappeared." In California. And it's not a shady warehouse.

	Mo reaches into a pocket and produces a small coin, which he carefully hands over to Xiu, "You can use that to reach me. And yeah, some folks who had ill intent went in and prolly didn't come out ANd the wu zao, who's an expert, but they work in pairs and he too made the mistake of going in alone. But we - we can get a wu together. And that's enough to get us most o' the way through. Numbers matter."

MoGui grins and shrugs, "I believe in fate and joss. I'm like a living lucky rabbit's foot. But luck and pluck only get you so far. Fellowship gets us the rest of the way. I'm a - he searches for the words in the western tongue - a luck mage? Like chaos magic. That sorta thing."

	"I would be honored if you even just consider it. I'll work on pulling the rest of the wu - the team - together. Some challenges are meant to be overcome by one, others by two, three, four, but the final one, five is the lucky number, I think." A shrug. "The grey maze is a mysterious thing."

Zua chuckles softly, <<If you want to know about your ancestors ways i could teach you some of it. But what we need to know here is what you can bring to the table.>>. With that comment she holds out her right hand palm up and a golden ball of flame blossoms in to existence. No heat, but light a plenty.

	Mo looks to ZUa and nods, "The torch bearer plays a critical role in confronting the darkness. Magic missiles or no."

===> Log ended by user <===> 11/21/2019, 1:19:38 PM <===