Games w/out Frontiers 1

===> COH <===> 11/19/2019, 8:38:28 PM <===
Ensenada - Puerto de Ensenada

	This huge deepwater port is the main reason why Ensenada was one of the first founded settlements in the Californias. It is Mexico's second busiest port, with the unloading docks of its freight and cruise terminals accommodating millions of tons of cargo each year. It is the major economic engine of the city, given its importance as a commercial, fishing and tourist port. The civilian marina plays host to thousands of sport fishing and pleasure craft. It is also home to several specialized shipyards and a large naval base.
	A major tourist destination owing to its beautiful view in the middle of the bay - it only requires a brief trip down 'La Calle Primera', known for its many famous 'Curios' shops selling trinkets and souveniors along with some of the best restaurants, hotels, bars and the most popular clubs in Ensenada. It's a very busy street even at night, teeming with locals and tourists.
	From here, one can easily walk to 'Ventana al Mar', known as the 'Window to the Sea', which is a boardwalk/seawall.


	(This room needs an Umbra desc. @mail building staff if you want to provide one.)


	(This room needs a Wraith desc. @mail building staff if you want to provide one.)

Contents:
Angel
Kiki
Emperatriz
Noa
Altan
Hyousuke
One Card Too Lucky
Navigation:
  Zona Centro <NE>


	GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS - CHAPTER 1

	THE STORY SO FAR ... The conflict between the Quincunx and the Bamboo Princes appears to have come to the US/Mexico frontier. A reconnaissance agent for the Quincunx has been caught infiltrating a Tijuana taoist temple! A ghoul's corpse and suspicious cargo from the East has been discovered washed up in Salsipuedes Bay near Ensenada! Do the two events have anything to do with one another? Is this an escalation of the recent conflicts between the Quincunx and the Sabbat of Mexico? Only interrogations and investigations have any hope of illuminating the obfuscations!

	The urban legend known as Danny Dragon has rented a warehouse on the docks for the evening's bit of "night work". Those who would arrive would need some space in which to ... work. Thus Warehouse No. 13 was guarded by generic looking Triad types this evening, with instructions to allow certain invited guests to pass. On the other side of the Wall, Mr. Lao, Danny's dragon, would serve the same purpose for any umbral or wraithly guests!

	And now? THE STORY BEGINS ...

	The Triad thugs guarding the warehouse are nervous. Not outwardly so, no, but on the inside. They are FAR FROM HOME tonight, and even if they have an actual dragon on their side, they had heard the stories of the Mexican underworld and knew there were no guarantees any of them would make it back to Chinatown.

	At the starting point of it, Emperatriz carefully prepares oils. Then just sets them on fire. Everything beyond that is copacetic, with her appearing in full regalia; rubber dress, ostentatious hat, and tonight there's an added lace veil to go with it. Not that it really obscures her features or provides anonymity, not when the patterning in it is lilies and death's heads, but it maintains her overall look quite well. Walking into a mostly empty warehouse with her brother in tow, there's a slight hitch in her step, a pause long enough to rub at the side of her nose before continuing onwards. "What a ridiculous thing."

Hyousuke is wearing a dark blue business suit, with a black dress shirt under the blazer. A pair of gold-rimmed, mirror glasses lays perfectly across his nose obfuscating his eyes as he passes by the Triads that wave the Japanese man through. He never pauses in his steps that clank upon the wood beneath his feet. The Japanese man stops just inside the warehouse and scans his surroundings quietly. A placid stoicism gleams from him. The calm before the storm.

Sedna comes in from Ensenada - Zona Centro
Sedna has arrived.

Altan is one of the first arrivals, arriving in a nondescript vehicle that anyone of average wealth could have, however not being the driver indicates that it may be more for passing unnoticed, than a financial decision. He talks briefly with the driver before heading inside, followed by his ride leaving.

	The Triad soldiers ask no questions, allowing those who belong to pass. On the other side of the Wall? Mr. Lao watches and gives everyone who passes the "sniff" test, so to speak. For posterity's sake, of course!

	Inside, the warehouse is dimly lit. No on purpose, of course, but because its derelict. Big. Cavernous. And nearly empty. In the center? Wreckage has been laid out, like as if for a forensics team to sift through. Except there's no forensics team - just Danny. And his guests.

	Emperatriz's brother is indeed in tow. Kiki has braided his long, black hair into twin pigtails that reach his shoulder blades, and he's elected to be the Wednesday to Triz's Morticia, in a black dress that very intentionally goes sheer in just about any light, with white lace at the collar and the cuffs. Patterned black lace thigh-highs and heels taller than Triz's complete the outfit (as does the thong that's plainly visible when the dress goes sheer). He's looking around when Triz speaks to him, taking in the sights, the sounds, the company. "Agreed. He rented a perfectly good warehouse and there's no sound system, no light fixtures... no dance floor, and I'm pretty sure he didn't even spring for a mini-bar, let alone a full one..."

Angel's braids are pulled back into a tail, held by a band at the back of his head. He's wearing a pair of tight blue jeans and a pair of sneakers and he has a shoulder bag slung against his hip, otherwise he's not wearing much else. "You know," He says, rubbing his chin, "I respect people's right to be true to themselves, but is this really the right occasion for manolos?" He shakes his head, "Nevermind. Ezili likes you."

The Japanese man's face lights up as he spots Danny and begins to push deeper into the warehouse to stand near him. " Watashi o shÅtai shite kurete arigatÅ ". This is soon followed by an eshaku, or greeting bow. His attention then slides across the room to take note of any new arrivals pouring in.

	"I don't pay him enough for Blahnik shoes. There something else you wanted to say? That is.. what, under the surface." There is a perfunctory lilt to Emperatriz's speech, like asking if her paperwork can be finished at booth 13-A or if it needs to be verified by a different department. Diffident. She doesn't bother looking at Angel or acknowledging him personally, but treating that question as just sort of background noise. "Darling." At least for Danny, as a customer, there is a touch more deference; she doesn't smile but she's /just so close/ to it. "Your territorial problems are a bit more complex than the cartels, aren't they?"

	Naturally, Noa Socorro is in the area, since recent events have keenly piqued her interest! However, in keeping with her modus operandi, the Ravnos is currently remaining concealed behind an illusive veil of shadow, ghosting and prowling about. There's definitely a couple here that have caught her darkly glittering eyes, but she does not pounce. Yet!

	Danny gives a faint sniff at Hyo's greeting. He doesn't speak Japanese, being a bit of a Mandarin chauvinist. Then his silver colored eyes go to the rest of the group. He'll gesture to the wreckage. "This is everything that washed up on shore at Salsipuedes." A pause, "Everything except for the body. That's over there," he jerks a thumb over a shoulder towards a freezer-meat locker type thing.

	Kiki affects a pout. "You don't pay me at all, sister dear. So I'm forced to rely on my good looks, charm, and innate knack at acquiring Blahniks for free." Kiki DOES look at Angel, taking him in up and down. Then, for a moment, he seems to be looking PAST Angel, at a section of stuff laid out on the ground in the dim light. Then he looks back to Danny, and alley-oops Triz's greeting: "I think they'd all get over it if they just got together and fucked it out, but... what do I know about that, other than it always works~?"

Altan chuckles softly after Kiki's words as he looks things over. Ignoring the people for now.

	Danny nods to Emperatriz. "Internecine struggles. The old vs the new."

Angel glances over to Hyou, and crosses his arms. "Hmph." He says. He turns away, and looks around, before he crosses his arms. "So..."

Hyousuke stares blankely at Kiki for a moment before something - In the pile of wreckage wrestles his attention away from the noises coming from Kiki. As intriguing as 'fucking for a solution' might peak the Japanese man's curiosity, there is something in the pile of wreckage that has his attention instead. He moves to take a closer look.

	"The mortal remains then. Such a sad thing." Working the goth magic, Emperatriz makes sure her veil is in place with a discrete downward tug before moving over towards the meat locker. Her hands tuck into her sleeves with some wriggling, a bit of squeeking, but she is a very appropriate mourner when approaching the safe for cooking freezer. "Kiki, stop antagonizing.." There's a deep crease across the forehead that's mostly lost under lace. And with a little side-whistle from the corner of her mouth, there's a bit more help appearing.
You paged Noa with 'Its quiet inside the warehouse. Unnaturally so for such a large cavernous space. Noises that should be noisy, aren't.'

	Danny lets those that wish to inspect the wreckage do so, turning to accompany Emp towards the meatlocker and the corpse inside.

	"I haven't attempted to coax the soul back, or pull the story from the empty flesh," offers the maoshan (Danny). "Thought it best to have La Arzobispa's people have first crack."

	There is another joining Emperatriz, coming from the shadows. Or who knows where. A tall figure in a rather nice trenchcoat; silk, slinky, figure hugging around a rather ogreish body with all the lumps of muscle and bone that requires. When Olek appears next to Triz, it's in a consulting role as she gestures to encompass the body, points out specific things, and then belatedly reaches back to pat her brother on the ass. "The Archbishop's people? This is further than that. What we have here.. is a ..polynesian? A tropical corpse."

	"I was being sincere, for once. Should I not, going forward~?" Kiki gives Triz a little arch of his eyebrow that, if no one else, his sister should well be able to read as a sign of him teasing her. While Triz and Danny head over to a meat locker, Kiki dawdles, walking a lazy, circuitous path towards a pair of crates that are mixed in with everything. He rests his hands on his hips. "Well, hello...~"

Hyousuke stops as Danny speaks. Be slowly steps back and allows the archbishops people to investigate first. His eyes staring at that pile, as if he has found something.

	Kiki only wanders off after being patted on the ass, though, obviously. It's just manners.

	The corpse is that of a young woman. In her late 20s, maybe. Two puncture wounds on the neck. Was she exanguinated? She certainly didn't die from drowning, that much was clear.

	In the wreckage, two small unmarked crates appear perfectly unharmed by the vagaries of the sea and the calamity that befell the vessel they were carried upon!

Altan hangs back for now, keeping an eye on the unfamiliar faces.

	Kiki looks back over his shoulder after regarding the two small unmarked crates for a moment. "Are there any strapping studs here who wouldn't mind getting out something long and hard~?" A beat, "I mean, like a crowbar, of course."

	The corpse's skin is ashen, more gray than white. The skin seems to have drawn taut around the muscles and bones. Not in exactly a rigor mortis way, either.

	Anyone who scores on the Awareness earlier, and has a sense of flavor would taste entropic resonance around the crates, interpreted as appropriate for your specific splat.

	"The corpse liked what they were getting." Turning away from the meat locker, Emperatriz hooks an arm around Kiki's waist in the same motion. She hugs her brother close and then starts to move along; and kind of drags Kiki with her. "They were asking for it. Useless. Go figure out who they're related to, interrogate them?" The arm not holding Kiki lifts in a shrug, "It is not my concern." The silk-coated figure of Olek follows after her, of course.

Hyousuke shakes his head at Kiki. "One does not need a crowbar when they know Jui-Jitsu." Then his eyes fall to the crates. "Unless your curios about what is in these crates." He focuses on the other parts of the room looking for something hard. Laying on the ground. He is going to find out what is in those crates.

	The wreckage offers various bits of this or that which could serve as makeshift levers. There'd even be actual tools as well.

	"We can discuss rolling around and grabbing at each other's sleeves later. For now, I really DO want to know what's in those crates. Danny? Oh, Daniel~? We can open these, right? I'm opening them, by the way." Then, just as he's about to step forward and try to open them himself, Kiki finds Triz's arm around his waist and leading him along. He is powerless to resist. "Benita," he pouts.

Angel leans in, to investigate the corpse. He turns the head from side to side, peels back the lips and opens the mouth, and gives it a general cursory examination of the body.

..."Mmmm." Angel says. "No, that can't be right." He shakes his head, and says, "I'm of no help here."

	When Emperatriz turns and begins to walk away, the meatlocker begins to rattle slightly. The exterior seems to be developing a thin coating of frost. Suddenly? The corpse sits up, and reaches for Angel who had been playing doctor.

When the thing snaps to life, Angel takes half a step back, and his tongue slips out of his mouth, slashing through the air. The creature's arm arcs through the air, sheared off at the forearm.

If it was anyone but Angel, the Japanese man probably would be more interested in those crates still. Nobody fucks with Angel in Hyousuke presence. The Japanese man ripples with illusion as his skin harden into something more Serpent. His fingernails lengthen into hard, and dark talons, and fangs breach his lips. Not like a Kuei jin or Cainites fangs but more like a sea krait or vipers or possibly a king cobra. His neck swells where his thyroids are located, giving his neck a more diamond shape to it like he just sprouted venom sacks. If one didn't know better, they might assume this Setite popped Protean claws, "Turn him lose and I will kill you quickly. Disobey, and you will die. Slowly."

	Zombie hand falls to the floor and promptly crumbles to dust! The zombie groans and hisses at Angel, but in true zombie fashion, seems otherwise undeterred, albeit less one hand!

	At the sign of trouble, Kiki lets out an adorably high-pitched (and strangely in-key) squeak, and scoots himself behind Emperatriz to peer over her shoulder, wide-eyed, at Angel tongue-lashing the zombie. His hands grip Triz's shoulders, and his butt looks amazing because the light is hitting it just right. "Do you think he eats ass?" Kiki whispers into Triz's ear, ever helpful.

	Danny utters an incantation in the sharp, clipped tones of Mandarin, trying his best to pause or stop entirely whatever entropic chain of events has been set in motion! The COnsensus attempts to assert itself against a hanging magick effect! He (and the Consensus) will only be PARTIALLY successful.

	Danny mutters in English as the Consensus can't quite keep it together, "Dammit - everyone prepare to take cover..."

	"I /am/!" Kiki whines at Danny in reply.

Altan grabs a chunk of boat that vaguely approximates a cricket bat. Hefting it to get a good grip and swings it a couple of times getting comfortable with the heft of it before turning his attention to the now animate corpse. With Danny's warning he takes partial cover behind a nearby pillar or beam supporting the roof

	Between Olek and Kiki, there is a certain resolution in Emperatriz. Even if her brother has ducked for cover; Emperatriz snaps out a command like Patton, "Burn this shit down. I'm tired of it!" Her hand points and there may be a moment where it seems her wrist, palm, fingers, wreath into fire and burst into flame. But that's probably just wishful thinking.

	The zombie is suddenly engulfed in the flames that Emperatriz conjures! WHOOOOOSH! The flames wash over the zombie and burn away what remained of her flesh, leaving charred bits clinging to tenacious, animate bone! The bone, however, is BLACK, not white. Is that from the char? OR SOMETHING ELSE? A jade bracelet on the zombie's remaining arm begins to glow with a soft green light even as she lunges at Angel with her stump of an arm. BLACK BONE suddenly extends from the stump, spearlike, towards the serpent tongued Angel!

	The BLACK BONE zombie arm spear finds purchase when it extends into the SotL with a satisfying THUNK. The bone spear pulses. Did it just inject something into Angel, or was that a trick of the light?

	While the group is preoccupied with the zombie? That hanging effect that Danny was unable to counter? Goes off! The two crates in the wreckage explode, sending splintered wood flying. But they appear to have contained ... nothing? *PAGE ME IF YOU HAVE WRAITH OR SPIRIT SIGHT*

	"Benita, it didn't burn up all the way--!" Kiki helpfully informs his sister, squeezing her shoulders tighter. He leans in close, resting the side of his head against the side of hers. Even though he's squawking and being generally useless, he knows the value of a little encouraging closeness. "And it's going to skewer that poor man without even having the common decency to first sever his belt so that I can get a good look when his jeans come down...!"

	Danny spins around, leaving Emp to deal with the zombie. There are goma spooks to deal with! A hand comes up, a word in Mandarin, and the maoshan banishes one from the warehouse JUST. LIKE. THAT. The Will of Heaven is a powerful thing. The remaining wraith looks none too pleased that his partner in crime is suddenly so unceremoniously evicted from the space!

	Zombie tries to spear Angel, again! Bone protrudes towards the SotL!

Hyousuke takes a few steps towards the mummy, as if to rip it to shreds, but stops turns to his side and raises his right hand in the air. Just like that, all sorts of broken pallets, and wooden crates begin floating in the air. Hyousuke thrusts his hand down and turns to look at the mummy raping Angel with the spear. "You don't listen, do ya?" With that, every piece of wood in the room, even the spear that fucks with Angel if it's wooden, flies with great haste towards the mummy.

	ACROSS THE SHROUD, The remaining Italian wraith in spook squad channels his anger into the wreckage in the warehouse.

	And just like that? Half of the wreckage that had been salvaged is ... disintegrated? No. Wiped from existence. Obliviated into the great big nothing. For those who can see across the Shroud anyway. No dust. No relic. No nothing is left behind.

When the creature lunges at him again, Angel steps backward, out of the way of its lunge. But he's visibly withering, something is eating away at his body from within.

Altan runs up to the charred and tattered zombie, taking a swing at him with the improvised weapon he had claimed from the wreckage earlier. And... Completely misses the creature. The unbalanced object throwing off his aim.

	Up high above the scrum below? Something is happening! Suddenly becoming visible is some sort of a cloud? Said cloud manifests as a mass of freezing black vapor, lowering the temperature dramatically even all the way across and throughout the warehouse. The cloud seethes with the destructive energies of raw Yin - within the cloud, folks can see that metal corrodes. Soon, the cloud swells to a lazily roiling 10' by 10' mass, obscuring its source from view even as it eats a hole in the roof of the warehouse!

	ACROSS THE SHROUD - The remaining wraith looks up, then at Danny and the group. "We'll be back soon enough for you and your pals," he says in a New York accent. "You have no idea what's coming for you." And then he promptly vanishes into a Nihil, the Tempest-wound in the shadowlands puckering closed afterwards.

Hyousuke looks at Angel, and runs over to him, shifting into something more human along the way. "Angel, are you hurt?" His hand slides to Angel's shoulder, and he perches it there, giving it a gentle squeeze. "let me look at you." His eyes wander over Angel's body.

	With the crisis seemingly over, Kiki steps out from behind Emperatriz, and surveys the scene. "Danny, you need to book better acts for your warehouse parties. Like, say, an incredibly sexy DJ." He winks at the dragon-mage, and then steps to where Hyousuke is tending to Angel. "Get back," the he-nymph says, shooing Hyousuke away with a sadly stereotypically limp wrist. "I'm a doctor." Then Kiki crouches down to lean over Angel, and starts licking him. On his wounds, yes. And also just wherever, because he can.

===> Log ended by user <===> 11/19/2019, 11:15:21 PM <===