Koko Mo

===> COH <===> 4/10/2020, 9:21:53 PM <===

	The shen of California-Nevada had far and varied meeting spaces. This one? Xianyin? This one was far off the beaten path, out on the outskirts of Laughlin, Nevada, and bordering the mojave desert. This place had long been just a rumor. How could the Chinese who came here with the railroads have constructed something so elaborate and grand?It was a mystery that persevered to this very day. Or night. Getting to the outskirts of the Necropolis required shimmying down a mineshaft via ropes. Or some mystical method - the guest could choose!

Finding out that such a grand structure may have existed was a matter of luck, happening to meet the right person at the right time under circumstances that didn't seem likely to have spread that information at all. Actually getting to the Necropolis? Well, that was more a matter of wanderlust and more than a bit of physical effort. Thankfully both of which were things Kokoro produced in spades.

	 No doubt after a bit of trial and error the woman at least found the entrance she was looking for, and then actually getting in, that was where the effort came into play. Rope was going to be the chosen method of entry, something she apparently had a touch of experience with, strangely enough, considering the way she slid down it with the practiced form one would expect of someone with a military background. Rope climbing skills, however, likely weren't going to be of much use with whatever she found down below. . .

Kokoro handled that last little drop with aplomb, knees bent and then springing right back up into a standing position. And from there the woman turned around and carried on towards. . . light that she wasn't expecting to see. . . and then immediately paused as she came to the source of it and spotted a man and, far more unbelievably, a dragon, miniature though it was. Regardless of what her disposition had become and how far flung her travels across the world had been there was still something generally shocking about seeing a mythical creature in the flesh. Especially when said creature carried with it such a profound presence. The kind of presence that had the woman flexing her hands in and out of fists.

	 Not acting upon that particular instinct just yet, though, she slowly allowed her attention to drift back towards the likely more capable of conversation of the two, the Chinese man. "Out walking your dragon?" She queried.

	Mo spoke in hushed words with the little dragon. They were poring over a map of some sort, a golden luopan held in Mo's hand. But then there's a voice, one Mo didn't recognize. He shuts the luopan, setting it down atop the map as he folds the map in on itself over the instrument. Rising, Mo greets the stranger. "He's not mine, I'm his. Mr. Fu, he doesn't belong to anyone but the Celestial Bureaucracy." A pause as he considers the woman. "Welcome to Xianyin. The grey maze. The lost necropolis of Qin." Another pause. "I'm MoGui. This is Fan Feng Fu, azure dragon of the East, one of the last great dragons of the middle kingdom."

A brief but prominent round of silence followed as Kokoro considered the answer she received, her gaze drifting back and forth between man and myth before eventually settling on man in full. "Well. . . that answers that question. Not to mention a few more." She finally relented, offering a tilt of her head towards the dragon that she likely felt served well enough in lieu of a full bow. "Didn't mean anything by that." She added, and then finally got around to her own introduction. "Kokoro." She began, ". . . Disciple of the Ku Uji." She eventually added vaguely. She already knew what the Dragon was, at least if the information was to be believed. . . and she certainly had no issues putting her faith in it, considering the fact that she could quite literally -feel- the things prominent existence. Perhaps answering in such a way might at least let her know how much -more- information she could or would give about herself, as well as what she should expect in return.

	Mr. Fu rises up to his full height. When he speaks? His voice rolls like thunder, suited to a beast ten times his size! "Welcome, Kokoro of the Ku Uji. No court holds this place. Thomas and I serve as wardens of the lost." Then the dragon settles back down, and Mo looks to Kokoro, offering her a crate to sit on. "We've just explored the outer city. We're slowly making our way towards the center of the maze."

It had been quite some time since Kokoro felt as if she'd been 'blown back' by spoken words, but that was definitely the ever so slightly nostalgic effect Mr. Fu had on her. Metaphorical effect though it was. Thankfully those very words put the woman more at ease, and had her drawing a bit closer to the base camp to regard the two better in the light, as well as to indeed take up the offered crate. "Interesting outfit to go spelunking in. . . not that I'm one to talk, really. I was actually planning to do the same myself. Not often you hear about a place like this in America. . . or nearly ever, actually."

	Mo grins, and hands over a small sack of rations, "Hungry? And I'm drying off my field uniform. We had a bit of trouble with a Root Thing and a Bottomless Pool recently. Like Mr. Fu said, we are Wardens of the Lost (tm)." He looks at the terracotta statues that have long since lost their magic. "Once upon a time in America, this was a most magical place..."

Kokoro held a hand up in denial of the rations. "Thanks, I'm good, though. Had a decent meal before I set out." She answered, a brow quirking above her one good eye at the mention of 'Root Things' and 'Bottomless Pools'. The former seeming to take more of her interest than the latter for one reason or another. "Trouble, huh?" She queried with the slightest bit of intrigue in her tone. "I tend to be good with trouble.". . . whatever that meant.

	 "I'd bet." She further commented on the former magic of the place. Eyes tracing over the various kinds of stone warriors still standing guard against threats from the east. Certainly an interesting choice of direction. "Looks like this place came straight from the old world, after all. . . Can't really say I know much other than the fact that it's here, though. Kind've why I came around. Well. . . that and the possibility of trouble."

	Mo looks at Kokoro with renewed interest! "Trouble is my middle name! Or at least that's what the Captain used to day!" He looks to Mr. Fu. "Isn't that right, Mr. Fu?" The little dragon nods, sighing, "He did, Thomas. He most certainly did." Then the dragon eyes Kokoro. "Are you in search of work? Are you ronin? We have need of ... those individuals good with trouble."

And just like that Mo managed to get himself on the woman's good side, at least tentatively so. "Then I think you and I'll get along plenty fine." She noted. Wonderful, apparently the dragon had two 'trouble aficionados' on his hands now.

	 The question of her allegiances had the woman taking on a more formal tone again, though. "In search of work, yeah. . . Ronin. . . not quite. I still have my allegiances to the Ku, though they're. . . nebulous at the moment. I'm mostly free to do as a please so long as I remain true to my duties and. . . you know, don't shame anyone other than myself." She seemed somewhat offended that such a criteria had even been imposed on her, though she disregarded it with a shake of her head. "That said, you've already caught my interest. There anything specific you're trying to do here aside from just. . . you know, explore?"

	Mo looks to Kokoro, "Well, we need to get to the center of the grey maze. Once there, we can see if the dragon nest is salvageable,or not. If it is? Well, that's a horse of a different color. If not? Wedo what we've always done. We persevere."

	Mr. Fu looks to the wan kuei. "We are in the process of gathering several lost artefacts of power. We need the, you see? For soon, we will host part of the Tournament Between the Celestial Cities. I will officiate on behalf of the East. Lao will officiate on behalf of the North."

Kokoro nodded her understanding. A simple enough task to wrap her head around, though even she knew the fact that she could understand the general task didn't mean that she knew a damn thing about what was actually going to go into getting it accomplished. Especially considering the oddities already mentioned.

	 "Well, I can definitely help with the getting there. Provide a helping hand with anymore trouble you come across. . . though I'll tell you now I'll probably be less than useful when it comes to the whole getting the Dragon Nest back in shape." She further explained.

	 The mention of a tournament proved enough to unset the woman from her more serious demeanor, a broad smirk settling onto her features as she matched gazes with the dragon. "Well what do you know, just like that you've already got me fully on board. Tournaments are definitely important."

	Mo gives a wry grin, "Oh, don't worry about that. I've a little magic in me that might can help with getting a dragon nest back into shape." He gives Mr. Fu a look full of mischief. Then he looks back to Kokoro, "Help with the tournament is definitely appreciated. All the portents point to ... inauspicious outcomes."

Kokoro hummed curiously. "How so. . .?" She wondered, finally voicing her curiosity. Tone hinting at the woman only being more enticed by the prospect as opposed to put off at something possibly going wrong. Though surely that was only because she wanted to know so she could ensure the problem was dealt with, right?
	 Right?

	Mo looks to Kokoro, "I've a bit of sorcery. Nothing too elaborate or fancy but. The Captain, he used to say I was like ... a natural nexus. A living door. Chi, joss, that sorta thing? I can ..."

	And then Mr. Fu interrupts, "What Thomas means to say is that I have taught him to master the art if Feng Shui. Among other such powers. All suitable for setting a dragon nest right again."

Mr. Fu's interruption proved a thankful thing, as it seemed Kokoro was having little success processing the concept of a living, natural nexus of such energies. The concept not at all alien to her but. . . somewhat hard to wrap her mind around.

	 Feng Shui, however. . . well, that was a bit more familiar a concept. And with that defining term she could much more easily grasp what Mo had been saying. "Aaaah, I see. I've seen Feng Shui put in action before, it should definitely get us where we're going. . . Speaking of-." The woman paused there, looking down at the papers Mo had folded away upon her arrival. "Whenever you're ready to do that; go, I mean, I'm up for it. I don't tend to be one to like sitting around gabbing for too long. If there's anything else you think I need to know about this place before we set out I'm all ears now."

	Mo looks down to the folded up map. A pause, and then he reaches down to unfold it, revealing the golden luopan beneath the folded pages. "Oh, this thing?" A shake of his head. "This isn't a map of the grey maze. This, is a map of the mojave. We recently reclaimed an artefact that had been misplaced out there. But in our haste? We left behind a gemstone. And possibly some very angry blood cultists."

"Oh." Kokoro intoned, finally aware of having misread the situation. Though she seemed to have little interest in the Feng Shui compass or the map of the Mojave. . . well, until Mo mentioned the blood cultists, but even then only a brief spark of intrigue flashed in her golden hue. "Trouble is your middle name, isn't it?" She remarked with a smirk. "Well, if you're ever looking to go back and get that stone I might be interested in that too. Though for now let's see how well we actually work together here, yeah?"

	Mo nods, "That's where we encountered the Root Thing. And the Bottomless Pool. And the corpse of Hishep-Ratep, though really? I would have thought he'd have been a lich." A pause as he restrains a disappointed sigh. "He wasn't. He was just a regular plain ol' corpse. I guess Ahrimanic magic isn't what it used to be. But out here in the West? No magic really is." But then Mr. Fu clears his throat, snapping Thomas out of his tangent. "Oh, right," says the young Chinese man. "Auditions and all that." A smile as he rises from where he sat on the crate. Its then that his heavy revolvers become visible. A matched set, safely held in dual shoulder holsters.

"Yeah, the West's a different beast altogether, I've found. . . well, in most places. Some things never change." She noted, adding what she could to that particular line of conversation. In truth a great deal of it flew right over her head.

	 As Mo rose so did Kokoro, only a brief moment's pause between the two standing. Smirking at the mention of 'auditions' she placed a hand on her hip. "So long as you don't plan to give me any math tests I'm game." As she made that assertion the woman's own scrutiny upon Mo himself intensified just a bit as well. After all, it wasn't as if he was the only one that would possibly be about to set out on an expedition with a complete stranger.

	Mo turns, looking past the rows upon rows of terracotta soldiers. "This way then, sport. Try'n' keep up." And with that, he sets off into the darkness of the unknown! (Hoping that Kokoro will follow behind him...)

Kokoro trooped along after Mo, the anticipation on her face wholly unfitting of the situation she was no doubt about to dive into. Someone was a thrillseeker of a sort.
===> Log ended by user <===> 4/11/2020, 12:18:01 AM <===