XianYin: Encounter at the Gates

===> COH <===> 1/15/2020, 2:53:01 PM <===
Gam Saan Mine - Xianyin(#17151RM)

	Xiu does not show up for quite a short while, after Mo enters the first area of the city. Only as he begins to set up camp, he can see movement in the distance, on one of the walls. Strange movement. An unfamiliar silhouette makes its way alogn the top, stops occasionally, and then begins to move again - quite slow at times, then with suprising speed before being out of sight again.
	It's again a short while later, when suddenly Mo can hear a sound behind him - something hitting the ground nearby! And when he turns he can see..the witch. Supposedly the witch.
	Xiu is changed in strange ways. Long horns, sprouting from the skin at her temples, are swept back over her head before slightly curving up again behind her head to get horizontal and slightly up again. Her musculature is..changed. Rearranged to the trained and not so trained eye - as it now supports not two, but four arms with all the changed anatomy that comes with that. A long, thin tail extends her spin, human-skinned and waving behind her, with a tufts of black hair at the tip - matching the dark braids on her head in texture and color. And her legs...are different. The lower legs area almost digitigrade, though the feet seem to be strange, long-toed and taloned shapes, still with human skin, arranged in a manner that makes them seem quite..graspy.
	Her tail flicks once, twice as she glances around and quietly moves towards him.

	Mo's eyes do their best to adjust to the dim lighting down here. At the sound of Xiu's approach, he squints, peering through the darkness. As Xiu comes into better focus, he'll do his best to suppress a shudder. He'll mutter to himself. "Always the flesh shintai. Why does it always haveta be the flesh shintai?" A sigh as he gestures for the witch to come closer. "Well then."

	Thankfully, her eyes are the same as before. That is, deep brown and..feline. Well. Her strange legs give her an exotic gait as she draws close. Silent and..strangely elegant. "This place is massive.." she says, glancing about as she enters the little campsite and then crouches down, eyeing him, two hands resting on the ground while the other two arms come to rest on her thighs. "Many dark corners and corridors. I *think* we are alone, but.." she softly inhales. "Let's not drop your guard, you strange daredevil." Says the one with strange horns. Her head slightly tilts to the side..and she subtly smirks. "'Flesh shintai'?"

	Mo does his best not to stare. It would be impolite! But, maybe he can touch? He tentatively reaches out and up towards the horns. "Can I?" He asks before the young man's fingers actually make contact. "I mean would it be ok if?" And then he's nodding to her statement. "The yon spirits don't haunt this place. Only yang. At least that's what Fu said, y'know? Feng Fan Fu?" His lips purse. "Flesh shintai - the way one does what you do with your flesh and such. Horns, arms, legs. That sorta thing."

	As the man reaches out for her, and asks if he may touch, the witch straightens in her crouch. "Of course." she remarks and lets out a soft chuckle. "Explore. I am quite aware that I must look strange to you.." she murmurs. "I am a lifeweaver. We are known for changing ourselves. Parts. Shapes. Just human differences, or more. Even becoming whole animals or things that never exited." She softly inhales. "We like to experience life in states mundane and otherwise - to better connect with it."
	The texture of the horns seems rather smooth. Not polished, there is some roughness to it, and natural subtle ridges that horns would have from simply growing naturally. Her tail lightly flicks once before it - and the rest of her - hold still again under his touch. "And I do not know this Feng Fan Fu. Nor that 'Flesh shintai' term."

	Mo barely checks a squeal of delight when Xiu acquiesces to his request to touch the witch's horns. BARELY. A little bit of squeal slips through and out. "Eeeeeee!" He touches, gently, probing and satisfying his curiosity, but then her words draw him back to focus. "Fu. Feng Fan Fu. One of the last remaining dragons of the middle kingdom. He contracted me to retrieve something from this place."

	He and Xiu are on the very outskirts of the necropolis. Where the low wall begins, and a gateway stands, guarded by two terracotta soldiers. Yin spirits are almost non existent here. Yang spirits, however? That's a whole different matter. Suddenly? There'd be a sound of splashing, as if something fell into a pool of water. It would be only moments afterwards, that the something would be revealed as Lanfear! In the process of emerging from a small pool of fresh water, fed by some underground spring? But things aren't always as they seem...

	Xiu is crouching at their campsite - two hands resting on the ground, the two other arms resting on her thighs as she is crouching quite straight - while MoGui seems to be exploring her horns - and not beyond that it seems. "Hmmmh. I think you still have not told me the whole story about just why we are here.." she murmurs slowly, relaxing her posture again a bit as she notices his hand withdraw, and she stops holding still. "You mentioned first wanting to find this place due to it being a burial ground of the emperor. Now you are saying that you are trying to..retrieve something?" Her tail flicks again a bit. "Explain."

	A nod from Mo to Xiu. "It is the final resting place of the lost emperor, who was spirited away to america so very long ago, to keep him from being slain by his brother, the official emperor. /Feng/ /Fan/ /Fu/, *he pronounces each syllable VERY carefully* one of the last great dragons of the world, assisted with that great undertaking." Mo pauses to see if Xiu is following along with The Story So Far. "Lost, here in the ruins somewhere, are a set of jade memory talismans. Are you familiar with such relics? The great maoshan of times past - they used them to hold ... to hold memories, for lack of a better word. To keep safe the histories and dreams, until they might be needed again."

In the Yang (umbral realms), serpent spirits might be glimpsed here and there. Their red eyes peeking out from the darkness, before a flicker of a tongue to taste the umbral air.

	The witch shows no expression of being lost, as Mo explains the circumstances. Though she lightly smiles as he mentions cade. "A friend of mine - an Akashic up in Seattle - gifted me a jade dagger. So yes, I am familiar with the material, less so with those old talismans." she admits, while her head slightly turns and she peeks out at the dark walls. It's not like the area is lit in any way out there. "But I presume you are trying to find those memories. Or history. For yourself, or others?"

Muttering under her breath in mandarin, Lana stumbles out of the pool soaked and anything but pleased by the looks of things. Yet her eyes blazes like silver as she removes her red leather jacket and throws it to the ground and takes in the surroundings with a curious fascination on her face.

	"Well, no, not for myself. I'm just a simple kind of sorcerer, a mere conjurrer, really, trying to make my way through the middle kingdom. Such relics would serve me little purpose, as I lack the power and knowledge to properly harness them. But Fu? /HE/ wants them returned to him. The Great Dragons are responsible for the Middle Kingdoms memories. And he said something about an impending confl-"

	But then there's the sounds of splashing, and faint mutterings in Mandarin, and Mo goes VERY quiet and still. "Someone is here," he whispers to Xiu.

	Xiu's eyes narrow - and the witch-creature slowly rises from her crouch, the long black braids pulling up from the ground around her until they hang freely as she fully stands. The hands of her second pair of arms slightly curl as she lets her slitted eyes flick a bit..and while she cannot see Lanfear behind the outer wall of the city, she can sense that life pattern out there. "Yes." she says - whispers actually - and then, with out comment drops onto all fours...or rather, all sixes, as things are...and quietly and swiftly crawls off into the darkness. A moment later, Mo might vaguely see her shape again, a dark silhouette moving on top of that wall.

The Kung Fu fighting wise woman stands some distance away by the edge of the pool and is currently wresting out some water from her top as she takes in the area around her. <<Soo, good call there Lana..Always gotta look to far into the mirror.>> she shakes her head slightly as she argues with herself over her actions.

	Mo shivers slightly at the sight of the silhouette crawling in shadows, "Flesh shintai," he mutters. "Like I'm in some Aeon Flux episode. Then he gathers up his wits, and pulls flare from his small pack, popping it open and bringing some light to bear on the situation. "Olly olly oxen free! I am MoGui, and I have business to conduct here on behalf of the Great Dragon Feng Fan Fu!" Well, that was certainly ONE way to deal with the arrival of someone new. He and Xiu's approach? Total opposites. The young sorcerer holds the flare up above his head and makes his way in Lana's direction. "Oh! Its you!"

	The first thing that Lanfear might spot as the sudden FLARE rises and lights up the surroundings is...that strange hybrid creature crawling on the wall above her - naturally drawn into view by the eyes following that sudden flare. And the second things that happens is the witch turning her head, and *staring* down at Mogui as he much marches forward. Oh, it's not a pleasant expression sitting on her face there. Four arms and no time to facepalm. Irony.

She *does* look strangely calm however as she leaps off the wall, and lands silently on the other side, strange legs bending her into a crouch on impact before she slowly and elegantly rises - and strides towards Lanfear in that exotic gait.

Lanfear lets go of her wet clothes and turns to look at Mo and Xiu and keeps a gentle knowing smile on her lips. Once more her eyes flares like silver in the light of the torches as she bows her head. "Ni Hao" she pauses for a moment and considers her options and replies. Xiu's strange appearance earns her a slightly arched eyebrow and decides that for now silence is the best option.

	Mo was no stranger to Prospect's underworld, serving as an independent gun for hire. As such? He was familiar with the Wing Kong triad, and its chief face to the underworld in Lana. "Waitaminnit," mutters Mo. "Are you here looking for the jade discs as well?" He'll switch to Mandarin for Lana's benefit.

	There were rumors that the Wing Kong had their OWN dragon, of course. Another one of the last Great Dragons remaining in the middle kingdom. But surely, they were just rumors, yes?

	Xiu continues to stride forward, silently. And right up to Lana. Right in her face.
	Amusingly enough, despite the changed legs, her height is not much taller than usual. Perhaps a few inches, but that's it. Strange, slitted irises peer into Lana's eyes - then she leans forward, sniffing at the other's neck while two of Xiu's four arms lift - and she gently cups Lana's cheeks while suddenly giving her a kiss. It's not a shallow one, that much Mo can see - and the strange witch's long, thin tail flicks a couple of times before she draws her head back and softly smiles. "...if there is ever a face I did not expect to see down here all of a sudden.."

Jade Disc, a hunt, those words are registered within the mind of the witch and Lana curls her lips into a soft smile and whatever she were about to say is cut short as Xiu plants a long drawn intimate kiss upon her lips. Lana gently places a gloved hand along the lower back of Xiu for the duration of the kiss and then lets go as she smiles still.
"Curiously, to find a witch and you." Lana looks from Xiu to Mo and a few lines appears around her mouth as she gets a tad bit more stern look on her face. "To imagine anything like this transpires without the knowledge of the Dragon." she offers in Mandarin and then places her hands before her chest and bows her head once more. "I'm here to ensure his interests." that is the best she can offer, since she can't admit to having ended up here due to her own damned curiosity, and it will sound like her boss and herself has way more intel then perhaps the truth would ever give.

	Mo lets out a soft sigh of ... envy? Or was it resignation? Something else entirely? The world (and those here) might never know. He waits for things between Xiu and Lana to settle down, then clasps his hands behind his back. "Feng Fan Fu is cousin to all the other Great Dragons. If indeed you are on behalf of one such cousin, then things must be portentous and dire indeed," he mutters, giving Xiu a worrying look as he wrings his hands behind his back. "Though I've never confirmed that the Wing Kong actually have a Great Dragon as Patron, mind you. I mean, I've heard the rumors of a Mr. Lao, and all that. But. Rumors!" The young man is quite excitable. "I'm happy to split the difference on the discs, if need be, but Feng Fan Fu will surely devour my soul if I return entirely empty handed. So. That's the best that I can do. I keep one. You keep one, and Xiu here keeps the third until we figure out what in the thousand hells is actually going on?"

	Xiu lets out a soft chuckle and quietly separates from Lana again, glancing back between the two. "...I should be surprised that you two know each other, but then again I realize that I am a bit of the odd one out.." she remarks, her stance now relaxed, at ease while she listens to the words being exchanged. A deal is being made! But Xiu lightly waves with a hand. "I have no use for the discs I am afraid, so the third one is all yours." she tells MoGui, as she already peers at the walls again - and then back at the two. "Shall we head inside? I am also not sure what you mean by 'What is going on', because as far as I see it...the only thing actively going on here right now so far is...well." She licks her teeth - rows of sharp, pointy ones. "Us. So far." She gestures for the entrance leading part the first wall. "After you." Her eyes flick towards the mineshaft and the pool again.

Lanfear keeps the soft smile on her lips. <<"Rumors of Mr. Lao will remain such, but you should know who I am and I'm the face of the Dragon.">> she offers in mandarin, towards Mo and then motion for the other two to lead the way. <<"Your deal is accepted, and indeed we should proceed.">> she glances over at Xiu once more and furrows her eyebrows. "Your looking very savage." this time in english with a heavy accent.

	Mo collects his composure fully now that things seem to have settled into an understanding. His face is easily animated, to go with his easily excitable demeanor. A nod, and then he presses forward and through the city gates. And it sis then, that Things Get Interesting!

MoGui has started combat
<---======##===========[ Initiative order for turn 1 ]============##======--->
    18 Xiu
    14 Lanfear
    11 MoGui

* Characters declare low to high (unless ST chooses high to low)
* Characters act high to low
<-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============------------->
MoGui has rolled NPC initiative: NPC terracotta guardians (2) goes on 11


Noticing the movement of Terracotta and how the creatures starts to move, Lana assumes a defensive stature as she pulls her belt out and cracks it like a whip. Razor sharp jade emblems glistens in the torch light as she in a proper kung fu fashion gathers up up the chain in her hands and looks over the enemies. (Getting her fetish ready)

	The two Terracotta Guardians aggro on Mo with their stone maces, looking to smash the young sorcerer into next week!

	Xiu chuckles softly at Lana. <<No need to speak english among the three of us. Mandarin is fine.>> she replies, as she turns and begins to quietly follow along, with Mo leading. And damn it, they went this way before. Her guard should be down. But despite appearances, it is not.
	Good for Mo - because as soon as she notices that motion in the supposed statues the witch suddenly rushes forward at blazing speed, claws unsheathing from her second pair of arms - explaining the lack of nails on those fingers. There is no scream or cry coming from her as she lunges and slashes at the thing in a predatory pattern, her whole actions - aside of the impacts - done in silence aside of a light hiss.

	Terracotta #1 takes a pretty grievous hit. If he were human. But he's not. Still, a significant chunk is slashed out of his midsection! And also? Xiu has drawn the aggro away from Mo!

The chain in Lana's hands starts to let out a soft eerie sound as Lana uses that as a decoy and makes a crouching motion as she enters into a spin and sweeps out one leg which connects to where the ankle joint would be on any mortal creature and she manages to emit enough momentum to sweep the legs from out under the Terracotta soldier.

	There's a satisfying CRUNCH as TERRACOTTA #2 goes down in a heap! This leaves TERRACOTTA#! and Mo. Mo gets the jump, due to being quick and fast! Someone? They had a ritual hung! ANd that someone was Mo. He did say that he was a conjurer, right? Because the hung ritual pops, and places a sawedoff shotgun in his hands when the Terracottas come for him. He unloads point blank at TERRACOTTA#1 before he can aggro on Xiu.

	Mo's sawedoff fires, and blasts the TERRACOTTA#1 to smithereens as the blast catches the Guardian right in the chest where Xiu had slashed out a chunk of its midsection earlier! One blown to rubble, one down on the ground!

	TERRACOTTA#2 is on the ground, and awaits its fate as the automaton tries to get up should it weather the incoming assaults!

	Xiu's eyes are wide, those previous slitted irises? Round, almost. Like an aggravated cat. Sharp teeth bared she watches terracotta fly, as her slashes tear chunks of the terracotta away.
	Somebody knowing their martial arts might notice that it is more than just wild slashing. It is something different. Beneath the beastial, savage attack is something precise and practiced - and the witch reaches out again. Just before that terracotta guard bursts into pieces in front of her, accompanied by that deafening blast of the shotgun.
	For a split second she stares at Mogui before her attention flicks towards the downed Terracotta guard. She lunges, wasting no time - but either from overjudging the lunge, or a wrong angle, her claws this time only slide over the surface - as does she - turning along the way to land on all sixes.

As the Terracota goes down, Lana once more swirls the chain around her using it more for scenery, looking awesome and that eerie sound. Once Xiu has done her thing, and the creature still seems about to rise does Lana stride into action once more yet let's face it. She may have struck against a wooden pole for hours but striking hard terracotta with structure in it is way way different and as she lands a blow that tears a chuck out, she also leaves a trail of blood from her own hand as the hardened clay pierces her skin.

	TERRACOTTA#2 weathers Xiu's furious and fearsome assault! Lana? She knocks out a chunk! Lana? She. Was. Tough.

	Mo shifts and levels his boomstick at the remaining terracotta, gun-fu style! Let's hope he gets lucky!

	And as Mo's boomstick goes off? The terracotta#2 is finished! Blown to smithereens! The smoke and dust will slowly clear, the roar of the shotgun will fade. And only the trio of Xiu, Lana, and Mo will be left standing victorious!

===> Log ended by user <===> 1/15/2020, 5:04:21 PM <===