The Hunt: Ch 1

===> COH <===> 3/17/2020, 8:12:09 PM <===
Lucky Cat Roadhouse - Loft(#14336RU)

	A simple loft apartment that runs the length and width of the roadhouse below. Its divided up into several sections across the open floorplan: living area, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, a workshop of sorts, and meditation/exercise.

	The furnishings are both antiquated (circa World War I), and spartan (nothing particularly fancy or lavish), if well cared for and immaculately maintained.

Obvious Exits:
  Fire Escape <FE>   Roadhouse <Ro>


	Thomas "MoGui" Hu is one of the luckiest shen alive! But his great fortune comes at a price, irreparably tainted by his birthright as an akuma's son. His latest bit of "good" luck? A favor that the dhampyr owes has been called in! A kuei-jin court in Los Angeles has a problem - an infestation, after a fashion. A kumo and his crew of bakemono have been plaguing the court, disrupting their scarlet screens and causing all manner of havoc, distracting the jina from more important matters with the bodies of running monkeys hitting the floor. As such? The jina have demanded that MoGui come deal with the problem. Permanently. Now MoGui and any allies he can round up must figure the angle. And if the dhampyr has to unload his .45s to do it, so much the better. MoGui's just in it for the hunt.

	AND NOW OUR STORY BEGINS!

	Mo had put word out on the street via his network that he needed pals to help on a job - night work, he called it. Which was code for unsavory business! The mission brief would take place up in Fern Valley, just outside Idyllwyld, at his spot the Lucky Cat Roadhouse. Above the roadhouse bar? He had a loft apartment.

	It's one of those nights, then. Not that Suzume minds; it's a pleasant break in the monotony of her regular night life. She makes the trek without question and arrives with her usual messenger bag filled with mysterious goodies of a (perhaps disappointingly) mundane sort.

Shaman isn't really that much in tune with the ongoings of the Shen community, but he knows they exist having heard the rumors, and so put efforts to find them. Luckily with his computing abilities, and his familiarity with the deeper end of the internet, he's managed to interrupt a message from MoGui. He may or may not be considered an 'intruder' in this meeting, but he sure as hell is an unfamiliar face. Arriving in an Uber, the young man makes his way into the bar, and then the apartment upstairs.

	Mo had set out beers and salty snacks. If people really wanted or were particularly insistent? There would also be sweets. The lighting up in the loft was dim, the atmosphere conspiratorial. As people being to trickle in, the youth will light some lamps to push back on the shadows a bit. "Grab a seat, grab some snacks and a brewski."

	And likely Chihiro is here for the promise of violence. The smaller girl is dressed rather casually, but at the offer of food and drink, she accepts. Hopefully Mo Gui's taste in beer is better than his taste in decor. She'll look for a comfortable place to sit, so she can listen to the plan.

	The new faces are noted, observed with an unblinking regard. Suzume bows in greeting to each - Mo, Chihiro, and Shaman in sequence - mindful to keep her bag out of the way of trouble. "Thank you, Mo-san." The food and drinks are considered, but she takes none of them, opting to leave the other guests first dibs. She claims a seat, however, pulling her bag into her lap and folding her hands on it. That she picks a place where shadows still gather is immaterial; she fears not the dark.

Entering the place makes Shaman look more like a lost Korean tourist who stumbled into the bar owner's private place upstairs than anything else, but seeing the many Asian faces around, he at least knows that this /should/ be the right place. He struts his way in, rather awkwardly, and then carefully seating himself on a couch. He hasn't gone for the snacks, nor beers, provided yet. Still too early for those. "Hello."

	Mo gives Su a smile, "Thanks for making it, I know you have a lot of responsibilities." He makes his way to a vintage record player - made of wood, and awfully large, and puts on a little background music. Jazz - from the 40s. Then he grabs a bottle of beer, pops off the top and makes his way over to a table around which everyone is seated. On the table? A map of San Francisco - with a blown up section of Chinatown. Mo has set a few markers down on the map, and there is also a red pencil, a straight edge, a protractor, and a golden luopan.

	"Yes, yes. Horribly important things to be doing, but this sounded like fun." Chihiro states with a shining smile before popping the cap off her beer with her thumb. "Don't disappoint me." She says, her voice accented, but still very understandable.

Shaman glances at Suzume and returns the gesture of respect, bowing slightly but rather stiffly, being familiar of the tradition but evidently not being used to it. He's lived his whole life in the states, and it's fair to say he's been a bit white-washed if not more. Shaman takes a careful look at the map, curious, but doesn't say much words after.

	Mental notes are surely made, but difficult to discern. Suzume tips her head slightly. "Of course, Mo-san. But some things are more important than even those duties." And how will she know unless she shows up? The map is studied, as is everything else, the details picked apart as near as she can. She leans a little, but says nothing more, mouth pulled just slightly to a side in silent thought.

	Mo knocks back a swig of beer. "So, I owe these guys up north a favor." He reaches for a manila folder and passes it around, to his left. "Take one packet from the folder, and pass the remaining packets down, please." Then he continues setting the stage. "So the jinas up in Chinatown - San Francisco's chinatown, to be specific - are having issues with some kumo and his crew of bakemono dropping running monkeys like flies. They're too busy to deal with the problem, so they've asked /me/ to go and deal with it." He looks around the room. "Anyone here tussle with kumo before?"

	"Kumo...Yes. I know a little of them. I've fought one or two." Chihiro says, sipping at the beer, the smile getting wider if that is possible. "This may have gone from fun night to extremely fun night." She laughs with a little too much glee for the situation.

Shaman waits patiently for his turn and fetches his own packet from the folder, passing it over after. He adjusts his oversized white tee and looks around the room, before placing his attention on Mo once he speaks up. He listens, but there's a notable confusion on his face when these Eastern terms are being thrown around. Jinas? Kumo? Bakemono? They're all very much unfamiliar to him. "Uh, question. Are they supposed to be a gang name, or? Kumo?" He itches his chin, clearly clueless.

	There's a slight shake of Suzume's head, slow and mechanical, left-right-center. "I have not, no. But I have tended to those who have." Her tone is neutral. Fingers smooth over the fabric of her bag and she tips her head, lapsing into silence again so Mo-san can make any required explanations. Chihiro is regarded evenly and perhaps with a small measure of relief.

	Inside the packets? Smaller versions of the map that's spread out on the table. And photographs. That look like they were taken with a telephoto lens and a good camera. various individuals are photographed - perhaps five in total. Could be any chinese tong. Except a few of the photos? They're blurry, rushed, and they show glimpses of the middle kingdom that some would consider ... unnatural.

	Mo looks to Shaman, "Goblin spiders. This one in question that's taking out running monkeys like day old donuts? Is one of Marawa's Brood. They revel in outright destruction and annihilation and seem to prefer the taste of Yin-energies." Mo frowns as he then begins to mark up the big map on the table in red pencil. "These are some of the sightings - well, where some of the running monkeys were whacked, anyway."

	Chihiro takes hers, and studies the pictures, muttering to herself the whole time as she does so. Then they are put away and she pulls out a bone knife that was tucked in to the back of her shorts behind her shirt.
Chihiro mutters to herself, "... could be fun. Do you think it's... I... long for."

	Thus the folder makes its rounds, packets extracted accordingly. The contents of the packet are surveyed, slim fingers sifting through the documents. Suzume briefly chews on her lower lip, mouth pulled a bit to a side. "Unfortunate." And at the mention of Yin-energies, she adds, "And problematic." Her brow furrows a little and she reaches into her bag for a colored pencil of her own; it's been broken, but repaired with tape. "Do you have the names of the fallen, Mo-san?"

Shaman flips his own packet around and slips its contents out, giving the photographs a good examination. Oh, he was right, just a bunch of thugs and suited-up criminals. But then he notices the blurry images and the... unnatural figures in them. Were they purposefully blurred? The curiosity lingers in his mind, though not for long as Mo spills him the tea. "Oh, okay," he responds with a rather nonchalant tone. "Think I've seen worse." He grins. Chihiro's bizzare attitude in this whole situation does unnerve him a bit however.

	Mo looks to Su, then reaches into his back pants pocket and pulls out a small reporters style notebook. He flips it open, then flips through the pages of notes and scribbling. Stopping on one of the pages, he squints, then tears it out and tosses it over to Suzume. "There you go - a bone flower, no - two bone flowers, and a centipede, I think. And civvies staffing the scarlet screens, natch, but."

	"Compared to a demon of Iron and Violence, this should be a walk in the park. Though not too easy. I mean some broken ribs wouldn't be too bad on the grand scale of things, right?" Chihiro asks looking to the others. "No? Really? Where's your taste for sensations?"

	Mo looks to Shaman, "Honestly? There's not much worse than an effective kumo. I mean, maybe more terrifying, or more efficient, or more something. But the combination of stuff, that's the thing. And with the obake following in his wake? They're proven particularly troublesome."

"I'd, uh, prefer my ribs left alone and intact during this to be completely honest," he forms an awkward smirk to Chihiro, gazing over to Suzume. "I've never seen one before, so you're probably right. I just happen to have seen something a bit more disturbing before." Shaman shrugs.

	"Thank you." Suzume bows her head and takes the document, turning it around in her hands. She studies it in silence, then stows it in her bag for further study - and work. Her attention slides to Chihiro and one shoulder rises and falls in a lopsided shrug. "Some flowers do not bloom in a sea of blood." Her fingers glide over the photos again and she reviews them once more, marking on them - the pencil is white and the marks stand out nicely. "But, the roots reach where they must."

	Mo nods, then returns his attention to the larger map. "We need to make a plan to track him and hiew wu-crew down. Predict where they'll strike next, or maybe even get lucky enough to draw him and them out to a place at our time of choosing, where - " Mo reaches beneath the long table and produces a vintage looking sniper rifle. "I put one through 'is skull, and one through 'is heart. 'fore he has a chance to go all scatter, I mean. The crew of obake? That's where I need the assist."

Shaman's eyes widen when the sniper rifle is introduced to the group, but then he smiles in amusement. He throws Mo a quick nod. "Say, how resistant are these 'kumo' to some fire?" But then he looks around. "Also, is anyone around here disturbed by a little bit of flame?"

	Mo looks to Shaman, "The jina will NOT be pleased with a mess o' collateral damage. This is /chinatown/ we'll be operating in. The back alleys, sure, maybe even some of the tunnels if we can't draw them out. But there's nothing that will further incense the jina than making more of a mess of a messy situation." He then uses the straight edge to connect some of the markings on the map. "I can contain the crew to an area to help limit the collateral damage. But inside the hot zone? It'll be way messy."

	"I have no problems with fire, though shooting from a distance, that's such a boring and quick kill. But the fire, good way to deal with them if they get all crawly." Chihiro states. "Who's the bait?" She asks, almost eager to volunteer.

	No comment on fire, save for a flat press of lips into a bloodless line. Suzume just looks at Shaman for a long moment before her attention shifts to Chihiro. Bait- that word draws a slight shift in her expression, but nothing easily discerned. "How many others will be assisting, Mo-san?" Because if this is it? She's understandably dubious - if only for her own inclusion.

Shaman is taken slightly aback by the intensity in Mo's words, but he listens along anyway and does not complain. It's fair point that no one else should get caught in the crossfire, especially considering how crowded Chinatown can get. "Luring them out to alleys, sewers, or someplace to isolate them should be a reasonable plan. I can volunteer as bait if there's no one else. Seriously, they won't give me much problem... at least not until they turn into, uhm, spiders. They're shapeshifters, right?" Shaman nods at Chihiro. "Well, if no one's got a pyrophobia around here... then good!"

	"Well, I'm hoping Su can help us track them, maybe help me with the feng shui a little." Mo makes a mark on the map - "I can set up a raven's nest /here/. Range on my rifle'll be good. And it has clear sightlines to the space that I can then work some Mo-jo (did he just call his magic Mo-jo?) to trap and contain the crew in. With the bait." A pause. "We should have a backstop outside the chi ward, too. Just in case."

	"Well I don't have to be the bait. Maybe their apatites more lean the way of him." Chihiro says, pointing a thumb at Shaman, "Or maybe they're the type that likes the violence of the underground pit fights. A man after my own heart, except for the whole Kumo part. Maybe I could take the fangs to sen back to a 'friend' of mine as a pleasant gift."

	"I will do what I can," Suzume notes, tipping her head to Mo-san. "If nothing else, then perhaps the stars will aid us." Her notebook is taken out, flipped open, and her pencil is switched for another. Notes are taken, but in a kind of short-hand; poetic, really, if one were to try to read it and make sense of it.

"I'm sure they'll prefer a pretty girl to toy around with first before eating than a regular Korean guy, but eh, I'll be the bait I guess." Shaman looks to Chihiro, then says with a shrug.

	"No, no. Bait it is. I'm one of the best flavors too, right?" Chihiro says, sounding far too happy about that. Sometimes what she says seems to be answering a question unheard by others, or maybe commenting to something that just isn't there. "And if the stars can't help, I could likely track him down. But the stars first. I want to see that."

	Suzume flips her notebook closed. "I should return," is abruptly offered, even as the air around her grows chilled. Displeasure pulls at the corners of her mouth at the unnerving presence. "My apologies to all of you. Thank you." She rises and bows with the kind of formality that's practically carved into her genetics. And then she's gone, headed out without a backward glance and trailing something unspeakable behind her.

	Mo looks around at all assembled, and smiles. "Sometimes? It's good to be lucky," he mutters. "Ok, well. That's it for mission pre-brief. Please help yourself to beer and snacks, and I'll start arranging logistics for our trip up to San Fran. I really appreciate this, but rest assured everyone'll get a bit o' reward from the Quincunx court up there. And a line on more gigs if we wanted." And then Mo is replenishing big wooden bowls of snacks and passing them around.

===> Log ended by user <===> 3/17/2020, 10:05:10 PM <===