Into Darkness: Prologue

        Xiu *had* actually provided Mo with a number. Read off a small, old dumbphone pulled from her hoodie. Only the heavens know how long she actualy had owned it already.
        This time though, there is no pretense. This time she arrives without any disguise or modern trappens. When she arrives, he can see her in the distance, striding with even steps, straight, those long dark braids of hers occasionally waving from the deser breeze more than her steps. Nude, athletic, predatory, painted in those primal symbols and hanzi. And...lightly smiling as she draws closer. Her feet are dusty from the long walk,which certainly has taken most of the day if she came from Prospect. on her, aside of those painted symbols, is a leather cord strapped diagonally around her torso, keeping several pouches attached near her waist. And what seems to be a blade, tied to the musculature of her right thigh.
        A hand lifts, though despite being in shouting distance she keeps on patiently walking on, drawing closer.

        Mo smokes. Tobacco, in a hand rolled leaf. A hazy halo of smoke hangs above his head. Spying the approaching figure, he'll stub the cigarette out. "Hey," he offers when she arrives. "Thanks for coming back!"

        The witch crosses the remaining distance, and her nostrils flare a bit as she smells the tobacco. Her slanted eyes observe him for a moment - and then she lightly bows. "Greetings again, Mo. I see you are as chipper as ever." She straightens, looking him over for a moment. "I hope the day finds you well."

        Mo squints, eyeing the sun up above warily and with a sigh. The sunshine that rains down through the clouds makes his skin itch. "Decent, better once we get in outta the sun." He produces a canteen. "Thirsty? I have water. Then we head thataway," he says, pointing over towards what appears to be abandoned mine.

        Xiu gazes up at the sup for a moment, holding a hand above her eyes as she does. A light smile moves her lips, before she looks at him again. How she's not getting sunburnt to death is anybody's guess. "Actually, yes." she says and steps close, before she accepts the canteen and takes a sip. Not too much of a big gulp really. Part politeness, part not being that thirsty. She hands it back, before she glances towards the mine.
        "...is that the entrance to the tunnels where the Necropolis was found again?"

        Mo offers a small smile when Xiu accepts the canteen and sips. Then he caps the canteen off and shoulders a small bag, turning in the direction of the mine. "Yes. Its held by the Gam Saan Historical Society to ensure its integrity until the proper wu can come and reclaim what was lost." He certainly had a flair for the dramatic.

        "Gam Saan Historical Society.." Xiu echoes, as she brushes one of her hands slowly through some of her long braids. "Are you part of that group? Or is it a lucky coincidence that it is being...preseved?" she wonders and eyes the man with a subtle smirk - clearly showing that she thinks it is certainly not a coincidence.

        "I work with them, pro bono. But my running into them was entirely coincidental, an absolute and total stroke of luck!" He seems pleased at that fact. "Or, just another day that ends in 'Y'," he offers with a sly smile as he and Xiu near the fencing around the mine.

        Xiu walks quietly along next to Mo, her eyes now mostly fixed on the mine itself. "I presume they don't regularly check on people trying to get in." she says, more as a statement than a question. Not that the girl seems to sound worried. "Are there any locked gates you might have incidentally have a key for?" She eyes him again, smirking in a bit more obvious manner now.

        "There's a bit of mundane electronic surveillance that takes place, supplemented by the odd spirit ally or two. But in terms of physical in-person reconnaissance and surveillance, I'm it." He makes his way to the gate - it has both a digital and an analog locking mechanism. Mo reaches punches in the code, then produces a key. After a few moments, the locks come undone and he opens the gate for Xiu to pass through. "After you."

        "I'm still working on improving my sorcery, in terms of practical field applications."

        "I seee..." Xiu says, as she continues to slowly stide forward, a chuckle leaving her. "Spirit allies. I hope they will not think ill of you for entering the mines alone with a naked female." she can't help but take a tease there for a moment, before she waits as the code gets punched in.
        Once the gate unlocks and gets opened, she seems about to step through - and then stops. She turns her head, while lightly lifting a hand, indicating for him to wait.
        Then her steps take her slowly to a small rock outcropping, and she crouches down. A small insect - a sort of beetle - idly crawls on the sand and she eyes it for a moment, before she scoops it up between a few fingers. Toilting back in her crouch, she lifts the insect and dust right above her face - and opens her mouth before she lowers them in. Slow chewing follows, an audible swallow, and an inhale of air as the girl just seems to linger there for a moment..before she rises and glances back at him. A smile comes, and without much explanation she finally steps through the gate.


        Mo watches the whole thing with rapt curiosity, but does his best to allow the ritual to complete uninterrupted. Only when she's done does he step forward to join her, locking the gate behind him. "What school do you practice? I've almost mastered my studies of Feng Shiu, and have made steady progress in Zi Wei Dou Shu."

        "The only real term there is for my school is the 'Old Faith'. There is no fancier term for it. No actual name." Xiu explains as she waits for him to lock the gate, slightly turning to observe him. When he is about to pass her, she turns ad follows next to the man, her eyes eyeing the Mine entrance. "It is old. It's earliest traces ancient. You will hardly find books about it, though..." she hesitates and lets out a soft, subtle sigh. "I guess the modern day 'pagans' think they are approximating it." There is a soft, audible exhale of...well, it's hard to tell. Perhaps a bit of frustration. Perhaps a bit of unhidden amusement at the thought. "As if it could be gained of books found in an esoterics store."

        Mo nods in understanding, "My people believe in recording /everything/. Refining and perfecting. They don't call it the celestial bureaucracy for nothing, y'know?" A rueful grin in punctuation as he produces a battery powered lantern when they near the boarded up entrance to the mine. "Astrology and dragon lines, fate and chi, that's my bag." He reaches out to run a hand along the planks and boards that protect the mine's inner secrets from view. Then he finds the spot that allows access. "Here."

        "Oh, it got recorded.." Xiu says and lifts a finger, before she taps her head. "In here. Over generations, teachers, students. Over hundreds of years. Millenia. Who knows.." she says. "And there are surely written items, though you will not find them in libraries." She lightly smiles. "That and the Old Faith is, certainly, not a single, unified thing. Like a tree it has thick roots, a common stem, and many branches.." She pauses as she hears 'dragon lines', her eyes finding Mo. "Dragon lines. That sounds like...Ley lines." She tilts her head. "Tell me about them." she asks, before she glances at the boards he feels along. She follows silently.

        Mo nods, "Right the occidentals call them ley lines. Feng shui is all about sensing them, mapping them, steering them, that sorta thing. I'm pretty good at it, and am close to mastery of the path. Chi makes the world go 'round, he who controls the chi, controls the universe. Or whatever." He then slides the board across and open and penetrates the darkness.


        "I can sense them." Xiu says - before she gestures with a hand. "Well, not right now, but..I have the gift to do so. Sense them, follow them. Where they converge, you will find places of power and creation." SHe lightly smiles. "And it can be used for creation of new things." Her smile fades though, and her expression becomes more stern for a moment as the board gets slid aside, and she follows him silently, fluidly moving through the open gap.

        Mo secures the entrance once they are through. "I know where most of the traps are - keep close," he offers extending a hand to help steady himself and keep her free of traps. "I'm gonna start studying the spirit ways soon, I think. One can't ever have enough allies on the other side of the Wall. And being able to navigate dragon lines helps make interactions with the servants of the bureaucracy a little easier."

        Xiu reaches out and takes a hold, and does as instructed - she stays close, moving slowly, and only when he does, where he does, the girl's eyes from flicking ahead to him and back. "We talk to the spirits, though admittedly, mostly those of nature. Not those of the dead." she explains. "Those of the dead need to move on and find their way back to the wheel of creation. or eternal peace." She slightly turns her head. "But from what I understand, the 'servants of the bureaucracy' are, to you, pretty much those spirits of nature, am I right?"

        Mo nods, "I'm not interested in maoshan work. I'm not suited to yin chi. But yang spirits? The five elemental forces? That, that could be my bag." He carefully picks a path forward, leading them deep into the mine's belly until they come up to where various shafts diverge, going their separate ways into the heart of darkness!

        "Right - nature. Fire, Earth, Wood, Water, Metal."

        "Metal. Interesting as a fifth element." Xiu murmurs, sounding a bit surprised. "The bones of the Goddess, resting under the soil. Shaped into fangs of steel." Xiu does not seem worried of the dark, but certainly sticks to the path of the lamp, as they talk. "So, you are an elementalist of sorts?"

        "Aspiring. My father was one of no small skill." His brow furrows in the dim light at a memory and the mention of his father. "Right now, I'm just a middling astrologer and a good fangshih."

        A sigh as he peers down the central mineshaft. Darkness. Just lots and lots of darkness.

        "Fangshih?" Xiu eachoes and slightly tilts her head, her beare feet making no sound on the floor in her careful, and quite graceful steps. The girl is not just strength but also control, when it comes to her physique. She stops as he sighs at that central shaft. "What is it?" she wonders, peering at that darkness.

        "Geomancer, practitioner of feng shui," Mo clarifies. He reaches into his messenger bag with his free hand and produces forth a luopan, handing it over to Xiu. "See?"