Alrighty, if you've been paying attention to when these Exalted posts go up (all of you who are reading them), then you'll know it's about time for another! Conveniently, that assumption is correct! Huzzah!
And let's just get into it, beneath the cut.
So where we left off, the trio are back at the Old Flame (the inn where they're staying, which I forgot to name earlier), talking about the logistics of dealing with the Onyx Jackals. Hǎifēng asks Xương if he knows where the Jackals are based. He doesn't, so Hǎifēng floats the idea of asking their local friend Copper Orchid, who might know.
So Hǎifēng takes off to talk to him, and when they ask Copper Orchid about the Onyx Jackals, Orchid looks concerned and makes sure the door is closed and they're alone before he continues. He proceeds to warn Hǎifēng that the Onyx Jackals' leader, Hú Láng, is an Outcaste[0] Dragon-Blood. They're a relatively new gang, but Hú Láng's Exaltation makes them too big of a problem for the mortal authorities but so far they haven't caused enough trouble to justify detaching someone from the Realm's garrison in Dragon's Jaw. As I pointed out last time, Orchid knows that Hǎifēng is a Lunar and suspects that they can handle an inexperienced rogue Terrestrial (especially with help), but he at least wanted to make sure they know what they're getting into.
Hǎifēng asks Copper Orchid what this information is likely to cost they, given that Orchid closed the door to ensure their privacy. Orchid says that the precaution is so nobody hears him say things like "you can take this Dragon-Blooded gang leader in a fight." He makes sure to point out that it's not just for Hǎifēng's sake, because as much as he can handle the fact that he's associating with a Lunar Exalt, he still doesn't want to risk a bunch of monks, magical or otherwise, knocking on his door.[1]
As to the subject of where the Onyx Jackals are, he knows roughly what corner of the city they occupy and given time he could probably pinpoint it more precisely, but Hǎifēng is fine with just narrowing it down to a chunk of the city. So Copper Orchid informs them that the Jackals are near the northwestern corner of the city, where the docks are currently being redone and a lot of warehouses have been left empty because the locations are inconvenient for the moment.
After thanking Copper Orchid for his time, Hǎifēng goes back to the inn to fill the others in. Xương suggests that they try negotiating with the Onyx Jackals, that maybe they can work out some sort of deal and should at least try before resorting to violence. There's some back and forth among the group about the options to 'talk' or 'fight' from a safety standpoint, because there's concern that one person going in to talk would put Hú Láng at ease, but might be too vulnerable even with the others waiting outside if it goes badly. But all three of them going in together might look like they're planning for a fight and put everyone on edge. And it's not like anyone could be invisible so all three are there but it only looks like one, because while there are Charms for that sort of thing none of them have those.
Hǎifēng suggests that, hypothetically, someone could go in with a pet dog or something. Shango, incredulously, asks if Hǎifēng is suggesting that they themself should go in with with a pet osprey and a shark.[2] Hǎifēng gives Shango a look and suggests that one of them could acquire the shape of a dog. Sure, it might mean someone might lose a pet[3], which nobody's thrilled about, but greater good and all that. Xương points out that a pet monkey (meaning Hǎifēng) wouldn't particularly stand out more than a dog. But now there's some concern about someone seeing the monkey transform back into human form, which would mean that word's going to get around of a Lunar in the city.[4]
So then this comes back to Shango asking why Hǎifēng assumes that the three of them showing up at once is a guaranteed fight. Hǎifēng is worried that this would put the gang on the defensive, and increase the odds of someone throwing a punch at an inopportune time. Xương thinks that Hǎifēng is overthinking it, and Shango suggests that one person going in alone would look suspicious, suicidal, or both. They go back and forth some more, but Hǎifēng suggests that Xương should make the decision since he'd be taking the lead on the negotiations. Xương agrees that one person going in alone would raise more red flags, so it should be either all three of them, or two of them and a 'pet monkey.' They decide on the latter.
As it's evening by now, Shango takes on his osprey form to do some scouting and nail down exactly where they are, and then the group will go into talk to them tomorrow. He goes out the window of his room at the inn and thanks to the construction mentioned before easily finds the corner of the city. He surveys the streets, and finds some people dressed in what is clearly a coordinated gang outfit, dark clothes with a little half-cape of gray fur over their shoulders. He didn't think to ask what the Onyx Jackals dress like, but he takes a (correct) guess and finds a trio of them in an alley.
What stands out more is that they're talking to a merchant that Shango recognizes from his little trip around the city earlier, specifically from one of the garden parties he mentioned. He lands nearby and listens in. From what he can hear of the conversation, he's definitely found a group of Onyx Jackals apparently meeting with a merchant named Châu Bảo Long, and that he's been hiring them to hassle Fedan Shipping for some reason. The gang members complain about the huge guy who interrupted their efforts to shake down the company earlier, and they plan to go back the next day in bigger numbers. They inform the merchant that they may have to charge him extra if this becomes enough of a problem. They leave after that and for a brief moment Shango considers swooping down on Long and killing him and taking his shape, but an unseen bodyguard steps out from the shadows and complicates matters.[5]
After a moment's thought, Shango decides to stick with the original mission and follows the Onyx Jackals. In the alley, Long and his bodyguard both look up at the sound of fluttering wings, to find an empty sky and a single feather floating down.
It's easy enough to follow the Jackals back to the warehouse, and he peeks in through a skylight. He spots somewhere between two and three dozen gang members (which seems like a lot but it's not much more than the pirate crew they recently dealt with) lounging around, playing cards, going through crates left behind in the warehouse, that sort of thing. He also spots a large, muscular woman (think a pro-wrestler build, or Angel Dust from Deadpool) who's clearly in charge. He also notices a distinct lack of conspicuous magical weaponry laying around, which is a reassurance.[6]
He heads back to the inn and reports to the others. They decide to rest up and go back out and hit the gang at their meeting space the next day while they're getting ready to go hassle Fedan Shipping.
Cue the inn music.
The next morning, they navigate the series of canals that run through the city of Salt-Founded Glory as far as they can and walk the rest of the way out to the warehouse with Hǎifēng in capuchin monkey form on Xương's shoulder. They just pick a spot nearby where they can be conspicuously visible, but not really getting in anyone's way, figuring that somebody will eventually come over to find out what their deal is. Eventually one big guy with a decently-sized sword on his hip comes over and asks them if he can help them, and Xương is just kind of smarmy to him ("I dunno, can you?") until the guy gets frustrated enough he just goes over to bang on the warehouse door.
They hear someone inside tell "What?" and then the door opens and the woman Shango saw yesterday steps out, and yells "What?" at the big guy. Meanwhile, everyone not affiliated with the gang on the street (not that there are many) suddenly decides they have an appointment to get out. He points her towards the trio, and Xương makes it clear that he's here on Fedan's behalf, and he's trying to get the Jackals to back off, but she's not looking to budge, or at least not for cheap.
Shango steps between them and starts playing with a silver coin to see if they can work something out, and she tells him how much Fedan owes them in protection money. I didn't attach a specific amount to it, because I can never eyeball these things, but I just made it clear that it is a clearly unreasonable amount, the amount that you ask for when you know they're not going to pay and you're just trying to justify doing something horrible to them. So Shango puts the coin away and Xương, seeing that they're apparently going to have to slug this out, suggests that take this inside. Hú Láng, who's gotten this far by not publicly blasting an anima banner big enough to see from the city's Immaculate temple, agrees.
They go inside where most of the gang has congregated, and one of the lieutentants goes in alongside them, and Xương goes ahead and throws the first punch at Hú Láng (who was getting ready to take the first swing herself) as Hǎifēng takes off running and dives behind some crates to revert back to human form. The Dragon-Blood catches Xương's punch with the palm of her hand -- she's thrown off-balance slightly, but even still it's distinctly like punching a wall. This is a new experience for him, as he hasn't fought a Dragon-Blood toe-to-toe yet. And when he spars with the others, they block his strikes with hands of flesh and muscle and bone. But even before spending a bunch of essence, an Earth-aspected Dragon-Blood is going to be a little more solid.
Hǎifēng rushes back out, as if they'd been hiding there the entire time, and proceeds to drop-kick Hú Láng's lieutenant (whom I haven't bothered to name), staggering him back before he recovers with a swing of his own that regains a bit of his balance and momentum. Shango starts tearing up the mob, using his agility to cover the ground, kicking off of one to deliver blows to another and such as they try and fail to counterattack the trio.
Hú Láng takes a swing of her own at Xương, channeling Essence into the blow and causing her anima banner to flare up as a dramatic attempt at intimidation, and while she's fast enough to land the blow (which feels like a sledgehammer), he uses his own Charms to crank up his soak and completely no-sells it. He gives her his naturally shark-like grin, showing a maw of teeth broad enough[7] to throw off her balance and he hits her back hard enough to take the wind out of her. Nearby, Hǎifēng pulls out their war fans, keeping them closed as they dash around the lieutenant's side and jams one right into the small of his back. Shango continues keeping the mob distracted, especially trying to keep them off of Xương, while they flail ineffectually at the Lunars. Similarly, Hú Láng and her lieutenant just can't land a blow on their opponents.
Xương brings his fists together and raises them up to block out the light coming in from the skylight until only the glint of his teeth is visible and he brings his fists down in a 'Kirk-punch.' And he lands a hard blow on her. Not hard enough to bring her down, but enough that it would completely incapacitate a healthy mortal and she knows it. Blood dramatically trickling from the corner of her mouth, she rasps out "What do you want?" He tells her, simply, that he wants her to leave Fedan alone.
She considers her options for a moment, doing some quick metaphorical math in her head. She considers that continuing this fight is going to require going all-out. Past a certain point, Dragon-Blooded anima banners become destructive to the environment -- which means endangering the gang and probably destroying the building, especially if these interlopers do the same (after all, she's assuming so far they're Dragon-Bloods like herself). And she recognizes that even if she can win this battle, which she's not as sure about as she'd like to be, doing so basically guarantees more attention than everyone wants or needs.
Hú Láng yields, and calls for her people to back off, which they do. She tells the Circle that her situation with Fedan isn't personal, just business, and she says that they can take it up with the people who put the Jackals up to it. Shango asks if she means Châu Bảo Long, and she winces both at having the name thrown in her face but also in losing whatever leverage she had in the conversation by being able to hold that back. She tells them that whatever Fedan's paying them, it's worth it because they've just bought him a week of breathing room. In that time, if Long comes back and tells her it's off, then it's off. Xương considers this a reasonable outcome.
Shango asks her if she'd be so kind as to arrange a meeting with Long, and she tells him to eat shit. Xương apologizes for his associate, as "he has a disorder where he assumes everyone is his secretary." But after that, they leave without further incident (with Xương grateful that the Circle doesn't have to kill a bunch of people to keep their secrets), and we leave off there.
[0]-- 'Outcaste' is the colloquial term for Dragon-Blooded Exalted not affiliated with any of the major factions, especially independent ones. The Realm tends to use it for all non-Realm Dragon-Bloods, and to be fair in earlier editions most of the Dragon-Blooded were allied with the Realm, a few with Lookshy, and then you had 'Other,' which is where the Outcastes fell. Third edition greatly expands the list of options for Dragon-Blooded factions so now 'Outcaste' is kind of an issue of perspective.
[1]-- I think I mention this in my primer, but the Immaculate Order, state religion of the Realm (with denominations reflected among rival Lookshy and Realm offshoot Prasad), maintains a Wyld Hunt where they hunt down and destroy 'Anathema.' Lunars are near the top of the list of what they consider 'Anathema,' and the mortal populace in many places is taught to fear and hate the bloodthirsty, shapeshifting, rage-maddened beastfolk of legend.
[2]-- To be fair, an osprey in this part of the Creation would be a region-appropriate and suitably-badass pet, if it came to it.
[3]-- Arguably there are stray dogs in and around the city that'd be perfectly suitable, but I can't remember if I brought it up or held my tongue so as not to interrupt the conversation.
[4]-- Xương is particularly concerned that if the gang sees one of them transform (or display a caste mark), that'll get all the wrong attention and then they'd have to kill any and all witnesses just to cover their tracks.
[5]-- What's kinda funny is that I didn't know Shango's player was thinking of taking his shape and impersonating him when I mentioned the bodyguard. I'd just had a moment where I realized 'wait, did this guy really come out here alone' and handwaved the bodyguard into being just out of sight.
[6]-- This is a legitimate concern. Exalted in general are known for carrying weapons made of magical materials that are too large or unbalanced for a human to comfortably carry, but can be wielded by an Exalt or a god through their mastery of Essence.
[7]-- As a reminder, Xương is one of the Lintha, many of whom are demon-tainted mutants. Lunars sometimes tend towards inhuman features, but even before his Exaltation Xương looked a little more monstrous than most.
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