Something something still catching up.
In case you missed it, an urban fantasy anthology to which I contributed is releasing October 31st, 2022! I've got some pre-order links for Smashwords and Amazon, and I'm not going to copy-paste it here again but on my last post I put up the book blurb.
And, um... let's go, then.
Early the following morning, right before dawn, a handful of monkeys clamber into Xương's clinic. Hǎifēng wakes up and pokes each one with a finger, causing them to poof into dust that then flies into Hǎifēng's ears. They absorb the night's memories and observation from the clones, and then immediately go to puke in the teeth bucket as the night's surveillance settles over them...
First off, at one point they spot the Lintha captain seen earlier get into an argument with another, a young woman who still matches the Lintha 'profile' if you know what to look for but not as 'pure-blooded' as the first captain (or Xương, for that matter). They're not able to get all of the details of the argument, but what they do overhear combined with visual details on the woman's clothing identified by Xương, the captain is identified as Lintha Ng Hut Father Batasar, and the woman is Lintha Gajui Sister Ongsai.
Second, they notice two distinct groups carefully observing the plaza around the tournament area. There are monks from the Immaculate temple, obviously providing unofficial security and crowd control. There is also a group of armed individuals, possibly mercenaries, watching the proceedings. They're subtle, but Hǎifēng can recognize that they're moving around in shifts and coordinating via nonverbal signals. At one point one of them walks up and says something to one of the tournament organizers, and between lip-reading and hearing bits and pieces from multiple monkeys, they work out the message as "Reconnaissance continues, we'll have the board soon, just hold up your end."
They also spot the merchant captain Shango identifed as Captain Taka still studying the crowd, and they also see the Lunar known as 'The Flourish' and the swanfolk woman Tepora, both of whom work for the Devil Princes, come into the square for a brief word with one of the organizers.
Finally, they notice that someone is warning people away from a teahouse adjacent to the theater being rented out for the tournament. One of the monkeys sneaks in and confirms it's full of Gateway boards with decks of cards next to them -- obviously intended for the 'Game of Scribes' debut event.
And beyond all that, the clone monkeys' surveilance also includes tracking various individuals back to their ships so Hǎifēng now knows where everyone is docked.
Once this is all relayed to the rest of the group, Xương takes it upon himself to just get up and go check out the Roba Seafoam's ship, wanting to know what this infamous raksha pirate ship looks like.[0] It looks like either a ship literally carved out of an iceberg or crafted from frosted glass. From certain angles, the silhouettes of the crew (a mixture of humans and obvious non-humans) can sometimes be seen through the hull. He reaches out to touch it -- it looks like it should be rough, but it's smooth as glass and cold to the touch, but no cold comes off of it.
As Xương returns to his place, he gets back just in time to find a woman pounding on the door, asking for help. He startles her with his arrival and opens the door for her to come in. He takes on a very serious, clinical demeanor as he goes into first aid mode to assess her situation.
Her name is Shin-Young, and a few days ago some people kidnapped her and knocked her out and branded a symbol on her. She hasn't been able to properly sleep since, and everyone else is afraid to do anything about it.
The group takes a look at the symbol, and both Xương and Hǎifēng recognize it -- it's the symbol of Makarios, demon of the Second Circle.[1] Out of the roster of Second Circle demons, Makarios is probably the most well-known in Creation because he's one of those demons known to trade mysterious treasures and relics with people in Creation, and he's relatively easy to summon. He's also a fair trader -- like, actually fair, not 'Needful Things' fair.[2] Someone marked with his symbol, rather than dreaming normally, is transported to a special realm where they can do business. He's also commonly summoned as an advisor in trade negotiations.
But the symbol having been branded on Shin-Young[3] means that she can't sleep while it's on her, and every night she's mentally transported to Makarios' citadel of sensual delights. Xương explains to her the options. He can try to cut the brand off of her or just scar it up enough to render the symbol powerless, but he can't make it painless and regardless of what happens the spot is going to be forever disfigured. She's just fine with whatever's quicker.
While Xương sterilizes his tools, Hǎifēng asks her where this happened and what the people who did it looked like. She said she was near the Lungs (the theater district), and someone just jumped her and put a bag over her head and knocked her out. She woke up when they branded her and passed out from the pain, and then she woke up in one of the crappier tunnels near the morgue run by the weird Northerner.
Hǎifēng comments that if that's a coincidence, it's an interesting one if the Makarios cult is operating near the theater district. Shango takes a moment to copy the symbol down on some paper for reference.
Xương proceeds to put the woman out with booze and manages to mar up the scar. Once she's awake she asks how she can repay him, and he says he's not going to dance around it -- if she learns anything about the cult's movements, to bring the information to him. He then gives her something for the pain and she shuffles off to wherever.
After she's gone, the group sits down to figure out what's going on. There are people interested in this magic Gateway board, and now there's this cult involved. Shango says that it feels like fate is conspiring against them -- the group returns to Lathe, thinks about doing a little robbery, and now it looks like a lot of people want to do a little robbery. The group wants to get some rest, and then a demon and his cultists show up.[4]
Xương points out that mortal cultists branding people feels like more of a matter of the secular authorities rather than needing a trio of Celestial Exalts to descend upon them. The closest thing to such an authority would be the Immaculates, and thus he suggests maybe dropping an anonymous tip to the Heartsflow Temple (as I've named it). Shango has an idea on that front.
He gets another piece of paper and recopies the sigil, on the top half of the paper basically writes out a description of the woman who got attacked, and where, and a description of Makarios and rolls it up. He goes into bird form and has the others attach the note to his leg, and flies to the temple to let them take it.
When he arrives he flies into the courtyard, making enough noise to attract attention. And then Mnemon Arima turns up, being all "What do we have here?"[5]
Shango, as best he can, sighs and looks shocked as he settles, I think onto a bench -- I didn't write down exactly where. Could have been on the ground. Arima calmly holds out a forearm for Shango to perch on, but he just remains where he is and sticks his leg out. Arima sighs and plays up having trouble bending over (as he's supposed to be an older man), and takes the note, while Shango sticks around in case he has any sort of reply or reaction.
The Sidereal furrows his brow as he reads it, while Shango tries to read him in turn. Arima makes a big show of thinking out loud about looking into the situation, so nobody thinks he's talking directly to a bird, and when he mentions the victim Shango then jumps up on his shoulder. Arima forces a slight flinch when he does so, for the benefit of any mortals watching. Shango stares him down with a threatening glare, and it takes him a moment to realize what about, and with a slight sigh of frustration he informs Shango that he appreciates the information and he does want to help the woman and offer genuine assistance. He thanks Shango and by extension the whole Circle for the information they've provided. Shango nods at that and flies off.
And we leave off there, with the camera pulling back to show off Shango flying away from the temple.
[0]-- He leaves so abruptly, in fact, that Hǎifēng glances over at Shango and asks "Did that just happen?"
[1]-- Also known as the Sigil's Dreamer, Warden Soul of That Which Calls to the Shadows. 'That Which Calls to the Shadows' referring to Erembour, Demon of the Third Circle, Seventh Soul of the Shadow of All Things. 'The Shadow of All Things' meaning the Ebon Dragon, one of the Yozis and one of the creators of, um, Creation. As much as I mock 2nd Edition Exalted for needing to over-explain and over-detail everything, I actually kinda like the detailed, convoluted demon hierarchy thing.
[2]-- Apologies for the Rick and Morty clip, it was easier to find one that concisely got across the point than a clip from the actual movie.
[3]-- The books say that the symbol has to be applied to the 'brow' of the subject, but honestly, face-branding is a bit much for me. So I'm hand-waving that an ostensibly permanent rendition of the symbol (like a brand or tattoo) can be applied elsewhere.
[4]-- Lathe is notoriously thick with demon cults, though, so the cult was probably already there, to be fair.
[5]-- While the players and readers know Arima's real name, I'm going to keep calling him Arima here for simplicity's sake.
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