Alrighty, here we are again. I was hoping to have this up sooner, in my quest to get caught up, but my arm has backslid a bit. It's frustrating, and when I get a chance I'm going to call my doctor's office an probably get a specialist to look at it.
So moving on from that fun topic, in case you've somehow missed it I've got a story in the Samhain Secrets: World Premiere urban fantasy anthology that's just come out! I've shared the blurb before, so let's just get to the various places where you can get it yourself!
And with that out of the way, on with the show!
So we pick back up with the group talking about the possible connection between the demon Makarios' cult and the tournament, and Shango points out that if there is a connection it might involve using Makarios as a source of prizes, which is why they're so vague. The group talks for a moment about talking to him directly, at first in a way that suggests they're just getting the notion out of the way to do something else, but they wind up coming back around to the idea of having Shango talk to him. So Xương uses some tincture of iodine to draw the symbol on his forehead, and after a little bit of back and forth Hǎifēng just decks him to knock him out.
Shango finds himself swooping down on a citadel of apple-green chrysoprase and white alabaster. The angles of the walls are weird, to the point of making his brain hurt, but he finds a courtyard where what appears to be a young man with hair of copper wire and shining eyes expectantly lounges on a couch, eating something that from a distance appears to be grapes.
Shango lands a short distance away, and a couch appears right behind him. As he sits down, a tea set appears within reach while the figure in front of him -- Makarios, apparently -- eats another grape from which a musical note escapes. He sits up and he and Shango introduce themselves, and Makarios says that he gets the impression that Shango wants something specific so he offers to just get down to it.
Shango, agreeing with this plan, says he wants to know who's in Makarios' cult in Lathe. He understands that the demon wants people to spread his mark, he points out that they may be resorting to violence to do so, and he and his associates can't abide that. Makarios says that he can't control what his cult does, and it's not worth it to him to make demands on exactly where the 'payment' comes from. But he acknowledges that's not what Shango's after. It's clarified that Shango wants information, as he knows that Makarios isn't going to act against his own cult.
At that point, Makarios offers Shango some more trinkets from his past incarnation to go with Weirdflame, and Shango turns him down. And in a move as old as the concept of value itself, Makarios offers the chance to be a phoenix, and conjures up a tailor's dummy with a magical cloak of feathers that appear to be made of flame.
"Oh, but you wanted information," the demon comments as he gestures dramatically. The cloak goes out with a fwump, leaving behind a burning tailor's dummy as an involuntary expression of disappointment crosses Shango's face. Makarios asks exactly what Shango wants. Shango says he wants the names and locations of all of Makarios' cultists in Lathe. The demon says he doesn't have that information. And he's sure that Shango probably just means he wants to know who attacked Shin-Young, and he says that he doesn't necessarily know that. A merchant lord who prays to Makarios, or instance, could have a bodyguard who isn't directly affiliated at all, and that guy could act with impunity without Makarios knowing a thing. Shango tries to clarify that he just wants to know the cultists active in Lathe, and Makarios shrugs and says he doesn't know that. He only knows who's bearing his sigil, and not all of his worshippers do at all times.
The only reason Makarios knows about Shin-Young is because of the period of time she was branded and he was able to interact with her. He could potentially produce an automaton that could hunt down the people responsible, and certainly nothing would go wrong there.[0] But then he asks what Shango has to offer him, since he doubts that the Lunar would be interested in gathering his usual preferred currency. (which is spreading his mark) Shango asks what Makarios wants, but the demon just counters by askign what would mean to him as much as the information. Shango considers that for a moment and asks if he can come back later, and the demon merchant just shrugs and says he's basically always at the citadel. Shango then pinches himself, and as he awakens he hears a voice whisper "You didn't have to do that..."
Once Shango awakens and fills them in on the conversation, Hǎifēng asks Shango if he thought to ask Makarios if there was anything at the tournament he might be after. Shango considered it but assumed he wouldn't give him that information. There's some brief discussion of Shango going back and offering Makarios his firstborn in exchange for the information, after which Xương could render him infertile without uglying up his 'tackle' too bad, but for some reason the group decides against cheating the powerful demon merchant.[1]
Shango suggests they could offer him information, but they don't know what he would already want that he can't get through other means. Hǎifēng laments that they don't know what he might want from the tournament. And from this they go into talking about the feasibility of tracking down the cult mundanely (or as mundanely as the Exalted do anything), and decide it's not worth it to track all of them down, and at some point this somehow circles around to a conversation about how demons aren't inherently evil, just different and sometimes alien -- like gods, in that regard.
By now it's coming up on the evening and the trio go down to the event grounds to see what's going on, if anyone's messing with the locals, and so forth. They discover that in the plaza outside the theater where the tournament is to be held, tables have been set up for practice and exhibition matches. They spot a crowd around Ledaal Kes' table, though he's not sitting across from anyone. There's the distinct vibe that the crowd is waiting for someone to challenge him but nobody's brave enough to do so themselves.
Hǎifēng and Xương basically put Shango in the seat to challenge Kes and start hyping him up. Xương goes out of his way to really lay it on thick, telling Shango to kick Kes' ass. Kes just raises an eyebrow at Xương and waits until he's done. Once Xương runs out of things to say, Kes politely thanks him and then offers Shango the choice of whether or not to go first.
Shango goes first, channeling Essence to strengthen his clarity of mind to challenge Kes. To give him a psychological edge, Hǎifēng uses Lion-Mouse Inversion to make him seem like the ultimate predator. And Shango does indeed try to play this up, leaning in and steepling his fingers together as he ponders his moves.
Kes, however, is unfazed. He outmaneuvers Shango pretty handily, though deliberately making minor mistakes here and there to draw out the match for its own sake. Hǎifēng then comments that they can't work with losers. Xương immediately sees where this is going and blurts out that Hǎifēng is "forbidden to fuck Ledaal Kes."
Hǎifēng gives Xương an incredulous look and puts their fan over their face as they move around behind Kes to place a hand on his shoulder (and suddenly feeling very aware of various bodyguards and monks doing security), and use a Charm to help instill an Intimacy of lust in him. The crowd murmurs among themselves watching this play out, and Kes reaches up to place a hand on Hǎifēng's, asking them if they, Xương, and Shango would like to join him and his companions for a meal. Xương gets a look on his face like he does when he's ripping out throats, and says he has 'shit to do' and just leaves. Kes repeats the offer to Shango and Hǎifēng, emphasizing there's no pressure.
Shango hesitates, and Hǎifēng 'tells' him using Glance-Oration Technique to make a decision one way or another. Shango bows politely and thanks Kes for the offer, but claims a prior engagement and says he'll see them later. Kes asks Hǎifēng if they have any recommendations, and Hǎifēng mentions a place they learned about on a previous visit, and the two of them head off that way with Kes' entourage of hangers-on.
And we leave off on Shango finding a quiet spot to shift into bird form and follow them to keep an eye on things.
[0]-- All kidding aside, it's extremely likely that the automaton would work exactly as intended, not even necessarily abusing the spirit of the task by exploiting the letter of it. Makarios is a demon and thus his morality and mind don't operate the same way a human's would, but fair trades are an inherent, inviolable aspect of his very nature. Though there's nothing stopping him from playing with peoples' minds and expectations a bit during negotiations.
[1]-- Seriously, though, breaking a deal with Makarios literally gives him a free pass to visit Creation and wreak havoc.
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