[hr][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/uCKMptF.png[/img][/center][hr][hr][center][h2][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cc94Knv86w]♫[/url][/h2][/center][hr][hr][center][color=808080][i][b]Present:[/b] Yalen Castel [@pantothenic], Maura Mercador [@Ti], Trypano Somia [@A Lowly Wretch], Ingrid Penderson [@dragonpiece], Niallus Saberhagen [@McKennaJ71], and Abdel Varga [@YummyYummy][/i][/color][/center][hr][hr][color=808080]
They had been given assurances. 

Moths and crane flies now swirled about the lanterns hanging in the courtyard and the remnants of a hearty dinner lay stacked in front of the group of students. Mr. Wei, who ran the inn, and his daughter Yin, who did much of the cooking, had simply kept bringing dishes full of food, and the students were of an age and constitution to continue eating as more arrived. The younger of the pair had already taken most of the mess away, always with a smile and some simple quip in Retanese, once she had learned that some of them understood a few words. 

Captain Zhu dined with them only briefly, and he had little more than some appetizers and a drink. Xiulan explained that he was a good captain who cared about his men and he did not want to eat separately from them, especially until the four he had sent to deal with the earlier disturbance had returned safely. When Rikard inquired as to the nature of the disturbance, the group’s guide admitted to little knowledge of what it was. However, it would not be a serious problem else the [i]Bái wèibīng[/i] (the white guard) would have been called instead, they were assured before the conversation was steered towards their preferred magics and aptitudes.

[color=a2d39c]“So you are truly master of dragon?”[/color] Xiulan exclaimed, eyes widening in Abdel’s direction. She leaned in excitedly. [color=a2d39c]“I [i]love[/i] dragon!”[/color]

Yin, gathering plates, noticed her excitement. [color=f6989d]“说什么?”[/color] (said what?) she prodded and there was a quick response. [color=f6989d]“Whooooaa,”[/color] the innkeeper’s daughter replied, eyes floating Abdel’s way. [color=f6989d]“厉害!”[/color] (awesome/so cool) Xiulan giggled. [color=a2d39c]“I sink I don’t have to translate this.”[/color]

Before the boy had the chance to boast, however, there was a thump on the front door and Yin scurried off to go and answer it. The four guardsmen returned and, with small waves and bows, were ushered up to the mezzanine, where Captain Zhu’s head briefly appeared out of a doorway. Bits and pieces of conversation drifted down, but then they were behind closed doors and the students and Xiulan were left to their own devices. All around them were the sounds of crickets, the soft crackle and warm glow of the outside hearth’s coals, and the lapping of water in a small pond by the garden. Fat lazy gold fish drifted along near its surface, their lips occasionally popping out in circles and little bubbles rising from them. [color=a2d39c]“This is a nice place,”[/color] Blossom assured them. [color=a2d39c]“Really, it is.”[/color] She yawned. [color=a2d39c]“The little…”[/color] she trailed off, gesturing at the fishpond. [color=a2d39c]“这个!”[/color] (this one) she sighed in some frustration. She’d had a bit to drink and her cheeks were rather rosy. She stifled a second yawn and, in one smooth motion, rose to her feet, stretched, and bowed. [color=a2d39c]“I sink zat is ze sandman telling me somesing,”[/color] she admitted. [color=a2d39c]“Go to sleep go to sleeeeep -”[/color]

Kaureerah picked it up, gently strumming on her guitar. [color=DEB887]“Go te sleeeeeeeep leetel Blaussem.”[/color]

[color=a2d39c]“Hehe, I will, I will.”[/color] With her fingers, she playfully conducted Kaureerah like she was an orchestra. [color=a2d39c]“You know, I like you have the accent like me. Make me less em…[i]embrassed[/i] for my Avinci.”[/color] She bowed again and turned theatrically on her heel. [color=a2d39c]“Goodnight! 晚安!”[/color] Then, Xiulan was headed upstairs and those who were still by the cooling heart found themselves - for the first time since they had arrived in this distant land - alone.

It may have struck them that they had received no explicit directions yet and discussions had been gently but persistently steered away from the topic of precisely what they would be doing over the next few days. They had merely been told to be ready in the lobby by 8:00 in the morning - time was measured differently in Retan - and they would be apprised of what to expect next. Everything that they needed would be found in or brought to the Golden Carp Inn. They had been given assurances.

[hr][hr][center][h2][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RsnVOK6Fdg]♫[/url][/h2][/center][hr][hr]
Some, however, believed these more than others. 

So it was that Rikard Ambrus sat on the mezzanine at a time the Retanese referred to as 24:00 and watched as Wei Yin trudged across the courtyard, sweeping. She had come from the direction of the stables, where the group’s larger animals were housed. Her footsteps were heavy and she yawned a couple of times as she swept but, gradually, she worked her way across the entire space and was in the process of emerging from a small shed with some wood for the morning when there was a small noise: faint and muffled, and almost like a… [i]scream.[/i]

Immediately, the innkeeper’s daughter, moving about in a near-stupor, perked up. She set her bundle down and hurried off in the direction of a side wing. Rikard perked up immediately. He had gotten the distinct sense that they were ever to be respectful visitors here, but there had been a scream - a person’s scream - and it would be irresponsible of him [i]not[/i] to investigate, for safety, of course. Pulling some heat from the dying coals, he leapt over the railing and landed gently - almost noiselessly - on the floor below, finding the girl’s energy signature and following it. 

The old wooden door creaked softly as he pushed through and the boy avoided using magic to light his way. That was when, up ahead, he could hear voices, speaking just above a whisper and rapidly in Retanese.

[color=a0410d]“你可以使用你的魔法。帮助他。”[/color] (You can use your magic. Help him.” It was Mr. Wei. 

[color=f6989d]“不，爸爸。我不能。警察正在监视外国人。他们也会抓住我们。”[/color] (No, dad. I can’t. The police are watching the foreigners. They’ll catch us too.)

[color=a0410d]“这就是为什么我们应该现在就做！他们只会认为是那些孩子。请，女儿。勇受苦了。”[/color] (That’s why we should do it now! They’ll just think it’s those kids. Please, daughter. Yong is suffering.)

[color=f6989d]“不，爸爸！想想看！州长让我们把他们留在这里，这样他就可以派士兵跟他们一起去。他们想抓我们！”[/color] (No, dad! Think about it! The governor told us to keep them here so he could send soldiers with them. They want to get us!) Rikard didn’t understand more than maybe a word or two, and he even doubted those, but he could tell that it was urgent just by the tone of their voices. 

[color=a0410d]“[i]请[/i]银.”[/color] ([i]Please[/i], Yin.) There was a long pause and then the voice of a young boy. Rikard could feel a small surge of magic: Chemical magic, and Yin’s voice continued to talk to him. Then, there were footsteps on the move. The visitor’s heart hammered and a cold rush coursed through his body. Drawing some more on the Gift to muffle his footsteps and boost his body, he rushed back through the hallway, bursting through a doorway just as he heard a door creak open somewhere well behind him. [color=a0410d]“谁在那儿?”[/color] (who’s there?) came Mr. Wei’s voice, anxious and still quiet enough not to wake the others. Rikard said nothing, however. Instead, he slipped down the hallway to the lavatories and disappeared into them. [color=a187be]“Mr. Wei?”[/color] he called tentatively. 

[color=a0410d]“Ree-car?”[/color] came the innkeeper’s reply. 

[color=a187be]“I’m in the…”[/color] he tried to remember the word he’d been taught. [color=a187be]“厕所.”[/color] (cèsuǒ - bathroom)

He knew there was more than the innkeeper wanted to say. In truth, his insides were being clawed open by anxiety, but they could not communicate and so his reckoning might be saved for tomorrow. [color=a187be][i]Fuck![/i][/color] he shouted in his head. [color=a187be][i]You just couldn’t stay out of it! You just couldn’t mind your own business![/i][/color] So it was that Rikard hung around in a room that smelled like poop for half an hour, trying to calm himself and hoping that people would forget. They didn’t though. There were more voices speaking Retanese and they were Mr. Wei’s and Captain Zhu’s, quiet but [i]intense[/i]. Eventually they, too, went away, and he dashed up to bed, locked himself in his room, and failed to sleep in more than fits and starts for the rest of the night.

[hr][hr][center][h2][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wBzL62Va1k]♫[/url][/h2][/center][hr][hr]
It was the wee hours of the morning. A gentle rain had started and a cloaked figure slipped through the slumbering streets of Wánggǎng. More than once it seemed to pause, scan, and change course, almost as if it knew what it sought but not the way to reach it. In truth, it was not the first such figure, for there had been one similarly attired the night before and there would yet be one after it. 

After a handful of missteps, it wandered its way over to a nondescript house not too far from the port district. The light of the moons peered briefly through the clouds. It sparkled off of the near-distant water, illuminating a paper nailed into the door. For a moment, the person in the cloak paused, as if perhaps reading or gathering the courage to follow through on something. Then, there was a tiny burst of magic and the simple lock mechanism popped open. 

The cloaked interloper scanned the entranceway and the few simple rooms beyond, pulling back her hood once she found herself alone, to reveal the features of a fair young woman. It was all wreckage inside: the clear remnants of a violent struggle, uncleaned and uncleared for now. She had no idea if that would continue to be the case or if the people whose job it was to make messes disappear simply hadn’t gotten here yet. Quietly, on high alert the entire time, she made her way about the eerily empty home. Light spilled in long sharp lines through shuttered windows and her feet crunched softly across broken glass. Doors were busted open and furniture lay broken and scattered across the floor. Reaching out with her magic as gently as she could - for there had been not one iota of it the entire night - she searched the shapes and energies of her surroundings until she came upon a small figurine: a porcelain doll that had had its head broken open. 

It was at about that moment that she felt it: someone [i]very[/i] powerful headed her way, and [i]quickly[/i]. She was not incapable in magic, but she was not a fighter either. She grabbed the ruined doll, flipped her hood up and, calling upon what she had of the Gift, made her escape with all due haste.[/color]
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[hider=Action Opportunities][color=808080]Welcome to Chapter Two of Metropolis: Still of the Night. You can find some action opportunities below.

[indent]1) You've settled in for the night and had some dinner. Feel free to comment on the dinner, come up with some shenanigans and hijinks or, conversely, be boring. You could probably explore the inn a bit or or poke about. How far will you go? How about Xiulan? How much can you learn from her? How much [i]should[/i] you?

2) Feel free to collab and discuss with other players or characters just what is going on. Maybe start trying to make a plan for tomorrow with the scant little information you've been given? Unpack the day's events and the people you've met? Interact with the animals or NPCs!

3) If you think that it makes sense for your character to have noticed, you may react to the scream like Rikard did, as well as any of the subsequent events. If you take action, though, you will have to roll for stealth and not being detected. There are secrets here to explore.

4) Who is the cloaked figure? What are they doing? Have you been good and stayed put? Any snooping of your own? Any conversations with Rikard. It's very early going, but pieces are moving [i]rapidly[/i] behind the scenes.[/indent][/color][/hider]
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