Spiritual Exercises in the Land of Honest Work

[Yumyumcrow]

The big black cat hisses and growls, hackles raised. The feisty animal rises from the clutter by some wooden steps like a little demon; it startles the prey and distracts you, challenging your presence in the quiet lane. Of course, the whole commotion gives your prey time to scuttle away (and you'd spent a good half hour slowly tailing them from the tea house!) leaving you alone in a deserted lane with an angry cat.

Its a tight little place, with the upper storeys of the buildings overhanging the lane. Even narrower alleys run off the lane, here and there, choked by a bicycle here and a mouldering pallet there. Apart from your prey, now rapidly vanishing down the street, the lane is empty. At this hour of night, most goodly folk are abed. By day, the light would be dim but the shops would be full of quiet industry; by night, shadows pool and lurk in the stillness. Signage in chinese characters creak ominously even though there appears to be no wind. A quiet backstreet, filled with little shops, lost on the edge of china town, in the heart of the night.

The cat seems to think it is a guardian of some kind. The steps its guards lead from the lane to a shop, that much is clear; but it is all closed up, like the rest of the establishments. It is still hissing - but is it you or something behind you?

Can you hear it? A faint murmur of chanting?

[Princess]

Always she wandered the streets; Always she sought those who did not deserve their blood. Cats ruining things was a first. If she were breathing, she might sigh.

Minnie Chang disregards the cat, instead allowing her senses to swim entirely into what she can hear. This hunt was not so crucial as to not allow for her curiosity to be addressed.

  She can't make out the sounds

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2013-08-19 11:50:08		Minnie Chang rolls 7 to Perception (10 Again)		3, 2, 6, 7, 1, 1, 2		failure

Failing to distinguish the nature of the sounds, she carefully approaches any apparent source.

  6 Successes to Stealth

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2013-08-19 11:51:21		Minnie Chang rolls 7 to Stealth + Dex (10 Again)		10, 10, 5, 10, 10, 8, 2, 6, 6, 4, 8		6 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

The chanting is low, muted, and garbled.

One thing is certain and that the sound originates to Minnie's left and behind her. Moving quietly and with purpose, Minnie follows the sound back to one of the shop fronts behind her. The shop is, of course, closed; the hanging sign proclaims the shop as Han's Draper. The wood still has the fragrance of freshness about it.

As a shadow among shadows, the Mekhet reconnoitres the shop, slipping between the the street and the spaces between the shops. She deftly avoids mouldering pallets, broken glass and disassembled boxes. Around the back, the space widens to form a tiny overgrown garden, screened from the lane beyond by a wooden fence. The area is dominated by a mangy stairwell that leads to a basement level, the opening shut fast and bound with chains. There is a gate in the garden, wide enough to push a cart through and the scene is cast in a dim light. The light has its source deep within the shop, glimmering weakly from the back door.

The Mekhet notes that the back door is shut, but not pulled to. A clumsy oversight or something more?

The sound is slightly stronger here. Less muted. It is coming from beneath Minnie's feet. Faint light leaks from a tiny window at ground level and Minnie carefully lowers herself to peer within. There is weak light in the cellar as well. Shadows move slowly in cramped procession. Through the grime and the cobwebs, it is hard to tell what, exactly, is going on. Bales of cloth and clothes horses laden with drapery confound the view further.

[Princess]

With extreme caution, Minnie will slowly open the door to the shop itself and proceed inside. She inspects every nook and cranny before taking each of her steps.

  Perception 2, Investigate 1

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2013-08-21 09:17:46		Minnie Chang rolls 6 to Investigation + Wits (10 Again)		7, 4, 4, 4, 4, 9		1 success
2013-08-21 09:17:28		Minnie Chang rolls 7 to Perception (10 Again)		7, 8, 6, 5, 1, 5, 8		2 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

The rear of the shop has plenty of places to hide and Minnie flits between them all as she conducts her search. The floor is in a state of controlled anarchy, suggesting the shop has recently opened or is in a period of refurbishment. More shelving, clothes horses and bolts of cloth lie scattered about, as if the layout was frozen part way through a transition; pots of paint and white wash are placed at strategic points along the wall; a couple of brooms lie where they were left, leaning on shelving. Dust motes glitter mysteriously in the dimness. With the front closed up, the place appears more like a cave than a store.

Despite the organised chaos, the unknown owners have yet found the time to establish a little shrine. From the customers perspective, the little alcove would be completely invisible. The shrine contains a couple of ugly little figurines, a cheap bowl filled with congealed blood and a banner. The small banner, hanging from the wall, is made of poor quality white cloth; for a sigil, there is only a red hand print. Under it is a simple benediction imparting protection from the snares of fortune.

There is a lone lamp burning on the counter. Its glow suggests the stairwell that leads down to the cellar. The chanting bubbles from beneath her feet.

[Princess]

"Minnie" focuses on the design, the bowl, and every detail of the scene, letting them wash through her mind as she contemplates where she may have seen such patterns and symbols before. She does not rush her voluminous memory, letting her studies and inquiries guide her to any conclusions which may hold merit. The sounds of chanting told her she had time to consider this room for a moment longer.

  3 Occult, 4 Academics successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2013-08-22 09:51:48		Minnie Chang rolls 7 to Intelligence + Academics (10 Again)		8, 2, 10, 9, 9, 7, 5, 7		4 successes
2013-08-22 09:50:48		Minnie Chang rolls 7 to Intelligence + Occult (10 Again)		5, 1, 2, 10, 7, 10, 10, 2, 7, 2		3 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

The whole thing is a fraud at best or a blasphemy, at worst. This is the suspicion that grows and gnaws at Minnie's mind. The shrine might be couched in the terms and references of ancestor worship. Minnie doubts that is the real intention, however: the bowl of blood has too many connotations to forbidden blood magics and the figurines are more reminiscent of demons than gods. The whole thing reeks of unwholesome desperation... or a carefully constructed mockery of other, more positive and beneficial practices.

The hand has a particularly dark and specific resonance to the Mekhet scholar. Minnie may not have had any dealings with the sect that named itself the Nameless and Forsworn, but she had learned of the lurid tales: of hideous rites and blasphemous temples found at the far reaches of the Empire along the Silk Road; of dark hearted spinners of lies and corruption; of the monsters that tempt the righteous dead into deeds of damnation. If any object where to scream their calling card the most, it was that hand, brazen splashed on the pure white linen banner.

[Princess]

At least it still brings them together, thinks Minnie dryly, not particularly concerned with any beliefs being offended. She knew spirituality was a tool, as any other, for societal ends. However, she was so incredibly curious about stumbling upon some sort of secret gathering, and she moves closer to the stairs which should presumably take her to the chanting. Slowly and carefully, she inspects the stairwell itself while keeping her ears open for any movement. Her senses are heightened to her supernatural limits.

  Perception 5, Investigate 2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2013-08-23 09:26:07		Minnie Chang rolls 6 to Investigation + Wits (10 Again)		7, 5, 8, 6, 6, 9		2 successes
2013-08-23 09:25:52		Minnie Chang rolls 7 to Perception (10 Again)		7, 10, 4, 5, 8, 9, 6, 10, 9		5 successes

[Yumyumcrow]

The stairwell has been poorly maintained: the third step looks a little too warped. Minnie doubts it will cause her problems should she choose to descend. The chanting is clearly coming from below and appears to have picked up tempo. Whatever the ritual or rite being conducted below stairs, it is coming to its climax.

[Princess]

Overtaken by curiosity, Minnie Chang proceeds down the steps with grace and speed.