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Post by Kuma on Jan 22, 2018 22:35:57 GMT
2 days ago
Minister Hou, the leader of the recently formed Yǐncáng de shìjiè bàngōngshì (Hidden World Office/ 隐藏的世界办公室), was in his office, overlooking downtown Shanghai. He had been given quite the impressive budget, as the Chinese Government realized how utterly behind the times they were in relation to the Hidden World and its problems, as when the Maoist revolution happened the policy was to exterminate anything outside the realm of Mao’s doctrine, they had quite the horrible relation with the Hidden Communities that survived the cullings. Since the foundation of this new department of Hidden World Affairs, he had been attempting to stretch out and reconnect with these lost communities. He had marginal success, some groups, like the Taoist Sages, were accepting of a cultural exchange, but didn’t send people to join. Hidden Monastic Orders, capable of wielding Ki were less accepting of his olive branch, as most of them had been pursued by the government to the point of disbandment and exile.
Most of them wanted insurance about not being the target of another purge and they also wanted some of their relics restored. To his dismay, the Elderly Statesman discovered that most of what was taken from the Hidden World was either destroyed or acquired by other organizations. He attempted to buy out what he could find, but it wasn’t enough. Thus he decided on an alternative plan, seeking older groups, with less baggage. He had some useful information, after making a survey of the territories he was in charge of and thanks to hired Diviners he brought from USA, a family of gypsy mystics who lived nearby New Orleans. In China and territories linked to it there were a dozen or more places of power, like forgotten tombs, abandoned palaces and occult shrines. Once again, as he lacked in-country talent available he contracted foreign experts, that even as much as he liked to do that, it was really taxing to his coffers. Gianni Arachne was selected to explore the tombs and report his findings to Hou. For security a BHA member who lived in Hong-Kong, a british man only known as Percival.
Hou sent both of them, with a sizeable budget, to investigate a peculiar tomb, situated south of the City of Hetian. The Mirigli Clan noticed some activity inside the tomb, through their mysterious divination powers, thus Hou gave priority to this investigation first. He had been combing through information about the area trying to pinpoint any kind of phenomenon related to the activity pointed out by the Gypsy Clan. He was sending anything out of the ordinary to Gianni and Percival as they travelled, but nothing was particularly weird or out of place. The only big news in the area was about a factory fire killing around 100 workers, but nothing else was happening there. Hou sighed, hoping that he didn’t send a couple of operatives to a certain doom. He was almost tempted to send Mingzhi, his personal bodyguard, to the field, but he realized that until his brothers were delivered to him, he couldn’t afford the risk of losing his only line of protection against any dangers posed by the dangerous people he was meeting on a daily basis. And talking about that, he was about to be late for a meeting with a group called “Tengerleg Salkhi” (Divine Wind).
Present Time
Gianni and Percival would be close to arriving to the supposed entrance of the tomb, the left the city one day ago and after a night of camping their guide kept pointing them in the right direction across the arid terrain. Thankfully it was April, so the climate wasn’t as torrid as it could be, but it was enough to make Percival remove his duster jacket, now hanging on his arm. The BHA Member was a tall man, well built, looking around 40-50 years of age. He had steel grey hair with some white locks here and there. Surely he was even bigger when younger, but he had lost some of his size with age. He had thick eyebrows, an unkempt beard and a myriad of scars across his now exposed arms (As he had rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt) and some across his chest, as he also opened the first 3 buttons. A leather belt crossed his chest, keeping the sheath of a large long sword in place behind his back. He walked with resolute steps, cleaning the sweat pouring from his brow from time to time, following behind the guide and Gianni, keeping a close eye on the surroundings.
-There.- The guide spoke with broken english, with an accent almost impossible to determine, as Hetian was a cauldron of cultures, with groups from different religions and ancestry living in the same place. -Up there, I leave now.- He pointed at a rock formation close-by. It was quite difficult to miss, as unlike the ocher sand and powdered stone around it, the formation was white, shining under the midday sun like a beacon. The area was well known for the White Jade formed nearby river banks, it was an important resource of city. That made very peculiar that this massive formation, quite big compared to the small peebles found at the riverside, wasn’t being exploited. Soon it was obvious as the pair of investigators would keep advancing, but the guide didn’t. -What’s the matter lad? We paid good money for your help… The least you could do is follow us to the entrance.- The Old Mercenary asked and the Guide shook his head, fear clearly oozing out from him, thick like syrup. -No, me leave, nobody comes back, I leave.- And with that he left running, like a bat out of Hell.
Percival sighed and shrugged, turning around and looking at Gianni. -At least we know we’re in the right track… If somebody escapes like that from the tomb, wouldn’t you say that laddie?-
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Post by HungryHunter on Jan 23, 2018 1:35:59 GMT
Gianni was dressed for the warmth, decked out in a tank top a brighter yellow than the sun, marked all over with purple stars of various sizes. His shorts were the reverse, sunset purple decked with nearly glowing yellow stars. "In my experience, people keep trying to get into the places I'm checking out." He adjusted his glasses to look at the white mountain closer. From here there wasn't much that stood out about it, just its size and luster. Still, the guide's reaction made his hair stand on end. Usually when the locals were scared of something, they had a reason.
"Well, I suppose we should start by examining the outside for any obvious activity or artifacts. Given the local humans don't come here, any activity that looks human would point to something going on around the tomb." Gianni began approaching the boulder, looking at the ground for any object that may lay in their path.
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Post by othus on Jan 23, 2018 10:48:32 GMT
2 days ago
Ann had the machine for around a couple of months now, and while it was nice to have around, its actual use was reduced to making hamburgers appear out of thin air.
Thus far, the only things she knew about her newfound abilities came from the machine itself as
An AI activated when she first got the machine, filling her on some info about the purpose of the machine and how to use it.
Three things she got from that briefing:
1-the machine’s purpose is to gather data.
2-if there was no new data found within a 1 year period, the machine will undergo a self-destruct process. (something that actually disturbed Ann, as it wasn’t specified on whether or not the machine would take her down with itself.
3-The AI would only activate itself when necessary and there was no way to contact it back for more info.
Ann was taking a sip of her 3rd monster energy when a pop-up screen appeared from her VM
The letters flashed red with the following:
*QUEST#1
Investigate and gather data on the following region:
79° 55' 23.2824'' E
37° 7' 14.2752'' N
UTM
404,334.73
4,108,797.19
Briefing
-Collect Hidden World data on the region
-starting AP: 70
Rewards
-1000 exp points
-1 year of autonomy
Time for completion:
1 month
*FAIL TO COMPLETE THE MISSION WILL RESULT IN -3 MONTHS OF AUTONOMY*
Ann spat her drink all over the screen, it was the first time such a thing appeared.
As she rushed the coordinates into her PC, a million questions rushed her mind, why was this happening right now? How does the machine suddenly decide to send this data? what's hidden world? Whatever it was, answers would surely land if she followed the so-called quest.
the coordinates came back onto the screen:
“CHINA?!! IS THIS THING NUTS?! And what’s with the whole -3 months of autonomy? Is this about the self-destruct?! Ann sighed with only one thing on her mind:
“I’m going to need some plane tickets.”
PRESENT TIME
As soon as Ann got there, the coordinates were updated. It would seem the actual place was not in the city, in fact, it was rather far away if you were to go by foot, something she still did.
Ann knew next to nothing about real life camping, but then again, she never even used a firearm before the VM and yet when she went to the shooting gallery her aim was spectacular, she was also pretty confident on her stamina, as her physical traits doubled in the last month thanks to the machine, moreover she knew she could never run out of food nor water.
the next morning she got up early and decided to move out.
she opened the store and swapped her outfit for a military tan camo.
“I guess I should get this over with ASAP” she said as she got up from the ground, she sprinted for a couple more kilometers before getting close to her destination.
In the distance, three persons could be seen. One of them was apparently going back, while the other two decided to stay.
Ann decided to hide and further watch the two before making a move, she equipped herself with a handgun. That alone was enough to make her nervous already.
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Post by Kuma on Jan 24, 2018 3:24:33 GMT
The massive piece of white Jade stood over 30 meters tall and with at least 50 meters in diameter. It was smooth and curved, like a skipping stone, only that much more massive. The sun, hitting the surface of it, made it shine, with a slight shimmering opalescent effect. From a distance it was difficult to notice any kind of features, as the bright light blocked their perception, but upon getting close to it something became quite obvious, the massive formation wasn’t natural, or at the very least human hand touched it, as there were signs of being polished and carved, since it was almost perfectly symmetrical. Percival whistled with admiration. -Haven’t seen anything like this before, and I’ve been around for a long time laddie.- He pointed out as he slowly passed close to the surface of the rock, still careful enough not to touch it. The Old Mercenary was right to be impressed, as Gianni’s expert eyes would notice details he missed and were praiseworthy.
The work on the rock was old, possibly more than 1000 years old, considering the marks left by the tools and the general style, as the carvings covered most of it with complex and intertwined designs. If they kept moving around the massive formation they might find that in the opposite side there was a more elaborate carving, some kind of doorway. Percival kept a close eye on the surroundings, moving just a couple of meters in front of Gianni while keeping his hand tightly clutched around the grip of his sword. He sniffed the air, only getting the peculiar scent of the White Jade and sand. His eyes scanned the area, always a couple of feet away from the curved stone wall, looking for any signs of recent activity. The carved designs got more and more complex the closer they got to the doorway. And as they moved in closer The Old Mercenary noticed something, a faint glimmer coming from 20 meters to the south. -I’m going to check on something laddie, shout if something is afoot.- He whispered to Gianni before moving towards the shining object he noticed on the ground.
He pulled out his blade with a satisfying SWHING! sound. The weapon had a golden cross pommel with a red ruby in the middle, the grip was covered in black leather. The cross guard was golden as well, with some details in bronze, half of one of the sides was cut clean, as if another blade had sliced it. The blade itself was bluish grey with an interesting finish pattern, like waves crashing against a cliff, the cliff being the fuller. It was a wide blade, with a thick golden fuller inscribed with runes of celtic or nordic origin, a bit too old and smooth to actually be legible. The blade was worn, but not dirty, blunt or broken, it was extremely well kept, but clearly it was old. Percival stealthy advanced, crouched and with his eyes locked to the shining thing. He stopped and took cover behind a large rock, he looked at Gianni and then came out from his cover and moved towards the thing that caught his attention. When he arrived he barely manage to contain a gasp of surprise.
-Laddie, you better come see this.- He stood up, losing his defensive posture and sheathing his blade. In front of him, hiding behind a rock, there was a beat-up pick-up truck, the tires were flat, the chassis was bent and burnt, with many impacts coming from small sources, roughly the size of a fist. Behind the car, laying the sand was a human body. Percival almost touched it, but when he got close enough he realized it would’ve been a bad idea, as the body was dried up, almost mummified. It was dressed in modern clothing and was positioned as if he had been crawling. Dusting a bit of the rocky floor behind his feet was more than enough for the Old Mercenary to notice scuff marks caused by the metallic button of his jean dragging on the floor and it seemed that he came out from the doorway. - I think something inside attacked him, don’t you think so, laddie?- He asked, hoping that Gianni was more versed on Hidden World creatures than he was, at least the ones living in the Far East, worlds away of his loved England.
While they investigated, the guide was leaving, getting up to the dune buggy he used to bring them close to the White Jade Tomb. He was cursing himself in mandarin chinese with a thick hotan province accent, clearly he was shaken up just from being close to the thing, but there was something else about him, as he constantly looked behind, with guilty eyes.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jan 24, 2018 6:37:07 GMT
Gianni gently removed dust from the structure with a fine brush. "This is definitely artificial. Looks old too. I don't know enough about the local art styles to say exactly how old, but I would put money on it being medieval." Gianni brushed at the doorway, quickly noticing the shattered pieces lying on the floor. He stooped to examine them, not moving them from their position. From the looks of it, there was a door of black stone before, but it had been destroyed. This wasn't natural wear over time, somebody had smashed the door in from the outside. His face took a scowl. Intentional destruction of priceless artifacts was a good way to get yourself on Gianni's shit list.
Gianni was about to report this finding to Percival when he was called instead. Raising an eyebrow, he jogged up behind Percival, skidding to a stop well behind him when he spotted the body. He gulped audibly, shook his head and nodded. "I imagine it was angry about having its front door smashed in, if the damage I saw was recent." Gianni quickly explained the damage he had seen to Percival before gingerly approaching the body. Did this have anything to do with the damage he saw, or was it a bystander who just got unlucky? He looked for tools in the truck before finally giving the body a look.
"The mummification could be natural. This region is arid. The temperature isn't as high as I expect would be necessary though, so I expect that this was an effect of whatever killed him." Gianni was no expert on the creatures here, but he had been given a basic rundown of some of the monsters he might encounter. It could be a Jiangshi. Sleeping in a tomb would suit something weakened by sunlight, and they did drain people. How it would burn the truck was unclear though. That wasn't something mentioned.
"I'm not much for forensics. I'll send pictures to HQ and we'll move on." Gianni snapped some shots and looked away. The body was desiccated enough that he could see it as an archaeological find, but even then, he wasn't used to dead things. He took a few steps towards the mound and sighed. He should check for identification... He looked back at the body and flicked out threads from a distance.
Their sticky tips entered the body's pockets and were withdrawn, pulling out whatever was inside without disturbing the corpse... after a few tries. Gianni sheepishly brushed off the failed purple threads now clinging all over the body's pants. He hadn't wanted to disturb the crime scene's context, but he figured his webbing all over was probably worse than just grabbing the wallet normally.
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Post by othus on Jan 24, 2018 8:14:31 GMT
The situation wasn't yet clear to Ann, but now she had a chance to further investigate. The last guy who looked like a local was about to leave, and the other two went out to explore, maybe she could get some info out of him. Ann quickly descended from her hiding place, rushing to intercept the local. With her gun out of her holster, she stepped right in front of the guide and aimed her gun right at his chest.
"hold it right there, I need to ask you some questions, you are gonna tell me right now what those two are doing at this place and why are you not staying with them! if you answer truthfully I will let you go."
Deep down Ann knew she wouldn't harm the guy, but she hoped the guide would fall for her bluff...
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Post by Kuma on Jan 25, 2018 3:04:34 GMT
The guide stopped dead on his tracks, his hand still clutching the door handle of the buggy cage. His eyes, charged with fear and anxiety were locked on Ann, or better put, locked on the gun she was carrying. With trembling sluggishness he placed both hands up, palms facing her. The guide attempted to talk, but he was only able to utter incoherent and stammering nonsense, his brain trying to push english words, but his tongue betraying him and attempting to roll out chinese. His whole body was shivering like a solitary leaf on a winter tree, hit by roaring chill winds, his legs feeling like jello underneath him and finally his weight couldn’t be supported by them, causing him to fall flat on his ass. Tears started to pour out from his eyes and drench his cheeks, sobbing between impossible to understand panicked whispers. It wasn’t long before a dark patch appeared on his pants, expanding as the man, who was already on edge from being somewhere he was afraid off was suddenly pointed with a gun.
-I… I…- He finally started making sense between tears. -Just guide… y-ye-yes… j-ju-just g-g-guide…- He stuttered, clearly fighting against the waves of emotions crashing against his mind, fear, embarrassment and sadness teaming up against his psyche. -T-t-they wan-wan-ted visit s-s-s-stone… I ju-ju-just g-gui-guide.- And after spending the last of his composure talking his body gave out and he fell unconscious, landing on his side. Quite the pathetic sight.
-Jiangshi you say?- Percival asked, recognizing the word. -I know a couple of Chinese BHA members who summon those things, they always give me goosebumps.- The Old Mercenary knew the Jiangshi well enough, nobody who operated in China for a reasonable amount of time didn’t know about them. He started digging around his memory trying to get useful information out, pacing as he tried to remember, but he stopped upon witnessing Gianni’s powers. -Huh, that’s quite nice, I’m more of a direct approach man myself, but I can remember more than one situation in which such subtle skill would have saved me a lot of time.- As he uttered his mixture of praise and nostalgic remembrance The Arachnid Archeologist picked the belongings of the corpse. A dusty and empty wallet, except for some local coins and a small flat piece of red rock. A couple of half smoked, hand rolled cigars and a small switchblade. No ID or cellphone. -Makes sense, if I was trying to do some misguided deeds in the middle of the desert I wouldn’t carry any identification either.-
For a moment he stopped talking and looking around. -Sorry if I jump to conclusions, but I’ve seen stuff like this in my day.- He points at the body. -Poor dead bastard.- Then at the trail. -Crawling scared.- and finally his finger aimed at the White Jade Tomb. -Escaping from a mysterious tomb.- He paced besides the trail and kneeled, using his hand to swat the dust out, finally showing other evidence apart from the scuff marks, tiny specks of dried blood. -He was bleeding out and he was on his last legs, I’m surprised he kept moving without almost any blood, maybe he was a Hiddy.- Not exactly a common word, Percival used a slang term used by British Hidden World Denizens to refer to others like them. The Old Mercenary stood up and turned to face Gianni. -Should we report right to HQ or do you want to investigate a bit more before doing the initial briefing.- He smiled a big warm grin. -You’re the boss, I’m just here as muscle.- He looked relaxed, but he was still alert for any kind of movement nearby, he even looked behind him, directly at the shadows inside the forcefully opened doorway.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jan 25, 2018 6:49:02 GMT
"It's not that useful. I'm not precise enough to make it count, as you saw." Gianni set the empty wallet down and shook his head. Percival was right. He should have expected as much. "I'd brief them so they know there's a confirmed death, but you have more experience. I want your advice on things like this." Gianni was about to call up HQ, but something jolted him. Some threads were still dangling from his fingers to the gravel below. Like a spider, Gianni was highly sensitive to vibrations traveling through his threads. Just down the hill, he had felt the guide's footsteps stop, then an impact, like his body hitting the ground.
"I felt something... I think our guide fell down." Gianni closed his eyes to concentrate on what the vibrations in the ground told him. They weren't very good on loose ground like this, but he would be able to tell if the guide stood back up. However, after 30 seconds he still hadn't risen. "He's not getting up. Can we check on him before we move on?" Gianni's voice grew strained with worry. This was abnormal. Had he just fallen on his own and gotten hurt, or was he attacked? And if it was the latter, by what?
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Post by othus on Jan 25, 2018 7:55:07 GMT
"Bloody hell!" Ann said as she witnessed the guy fall unconscious, now she had 0 info and a knocked out person. "this won't do, I cannot leave him like this!" she picked the guy up and set him on his buggy. there was now a big dilemma, hopefully, she could still track the other 2 people, but then again, as soon as the guide wakes up things would spell trouble.
"what do I do now?! shit!!, I think I might have made a wrong move here... those wisdom points surely would have helped me here!" Ann said as she scratched her head. the sun was a little too strong to just leave him like that, and it was unlikely that the other two people who arrived here would help without asking questions.
"I could probably drive this guy back, but those two could get to my objective before me, and those -3 months of autonomy scare me to death."
"I have to wake this guy now, and set him on his way before those two come back!" Ann proceeded to open her store, hoping there would be some item that helped her.
"10 points for bottled water?! this is a scam!" she said as the fancy 1-liter bottle appeared on her hand. "VEEN water?... I guess that's why."
Ann opened the cold bottle of water and poured it all over the guide, hoping that would wake him up.
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Post by Kuma on Jan 26, 2018 3:47:46 GMT
-Mmm- Percival nodded upon hearing the information. He scanned the area for any evident threats and then faced Gianni. -I’ll check it out, you stay here and contact HQ.- The Old Mercenary moved with careful steps towards the rock. As he did he looked back and pointed at the car. -You could comb the car for evidence while you wait, use the skills of yours laddie.- Percival regained his focus forward as he crouched and moved almost against the wall, circling the curved wall back to the side they came from. His hand was once again tightly shut around his sword grip, his fingers nervously fidgeting with the interwoven leather straps, checking their texture. As he moved he put his duster on, as it was lightly reinforced, not to kevlar level, but at the very least granted some defense against blades. His free hand opened a inner pocket, he placed two fingers inside and quickly took them out, using the other fingers to close the pocket. He traced a line with some liquid hidden in the pocket over his forehead.
His index finger did a vertical line in the middle, while his middle finger did a perpendicular line over the first one. The strange shimmering liquid glistened for a second before being absorbed by his skin. -Ok… let’s do this.-
While Percival moved the guide was being manhandled by Ann. The guide got a splash of cold water on his face and suddenly woke up, violently shaking and flailing his arms. He was confused and kind of stunned, his frantic eyes twirling inside his sockets, trying to focus on something. Finally he locked stares with Ann. -You… away…- He weakly attempted to push her, but his meager efforts would surely be ineffectual against the Virtual Warrior. -Away… curse… away… let… go…- He kept pushing against her, but to no real effect, as there wasn’t any strength behind his attacks, maybe it was that he just fall unconscious, but it could be something else, as he wasn’t exactly a small guy, he clearly was more of a blue-collar individual, but his pushes barely had any force behind them. If Ann was observant enough she would notice that the man was looking gaunt, much worse than what he looked before collapsing.
Finally he stopped flailing and collapsed over the dashboard. His cheek was pressed against the warm plastic surface, his beady eyes looking at Ann. His skin was dry, much drier than before, it looked flimsy, like an old piece of parchment and almost translucent. His eyes sunk, deep bags appeared underneath them, as his veins popped out, or were made more noticeable as his skin became tighter. -Help…- He managed to let out a pained whisper just before his lips, so dry and tense, cracked and droplets of blood started falling, not the spurt they should, just a faint dribble. The man breathing stopped and he went limp, while his body kept getting drier and drier.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jan 26, 2018 5:48:44 GMT
Gianni hadn't planned on disturbing the scene any more than necessary, but he did know how to search for clues better than Percival, and the Ministry might not send any more people to this location. He nodded and jumped into the bed while he flicked on his comlink. "This is Gianni Arachne reporting. It looks like somebody else has entered the target location. The ruins have a broken door and outside there's a damaged pickup truck, and a body. Sending pictures now." Gianni sent the pictures over his phone, detailing the corpse from a few angles and a close up of the fist impressions.
"Do you know anything that could do both of these?" He asked as he finished checking the pickup bed for tools and opened the cab door. "There's no plate number. It looks like this was planned out, so I don't believe the victim came here alone. We may have others in the tomb itself." He tapped at spots on the truck to check for hidden compartments. It turned out archaeology skills also translated well to forensics.
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Post by othus on Jan 26, 2018 5:52:25 GMT
Ann watched in terror as the man's life faded away with no explanation, Ann immediately let go of the guide as the whole scene was enough to make her tremble. Both her heartbeat and breathing were going like crazy,and she finally let out a scream of terror.
The virtual machine reacted to Ann's stress and entered battle mode.
a small counter appeared on her top right side with the number 40 on it, suddenly becoming 41, 42,43...
Ann pulled out her handgun, both her reflexes and adrenaline were pumped at max levels, she quickly backed away from the vehicle without losing sight of it.
"what the hell is going on?!?!" Ann said to herself as she crazily aimed everywhere as if looking for a culprit, small tears on her eyes were blurring her sight and she couldn't really make a decent thought as to what to do next. after a couple of seconds, her train of thought was finally stopped as she remembered she was not alone.
"the other two, I must get to them now, I don't care what happens after that!" Ann began to sprint as fast as she could towards the last direction she saw them both. her speed would make a man twice her size jealous.
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Post by Kuma on Jan 28, 2018 5:08:00 GMT
The pick-up was completely empty, except from dirty wrappers, half empty bottle and ashes from cigarettes. From the clean marks on the otherwise dusty seats once could gather that there were at the very least 3 individuals who drove in the truck. The information Gianni requested game in several text responses on the device given to him by Minister Hou when he was hired.
[The pattern of rapid dehydration and the disappearance of blood indicate the possibility of creatures in the D1 to D5 Hazard Classification, or what the JHWAB call Kamaitachi 1-5. The denomination of the creatures is “Jiangshi” also known as Chinese Vampires by westerners. The Jiangshi tend to split into two very different groups, either recently animated corpses, which requires a practitioner of mystical arts and a great expenditure of Yang Chi or the second category are mummified corpses left as guardians of a place of power. They not only require Chi but also the fulfilment of some kind of condition, like a trigger for their awakening. The first group tend to be less durable but more mobile, while the second boasts of impressive resilience while their mobility is highly reduced in comparison to fresher corpses…]
Moments later a second message appeared on the screen with a blip.
[If an operative would encounter a tomb, catacomb or shrine which is guarded by the Guardian Jiangshi (As we will call the second type in counterpoint to Servant Jianshi being the first) The first order of business would be to have any kind of light always on, as the light causes the Jiangshi to slow down and depending on the intensity they could get hurt by it. Torches and other fire-based light sources tend to work better than electric light. Magical Light is counterproductive as they aren’t affected by it and in fact will target it, considering it a threat, especially the Guardian Type. Jiangshi are quite innocuous in ranged combat, as they, generally, lack any long or mid range options when it comes to combat, yet be advised there have been some cases in which the overconfidence brought to many by this information was their undoing, as even the most archaic Jiangshi could present alterations to their basic presentation and include said options…]
The third and last text flashed on the tactile screen of the device.
[Guardian Types tend to be awaken by sudden intrusion to the location they are guarding is detected, but as mentioned earlier they require enormous quantities of Chi. Most of the larger stockpiles of Chi, usually kept inside clay jars especially designed for it, were detected on our latest survey and so far the information gathered has been 100% accurate. The Tomb south of Hetian didn’t poses such stockpile, thus it wasn’t deem as dangerous as other locations, but somehow, if the evidence you have gathered is truthful and there isn’t any foul play, and you’re truly finding victims of a Jiangshi attack it must either point out to some naturally occuring Chi source we don’t know off, entirely plausible, or some kind of outer interference with enough Chi to bring back the sleeping guardians. Caution is advised, but the Hazard Classification is inferior to your group potential, so you won’t have any trouble exploring the Tomb. Bonus compensation will be provided upon retrieval of objects that confirm the destruction of Guardians. <Paper Charms>]
The information finally stopped coming, leaving Gianni to analyze it on his own. Meanwhile…
Percival saw the horror in Ann’s face as the guide started to shrivel up. The Old Mercenary slowly unsheathed his blade, that exited the scabbard with a soft SWING sound. The Virtual Warrior started sprinting towards his location and Percival moved to intercept, raising his blade with one hand, aiming it towards her while raising his other hand gesturing her to stop. -What happened to that man lassie?- His blade was still, like a calm lake, showcasing his confidence and lack of fear even when facing an opponent armed with a gun. -You can start by lowering your weapon and then telling me what’re you doing here and who’re you? Then you can answer my first question... or do it in whatever order you like...- He added, his eyes locked on her. If Ann had any kind of sensorial enhancements allowing her to see other spectrums of energy she might notice a very faint shimmering magical aura around Percival and one much larger on his blade, if not she would only see a fit middle aged man with a worn, yet well kept blade in hand.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jan 28, 2018 7:55:27 GMT
Gianni glanced around the landscape as he read the message. Well, there was nothing to make a torch out of, and the light his clinging ability produced when he pushed it to walk on water probably counted as magical. Fire clearly wasn't going to be on the cards. He'd have to settle for his flashlight, which was fortunately top of the line. He had splurged for the best gear he could get with his advance. The steel grey tool rested at his side. He could probably use it as a club and still use it for years. Not that he planned on it. If he was close enough to use a club, Percival wasn't doing his job.
Gianni closed the phones screen and hopped out of the truck cab. Gianni had met chi, or as most of them put it, ki, users before. They often came to his old place of work, Vorpal's, specifically the workout sections. He certainly didn't have any aptitude for it himself. The rigorous physical training required was beyond his time requirements and willpower. They were mostly weak ones of course. The sorts who would tire themselves out firing off a few beams. He had heard some of them talking about legendary ki users who blew apart mountains and had to be imprisoned on deserted islands. Presumably, somebody who could bring ancient Jiangshi back to life was in between those extremes. Hopefully closer to the low end.
He would cross that bridge when he reached it. He had to avoid getting too attached to any one interpretation of what might be waiting for them at the bottom of this tomb. It would prevent adaptation in front of new evidence. No point spending too much time planning now when it could all fall apart just because it's a different threat than expected. That was the way a scientist had to act. He looked over at the direction Percival had vanished off to. It was just a little lower than he could see from here. He didn't want to enter the tomb now, and if he started looking at the inscriptions out here, he'd be going at it all day.
He sent a last message about how it was possible there were two more unknown agents in the tomb and walked back down the path. He saw Percival first, realizing immediately that his sword was out and shining. He followed the blade to the woman it pointed at. Who was she? He noticed the firearm in her hand and stepped back. He was quick enough to dodge bullets at this range, but it wasn't by such a margin that he wanted to test his luck, especially if she fired multiple rounds. Worse still, the guide was at her feet... mummified!? Could a Jiangshi resemble a human so closely? Or stand in the sunlight? Or use a gun? He didn't know any of these things and really wished he didn't have to find out.
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Post by othus on Jan 28, 2018 20:26:41 GMT
As soon as Ann began running away from there the Battle mode ended, stopping her point count at 46. perhaps the machine read that as fleeing from the encounter?. *no exp awarded, reason: VM no.3 ran from battle* the top right line displayed.
"no exp, like I give a damn about that right now!" Ann began to sprint even faster than before, the sand on her feet made it hard for her to add any substantial speed to her sprint, but that wouldn't stop her at all.
After just a few seconds of sprinting, Ann was intercepted by this middle-aged man who easily towered above her, she somehow felt relieved from looking at the man, despite his size and him pointing at her with his blade. she didn't know if he would be friendly but even getting cleaved in half would be better than what happened to the guide. the man stopped Ann and asked her some questions.
-- *thank god you speak English!* Ann thought to herself as she nervously holstered her gun, she didn't want them to think she was a threat after all that happened.
"I...I came here to investigate on my own, I saw the guide but something happened to him out of nowhere, it's the truth, he suddenly dropped dead!!" Ann said as she pointed back at the buggy.
Ann tried to further calm herself down, this was the first time she ever saw a man like that, but she knew there had to be a reasonable explanation just like with her virtual machine.
"My name is Ann, I'm from America and came here to gather data, do you know what is going on around here, who are you exactly?!"
Ann then noticed the other guy, his appearance was a lot less threatening, but there was something to it she couldn't quite grasp that made him different, she kept an eye on him as he moved around.
The other thing that was also absorbing her attention? the dead man by the buggy, she still wasn't sure about what really happened and she was greatly disturbed by the display. one thing for sure, she wouldn't drink VEEN water in a long time.
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Post by Kuma on Jan 31, 2018 3:07:22 GMT
Percival keen and piercing emerald eyes scanned Ann from top to bottom. He had very basic senses, nothing too fancy, but he had a lot of experience and he could tell if there was something off or out of normal with somebody. He kept his sword pointed at her while she explained herself and holstered his gun. Unlike other less seasoned fighters, he didn’t relax his stance, even when she put the weapon away, she might be a Ki user and blast him, or a magic user and cast a spell. -You’re from USA? Who sent you? Under whose authority are you here?- The Old Mercenary asked, his blade, still like the surface of a lake, aimed at her neck. -Your answer will define your fate.- He added, as his free hand reached into his duster pocket, not the sealed one, and took a small badge, a token given to him by Hou, to handle local authorities if needed. -We’re on official government business, you can either leave or start talking.- Something was off about Ann, she called the man “guide” meaning she had been following them at least for a bit. He had lived for a very long time and his gut instinct was warning him about her. He give a split second glance behind him, moving his eyes and nodding to the side, gesturing Gianni to return to the doorway, before focusing once again on Ann.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jan 31, 2018 6:15:00 GMT
Gianni hesitated when Percival indicated he should go back. Didn't he want backup? I'm not much in the way of backup of course. And it's his job to keep me out of trouble. He backed up a little and finally turned entirely away to return to the tomb. He still felt bad leaving somebody to handle a problem on their own, but Percival seemed pretty capable. He would have to make himself useful to avoid guilt, so he headed straight for the doorway. He peered inside and saw darkness. This wasn't night dark, cold, stars in the sky, predators among the trees dark. This was crypt dark, stuffy, suffocating dark, made of spiderwebs and corpse dusk dark. Gianni's face broke out in a big, goofy grin upon stepping inside.
He had never been afraid of the dark. Even as a child, he and his sister sometimes didn't turn the lights on in the mornings and just ran around in darkness. It certainly helped that their senses were vastly more attuned to darkness than a human's. Their sense of touch was incredibly developed. They could feel people walking around the next room over and could usually tell what material something was by its texture if they were familiar with it. In addition, they had short, fine hairs mixed in with their much less fine body hair that picked up on movements as well. They were a little less effective given they usually wore clothes, but the ones on their heads gave them a good sense for objects in their environment, and they could extend them with their thread powers. Gianni could walk around in this tomb with no light whatsoever and he'd probably be fine for the most part.
He turned on his flashlight anyway. He still gathered more details with his eyes on, and some traps didn't really set off his hairs. He flicked out a thread to the wall right next to the door. If somebody came in or walked around outside, he'd feel the vibrations. It let him focus his full attention on whatever was in the entryway itself rather than who was at the door.
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Post by othus on Feb 1, 2018 2:35:19 GMT
Ann gulped at the sight of the blade, her breathing began to accelerate slightly, but somehow her mind was a lot calmer than before. perhaps she made a mistake in holstering her gun? no matter, she had to gather the data at all costs, she braced herself and spoke.
"I am not here because I want to, my life is on the line!, I am forced to gather data or else I will die!. as for who sent me, that is exactly what I'm trying to figure out."
Ann looked at the man with determination, she was not gonna back down from this no matter what, for the first time she stood up in the face of danger, perhaps the previous experience with the guide made her understand the seriousness of the situation, perhaps she was too stubborn to die without a fight. the machine set her in battle mode as the man was now considered a threat.
"now, if you excuse me, I have to keep going! and lower that thing for god's sake is a 5 ft girl that much of a threat to you??!"
Ann gave a step forward, as soon as she did the machine became a lot more focused on the weapon the man was carrying, perhaps it was of its interest?
Ann looked straight at the weapon, a message to the left displayed:
-Quest progress: 5%
**what? why?! is it the weapon after all?!** the whole notion of this man adding some progress to her quest made the entire thing all the more confusing. she was frozen in her tracks, and yet never stopped paying attention to the man in front of her
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Post by Kuma on Feb 5, 2018 4:08:37 GMT
Gianni’s flashlight shone into the dark doorway. The walls were smooth, the same color as the exterior, as if the passage was carved directly into the massive White Jade. The corridor walls slightly curved the higher they went, until meeting in the middle with a gentle curve. The almost impossibly flat floor had a thick layer of dust over it, with some signs of recent disturbance, several different sets of footsteps and what seemed to be scuff marks caused by something being dragged. More blood drops also confirmed Percival’s hypothesis about the man outside dragging his body from inside the Tomb. The light he was shooting inside bounced against the walls, illuminating much more than it should. His expert eyes would notice the usage of ancient tools and techniques to polish the walls, work that surely took decades if not centuries to perform. In this heat and with this kind of climate it would be easy to find mass burial grounds nearby, as many generations of worker must have spent every waking minute working on this construction and thus, added to the climate and the usually poor work conditions it was obvious that they would’ve died while constructing, or better put, carving this tomb.
Apart from dust and some small insect carcasses, the place, or at least the corridor, that slowly started descending and turning 10 mts in, was empty. No physical traces of any intrusions, except for the tracks in the floor. But something was moving, Gianni’s hairs might notice the vibrations in the ground, rhythmic stomps, climbing up the hallway in front of him, moving towards the exit. At the very edge of his vision, a circular hat with an sphere on top started getting closer as a figure skipped towards him, both legs together with both arms stretched forward.
-In my line of work you never lose sight of something anomalous, lass.- Percival was still locked on to Ann. -Even if that anomaly is a 5 ft tall American Teenager in the middle of China, trying to investigate the same location as a team of government sanctioned researchers.- The Old Mercenary sniffed the air, less to actual get a whiff of a scent and more in a dramatical fashion. -I smell bullshit.- He said as she gave a step forward. -And I don’t like smelling that when I’m on the job.- His eyes locked on the buggy for a split second and returned to Ann. -Now you will tell me what did you do to him... no bullshit, or you will find out how sharp my blade is, lass.-
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Post by HungryHunter on Feb 5, 2018 7:17:23 GMT
Gianni checked the footprints in the dust, comparing them between each other. Just like the clean seats had suggested, it looked like there were three pairs of feet. That left two possible hostile outsiders in the tomb. He gently touched the wall, feeling the smoothness of fine work. This tomb was likely started in the beginning of a local ruler's reign so as to be finished before their demise. It would have taken ages to carve out this much rock this smoothly.
He was drawn out of feeling the wall by a vibration. His eyes went to the doorway, but another vibration was carried up his thread. He turned to the descending corridor and his hair stood up like it had a will of its own. Another thud, this time audible as well as felt, and it was vaguely in view. Gianni recognized the hat right away as a Qing Dynasty cap worn by some officials. He didn't run, just backing up as he observed the creature.
It definitely was a Jiangshi, as he suspected. He really had seen much worse. "Percival, there's a jiangshi! I'm engaging with it!" Gianni spoke into his headset, sending on his personal channel with Percival. Taking a deep breath, Gianni flicked more threads backwards, letting them cling to the arch of the doorway. If it continued approaching, he would jump backwards and use the threads to swing back to kick it in the face. An undead being hopefully wouldn't have the reflexes to deal with a tricky attack like that.
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