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Jim inclines his head to Wang Shouren and says, "Please forgive me, I will use the language of the outsiders to communicate more efficiently with them." He switches to English (keenly aware that Wang Shouren probably understands plenty of that, too) and says to the team, "We have the opportunity to gain local favor and a Boon by recovering a sword with historical value. An American buyer wishes to purchase the item, but if we can outbid him or outmaneuver him and acquire the blade, we will have the gratitude of our associate here." "Wang Shouren is known as a philosopher who achieved the highest honors of the Confucian school. Noteworthy to us in particular was his belief that knowledge of good and evil is innate to people," Jim says, adding some context to their visitor's role.
Jim rubs his chin a bit, then looks over toward his companions, some of whom outrank him. Seeing nobody has spoken up, he takes that as consent from his superiors to continue to pursue this thread, and says, "Do please tell us more. We are, after all, mostly visitors in this land, and it would be only proper for us to be polite and respectful to the local social order."
James' eyebrows go up in a nearly comical display and he replies in Mandarin. "Your arrival is quite spectacular," he says, "and your speech suitably cryptic, as befits one who carries the name of a great seeker of knowledge. As we are for the most part visitors here, we would be remiss to be rude and uncooperative to the people who call this place home, and so this humble personage must beg your forbearance while asking... would you care for tea?"
"Yes, the Chantry is in the Central District. It, uh, is in a place of misfortune. The feng shui is bad," says Jim awkwardly. "But I can take us there." He glances around to make sure that he's not saying anything in the open that might be overheard by ears that should not hear it.
James cranes about his head at the sights of Hong Kong. It's been a hot minute since he's been here, after all. "Hmm..."
"Possibly. I can start shaking some contacts for information. Also... I am already acknowledged by the Prince here, though it has been some time since I've visited, as I was summoned to Europe with the rest of you. I even have a small amount of Domain of my own, assuming that things haven't changed."
"The Linglong Baota!" says James with a laugh. "Bishamon's pagoda? Possibly a resonating qi trap like the ones used by the Eight Drunken Immortals?" He can't help but chuckle a bit, but quickly subdues himself. "Well, why not? The world is full of strange things." "Oh, the metal and wood—the Chinese elemental cycle is not the same as the Greek one used in the West. Metal and wood are two of the five cardinal elements, the others being water, earth, and fire. (Air is not an element.) This is from Taoist alchemy—wu xing."
What could possibly go wrong?
Fun factoid: Saulot's philosophy shifted each year as part of the metaplot as a concerted attempt by Justin Achilli to have a "heel-face/face-heel" turn with each new year of releases. Each time there would be new context layered on to Saulot to change his motivations and characterization.
"But this outsider, the Count? He mysteriously appears and disappears—conveniently—from the narrative. Someone either withholds information from Tremere the Founder, or deliberately misleads him—or he knew but had his own long game plans anyway," says Jim. "My mind keeps turning back to the Count. He shows up very conveniently right at a critical time and then vanishes right when the consequences of everything are coming down. It seems contrived, like someone found out about Tremere's plan and intersected it with their own for their own reasons."
"Is it just me, or does this all sound like a very long-term manipulation?"
Jim absorbs this narrative with a good degree of Stoicism, though occasionally his facial expression twitches just enough to get across the hints of deep distress that he feels. "Zao Lat... I heard that name, once I think, while I resided in Zhongguo before." "This is... uh... all operating on the highest levels of the Jyhad, it sounds like." "What does Zao Lat want? What goal is served in subverting the clan?" James says, then shakes his head. "I suppose there's little way to know; how can we know the motivations of a creature that predates the Biblical flood?" "So what is our ultimate goal? To free our House from the clutches of the ancients?"
"Given the circumstances, a bodyguard seems like a reasonable precaution..."
James hesitates when the chalice is offered to him. Didn't he hear something once before, about the Sabbat mixing blood... ? ... but he is in no position to refuse, unfortunately.
Jim snaps back to attention, trying to remain present and mindful in spite of the improbable and wildly dangerous struggle going on overhead. "Uh... " he pats himself down for a moment, looking for a knife. Obviously he is somewhat rattled, as any Kindred will just use a bite to draw blood and lick the wound closed later... which he does after a moment.
James shuffles back into a triangle stance with his hands up, purely by reflex, though fisticuffs will obviously be useless here.
I asked my question!
James says, "What should we expect of Kindred relations in this city, if we are to remain here for some period of time before continuing on our way to Zhongguo? It would be wise for us to avoid exacerbating any political complications."
Sorry, new job has wrecked my schedule!Congrats! What are you doing now? I can relate. :-) Just started at Blizzard working on the World of Warcraft franchise.
"Zhang James, a survivor of the Hong Kong underworld. Sent along for my native knowledge." Jim is quite direct and to the point. It doesn't pay to waste time of your superiors.
Sorry, new job has wrecked my schedule!
"Mmm. None of us should go anywhere alone. There is still bad blood, pun intended, with the ones native to this region."
James says wryly in a cautiously low voice, "I am suddenly reminded of how much language is a barrier to Dominating the minds of recalcitrant folk. If they can't understand you, they can't be directed."
"What is the current predominant language in Constantinople/" says James. "Turkish? Is anyone fluent?"
James folds one hand over the other and makes a deep bow to Ms. Ashe. "I am grateful that the solution to this did not require further violence," he says. "Meanwhile, as we are going to be aboard a while, we may still meddle a little bit here and there to nudge things for our own security."
This is really weird, b/c I was on the Gameplay thread when I told it to post. I know because I was re-reading the team's various threats against Ms. Ashe and wondering if I was going to need to put her in a submission hold.
"Miss," says Jim rather humbly, "Please forgive the unfortunate circumstances. Everyone is rather prickly given what has just happened on this train, and how that could affect all of us. Surely you can see, we are all in this together—quite literally, as we are all on this train as it runs its course—and it is in our best interests not to squabble and fight. Perhaps we should find a spot where we can discuss this matter away from ears that shouldn't hear such conversations."
Sadly, diplomacy is really not Jim's strong suit, and while he makes an earnest effort, the circumstances—with Ashe surrounded by a group of upset Tremere—do not help his case.
Not really anything to chime in—I think diplomacy is better than sticking her into a submission hold for now.
Jim raises some eyebrows as he glances over at the other members of the coterie, aware that they are effectively playing out a comedic scene as they all whisper anxiously to each other upon spotting the mage. Then he wordlessly nods his head to one side in a clear "Well, let's see what he's got" gesture.
Jim remains frozen in place. "An actual magician?" he whispers in Mandarin. "Best not to cross him if we can help it."
"It has the virtue of not violating our orders. I won't stop you if you choose to go, but for the moment I'll wait here."
"Only that the passengers are disturbed and wary. Unfortunately several of the staff are speaking in a language that I don't know, so we will have to be circumspect in finding out more about the scenario. French, I think?" says Jim.
Jim whispers to Sarah, "I do not speak French, so I can't follow their conversation and don't even know if I could communicate effectively with them. Let's report back what little we've learned."
"Mortals become agitated when a murder occurs, and they start trying to ferret out secrets to find out who committed it. They can become quite... intrusive. Which would be... shall we say... annoying for our trip."
"A murder... on the Orient Express."
James says to Donato, "You've inadvertently answered your own question in the statement: While I'm famliar with the territory into which we venture, I know very little about the route there. I have no firsthand knowledge of Constantinople or... the remnants of the Ottoman Empire or Rus. Once we get there... I'll do what I can to make sure that everyone fits within the cultural expectations and we don't make any horrible mistakes."
James shakes his head ruefully. "If it is simply a domestic dispute, it is best for us not to be involved. At all. If it is something supernatural, such as another Kindred on the train, it will become a problem for us soon enough."
James boards the train as a Kindred somewhat familiar with the modern era, without too much trepidation or confusion. "About how many days and nights is this supposed to take... ?"
Jim frowns slightly and says, "The most harrowing parts will probably be travel over ocean. If the ship sinks, so do we... and in deep water survival is not assured; torpor is a likely outcome. Especially since Kindred do not swim well." "Once we reach mainland China, we will likely have to engage some overland routes by more... prosaic forms of travel. Horse-drawn wagons, for example."
"Uh, shen is the local term for various supernatural creatures. All I can say with certainty is that they are not the same as the kinds of creatures found in Europe, and they are not friendly to us," says Jim. "Frankly my best survival strategy while I was out there was to avoid them as much as possible."
"Think of it as an opportunity to gain experience in navigating the political realities of the clan," suggests Jim. "Councilor Wyncham is in a difficult position: He oversees an area literally on the other side of the world from the centers of power for our clan. His opportunities to deal with other luminaries in-person are limited. This was a common political tactic in any number of dynastic empires: Place the less-favored nobles and counselors in positions of authority far, far from the heart of the empire, in order to limit their ability to consolidate power. In addition, Councilor Wyncham's territory is doubtless culturally alien and presents unique regional challenges, such as the shen, that the other councilors don't have to confront. His desire to retain what control he has over that region is understandable in this context." |