COMMENTARY
Venom and rage.Usum really doesnt like Emma-O.
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So we have an envoy of Emma-O and its entourage in Chicago.
I am interested in finding out if there's a correlation between how long between the White Council receiving the Book of Yomi Wan and the akuma showing up in the city. Or if it was just our use of shintai that drew their attention.
Note:
This Lady Eiko may not be an akuma. All we know is that it has akuma in its entourage.
For all we know, its a Shikome Assassin; originally an akuma, now something closer to a shapeshifting demon succubus, with effective invisibility. Emma-O has a lot of those in his entourage, and they are his trusted consorts, servitors and lieutenants.
Men are particularly vulnerable to these.
Very onbrand for him.
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Also worth noting:
Its hiding its face. That could either be fashion, or it has a reasonable fear of being recognized.
The fact that the bone mask is grown means that dude has at least Bone Shintai 3, which means it can toggle invisibility, up to +6HL, +Armor and a Str+3 Agg weapon. If it has the Chi.
Respectable combat stats, and a horror to most mortals and many supernaturals.
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This is the 30th of September. 5 days hence is October 5, so in the first week of the next turn.
The five day delay suggests that
1)Showing up at the Carpenter residence with its protections is too chancy for this thing to risk
2)They are delaying meeting until they receive reinforcements from Yomi Wan/finish recruiting/finish murdering the people they are killing in Chinatown
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Worth noting that they are deliberately picking a meeting place that isnt a neutral venue, but rather a spot in Chinatown where they have presumably spent effort fortifying. Nor are they picking an arbitrator/guarantor from the Accords as a diplomatic mediator.
Even the Red Court picked a neutral venue with an arbitrator when they want to make an appearance of diplomacy.
Most of the Yomi Kings and their minions like to make a show of civilization , so this is curious.
Its safe to assume that violence is an option here.
On the other hand, akuma dont count as greater Creatures of Darkness, and so they are unlikely to be immune to Demonic Primacy of Essence. Its entirely feasible to show up and interrogate her instead. At least until she rolls Join Battle.
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This is a reminder to all the people out to draw aggro with Winter. Winter exists for a reason.
I mean, its worth noting that even Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness did not make the sorts of demands that this akuma-delivered letter has made of us.
I do wonder how much of the bluster around the Cross and Sword is bluff, and how much is sheer ignorance.
Because we know that Shiro was active in the East prior to his death, so they should know better.
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Bright side is that, since this appears to be an akuma with Infernal Investments?
Holy water is very much a viable armament.
Stocking up on supersoakers and water balloons is potentially an option for a bunch of our allies.
Also, justification for demanding that Dresden teach us Summoning and Warding.
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Ping Tom Boathouse is part of Ping Tom Memorial Park in Chinatown. Named for a prominent Chinese-American businessman who died in 1995, who also attended Haines Elementary. As of 2006, I dont think the boathouse been fully constructed yet; then mayor Rahm Emmanuel opened it in 2013. But this is an AU, so maybe things happened faster here.
This is what it looks like when completed:
Ping Tom Boathouse said:
Lots of water, which makes for good concealment for Yomi reinforcements to hide in and approach or retreat through, since they dont need to breathe. But also suits us very well, because Boiling Sea Mastery.
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Note that Ping Tom attended Haines Elementary School in the 1940s.
Which confirms that the school is in Chinatown, and has been in Chicago's historic Chinatown since at least the 1940s.
Which narrows down the Recluce Murders, where the victims are all relatives of attendees of Haines.
It suggests that the akuma is hanging out somewhere in Chinatown.
