[X]Mark of the City: Agent: You have been host to the guardian spirit of one of China's great cities, and it has marked your soul. With just a little effort, you can blend in unnoticeably in a Chinese city, for the city god has marked you as its agent in matters best left in silence and the dark.
I would prefer to be able to blend in easily. It'll save us a lot of trouble later on.
You can almost hear Lebedev's whiplash from getting ready to impolitely boot you out of his territory like a naughty kitten before realizing that the same could happen to him, only even less politely.
[X]Mark of the City: Agent: You have been host to the guardian spirit of one of China's great cities, and it has marked your soul. With just a little effort, you can blend in unnoticeably in a Chinese city, for the city god has marked you as its agent in matters best left in silence and the dark.
With "a little effort" means we have some control over this right? So we could still use our natural heritage to try to blend with the invaders later.
[X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
[X]Mark of the City: Agent: You have been host to the guardian spirit of one of China's great cities, and it has marked your soul. With just a little effort, you can blend in unnoticeably in a Chinese city, for the city god has marked you as its agent in matters best left in silence and the dark.
[X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
[X]Mark of the City: Agent: You have been host to the guardian spirit of one of China's great cities, and it has marked your soul. With just a little effort, you can blend in unnoticeably in a Chinese city, for the city god has marked you as its agent in matters best left in silence and the dark. [X]Mark of the City: Seal: Your shoulder bears the Ming Imperial Seal in faded white, as if it was a birthmark or an old, old scar. When you whisper to the spirits of the Chinese countryside, your voice carries far indeed.
[X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
[X]Mark of the City: Agent: You have been host to the guardian spirit of one of China's great cities, and it has marked your soul. With just a little effort, you can blend in unnoticeably in a Chinese city, for the city god has marked you as its agent in matters best left in silence and the dark.
[X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
Kirill Lebedev arrives with no great ceremony and no great warning with the blood-red sunset, the a presence at the edge of your senses suddenly appearing as though from nothing as the old Warden releases his veil. Old Nanjing appears almost simultaneously from wherever it went for the last hour, and as the Warden comes to the steps to the Wen Temple's interior he's greeted by the sight of a small Japanese woman and a hulking, smoke-shrouded city god.
Nanjing has chosen to manifest itself as an eight-foot-tall black-armored behemoth wearing a Chinese warmask, its figure giving off the same familiar smoke as it stands almost unnaturally still.
You're sitting on the temple steps with the warlock bound and unconscious as your footrest, and when Lebedev comes near its no surprise he reaches for the Warden's blade at his waist.
"That...would be unwise, little trespasser." The voice of the city's guardian god rasps out the warning as the Warden stiffens at the power that's briefly loosed, and he slowly raises his hands as he comes to the foot of the temple's steps.
Kirill Lebedev looks at you with clear blue eyes, and you break off the incipient soulgaze as he begins to speak. "I am here in pursuit of a warlock and his demon, as a Warden of the Council. I ask for a truce, as per the Accords."
"Accords?" The city's god asks that in a curious rumble as you do the same in an amused laugh, the Russian Warden frowning like a thundercloud while you rush to answer.
"Neither of us are Accorded parties, Warden. While we are amenable to a truce-" Nanjing waves a massive hand absently in assent at that, "-we aren't under its stipulations. As for your warlock, well..." You nudge the fellow with your foot, the body turning limply under your heel as you wearily shift your rifle around.
"Do you, head-taker?" The Warden's thoughts are interrupted before he can address the two of you, the city spirit in no mood for soft-soaping after the sight of the city as it stands. "You failed in your duty, and had we not dealt with the White God's filth there would have been a profaned temple where you now stand."
"There have been more than just this individual." Lebedev stares down the city's ancient god with his hands drifting back to the saber at his hip, "I have been dealing with their ilk since the last war ended. There has been little stirring of aid in China, these past years."
"There is no mandate. No order. No greater purpose to stir us."
"Then I submit that we discuss what is to be done with him." A gesture towards the warlock, and the saber is drawn a sliver. "The penalty for such is death."
"Then let it be dealt elsewhere. I will not have the temple profaned by an execution."
You interject at that, "The NRA is likely to take beheading in the streets quite poorly, Warden." As Kirill Lebedev looks at you with a puzzled expression, as if not sure what to make of you, you go on regardless. You're frankly too tired to give a damn - and the Mauser is pointing his way anyways. "You can call me Shiro. American on secondment to the NRA, State Department."
Evidently that was the wrong thing to say, for the puzzling is replaced by a frown. "One of a government's tame mages, I take it? This is my zone, girl, and you will watch yourself here."
At which point the impasse and the Warden's anger are broken by a flare of power once more, this time the city god unsheathing its blade in earnest. Silver light pools in the cracks of the courtyard's flagstones as Old Nanjing speaks, as the figures in Chinese armor step forth from the air to guard the gates. "This is my city. My zone. My domain. You will remember that, head-taker. This one has acted as my agent in this matter, and you will direct your ire to me."
"I see." A soft murmur follows that, almost imperceptible save for Nanjing whispering it to you on the winds, "So it is the other way around, then." He bows deeply, the sword sheathed, "I greet you in the name of the White Council, elder one. I ask your forgiveness for my earlier trespasses, for in my zeal to follow the duties of my office I have erred."
"Forgiveness is earned." The Warden stiffens almost imperceptibly as the elder spirit continues, "You will tell me of these Accords, these Laws. I will see this new world and its customs, and know them well."
"Isn't there always." You stand and step back as the Warden climbs the steps, saber and stave clattering loudly in the still square. "Take him and be done then, and I'll speak later on."
"Indeed. For I believe the Council owes you a favor here."
Favors. Your laugh is echoed by the rumble of Old Nanjing chuckling as you realize you might come back from Manchuria after all.
[]Mark of the City: Seal: Your shoulder bears the Ming Imperial Seal in faded white, as if it was a birthmark or an old, old scar. When you whisper to the spirits of the Chinese countryside, your voice carries far indeed.
Guys, how many Chinese cities are there? Very few. How much countryside is there in China? Alot.
We can do stealth with spirits, so the vote for the city is trading a gaurentee in a highly selective situation instead of a more flexible, easily useable buff.
[]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
[X]Mark of the City: Seal: Your shoulder bears the Ming Imperial Seal in faded white, as if it was a birthmark or an old, old scar. When you whisper to the spirits of the Chinese countryside, your voice carries far indeed. [X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
[X]Mark of the City: Agent:
You have been host to the guardian spirit of one of China's great cities, and it has marked your soul. With just a little effort, you can blend in unnoticeably in a Chinese city, for the city god has marked you as its agent in matters best left in silence and the dark.
[X]An introduction:
You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve.
[X]Mark of the City: Seal: Your shoulder bears the Ming Imperial Seal in faded white, as if it was a birthmark or an old, old scar. When you whisper to the spirits of the Chinese countryside, your voice carries far indeed. [X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
[X]Mark of the City: Seal: Your shoulder bears the Ming Imperial Seal in faded white, as if it was a birthmark or an old, old scar. When you whisper to the spirits of the Chinese countryside, your voice carries far indeed.
[X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
[X] Mark of the City: Agent: You have been host to the guardian spirit of one of China's great cities, and it has marked your soul. With just a little effort, you can blend in unnoticeably in a Chinese city, for the city god has marked you as its agent in matters best left in silence and the dark.
[X] An Out: Kirill Lebedev knows the Ways in and out of Old Nanjing, and he's willing to drop you off just outside the city at the same time he leaves - the trouble is that for him 'just outside' is the port of Qingdao, the closest safe Way.
[X]Mark of the City: Seal: Your shoulder bears the Ming Imperial Seal in faded white, as if it was a birthmark or an old, old scar. When you whisper to the spirits of the Chinese countryside, your voice carries far indeed. [X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
[X] Mark of the City: Debts: There is an imbalance in the soul that the city god has deemed proper to correct later - for now you march to your death. Others of China may pay this debt as well in the city's stead, for a retainer may always act in the interest of his lord. Expect them to do so.
[X]Mark of the City: Seal: Your shoulder bears the Ming Imperial Seal in faded white, as if it was a birthmark or an old, old scar. When you whisper to the spirits of the Chinese countryside, your voice carries far indeed.
A cool tattoo sounds super dope.
[X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
[X]Mark of the City: Seal: Your shoulder bears the Ming Imperial Seal in faded white, as if it was a birthmark or an old, old scar. When you whisper to the spirits of the Chinese countryside, your voice carries far indeed.
[X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
It's damned odd, but afaik the main mentions of the Hindu pantheon in the Dresden Files say that they're all sealed off, and that it's a damned good thing they are for the sake of the Accords' balance of power. And a few hints that those parties never signed any accords. I make that same assumption of the sleeping ancients of China.
[X]Mark of the City: Seal: Your shoulder bears the Ming Imperial Seal in faded white, as if it was a birthmark or an old, old scar. When you whisper to the spirits of the Chinese countryside, your voice carries far indeed.
[X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
[X]Mark of the City: Seal: Your shoulder bears the Ming Imperial Seal in faded white, as if it was a birthmark or an old, old scar. When you whisper to the spirits of the Chinese countryside, your voice carries far indeed.
[X]An introduction: You have told your tale of blasphemy and dark science, of rituals and terrible callings. You have spoken of the horrors of the Hakkoda Facility and what the NRA knows of it - and Lebedev has agreed to introduce you to the wizard von Plehve. To endorse your case, as it were. Von Plehve will accompany you at least part of the way to Manchuria. Rolls and circumstances determine how far.
[X]Mark of the City: Seal: Your shoulder bears the Ming Imperial Seal in faded white, as if it was a birthmark or an old, old scar. When you whisper to the spirits of the Chinese countryside, your voice carries far indeed. [X]A Favor: The Council will owe you one favor, and that one favor isn't something big. All the same, you can call in support once. Against the monsters of the night, but not for the politics of the nations of Earth.
Wilhelm von Plehve rose with the sun, and as he had for all the years in exile, went about his day.
He was young for a wizard- in his mid-forties - but sometimes he felt like an old man. Today was one of those days. Nevertheless, the choirs were easy and didn't require any significant physical exertion, much less his attention.
Memories unbidden took him to the faraway land of horrors and regrets that, he realized, would plague him for the rest of his life.
One would think that those burned, etched into his mind with the Sight were the most unbearable. He once witnessed what exactly he was exorcising from a man dragged to him in restraints by Estonian villagers. He once soulgazed a man who decided to sell his two daughters into slavery and understood him. He once observed the psychic aftermath of an entropic curse, wielded like a knife by a fifteen year old to slaughter her whole village like cattle. Then as if in conclusion when the girl realized what she did, she turned it on herself. One would think that the Sight was a terrible, terrible gift, and one would be right - but with that comes the assumption that its revelations are what brought the nightmares.
One would be wrong. Despite the details fading with time, he found that a certain degree of separation from the tragedies of the world helped more than would care to admit. He understood intimately when someone thought:
"At least it didn't happen to someone I knew."
Or:
"That's horrible, but at least my loved ones are safe."
-his younger sister's face, crying, dragged in the mud by her hair, she was always proud of her long hair, get up, help her, can't, why, why, why-
China wasn't his first choice. Wasn't the second one, either. When they told him they would fight for Estonia's independence, he enlisted without asking any questions. Those words meant nothing to him, but the enemy did.
The Red Army didn't employ mages at the time - almost all of them supported the old government, after all. And those who didn't, well, they were on the White Council. The White Council was neutral in mundane affairs, everyone knew it.
If one was smart and careful though, why, one could turn the tide of war. He never killed with his magic, of course not. That would break the First Law, and he was a wizard of the White Council.
But. If one was smart and careful. One could use tracking spells to track large concentrations for artillery strikes. One could mark the ambushes, one could identify the officers, one could do a lot of things that never even remotely fell within the distance of breaking the Laws of Magic. And when shit happened, there always was an option of running someone with a sword once or twice, not one of the fancy Warden ones, but a fine sword all the same. Wilhelm always thought he was moderately smart and very careful.
When the foreign aid arrived, when the treaty was signed and the new government immediately went about marginalizing the power and influence of his people, he wasn't surprised. It made sense, as much as anything did. When his ancestral lands were taken, he didn't rage, he didn't complain, he didn't try to fight.
For one, he'd decided he wouldn't stay in the country even if he survived, which he didn't really count on. So he took what he could and left.
Germany wasn't an option, not for him. He honestly wanted nothing to do with America either, but he'd take it. Before that, his teacher found him and cajoled him into accepting the Council's mission. The empires of old fell, he was told, and the wizards scrambled in their ruins, shuffling their resources between the three giants broken on the dawn of the twentieth century. Some poor schmucks got sent to negotiate with the Bolsheviks. Other, luckier ones, were assigned to observe the situation in the emerging Weimar Republic. ( In retrospect, they should be starting to regret it right about now. )
He got booted to the Chinese Republic. He didn't mind. The antique shop and a living room above left from his predecessor wasn't much, but he didn't need much. The land was interesting, the people respectful to the xian, the Mandarin... was fucking convoluted to be honest, but he'd managed.
Lebedev was kind of a dick, but he was a recent arrival, and he was a polite dick besides. If nothing else, they could always bond over the shared hatred of the new communist government, though Wilhelm didn't feel like dwelling on it too much most of the time.
All in all, things could be better, could be worse.
Oh, and then the Japanese Empire attacked a few months ago and at the moment they were preparing to lay siege to the city. Lebedev was hinting it was time to get on the Ways and leave before things got hot.
If he was to be honest with himself, Wilhelm didn't quite feel like leaving. He tried to think of something, some reason, like surviving. Survival was nice. So were tangbao, those delicious soup dumpli-
He was interrupted from his musings by a bell, sounding an arrival of a potential customer. That was honestly odd. Nobody sane shopped for antiques when an invading army was due to arrive on your doorstep.
He felt a familiar presence and sighed with not quite fond exasperation. There he was, trying to convince him to leave the city once again.
He turned around to greet him and promptly closed his mouth.
Well, wasn't that interesting.
<------------------------------->
You're tired, buzzed, and somehow elated. It took three terrible days of horse-trading, hunting for spirits, and finally acting as a bloodhound for the city's guardian god - but it's done. You have company for the journey, you have a better chance of coming out alive, and you have a very useful contact in Nanjing.
When you wake the next morning in the Embassy, even the slightly skeptical gaze of Father Bates and the suspicious glares of Chinese personnel doesn't dim the high of mission underway as you move to the handsome, two-floor house of John Rabe. The white-painted doors are glass and rosewood, the hall where you leave your boots a polished teak-floored beauty. Yet the study is a litter of papers, maps, and documents in languages ranging from German to Japanese, and Rabe himself appears tired, haggard, and stressed.
"Sit, sit. I do need a hand here, when the imperial army comes in." He gestures to a chair opposit his desk, and you push the papers off and sit. The businessman settles back in his chair and sets aside the sheaf of papers he was poring over, and asks you to tea.
Being someone who's seen the Depression, you're not saying no to someone else's tea. A sip confirms that yes, it is indeed good tea, and for once you don't get a dirty look from the Chinese manservant that comes in with it. Rabe in the meantime takes a cursory sip and sets it aside, "Well, Miss Shiro, I understand that you're seconded to the NRA?"
"Oh, yeah, from the State Department." Which neither of you really believe, but you get a polite nod anyways.
A polite nod, and a flash of relief across the German's jowly face. "Then we may have a common purpose here." The English is faintly accented and as excellent as the tea, and Herr Rabe seems to have an offer to make.
"Which is?"
"You may have heard that we're setting up a safety zone, for the civilians. Once the city falls."
"If the city falls."
A wave of a blunt-fingered hand, "We both know the odds. The Shanghai divisions are tired and decimated, the garrison troops green. Shengzhi does not want to hold here."
"The troops want to."
The German snorts, black cynicism creeping into his voice. "I saw the last war, girl. When the shells start to fly is when the conscripts start to lose that fervor. They'll change their minds, and when the general runs they'll break."
"Fair enough, I guess." You take another sip of the tea, noting with a bit of sadness that it's almost finished. "Then you want me as a translator?"
"As an envoy." The correction doesn't help your nerves, "I want you to carry the word to the Japanese commander, with luck he'll take the word of a State Department envoy seriously."
"I'm a woman, Herr Rabe. Japan doesn't appreciate women outside the home, not now at least."
"The uniform and the status may outweigh that yet, miss." A letter is slid across the table, "All I ask is that you deliver this now that we've finalized the committee, and we have the Chinese mayor's backing on it."
"You want me to negotiate?"
"We can't negotiate." A weary grin at that, "All I have is status as a German to leverage, for they now take that seriously." There's a certain pride in that remark, and before you give a biting retort he continues. "Ask for their terms, and ask if they have a German translator at hand. I'll go out at that point to talk."
"Mm." To do or not to do, that's the question. Now that you have a wizard who can use the Ways at your disposal, should you?
[]Yes: Accept. Travel outside the lines under a Nazi flag. Travel with a thick sheaf of documents, and hope that they don't kill you - they likely will not. Likely. Von Plehve is very likely to accompany you there as well.
[]No: Decline, for there are more pressing matters and better ways out of here.
Votes open for 24 hours. Happy New Year. I'd also like to announce @Raiseth who will be co-QMing this one and who wrote the Wilhelm von Plehve portion in the first half. His co-QMing is enabling the quest to continue with some regularity past the first week of January. We are now invested, folks.
Hello again, everyone, and Happy New Year for those who celebrate it.
As @mouli said, I'll be your co-QM for the wonderful clusterfuck that is trying to win and survive in the Dresdenverse/MCU crossover universe set during the WW2.
We're going to have fun, even if it kills you. Repeatedly.
[X]Yes: Accept. Travel outside the lines under a Nazi flag. Travel with a thick sheaf of documents, and hope that they don't kill you - they likely will not. Likely. Von Plehve is very likely to accompany you there as well.
Glad to have you here @Raiseth thanks for the update.
Well it's time again to be voting on the new story element, seems we can use the early unsteady truce between Stalin and the Nazis eh?
[X]Yes:
Accept. Travel outside the lines under a Nazi flag. Travel with a thick sheaf of documents, and hope that they don't kill you - they likely will not. Likely. Von Plehve is very likely to accompany you there as well.
