From above, Jiro sees something that would be impossible to see from the ground. There are faint marks around the edges of the alley, and out to the street. At ground level, it looked random. From above it looked like part of the magic circle in the air, on a larger scale.

"Oh. Kuso."

From her perch, Jiro took a breath. "Alex-san, I do not mean to alarm you, but it appears... that a much larger version of the magic circle you revealed is inscribed around this area. We are... in its center."

"Oh."

Well, nothing else leaps immediately to mind... "I think, perhaps, we sould get out of this alley for now, and give the general area a bit of a search. I do not know if it is dangerous here, but I also do not know if it is not dangerous."

Putting words to action, Jiro heads for the alley mouth, bounding from wall to wall in a controlled descent, landing gracefully in the center of the alley just before it exits to the street.

[OOC: Up The Wall and Skill Mastery: Acrobatics again. 22:21, Today: Jiro Koji rolled 12 using 1d20+8. Knowledge Arcana.]

"Giant Summoning circle on the ground... Yes, time to move." Alex said, and followed Jiro out of the alley.

Now that Jiro knows what to look for, he discovers signs that the circle covers the better part of a city block, with the very center being in the Alley.

Beyond that, they find nothing of note before it is time to meet with Chen Ming.

The Most Auspicious Chinese Restaurant was somewhat crowded as Alex and Jiro entered. Smiling politely to the seater, Jiro said, "Good afternoon! We are expecting to meet someone - has Chen Ming arrived yet?"

They are waved to a table. Walking up to it, Jiro sees that Chen already has a plate in front of him - an empty one. "My apologies if we are late, Chen-san."

"Well met. Alex, Jiro." Chen Ming said, rising at the approach. "You are quite on time, I simply arrived early to enjoy a brief meal before we began our work."

A few pleasantries are exchanged, and then the group heads out to an open area of sidewalk, where they can talk in relative privacy. Chen Ming takes a close look at each of the women, although it doesn't feel like he's checking them out. "I trust your training went well?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:53, Tue 22 Mar 2011.

"I believe so. We have also made a few discoveries in our investigations." Briefly, Jiro outlines the overlap between the gang violence and the vampire attacks, and Alex's theories about the same, as well as the summoning circle and it's position being the same as the first of the officially reported vampire attacks. She does not mention that the circle is also where Alex first arrived in this world.

"I do not know how much of that Dragoneye is already aware of, but I state it to be thorough." A pause. "In light of we have found, is there anything you know of that may be of import?"

"Hmm... I know little of magic but I can confirm that what you have learned fits with my own understanding of the situation. I do not believe that such detail had been discovered however, nor the scope been fully realized. As far as I knew it was mostly the Ruthless Asian Gang that was the center of the problem. You are a most... effective pair."

Chen falls silent for a moment as a pair of teenagers walk by. They wolf whistle and shoot Chen a thumbs up while checking out the girls.

"I do know the location of their home turf, and their main hangout. They number perhaps two dozen members who would be fit for battle, although if they have been recruiting they may have many more."

[OOC: Yes, according to my research the Ruthless Asian Gang is a real world Seattle gang.]
This message was last edited by the player at 17:53, Tue 22 Mar 2011.

Jiro shoots an unkind glance at the two leering teens, but no more than a glance. You knew this would probably happen, and hey, what do the little gaijin fools know? Looking at Chen, she nods. "That information would be, I think, quite useful. If you could give it to us, that would be excellent." She glanced to Alex, nodded fractionally. "That said, I think we will take another day or two to gather more information before doing anything... decisive. It would not do for us to act rashly and make the situation worse."

"Of course." Chen Ming says. He gives the address and a description of the area.

"What is your next step? If you have nothing in mind, I can show you around the areas you are most interested in. I suspect that it will be easy enough to pass as a group of friends seeing the sights. Any attention we attract will be easy enough to deal with, at least during the day."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:53, Tue 22 Mar 2011.

"That sounds reasonable to me, Chen-san." She glanced at Alex. "Unless you have any other ideas?" She let the question dangle.

The very foreign girl had filled in a few details during Jiro's explanation, but otherwise remained quiet.

"Right now what I want to do is bust in there and drag every one of those blood sucking frackers out into the sunlight... but you are right. We don't know enough and we don't want to disrupt the balance of power too much before we have some understanding of what it is. Let's scout for now, but I would like to try to get my hands on one of them tonight and see if we can get some information out of them. I want to know more." Alex's voice is cold and hard.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:38, Tue 22 Mar 2011.

Buffy's driving. Kuso. Got to at least try to distract Chen... Jiro nodded decisively. "In that case, let us get moving. Chen-san, if you would lead the way?"

As they walked, she moved up just beside the Chinese and gave him a light nudge with her elbow. "Admit it, Chen-san," she said, soto voce, "You're only giving us a tour so everyone sees you in the company of two pretty ladies. Trying to make people jelous?" The flirtatious words came easily, disturbingly so; not for the first time, Jiro wondered if the spell that had cursed her was derived from one of the more recreational gender change magics. Endure, Koji. And  pay attention; joking aside, this is a scouting. Kamis willing, Alex can gather her wits. His wits. Bah.

Chen shoots a look at Alex, but allows Jiro to distract him from asking any questions.

"If word got back to my wife that I was doing this thing, she would slay me where I stood." Chen replied, his voice grave.

He stops to wait for the light to change at a crosswalk. "It is well that I am not married."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:52, Tue 22 Mar 2011.

Jiro smiled. "It is well indeed. Mostly, I kid. It has been a long day and some levity seemed... appropriate." Don't think about Alex. Don't think about Alex. For that matter, please don't flip out really blatantly, Alex....

Alex smiled a bit at the jokes, but she seemed focused on taking in the surroundings. Her head swiveled back and forth, scanning for danger or opportunity.

Chen Ming chuckles "One must keep perspective in dark times." he says, carefully not looking at Alex. "Now, do you see that red brick building there? That is used by the Ruthless Asian Gang to sell their drugs. It lies on the edge of their territory."

Jiro gave the building a quick look, trying to get some idea of what she was looking at; but distracted as she was between Alex and wondering how much Chen had noticed about Alex - And how much do you want to bet he wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't gotten paranoid, baka? - she didn't get as good a look as was her normal wont.

[OOC: 11:09, Today: Jiro Koji rolled 17 using 1d20+12. Notice on the gangbanger hideout. Teach me to let the GM spook me into a gamble...]

"Sounds like a good first target. This is right on the edge of map of the troubles, and on the far side from the other group, meaning their actions are focused in the other direction. A strike her could give us a better idea of what we are looking at without risking running into their main strength."

Jiro is pretty sure that it's the Buffy mode speaking here, but he's not 100% certain.

[OOC: 14:21, Today: Alex rolled 13 using 1d20+7. Perception. ]

To the pair, this building looks fairly normal, albeit run down. There is very little to call it to your attention.

Stop reacting. Your paranoia is not helping. "I would like to see some of the other sites first, but yes, this seems... a viable place to start. Still, taking a little time to see what the other sites look like should cost us nothing."

Jiro felt a bit uneasy, in a way that had nothing to do with Alex. Run down as it is, even with brick on the outside... we would have to be careful; the interior is likely a massive firetrap. If one broke out... I will not allow my carelessness to kill bystanders. This I swear.

"Fair enough. We can't move until dark anyway." Alex says, and turns to Chen Ming "Where to next?"

"Follow me." Chen leads the group to a few other sites, even taking you past the main hangout. It's clear that this IS a gang hangout, from the people in the area. There is some tense moments, but the group manages to get through without any confrontations.

Jiro can tell quite clearly that Chen Ming can see there is something not right about Alex, is curious about it, but is also controlling that curiosity. He suspects that Chen realized this some time ago, probably when they first met.