In which an unlikely group is formed united in skill and purpose, like it or not, in the frontier town of Ai-Lin.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:25, Sat 11 Jan 2020.

Who are you?

Are you the one who digs?
This message was last updated by the player at 05:08, Mon 20 Jan 2020.

A once-broken warrior, now half-machine, woke. He dreamt of nothing but a voice.

As he moved to get up off his mat, his leg seized. Stopped. He could feel its energy- the faintly glowing crystals that pushed and pulled on its mechanical tendons still pulsed- but the joint itself was blocked.

So he used his working leg to shuffle himself across the floor to where his crutch leaned against the wall. On to the mechanic, he thought.

Tam knocked on the door. What were the chances that a doctor would be working this early? Still, he didn't have much choice. Last night's travel was rougher than most.

A man on the older end of middle-aged opened the door. He was surprisingly composed, considering the early hour and all the blood. Still, he wordlessly hurried Tam inside to a seat and some bandages.  "Press hard here," he said as he turned to grab a qing-jie root and quickly grind it into paste.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:47, Mon 20 Jan 2020.

An engineer, Lee, had just arrived at his machine shop. He started his working day by cranking a wheel, which operated a series of belts along each wall.  Small, pale crystals were set in the belts at regular spacing, and as the belts advanced, they carried these pale crystals ever closer to deep red crystals, also regularly spaced, on shelves. Each pale crystal glowed ever more intensely as it approached its corresponding red crystal; with a half-turn of the wheel, the whole shop was illuminated. None of his colleagues had thought much of the lighting system he'd devised, but it allowed him to start the day early, and do his own private work.

Just as he sat at his work bench, he heard a knock at the door.  It was Pai Sho, supported by a crutch. "Let's get you fixed up," Lee said.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:36, Tue 09 June 2020.

The doctor, named Da Wei, basted the pulped qing-jie root onto Tam's bandages.  One last layer of bandages to close the poultice, and there was no further need for urgency.

This obviously wasn't an ordinary household accident. There was a story behind this injury.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:12, Tue 09 June 2020.

I am close.

"Mind keeping still?" Lee asked as he worked on the mechanical leg. Pai Sho was startled to hear the voice while awake.

He had an array of small coral-colored crystals built into his helmet, and it was his understanding that this helmet allowed him to send his thoughts to his mechanical limbs. Eventually, he realized he could even send thoughts to other people. This voice, though... was this what it was like to receive a thought from someone else?
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:37, Tue 09 June 2020.

"Ow," said Tam, and he meant it.

The root burned, which he thought was a good thing. In his experience that meant it was working against all the nastiness that had mixed itself with the blood and bile that made up a healthy system. He didn't know how to heal poisons and infections, but he knew wounds and he know when they were not right.

But even with expertly applied - ah, antidote? humour balancing? chi unblockage? - there was still potentially a third layer to the injury.

"Doc," Tam, started, in what he hoped was a friendly voice. In reality everything came out in a curt monotone. This had nothing to do with him being bored, cold, or otherwise cliche warrior, and everything to do with having no acting training and an identity to hide. He continued. There was an answer he knew of, but it would sting more than the root, and maybe the doc knew better.

"Got anything for curses?"

In reply to GM (msg # 9):

"Sorry,"  Pai Sho muttered.  "The knee has been locking up.  Crystals seem to be working right, I can think the right thoughts at them, but something in the gears is catching."

Pai Sho had never been the thinky type, at least, not until the accident.  Getting these weird contraptions working really forced him to do, like, gymnastics, but with his his brain.  He was getting better at projecting his thoughts, to the crystal receivers in his motivators, and even to other minds, but receiving messages in his brain was new.  Maybe he could answer that voice in his head, but for now, he just wanted to ignore it and get his leg working right again.

In reply to Tam (msg # 10):

"I can help with one or two curses of the body.  If it's a curse of the mind, or something you just think is a curse, I've got nothing directly, but, a friend or two around town.  How bad is it?  What symptoms?"  (If Tam doesn't respond to the second) "What tells you something is wrong?" (Either way, after the response) "And what has you up at night earning very bloody wounds?  Anyone I should be watching out for?" (Da Wei sizes Tam up, checking to see if he can learn what danger's been brought to his door step.  He's also hoping to find the...aura...about Tam's bank account.)

In reply to gstemm (msg # 11):

I still don't really understand how this thing works. Sure the principles were sound but it had no right to work this well. Too much magic in my science I think. Frustrating but also exciting.

Still, this was the best part of his day. Bright and early, full of possibilities. Freedom to peruse his own projects. He quickly set the gears right.

"Well, as long as I have you here, mind if I try some modifications? Going to add some more crystals for precision, of coarse I'll have to lower the power to avoid overlap in their spheres of influence and vector..." (seeing the board expression). "Uhh, should be more precise but less powerful. More normal I would think. If that's what you are looking for."

He starts unloading some equipment right away. "Look, how much time do you have, I've got some ideas."

In reply to jtfed (msg # 12):

"Mind's good." Tam confirmed with conviction, though it sounded dismissive. Maybe he wasn't using the right terminology. The doc was a man of science, and so perhaps he didn't need to rely on the folk slang that most people in the wulin used to refer to these problems.

"You know, stuff from the Other Side. From Hell.

Loose ghost - ah, sentient kinetic anomaly - from the Hell of Perpetual Motion. My hands have been shaking sometimes since it got..." there wasn't really a scientific or legendary term for the fluids spilled by damaged things from beyond "...goo on me. Hate to have to burn it off if there's a nicer way."

In reply to Tam (msg # 14):

"Mm.  'f you let stuff from Hell follow you here, to my home, I'll have issues with you.  I wouldn't call what you have a curse, but, that's not the worst description.  You've just gotta get all the goo off and outta you.  Which works out for me...I'll take it as payment for your treatment.  If you agree, you've got treatment options.
1. We can slap it out of you.
2. We can scrape it off and out of you (that's as slow and painful as that sounds.)
3. We can burn it off you (faster, but more damaging, and there wouldn't be any left to pay me with.)
4. We can try to chemically treat it (key word being try, I haven't seen any chemical references about that "goo", so, not sure how well that'll work.  And, of course, we don't want to try anything that'll give you chemical burns.)
5. You can sweat it out.

If you leave it completely alone, it'll likely stick around and keep causing occasional shakes for a while. If we keep your arm warm (I suggest near the fire) for somewhere between 20 minutes and an hour and a half, you'll sweat it out."

The old district (inside the crook of the Y formed by the meeting rivers) had an open market. At this early hour, it would be mostly empty, but today the sounds of the crowd outside were unexpectedly loud.

In reply to GM (msg # 16):

"Seems there's a commotion out there.  This time of night, that's probably not good.  I'm curious what's up, but, if we do nothing about your arm, it'll probably stay occasionally shaky for a few days.  Also, I already offered treatment, and, that noise probably isn't life-or-death for me.  What would you like to happen?  If we treat you now, we might miss what's happening out there."

All the characters hear increasing shouts outside, followed by a creaking, splintering crash.

In reply to mstemm (msg # 13):

Let's maybe skip the modifications.  Much as I like the sound of greater precision, we should see what that commotion is outside.

In reply to gstemm (msg # 19):

Listen Pai Sho, whatever that is can probably wait. I've got some really big plans for today.

A particularly loud crash interrupts whatever he is about to say next, and Lee puts down the crystal, looking a little disappointed.

Ok maybe you're right.

He grabs a box containing a few tools and crystals, not really sure how they will help, but feeling like he should have something on hand, and heads out the door.

As Lee and Pai Sho emerge from the workshop, they see chunks of broken stone and wood on the footpath leading northwest into town.

A group of commoners that had started to gather for the morning market run west to get further into town.  They run past three Mongoose guards, who move with quick steadiness towards the doctor's house across the footpath.

Just as Da Wei finishes his question to Tam, the front corner of his house erupts inward. It is as if a powerful current or jet of water was slamming through the side of the house and emerging out of the front.

But it wasn't water; it was a connected mass of segmented legs. Something like a giant centipede.

Lee and Pai Sho see the headless front of the centipede emerge from the doctor's house and effortlessly trample through the first of the Mongoose guards into paste.

In reply to GM (msg # 21):

"One of your robots?"  Pai Sho asks, turning to Lee.  "I'm not a big fan of these Mongoose guys, but that thing needs to be stopped!"

Pai Sho begins to move forward, but the activators in his leg seize up again, and he lurches to a halt.  I hops this works.  Pointing to a nearby rock to focus his mind, he flings it at the creature, trying to draw its attention.

Just like the old days.  But bigger than in the arena.  And I have no idea what it is.

In reply to gstemm (msg # 22)

Lee liked to think he knew a thing or two about magic, but suddenly he felted very ignorant.

"Not mine at all..."

He took a moment to gather himself but this was way out of his league. Seeing Pai Sho step forward, he begins to follow.

"I'll try to back you up, but I'm not really sure where to begin here."

Lee grabbed some tools and crystals, trying to be ready for anything.

In reply to GM (msg # 21):

"Let's back off while we're still alive!"

Da Wei starts pulling Tam back further into the house, hoping the monstrosity will simply continue past.