Chapter 3: Snake in the Eagle's Shadow

Music

It's been three days since you slew the beast responsible for the river ferry deaths. In the interval, three more Guong nobles are assassinated -- two knifings, and one poisoning. Also, Fan Zexian is found drowned in one of the city's most luxuriant public baths. No evidence of foul play is found, but everyone knows better. Now that the proverbial dust has settled, and the precarious balance of power restored, Guong Bai, the youngest scion of that clan, now becomes Guong Ming's sole heir, and Fan Song replaces his late brother on the ruling council.

A message arrives from Yao Fei, the slug-man apothecary. Several days ago you gave him samples of the Yellow Zombie Mold you collected in the wild, and a vial of blue crystals found on one of the gang members that accosted Iko and Feng in the Lower East Quarter. He invites you to pay him a visit, as he is ready to share his findings with you.

A silk merchant shows up at Feng's textile shop. Wu Meng recognizes the man who, at the behest of the Quian, hired him and Rong Hua to steal the scroll from the Guong Estate. The man talks shop for a few minutes, pretends not to know Meng, then politely takes his leave. The unspoken message is obvious to Meng: "Report!"

What do you do?

In addition to the Twelve Lanterns, the Quian has influence in many other enterprises, including several of the city's many archives. The man never mentioned the Quian, only that he represented the archive on Plum Orchard Lane in the Upper West Quarter, but Meng recognized the man's ring easily enough. A senior adviser or steward. He gave his name as Choa (though Meng doubts that is the man's real name), and said to find him at the archive.

The men Kalam plays mahjong with are old, hairless and stooped, but sharp as tacks. Bo is a retired ferryman, Hu used to be a musician, and Zhi used to be a street-sweeper. They haven't got much, so the wagers are small, but they're ready to take Kalam's coin if he doesn't play his tiles well.

Kalam

"Come on! Surely, you've got something!" the men chide Kalam. "That knife at your hip has got to be worth a coin or two."

Meng
Do you visit the archive? Do you go alone?

Mimi
Your leg is much better now. Tell us what sort of game you and Orengi are hunting. Roll Hunt and Track.

Iko
Where does the Lord of Sorrows lead you today?

Feng
There is a well nearby where the womenfolk gather to gossip as they draw water. The topic of the moment is the recent spate of noble killings. Not unusual in the Opal City, by any means -- hardly a week goes by without an assassination attempt in the corridors of power -- but the women are a-titter today because it's long been whispered that Lady Guong has been sleeping with a certain opium den owner, and one can't help but wonder whether the infidelity had something to do with her untimely demise.

"That's rubbish," scoffs Chen, a cleaning lady. "Wasn't her husband slain, too?"

"What do you think, Feng?" asks Xue, a washerwoman.

"You've all got soap suds for brains," cuts in Ling, another washerwoman. "Guong Ming is still alive. It was his cheating wife, and their two eldest sons that were killed. The youngest son, Guong Bai, is now sole heir!"

"Honestly, you can't even tell the slug-men and the slug-women apart," complains Siao, an apprentice seamstress. "How do they do it? I don't think they have any privates!"

...and so on, and on, goes the gossip.

Kalam

"No, forget it," Bo says, putting his half-coin away. "Put your coins away, boys. Let's just have a friendly game. No wagers."

Feng
As you are taking your leave, Jinu, who works at a nearby brothel, shares something one of her regulars confided in her. Paranoia has infected a circle of occult summoners. A young neophyte, Jinu's guy, believes what the group has summoned is far more ancient and horrible than his superiors think.

Kalam (assuming you stay)
The mahjong guys speculate on the clan rivalries behind the recent killings.

Zhu believes Guong Bai eliminated his mother and older brothers to gain influence with his father. As sole heir, the hot-headed Bai can now pressure his father to wage full-scale cloak-and-dagger war against the Fan, something his mother and brothers must have cautioned against.

Hu disagrees. He's convinced Fan Song was behind the Guong killings, as well as the removal of his own brother, Zexian.

Meng
At the archive, you are attended to by a slug-man librarian assistant with exceptionally long eyestalks.

"Can I help you?"

Mimi
Tracking a wild boar, you lose the trail when it crosses a stream. As you and Orengi search the opposite bank, there's a rustle nearby to your left. It's a fanged deer, and it's watching you intently. Its eyes are unnaturally yellow, you're guessing it's the zombie mold.

What do you do?