Event:1925/04/18 Following Newspaper Leads
The group reads the local papers (in English) over breakfast, and we find a few articles that catch our eyes. Jack and Quinn head to the Wayside Police Station to investigate the murders on Lantern Street. People are frequently being murdered by having their arms cut off by a sharp object and then left to bleed out. Jack asks about Mr. Du[1], and we are told he is heavily connected to the police in the French Concession. Slipping them some cash, Jack learns that Madam Gee was the witness identified in the paper that saw the murder. With some extra cash, we are told that the autopsy revealed one or two slices or chops is all it took to remove the arms, indicating a very sharp blade. We leave, and Jack notices[2] that the fisherman he was talking to at the Stumbling Tiger is following us on our way back. We turn a corner and Quinn grabs him[3] when he comes around. At first he starts screaming for help, but Quinn convinces him to quiet down. He says he's looking for Jack Brady as well because he needs his expertise in procuring something. Asking if he works for the Pale Viper, we believe[4] that he doesn't recognize the name. We tell him not to follow us, but if he drops by the lobby of the Astor House Hotel to check in with us, we could share info.
Victor and Elise go to visit Mister Lung, accompanied by Li Wen-cheng. There's a cat outside, but Elise keeps a foot out to keep it away and shuts the door quickly. Li Wen-cheng needs to translate everything for this exchange. Li Wen-cheng notes that everything in the place has great fengshui. Mister Lung seemed to be expecting more visitors together today. He seems to think that demons were coming to attack him and tried several things to detect or defeat demons on the investigators, always displeased that they weren't working. He has some coins that he can turn into a sword, which we find out when Victor reveals that he has no pulse. There is nearly a confrontation, and then they deescalate. Mister Lung does a few readings for them. They mention the cat, and Mister Lung can't get a sense of it looking at it out the window. Fearing this is a demon sent after him, they set up to ambush it, and let it in the house. It turns into an evil cat demon and combat ensues. Victor takes mortal wounds (again), but shrugs them off (again). Victor manages to take down the demon with Mister Lung's help. Mister Lung gives Elise his coin sword, which can harm demons.
We all meet back up at the Astor House Hotel and exchange information. Victor keeps his wound secret and spends time stitching himself back together. Then we head to Madam Gee's house. It's a house of ill repute, and we're taken back to her office. We slip her some cash and ask about the events of last evening. One of the other girls, Magenta Joy, actually saw it. She is currently in the hospital though. As we talk about recent events, we learn that Choi Mei-ling, one of the working girls, "ran off" or vanished 3 days before the attack. She was the regular girl for John or Jack Brady and presumably ran off with him. We talk to Quivering Jade, who was Choi Mei-ling's close friend. She tells us that Jack Brady and Choi Mei-ling used to use the room in which the attack took place. Choi Mei-ling has a birthmark on her left clavicle and was known at the house as Dancing Sapphire.
Skill Checks