Mingmei university

"Um. Yeah. We think they jump. That's really all we've been able to figure out. Um. We were hoping you could tell us some more information about them. Maybe where they would... be? At? Like where they might hide in the city?"
Sam brandishes the sheef of papers he's carrying with him.
"I had heard that you don't like using electronics," he lies. "So I printed this all out for you."

Chougou mentions that they had heard from various sources that it was indeed a jumping variety.

"Are these common professor? We would like to stop it from hurting anyone and were thinking of trying to trap it somehow and then kill it with a branch from a peach tree."

The professor says, "That's very considerate," as he scoops up the pictures, "Electronics just attract gremlins. I don't know how anyone functions out there with the threat of gremlins everywhere. If I had a computer in my head, I wouldn't be able to sleep for fear of the critters taking over my brain! It's madness!"

He examines the pictures closely and nods, making some mumbles to himself before he finally says, "Yep, that looks like the work of a jiangshi. A jumping one, I would assume. The good news is they aren't as bad as they could be. The bad news is they are still pretty bad news. Very hard to kill. You need peach wood to kill it, but good luck getting that."

He says to Chougou, "They aren't super common because they take a long time to get enough qi for them to actually be a threat to people. When they are first created, you can basically just push one over and light it on fire. Very easy to deal with. Once they get to the point that they are jumping is when they start becoming dangerous. But they never stop growing more powerful. They start flying, and then eventually become Ba. Ba can drain the qi of dragons with ease, and have a whole host of other powers. The most powerful jiangshi ever recorded though was the Demon King. It's powers are said to be without limit, even by godly standards. It was defeated roughly one thousand years ago only through the combined efforts of the world's most powerful magic wielders, and even then it was not destroyed. It only sleeps; buried in some protective tomb, never to be released again. The magic users of today cannot compare to those of old. Much was lost during the Great Magic War. Were it to be freed, I am certain it would spell the end of our world. We just do not have the means to trap it again."

He takes a breath and says, "But lucky for you it is just a jumping jiangshi, right? Assuming you don't just happen to have a peach tree growing around to harvest from, there are other ways to deal with one. You could hold your breath. Then they wouldn't be able to find you. Or you could toss some seeds on the ground. Sometimes they stop to count and gather them all. Not always though. If you want to seal them away, you need a specially prepared coffin and you need to write special sealing glyphs on every side of the coffin. I mean EVERY side, got that? People always forget to do the bottom and then are all confused when the jiangshi gets free and kills them. Anyway, I can write the glyphs down for you. Anyone with a basic understanding of banishing rituals should be able to copy them properly."

He grabs some papers and begins scribbling some complex symbols that mean nothing to Sam or Chougou. Once done he hands over the papers and says, "There that should work. I know I said coffin, but it doesn't have to be a literal coffin coffin. Any sturdy container that you can fit them in will work. The problem is getting them in there, right? Hold on... let me see if I still have those around here somewhere..."

He begins rifling around through a heavy looking filing cabinet apparently searching for something...

Chougou turns the symbols over trying to figure out which way is up on them and then looks at Sam confused but hopeful that this guy knows his stuff

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Sam holds on.

He pulls some strips of paper out of the filing cabinet and then turns to Sam and Chougou. His eyes go slightly hazy for a moment then a look of disappointment crosses his face. "Oh," he says, "You aren't awakened. Um... do you have friends who are? Because these are going to be really useless unless you do."

We do have a few awakened friends, they are searching for peachwood at the moment...

Chougou pauses realizing he had better not offer to comm them in the professors presence...

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((you are right about them not having reception at this time. And you do get the sense that playing with your commlinks will irritate this guy))


The professor hands you 5 slips of paper with writing on them. He says, "Okay, so these are called ofuda. They are sealing charms against evil spirits. Right now they are inactive, but any spellcaster can activate them by concentrating on them as they would a spell. Once the ofuda are active, you have a few minutes to place them on the forehead of a jiangshi. Anyone can do it at that point. If you can touch it properly, the magic in the seal should be attracted to the spirit and remain attached. The jiangshi will then be completely immobile for a few minutes, allowing you to place them in a suitable prison without further molestation. Or if you happen to have a stake of peach wood, you could just as easily slay them by driving it through their heart. Now these are powerful charms, but as you can see, they are only made of paper. Be careful not to damage them before you use them or they will be quite useless. Also do not activate them before you are ready to use them either."

He strokes his chin a bit, somewhat lost in thought as he says to himself, "Hmm.... am I forgetting anything....?"

"Thank you, very much, for this, Professor. But, we don't know where these jiangshi are. Do you have any idea where they might be? Or, um, any advice on how to track them? Or maybe some jiangshi bait?"

The professor says, "Oh. You don't know where it is? Sorry, the only thing that jiangshi are interested in is qi, the stronger and easier to get, the better. If they are jumping, that means animal qi won't do. It needs to be something sapient, preferably without any qi damage from cyberware and ideally not magical. They like magical targets the best, but don't like their food fighting back. Magic tells them that the target can probably fight back. Oh and of course that person needs to be far off enough on their own that the jiangshi doesn't sense any others. They don't attack crowds until they start flying.

"As for where to find them, well they don't venture too far from where you'll be finding the victims, so I would start by putting out my bait there and hope that you can get to the jiangshi before it gets to your bait."

"Well, great. Thanks a lot, Professor."
Sam takes the scraps of paper from him and puts them away safely. Maybe in his wallet, or something like that.
"That's really a lot of help. Say, on an unrelated note. What are you doing tomorrow night?"

Sam looks around at the various glyphs and such around the room.
"Oh," he says. "You're probably too magical, huh? Alright... Nevermind, I guess. But thanks a lot for the info! If you think of anything else that would be helpful for us to know, just send me an email. It's B@llzDeEp696969. That's balls with a Z and an at symbol. Deep spelled the regular way."

The professor gives Sam a look of confusion, unsure what he is getting at by asking what he is up to the following night. "I am flattered," he says, "but I do not date students. Particularly male students."

"Oh. I'm not... I mean, I wasn't.... You know what? Sure. I'm sorry for being inappropriate. Chougou, any other questions before we leave the professor to his work?"

Is there anyway to weaken them before we draw them in? Do they sleep at all, and do they possibly have any nests of any sort where we can get them before they even come out...other than that I think that we can make a plan and go from there, you have been very helpful. And I think what Sam was meaning to say **nudges Sam** was that if you would like to accompany us in capturing this thing we would of course appreciate your assistance. There may even be a reward for it if we can turn it in to the police...?

"Er. Yeah. That's what I meant. Maybe you want to tag along. In an, um, advisory capacity. Or I was asking you on a date. I think we can all agree it was one of those two things and definitely not suggesting we might use you as bait."

The professor glances at Sam and says to Chougou, "Did you not hear what I had to say about the ofuda? Get a spellcaster to charge them up, then slap the thing on their foreheads and they are paralyzed. How much weaker do you need one to be than paralyzed? I might as well have put that information on the syllabus for how much attention you are paying to it.

"As for sleep... they do not sleep exactly, but usually lay dormant during the day. They do not like sunlight, but it doesn't hurt them particularly once they are jumping. They just recoil from it out of reflex. So it is generally better to fight them during the day in case you need to flee. Don't expect to find them napping like a vampire or something though. People always get the two confused. They tend to nest in dark places like tomes and caves. Like I said before, they shouldn't be very far from where the bodies are dropping.

"There is no way you will get me to go jiangshi hunting with you though. I like my qi right where it is. Good luck not getting your qi sucked out. Do drop by and let me know if you succeed though."

"Would they be likely to be lured out during the day?"

Yes, I apologize, I did mean how could they be weakened before we got the symbols on them, I stated my question poorly. If they don't nap and are reclusive during the day, I think Sam is thinking the same thing as I am right now: how can we get them to come out in the daytime...a particularly strong qi?

I am concocting an idea in my head about a magic user safely protected in a steel cage that would have a trap door near the outside that would swing shut on the jiangshi with the symbols on its doors (on *all* sides) to seal it until we can dispose of it, but I am worried that it won't be as easily fooled as an animal would be in a similar circumstance, or that we could lure it in with so obvious a trap...

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How intelligent are they compared to animals or people?

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The professor says to Sam, "No, they won't be lured into the daylight unless they are particularly ravenous. I am guessing by the trail of bodies you have shown me that this is not going to be the case. Still, if you can track down their lair, daytime would be the time to do it."

To Chougou, he says, "They aren't mindless. At least not at this point. The more powerful they become the smarter they grow. By the time they are jumping, they are about as intelligent as an average person, give or take depending on how well fed they are. They can even speak if they have the desire to, which is not usually the case with what they consider to be their food."

Are there any hints that we can use to find their lair professor? Short of waiting for him to come to us, I would think that an assault on where he stays would be our best chance. Their qi must be glowing bright from all the lives that they have taken...or do they have a particular smell that we could trace?

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The professor says, "Oh I am sure their qi will be quite bright, but if they are hidden away in a cave where you can't see them, that is of little consequence. Possibly the best way to find their lair is to find them when they are feeding then follow them back to their lair through the astral plane. They are unable to sense the astral plane, unlike many creatures like them like ghouls and such, so it would be relatively safe. At least safe for everyone but the victim anyway. Then you could attack their lair later, during the day."

"Okay. Well, thanks again. We'll be going now. Oh, wait. One more question. What's, uh. What's with the raccoon?"