Freeing Baideng

[Kakirot83]

Tai scowled at the man who barked orders at her, as if he knew best. Worse yet, he wandered up the stairs towards the injured man, and with no real regard for his well being, took hold of his head, and began asking questions.

Tai followed up the stairs, and knelt next to the old man on the ground. Being a doctor, her concern was more on the welfare of the man, and how serious his wounds were. She ignored her 'friend' and went took to trying to gently probe the injuries of the old man, to see if was vital he receive any help, or if it was merely a normal blow to the head.

Tai Ju Li sees to the old man's injuries (If they matter)

[NightForever]

Crowd Control

Disturbances could be heard back from the street as more soldiers arrived in an attempt to control the riot. It was full blown by now, after months of battle outside the walls. Soldiers did not have any clear cut instructions and treated the town folk as hostile.

The boy whistled but continued to lead the duo away.

"I have to confess, I have an ulterior motive to leading you away from the mob."

The boy spoke in hush tones as they emerged onto the next street where people were beginning to make their way towards the commotion.

"I think you guys were thrown into something you had no business being in. My dad was killed in the first melee and I was able to gleam some information from this whole mess. I spied on some of you as you went around the town..."

The kid's voice was sad now, as if to sympathize.

"Things are not what they seem, I don't have the whole picture, but I definitely have certain pieces."

He collapsed to the floor as a crossbow bolt hit him in the shoulder. As luck would have it, it hit him there instead of the heart as he turned to look at them. The would be assassin was only 20 feet away, seeing he missed, he drew his sword. Witnesses fled the scene.

OOC: I need tactics. One of you has to look and bandage the boy. The other needs to duel the assassin who is coming to finish the job. Tactics to Cao Chao for the duel

Seeing the boy collapse in front of her, Ding Yi's immediate reaction was one to help him. Kneeling beside the boy, she quickly removed the sash used to tie her hair, her eyes fixed on the blood seeping into boy's clothing from the wound. She was aware that danger was close by. "He comes!" she shouted with urgency, her brows furrowed as she stared at the unsheathed blade of the oncoming killer.

With Shangguan Wei to deal with the assassin, Ding Yi turned her attention back to the boy. "You need to hold still." she said to him in hurried whisper, "Try to breathe calmly or you will lose blood faster." She layed him straight on the ground, then lifted his shoulder as lightly as she could, proceeding to bandage the wound.

Ding Yi will tend to the boy

Seeing the boy injured by the assassin, Wei barely kept his rage and unsheathed his weapon. He then stood between the assassin and the boy, covering the boy and Ding Yi. Changing his stance to defensive position, he pointed to the assassin's face and motion his fingers towards himself.

"You want our lives? Let's see if you can take them."

(OOC: Tactic sent.)

[ShamsTron]

Zheng Nu was very pleased to see some comrades in the mansion he just rushed into. He takes a moment to gain back his breath while Bái Ruì was speaking.

Zheng Nu: I am sorry but we can't wait for you to siphon information out of this man. Whoever up there is probably willing to do anything to get out of here and we need to get to him fast.

He draws his sword before finishing what he has to say.

Zheng Nu: I going there points to room B with his sword, and be ready to support me if anything happens.

Zheng Nu cautiously enters Room B with (statless) sword in hand.

(OOC: Sorry I asked Phailak and he said I was not able to wait for the injured guy to answer our questions)

[Belial]

REVISED DUEL:

The assassin attacks Shangguan Wei! In a quick, but, brutal battle, the assassin is chased away!

[quote]Bout 1:

Round 1:
Shangguan Wei HP: 91 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 78 Might: 78

Shangguan Wei lands the attack.(7)
Assassin lands the attack.(7)

Round 2:
Shangguan Wei HP: 84 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 71 Might: 78

Shangguan Wei attempts to land a crippling strike on Assassin!
Shangguan Wei's crippling strike fails to land on a vital point.
Shangguan Wei lands the attack.(8)
Assassin lands the attack.(5)

Round 3:
Shangguan Wei HP: 79 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 63 Might: 78

Shangguan Wei attempts to land a crippling strike on Assassin!
Shangguan Wei lands the attack.(11)
Assassin lands the attack.(5)

End of Bout 1:
Shangguan Wei HP: 74 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 52 Might: 78

Bout 2:

Round 1:
Shangguan Wei HP: 74 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 52 Might: 78

Shangguan Wei fails to hit with the attack!
Shangguan Wei deflects Assassin's attack.
Assassin fails to hit with the attack!

Round 2:
Shangguan Wei HP: 74 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 52 Might: 78

Shangguan Wei lands the attack.(7)
Assassin fails to hit with the attack!

Round 3:
Shangguan Wei HP: 74 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 45 Might: 78

Shangguan Wei attempts to land a crippling strike on Assassin!
Shangguan Wei's crippling strike fails to land on a vital point.
Shangguan Wei lands the attack.(10)
Assassin attempts a combination attack on Shangguan Wei.
Assassin's combination attack on Shangguan Wei fails.
Assassin lands the attack.(6)

End of Bout 2:
Shangguan Wei HP: 68 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 35 Might: 78

Bout 3:

Round 1:
Shangguan Wei HP: 68 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 35 Might: 78

Shangguan Wei fails to hit with the attack!
Shangguan Wei deflects Assassin's attack.
Assassin fails to hit with the attack!

Round 2:
Shangguan Wei HP: 68 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 35 Might: 78

Shangguan Wei fails to hit with the attack!
Assassin lands the attack.(7)

Round 3:
Shangguan Wei HP: 61 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 35 Might: 78

Shangguan Wei lands the attack.(10)
Assassin attempts a combination attack on Shangguan Wei.
Assassin lands a combination!
Assassin lands the attack.(8)

End of Bout 3:
Shangguan Wei HP: 53 Might: 91
Assassin HP: 25 Might: 78[

Assassin attempts to retreat! Successful![/quote]

[Chou Yu]

Yu ran holding his word, half expecting that he'd meet someone on the way. There was no one however, and it stayed that way until they arrived at the main hall, where everyone from the group met. Bai Rui in particular had some pretty sharp words for Yang Yu, "If you expect me to let a woman dive into danger alone, you'd be severely disappointed." Yu snapped back. He then suggeted Yu cover an entrance, "Wouldn't it be better to cover the four doors?" He asked, dumbfounded by the strategy. Still, Yu recognized that he had no time to argue, so he ran to cover the side door.

Yang Yu covers the side door!

[Phailak]

Crowd control

The assassin flees quickly, but a new and smaller crowd gathers around the victims of the attack. It would not be long before someone puts the small group as the same group that were involved with the riot a couple of blocks away.

The boy seemed fine, though he would need to be carried.

"The location is not far..."

He seemed to be looking to the rooftops for another attack.

"Something big was being smuggled out of the town. Not sure what that has to do with the attacks, not sure either what was being taken out. I also know that one of the men defending the town was a traitor, not sure which one but I know because I saw him sneak out and meet with someone outside of town, a small guy. The small guy left while the traitor came back. Never got a good look at him though."

They arrived at the house, screams from what appeared to be the boy's mother at his injuries.

"I'll be fine, you guys should go meet up with your men. One last thing that is important and why I sought you out, the guy that hired you, behind the attacks, he's from this town too, I saw him when he came in. Looks different, but I remember him from when I was younger, used to work for the real magistrate, the one that led the defenses in the last attack."

Mansion

Rui realized as he questioned the old man his hand and sleeve were being soaked with blood and he stank, again in contrast to the rich home. The old man seemed dizzy from a concussion and was bleeding a lot from a wound on the side of his head, as Tai Ju Li examined him, he points to a room (room B). He seems afraid and asks pleadingly for Ju Li to take him away or let him go. He rises and seems wobbly, but seems to be able to walk down the stairs. He waits to see if someone will help him, but does not seem to expect it, as if he wants to get away from that room as soon as possible.

"Hurry, I think that man is dead and the other is heavily wounded." he whispered.

As the words of the man are said, Zheng Nu enters the room. The scene is in fact quite gruesome.

Lying dead with a slit throat is Jinshouzhuang Jue. Beside him, bleeding profusely and knocked out cold is Liao Teng the other officer that had escaped. The window was barred from the inside, there were bag of gold spilled open on the floor near both men as well as documents sprawled everywhere. Teng looked like he had walked in and was surprised after the killing blow to Jue, surely the scream came from him. The papers looked scattered beyond just being dropped, like someone had gone through them...

OOC: I know WTF with these twists and turns, more tactics please

[Marquis Black]

Something didn't add up. Even as he calculated everything that had gone on around him, Rui just knew something was wrong with this picture. Quickly, he revisited the facts as he knew them.

1. Jue had posed as a magistrate, made a call for 'heroes' to come aid him in recapturing 'his' town, and then provided them with a few men and funding.

2. Rui and his colleagues, the 'heroes,' had fought the bandit force and routed them once on the battlefield, then again as they took the town. Two men escaped.

3. Evidence seems to point to the fact that the 'heroes' of the story have been tricked into being someone else's goon squad. Jue is evidently not a magistrate, and the populace treat the 'heroes' as common bandits.

4. In the most Magistrate-y house of the town, a terrible scream is heard, and he and a few of his colleagues rush to see what the hell is going on.

5. They find an old man, bleeding and suffering from a concussion, who points to a particular room.

6. Inside said room is an impossible crime scene. Jue is dead from a slit throat, and one of the escaped officers, Liao Teng, lies bleeding and unconscious.

7. Evidently, whomever had killed Jue had then tried to do in Liao Teng.

Rui stopped at this point. If the events had indeed proceeded in that order, then shouldn't there be a third assailant? Where was this mystery murderer? His eyes slowly went from the room to the old man walking away. Could it be? it seemed too blatant, though. And yet, what was the old man doing here? Weren't most, if not all civilians outside, lamenting at the apparent conquest? Why was he up here and not downstairs; in fact, near the room of the murder?

Rising from his kneeling position on the floor, Rui pointed at him. "Generals, seize that man!" he ordered before looking behind him. "General Zheng, please investigate the other rooms as well! There is a third culprit involved in this mess, and he must still be here somewhere!"

He then looked down at Tai Ju Li coldly. "And if you want to save a life, I suggest you help General Liao inside that room, not a potential suspect," he said. With that said, he turned to enter the room himself, going straight for the strewn documents. Perhaps they could shed some light on the situation.

(Rui has ordered the apprehension of the old man and gone to investigate the documents in Room B!)

[ShamsTron]

Zheng Nu is completely baffled at what is going on. While not being a fan of having orders barked at him he knew this was not the time to argue about petty things. Knowing that anything could happen he moves to examine room C with sword in hand.

Zheng Nu with statless sword in hand goes to examine room C.

[NightForever]

Crowd control

The assassin flees quickly, but a new and smaller crowd gathers around the victims of the attack. It would not be long before someone puts the small group as the same group that were involved with the riot a couple of blocks away.

The boy seemed fine, though he would need to be carried.

"The location is not far..."

He seemed to be looking to the rooftops for another attack.

"Something big was being smuggled out of the town. Not sure what that has to do with the attacks, not sure either what was being taken out. I also know that one of the men defending the town was a traitor, not sure which one but I know because I saw him sneak out and meet with someone outside of town, a small guy. The small guy left while the traitor came back. Never got a good look at him though."

They arrived at the house, screams from what appeared to be the boy's mother at his injuries.

"I'll be fine, you guys should go meet up with your men. One last thing that is important and why I sought you out, the guy that hired you, behind the attacks, he's from this town too, I saw him when he came in. Looks different, but I remember him from when I was younger, used to work for the real magistrate, the one that led the defenses in the last attack."

Wei memorized the boy's words carefully. He did not understand them well, but he could somehow figure out that there were several people behind this charade. He nodded at the boy and then turned to Ding Yi.

"Let's go to the mansion that the scream came from. I think our folks need you and me."

He then patted the boy's head.

"Thank you, kid. You saved us from a lot of troubles. Sorry for getting hurt because of us. I will come back here again once everything is done."

He and Ding Yi then left for the mansion.

Assuming no objection from Ding Yi, Shangguan Wei and her would proceed to the mansion with haste. If there is anything or anyone suspicious coming out of the mansion, Wei would apprehend him/her right away.

[Meia]

She nodded in agreement to Shangguan Wei to head for the mansion and rejoin the other generals.

"Before we go, I have some questions." Ding Yi looked at the boy. "This 'Jinshouzhuang Jue'...Have you any idea what his real name is, and why the folks here did not seem to know much about him?" Her eyes then gazed sympathetically at his bandaged shoulder, "And may I know your name, brave one?"

For her final question, Ding asked the boy for advice on the safest route to the mansion.