Li Zhu's Audience Hall - Zhaoge

[Lu Kuang]

The city of Zhaoge itself holds no dramatic flair, no special appeal; nothing to really set itself apart from most other cities in the Central Plains. Perhaps the only thing that separates this city from another is the flags of Xia Xi that hang from the administration building in the center of the city. There, a visitor would normally find 2 guards and an attendant or two stationed to watch the building's gate, although the barracks were directly next door, in case of emergency. Inside, the administration building was decorated in a frugal but sharp manner, emphasizing a sort of belief in both representing wealth but at the same time choosing not to be over-elaborate with the decoration. Guards stood at the ready throughout the hall, intermixed with attendants here and there.

A sign in front of the gate requested that petitioners identify themselves to the administration building's attendant and to give themselves enough time in case they might have to wait, as the Governor of Zhaoge is sometimes too busy to attend to his suitors swiftly. Unfortunately, few peasants can read, and the sign goes mostly ignored.

[Lurking Tyranny]

Eight horsemen and a carriage move through the city of Zhaoge, the recent site of a somewhat violent anti-Qin uprising. The soldiers are clearly on heavy alert, glaring at the citizens who return their looks with even more hatred. These new visitors to the city are either extremely bold and arrogant or just plain dumb for they brazenly fly the triangular black flag of Qin from the carriage roof.

The horsemen come to a stop surrounding the carriage when they get to the gates of Zhaoge's administration building. The soldiers hold their spears tightly, worry etching their faces. The carriage door then opens and a large robed minister with an stoney face and a white beard steps down. In a deep gravely voice he declares "We have come here on behalf of the Chief Minister and his most August Imperial Majesty the Second Emperor! We demand immediate audiance with distrinct manager Xia!"

[Materazzi15]

Upon receiving the perfumed letter from lady Xia Liu Lu Xiang made for the city of Zhaoge almost immediately. Truth be told he had totally forgotten about the promise he made to lady Xia all those months ago however ounce reminded he felt obliged to keep his word. Taking two of his best soldiers he arrived in Zhaoge two days after receiving the letter at about four oclock in the evening.

The three men entered Zhaoge on horseback all wearing black robes trimmed with purple. The man in the middle, Liu Lu Xiang, was identifiably the leader of the group. His presence demanded respect, the huge muscles clearly visible even through his robes only enforced the fact. The man to Xiang's left was Zhao Xiong, captain of Xiang's guards. The man to hs left was Gaojun Yuan, Xiong's rival who had been given the honour of bearing Xiang's personal flag. The flag made of black silk read XIANG in large purple characters.

As the group came to what they assumed was the palace Xiang and Xiong dismounted. Yuan remained atop his steed at the bottom of the steps, he had been charged with the task of keeping Xiang's weapon safe while he held talks with either the princess or her father.

Ascending the steps Xiang and Xiong stopped short of the guards on duty. Speaking in his usuall confident manner Xiang introduced himself:

"My name is Liu Lu Xiang a friend of princess Xia. I am here at her request."

Liu Xiang who had been a state the first time lady Xia and he met was much diffrent now. He had traded in the plain robes for silk robes designed for his army. He had ditched the guard job he held in his village and rallied men of abillity to fight under his flag. You could only keep a dragon caged for so long and Xiang was a fierce dragon.

[Jin Shi]

When Huixi Zhe received a letter from a dainty little princess from Zhaoge, he laughed for a good five minutes. After he had finished, and everyone in the store he was in had fled from fright of his laugh, he walked out and left for Zhaoge in haste.

He rode in on horseback, someone else's horse to be sure, and dismounted once he reached the front steps, slapping its face and causing it to run off. With a grand smile, he approached the castle, a slightly hunched figure with ragged clothes and no noticeable weapons on his person, scars covering his face and hair unkempt.

He obviously noticed the grand array of soldiers and flags blowing in the wind in front of the castle, and snickered as he made his way to the front. One might have thought he was some homeless man wandering across the grounds, and one would be mostly right. He pushed his way past several soldiers to the front, where a few officers of note were standing, and he recognized at least one.

"General Liu! It is good to see you again."

He patted him on the back, and then took a step forward towards one of the guards of the castle.

"Your Princess was fool enough to send for me as well."

He procured the letter from his pocket daintily and showed it to the guard.

[NightForever]

"It must be this place."

Wu Weilong murmured to himself as he stepped into the gate of Zhaoge city. Being a southern man, he could not help but feel unfamiliar with the surrounding of the city in the central region.

During his travel from the South, he was wondering what kind of person who had sent him the letter was. All he knew was that she was a warrior princess who were fond of martial arts and weapon crafting. She must also be quite charismatic, judging from the scent of the perfume in the letter. No matter what type of person she was, Wu Weilong considered his chance to widen his experience and fighting skill.

Upon arrival at the city audience hall, he bowed to the guards and showed them the letter.

"Greeting, my name is Wu Weilong, a swordsman from the southern land. I come here upon the invitation from princess Xia Liangyu."

[RuffRydeR]

(OOC: It'll be a bother to deal with all three of the invitees separately, so, umm...Would you guys be fine if you, um, came along at the same time? ;-; Please? Eitherways, the guards will do the exact same thing for all of ya, so reply to this first while you answer that...=P)

The guard that morning was surprised at the sudden line-up. He didn't know the Princess was such a prolific writer. Checking all the letters, he then says,

"Well, normally, I'd have to ask you to leave your weapons, but she seems to want you all here for a duel at least. But, if you wish to speak with her father afterwards, you'll have to stop by the guard at the main Audience Hall. Still, can't leave you walking around aimlessly and armed here in the halls. I'll have two of my men escort each of you to her the training grounds her Father installed for her. She's probably there right now, practicing..."

Detaching six guards from a passing ward patrol, they accompany the men to where the princess was, fully armoured and a vision in sparkling red, white and gold, practicing her swordsmanship, swivelling her thin blade and going through the motions almost effortlessly. A few beads of sweat were visible on her prominent forehead, but still, she was stunning to watch, and as a guard asked politely,

"Lady Xia, visitors for you. They say you had letters from them."

She turned around, sheathing her sword and gasping a little, but then composed her pretty little self into giving a winsome smile and walked over, quite dignified, if a bit sluggish due to her unaccustomed armour. This was actually quite light and form-fitting and almost flimsy to some, but quite heavy to her. She fixes the headband on her forehead, obscuring her vision a bit, but then, putting her hands down, she grins,

"Well, well, visitors. Who do we have here, huh?"

[Jin Shi]

((I guess. ))

Huixi Zhe didn't say anything as he was led through the hallways of the castle. Playfully taking in the scenery and grabbing a fruit to munch on from a passing servant, he observed the Princess practicing with an odd mix of detachment and interest. She was pretty, to be sure, but Zhe had given up actual love long ago, to his pleasure. And besides, she was half his age. He grinned.

When she asked who they were, he spoke up first, clearly very odd considering he was a mere peasant in comparison to status of the other men, but he did so nonetheless. He bowed deeply and elaborately, a joke only for those who knew his personality.

"I am Huixi Zhe, Gardener, Architect, Sailor and Entertainer."

[RuffRydeR]

The Princess eyes him suspiciously as she dusts her sleeves and straightens her undergarments under the tight fit of her breastplate, quite befuddled by his listing of skills. She then asks,

"Um...that's quite nice. I'm pretty sure I didn't invite servants though...I invited warriors. Would that be another one of your possible professions, sir? Or did I make some sort of mistake?"

[NightForever]

(OOC: nice seeing you again, Jin Shi )

Wu Weilong arrived at the training ground along with the other two invited warriors, which he know one of them. Wu Weilong gave a challenging smile to Huixi Zhe, assuming that Huixi Zhe still remembered him after the incident in the tavern. He did not say anything further to Huixi, though.

At the first time he met princess Xia, he was stunned my her beauty and boldness. He had never seen such a female warrior before. Despite her beautiful appearance, Wu Weilong realized that her fighting skill could surpass any male warriors that were here. He bowed to the princess before spoke to her

"Greeting, milady. I am Wu Weilong, a southern swordsman without his own sword, at least for now."

It was quite embarassing that a swordsman could not afford to have a fine sword on his own. However, he felt that it was better to tell her frankly.

[Jin Shi]

Huixi Zhe's smile widened.

"That's another. It's usually listed under Entertainer, but I guess we could make it a separate class for you to understand better."

He walked around a bit, observing the fighting grounds and such, very self-confident.