Jiujiang Provincial Roleplay

[Phailak]

Lai shrugged.

"I am not sure my brother would take on such a title, unless he dethrones a current king..."

Lai smiled and sighed.

"You are right, you should not worry about such things as commanders and strategists, concentrate on eliminating threats to our army as you have always have, we'll handle the rest. Several rumors escaping Wu speak of illness or folly, that the leadership there is questioned, that there is chaos in the capital. We will have to see how to proceed, their armies are still numerous, well trained, armed and led. Ma Su has become distant in the same way as Hin Wu has, perhaps they feel we have used them though I wonder often if their survival is not directly linked to being allied to Ma Dieu. The power struggle should soon shift from the south to the north where the powers there continue to gather and will need to expand. The Hegemon King continues to be the center of rumors of instability and rage, how long will he be contained?"

Lai thought for a moment.

"Our concerns are quickly changing, with so much territory, we will need more bodies soon, if only we could find someone to put in charge of recruiting some talent, aside from yourself, which is not your duty, no new blood has entered the ranks."

[Li Dao Wen]

The big ogre could only scoff at the disappointing response given by his friend, though he was hardly surprised at the subtle answer. For all his brilliance, Fei's unassuming personality is the real factor that's keeping their mighty war machine going smoothly. And he was no less ambitious than the proud Ma Dieu, and he knew that the time for kingship would one day be at hand for him. Inwardly he asserted the same destiny for himself.

"He has already conquered all of Yue, what more is he waiting for?" he grunted. He wanted to press the issue on, to urge Fei Lai to quicken the pace. Some part of him desired all the glory which would come with Ma's ascension, and true to his character, he expected a huge reward for his services. He looked pensively at Lai's seeming indifference though, trying to discern how things would actually come to pass in the next few months.

Again his thoughts drifted to Xiang Yu. Fei's question had mirrored his own; would he simply let all his generals run rampant, grabbing power for themselves? The Hegemon King may be impetuous, but he certainly is not blind. Even Xun Jiang could see that Chu's movements would be inevitable. The real question is, where is he going to strike first? "That Xiang Yu will most likely move out this month. I have a feeling that he is going to target some unfortunate fool somewhere here in the south."

Secretly he wished it would be them, or Li Jiacheng. The former for the anticipated faceoff, and the latter for more obvious reasons. Ma Dieu's plan would have worked perfectly if Xiang Yu marched on the ailing King of Wu. But there were numerous other candidates for destruction, and the speculation made him somewhat anxious. He paused his thoughts at the last thing brought to mind by Fei. "New talent is hard to come by nowadays. Our men have grown quiet, almost complacent." he gritted his teeth and spat at the marble floors, smearing the blood beneath the soles of his armored boots. "I will not tolerate anyone slacking off at this moment. Every day is critical for our survival, our glory. I will go out and seek more talent, once I get some rest."

[Phailak]

OOC: Time warping to make the conversation even more interesting...

Lai nodded and was about to add his own thoughts to the matter when a messenger interrupted their conversation. Lai was glad the interruption had not occurred earlier and given his friend a target to vent his rage.

"Come in, what is it?"

Bowing to the two of them, the man proceeded.

"The armies you asked reports on are both on the move. Wu has invaded Liang and... so has Chu my Lords."

Lai's eyebrow went up in question before asking for the detailed report. Dismissing the messenger scout, Lai handed the report to his Warrior friend.

"The rumors must be true, the Wu King must be in terrible condition. I had made preparations for the defense of Yue as soon as next month, yet this gains us another month at least and we have managed somehow to keep Xuyi. This is a tremendous turn of events, plus the possibility Chu and Wu actually clash!"

Lai showed some emotion here, this was unexpected.

"The Hegemon King is losing it my friend, attacking one of his few allies in Ma Su, perhaps someone is whispering in his ear in the court... I need to find out whom. Magistrate Hin Wu seems to be left out, perhaps he will inherite Liang, though it is destined to be a constant battlefield with how much power each Lord around it gains. I doubt Chu establishes themselves there..."

Lai started pacing.

"What could I be missing, why would Wu go after Liang? The armies sent there are their only core, the ones able to hope to stand against us. The rabble in Wu they have can't even stand against our new recruits let alone our main force. Even should they retreat before Xiang Yu, they will be stuck in Huainan."

Lai rubbed his bearded chin.

"Then there is the attack on Jiaoxi, a formidable force from Chu with the King's dog released from his leash. I wonder if Qi will defend it, they could lose a lot of troops without their best men there to protect it, serves them right. It feels strange all this movement and yet we lie dormant for this month, though it is the calm before the storm."

Lai smiled deviously, finally giving his friend time to ponder...

[Li Dao Wen]

Xun Jiang's armored boots kept drumming slowly on the marble floors with impatience as he watched Fei pace back and forth. Somehow it amused him how the master tactician seemed more like the lion in dilemma than he did at the moment. His rage had started to fizzle, and his wandering mind left the Kijo's death an afterthought.

The entrance of the military report brought about many concerns, ones which he had already foreseen and expected. As he took the scroll and read the contents, his eyes trailed after Fei's flowing robes gracing the tiles.

"That storm crow Ma Su is the General's cousin, and any war involving him would no doubt bring enemies upon our doorstep. We ought to be prepared to face the Hegemon King soon." Yet the tone of his voice sounded more expectant than worried, more excited than not, and true enough he was already licking his chops at the thought of the war which Su could instigate after this invasion on Liang. There was little doubt where he was going to flee if he does survive, and he could serve a new purpose if he ever desired revenge. To face Xiang Yu now, however, would be folly, and he recognized the danger which Chu's imperial armies could inflict. The war on Wu would have to be diverged somehow, so that the brute of Chu could turn his wrath on the supposed rebels of the riverlands.

"Huainan will become one huge deathtrap for them." he pondered aloud, letting his snarling voice be heard clearly. "Once Qing Bu has finished with that vile wretch in Qi, he will be free to turn his attention elsewhere. He may coordinate with Xiang Yu in seeking and destroying a target, or..."

His voice trailed off into thought, thinking of that butcher currently waging war on all of Jiaoxi. "Perhaps we can entice that tattooed fool to turn on the king? How ambitious is he? How power hungry?" Nonetheless, despite his moments of cleverness, he still couldn't forget his real purpose in his every thought. He wanted to kill both of those men, and going into war with the rest of Ma Dieu's cohorts would be a sure way to earn the prestige he needed to reach his goals.

[Phailak]

Lai considered the situation.

"Bu can't win against Qi, perhaps the masked devil will retreat, but only to gather a counter attack. It is folly to have two enemies such as Wu and Chu... unless one can be taken out in one fell swoop."

Lai called over an attendant and ordered some documents be retrieved from his offices.

"If Ma Su seeks exile here... this will certainly anger the Hegemon King and the fool might dare make an ultimatum. I wonder why he would attack Ma Su when there are clear enemies like Tian Rong and Liu Bang still threatening. We need more men we can trust, we need more officers of talent if we have a chance to fight a war on two fronts..."

[Jin Shi]

The night was still, as still as when you hold your breath and brace for impact, but the hit never comes. The winter cold still held an icy grip on the hoots of the native fauna, and the rivers coursing into Yue kept its voices hushed, lest the silence be broken. Shadows danced along the fields underneath the trees of the countryside, tricks of sight and the moon, or something else? The darkness that lingered as the moon waned behind hazy clouds above only grew stronger, just as the rage within the man who called this land home, for now, magnified under the scrutiny of this landscape's spirits.

"Failure... failure...", the hills whispered to him. He said nothing in reply. Staring at the moon above, he watched as its light grew dim, and his hopes for a storybook life of imperials and bandits had ended. The strongest? The smartest? The best leader? He claimed none of these. And here he was, hiding in the hills from an enemy he did not fear himself but which he knew direct conflict would bring utter destruction. And yet with ten thousand men at his back, they urged him to continue his crusade. To what end?

His cousin had marched to face that foe, and he hoped for a victory, but expected disastrous consequences regardless of the outcome. The winds brought word of an upsetting defeat in King Liu's lands, with his former colleague Shen Feng beating a retreat and the wide eyed Luo Jian, along with the King Baocen, taken in bonds. Would they face a fate like the one he experienced on the outskirts of Dingtao, or something less noble still? And what of the North? And the tiger Li Jiacheng, licking his wounds in Wu?

The rolling hills around him rustled with the bitter wind, the tall grass swaying back and forth, unsure of their direction. Forward or back?

And in an instant, the clouds rolled back, and a strong wind gusted along the hills, laying the grass flat and bending the trees, spilling water from the rivers into the dirt, all the rabbits and birds nests laid bare before the pale eye of the moon. Alone sat tall the figure of Ma Su, his eyes closed, knowing the lay of the land not by sight but by feel, his hands at his sides to feel the flying dust pang against his fingers and the distressed weeds, enveloping his hands, tugging at him, urging him to take flight with them.

No. He had had enough, and he would take things as they came now, and either stand or be forced to fall in the winds that came.

And just as quickly, the wind grew soft, and the moon stared at the countryside of Jiujiang with singular intensity. His army was ready. He was ready.

To what end? To the end.