The North-West Alliance

[mercurian]

((Closed RP for RedRyder))

Zhengzong Yi found himself yet again travelling that same old route that he was using to procure the wood that he thought to be the most ideal for carving from Touba. Although this time it was to check in again on how his troops were doing there. Since he had hired that former courtier in the old capital of Luoyang, Mu Wei, the recruitment of soldiers and decent leaders of the people were starting to swell even without him at the helm. He had since resumed his work in Shangdang, only to check in whenever he needed to procure more wood. But still, even when things were seemingly returning to normalcy, there was still a lingering disturbance within the mind of his. It was the reason why he became more circumspect in his surroundings, and from then on, created a chain of problems which removed him from his ideal of just wanting to blend with his surroundings unnoticed. He only wanted the army so that he could remove completely whatever was disturbing his mind, and he did not want to even form one in the first place if not needed. It started with that unusual banditry that happened in Fanyang months ago.

Zhengzong Yi arrived at the scene of that fateful encounter: a wooded area within the road that connected Shanggu to Fanyang, and nearer to Fanyang than it was to Shanggu. A group of five bandits then emerged from the woods while he was pulling a cart that contained his tools and what would contain the wood that he would procure from the forest near Touba. He had encountered bandits earlier in his life, but those people that he encountered were seemingly well-armed and decently clothed for that occasion. His thoughts were confirmed when the bandits suddenly attacked without provocation: as he drew the jian from his sheath and fought them, he noticed that their moves were more fluid than the usual rabble that he encountered. Even the leaders of the bandits whom he had smoked out following the attacks on him were not even close to the performance of these five that he was battling. But still, with some methodical dismantling, four of the five bandits that he encountered that time lay dead on the ground, their blood still coloring the part of the road that his boots were stepping on. Of course, as his custom, he wanted to take notes on the true leader of their bandit company, so as to dismantle them completely. After some pointed questions and the same response from the jian he was holding towards the remaining bandit, Zhengzong Yi only heard the phrase "Jiang Xia" before the person he was interrogating breathed his last. He did not know what the phrase meant, if it was a name, or a place, or something else. But at least he had a hint on who their leader truly is, and so he decided to be attentive to whatever people were talking around him, hopefully he would know the truth by listening to them. It was also because of this that he raised an army to dismantle the Red Dragon Confederation, since, as said by the village leader of Touba, the Confederation was responsible for the attacks on the merchants that were moving towards Tuoba and Fanyang. His own predicament might have been related to that scenario, and so if he succeeded, it could remove his anxiety that was perturbing him for months.

[TheRudeDude7]

"Men! We must rally!"
Ever since the repelled attack on the RDC, Tso-lin Touba has only become more fierce and confident. Here he was, a band of village soldiers with the support of some backhand warlords, facing off against experienced war generals and well-equipped soldiers. He had expected a slaughter - but instead, they almost took it.
Tso-lin Touba is preparing for a crushing push against the RDC, one that would be enough to at least secure the supplies they needed. This was it. Their death would come soon.