Changshan Provincial Roleplay

[Arkain Hibiki]

Chin nodded, and accepted the gold

Sergeant Chin "Don't worry, he expects you to do what you do best. He's willing to go along with it, for the sake of revenge."

Chin chuckles at the thought, before stopping to turn to Kai

Sergent Chin "If you could do me one more favor...we're gonna need some masks. Tianshi doesn't wish it known he took part in this task, and the best way to hide is to blend in with the rest of your bandits. Probably should get some for the troops too."

**Accepts the 475 gold**

[Xiao Gau]

Chin nodded, and accepted the gold

Sergeant Chin "Don't worry, he expects you to do what you do best. He's willing to go along with it, for the sake of revenge."

Chin chuckles at the thought, before stopping to turn to Kai

Sergent Chin "If you could do me one more favor...we're gonna need some masks. Tianshi doesn't wish it known he took part in this task, and the best way to hide is to blend in with the rest of your bandits. Probably should get some for the troops too."

**Accepts the 475 gold**

-=Kai chuckles coldly.=- "Oh, I will. It's what I'm born to do after all. Tell your lord he can sleep peacefully... He is helping to remove a menace from the land. Better the devil you know, so they say." -=Kai laughs, considering the name the people of Changshan call him.

He nods at the mention of the masks.=- "That suits me fine. Your men will blend in fine, we'll mix them into my forces, spread them out. This way your lord's hand stay clean, and my name will be more feared than ever. We'll have enough at the proper time. Now go.. I'm getting bored.." -=he said with a chilling finality.=-

---------

Shi just looks at the woman and grabs whatever food was left on the table and nodded when she told her about the horse. "Sounds good to me. I'll head over there after I'm done eatin'. Gotta find Tan too..."

After eating, Shi goes and looks at the horse and decides to put him in a stall and marks him as her own, then goes to find Tan. Last she had seen him he had been training some of the soldiers off behind the inn. Sure enough, he's there going through drills with some of the men.

"Tan, Kai told me to find you so I can get a mask. Mind helping me out with that?"

-=Two of the bandit irregulars hit the dirt with a thump and grunted curses as Tan trained them. Though a far inferior weapon to the one Kai gave to Shi, Tan's spear was still a serviceable weapon. The resounding crack of wood against wood echoed off the buildings in the back lot as the former Imperial Engineer slashed viciously with the haft of his spear, knocking aside one of the bandit's clumsy attacks. The big man lashes out with a fist, knocking the bandit to the ground, while driving the butt of his spear into another attacker.

Tan turns slowly, keeping the three remaining attackers at bay with quick thrusts of his spear before whirling suddenly and slamming the spear haft into the skull of the left attacker while kicking the central man in his manhood brutally. Both crash to the ground clutching their various injuries.

With only one foe left, Tan charged, planting his spear and launching himself into a rather stunning kick. Caught off guard by the sudden acrobatic move, the last bandit was defenseless as all of Tan's bulk slammed into him and hurled him several paces before he landed, unconscious.

Breathing hard, and snarling in annoying, Tan shouted at the bandit soldiers.=- "Pitiful.. six of you and none of you managed a single blow. If you can't even manage this, how are you going to survive when the real battle begins? Get out of my sight.. and you best work on it, or I swear I'll put you at the spearhead of the initial charge. At least you can do some good by being a distracting death for those of us who can handle ourselves.." -=he yelled.

The big soldier turns to face Shi as she speaks, he'd been hoping to ignore her.. but she spoke directly to him and enough of his old manners remained that he couldn't just walk away. Besides, Kai sent her, and he'd be pissed if Tan blew her off.=- "Yeah, I'm sure we've got some somewhere.. Come on, I'll show you.." -=he offered reluctantly, turning to head in the direction of a rather abused general store.=-

[Redbird]

Shi just looks at the woman and grabs whatever food was left on the table and nodded when she told her about the horse. "Sounds good to me. I'll head over there after I'm done eatin'. Gotta find Tan too..."

After eating, Shi goes and looks at the horse and decides to put him in a stall and marks him as her own, then goes to find Tan. Last she had seen him he had been training some of the soldiers off behind the inn. Sure enough, he's there going through drills with some of the men.

"Tan, Kai told me to find you so I can get a mask. Mind helping me out with that?"

-=Two of the bandit irregulars hit the dirt with a thump and grunted curses as Tan trained them. Though a far inferior weapon to the one Kai gave to Shi, Tan's spear was still a serviceable weapon. The resounding crack of wood against wood echoed off the buildings in the back lot as the former Imperial Engineer slashed viciously with the haft of his spear, knocking aside one of the bandit's clumsy attacks. The big man lashes out with a fist, knocking the bandit to the ground, while driving the butt of his spear into another attacker.

Tan turns slowly, keeping the three remaining attackers at bay with quick thrusts of his spear before whirling suddenly and slamming the spear haft into the skull of the left attacker while kicking the central man in his manhood brutally. Both crash to the ground clutching their various injuries.

With only one foe left, Tan charged, planting his spear and launching himself into a rather stunning kick. Caught off guard by the sudden acrobatic move, the last bandit was defenseless as all of Tan's bulk slammed into him and hurled him several paces before he landed, unconscious.

Breathing hard, and snarling in annoying, Tan shouted at the bandit soldiers.=- "Pitiful.. six of you and none of you managed a single blow. If you can't even manage this, how are you going to survive when the real battle begins? Get out of my sight.. and you best work on it, or I swear I'll put you at the spearhead of the initial charge. At least you can do some good by being a distracting death for those of us who can handle ourselves.." -=he yelled.

The big soldier turns to face Shi as she speaks, he'd been hoping to ignore her.. but she spoke directly to him and enough of his old manners remained that he couldn't just walk away. Besides, Kai sent her, and he'd be pissed if Tan blew her off.=- "Yeah, I'm sure we've got some somewhere.. Come on, I'll show you.." -=he offered reluctantly, turning to head in the direction of a rather abused general store.=-

Shi watches Tan as he trains the soldiers. As she watches him knock them down, one by one, she grows a bit of respect for him and shakes her head at the sad state of these men. She snickers as he yells and then turns her face to him when he speaks to her. She hears the 'i don't wanna do this but i have to' tone in his voice as he speaks but just shrugs it off. "You're pretty agile for an old man....Pretty sad that you're more capable of fighting then these 'soldiers'. " She sneers at the men as they walk by, shaking her head again at the ones who were still sitting or lying on their asses. "Pathetic.And this is what we're going into battle with? May as well ask the local farmers and the women to join us too....."

[Xiao Gau]

After the disaster at Quni -=Kai slipped away with the remains of his forces, leaving hundreds behind, along with valuable equipment. Inwardly he seethed at the crushing loss. Outwardly he seethed too, which is why his men were giving him a wide berth.

But there were plenty of evil looks at his back, and plenty of evil murmurings amongst the survivors. The remnants of the Red Masks were most unhappy with their leader; he promised gold and all they got was killed. Perhaps it was time to reconsider their leadership. An angry undercurrent swept through the ragged lines of the fleeing survivors, swirling around Kai.

It was all that damned lordling's fault, Kai just knew it. Everything had gone well up until that old bastard Diao convinced him to join up with Tainshi. 'Should just stick a knife in both of them...' he thought to himself, grinding his teeth in frustration. He and his men moved quickly back to Kuailang, keeping to the low grasses and scrubby hills to throw off any pursuit.

Arriving in the town, the group begins to break apart, heading for their own private lairs. The towns folk struggle to keep the joy from their faces as the beaten marauders return home empty handed. Venting frustration, Kai slashes the throat of a mother rushing to shoo her children home. The wash of blood does little to cool Kai's temper, but the cries of the children sooth him somewhat, but not much.

Slamming into the inn after kicking the simple door open, Kai stalks around down stairs for a while. Kicking furniture and smashing crockery does little to ease his fury, and only hurts his foot and makes a mess. Both of which only add to his anger. After several minutes, he makes his way upstairs to his room, slamming and locking the door behind him. He needed rest. He was exhausted. In the morning, he'd do what needed to be done. Cut out that old fool's tongue, and cut down a few of his more 'disgruntled' men.. so the others remember who was in charge.

As night falls, rough men gather in the town below. Dirty fingers test the edges of knives and men with spears slink silently into the inn. Sneaking into the inn, they make their way upstairs to the room Kai lairs in. Steeling themselves, they kick in the door and storm in, ready to 'reorganize' the command staff.

All that greeted them in the room was silence, darkness and a single knife thrust into the floor. Kai was no where to be seen, but the window was open... the curtains blowing softly in the night breeze.=-

[Jun Shan]

Jun Shan was furious of that everyone in the camp was sure, what was less clear was if they should brace themselves for his rage. That never came of course as Shan sat in utter silence his gaze affixed to the embers glowing in the camp fire before him.

He knew it simply would not do to blame his men or take out his anger on them, the disaster at Quni was the result of failed leadership. Since him and his men had arrived in camp they were having issues with the other bandits either attempting some kind of raid on his camp or coming to join his group.

With Kai seemingly vanished the situation in the town quickly grew worse as the bandit group tore itself apart. Seeing the danger of the leaderless mob Shan gave the order to break camp. By morning the area that was once home to nearly a thousand men was empty the group had moved on.

[Xiao Gau]

-=Accompanied by a pair of wild hunting dogs, Ying rides across the ravaged plains of Changshan in search of prey. Rumors of bandits and warriors and even demons circulated through the land. But others rumors were also circulating, about a man driven by revenge and bloodlust. This was the man the Tracker hunted now.

As the days passed, Ying paused to study tracks left in the grassy hills, gathered info from talking to refugees and travelers. Fortunately, it isn't terribly difficult to backtrack a thousand men through high grass. This Jun Shan was no woodsman, that much was certain, leaving a trail a mile wide. Ying had no trouble following it. As the moon rose above the hills Ying stopped atop a rise to rest his horse. Below a camp was arranged with some military precision, with posted sentries and patrols.

Deciding it would be best to approach in the dayling, Ying settled comfortably down to sleep through til morning. As the sun rose, Ying woke with the light. Gathering his meager camp and mounting his old horse he starts down the hill. Approaching the sentries, Ying raised his voice and hailed them=- "Ho the camp! I greet you this morning time!"

[Jun Shan]

The sentries stood fast as the stranger approached them grips tightening on their spears not knowing what to expect. After a moments pause the older of the two stepped forward planting the haft of his spear into the ground with a firm hand.

"Halt and state your purpose..." As he waited for the mans response the other sentry let out a high whistle to alert the camp of their visitor. The men knew better than to leave anything to chance, better to call a false alarm than leave them vulnerable to attack through failure to act, the men knew the price of failure.

[Xiao Gau]

The sentries stood fast as the stranger approached them grips tightening on their spears not knowing what to expect. After a moments pause the older of the two stepped forward planting the haft of his spear into the ground with a firm hand.

"Halt and state your purpose..." As he waited for the mans response the other sentry let out a high whistle to alert the camp of their visitor. The men knew better than to leave anything to chance, better to call a false alarm than leave them vulnerable to attack through failure to act, the men knew the price of failure.

-=Ying expected the guards to be on alert, and behave in a professional manner, just based on the military feel of the camp itself. Though the Tracker was armed, he made no effort to appear dangerous; quite the opposite actually. He smiled, his teeth standing out brightly against his dark skin and raven-wing mustache and goatee. He settled into a comfortable stand, hooking his thumbs into his belt before answering.=- "I Ying, former bloodhound to Chu armies, now hunter for Marquis Zu. I track rumor of soldier to this place, a man called Shan. I speak with him now, yes."

[Jun Shan]

Both of the men stood stock still and silent as the strange man spoke both of them concidered everything, from the mans look to the way he spoke. Finally after nearly a full minute of silence the elder nodded shouldering his spear. "Follow me" With that he turned on his heel and guided him toward the camp the second sentry waited until Ying had passed before filing in behind his grip on his spear loose but ready should anything happen.

As soon as they passed into the camp it could be seen that nearly all of the perimeter tents housed men in full battle dress ready to respond at the first sign of trouble. Further inside the camp men were sitting in small groups resting as other men trained. The sentry halted before a group of men sitting together watching as one man talked and traced lines in a patch of dirt. "Sir, this man seeks an audience with you."

Jun Shan looked up at Ying and grinned as he stood. "Thank you sergeant, that will be all, volunteer your replacements and grab some rest." The sentries both nodded and without another word departed. Shan offered his hand. "Welcome, what brings you to my meagre camp? I have a sneaking feeling it not to just say hello."

[Xiao Gau]

Jun Shan looked up at Ying and grinned as he stood. "Thank you sergeant, that will be all, volunteer your replacements and grab some rest." The sentries both nodded and without another word departed. Shan offered his hand. "Welcome, what brings you to my meagre camp? I have a sneaking feeling it not to just say hello."

-=Ying followed the sentries into the camp, keeping his sharp eyes open for ambushes and points of escape, should things go badly. Being introduced to the commander, Ying accepts the offer of a hand, grasping the man's forearm as was custom among his people.=- "No, not come to say hello. They say you is fine soldier, strong and fearless." -=Ying says, looking around at the camp.=- "Nearly ten hundreds strong, by looks. Impressive. But you are small food, amid great lions. Not a safe place to find self.

"A warrior like you should ride at head of hundreds of hundreds, vast sea of soldiers at you command. But here you are, in the wild plains of Changshan, alone. I offer chance to ride ahead of such a force. In Sai province, the Marquis can use strength like you." -=The Tracker smiles, his stance relaxed and comfortable.=- "Perhaps such a task is within your strength. Perhaps no. What you think?"