Liang Provincial Roleplay

[GreenFabre]

The Shadows [暗兵] - Post raid, in the town of Shangqui

	II the kijo only gave him a condescending smile, amusing herself at his usual display of stoicism. the kijo didn't move from her slouching position yet somehow the air around her seemed to feel heavy. it was like an unseen fog trying to pull everything down. or was it just the weather perhaps ~? the kijo then decided to play the captain's game. she ever so slightly tilted her head as she copied him. giving a slight chuckle, shaking her head as she did. now standing to her full height, the coffin behind her only to let it drop midway, her crazy whims changing "Kekeke... look what I found, hee hee heee~" "Of all the things! And there it was on that house!" The kijo crouched to the side, inspecting the coffin "Well? Aren't you gonna try to see if this one fits you?!" _____________________________________________________________	I the kijo was once again listening to the music inside her head. she was dragging an old wooden coffin in the middle of the street. making harsh grating sounds with the ground as she walked. she slowly sighed as she gazed at the night above. it was cloudy, ashen gray. kinda like the Kijo's touchy mood. the kijo then decided to just look down at the ground. she was having a slight headache. Stupid spiked drink. the kijo muttered angrily to herself continuing to drag the coffin along with her. two boots suddenly came into view. and when she looked up, it was the face of a monster. only then did she finally noticed. she was standing in front of Xun Jiang . . . _____________________________________________________________

[Li Dao Wen]

He had been busily watching the cackles of the fire from within one of the nearby houses when he too felt the winds change in feel and scent. Slowly he began to come to his senses; it was the scent of a woman which he would not hesitate to try 'taking' for himself, but it was definitely not one which will come as easy prey, not even for someone as powerful as him.

His pair of jet-black abysmal eyes stared down into ones of flaming green, over which fluttered the top of a messily bundled white hair. The thick line on his concealed mouth didn't waver as she spoke her piece, analytically trying to discern the meaning behind her words and the insane look on her face. He allowed her to poke fun at his posture, neither saying nor moving an inch to apprehend her antics.

When the coffin fell with a crash into the dusty ground, Xun Jiang's free hand guided its way towards his mouth guard, slowly taking it off to reveal the hard, pale face of a demon of death and cruelty, barely concealed beneath the fake layer of stoicism. The cruelty within was obviously begging to come into full view, yet he showed it not. He breathed placidly as he spoke to her despite the annoyance.

"Hmph. Perhaps you should attempt to ask them, they have more need of it than I," he said sternly, pointing a thumb at the severed heads behind him. Kijo Akki was obviously a child to him, one with incredible skill and ferocity, but a child nonetheless. "We should depart from this place, we have nothing else to slay here. Our time is best served finding other things to take."

[GreenFabre]

	II "i.. i saw carts.. you saw carts?" "i've seen them, yes... they have.. gold?" half-speaking to him, haf-asking herself "all those carts... they.. they're going somewhere" her voice frail at the end, squawking as if to cry "and me.. i'm... i am just heree??!" the kijo turned on Xun Jiang with an angry tone "oi captain... where's my share?! did you?! did you!!?" "no, no, dont shout, shh, shhh! i went to the house" "right, right! the house! i went inside, and annnnd!!!" the kijo was calming herself, reeling back from Xun Jiang and suddenly kicked the coffin's lid wide open "there it is! my gold! wuhoooo! i'm a genius!" the pile of gold blinked back with a reassuring shine making the kijo madly laugh as she held her waist only to stop once again, "where are we going again?" _____________________________________________________________	I "oh oh! i have a plan, lets find po huai and then.. bam! "knock him down and stuff him inside! how 'bout that?!" the kijo looked up to him with one of those wild eyes the excitement filling her up, now with a feral smile yet the smile suddenly wilted from her face as if some thought just occurred to her "oh no, cant do that.. right, crap.." "he still have to get me a horse.. bleah~" "now whaat am i supposed to do with this?!" the kijo slammed her fists down at the coffin grumbling, thinking, muttering to herself fuzzing over it, like a matter of life and death wondering what to do with her toy of all things~ the kijo became quiet, now standing up slow clenching her fist, staring at him from the side _____________________________________________________________

[Li Dao Wen]

Xun Jiang let out a small, exasperated sigh, the straight expression on his face never changing. She has always been so much trouble with her bi-polar way of thinking; she was far more insane than anyone in their group, far more impulsive, and far more unstable. There was a time when Qian Yen had compared her mind to lightning in a bottle; it was so elusive to capture.

It was, however, a quality which made her all the more dangerous, and that part of the equation he appreciated somewhat.

Over the course of their partnership, he has seen her inspire so many emotions from so many kinds of people. Arrogant people have tried to take advantage of her instability, and all have gotten maimed for it. Cowards have often run away from her on sight, and wisely so. Intelligent people have tried to understand, and have ended up getting killed for it. Truth be told. if he had been any more like a weak, normal person, he would have probably run away. With his actual power and skill, if he hadn't known better than to just leave her alone, he would have probably forced himself to laugh with some exertion of effort.

Looking at the gold inside the coffin amused him somewhat. Kijo Akki is probably the only person in their group who could be so creative with her methods. Often he attributes her creativity to insanity; perhaps she was on to something this time. A trend, maybe. Maybe it could be a good idea to instill fear into people in the future.

"Hmph. You talk too much." It was all that he could come up with as a reply to her machine-like string of words, emotions and thoughts. It was, of course, not as derisive and filled with contempt as it would have been had she not given him some small measure of amusement with her antics.

[Bijos]

It was a bright, clear day as any at the city of Dingtao and it was peaceful. The guards were relaxing and enjoying the northern breeze as it blew through until they noticed a cloud of dust from the north east and the sound of hoof beats accompanying it. Alerting the guard captain, the group quickly assembled to assess what army approached in such fervor. On came the army of over 400 slowing progressively approached the city, only stopping a mere 50 feet in front of the north gate.

Minutes passed as the guards watched this rag tag band of soldiers both dirty and battle worn trot around. The leader was nowhere to be found in the front of the army and nor was he distinguishable from the rest of the rabble. That was, until, the guard captain noticed a man with strange red hair and a giant plumed hat heading from the middle of the army. Thus approached Red Gongsun, leader of the Red Beards, as the band slowly parted ways for him.

Arriving at the gate Red studied the guards carefully not giving nor taking an inch as if almost making a decision based on their looks and conduct. How prideful of this man to look on them so from such a distance. Taking off his giant plumed hat, Red took a greatly exaggeratedly low bow. Looking up at the guards he then announced his intentions, "Greetings, officers of Ma Su. I am Red Gongsun, I have come on your ruler's wishes to meet with me. I do so hope an audience with the famed man who has earned much influence in the Chu army."

[Jin Shi]

As the large dust storm came in from the northeast, the guards on duty started bunching their cloaks up to protect themselves from the storm. However, as the cloud drew closer they saw that it was not a storm but a small army approaching. Alarmed, the guards on duty sounded the warning bell and hundreds of guards poured onto the tops of the walls and into the archer towers the city was famous for, in preparation for the worst.

They waited at a stand still, ready to do battle, until the leader with his wild looks came forth from the middle of the ragtag army. When the man introduced himself, no one said anything for a while, even the head guard captain stood in silence, observing the army. After a minute or so, the guard captain replied "Well met, commander Red. If you let me see your letter, submit your weapons here at the gate, and come alone, you may have your audience." The intimidating manner in which Red Gongsun had made his arrival no doubt made the guards very suspicious of his true motives, but they would give him a fair chance.

((If you agree to all this, the rp will be moved to the AH next response.))

[Bijos]

Clearly pleased, Red Gongsun handed the letter to the guard captain. Pausing for a second, Red addressed the captain, "Me boys have been travelin' quite a distance to get here, ya know? Might ye be able to spot them some wine and bread?"

Losing the dignified way he earlier spoke, Red now seemed to speak in an almost southern type accent. Clearly there was something mysterious about both this man and his motives but nothing hinting him to be dangerous. Throwing his weapons to his second-in-command, Ki Kiao, Red Gongsun strolled into the city motioning for the guards to lead the way as he had much to accomplish this day.

[Jin Shi]

((Lack of time and laziness has led to this post being more a historical account than a rp))

Ma Su had led his army to Waihuang in order to fully pacify the province of Liang under allied control. He had agreed with General Ma and General Hin what needed to be done in order to prevent an overunning of Liang, Jiaoxi and Huainan in the near future, and each general set out on his own task this month to make sure they would be in a strong position the next month.

He was about halfway to Waihuang when a messenger had caught up with the First Expeditionary Army and told Ma Su that an army of 50,000 well armed soldiers from Qi had stormed across the border and were marching towards Chenliu, with Tian Rong in the vanguard. Ma Su expected this to come soon, but had hoped it would come even just one month later. But with Dingtao being attacked by roving bandits, Ma Dieu eradicating the threat of Lu Shu and postponing a final conflict with Li Jiacheng, and the Imperial Armies not sending any correspondence to Ma Su since he had left, Ma Su felt he had no reliable or available allies to depend on for a major clash with Qi. Turning his head back in the direction of Chenliu, he sighed, turned back to Waihuang, and moved on.

...

When word reached Waihuang that Chenliu had been sacked, Ma Su sat slumped in Waihuang's council chamber, staring at the scrolls before him. Thousands massacred, much of the city burned, he had not anticipated that the Qi barbarians were truly that, barbarians. He had expected they would merely occupy the city, not burn it. He had hoped that by taking it they would have overexpanded themselves, leaving them vulnerable to attacks from the likes of Shi Tong or Liang Wei. But it seemed that Zhefu and his ilk did not want to build an empire, or at least not yet; their goal seemed to be to utterly destroy Qi's enemies and neighbors. In a rage he rose from his chair, throwing a scroll to the ground, shattering it into a million little pieces, and stormed out of the hall. A victory at Waihuang had done nothing to deal with his problems it seemed.

As he was about to mount his horse and ride to Chu directly, another messenger ran up to him and delivered the rumor that Xiang Yu was angry, and that Chu armies were marshaling for some major event soon.

"Well, dammit, why doesn't the capital tell me anything!" He roared at the messenger. He paced back and forth on the steps of Wauhuang's administrative complex, thinking of what the best course of action was. While his fellow generals were receiving somewhat regular reports from the capital, not one Imperial messenger had visited Dingtao since he had taken it. "If they wanted me to hold at Chenliu they should have sent aid. Did they expect me to take on 50,000 men that have been training for months for this one attack, when I have an army half that size that was already at Waihuang's gates!?"

Xiang Yu didn't know what he was asking for, and Zhefu was a murderous fiend. Ma Su was now at a crossroads. He would have to visit the capital once more, having to face the Hegemonic King again and explain the situation. Apparently his tribute and prior explanations had not penetrated his thick skull.

[Mikal]

"Perhaps they expected you to fail, Lord Ma Su. Because Xiang Yu doesn't care about you, or the people, except for that which builds his power." A voice said from the shadows.

A man walked out of it, bearing no symbol nor robe of office, just a man wearing sturdy travel wear.

"Why else would the Hegemon King rage within his gilded cage, and the Prime Minister allows enemies of Chu to go free? You, who have done more than any to help unite Liang, checked by the aspirations of others to the south, and yes, to the north. Zhefu respects your power, else he would have remained in Liang... and it gives you the opportunity to retake it, if you wish.

"As for the forces to your south, what have they done for you? What aid would they provide? Rumors abate of armies formed and readied... yet do they march to Ma Su's aid? Or do they sit there, ready to punish Ma Su for a failure he could not help?"

[Jin Shi]

Ma Su turned to the man with a menacing glare, listening quietly as this unidentified stranger seemed to come from nowhere. He motioned for a few soldiers to patrol nearby, just in case.

"And what do you know of Xiang Yu's ambitions? Have you been at his bedside to hear him speak in his dreams? Xiang Yu sent me out to make sure the people are cared for. That flies in the face of what you're saying."

He almost seemed to growl at this visitor, angry at just about everything in the world at this point. "Zhefu is just biding his time. He knows I'm not strong enough to fight him and my allies are preoccupied. He's just waiting for the moment to burn the rest of Liang, like he did to Chenliu. And as for those to my south, I have helped my allies, and they have helped me, like at Dingtao. You speak badly veiled deceptions in my ear..."

He walked very slowly towards this man, ready to unsheathe his sword at any moment.