The Ghosts of Julu

[alexoren]

Alexandrus growled loudly. "You fools! I here to help you! Let gods punish you!" He lifted his arm up to his halberd and readied it for an attack but he refused to make the first move. "Try attack and lose help and hand."

[Trendkill]

Luo Jian quickly captured the young urchin. Struggling in the man's grasp, the urchin cried out. "Gerroff me! I'm was only funning with you! I'll tell you anything . . . anything you want."

Realizing that he had most likely scared the tar out of the young street rat, Jian loosens his grip and says, "calm down boy, I'm not going to hurt you. I was just wondering what it was that you thought was so funny. Did you happen to see anything? Particularly whatever it was that tugged on my robes." His eyes scanned the horizon, an ominous look on his youthful face. "I hear there are ghosts here boy. You know anything about that either?"

[Shen Feng]

Shen Feng was able to help a bit to make the man comfortable, though his lack of medical knowledge was insufficient to actually staunch the bleeding from the spouting from the man's severed arm. After a few minutes of his clumsy fumbling, an elderly man forcefully pushed him aside. "Out of my way, you numskull," he said, shooting a poisonous glare at the young man before turning his attention to the injured peasant. All the while he was working, the elderly man continued his tirade towards the young man's medical knowledge. "I frakking hate young punks who think they can help even when they don't know medicine. This guy has almost bled to death for all of your incompetent dabbing at the wound. And what's with your questions!?! Incompetent."

"Forgive me, elder. There was no one else on hand willing to help, and I will not stand by and watch someone die like this. I happily defer to your wisdom and expertise." Feng backed away a few steps to give the old man room to work, then knelt and bowed his head apologetically. Whatever annoyance he felt due to the harsh words is tempered by the situation; compared to the victim's dire condition, the words stung less than they might have otherwise. "If there is anything I can do to help, let me know, otherwise I'll stay out of your way."

Feng expected an angry retort to his offer, but it was one he had to make anyway. He wasn't about to turn his back on such an injured man. Beyond that, this was still a curious situation. Why would a young man be tied to a carriage driven by a panicked horse? And with a severed arm, to boot? Surely, his arm wouldn't have been lost while being pulled behind the carriage. It had to have been inflicted earlier. This didn't seem much like an action of ghosts, but by finding out more he might get some insight. That would have to wait until the old man was finished his work, however.

[Zhou Kahn]

"I thought I saw my husband in there . . ." said the woman in an almost mechanical tone. "But . . . that's impossible. He died . . . he died a year ago . . . he died upon the plains of Julu . . . he died when Xiang Yu killed Zhang Han's surrendered soldiers. He was forced to slave away on the Epang Palace before he was drafted into the Qin army . . . And now he's dead . . ."

Mai Zu sat in wonderment for a moment. She saw her dead husband? It must be true then, the stories about ghosts in the area. Thinking for a moment, she turned to the woman, placing a hand on the woman's chin to lift her head an look her in the eye, and spoke.

Mai Zu: "Is this the first time you thought you had seen your husband since his death? and what did he look like; was he happy or sad? did he look like he did at the Palace or at the time he died?"

[OneEyedDrgn]

"No can do . . ." replied one of the guards, "Regulations state that the city gates close at sundown . . . If I open it, it'll be my head on a platter. Now stop bothering me or you'll regret it come tomorrow morning."

Liang Zhuwen neared the fire and found a tired looking man seated close to it enjoying the warmth. The man wore armor and seemed to be a soldier. Looking up with haunted eyes, the young soldier seemed to be pale. Upon closer inspection, Zhuwen would see that the man was missing his arm from the elbow down. All that was left was a bloody stump wrapped in bandages that had long ago turned blood-red.

Zhuwen looked at the soldier before him. He had seen such gruesome sights before while serving Xiang Yu and had gotten used to seeing maimed bodies. Zhuwen simply assumed that the man's... ghostly features were an effect from having been injured so badly. Perhaps asking questions about the rumors of ghosts would best start here, but introductions were in order.

"Hey," Zhuwen greeted the man. "Sorry about botherin' you. I just got locked out of the town, damn guards won't let me in. Can a fellow join you?"

[Chou Yu]

Yang Yu buttonholed a number of guardsmen and citizens as he made his way towards the gates of the city. None were willing to talk about the ghosts, almost as if to do so was taboo.

Reaching the gates, he met a scarred guardsman standing at attention. Seeing Yang Yu up to him, he turned to regard the man. "What do you want?" he asked in a gruff tone, a hint of alcohol on his breath.

To Yu's further annoyance, no one that he met on the road wanted to talk of the ghosts, not even the guards. Spineless bunch of fools... What was he supposed to do if no one would talk? Nevertheless, Yang Yu continued on towards the gates, hoping to have more luck there.

At the gates, he was met by one guard, who spoke to him rather rudely and smelled a bit of alcohol. Yu took it as a good sign. Sometimes, people would talk more easily with a bit of alcohol in them, "I want any information, stories or sightings on this supposed Ghosts of Julu. Do you know of them?" Yu asked simply, hoping that this time he would actually get something.

[flare_knight1]

"Don't say I didn't warn you, young lady," replied the old man, as he rose to his feet with difficulty. "Go to the city and find out what you will . . . This place is damned. No one with a rational mind can help. If you think you must do this . . . then try to think outside of the box." Using a walking stick, the old man made his way at a pace far beyond that even of horses at a full gallop. Within a minute, he had disappeared from view.

"I....won't..." Niu said, as the man dashes off, making her Horse look like a snail in comparison. With a shiver, she touched the animal, petting it's nose. "That man...a Ghost? Or just the fastest man alive? On a Cane though? No. Something strange." she muttered to no one, trying to calm herself, mulling over his words. "No one with a Rational mind? Think outside the box?...I suppose that means I shouldn't look at this problem by the way of myself, but of someone who would think differently." She said, as she gripped the Horse's reigns and began to walk towards the town, wondering if there would be anymore strange encounters.

[Hsiahoutun]

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what they all say," replied the city official, rolling his eyes. "Before they're rudely reminded that there are dangerous supernatural things that rudely go bump in the night."

"I want answers to a few questions . . . Name, age place of origin, skill set?"

When those answers were provided, Yang Xi was brought to the burial grounds where he found himself with a couple members of the burial detail, as well as a strong looking soldier named Wen Xu. It seemed that the foreman was waiting for a few more stalwarts before beginning his briefing.

"Uhh... Name's Yang Xi. Age around 21. I come from Hann. I'm good with troops, both training em' and leading em, but I'm better off with cavalry, and I'm not half bad with a spear."

He looked around the grounds. Solemn looking lot, aren't they? He thought as he scanned the people in front of him. Then his eyes happened upon Wen Xu. Hello? Who's this? He doesn't feel like the rest of em'.... Pretty strong too, by the looks of it. He smiled to himself. My kinda guy. He took the initiative. "Hey there. You an outsider too? Name's Yang Xi." He held out a large hand, waiting for Wen Xu to take it.

[Li Dao Wen]

"We're looking for people to drive them away, not for people to understand them," retorted the city official, his face turning red at the man's words. "They're the bloody fethers who served Zhang Han as he sought to ravage our country. They're the fething descendants of those who killed four hundred thousand at Changping. They don't deserve our pity. They don't deserve your pity. They deserve what they got. If you're here to try and understand them . . . it's better if you get the bloody damn out of here."

Shaking his head angrily, the city official turned and walked away, feeling soiled from his conversation with the man.

"Halt."

A first command for a first offense boomed into the air, accompanied by the forceful swinging of the enormous halberd which Xun Jiang was carrying. It gleamed ferociously in the sun, polished to perfection by care and 'regular feeding', lacquered by the blood of countless men. However, even the mighty weapon paled in comparison to the murderous gleam in the statuesque man's face, one which was hell bent on making the man stay put. It appeared as if he was sizing how long his halberd would reach before it struck off his head, but for the time being the blade remained in a relatively safe distance.

""You obviously know nothing concerning the methods and intricacies of fighting away the dead. You only see them as a pestilence and a scourge, but truly, they are the collective emotions of pained men, victims of war and cruelty all. They need to be sated before being fought. If you fester hatred for them, you only serve to anger them further. However..."

The sentence ended with the brutal demise of the very nearest creature within his peripheral vision, which happened to be a stray cat. A flash of the blade later and it was a mere pile of blood and flesh on the ground before Xun Jiang. "If it is violence that you require of me, then none, no ghost--or living man--shall survive the fall of this blade."

[SituJinrong]

Looking at one another at the man's carefully tailored words, one of the farmers straightened from his stooped position. Pointing a finger at a farmhouse about a li away, he spoke. "There's a well behind my farmhouse over there. You can take all the water you need."

"GHOSTS! This countryside is haunted by the ghosts of those damned when they were executed by Xiang Yu after the great battle here," replied the man holding the protective amulets.

Thank you, the water will do very well to recharge my body. Did you say ghost kind sir? Jiacheng looked up into the afternoon sun blazing harshly onto the plains These must be very virrulent spirits to be able to haunt in the firey presence of the sun. Pray tell me sir, about these spirits. Tell me all you know about them, I may know of some way to appease their restlessness.