Jiaoxi Provincial Roleplay

[GreenFabre]

while hearing them discuss their own plans, the kijo quietly began working with her hand signals.
the maiden on her left noticed, and replied back, ending it with her pinkie raised, cocking an eyebrow.
the kijo paused, as if still thinking, no, deciding, rather, on something as she continued to listen.
the other two maidens looked at each other and also began conversing with their hand signals in silence.

the kijo then continued after a long while, hands working in blur, relaying things to her assistant.
the maiden nodded with a grim face and began speaking words that only those in the immediate vicinity could hear...

ooc: no one knows the xiamo's true name.
sorry for late reply busy playing my battlemage on dragonica xD

[osiris]

Xinrichu, surrounded by some thirty soldiers, entered the Jiaoxi province. He had just recently came from a meeting in Dingtao. He wanted to head back home, but a certain Fei Lai motivated him to do otherwise. Now he was accompanied by his adopted father Shun Xuan, who recommended the meeting, who usually stayed back in Luoyang to manage things. Generally, the strongest warrior of the army, Cheng Linpeng came along as a bodyguard, but this time he held back to manage the army with a younger fellow named Yang Jian.

Xinrichu felt a little tired after much of the travel, o he slouched a little while he seated in his horse. Xuan traveled next to him on horseback, "When we return we can take a much needed rest, Xinrichu. But you ought to talk with this fellow first." After reaching a predesignated meeting point, everyone began to dismount, finding a local stable to use. The soldiers, in fairly high morale, energetically formed a perimeter around Fasho Baipan. He grunted a little, "At ease." he yelled, "fifteen of you guard the steeds, five of you follow me, ten of you scout the town." Xinrichu ordered wearily. The soldiers started to bicker over who got what duty, particularly over who got to follow Fasho. Xuan jumped in and separated them into groups.

Xinrichu and the five went on to find Fei Lai....

((Closed RP.))

[Phailak]

Lai had never been so busy in his life, Dieu made sure of that. When the request came from an old acquaintance to meet the man's adoptive son, Lai could not refuse. The now customary 8 guards his oath brother assigned trailed him, but he ordered them to stay back as he approached.

"Well met Xuan, how long has it been?"

Lai wore a warm smile.

[osiris]

The five guards saw the eight approaching them and started to tense up a little. Xuan did not want to take the risk of them spazzing out and doing something stupid and thus ordered them to go off and scout the town. Xuan smiled as he saw Fei Lai approach, though Xinrichu seemed a little out of it.

"far too long Lai." He looked voer to the guards and at the city, "Well, how have things been?" He then looked back at Xinrichu, "oh, this is my adopted son, Fasho Baipan. Xinrichu, this is the old acquaintane I was telling you about, Fei Lai."

Xinrichu bowed, then looked voer to Fei Lai, "Nice to make your acquaintance master Fei." He was young, and this could be identified for sure, but the way he carried himself and the way his face looked would not necessarily suggest it.

[Phailak]

Lai let his gaze linger.

"It is indeed reassuring that not all youth have lost respect, well met young Master Xinrichu."

Turning to his old friend, Lai smiled.

"I wish time had been more kind to us my friend, it has been so long. It is good you surround yourself with family and friends. Are you mentoring Xinrichu, no one could do it better."

[osiris]

Xinrichu recoiled a little at hearing someone other than his adopted father use his style name. Yet, family friends would do this. It was an unpleasant throwback to the days in which the flatterers in his father's company would call him by that name. Of course, he did not realize this directly. In fact, he could not even figure out why he recoiled.

Xuan did not share that brief discomfort and so he answered his friend swiftly, "Thank you dear firend. Ah yes, I have been blessed with good company and a good student. He is still very young and his talent far surpasses my own. Now it is only a matter of finding a good ruler who recognizes this."

Xinrichu smiled in a flattered fashion, "I think I still have a ways to go, but I appreciate the compliments. He looked at the two of them. How was it you two ran into one another?"

Xuan looked over to Lai, "Care to tell the story?"

[Phailak]

Lai smiled.

"Nothing too exciting, while I am a battle field man, your father always was more of a management man, organizing the troops and instructing them. To this day, I doubt I have led a better prepared army, I miss that kind of discipline in my ranks. Anyway, I think the exact moment was me being a pompous young arrogant fool and he setting me straight on the proper way of using well prepared men. The discussion was quite heated as I recall it and the arguments continued for a while."

Lai took a moment to enjoy the memory.

"In the end, I recalled something he had argued with me over and came to realize in battle I might be wrong, tried it his way and it saved my life and so there was less arguing between us afterward."

Lai bowed his head to the old memory, his thanks still apparent in his eyes.

[Li Dao Wen]

The Shadows [暗兵] - Seekers of Talent

Jiaoxi province, August 206 BC

A lone rider could be seen galloping through the wild landscape leading to the location of Tai Ju Li's encampment, thundering down the roads on a rather slow but strong black horse.The rider himself was terribly large, wearing ebony-colored armor laced with gold linings and carved dragons on the shoulder guards. A massive ornate halberd, measuring 9 feet long, was slung across his back like some stolen temple's beam.

He was obviously a warrior of strength, and indeed he was a man famed across the south as a sower of chaos and a butcher of armies. But while his face carried with it the visage of a malevolent entity, the intentions he harbored towards the famed Lady in Jiaoxi didn't seem to be any of the sort. He has heard from reports that the lady had with her a substantial, well-trained army and several loyal followers, but even if his presence might be unwelcome, he came alone.

He came bearing the banner of the current lord of Jiaoxi, General Ma Dieu, along with a letter 'requesting' to see Lady Tai Ju Li.

[Kakirot83]

@ Li Dao Wen

The guards to Tai's camp seemed wary, but looked at the letter all the same. They had wondered if Tai knew of anyone coming, and luckily for them, one of Tai's followers was happening by. Sun Luo knew the Lady well enough, and he too inspected the letter.

"If you wish to meet with Tai Ju Li, you are more than welcome to. I must say though, that unless the rumors have done her justice, she may not be exactly what you expect."

Sun made a motion like the man could follow him, and walked off towards were Tai Ju Li was. When he arrived there, he merely motioned for the man to wander into the tent, and though guards were kind of outside it, once he entered, he would find only Tai inside. She was busy looking at a mirror, muttering to herlsef about something, when she looked into at an angle that let her see behind herself.

"A guest is here to see me?"

Tai stood up, and looked at the very large man, barely seeming to fit in the tent. Perhaps it was just imagination, as the tent was not small, but the man was very large and imposing.

Tai walked closer to him, not really saying anything, her head cocked to one side, as if trying to take apart some riddle in front of her.

"You are very still, very black. Are you death? Perhaps an agent of his? I did not think I would die yet, it seems a shame if I was to now." She stared closer at the man, a little entranced by him. "Perhaps just a demon, or an ogre of some sort. Flecks of red, that race and race. Do you like to fight, Lord Ogre?"

Tai smiled at the man, seemingly naive and innocent, but with some odd understanding behind it.

[Li Dao Wen]

Xun Jiang followed the men who led him to their lady leader, silent as bedrock while they weaved through a myriad of tents. Upon arriving at Tai's tent, he grunted a hint of warning towards the guards, though he made no sort of action to reinforce this. Peeking inside and making his presence known to the lady, what he found was indeed, some measure away from what he had expected.

The woman before the mirror was strange to him and curiously so, as if she was playing some trick on him, egging him on to some deeper emotion which he could not quite understand. Her dark, soulful eyes belied a great intuition behind her seeming innocence, and even though he didn't usually appreciate aesthetic things, her character appealed to him. When she spoke, he found her voice melodious and dipped with a hidden quality.

Was she some divinely foresighted mystic? It was as if she had read through him like he was some open book, when nobody has ever succeeded -or dared try before. She clearly addressed him as 'Lord Ogre' and 'Demon', a creature of death and blood, which told him that she has heard of him before. As it stands, her words were definitely correct. He has always been a friend of death, and a generous one at that.

"You read people well, Lady Tai. I do like -no, love to fight. But I am not death, not today." He smiled smugly but sincerely. It was an odd feeling for him; it was the first time he had addressed a lady by her respectful title in a very long time. He usually didn't care much, since the only women who were usually around him were two bickering assassins who seemed to be more male than most of the bandits who had been under his command.

He continued. "I have heard rumors about your presence in Jiaoxi, and though your men outside have warned me of differences between reality and rumor, I find that most of them are... Quite true."

What those rumors are, were for her to peruse. It seemed as if she had humbled the grim Ogre from the heartlands of Chu with her aura of mystery.