Warlords: Three Kingdoms

June 190 - The leaders of the Touba Tribe have been hit with an awful famine, and their people have been suffering. As war ravages all of China, food has run short for the tribe members. Within North-West China farming is scarce, and most of the land remains a desert. Their leader, Tso-lin Touba, searches for a solution.
To their southwest, the village of Fanyang is faring no better. However, rather than fighting each other, the two leaders have come to a very wary ceasefire.
Instead, the leaders have made plans to push southeast into the Red Dragon Confederation. If all goes well, they'll be able to feed their starving people.

If one were to seek the support of the North-West Alliance, they would meet up with Tso-lin Touba within his tribal tent.

Sun Zhong was a man of the south, raised among the marshlands and fertile fields. He wished his youth was a tale of joyous occasions running in the paddy fields, travelling down the rivers to catch fish and spend his evenings care-free from the toils of life. However, it was far from it, from an early age his father desired more for Zhong than the life of a simple farmer, or 'Weixiong' as his father so lovingly called him..a name that followed him until he decided to leave the hamlet of his birth, though only now had he come to appreciated being named 'Great Bear'. Looking down at his stomach he could not help but chuckle now, his father was right even then. When he was finally conscripted into the local militia he noticed his fellow comrades grew in muscle and their physique was admired by both men and women, however, for the 'Great Bear' it was not meant to be - no matter the training Zhong seemed to grow in size, but it was more fat than muscle. Though it did pay off as what he lacked in muscle he made up for in core and natural strength, often besting his muscular opponents in sparing matches, to his superiors delight and confusion.

Zhong was unfamiliar with this place, he had journeyed to the far reaches of the North, he was tired of having to deal with suppressing tribes in the south, for the majority of them did not fight for greed, they fought for survival..food. It was a little too much for the 'Great Bear', to hold a blade against an enemy that was simply driven by the desperation to live, and so, he found himself travelling. He would find work where ever he could, most work was utilizing his strength; construction, courier, bodyguard and at one stage replacing an oxen that had died in the winter. What coin he had, he saved and always carried a box of steamed buns.

This place, which they seemed to call Touba, was not unlike the tribes he was forced to 'bring to order'..poor..ravaged by war and being displaced in an area that was harsh, how they had survived for this long was surely luck or some divine intervention. The dialect they spoke was strange to the Southerner, but he had gathered enough knowledge to survive, though he did miss his hometown's tongue. The large frame, dressed in dirty-red leather with pieces of heavily battered armour covering vital areas, walked among villagers trying to sell whatever they could or some complaining of what to do. Zhong knew there stares were at his size, here an over-fed man smelling of steamed buns taunting their senses. Strapped to his back were two large metal rods that were fashioned into two battle rods, a weapon of choice, as he liked their strange appearance; also, bashing seemed to be more appropriate for a man of this weight than stabbing. Fortunately for Zhong, his large size put off potential thieves. Stopping, the Great Bear came across a group of children, or what he assumed were juveniles; yet, who knew what hunger could do to the body. There was a pang of guild within him and soon enough he had thrown the box of cold steamed buns in the middle of them. 'Build your strength'

A cheerful voice, that seemed to come so natural for Zhong..cheerfulness, he had always had a more positive outlook and disliked the worries of life; perhaps it served him well in battle, there was always hope of good tidings. As the children clawed at the meat-filled bread, a whine came from his left..a dog..it had raised his head at the smell of food, meat. Smiling, the Great Bear reached for one of the steamed buns that had not yet been snatched, accidentally pushing one of the smaller children to the floor with his stomach. 'Hey!' roared the now, seemingly ungrateful, furious child.

'Here.' Zhong offered the dog the bun, with some reluctance it took the offering into its mouth. The tail wagged, Zhong chuckled. People would always forget animals when it came to war, they were victims as well. Kindness, his mother had taught him as a base principle...always be kind.

Rising, he rubbed his palms together and looked around. There was not much to this place, though cooler than his home. The scolding heat was an archenemy of the overweight and large. Off an alley was a clearing, perhaps a garden, or some abandoned plot of land with a sad looking and dying tree. 'Hah! A test..' Approaching there was a quick succession of swift crunch sounds, the dog had decided to follow this new strange friend. Crouching, Zhong embraced the tree and grappled his hands together..he had done this once at home, to impress the local authority, in the hopes they would pass on the word for his hopeful conscription into the militia. '..3..' Zhong braced himself. '..2..' Arms tightened and his legs prepared themselves to take most of the weight. '..1!..'

..poof...

Zhong halted, his eyes wide open..the dog had retracted somewhat. 'Zhong!' he could hear his brothers' voices in his head...he had not expected this movement he had done so many times before to express such a reaction; in the strain of de-rooting the dying tree, he had passed wind. Prostrating himself the Great Bear looked around to see if anyone had been witness to the seen of a large man trying to pull a tree from the ground and the result being a fart.

'Hahaa!' It could not be helped, at that point Zhong pictured the scene he had just created..a strange man, lifting a tree and farting. His laughter roared and the dog jumped excitedly around him. Brushing himself down he turned and leaned his back against the trunk. 'Where to next?' Looking at the dog..

..crack..

The tree gave way, having been pulled from its foundation and then such a weight as the Southerner, it could hold no more and with it fell Zhong. It could not take his weight and crumbled into chips under him, looking up at the sky he could do nothing but laugh again, always hoping that someone hadn't witnessed what had happened...

[Currently an Open RP]

(OOC: Anyone can jump in, if necessary I can do many routes if more than 1 jumps in)

Lai looked around nervously, the man had told him he would meet him here but no one matching his description seemed present. Some oversized mammoth toppled over but he was too far to hear what exactly transpired.

His shy nature was starting to cause him anxiety, he did not like when things did not go as expected. After waiting a while longer, he finally moved from his waiting spot and seeing no one else, approached the big man.

His voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Excuse me, I am looking for Master Liu Tang, you wouldn't happen to know him?"

He seemed to brace againt the giant's response as if expecting him to yell.

As he stared into the sky, his laughter subsiding and simply enjoying the moment, a voice..well, Zhong thought it was a voice, it was so soft that he believed he may have passed wind again and mistaken it for words. Looking around he found his answer, fortunately the previous outburst had not caused an unwanted smell. The man seemed...frail?... Sitting up, the Great Bear noticed that the dog had made a quick exit, no doubt in fear of their guest. 'Liu Tang?' Zhong scratched his head in wonder of this name, it seemed common enough but he was unaware of any of that name; not only that, but he had forgotten that he was wearing a helmet.

...clank...

The left shoulder guard had broken its attachment in the kerfuffle and fallen to the ground. Looking at it, Zhong was surprised it hadn't broken sooner. Sighing, he took it into hand and tried to re-tie the guard in place, he had to remember when he next earns some coin he should invest in repairing his gear; or perhaps, purchasing a new set. 'I do not know that name, I'm afraid.' The Giant Bear shifted his wait and stood to his feet, the large frame in full view. 'Are you okay?' An eyebrow raised as he looked at the man in front of him, he knew that his size could be intimidating. 'You don't owe this 'Master Liu Tang' coin, do you?' The man's nervous disposition was something he had seen many times before, another line of work he was not too happy to admit having done for coin as he journeyed North...those who lend money can place fear into those more than a large army could, many of those who owed a debt, in which he had to collect, would react in a similar fashion.

Lai frowned.

"Coin?"

Shaking his head in confusion, as if that notion was impossible to him, Lai rubbed his face.

"No, no, I was to meet him here, he is late and I do not like tardy folks, my time is precious, I have much to accomplish."

He trailed off and seemed to remember he was in front of the man.

"Are you a commander in the army?"

Looking at the man's equipment, Lai realized his clumsy question but said nothing.

Zhong became a little bashful at the revelation that his preconceptions of the man were completely wrong and the way this man spoke would have been far from the money-borrower image..he seemed so out of place in such a poor area, which brought another thought. Why was this believed-refined man meeting someone in such a place?..the black market?..corrupt official meeting an accomplice?..a secret tryst?..his mind finally focused when the man before him asked if Zhong was a commander, though judging by the change in expression the man already had his answer.

'One day' ...always the optimist. Smiling he stepped forward to get a better look at the man..he was no warrior, no man of strength.. 'What brings such a man as yourself here for a meeting?' The Giant Bear shifted the braces that were attached around his arms that held his battle rods, they were as close as children to him..for they were the first real weapon, after training weapons and the thin private swords, he had owned..paid in full by himself after working the fields for nearby villagers and the odd job around the barracks. They were made of thick metal and riddled with notches, it was clear that they had seen many a fight. 'With no protection, you are asking for trouble. Or, is this 'much to accomplish' not require you to be safe?' Zhong raised an eyebrow as he fixed the belt holding his weapons and brushed down his clothes from his previous fall...it was clear to him that if a career thief came across this man, he'd have no defense other than to lay down and allow the crime to take its course...

Lai's eyes darted from left to right.

"What do you mean safe?"

Taking a breath as if completing some mental exercise, Lai pointed at the behemoth as if a sudden thought struck him.

"If you are not a commander, perhaps you know one?"

For the first time, the middle aged man seemed to be paying attention to his surroundings.

Sun Zhong and Fei Lai

A relatively short figure was seen walking within the streets of Touba one day, pulling a wooden cart. In between the very youthful appearance that contrasted the ashen color of his hair, and his eyes with the color that could be compared to the easternmost sea, his unnatural appearance elicited the gaze of some of the people in the area; but almost always followed by them murmuring with yet another set of people and then they always returned to whatever they were doing before they saw the person. It was evident that the latter set of people knew the person as those people saw the person indifferently, as if the person was always visiting the village for one reason: the woodcutter's axe that was slung from his back. A jian that matched his stature was also slung from his belt, which was as ornately woven as was his relatively short grey robes. Completing his ensemble were a pair of long black boots that were peeking from his robes.

The man, or what could be described as a boy due to his youthful charm, paid no heed to the murmurings, as he was already used to them and there would be nothing that he could do to change their opinion as he could not change the Xiongnu blood running in his veins. All that mattered to him was that at least he would not be disturbed that much in what his aim in the village was. He had sharpened the axe on his back for this, and his livelihood depended on the haul that he could earn here.

As he continued pulling his cart through the uneven path, he then heard someone speaking as if he was counting to muster his mindset to something. He then turned his head to the direction of the voice, and then he saw a relatively hulking person hugging a tree as if he was to uproot it from the ground. Thinking that it was yet another overzealous person testing out his strength, he then turned towards the direction he was originally heading for when...

He heard something rip.

The sound of wood cracking from an inordinate force was too much a familiar sound for the boy, and so he then thought if the person actually succeeded on uprooting the tree. He was about to turn his head again to look, before an unpleasant wind happened to strike his face. He instinctively covered his nose and mouth with his hand due to the unpleasant odor. Maybe it meant that the person had failed in what he intended to do and in the struggle to uproot the tree, he relieved himself? The boy was about to fall to that line of thinking, but he really thought about the odd wood cracking sound: that was not the sound of a fart as much as he remembered. As he thought more about it, the sound of wood cracking happened again towards the direction of the man, and as he turned around, he saw the tree fall away from his direction; and the hulking person, who happened to be leaning on the tree, fell together with it. As he saw the scenario, and what he assumed happened before it, he let out a small laugh, and moved towards the man and the fallen tree. But as he was quite far from the scene, and was dragging a cart along the uneven terrain, it was not before the hulking man was talking to a rather old man that he arrived at the scene. He was quite disappointed, but he quickly shrugged the feeling; that was just what happened and there was nothing he can do about it. As he knew that it would be a waste if the now uprooted tree would rot there without any further use, he then decided to wait for the two people to finish before he would talk to the huge person about the tree. He then grabbed an unfinished wooden human sculpture and a carving tool from his cart, and then sat down on the fallen trunk and started carving, keeping an ear for when they would be finished.

Tso-lin Touba paced around within his war tent, deliberating on the best course of action moving forward. The Red Dragon Confederation was quite the formidable foe, and he had to come up with a plan to deal with them. Things did not look good - he was facing an army that was almost double his, and his troops were untrained and underfed.
In the middle of his thinking, however, there was interruption in the form of a commotion outside. The sound of a tree tearing apart brought Tso-lin back to reality as he stepped outside.
A man the size of a mammoth stood in the center of the village, heavy armor and weaponry attached to his body. Children surrounded him, marveling at his size and stature. In their hands, they held what appeared to be meat buns. Probably the big man's doing. The bear appeared to be talking to a nervous man, who's size and build was dwarfed by the giant next to him. Despite this, however, the smaller man appeared to have of an air of intelligence around him.
Tso-lin's eyes darted around, and he spotted another young individual beneath a tree, nonchalantly carving wood. For some reason, the day had attracted a plethora of strange and unique people. Tso-lin sighed, debating on how to approach these men. Now was not the time for such petty distractions. But at the very least, he should go to thank the giant for feeding some of the villagers.
Now come to think of it, maybe Tso-lin could make use of these people. They didn't have to be nuisances. The large man, at the very least, could be a helpful fighter. With new determination, Tso stepped forward.
"Ah! Travellers I see! Welcome to my village! What brings you all here?" Tso-lin laughed. "You seem to be strong individuals. Did you come in search of some sort of job? We do have plenty of things to be done!"

Before the bear man could answer, Lai's nervous eyes noticed the boy some distance off. Tilting his head in a stretch, he side-eyed him suspiciously even if he seemed so young. When the young one started carving something, it did nothing to ease his nerves.

Between waiting for the tree breaker to answer and future psychopath assassin to make his move, he didn't even notice a fourth person approaching. His head swung towards the voice and Lai rubbed his face, covering his mouth. Three strangers was a lot for his anxiety to handle, his mute expression just waited for others to guide the conversation.