The Celestial Empire (Romance of the Three Kingdoms-ish, Updated 12/09/05)

[Emperor Valerian]

Rushed off, just before I need to sleep for the drive tomorrow...

After the Battle...

The stench of death was overpowering.

Nayu wiped his brow, tugged the sword out of its scabbard. The dead general’s body shifted slightly as the sorcerer pulled the weapon free, its dull, rather unpolished look seemingly drab compared to the gilt and pomp of the dead man’s armor. Rather clumsily, Nayu gave the blade a few swings, before sitting on the ground and closing his eyes, feeling the magic in the blade wash over him.

Magical... yes. He opened his eyes and smiled. Shang Wa-Feng said nothing about looting the bodies, and to most others in this army, this sword would be worthless...

If I can find someone who wants a magical weapon... and who doesn’t... this could fetch an excellent price... Nayu’s trader mind jumped in. He was just about to slip the weapon into his bag of holding when he heard a horse gallop up behind him. Before he could move the voice, he heard Shang Wa-Feng’s voice, excited and giddy.

“Keep that sword! You deserve it! By Kongxi, they’re all running!” the general boomed as Nayu turned around. The huge panther hengeyokai was beaming, though his horse looked worn and tired. With the grace and ease of a person more than pleased by the events of the past few hours, he leap off his horse, and within a few seconds caught Nayu in a massive bearhug.

“You held them in place, boy! Held them by the nose long enough that I could kick them in the ass!” he beamed. “You’re not fit to be just a Zhong Wei! You need a promotion!”

“That... that’s not necessary, sir,” Nayu said quickly.

“Nonsense! From now on, you are Xiao* Wakabayashi, and I’m thinking of giving you four of those spear regiments you held in place today with your displays!”

“Sir, with all due respect,” Nayu quickly jumped in. I know nothing of regular soldiering... and I’m not particularly keen to learn! “I am not trained, or worthy, of such a command. I would humbly request your excellency to let me retain my current command.” Nayu added a careful bow, which caused the great general to give a loud guffaw, and slapped the sorcerer on the back. The blow almost sent Nayu sprawling.

“Very well then, Xiao! You can keep your old command! But let me warn you,” Dian smiled, “If you pull any more heroics of that sort, you’ll find yourself a Shao*, and then you’ll jump from one small command to having twenty!”

“I shall keep myself humbly in reserve, sir,” Nayu replied with a wry smile, trying to cover up the pain of his suddenly sore back.

“I’m very surprised at your abilities, Wakabayashi,” Dian continued, “to be honest, since you were a friend of my niece, I had assumed you belonged in the lackadaisical and lazy lot with her. I see today that I’m greatly mistaken!”

“With all due respect, Shang Wa-Feng,” Nayu said quietly, carefully picking his words, “I think you greatly underestimate your niece.”

“Nonsense!” the general rumbled in reply. “Just because you are her friend, doesn’t mean you can’t be blind to the incompetence that happened today! Where were her light cavalry during the pursuit! My heavy cavalry in all their armor were forced to ride hard another three hours chasing down Hu Lian’s people!” Dian’s massive brows bent in a front, and his eyes began to blaze. “I have no doubt that because her light cavalry was missing, that Hu Lian and most of her horsemen got away!”

“I cannot say for sure, Shang Wa-Feng,” Nayu felt a slight tinge of annoyance in his own voice, “but I believe that cowardice is not a part of your niece’s character. If she didn’t participate in the pursuit, I am guessing there was a good reason.”

“Bah!” Dian roared, waving his hand dismissively. “I am just about to go over to those woods, and give her a good dressing down!” He gave a snort as he clambered back onto his horse, and the steed almost seemed to roll its eyes as the weight returned to its back. “Its too bad my orders only said to stay by the woods! She’ll use that tongue of hers to weasel her way out of duty she should’ve performed! Felonxi was always too weak on her, and now she’s become a blemish! A blemish on the family honor, I tell you!”

Nayu’s jaw clenched, as he clambered onto his own steed as well. Must not yell at Shang Wa-Feng... must not cast a spell over Shang Wa-Feng... The sorcerer’s hands gripped hard on the reins, as he tried to focus, and not unleash a tirade or a arcane storm on the older general as the two spurred their mounts towards the woods on the far right...



Felonca felt something tickle her face...

...and then the pain came back. Burning, tearing, screaming pain seemingly boring into even her soul. In her mind, she let out a scream of agony, but her ears only heard a very dull moan.

“I guess it is rather hard to kill a Wa-Feng,” she heard a voice mumble from a distance, and felt hands on her painful shoulders, lifting her off the ground. Slowly, painfully, she opened her eyes. At first, only shapes and colors flashed in front of her, till she managed to make herself focus, and the very concerned face of Liu Ganxi came into view.

“Zhong Wei! Are you alright?” more voices asked, and soon she saw the battered and bloody faces of men from her unit, their faces full of concern and fear.

“Wha...” she managed to mutter, before her lungs reminded her that a swordstroke had narrowly missed them. She tried to gasp from the pain, but her lungs defeated her yet again.

“Shhh...” Liu gently placed his hand over her mouth. “At least let me use what healing I have left to get you in a position to talk... and maybe use your left arm.”

With great effort, Felonca nodded her head ever so slowly.

She felt Liu’s hands gently touch her, one on her forehead, another on her shoulder. Quiet words of power came from his mouth, and for a second, instead of pain, she felt warmth, warmth that spread from her shoulder down her arm. She winced as she felt crunches and pops as her bones slid back into place. Next, the second hand moved to her stomach. After a burst of warmth there as well, she found that while breathing was painful, it did not require a clenched mouth and the willpower to avoid screaming to do so.

Liu lifted his hands from her body and gave a sigh. “I’m afraid that’s all I can do with the powers of Shenyang. Beyond this... some bandages might be in order.” He gave a quiet smile. “At least you should be able to walk about and act like a commander, Zhong Wei.”

“Thank you, Liu.” Hands helped her as she slowly clambered to her feet. Despite Liu’s words, Felonca had no idea how she looked; her chin was covered by drying blood, her leather armor was stripped from her left shoulder, a massive sword slash laid bare and deep, as was her stomach. A small trickle of blood even came from her forehead, cut open when she’d tumbled to the ground in a faint from blood loss. Slowly, her memory came back to her, telling her what happened.... and her eyes went wide.

“Where’s Hu Lian!” Felonca asked quickly, before collective fingers all pointed behind her. Still laying on the ground, perfectly unconscious, lay the Princess. Two soldiers were binding the woman’s arms, while two more bandaged the stump that was left of her leg.

“She’s right there, Zhong Wei,” Liu used her rank purposefully. “Guan Yongli has done an excellent job arranging things while we made sure you didn’t die.”

“Didn’t die? I thought I was only unconscious...” Felonca said slowly.

“No... you were moments from seeing your ancestors!” Liu said. “I... I don’t know how you continued to fight as you did! By all rights, the sword thrust to your stomach should have killed you!” He shook his head slowly. “I’ve never seen anyone survive a blow like that.”

“I... almost died... again?” Felonca asked again quietly, as more memories came back, and her eyes went wide again. “Where are Hu Lian’s cavalry?!” Instinctively she reached for her waist, where her warfans normally were.

“Yongli is supervising the spearmen who are guarding the prisoners!” one of the soldiers said excitedly. “We won, Zhong Wei! They became confused in the forest, and after you took down Hu Lian, they started surrendering by the ton!”

“How many are left?” Felonca winced as soon as she asked the question, dreading the answer. Not many, I guess...

“Yongli said that half his spearmen are dead, many of the rest are wounded... the same with the cavalry,” Liu began, “but it seems Hu Lian’s people took as many casualties, if not more.”

Felonca went silent for a minute. Half my men... half the men in both units dead? Quietly, she uttered a brief prayer to the ancestors for them. Despite the fact that she was still not at ease, she pressed on with her questions.

“So... its over? And the rest of the army?”

“Ojin went to the edge of the forest to see... but from the shouts and drums for advance, I think we won,” Liu grinned. “I doubt that would’ve been the case if five hundred enemy cavalry had shown up behind our lines.”

“Zhong Wei!” Felonca looked up, to see Ojin suddenly rushing towards her from deeper in the wood. Like all the others, his nice new uniform was rent, covered with blood and dirt. “Zhong Wei! You’re awake!”

“It would appear I’m partially alive, too,” she said wryly, conscious of the fact that despite her battered state, she was still a commander. Keep that strong image...

“Shang Wa-Feng and several riders are coming here!” Ojin said breathlessly. “They’re currently by the healer’s tent on the other side of the wood!”

“Well,” Felonca fought to not grit her teeth as she took a step forward, “We should go meet with them. Liu, I want you to stay behind, and help Yongli with anything he needs. I...I need to go meet my uncle.”



“Dear gods!” Nayu gasped a half hour later, as Felonca shuffled into view. She could see worry running free in Nayu’s eyes, as she held a hand over her stomach. Liu’s healing had closed the wound enough that a scab was forming over the cut, but huge amounts of dried blood still colored her leather armor rusty crimson.

“What in the Nine Hells happened to you! How in Heaven’s name did you get so cut up and dirty babysitting a hundred spearmen on the edge of the battlefield?!” Dian snapped, before adding, “And why were your troops nowhere to be found during the pursuit of Hu Lian’s retreating army! We could’ve, no, we should’ve caught both her and her cavalry, but without your lighter troops to catch up with them...”

What? ‘Where were your troops?!?’ Felonca, despite the soreness and pain, stiffened up. With effort, she kept her temper in check.

“I know where they are...” she said slowly, trying to keep her voice calm. Her uncle blustered in response.

“Well, then bloody well tell me! We need to run her down if we can! If she gets away back to her brother, there’ll be hell to pay! Come now, spit out the loca...”

“About two hundred yards from here, in the woods,” Felonca pointed. Uncle, just listen...

“What the? No, they can’t be there! Why would heavy cavalry run into the forest, Felonca?!” Dian growled back. “Stop spinning tales, and tell me what you really...”

“THEY’RE BACK IN THE FRICKING FOREST, DEAD! ALONG WITH MOST OF MY MEN!” Felonca finally snapped, the sudden excitement making her stomach burn with pain, and she doubled over, coughing. Immediately, she felt the hands of Nayu and the few of her men that had come with grab her, and hold her up.

Stand up! Stand up to your fricking uncle! she snarled to herself, an emotion reflected in the dark look her face took when she looked back up, directly into the eyes of the elder Wa-Feng.

“Uncle Dian...” she started again, her voice weaker, but possessing a far more icy tone, “I have worked under your command, attempted to follow your orders, and sacrificed my men, and you still treat me...”

“Zhong Wei Wa-Feng!” Dian roared, before Felonca’s voice thundered over his own.

“NO! Shut up and let me finish!” she snapped again, catching herself when her stomach screamed at her. I don’t care if you are my fricking superior officer! “...you still treat me as if I am no more than a blemish to be removed, not like a competent officer, not like a subordinate, and not like your own flesh and blood!” Her eyes narrowed.

“Hu Lian came around the right, with all her heavy cavalry! I had to fight against three to one odds by the damn numbers, worse if you count that my cavalry didn’t have any heavy armor! Hu Lian is captured, her cavalry destroyed, all laid out in the forest!” Felonca growled, “and I will NOT have the blood my men left on that forest floor be taken in vain simply because you are upset I left the Academy!!”

Wa-Feng Dian’s eyes went wide at her words. Felonca didn’t notice this, bowling onward, thundering out her anger and frustration.

“I lost half my men! Half! How many people did you lose, uncle!?” she roared. “Not half! You don’t have nine out of ten men in your unit either dead or wounded! You don’t even have a fricking scratch!”

“Felonca...” Dian said, his voice much quieter this time.

“We fricking took on Hu Lian herself, with no fricking help! Alone! And if you still doubt me, dammit, follow!” she snarled.

“Felonca, you really need to see Yari Ai at the healers,” Nayu said slowly. “Your stomach and shoulder still look like...”

“Follow me, Shang Wa-Feng!” she growled, ignoring Nayu’s advice. Before either him or her uncle could reply, she turned and started to shamble back into the woods...



“Ancestors preserve us...” Nayu said quietly when they caught sight of the field of carnage. Amongst the logs and brambles of the forest underbrush laid bodies, strewn so thick in places that the ground was no longer visible. Many of them wore the dark steel armor of Hu Lian’s cavalry... many wore the lighter leathers of Felonca’s...

“Felonca...” Dian started quietly, only to fall silent at his niece’s icy stare. The elder Wa-Feng’s head fell to the ground, as the trio ventured deeper into the woods, drawing closer to a clump of soldiers, gathered around a prone figure. As they approached, all the soldiers, along with Liu, rose and saluted, the eyes of the worn cavalry looking at Felonca, not her uncle.

“You said you wanted to know where Hu Lian was!?” Felonca growled, before pointing at the still unconscious figure of the Princess, bound and laying on the ground. “There is Hu Lian!”

“Zhong Wei cut down Princess Lian herself!” Ojin offered quickly, “I saw it myself!”

“As did I!”

“And I!”

“And I,” Liu spoke finally. “The Princess had cut and slashed Felonca to pieces, yet she kept coming back from every blow, kept fighting on and on, until she cut the princess down from her horse.” Liu then shook his head again. “I am a warrior monk, trained to protect those of my faith. Yet in twelve years since I finished my training, I have never seen someone win such an unequal fight.”

“You... fought Hu Lian? Alone?” Dian said slowly, quietly. Felonca’s ears raised... there was a distinct tone of respect and awe in Dian’s voice... along with something else...

“Not quite Uncle...” Felonca replied, “Liu Ganxi also...”

“Felonca saved my life from Hu Lian’s attacks,” Liu interrupted his mischevious eyes looking directly at Felonca, “isn’t that right?”

“I’ll say... the monk was rather pitiful fighting her,” Ojin added quickly. “Couldn’t land a blow for the life of him. If Zhong Wei hadn’t come over, I think he’d have been in several pieces...”

“You... captured... Hu Lian?” Dian spoke very slowly... before suddenly the tall hengeyokai went to his knees, then bowed, placing his head on the ground.

“Uncle?” Felonca asked, the anger gone from her voice. He is performing kow-tow?

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Xiao* = Rank roughly equivalent to colonel.
Shao* = lesser rank of general... equivalent to brigadier.

 

[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

Excellent stuff!!

It's very satisfying, even for the reader, to see Felonca prove a point to Uncle Dian ... her player must have loved it !!!

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Apologies... and Plots Revealed...

“I... I am sorry, Felonca,” Dian said, his normally thundering, boisterous voice now quieter than a kitten’s mew. “I...I...”

“Uncle?” Felonca replied, confusion rooting her in place. Wa-Feng Dian was a proud man, a proud warrior... she could recall that he’d only bent his knee to two people ever... her grandfather, when he was alive, and her own father, his older brother...

“I should have never doubted you, Felonca,” Dian’s soft voice whispered into the grass. “I...I have brought a grave dis... dishonor on myself, and on my family! I should have never doubted you, never posted you away, never questioned your right to be a Wa-Feng! By all rights...” she started to say, his hand reaching for the dagger at his waist.

“No!” Felonca’s hand lashed out, stopping Dian’s hand before it could reach his weapon. Dian’s face looked up to her, and Felonca saw tear streaks were running down his dark fur, his eyes blinking rapidly as his eyes watered.

“No,” she whispered again, her hands grasping his and pulling. Dian’s eyes went wide as he stood up at her direction.

“No, Uncle... there is dishonor, but there is also forgiveness,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around him. There needs to be no blood to satisfy dishonor... “Uncle... you thought you were working in the best interests of rescuing father by dissuading me, and for the sentiment for your brother, I am grateful. I am glad that you now understand I am a warrior, just like you, my father, and my grandfather before me.”

“But... what shall I do... to make up for the disservice I have done?” Dian said quietly, carefully concealing a sniffle at his shame.

“Promote her?” Nayu finally spoke quietly.

“Yes,” Dian pulled back from the hug, his face showing a returned determination. “Yes! With two hundred troops, you beat five battalions of Hu Lian’s best cavalry, and Hu Lian herself! You deserve a promotion to at least Shao, if not Shang!”

“Um... Uncle, I... I cannot accept such an honor!” Felonca backed away. I did well commanding two battalions... I know nothing of commanding twenty battalions, or a whole army! I’ll be lost... I’ll mess up!

“You will take a post at least as a Shao! I will not listen to any disagreement!” Dian’s eyes narrowed. “Allow me to compensate for my grave errors in judgment, and clean this blemish from my conscience!”

“Uncle, but...” Numerous protests arose in Felonca’s mind, but she decided they wouldn’t matter... her Uncle’s jaw was set, he felt it was the only way to make up for his mistake, and his stubbornness was legendary, even for a Wa-Feng.

“Very well, Uncle. I ask that you refrain from posting me to a full command, at least for now.” I’d much rather keep my small unit of troops...

“Nonsense!” Dian laughed. “I am in need of a second in command...”

“Uncle!”

“...someone,” he brushed aside her protest, “to help me with planning and lead special units and movements! Mind you,” he looked at the ground, “this is a battlefield appointment... Shang Quan-Shi will have to verify it for the rank to become permanent, but Shao Wa-Feng Felonca has a ring to it, I believe.” He looked back up, pride now mixing with the remorse in his eyes. “It is only appropriate for the Conqueror of Hu Lian.”

“Fine... I accept,” Felonca crossed her arms, the family stubbornness reluctantly giving way in her person, “so long as I do not recieve extra battalions to command or the like.”

“Oh, I don’t have any such thing planned. Instead, your first mission, Shao Wa-Feng, will be to help me interrogate your prisoner,” he pointed towards Hu Lian’s bound form. “She likely knows her brother’s full strength, the names and reputation of his commanders, as well as where your father and the other prisoners are being held within the camp to the south...”



“Hu Lian?”

She’s little more than a girl! Felonca thought as the princess’ eyes slowly flickered open. Now that the blood and grime had been cleaned from her face, she looked strangely strong, yet beautiful, her face seemingly carved from porcelain, her eyes a deep, piercing brown. For a second, those same eyes looked at Felonca’s with surprise, before they suddenly narrowed.

How do I go about this... I’ve never done an interrogation before!

“You are my prisoner, Princess Hu,” Felonca said, trying to fill her voice with command and authority, despite her wariness at not knowing what she was doing. “And now I’m going to ask you some questions... and I expect answers. Truthful answers... otherwise, I am afraid your leg won’t be the only part of your body that you’ll miss...”

“Ha!” the girl snapped back, her voice soft and high like those of girls that had only just passed puberty. “You wouldn’t hurt a fly! You are weak, Wa-Feng! I see it in your eyes, you stupid cat!”

Felonca looked at those defiant eyes, and sighed. I hoped it wouldn’t come to this... I tried to be nice. She then turned, and nodded, wincing slightly at her uncle’s growl as Dian stepped fully into the room, bristling in hybrid, his huge blade drawn and now level with the Princess’ neck.

“You killed alot of my men, you little bastard,” his voice rumbled, “and I’ve got no qualms about slicing and dicing you so bad your mother won’t know if she’s holding part of your nose or part of your arm, you little whore!”

Felonca winced again... though she also noticed Princess recoil slightly.

“I hear you don’t like being a human,” Nayu’s voice came from behind Felonca, in the doorway. “Princess, have you considered all the benefits of becoming an aardvark? Eat as many ants as you want, you get a really long tongue, and you get armor plating so that no wolves can eat you.” She felt the sorcerer step up behind her, and lean past her so he was inches from Hu Lian’s face. His hand went up, inches from her nose, and sparks crackled between his fingers.

“I can arrange you to sample this lovely form of life, if you want.” Felonca could almost feel the sneer that she knew was filling Nayu’s face. “I’m sure the panthers here wouldn’t mind a plaything to toy with for a few minutes before your shell is ripped open and they dine on your eyeballs.”

The Princess leaned back, away from her two tormentors, her eyes wide in horror. “No...” she whispered fearfully, “I won’t betray my brother! No!”

“Hmm... how about a mouse then? Squeak squeak! Squeak squeak!” Nayu laughed darkly, the sparks turning into shadows, “That might be a more sporting fit... great cats beating a mouse between their paws before swallowing her in one gulp...”

“Do you like having a neck?” Dian asked more pointedly, the tip of his sword pressing the part of her body in question.

“Lian, please,” Felonca said plaintively, happy to fill the role of the good guy in the affair, “just answer my questions, and no harm will come to you. Now, why is your brother marching on Liaoxiang?”

“I... I... will not tell!” Lian cried, cringing back despite the fact her head was firmly against he wall and she was unable to put any more distance between herself and her captors. “No! Nothing!”

“A finger for each time she says no, then?” Dian said menacingly.

“Squeak?” Nayu added.

The princess closed her eyes, and opened her mouth.



“Round one of the talks done,” Felonca sighed a few hours later in her uncle’s command tent, before looking at her friend and her uncle. “I wasn’t going to get her to crack... thank you for your help.”

“That was far easier than I expected,” Dian said, as he turned towards Nayu with a worried look. “And Xiao Wakabayashi, if you can do some of the things you claim...”

“Why would I lie about something like that?” Nayu asked in reply, a smirk on his face. “Besides, it only took a couple of illusions to convince her I had access to shadow magic and was willing to convert her into a half-shadow mouse that glowed in the dark so panthers could play pouncy!” He let out a loud laugh... and Felonca’s eyes narrowed.

“You seemed quite eager to do your threats, Nayu,” she observed, “and sometimes I am afraid of your magic!” She gave a slight chuckle, even as she winced inside. He seemed all to eager to forcibly change her body... and the way his eyes looked when he talked about shadow magic.. when he threatened to wither her arm when she paused talking... he... he looked like he WOULD do the necromancy!

“Be afraid! Be very afraid!” Nayu waved his hands spookily and chuckled, before Dian cleared his throat, drawing the two friends back to the task at hand.

“Ahem. So... to review what we now know. Firstly, that Prince Hu means to take Liaoxiang for its spellcasters, for its arcane knowledge, but more importantly, to kidnap the Emperor for the Military Governor. The question is... why does the Military Governor want the Emperor? And what is Prince Hu getting in return?”

“Still can’t believe those two bastards are working together!” Nayu’s countenance changed to a snarl. “I’m guessing its so the Military Governor can either turn the Emperor undead, or take control of him... simple as that! He’s probably planning on double-crossing the prince!”

“Hu, from the few times we met him, seems to be quite an intelligent man... I doubt he’d let himself be so obviously trapped,” Felonca said. “The Military Governor must be providing something so arduous in return that he has no time to contemplate... wait...” Her feline eyes narrowed, and she felt her hybrid tail twitch in thought. “All those burning men and skeletons were created by the Military Governor and his prefects...”

“Ancestral piss!” Dian swore. “So Quan-Shi is facing an army of living... and an army the dead?”

“Great,” Nayu tossed his hands up, “an army of burning men. Lovely... just lovely. Perhaps they will be complemented by a lovely array of skeletons, or more hulking white lions and yellow mold creatures!”

“Appears so...” Felonca sighed, before trying to turn her mind to a bright spot fromt he interrogation. “At least we have information on the prisoner camp. Though this description of the commander seems right odd... white tiger’s head, striped fur? That part sounds like a weird kind of tiger hengeyokai. But his hands...”

“Twisted so they face backwards?” Nayu finished the sentence. “He’s a rakshasa... he’s gotta be a rakshasa. But I don’t know of any white furred rakshasas... the only two my father ever saw in his travels were orange and black, like normal tigers. And since she said he doesn’t use a book, I’m going to assume he’s like me... a sorcerer, not a scholar. The second in command of the camp confuses me as well. Clad in plate armor with blades whirling about him? How can he control the blades through magic if he’s wearing plate?”

“Is he even a spellcaster?” Dian asked quietly. “If he is, I want him in my ranks... a spellcaster that can lob magic and fight?” Dian then breathed in sharply. “Add to that he never sleeps, and is always about the camp enforcing discipline? I model officer... and something that isn’t human!”

“Well, she says she hasn’t seen anyone try to fight the brute, and with all the threats you two were tossing, I’m inclined to believe her,” Felonca said quietly. “At least she was able to give us a good description of the camp... good enough I was able to make a sketch...”

A sketch you can view here!
(Supplies are the brown things, encampments are the tents... unfortunately, the prisoner sections weren't clearly marked when I made this... they are to the lower right...)

=========================================================

 

[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

“Princess, have you considered all the benefits of becoming an aardvark? Eat as many ants as you want, you get a really long tongue, and you get armor plating so that no wolves can eat you.”

I'm guessing Nayu has more ranks in Knowledge (arcana) than Knowledge (nature) ... 'cause that's a pangolin, not an aardvark.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Short update tonight... revealing Felonca's plans, and a little about Nayu's future motivations...

Hehe... he most definitely has no ranks in knowledge nature... the final session proved that . And yeah, Felonca’s player loved blasting her uncle for his narrow-mindedness. She was surprisingly quick to forgive him... leading by example, I think.

Felonca’s Plan...

The next night, Nayu sat in his own tent, his eyes closed as his body tried to sleep, but his mind endlessly wandered through the events of the past two days. The sounds of crickets chirping in the depths of the night didn’t help; his overactive mind really needed silence to calm into sleep. As long as the crickets and other noises continued, his mind had excuses to stay awake, and rattle through the events of the previous few days.

First a battle, then a promotion... and we’re only a few days from Liaoxiang, where I can get access to those war spells that Yu and Ren spoke of... He gave a tired smile at the thought, his mind darkly imagining how different the battle would have been if he had been able to create fiery explosions eighty feet across... if he had been truly capable of withering people’s limbs, or truly capable of seizing control of their minds. The last thought made him chuckle.

Things would’ve been so much easier... I could have just told those three generals to drop off their horses and bow to me! He felt a slight twitch in the magic of his body at the thought, a twitch that made him smile.

If we go to Liaoxiang... that is what I will do. I will learn mind control... Nayu thought. I don’t care if its shadow magic, if its necromancy... it is something that would be very useful...

...imagine the deals I could get from merchants...

...but what about my ancestry? another part of his mind interrupted his commercial thoughts. The Son of Heaven shouldn’t rely on mere magic to persuade others to follow his will...

...though it would be quite handy... A humorous image of Prince Hu crowing before him clad only in peacock feathers made him laugh out loud, so loud that he didn’t hear the hurried run of feet outside his tent, or some rip his tent flap open.

“NAYU!” Felonca shouted, breaking his reverie and making him jump several inches into the air. He spun around, and saw that her blue feline eyes were wide with barely contained excitement.

“What? You scared the spirits from me!” the sorcerer complained.

“I need you to follow! I have a plan!” she replied, almost bouncy with excitement.

“Well,” he slowly clambered up from his sleeping roll, “I should hope you have a plan, considering you are now second in command of this entire gaggle of men armed with sharp steel objects,” he said wryly. He started to grab his slightly better peasant clothes, before Felonca grabbed his arm and dragged him outside.

“Hurry! Its big enough to wake up Uncle Dian!”

“I’m sure he’ll be in a good mood,” Nayu said sourly. I know I’m not!



“I know you are now Shao Wa-Feng, but dammit, this had better be important,” a tired and worn Wa-Feng Dian grumbled, rubbing his eyes. No terrifying black armor covered his large frame, only a large white shift.

“It is, Uncle!” Felonca replied excitedly. “I’ve been thinking about the information that Hu Lian gave to us yesterday, and especially about the emplacements of the cattle and the horses within the prisoner camp!”

Dian’s response was to cross his arms, his bare feet tapping the tent ground impatiently. Felonca ignored the warning sign, and blustered onward, pulling out her sketch of the camp and the surrounding area.

“We’ll split the army into five groups, and launch a night attack,” Felonca said eagerly, as her uncle sleepily nodded. “Group One will consist of several spellcasters and some guards. They’ll sit here, across the river from the camp, and lob some spells into the camp to cause chaos. A few minutes later,” her hand slid further along the creek, “a second group... the rest of the spellcasters, will fire some explosive spells behind the camp oxen, here.”

Despite the late hour and his sour mood, Nayu chuckled. The Langya soldiers will have cattle running amok while they sleep...

“Simultaneously, I’ll have Zhong Wei Ojin,” Felonca smiled slightly at her protegee’s new rank, “sneak in with a few of his people to the horse stables, freeing the mounts so the enemy can’t flee. Right after them, the main force, led by you, will attack behind the oxen chaos, driving deep into the camp...”

“...using the oxen as cover?” Dian’s voice changed. He wasn’t nearly as tired, his eyes were now focused on the sketch, his brow furrowed in thought. “That is quite brilliant, my dear, but that would require a great deal of timing between the forces, especially the spellcasters firing into the oxen pens and the main force charging into the oxen pens. Also,” his hand slid towards the right, towards another labelled section of camp, “it doesn’t deal with freeing the prisoners...”

“I’m sure the resident strategist has that handled,” Nayu smiled, the plan coming together in his mind. If I ever do sit on the Jade Throne... I need Felonca nearby... she’s sharp, and I could pick her brain for ideas. Besides... I wouldn’t want her commanding things against me...

“I do,” she jumped in, still to excited to really notice his statement. “First, Nayu said that the spellcasters can communicate through their minds, which will be how we would coordinate things. Second, you’ve forgotten the fifth force, uncle!” Her hand flashed over towards the right of the camp, beyond the sections noted for holding the prisoners. “A final force, made up of myself, Nayu, Yari Ai, Meiji, Liu, a spellcaster of Nayu’s choosing, and with your permission, Zhong Wei Li Chou, will close with this wall after your assault has begun. Not only will the oxen sow confusion within the Langya camp, they’ll also draw attention away from us. In the chaos, we sneak into the prison area, and free the prisoners, giving them what arms we can find and get them back the direction we came from!”

The younger Wa-Feng looked up at her uncle, eyes expectant and filled with pride at her work. For his own part, Nayu looked at the sketch, and gave a grunt of admiration.

I really really need to find a way to keep her by my side when I ascend to the Jade Throne!

Wa-Feng Dian, however, continued to stare at the map, columns and movements evidently dancing in his mind as his military mind worked over the details of the plan. After a few moments, he looked up at Felonca, and gave a slight smile.

“Your father would be proud... may I say that I am glad you are on my side!” The slight smile became a full grin. “This plan is rather complicated, but I do think it would work. My only concerns would be the coordination, and also making sure you have enough people for your end of the work. Are you sure what... seven people would be enough to...”

“Seven would be more than enough, uncle. This is where my training during my days of dishonor, as you called them, come in.” She gave a slightly smug smile at the reference. “This portion is supposed to be secret, up till the point that either we have the prisoners armed, or that we’ve snuck all of them out of the camp. Bringing more people with us will only draw attention to our movements... it would not be a good tradeoff.”

Dian sighed.

"Very well. I..." he stopped suddenly. For a few seconds, there was silence, before his voice softly cut through the air. "I trust you, Felonca. And I trust you with my brother's life..." Another sigh, and Dian ran a hand through his hair, "Though you know this! I...um... well..." his voice trailed off into silence, as he looked at the sketch.

“I think I’ll bring in Zhen Ren as my backup,” Nayu thought aloud. Yu Enlai will be needed with the communications aspect of things... and Zhen Ren, despite his pretensions, seems to be the best at simply blowing things up. Though, Nayu gave a slight laugh, I’ll have to inform him there will be no fine robes and gilt scarves on this mission... He then frowned, a question coming to his mind.

“Um... Felonca... other than this is a quite...um... brilliant plan, why all the excitement?”

“Because if this works,” she said softly, the smile on her lips growing softer and fainter, “I’ll see my papa in a few days.”

At those words, Nayu gave a sad smile in reply. At least one of us will see a father in the future, ancestors willing! He closed his eyes in thought, and in the darkness of his mind, a familiar face came back, and smiled. The reverie lasted only a few moments, and when Nayu opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Dian still looking pensive, staring past his niece, as if he was looking for a way to be proud of his own child...

 

[ThoughtfulOwl]

It seems that Nayu's ambitions are finally taking shape: from If I ever do sit on the Jade Throne to when I ascend to the Jade Throne within he same post.
The real question is how much will power consume him; he seems torn between a desire for justice and the lure of prepotence.

Good work, EV!

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Wa-Feng versus Wa-Feng part Deux, and Visitors Along the Road

“The other Wa-Feng should not go with you.”

Felonca’s mind was still thinking of her father... partly eager to help him, free him, and partly worried at his reaction to the daughter that had broken the military code, that had lived as a thief. It took several moments for her mind to process what her uncle had said.

“Hm?” she looked up. I must have misheard him. She watched as her uncle’s shoulders heaved in a sigh, and his own eyes looked back up at hers.

“I said I do not believe that Wa-Feng Meiji should accompany you on this part of the mission,” Dian repeated quietly, before the older hengeyokai cleared his throat. “I believe him to be a potential liability. He should remain with the baggage train, where he has been these past few weeks. Instead, I would suggest...”

“Why do you believe your own son to be a liability?” Felonca asked, her voice dropping from warm excitement to icy formality. He’s still mad at Meiji for refusing to even attend the Academy, for running off to become a singer! “He has helped us much in the past,” she tried to justify, to use logic, “He is good at disguises, and his music actually has magical properties...” Uncle... this will only turn into another argument...

“Felonca, my dear, I do not believe that a song that made two little gnomes fall over in laughter would help against the hundreds of soldiers within the camp, or their commanders,” Dian protested. “Besides, Meiji is...”

“...a disappointment to you?” Felonca fired back, her tone now fully razor sharp. I trust him! Why can’t you!? “Because he went and did what he wanted to, what he was good at, instead of following a strict family code?”

“Felonca, I did not mean it sound like...”

“Uncle, you are a bad liar,” Felonca snorted. “You did mean it that way! You still think of him as the flippant, arrogant and flighty boy he was when he ran off twelve years ago! He’s not!” He’s still those things... just... not nearly as bad as before... she justified to herself. She crossed her arm and scowled. “If you speak to him, you might discover this yourself!”

“I... I cannot,” Dian looked at the ground, his own voice slowly filling with iron.

“Why? Why can’t a father speak to his own son?” she growled. Her eyes were so focused on her uncle that she didn’t notice Nayu back away, and quickly slip out the door. If she had seen him, it would have been obvious he wanted no part of the debate.

“Because,” Dian looked up, his tone snappish, before he closed his eyes and gave a forcible sigh. “I closed that door long ago. I’ve seen him with the army, once or twice... but I made a vow twelve years ago...”

“A vow to never speak to him again? Uncle, that’s... that is utter idiocy!” Felonca complained. “Never speak to your son because he wasn’t a warrior! You speak to me, enough to castigate and chastise!”

“You tried to be a warrior Felonca... hell, you didn’t just try, you are a warrior! You proved it two days ago... regardless of whether you passed the Academy exams or not! He is not! He did not even try!” Dian rumbled darkly. “He had enough nerve to send a request through Zhong Wei Li to be given a commission and a position with you or Nayu!” His voice rose once again. “He is a cur, a craven man who’d rather cavort with women than defend himself with a blade! He is no son of mine!”

Felonca’s mouth stopped, held open at her uncle’s statement. After a minute’s worth of shock, she snapped back, “Uncle Dian! That... that is the most narrow minded, idiotic thing...”

“I will not accept him as a part of my contingent, or let his blemish join any army I am a part of!” Dian’s arms crossed.

“Uncle, I gladly accept him! He can fight just as well as me!” Felonca ignored the little thoughts running in her mind questioning the last time Meiji contributed something useful other than being a distraction, so hot was her anger. Her tail swished angrily, and she glared. “Uncle, he is in my contingent! I have selected him, and it is my plan, so he is coming with!” Her eyes blazed, daring him to contradict. He might be my elder, he might be my superior officer, but I am right!

The elder Wa-Feng started to snap back, but just as his mouth opened he seemed to pause. His fiery words instead found an outlet through his glaring eyes as he bowed.

“Fine. He’ll be a part of your contingent,” the general reluctantly growled, “but do not expect me to welcome such a move, or to greet my former son with open arms...”



“So he let Meiji come with?” Nayu asked the next morning. Felonca nodded her head, as her cousin cantered by, his face sour. Unusually, Meiji was clad completely in black leathers, the ringlets in his hair dyed as dark as a moonless night. Where normally gold jewelry would have hung brilliantly from his ears and neck, only naked, dark skin showed. He looked momentarily at his cousin, before cantering his horse up ahead, passing Yari Ai and Liu without hardly a word.

“He’s not in a good mood,” Felonca stated the obvious. She’s tried to talk to him early that morning, hoping the news that he could come along would brighten his spirits. Instead, he’d asked about his father’s reaction... and things had gone downhill from there.

“He didn’t even try to make a pass a me,” Yari reined up her horse till Nayu and Felonca were alongside. “That’s unusual...”

“I think he knows the answer by now, that’s why he didn’t bother” Nayu grinned slightly, hoping for a joke. He frowned when his humor fell on deaf ears, as the two women stared ahead at Meiji, who’d finally reined up his horse far ahead alongside the marching soldiers, and merely stared out ahead. Oh well... I tried to cheer them up, he thought.

“I should go talk to him,” Felonca said quietly, putting her spurs into her horse and galloping ahead.

“Yari Ai, maybe you should go with her...” Nayu gestured up ahead. To his surprise, the cleric shook her head no.

“He might think I’m indicating something I’m not,” she sighed, “and he’s hurt enough as it is, without me intentionally or unintentionally adding to the pain.” For a second, the wind caught her raven hair, and mesmerized Nayu’s eyes. His gaze was broken when she looked directly at him.

“You should go up there... help talk him down. You’ve been around Shang Wa-Feng, but not under as...um... stressful of situations as Felonca. You’re probably the closest thing to an impartial voice.”

“You’re probably right,” Nayu thought aloud, turning his horse and cantering up towards where the pair of panther hengeyokai’s were already in discussion.

“...this is a chance for you to show him wrong!” Nayu heard Felonca say in exasperation. As the sorcerer reined up alongside, Meiji turned and nearly spat fire at his cousin and now commander.

“Why do I need to prove myself to him!?” the bard snapped. “I’m even more his flesh and blood than you are! He had no right to treat you that way, and he has no right treating his own son like this! Just because I’m not a warrior, and just because I don’t want to be a warrior, doesn’t mean I’m any less of a man than he is!”

“I know that Meiji!” Felonca growled back, her own hackles rising at being yelled at. Nayu closed his eyes, gave a small sigh, and slowly put his hand between the two.

“Wa-Fengs... may I speak?” he said quietly. Calm and quiet... contrast to their noise and anger. Cool down their tongues... “Felonca, I believe your cousin is merely venting... he is upset, and has every right to be.” Nayu looked to her, and she nodded. He then turned to Meiji.

“Your cousin is merely pointing out that while your father is a bastard for treating you like some piece of scum,” Nayu said softly, “that this is your chance to prove him wrong! Not only that, but that also if he is shown he is wrong, that he apologizes, and rights his mistake! She is proof of that!” To his surprise, Meiji looked at him, and his eyes merely narrowed.

“Nothing can make up for the twelve years of silence that have come from him!” Meiji spat back in a fury. He sighed. “I don’t think its possible for him to forgive... I don’t think its possible...”

Nayu had opened his mouth to give a response, before Felonca cut him off.

“There’s someone in the trees!” she hissed, her eyes narrowed, searching, her hybrid nostrils lifted into the air, smelling. “Don’t make a sudden movement... I’m going to bring him back!” Before Nayu could reply, she was off her horse, and dashing into the woods, in full panther array.

“What?” Meiji whispered, following his cousin from the corner of his eyes, as Nayu desperately tried to do the same. His human eyes caught only the dark foliage of the forest, leaves shifting slightly in the slow breeze.

Suddenly, the leaves parted, and twigs began to crash and thrash about. Immediately drawn to the movement, Nayu had only a moment to catch the black shape of the tail of a panther sail through the air before disappearing into the foliage. A few seconds later, he heard a frustrated growl, as the thrashes continued.

Then he caught sight of the man... the figure was dashing between the tress, dodging the low, black shape dashing behind it. Part of him wanted to chuckle. So the panther can’t catch the running man? Hmm... He smiled, thinking of what could slow the man down. He closed his eyes momentarily, coaxing arcane power to the fore, before his eyes flashed open, wide as his mind lashed out, probing, pushing towards the creature, then through its skull...

What? Nayu blinked hard. He should have encountered thoughts, memories, emotions... all the normal mental processes within a creature’s mind. Instead, he felt nothing.

Nothing.

That... how? Everything has a mind... except...

Undead...

As Nayu realized what they faced, he saw the low black shape leap airborne, the roar of a panther in mid-pounce filling the air. The figure spun around as the panther latched to its arm, and Nayu watched as Felonca lost her grip and tumbled back to the ground.

An undead!? Here?! A scout! It has to be a scout! Nayu thought, coaxing his arcane energy back as the low twang of Meiji’s bow echoed in his ear, followed shortly by the clattering of an arrow bouncing amongst the trees... and a low dull moan as the creature twisted oddly, Meiji’s arrow sticking from its back.

I’ve never done this before... Nayu thought, as his mind twisted, molding the magic burning within his body. A split second before the sea of magic flooded from his form, Nayu’s mind fixed upon the undead creature in the distance, and he gave sneering smile...

Even from this distance, Nayu heard the creature’s shriek, as mentally the sorcerer twisted the magical powers tighter, funneling arcane energy towards the beast. Its hands began to claw at its face, as it started to shrink, its shrieks and howls growing higher pitched and quieter, until finally, it disappeared from view altogether.

“What did you do?” Meiji asked, and Nayu turned to the bard and just gave a smirk.

“You’ll see,” he replied. Felonca should have some fun before she gets back...

A few seconds later, Felonca emerged from the forest in hybrid form. In her hands was a tiny grey squirrel, its paws swinging about as it desperately fought the much larger Felonca, trying to get free. Despite its ferocious movements, its eyes still shone a dull yellow, the same as those of the dead.

“What the hell did you do?!” Felonca yelled in frustration at Nayu as she moved her thumb to avoid the tiny creature’s snapping jaws. “I wanted to interrogate him, to find out who he was and why he’s here!”

“Umm...” Nayu paused. I didn’t think about that... “I was focused on trying to keep it from getting away... um... here!” he reached down and pulled out an empty pouch, handing it to her. “Put it in there, until I can...um... figure something out!”

“Just change him back!” Felonca replied, moving more fingers to keep the creature from biting her.

“Put him in the bag! If he bites you now, you can still get whatever disease or terrible thing he has!” Nayu shot back. “I only changed his form, I didn’t change who he, or it, was!”

“Fine!” Felonca said, stuffing the squirrel into the pouch and quickly closing the top. The bag flipped and swayed in her hands as the creature continued to struggle.

What to do with that thing? What creature can speak, but is still harmless enough that it can’t hurt any of us, and slow enough it can’t run away? If it can talk, it can still try to bite... hmm...

“What’s going on up here?” The sound of hooves drawing to a halt, as well as Yari Ai’s call, brought Nayu from his thoughts.

“I caught a man spying on the army!” Felonca announced, before turning towards Nayu with an upset scowl. “Unfortunately, our resident sorcerer turned him into a squirrel, so I can’t interrogate him!”

“It wasn’t a man, it was undead!” Nayu shot back.

“How would you know?” Felonca crossed her arms, her eyebrow raised. “Last I checked it took years as a scholar, or learning Shenyang’s teachings, for someone to know right away if a walking man was living or not!”

“I tried...” Nayu started to fire back, until Yari Ai dismounted, and walked over to the bag. As he, Felonca, and Meiji watched, she placed a hand on the outside of the bag... and then snatched her hand away with a slight yelp.

“Its undead,” she said, rubbing her palm. “Very much undead. Its an abberration of the order of things... it should be put out of its misery.”

“I agree,” Nayu added. “If the voice of Shenyang speaks so, something must be wrong with leaving it alive.” He saw Yari Ai flash a nod of agreement to his speech... and Felonca frown.

“But... if Nayu just changed him, we could...”

“Changing it would be dangerous,” Yari Ai spoke again. “If Nayu changed it to something that was able to speak, it would also undoubtedly be a form able to attack, and not be nearly as harmless as this little squirrel. We know where it likely came from...”

“The Military Governor,” Nayu guessed, “probably assigned to watch the routes approaching the supply camp.”

“...and likely if its this far from the camp, it probably is not in the position to give us any information we don’t already have from the Princess,” Yari Ai added, speaking calmly. “Transforming it into something that speaks would pose an unnecessary risk, considering how much information you yourself say you have gained from the Princess.”

Felonca’s brow furrowed more, and finally she sighed. Her hands wrapped around the upper part of the pouch, then twisted. Above the din of the army marching by, the party heard a slight series of cracks... then the bag exploded. The panther hengeyokai jumped back, as a body landed to the ground with a thump.

Before them lay a naked man, his skin seemingly melted away, his muscles bleached brown. His eyes were askew, one bulging from its socket, one recessed. His mouth lay open, exposing rows of sharpen, blackened teeth. As they watched, the undead creature twitched several times, before lapsing into true death.

“A slaughter wight,” Yari Ai said quietly.

Unbeknownst to the party, only fifty feet away, two more pairs of undead eyes watched the column as it moved, and dispassionately followed the demise of their compatriot. Swiftly, silently, the two forms slipped back into the forest, and quickly slipped back to their waiting masters...

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The Meiji thing wasn't something that happened in-game... but as I looked over the story outlines left behind, I realized this would undoubtedly have come up... considering the background of the two NPCs... so I worked it in, substituting what Nayu and Felonca's likely reactions would have been.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Next update should be up either today (Sunday) or tomorrow... depending on when I get some time to work.

 

[Emperor Valerian]

Storming the Parapets, and the Loss of a Friend, Part One

Three days later, Felonca closed her eyes, and whispered a silent prayer of thanks to the beings that controlled the weather. Around her drifted slight wisps of fog, their tendrils lit by the bare light of a tiny crescent moon. The air seemed chilled as well... as if the gods were conserving the heat, preparing its energy for something more important...

Around her shuffled soldiers, hundreds of soldiers. On her instructions, all the sows and pigs that could be found along the march had been gathered and culled, their fat used to grease the links within the soldier’s armor. While the metal pieces still clinked, the noise was reduced, to something she hoped wouldn’t be heard above the noise of her diversions.

She watched as most of the warriors in the army slowly waded across the small creek that now lay between the army and their final destination. The light but growing fog obscured the palisades of the camp itself from view, even as she craned, looking towards the direction where the camp should have been, her eyes searching for it to seemingly loom in the distance. It was a blessing; their enemies couldn’t see them. She recognized, that the reverse was true as well, a fact that could just as easily prove a curse.

“Ancestors have blessed us,” Dian said quietly next to his niece. The huge hengeyokai held his war helm under his arm, and once again was clad in his fearsome black armor. His eyes flashed with unnatural light, the glint of eagerness that was always in his eyes before swords began their deadly song. “This fog will cover our movement in, hopefully. Everything will just depend on your plans coming to fruition, it appears.”

“It would appear so,” Felonca said quietly, opening her eyes. She shifted slightly, feeling the hard packed earth underneath, as the slight noise of running water sloshing came to her ears. She’d prayed minutes before for the noise to be silent enough, quiet enough...

“Shao, you had best move out,” Dian said, his face aflame with the pre-battle grin. Felonca knew his smile would not end until either death took him, or the last enemy lay subdued beneath his heel. Felonca gave a quiet salute, and turned to find her small command.

Some minutes later, she herself slogged across the small creek, feeling the muddy bottom suck at her boots. She and Meiji both slipped through the water relatively quietly. Nayu and Yari Ai tripped about and splashed, provoking a withering stare from Felonca.

“Could you be any louder?” she hissed, her eyes seeming to glow blue as they caught the dim moonlight. She heard a muffled reply from Nayu... and in the gathering mists, she thought she saw Yari Ai’s head merely bow. The noises quieted down, and soon the small band had crossed the river.

Only a few moments later, the foggy air seemed to reverberate, as a rolling series of thick heavy noises, almost like distant thunder, caught Felonca’s ears.

“It’s already starting,” she heard Chou whisper. Felonca herself looked up towards the camp, its palisade walls looming in the fog, like some gigantic apparition. She expected to hear the roaring shout of frightened men, drums calling for battle order, officers shouting orders. Aside from the dull whumps of spells landing within the camp, she heard silence.

Nothing.

Her eyes squinted, scanning in the murk along the palisades. She could make out no sentries, no torches.

Nothing.

A rippling chill ran up Felonca’s spine as her eyes spotted only the empty palisade parapet. She knew that any armed camp would have sentries along its walls, and torches at night to illuminate anyone that was approaching the walls. Yet there was nothing here...

“Either they need no light to see us,” Nayu whispered behind her, “or they know something is up.” When she turned and caught sight of him, the murk barely hid the scowl on her friend’s face. “By the silence of the camp at your diversion, I think they suspect something. They might have already prepared,” he added darkly.

“Meiji,” she whispered, tapping her cousin’s shoulder. “You said that you had magic that could be helpful in concealing us. Now I think would be a good time to put it to use.” Part of her mind wanted to add that it was his chance to prove his usefulness... but she relented. They were before the enemy, and that comment would’ve only provoked a discussion she did not want to rehash.

“Fine. Beforehand, I want you all to put a hand on my shoulders,” he said quietly, till his eyes reached those of Felonca and Yari Ai. “Ladies may place their hands lower if they wish... though as my cousin, Felonca, you can’t collect on...”

“Just hurry it up!” Felonca hissed, her heart racing at the prospect of going ‘over the wall.’ She was in no mood for raucous humor.

Her cousin gave a huff of discontent, before his voice rose in a quiet, almost sleep inducing tone, and Felonca felt something about her form change, as the music almost compelled her to close her eyes, her heart to calm, her mind to focus. A few seconds later, his haunting tones ended, and she opened her eyes.

Only murk greeted her gaze.

“Did the fog suddenly become thicker?” she heard Yari Ai whisper, before a hushed chuckle came from somewhere. Before she could spin around, she heard Nayu’s voice.

“Meiji... you are sly, and slick,” Nayu’s disembodied voice chuckled. “I never knew you could make people invisible!”

“It is an old trick of mine,” Meiji’s voice whispered back. “It’s very useful, especially when leaving behind adoring ladies and escaping their jealous husbands!”

“How did I know you misused this magic?” Yari Ai’s voice hissed in annoyance. “Connections with planes of magic are gifts from the ancestors, and the gods, not some idle...”

She was cut off by another series of distant peals of thunder... a noise shortly followed by a distant, continuous rumble. For a second, Felonca was confused, till in the distance she could make out very faint, but very panicked moos. Shortly thereafter, the dense fog finally let loose the distant clangs of weapons, and the far off shouts of men in battle.

“Strike two,” she whispered quietly, motioning for the small group to push ahead. Eagerly she shifted into hybrid, and felt her claws dig into the wood pillars that made up the wall. Climbing while invisible was something new to her, and it took a few false starts before she was comfortable clambering upwards.

“Slow down!” she heard Nayu hiss behind her. She didn’t bother turning around, there was no way she could see him.

“You all hang back,” she whispered back, “I’m going to peek my head over the wall and see what’s there. Nayu, can you using that mind-talking magic of yours so I won’t have to hiss down to you what’s going on?”

“Right.” Soon she felt different, as if something was askew in her brain. Moments later, she heard Nayu’s voice within her mind. ”You can hear me fine?” it asked. At first, she just nodded her head, until she remembered no one could see her head.

”Yes.” she replied in her mind.

”Be careful up there. I’m tingling from all the magic that’s somewhere in the camp,” Nayu replied.

“Right,” she replied, using Nayu’s seemingly favorite phrase, and slowly, her eyes rose above the wooden walls.

The swirling mists hid the vast majority of the camp from her view, but what she could see sent chills down her bones. Tens, if not hundreds, of spearmen, clad in the clothing of mere peasants, were desperately trying to array themselves in a line, facing away from her and towards the noise of fighting. This she expected.

She did not expect to see their commanders... tall, inhumanly thing shards of what were once men, their skin sallow, clinging tight to their macabre bones. When they glanced about, she saw their eyes shone faintly yellow, and the stench of undeath filled her nostrils.

Neither did she expect him.

She’d heard Hu Lian speak of the second in command of the camp, a tall creature clad entirely in steel. She hadn’t believed fully what the Princess had said, until her eyes saw the tall horror, his seven foot frame glinting in the diffuse moonlight. His gaunted claws clutched a massive chain, spikes jutting from its links, and around his form whirled six large longswords, circling, arcing about him in a deadly dance.

”Hu Lian didn’t lie! There is a guy that is encased in steel, and covered with whirling blades!” she cried mentally.

“Just lovely. Does he happen to have a pet white lion? That’s all we need,” Nayu mentally grumbled back. ”Do you see anything else?”

”Not really. Give me a second...” she replied, her eyes scanning into the darkness as the noise of battle grew louder and louder. Uncle Dian was pressing, and pressing hard. Despite her best efforts, she saw nothing, and was about to tell the others to follow her up onto the wall, when she felt the same feeling of being out of place, her mind not quite right.

Something tugged inside her, pulling her to look towards the tall, metal apparition still lining up the spearmen below, and then look beyond him, off into the mists. Her eyes saw nothing... except a pair of bright spots of blue, glowing brighter than any torch.

”Felonca? What’s going on?” she heard Nayu ask, but his voice seemed distant, faint, weak. The feeling of someone, or something probing her mind and her body washed over her, and she felt her fear rising. Desperately her mind screamed to her body to turn away, to avoid the lights, but her body didn’t listen, her eyes focused on the twin beams.

The foggy mess lightened for just a moment, and her eyes made out a pallid, thin face of a white tiger wracked with starvation. His form was tall and exceedingly thin, as if he graced death’s door. With horror she saw his backward-wristed hands rising, his maw forming words she couldn’t understand. She felt her claws digging ever so deep into the palisade, as the magic washing over her changed from a trickle into a thunderous sea. Her eyes went wide, unfocused by the waves of magic ripping through her.

“Ah... Wa-Feng Felonca. I have heard much of you,” a thin, reedy voice hissed in her mind. The creature's blue eyes seemed to glow even brighter.

“No!” she shouted aloud, the darkness in her mind growing faster and faster. “You cannot take me!” Even as she struggled, she could feel her mind begin to shut down, her willpower breaking apart. Her voice dropped to a mere whisper. “No...you...won’t... take...”

As a torch stranded in a mighty gale, the last free part of Felonca’s mind winked out.



“What the?” Nayu looked up at his friend. That in and of itself was a problem... she should have been invisible, hidden by Meiji’s magic. Nayu knew he was still invisible, a were the others. On top of this, she didn’t respond to his calls using his magic... instead she stared over the wall, rooted in place as if she were a statue.

“What’s that enthralling?” he whispered in half annoyance, half alarm, scrambling towards the top himself. No sooner had he drawn alongside, than he saw her eyes... wide, vacant, as if her body was there but the mind, the will, the soul behind it was somehow driven away. Her body trembled slightly, as if there was a mass of energy that was only barely being bottled, needing immediate, powerful release...

“Domination,” he hissed to no one in particular. The idea of the spell, described to him by Yu Enlai and Zhen Ren long before the battle at Ii-suken, had enthralled him. The ability to grab someone’s mind, and force them to do your bidding... now Nayu saw its hallmarks, and recognized its magical stench.

“Nayu! Look out!” he heard Yari Ai’s voice call, and the sorcerer’s eyes flashed towards the inside of the camp below. Vaguely receding into the mist he could see a line of spearmen marching away... but rushing towards the parapet were five tall, thin creatures that looked to once be men, followed by a monstrosity clad in steel, blades whirling about its form.

Behind them, just deep enough into the fogbank, Nayu saw those same blue eyes, staring at him, into him, past him, peering deep into his mind. He felt a presence, probing, pushing, trying to force its way in. He closed his eyes, marshalling the magic within his blood, pushing back, shoving hard, until he felt the presence retreat. As the magic continued to swell, Nayu opened his eyes, his fingers lashing towards the distant spellcaster he now knew held his friend in mental slavery. As the magical force lapped to his fingers, the blue eyes suddenly vanished... as did the magical presence Nayu had felt.

More alarmingly, Nayu looked at his arm, its outstretched form slowly revealing itself, his arcane energy overwhelming the delicate spell Meiji had put into place.

“Dammit!” he growled, as the thin ghouls clambered onto the parapet, charging towards the small group. Just behind them, the massive metallic beast thundered onto the parapet as well, and charged directly towards Nayu.

Desperately, the sorcerer raised his hands, the budding magical energy now finding release as the air between him and the massive walking steel figure began to shimmer, a wall of magic. For a second Nayu thought the beast would be held at bay, until it simply thundered through the barrier, its massive chains whipping through the air.

Its right hand raised as it charged, and Nayu felt an oppressive, frightening amount of heat, as a searing wall, seemingly made entire of fire, leapt into being in the midst of the group, cutting off Meiji, Zhen Ren, the stunned Felonca, and Nayu from Chou, Liu and Yari Ai. From the other side of the crackling came the noises of battle, as Meiji and Zhen Ren dropped their invisibility, prepared for battle.

Nayu looked first to the wall of fire, then towards the oncoming steel juggernaught, and cursed.

“Ancestral Piss! This is not good,” he snapped. “Meiji, Zhen Ren! Let’s...”

His voice was cut off as a high-pitched scream shattered the air. In a flash the statuesque, immobile form that was Felonca was a blur of movement, a black slash that tore through the air faster than the eye could see. A split second later, Zhen Ren screamed, blood and gore flying from his already falling form. Nayu followed his spellcaster’s tumble to the ground fifteen feet below. The richly clad man landed with a dull thump, and it seemed than immediately a pool of blood formed around his limp body, gurgling from his shattered throat, stomach and face.

Nayu’s panicked eyes then looked back up, to who else was on the parapet with him. Flames crackled high into the sky from the steel creature’s magic, as Felonca straighted her crouched form, the flames making her black skin look crimson. Her warfans rose into what Nayu recognized as one of her attack postures, blood dripping from their steel forms.

“Stand still like a good little magician,” her voice said, the same sarcastic smirk on her face that he’d seen so many times before. Her eyes looked fierce, their sky blue seeming to glow in the darkness. “Struggling will only make your death more painful, Nayu!”

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[HalfOrc HalfBiscuit]

“Stand still like a good little magician,” her voice said, the same sarcastic smirk on her face that he’d seen so many times before. Her eyes looked fierce, their sky blue seeming to glow in the darkness. “Struggling will only make your death more painful, Nayu!”

That is not good! :\

... but this storyhour is!