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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ForceUser@Home" data-source="post: 261376" data-attributes="member: 4945">Session One, Part 4HAN WOO was nervous. Why are these strangers here? Why did Sitaigung Long mention his name while reading the strangers’ letter? The water is calm. Woo inhaled, then exhaled slowly, a simple breathing exercise. He stared at his food. The dining hall clacked silently as fifty monks ate rice and sweet potatoes with chopsticks. No one spoke; no speaking was required. The dinner table was not a place for conversation.Woo glanced at the door where Vinh stood sentry duty. The no-sheng stood rigid, his kama-do by his side. The polearm thrust over the young man’s plumed helm by a good two feet. His appearance was impeccable, but his face betrayed the barest hint of a worried frown, belying his unease. Sitaigung, sitting at the head of the long bench, would read something in the letter, then glance at Vinh. Then read. Then glance at Woo. But why!Ripples still the surface.The strangers were seated at the head of the table, at Sitaigung’s right hand, where honored guests sat. The nobleman clearly wanted to speak yet restrained himself. He kept looking around the sparse hall and trying to make eye contact with the monks. The Xiao fighter with him kept to himself. Woo appreciated that.Sitaigung rose, and the monks paused in their consumption. He spoke. “Woo. Vinh. Walk with me tonight in the garden.” He was an elderly man, whose face reminded Woo of a shar-pei. He stood hunched over as the old often do, and walked with a cane. His earlobes drooped, and his tattoos were old and faded. He was a splendid man; a teacher whose words enlightened now as much as his deeds once did. Woo gulped back bile, rose, and bowed with Vinh. “Yes, Sitaigung.”The noble appeared bored.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tran Minh Long was a living legend. After the last Ly emperor died without a legitimate heir, the country erupted into chaos. Nobles vied for the imperial scepter, seeking leverage with which to gain the throne. Many were not above eliminating their rivals on their march to Thang Long, and a bloody civil war ensued. One family, the Tran, possessed the truest claim to the throne because of a marriage between the Ly emperor’s cousin and Tran Che Doan, the family’s head of household. But Doan had made many enemies over the years, and was unpopular with the nobility. Thus, they did not back his claim. This was a perilous time for Dai Viet, because the Mongols and the Cham both prowled outside the gates, waiting until civil war had made the state too weak to resist invasion. By this time, Tran Minh Long, known then as Han Minh Long, was already a grandmaster of White Crane kung fu and a beloved national hero. He had mediated peace between the Khmer hill tribes and the Ly state, and had helped drive away the evil dragon Shieng-Ke. He had gained a following of students and a bevy of sway with the shih caste. And Tran Che Doan was his friend.  Sitaigung Long knew well the danger of a civil war to the continuance of an independent Viet state. Therefore he traveled the country as an ambassador from the Tran family, and began to convert the nobility to his cause. In this effort he was largely successful, but the most powerful rival family – the Dinh – spurned his peace offering and tried to assassinate him. In this they failed, and made a sworn enemy of Tran Che Doan. He marched and met the Dinh on the field of battle, and there he lost his life. Saddened but desperate, Long knew that a Dinh dynasty would not have the wisdom to repel foreign invasions, and so he convinced Doan’s younger brother Dang to seize the throne. One year later, after many bloody and tragic engagements, the Dinh family was slaughtered to the last child, and the calendar reset itself anew, signifying the ascension of Tran Van Dang and the beginning of the first Tran dynasty. In gratitude, Emperor Tran awarded Sitaigung Long status in the imperial family, and offered him wealth and estates throughout the empire. Long thanked the Emperor, politely refused the gifts, returned to Han Bai, and faded into legend.And now he advised Woo and Vinh. “The nobleman is a representative of the state; he has come seeking the two of you,” said Sitaigung as he shuffled along the path. The night air was warm in the garden, and the full moon shone bright, reflecting off the garden pool. Water gently lapped the pool’s edges. Candlelight from the walls here and there told of monks turning in for the evening, and the booted feet of no-sheng thumped from the ramparts, leather on wood. Somewhere off in the jungle, a night bird screeched. “Why us, Sitaigung?” spoke Vinh with characteristic softness. “It is in the letter. The letter asks for you by name. The sorcerers are asking, but they come with the Emperor’s seal.” The old man paused to pick over a kaprao plant from Siam.Woo spoke. “What should we do, Sitaigung?” He already knew what he wanted to do.“What do you wish to do?” replied the grandmaster.“I want to go,” said Vinh immediately. “If the Emperor is calling me to service, I should go.” The old man nodded.Woo vacillated. “Is he demanding or asking? There’s a difference. I have duties here. Responsibilities.” That might work, he thought.“Your duties are what you impose upon yourself, your responsibilities can be deferred. A request from an emperor is as a command from anyone else. But if you choose to stay, I will support your decision. If that is where your ch’i leads.” Apparently satisifed with the plant, Sitaigung Long continued on. Vinh stared at Woo hard.Woo glared back. “I will go, Sitaigung.”Vinh grinned. The grandmaster nodded again, then stopped and turned to face the two young men. Vinh was tall and fair, with a lithe grace about him, even in armor. Woo was shorter and vaguely uncomfortable at all times. Some said this was because of his mixed Xiao-Viet heritage. Sitaigung wrapped both young men in his arms. “I am very proud of you both. You are as sons to me.”Woo and Vinh stood stunned. Emotions played across their faces. Sitaigung patted their shoulders and released them. He continued his elderly shuffle across the garden grounds. “The Buddhists say that all the world is an illusion. Go and decide for yourselves. Find your tao.”</blockquote>

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