At the gates of Shu's capital

[ShadowOfEden]

Peace has started to reach most of the regions. A few cities were still at war, but without their leaders, Shu's victory was near.

Then one evening, at the gates of Shu's capital, a man approached. He was dressed in a long black cloak and his face could not even been seen in the darkness of his hood.

Guard: Halt! What is your business in our capital, foreigner?

Cloaked man: I came to talk with your lord. Bring me to him.

Guard: I am sorry, but your request cannot be granted.

The man then pulled his sleeves, a beautiful gauntlet was covering his hand. In a blink, the man grabbed the first guard by the throat and said:

Cloaked man: Your kingdom and your world are doomed if you do not let me in. You, go warn your lord of my presence!

The second guard then drew his sword.

Cloaked man: Fool...

With his free hand, the man grabbed a sword from under his cloak. Its blade was of a beautiful orange, the light of the sun relecting on it made it looks like flames were surrounding it. The man slashed the guard...

The blade of the guard's sword fell on the ground...The sword was cut right over the handle. It was perfectly cut, as if it was mere butter.

Cloaked man: Now go, or I will get in by force! Your friend will be spared.

The man, still panicking from the recent action, decided to listen to the man and ran into the palace.

[James]

Ding Feng was in a private chamber at the time of this, completely unaware of the events taking place. On the contrary to being worried about it, he was arrogantly writing a victory speech. However, because the person RPing him didn't have the time, energy, or lack of laziness to write it, we'll proceed to the point where the messenger comes in >_>

Messenger: My lord! A strange person is down by the gates, and is choking the guards until you let him enter!

Ding Feng: What?! Well let him enter then! But first tell someone to rush to where Wu Tugu is; if he is as dangerous as you say, I would like some back up in case things turn ugly. What does this person look like?

Messenger: Um...male...wearing a cloak, gauntlets over his hands, orange sword...

Ding Feng: Then don't bother getting Wu Tugu; Lu Meng has told me of this man. I doubt the entire kingdom of Shu could defeat him. Just, stay back. I will go and meet him myself.

Without another word, Ding Feng made his way to the gates of the capital.

[Javelina aka Wu Tugu]

Wu Tugu sat in the palace gardens, staring at his relic.

Shu and his great Lord, Ding Feng, had finally managed to unite the entire land of China! Last night Wu Tugu and the rest of the warriors had been drinking musou wine, singing, drinking more musou wine, dancing, drinking more musou wine, brawling, drinking even more msuou wine, until finally all of the warriors of Shu had lain in heaps, strewn around the palace's great hall, asleep where they had each shouted there final victory cry. Wu Tugu seemd to remember demonstrating the Meng Huo belly flop to Taishi Ci, but that may have been a dream....

In the morning, after the mess had finally been cleared, Wu Tugu had remembered that he had this strange relic, and he had no idea what it was for.

He took the relic with him into the garden and began meditating. Then he had an idea. He pulled his sword from its scabbard, levelled it in front of him and then raised it above his head.

the crystal heart lay on a low brick wall, to the side of one of the garden paths.

He brought the sword down hard, the edge of the sword hitting the heart in its center.

At the point of contact, a bright light shot from the heart, blinding Wu Tugu, and, as if an elephant had wrapped him in its trunk, Wu Tugu was lifted from the ground and thrown back, landing hard against the ground and rolling him into one of the King's Koi ponds.

Wu Tugu stood up, dripping with water. One of the fish had impaled itself on his helmet. He walked out of the pond and back to the relic. It lay where he had struck it. There was not even a mark on its surface!

One of Wu Tugu's lieutenants came running into the garden, and then froze as he saw Wu Tugu scowling at the relic, an orange fish flapping on the top of his helmet.

As Wu Tugu spun to face him, he noticed a strange smile fading from his lieutenants face ....

"And just what are you smiling about?" Wu Tugu snapped

The lieutenant bowed, and Wu Tugu took advantage of the moment to reach up, pull the fish from his helmet, and hurl it back into the pond behind him.

"I am sorry sir, it was.... the..... the fish. Sorry sir"

"Bah!" mumbled Wu Tugu, "So what brings you here, Lieutenant?

"Please excuse me sir, but I have just heard that a cloaked man has appeared at the castle gates, and that our lord has gone to meet him, unattended by any warriors! He is going alone!"

"Alone!? There is no time to lose! We must go...... But we had better not be detected or Lord Ding Feng may have us scouting swamp land for the next year!"

Wu Tugu gathered his relic and ran toward the castle's gates, his lieutenant following him as best he could.....

[ShadowOfEden]

When Ding Feng arrived, the man had put the soldier down. The guard was sitting near the gate, trying to catch up his breath. The cloaked man started his speech as soon as Ding Feng arrived.

Cloaked man: Ah! I am sorry to trouble you in those times of peace. Could we talk somewhere where no one, except those you trust, could hear us?<

Ding Feng: I trust everyone in this city, to the last peasent, but I will grant your request. Follow me in my castle.

The men went in the castle. The guars were looking at the man suspisciously, but their leader told them it was alright.

Cloaked man: I must apologize for my request, but if I would have told you what I wanted to in an open space, I feared I might have caused general panic among the villagers. I hope that you understand.

Ding Feng: I do, now, what brings you here?

Cloaked man: As we speak, forces are heading for this land from the west. Your armies are powerful, but this enemy is uncommon. They vastly outnumber your troops and they only live for war. They are not from this world...Defending the west at all cost could seem to be a good idea, but the best thing would be not to scatter your forces around the land but only gather them all in a few strongholds while the defense of the other cities slows them down.

Ding Feng: Is there no way to stop them?

Cloaked man: Yes. By gathering the 10 relics of the ancients. I believe that one of your warrior has such an item.

Ding Feng: Wu Tugu...

Cloaked man:They have been created to grant powers to their owner, so that they could purge the forces of darkness. But now, they have been called back... You must gatter the 10 relics before it is too late! Lu Meng has one of them, but he suddenly disapeared soon after, I will charge myself of finding him. Unfortunatly, I gave him my book containing the locations of the relics. You must search the land to find the 8 relics remaining. You should also sent that warrior who holds a relic to the front line, since he might be a great asset agaisnt them until you gather them all.

Cloaked man: You might be intrigued about who I am. I was a friend of the father of Wu's last ruler, Sun Mao. I tried my best to make him follow the expectations of his father, but he was a foolish ruler. When he heard of the relics, he became hungry of power. Upon the discovery of one of the relics, he decided to summon of one the dark's servant. I warned him not to, but he continued with his plan, so I left his foolish kingdom and tried to find someone who could gather all remaining relics to stop them. The summoning was the reason of the high rains in those regions, after it, the creature slauthered the forces of Xin Ye and ran off. It was that creature who called its master in this world. About myself, I had to use the powers of the relics to save this world thousands of years ago. But by doing so, I was cursed. I became too powerful for the gods to want me in their land, fearing a rebellion. I would help you more than by simply warning you, but I lost the power to influence this world. And furthermore, it is no longer my world.

[SOE ... you bastard]

the clouds began to spin, there was a bad omen in the air, Zhou Tai was sitting with three of his most trusted veterans they were trying to drink their sadness away when they caught a glimpse of Wu Tugu almost sprinting to the front gates, Zhou Tai called out to him to see what was the matter Wu Tugu shot him a warning glance so Zhou Tai arose and followed along side Wu Tugu they reached the gates but much to their dismay there was no sign of their lord.

Zhou Tai: No... my lord I've failed to protect you.


(OCC:this is just hinting at Zhou Tai's emotional and mental state he's already jumping to conclusions and feels he has dishonored himself by not doing more to unite the empire)

[Flames of Lucifer]

Lu Meng awoke on the forest floor surround the temple he had gotten the cloudy orb from. A thin layer of dead leaves covered his body. As he was heading out of the forest, a strange energy from the ball over came Lu Meng, and he grew dreary and weak. He had collapsed at the edge of the forest and been there for days. He shooks his head to get the leaves out of his hair, and arose to his feet. He stumbled, but managed to catch himself; he still felt weak. The weather was the same as when Lu Meng had fell... he reached in an pulled the orb out from his armor to see that same weather pattern in the orb. He knew that he had been asleep for day because there were now hardly any leaves on the trees, and he felt dehydrated and almost starved. His horse had stayed next to him in the forest over the time period, surviving off of a small pool of water. Lu Meng climbed onto his horse, and placed the orb back in his armor and set out for the nearest city.

Within long Lu Meng had come to a village. He collapsed from his horse, again, but a man was kind enough to pick him up and take him back to his house. The man had prepared a meal for Lu Meng, along with fresh water. After he had consumed the refreshments, the man spoke, "Ah, you are Lord Lu Meng, the one who single-handedly took Qiao and held it off for over a week."

Lu Meng nodded, then Lu Meng decided to ask, "Who is currently in power? I have been... gone... for a week and I don't have a clue on the status of china."

"Shu has grown stronger after the other force had surrendered, but a rebellion has sprung up and is preventing Shu from obtaining prosperity. The leaders of the rebellion is Liu Bei and Xiahou Dun."

Lu Meng closed his eyes and began to think. It was good that Shu was doing well. Lu Meng quickly said his good byes and headed off once again to Shu's capital. Lu Meng started into the cloudy orb almost the whole way, he could still change the weather as he discovered earlier. But after he collapsed, it became almost natural to him. He could create a small gap in the clouds, or once while he rode, he was able to summon a tornado out of the dark sky.

Within a few hours he had come to the Shu capital. Two guards stood in the way, one was without a sword but just a handle. Lu Meng decided not to question him, "Please allow me to see the your Lord. I have urgent business." The two guards looked hesitant as they had heard of the chaos he had caused in Qiao, but it seemed like they finally realized that Lu Meng was with Shu.