Welcome to Gaia! ::

Alright, alright, so yes, I've been going around the guild rebooting my old role plays. This is because most of the people that were in there have pretty much left the guild and I ain't ready to give up on this thing yet! scream

Plot:

In ancient times, the Chinese empire was one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world. As Europe suffered under the Middle Ages, Chinese trade, economy, technology, and culture battled with that of the other nations of the Orient, primarily Japan and the then-still-unified Korea. Although this occasionally brought conflict amongst these powerful nations, peace was still appreciated over mindless war.

However, the Ancient Orient was not without its own mythologies. The Chinese have believed that in the beginning, there was Heaven (Tian), the Jade Emperor (Yu Huang), and the mythical beings Nuwa and her companion Fu Xi.

In the beginning, there was only Heaven. Earth was barren save for the water and the land. One day, another war was fought amongst the gods for power of the throne. Of course, the Jade Emperor, creator of the universe, was triumphant, but it left a giant rip in Heaven.

Nuwa, a supporter of the Jade Emperor, proposed that they lead the Jade Emperor's enemies into the the rip and onto the world that lay before Heaven and, in their weakened numbers, strip them of all their powers. Thus, Man was created and was settled along the Yellow River.

However, it wasn't long before a grievous mistake was discovered by the current Emperor of China at the time, Fang Shi. In settling Man on Earth, Nuwa had allowed several mystical tablets containing the secrets to Celestial Kung Fu. On these tablets described techniques and abilities accessible only to the gods themselves. If a mortal should ever come across these tablets, they can relearn the abilities the gods had taken from them. In response to this new knowledge, Emperor Fang then amassed a great army, promising his soldiers great power and wealth, and began to ravage China in search of these other tablets, killing and destroying all in his way.

As it turns out, the gods were not that irresponsible. The tablets, unretrievable as it was already on Earth, were then entrusted to the most loyal of villages. Monasteries and towns grew around these powerful tablets for the sole purpose of protecting them.

However, a prophecy inscribed on the side of the tablets said that these tablets were the key to destroying the last enemies of the gods. When these enemies showed themselves, the greatest warriors of Man will assemble, making use of the tablets in order to fight the enemies of the gods, and will bring peace between Heaven and Earth.

That prophecy is about to be fulfilled.

Yeah, yeah, it looks like I've been watching too many Kung Fu movies, I know... Actually, I have been. sweatdrop Ahem, uh look at the rules:

*Be literate
*Respect for other players
*No God-modding
*Be fair to other players

((First post!))

"This should be all I'll need."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Headmaster. Thank you for everything."

"No, this monastery should be thanking you and all of the others the prophecy fortold of."

Wang Chen bowed to Headmaster Shi Biao. "I won't fail you, Headmaster."

Shi Biao waved it off and motioned for him to get going. "I would hope not, but if you fail, you along with the rest of the world won't live long enough to regret it."

Wang Chen chuckled nervously. "Eh... Right..." He bowed once more. Soon, the large, heavy doors of the Shaolin Monastery closed in front of him, closing him off from the world he had lived in for 5 years and reintroducing him into the harsh, dying world that he had lived in for 22. The world was under attack by the Emperor Fang Shi and his forces and now it was his job to rally the other tablet keepers and defeat Fang Shi.

Wang Chen turned away from the monastery and started down the path. A soft breeze flew past him and the aroma of the flowers on the Chinese mountainside surround him. It was strange to believe that such tranquility could still exist with the evil Fang Shi alive.

'Not for long,' Wang Chen promised himself. He took a map from out of his hermit's sack. "Now, let's see here... Where am I going?" Yes, Wang Chen and many other would have to ban together to defeat the evil Emperor Fang Shi. But first... this idiot would have to figure out how to read a map...

He wandered down the path that encircle the mountainside for about three hours before finally reaching the bottom of the mountain. Thankfully, following a single, straight path was easier than reading the map provided to him, but now, he faced a dilemma. As soon as the path ended, it gave in to a vast meadow of lush, green grasses sprouting up from the earth. Glancing down at the map in his hand again, he sighed. Folding the map up and placing it in his pocket, he began to head across the meadow. If he was going to be lost, he might as well get lost with only the Buddha to guide his path... That way, he had someone to blame.

((I'm about to introduce a village now that feasibly, your character's boat would dock in so that the passengers could stretch their legs, get a drink, etc. As for geography, no. Other than that it takes place somewhere in China, and on a wider scope possibly, in Asia, the geography is kinda... ambiguous.))

Perhaps he should have asked for better clarification from the hierarchy of the monastery before he had embarked on this journey to meet up with the other tablet holders to defeat the evil Emperor Fang Shi. That way, perhaps he wouldn't be sitting under the shade of an old and massive tree, trying to figure out what he was supposed to be doing or going.

He supposed, in retrospect, that the monks had been a bit ambiguous at best. All they had told him was, in very simple words, that he was to head across the land from village to village, searching for tablet holders all the while doing whatever he could to disrupt Emperor Fang's plans for world domination... provided that it didn't get him killed. They didn't tell him what village to go to first, how to decipher Abbot Wu's horrendous hand-written map, or what he was supposed to do when the small amount of gold that the monastery could afford to give him for his trip inevitably ran out.

Standing back up, he stepped away from the tree, still attempting to consult the map. The lush green grasses of the plain he had encountered gave way to his feet as he waded through them, the sea of tall grass reaching halfway up to his chest. So engrossed was he in trying to figure out where he should head from there that he did not notice that the plains abruptly gave into a steep drop.

A quick series of events happened in the time frame of roughly six seconds. First, he screamed. Quite loudly in fact. Then, his hands gripped as best as they could on the cliff that he had just inadvertently walked off of. Gritting his teeth, he then struggled to pull himself up over the cliff's edge before rolling onto the ground, panting heavily from the slight adrenal surge that the sudden drop had caused.

Sitting up, it was only then that Wang Chen noticed the quaint little village in the middle of the river valley, situated comfortably in the earthy bosom of the two peaking platforms of earth that rose up quite steeply. Looking at the map in his hands, he identified the village (with a good deal of difficulty) as the humble hamlet of Tie-Yu and the modest body of water that flowed through it as the Chen He River.

Wang Chen smiled brightly. That was a start, at least! Looking around the cliff's edge, he spotted a slight decline in the geography and upon further inspection, found it to be a path leading down into the small river valley. It wasn't an especially steep trip, but it would take about an hour at best. Gathering his walking staff and stuffing the map into his robe's inner pockets, he made his way down the path towards the village.

The village of Tie-Yu was a modest place at best and an outright near-ghost town at worst. There weren't more than at least three hundred villagers there at best, not because there wasn't anything to sustain them but because there wasn't anymore room for more. Still, the village folk lived happily in blissful ignorance of the doom that Emperor Fang threatened to wreak upon the world, and they all bowed respectfully to him as he walked past, recognizing the robes he had been given as the type worn by the monks in the monastery up the mountain.

At least he would be able to collect on some type of information or a sense of direction on where he should head next on his journey. And the best place to go for that was the local tavern.

Heading into the sleepy establishment, he saw that it was sparsely occupied by a few fishermen who had returned from work early and a few full-time members of the village militia who had stopped there for an early supper. Ordering a bowl of plain rice and water, he seated himself by a window looking out to the Chen He River that flowed through the sleepy town before eating.

As he ate, he paid no attention just yet to the boat that just arrived, the woman that had stepped off of it, or the small fleet of troop transport ships that flew the flag of the evil Emperor Fang, a phoenix flying high above what appeared to be symbolic of a raging fire, arrows gripped in its beak.

His meal was very filling and equally satisfying. He was trained and somewhat raised by monks, but he was by no means a true monk; his first taste of meat after years at the temple was scarfed down eagerly and almost greedily, much to the bewilderment of the locals in the tavern who stared at this strange, meat-eating monk.

By the time that the young woman had entered the tavern, however, the meat was non-existent and all that was left was a small bowl of broth and some rice. His broad straw hat, worn low, concealed his face but a small elevation of his head allowed him a bit of sight beyond it.

She wore a white tunic, robes from a martial arts school he realized quickly, but those were not the key things that jumped out at him. It was the pair of blades on her person. She was either one of three things, a bandit, an assassin from the Emperor, or one of the protectors of the tablets. And seeing as how neither of the former two would bother to say 'Excuse me' if they suspected him of being a tablet carrier as well, that only left one thing... But to be sure...

He took off his straw hat and allowed her to look at his face, with his shaved bald head and practiced monk smile. It was an acquired thing, really, after seeing the other monks' reactions to the common folk. Acting oblivious to her armed status, he smiled kindly towards her, "Hello, my friend, may the Buddha smile upon you. Is there something that you needed?"

He maintained a steady and relaxed composure as he gestured for her to sit down in front of him. Her answer quite settled it in his mind, but he remembered the wary words of the monks who warned him that there were many out there searching for the tablets for their own personal wants and desires. Before he could reveal anything else to her or tell her who he really was, he might as well test her first.

Plus, it wasn't every day that he got to mess with people's minds.

"I know of a great many things, my child," he commented off-handedly. "You have traveled quite a long way from Hang-wan. What is it that you and your fellow practitioners are seeking?"

~~~~~~

On the same dock that Li Pang had just arrived on, another vessel soon made port. Followed by another. And another. Villagers looked on in star-struck terror as the troops began to deploy from their transport ships, their spears gripped in hand, their swords hanging in their scabbards by their side, their menacing blood red armor and black under weave distinct amongst the rags of the poor village people.

Not long after all of the troops had left the ships did the officer leading them step down as well. "Alright! First Group and Second Group! Block all exits to the village. Third Group, find the village leaders and bring them to me. Everyone else, secure the area, take what you can, and bring it back to the ships."

A servant boy soon approached, a regal war banner in his hands. The officer snatched it from the servant and stabbed it firmly into the wooden catwalks that served as the interconnecting pathway around the village. The war banner of the Fang Empire fluttered callously in the wind as the officer bellowed for all nearby to hear:

"This village is now under rule of the Almighty and Invincible Emperor Fang!"

His ears visibly perked up at the mention of the mystical tablets, one of which he held in his possession. Could this be another tablet holder? Perhaps it was a clever ruse, an attempt to sweet talk him out of the tablet. Surely Emperor Fang knew that the tablet holders were beginning to mobilize. Perhaps this one was a double agent?

Before any of his suspicions could surface in even the slightest, he caught the din of raiding off in the distance towards the docks. Looking out the window, he caught sight of a man bearing the armor of the Imperial Army running across the street, chasing after a villager that was running for his life.

Well, that settled one thing. If this woman was a double agent, Emperor Fang just ruined her cover via the troops that just made port at Tie-yu. He looked the woman over once more very quickly. He felt no unease and his gut instinct was to trust her, and with the Emperor's soldiers in the village, gut instinct was all he could rely on for now.

"Quickly, we must get the tablets to safety," he said as he grabbed his staff.

"Simple," he replied matter-of-factly as he eyed a small contingent of soldiers slowly making their way towards the tavern. "We fight our way to the docks and make our getaway."

No sooner had the words left his mouth did the door to the tavern swing open with a loud clamor as five unsavory looking soldiers strolled in, their swords in hand, smug grins plastered across their face. And no sooner had the first one opened his mouth to demand for food and drinks did Chen's foot snap a chair into the air and kick it into the face of the leader.