Tales of the Exalted

It seemed to be a common thing for Lunars to not care what people called them but maybe that was part of their fluid natures.

"There is much to be learned from the past and their advanced technology. Great wonders with rich histories are buried under rock and stone now, things that are wasted if not brought to light. I'm sorry you feel no kinship for our kind but we all strive for the same goals of nurturing creation and it's people." she shrugged, she wasn't judging her for her actions or opinions but it was a shame she saw no benefit in helping others of their kind.

"You want me to help you, what is it you would request if me?"

"You help in your way, me in mine, and I suppose them in theirs. I have seen the wonders you speak of, powers that shouldn't be trusted in the hands of lesser beings if you ask me. Those that made them are long gone, and never coming back." she despised seeing first age items put to use by the power hungry and foolish.
"I do not wish one task of you, little one. I want you to join me. Your little friend Lookshy can too. Shu Han will not be the last place brought to heel by the Temujin, and your help would see you rewarded greatly." a second Lunar would double what was possible for her. Her standing with the Khal would move from amusing Warlord to powerful ally.

"I'll tell you what, I'll stick around for a bit and as long as things stay interesting I will stay. You seem pretty confident your 'Khal' will win the day, but that's a pretty big wall over there. I'd be working on plan B if I were you." Jill wasn't exactly sure what to make of the ambitious lunar but it wasn't as if she was doing anything important with her life anyway.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go chase down my friend and hope she doesn't try and burn me at the stake for being an anathema."

Rebekah gave up in her search. Everyone was so somber at the sight of those walls. She and her crew needed to get through when they started. It was a lot of pressure, but she was confident that if she could get to the walls with at least most of the crew, they could go it.

She searched through all of the command tents before she got fed up and started getting loud."Nahuatl! Where are you!" A couple men looked up as Rebekah shouted, gesturing over to a clearing where Eida sat, staring at a clear view of Shu Han.

Rebekah walked up behind, looking over him at his focus. "What is it you wanted this time?"

"Hmm?" Eida looked up from his daze, noticing the demolitionist standing behind him. "Oh, hello Talon-Master. I'll go over it when everyone is here, repeating myself for five different people at different times is tiresome. We should be about ready now though, tomorrow is when we put everything together for the show."

He really wanted this to come together, but he was nervous about those magicians, every path to enlightenment is different, which means that each of them has their own unique wild card. This was just too difficult to predict.

The large white stallion stood a few hands taller than most of the stocky Temujin war horses and was less fidgety under its rider than the ones anticipating going to battle. Callista caught a few approving glances from men who looked like they would love to throw some barding on the large steed and use him to trample their enemies into submission. She took it as a compliment rather as a threat to the ownership of Swift Wind because she knew that no matter how hard anyone had ever tried he would not bend to their will.

Shifting in her saddle, she urged him to keep up with Prince Jin-Sahn's horse as they toured the camp in its final preparations. Callista hadn't really wanted to go much closer to the wall but it was not her place to deny him the privilege of trying to impress her with the army. May was upset because she had refused to don any sort of armor for protection, saying that attackers had much better targets than an young lady in a silk dress. Up close the wall was even more impressive and she wondered, not for the first time if there could have been a more diplomatic way to resolve this conflict.

Keeping her face natural she followed after as they seemed to be heading to yet another meeting.

As Awilix walked up with a new companion, completing most of the gathering of commanders , Eida stood up to address everyone. "I've already spoken with Warmaster Bryn, who will be organizing the An-Tir as we speak, so I will get started and catch up Donovan when he arrives."

He made a grand sweeping motion towards the walls of Shu Han. "This is the obstacle to overcome. The drills are prepared, the engineers are briefed, and the An-Tir are mobilizing for the morning as we speak. However, there have been no runners from the main force of the Temujin, and as you can notice, they are nowhere in sight. This concerns me, because our biggest advantage was our numbers." He turned to the Dragonblooded prince.

"How would we move forward?"

Jin-Sahn nodded as Eida asked the question. He'd been expecting to answer it for a while now, and knew he could speak with resolve.
"My father, the Great Khal, said he did not wish a siege. But the Dragon-King and his generals don't know this, and waiting a few more days will not hurt anything but the supplies within the walled city. We wait." he said firmly.
"But I am no fool either, my uncle may be late, or he may be engaged with Shu Han's forces elsewhere. We must have a back up plan." he hoped coming up with a back up plan would give his generals something to do orher than question him.

Rebekah shrugged. "Your army. Just keep in mind that our supplies are limited as well. I can work in the back and start gauging ranges for the large siege equipment, I can have that done by sundown."

She looked at the other commanders, she had a decent sense of their inclinations thanks to their travel together. Her eyes landed on Silver and stopped as she stared at her travel companion. That was a huge secret she had kept, and a card that Rebekah herself could have used.

Without breaking eye contact with the Lunar, she spoke up. "Small unit infiltration. open or break the gate from the inside. These walls have to have drainage somewhere? He have sneaks and specialists in our ranks. What if we can topple them from inside?"

Patience is a virtue, Ms. Stalling. If the Temujin riders were here we would be sitting waiting anyway for the baggage train and the construction of the siegeworks. Donovan said walking up to the group. Upon closing with the group he bowed to Jin-Sahn My liege then turned back to Rebekah. What we fight now is boredom.

Rebekah looked over to the armor clad knight, breaking the glare she had on Silver. "I said the siege construction can be finished by sundown already, but he was asking for alternatives, so I gave one. We can even have the recon done while we wait on the Horse Lords. I didn't suggest we implement it right away. There any other ideas we can use to deal with this wall?"

"Ladders, rams, the woman's tools. Shu Han will fall to our might, whether or not my uncle makes it here. So long as they hide behind that wall, their men have nothing to think about but us. Tonight, every man burns a campfire, and we sing the songs of our ancestors, as father would. Let the conscripted soldiers behind those walls consider just what war with us will be like." Chen said, not caring much for the worries of the other captains.

"Whatever the result is, we should plan our assault as if the second half of the force does not arrive, that way we do not commit to what we cannot. I like the infiltration, though the drainages are most likely secured in some manner. Chen has the right of intimidation warfare. Wear them down in the mind, drain their willingness to protect a city they were dragged to."

It didn't matter his real opinion on this endeavor, but if half of their force has gone missing, that was a sure sign of things going sideways. Eida had a bad feeling about the missing cavalry. He needed answers to questions he didn't know yet, and that bugged him.

Awilix rolled her eyes. This was boring, arguing over if they should wait for Chagatai to come steal their glory or not. He was an oaf, a jumped up fool who's only real claim to fame was being the Khal of Khal's brother.
"Chagatai should consider himself lucky if we leave him any glory to win, wasting his brother and nephew's time like this. We may have better odds with his men, but with a Dragon at the head of this horde, we certainly don't need an aging warlord of middling skill and an inflated sense of self to ruin the plans of younger, more intelligent leaders." she brushed her fingers across Eida's shoulders before nuzzling the Prince suggestively.
"I say we send another set of scouts for him, and attack at dawn if he's not found. The Talon-Master's weapons and Temujin valor shall win the day, with a little help from their friends." she winked in the direction of the An-Tir representatives.

Rebekah was on board. "That. The warlord has the fun of it. I'll be done tonight. Ranges and guesswork in play. They rode ahead of us while we hauled the loads. Scouting party to find them, recon group to look for chinks in the wall. We'll have our preparations ready for dawn." Waiting wasn't really her thing anyway. If they were going to do this, why slow things down?

"Besides, if the people in Shu-Han are given more time to hunker down, they may reinforce themselves to a point where even my artful displays won't help us."

Jill shifted a little uncomfortably under Ruby's gaze as she approached but she still flashed her a large friendly grin. Hopefully she could clear a few things up, assuming there wasn't a mob with pitchforks waiting somewhere. If not, she was used to being on her own anyway and might even have a new temporary job with the other lunar even if it was her fault that Ruby had found out about her Exaltation in a less than desirable way.

She considered volunteering more, but this wasn't her fight and she didn't see much reason to put herself in harm's way for so little of a reward. Plus, anything she said might tip her hand to her very specific skills she had.

Jin-Sahn seemed to listen to the words, blushing slightly at Awilix's over-friendly touch. He frowned.
"If you believe our plan can work with nearly a third less men, then continue as you suggest. But remember this, I will tolerate failure no better than my esteemed father. Do not make over-zealous boasts." he said finally. Chen smiled at his brother and clapped him on the back.
"My brother speaks wisely. We must truly weigh our strength against our enemy's before we commit to such tactics." he looked towards the Azuma girl by the Princess. "Any chance your men could get within those walls, Mayumi?" he asked her.
May stiffened, stepping forwards and bowing low she spoke softly, but clearly.
"Without a doubt they could, my lord." she said with certainty. Chen grinned, but soon it was wiped away. "But they are forbidden from participating in the battle unless it directly affects the Princess." she said with an apologetic tone. Chen cursed under his breath.
"Surely Sanjuro would underst-" Chen cut his half brother off.
"His men would die before ignoring his order, even if the words come from their Prince. Isn't that right, Mayumi?" he sighed. Mayumi bowed even lower.
"Only the Great Khal or the Empress could reverse such an order, yes." she said. Chen walked across the room and put a hand on her shoulder, urging her to rise.
"No problem, the Princess is worthy of such devotion." he said, sparing a warm smile to his adoptive sister.
"Surely others besides the Azuma could manage such a feat. Like our Moon-Silver Queen here. You can take any form, am I wrong?" he asked Awilix shot a look straight at Silver.
"I might be able to arrange something." she shrugged.

Eida perked up at a few of the bits that were going around. There might be something that could be done, Chanekeh's word is law to his wraiths, but he's seen some things work out under the right circumstances.

"Mayumi, would it be valid to say that the battle is not until tomorrow? We have no inclination to begin until our preparations are complete. Research into the enemy and their capabilities would not be beyond their call. Especially if they are assessing the city's ability to counter-fire at siege distance, which would put the Princess at risk, no matter where she was protected in the force."

Jaeda was getting antsy. He could feel the scales grating against each other like steel on steel as it unwound itself in his head. He wanted to be closer, maybe find a sentry or two. "Even if that can't happen, I have a few talismans completed, and am more than capable of getting a better look at the wall myself."

Rebekah and Awilix knew something about the newcomer that he didn't. That wasn't difficult, Eida had never seen her befpre, but it bothered him. He took his job seriously, and if his Warlord was hiding trump cards from him, he couldn't use them effectively. He needed to speak with the woman once the meeting was finished.

Callista sat silently on her horse watching the exchange once again feeling more like a decorative fixture in the room rather than a participant. She wondered if Chagatai’s absence was something to worry about or if he was intentionally tardy as a sign of disrespect for his brother.

The princess averted her eyes at Awilix's overly affectionate gesture. She supposed there was no helping it, the woman's wanton behaviors were known and even during her short ride with the horde she'd heard some stories that made her blush. Callista tried imagining herself acting so bold and embarrassed herself just thinking about it.

Secretly she was glad that it was ruled that May would be unable to infiltrate the city due to her duty. Just the thought of her going into such danger frightened her, even though she knew it was selfish to be concerned over one woman when there were many in their army that would not survive the battle.

She returned the warm smile at the prince’s flattery but it didn't go beyond a polite response. It was more for a show than anything else she figured, although now she was highly unlikely to be married to Chen. It was likely that he was unhappy at her presence and the fact that it prevented him from used the Azuma forces.

Her eyes settled on the tattooed sorcerer and his attempt to work around her guardian's restrictions. "That is interesting logic, Eida but who would guard me while she was gone assessing this siege?"

The smaller lunar did not like the sudden attention she was getting and the number of eyes that were passing over her, assessing her. It was one thing to feel useful but another to feel used. Jill could feel her ear twitch at the allusion that she might have certain infiltration skills, did this warlord woman have no decency to keep secrets?

”I dunno why people keep looking at me. I'm just here to tighten the nuts on her machines. And for the food. You guys have the best trail rations, like ever.” she shot the crowd a lopsided grin and put her hands behind her head in a small stretch.