Joker's Haven
My cousin is an idiot.
His father died a warrior, trying to bring down a tyrant. Like any dutiful son, my cousin Ma Chao rose to the occasion, claiming that he'd avenge General Ma Teng, the great man who fathered him, and that he'd kill Cao Cao, the man who slew Ma Teng.
And I told him to stay calm.
Well, at least he was smart enough to attempt to collaborate with Han Sui, the man who claimed to be my uncle's sworn brother. At the very least, Han Sui was very supportive of our work, and pledged to give us troops, commanders, and supplies, as though we were in a 'Confederacy' of sorts. He had his own turf, and we had ours, but we would fight together as one and defend each other's territory when the need arose.
But, like the bum that he is, my cousin jumped to conclusions.
That Cao Cao is one shrewd man. He appeared weak militarily, to catch us off guard, and once we took Changan and thought we were about to win at the Tong Pass, he brought everything crashing down upon us.
I remember Zhong Yao's taunts, and even now I must admit that my teeth grind against each other in rage as I recall them... But I digress, after defeating Zhong Yao, I had forced the enemy to flee and regroup, trying to think of a plan while we wiped out dozens of their units. Pang De, our fine general, helped make Cao Cao's life hell, and our uncle Han Sui's shrewd sense of tactics saved the day for us... But they tricked us!
Cao Cao knew how impetuous my cousin could be. Come to think of it, he was a genius. As both armies were well arranged, Cao went to have a talk with our uncle Han Sui. The two men discussed the many things that happened over the years, after all, they were both older than us by quite a bit. My cousin, as usual, jumped to conclusions. Upon seeing Han Sui talk with Cao Cao, he immediately assumed that our uncle was plotting something, and attacked him. Well, since I had to choose between a man who claimed to be our uncle's sworn brother and my blood cousin, I decided to follow Ma Chao... Though he gets on my nerves often, well, he's still a good cousin.
Thankfully, Pang De came along with us as well. His advice has been most helpful, and I appreciate his loyalty. Ma Chao may have pissed off the great Han Sui and severed our ties, but the great Pang De still remains among us... Ah, we haven't gone to hell just yet!
So, I, Ma Dai, have decided that in order to save our wretched army, I'm going to go to Zhang Lu and have a talk with him regarding my cousin's current situation. Ma Chao is a great fighter, and I'm sure Zhang Lu wouldn't mind having him around. Of course, with Pang De it's a double deal, two for recruiting one, and that would probably make his tastebuds water. Even if Zhang Lu proves to be a git, I hear that his advisor Yan Pu is a relatively reasonable person. I could probably get him to accept our recruitment, and then our lives could finally get somewhere.
So, well, I wonder what will happen now? Will we be forced to go on the move again, or will we finally find a place to rest? Heaven knows I'm not going to carry all that baggage.