Chapter 2: Meeting
A kilometre away, a beacon tower noticed the fortress tower ablaze, quickly remembering protocol the Guardsman hurried and lit the tower, and the next tower followed suit and the next and the next. Finally the beacon was visible from the walls of the Togo monastery, in honour of the ultimate sacrifice Ritualist master Togo made to save the empire from the affliction and their master Shiro Tagachi. One of the watchmen manning the wall caught sight of the flame, he paused, squinted and in realization of his discovery called out the watch captain patrolling the wall. "Sir, the beacon is ablaze, something must be wrong at the Jao Basin garrison." The captain looked up in shock at the watchman, "Are you sure soldier?" the captain asked in suspicion. "Completely" the guard replied. "Right, you better run along to General Tang," the captain said lazily.
The wall guard hurried down the stone steps, dashing past other soldiers on patrol. The grand plaza opened up in front of him, monks wearing elaborate silk robes were teaching their lessons to the young students, and the masters of each profession were testing the apprentices for acceptance into the alliance. Archmage Fang-elementalists, Mistress Li-necromancers, Lady Mai- assassins, Lord Chang- mesmers, Ranger-general Lu-zou- marksmen, Retired General Po- Warriors, Lady Qin- monks and Master Katagua- Ritualists. The wall guard bowed in respect to one of the passing monks then quickly accelerated toward the army headquarters. The plaza was a truly tranquil place, the cherry trees were in full bloom, the incense was fragrant and calming and the monks, aligned in perfect rows, were carefully writing out their scriptures. A slight breeze jostled the leaves of the hedges and trees, the air was clean and fresh and the sun reflected off the calm water in the central pool. The guardsman realized he had stopped completely, adjusting his helmet he continued towards the headquarters.
The Tsi-yan guard lined the path leading into the structure, the guardsman had always been envious of these revered troops, he wondered what had happened to the unit stationed at the Jao Basin garrison, surely they weren't in any trouble, each guard could take down fifty men from his own unit. The huge wooden doors of the fortress were wide open, revealing the bustling main hall of the building. The roof stretched up at least 100 meters above him, the huge red pillars held up the roof with ease. The pillars also formed a sort of highway that led to the other end of the hall and into the council chambers. The guardsman made his way down the hall and through another huge set of doors. "Halt!" the gateguard spoke with his hand raised. "State your business." He demanded "I am guardsman Zhang of the 9th wall unit, I am under orders from wall captain Jo to speak to General Tang on a matter of great urgency," Zhang replied. "Alright, give me your spear and your dagger, no weapons or violent activities are permitted within the council chambers, any transgression and you will be thrown out, understood?" "Perfectly, sir," Zhang replied. He continued down yet another crowded hall and into meeting chamber. A beautifully dressed woman was seated behind a desk in the centre of the antechamber. A large line of rowdy peasants had developed in front of her desk. Zhang sighed and rolled his eyes. In frustration he walked straight past the waiting desk and the large line and went right into the audience chamber.
Zhang heard the voice of a whimpering peasant talking to the council. "Please, honoured council, the Kappa have raided our village again, they have destroyed our crops for this season and have killed several of the village farmers, we desperately need a unit of guardsmen to protect our village or I fear Tsumei will be wiped off the map." The council deliberated and quickly came up with a reply. "The council cannot spare any soldiers for the village, if you wish to further your demand for protection you can apply for a militia force to be dispatched by filling out form AC913b and taking it to the ministry of Flame, take the third door to your left and proceed down the hall." The clerk stamped a "denied" label onto the application and ordered the next case. The village elder began to wail and sob uncontrollably, he cursed the gods and spat at the council. Two guards moved forward and dragged him towards the exit. The faces of the councilmen remained blank as the man struggled.
Zhang moved forward and kneeled before the council. "State your business, soldier," The clerk spoke. "Guardsman Zhang of the 9th wall unit, I am here to deliver an urgent message to General Tang." Zhang replied hastily. "I regret to inform you that General Tang left two days ago on a campaign to the continent, he has taken 500,000 men with him, it would be difficult for us to send him this message, send in the next person clerk" one of the councilmen stated. "This message is extremely important, someone has to hear it, I'll be damned if he doesn't get this message!" Zhang protested. "Fine, tell us and maybe we could do something about it," A councilman huffed. Zhang collected himself and began to speak "Exalted council members, a short time ago I spotted the warning beacon ablaze while on my regular patrol, I informed my captain and he directed me to General Tang. So far we don't have any information on what is happening at the Jao Basin garrison." "This is troubling news, we will dispatch three units of footmen to investigate the situation, I would like to give the garrison more, but, General Tang has, as I said, already left with our standing army. Now, young man, tell us, why did the Captain specify that General Tang was to hear the message, before us?" "Well, I'm not sure, I suppose he thought this was a matter for the army to know of, not a bunch of squabbling bureaucrats." Zhang enjoyed showing defiance and generally being a smart ass. "I suggest you hold your tongue young man, ESPECIALLY in our presence," the councilman growled. "Dismissed," the clerk ordered. Wallguard Zhang returned to his duties lazily, he wasn't all that thrilled to keep, watching the wall.