Rumors of Yi Ti
First Day of the Fourth Month 294 AC
Golden Death: The investigation of the reputable Ling Ti, Emerald Magistrate under the authority of the Throne in Yin, had come to an unexpected and brutal end when the investigator's body was found floating in the Ulai river, seemingly wracked by poisons without number. It is said that he was slain by a
Gu worm, fabled bringers of wealth and death, conjured by some unscrupulous alchemist of low cunning. Several such unsavory herbalists have been executed by the local magnates in ways gruesome enough to turn a sailor's stomach.
Given what Ling Ti was investigating, the curse and subsequent death of the Crane Lord, many in Yin doubt that the young Magistrate's death could have been caused by some petty poisoner. There are some in court arguing for an even stronger delegation to the too-independent western province, though others caution spending too many of the wise and good chasing shadows in the far flung corners of the Empire when there are so many problems closer to home.
Fraying Threads: The pact between the Warlord Izril and Him proclaimed Orange Emperor, posited to launch a tide of destruction into the heartlands of the Empire just as harvest was underway, is already starting to show cracks with three prominent monasteries withdrawing their support for Pol Qo and entering isolation. On the other side of the scales, the foreigner's demand for arms and armor from imperial storehouses was grudgingly accepted, though the time to train with and make best use of these weapons will test Izril's skills to forge a true army from the disparate bands.
On Brazen Wings: Although the province of Jinqui, at the easternmost edge of the Empire, has been quiescent under the dominion of the Azure throne, rumors had been spreading of strange beasts that would carry off livestock and even hunt and slay lone travelers as early as the beginning of the year. Still, it was a long way to Yin and the court had other matters to see to, even when whole villages began to fall to silent bloody ruin.
All this changed when a local hunter managed, by guile and trickery, to slay one of these elusive monsters and carry its corpse by ship and by road before the sight of imperial official. The Wu Jen identified the corpse as a
dragonne, possessed of the ferocity of the lion and power of a dragon, and rewarded the hunter handsomely for his deed.
None however had been prepared for the command of the young emperor. Incensed by the suffering of his people so long ignored by the local governor, he commanded his removal at once and sent an expedition to the province to deal with the beasts once and for all. In that company traveled not only shugenja, beloved of the kami, and Wu Jen masters, but also fledgling scholars of maho. Tales tell that while scores of the creatures were slain, others were bound with the arts of blood meaning to make of them servants of the Golden Empire and talons of the Emperor. Yet dragonne are no mere beasts for all their savage ways, that you know for certain, creatures at the edge of the Dream.
Murderers they may be, but do they deserve to be enslaved? Worst still can the same be said of their descendants down through the ages.
OOC: You don't know the exact numbers of bound dragonnes since these are just rumors and not reports, no inquisitors in the far flung corners of Yi Ti. Not yet edited.
