Council of War (Open, Wei)

[Lu Bu]

“Ma Teng to the North, Ma Chao to the east and Liu Bei to the south”

Lu Bu poured his fingers over the large cloth map, a look of doubt over his face. He gave a disapproving sigh and slumped himself down casually onto his chair and clicked his fingers. A serving wench came scuttling across with a jug of wine that she served the General of the Vanguard in a bowl. He gulped it down in one go and then waved it in front of her face, she poured him another and then he waved her away leaving the Jug on the table. He took a couple of sips and then placed the bowl down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Well? Haven’t you got anything to say?”

He peered over at his staff standing in long lines before him, they were mostly Wei puppies and he didn’t care for them one bit. Even after surrendering to Cao Cao he found it difficult to acknowledge that he was no longer his own man. Not since her served his third father Dong Zhou had Lu Bu called another his master, he hated it. He began to get angry at the sea of blank faces staring at him, he almost wondered if Cao Cao had sent this imbeciles as his advisors and commanders to see him fail, he despised every one of them.

“Useless idiots”

He finished off his bowl with two large swigs and then immediately poured himself a new one. He had always been fond of drink but ever since Diao Chan betrayed him and he had to meekly seek service under the smug self-styled King of Wei he was pretty much drunk all the time which made him even more irritable and ill tempered than he usually was. Once upon a time he would have Diao Chan or Zhang Liao to help him through the rough times but now?, none of those fawning Wei sheep cared about him and why should they?. Lu Bu had offered them no reason to love him, he berated and insulted them at every opportunity and he was far than generous in his praise of his supposed King Cao Mengde.

“I’m surrounded by sycophants and cowards!”

He finished his wine and then threw the bowl randomly at one of the lines of officers, it hit somebody in the head and smashed, nobody dared to complain. Despite all his faults Lu Bu was still Commander of the Vanguard and he still held the Military Tally, any mutiny or argument was punishable by death and they all knew that any minor infraction would result in such. “Bring me more Wine dammit!” he yelled, slamming his large fist on the table. He spent a good few minutes grimacing at his subordinates as the young serving wench reappeared with a new Jug of Wine.

“Your all a bunch of filthy Worms! I ought to whip all of you into shape! I command you to give me your opinions! Your not here to look at my pretty face! You’re here to advise! SO ADVISE!”

He snatched the Wine Jug off the girl and hurled it once more at his men, it hit some young scholar wearing a ridiculous hat on the hip causing him to fall down in pain which made Lu Bu mockingly laugh at his expense.

[Fang Wei]

Two men wondered threw the Wei camp, they were drawing quite a bit of attention. One of the men, bulky and armored was clearly a warrior born, tall and proud although with a feminine caste to his face that made him always pretty. His eyes however were dead like a corpse, showing no sign of life or joy. He was humming tunelessly as he drag the other man with him by the arm. This man was even more clearly insane, he gibbered an cackled as they walk speaking incoherently. He was dressed in the blood red robes of Fang Wei demon cultist, one of there priests no doubt. While this man was unarmed the solders drew away from them like they carried a fatal disease. There was an aura of madness and cruelty around them like a cloud. No one wanted to stand before such men sensing to do so would be to welcome a very unpleasant fate. When it came to Fang Wei, death was usually the best fate a man could pray for. He had a policy of inventing fates far worse than death, tortures that extracted exquisite amounts of delicious pain and suffering. As they approached Lu Bu council finally a pair of guards had the sense to block their path.

"We bring death...sweet death." The demon priest chuckled, his insane tone unsettling both men who was reaching for there blades. Fang Wei stepped forward before they could draw them, he wasn't interested in a fight, well not just yet. He shock his finger at the men, his unblinking black eyes holding nothing but irreproachable madness threatening to spill out and infect those around him.

"That wont be necessary, i am a mercenary here to apply for work. You do need fighters don't you?" Fang Wei asked even as he brushed past the men without giving them a chance to decline. They apparently decided either he was right, or that he wasn't worth the trouble. The demon priest cackled again dancing around like his feet were on fire as he followed his master. Now unchallenged they broke into Lu Bu council, the fear most men would feel as such a thing suppressed by the fact both men were clearly mad already. Death might well be a gift for either of them, god knows Fang Wei had attempted suicide before on more than one occasion, this was no different really. They arrived just in time to see Lu Bu throwing a wine jug at one of his vassals.

"Most good my lord....most cruel. Hit me too i beg of you." The priest gibbered scratching his face, which was hidden by his robes, given what it looked like this was perhaps a mercy. Quick to oblige him Fang Wei cracked him across the back, knocking the man to the floor. He chuckled again as if thanking his master for this mercy before he climbed painfully to his feet. Fang Wei was more interested in Lu Bu anyway, he had heard much about him all of which he liked. Lu Bu was the great butcher, a man who had caused more death than any other single man. More than anyone else he was someone that Fang Wei could appreciate in his own special insane way.

"I hear you need some people killed. I'm good at killing people unlike these toads." fang Wei declared spitting at the feet of one of the advisers. Useless all of them he thought, who needed strategy, war was nothing more or less than the act of killing. Fang Wei cared very little who won or lost, in war people died so everyone lost. Unless of course you shared unique perspective in which case, whoever won or lost he won. The simple act of bringing death was all he really desired. He showed none of them much respect however, he was at heart just a bandit, a serial killer such things were almost beyond him.

[Lu Bu]

Lu Bu was still laughing when the strangers entered his headquarters, he scowled angrily at them but he gave a slight chuckle when the armoured man gave his friend a thump. He listened in silence to this mans boasts, apparently he was good at killing, this only made Lu Bu sigh and shake his head. He pointed to his nearest advisor, some lackey of Cao Cao’s, Lu Bu had not even bothered to learn his name.

“and how is it that these two freaks can just wander without challenge into my main camp?”

The Advisor gave a gulp and he began to sweat, his commanders voice was firm and demanding, the tone most certainly suggested that he had better give a good answer. “M-m-my lord I-I-I” he stuttered and trembled which only made Lu Bu angrier. “These could be spies!” the imperious Lu Bu bellowed, “Even if they aren’t spies if these idiots can just wander freely into this camp what is to stop our enemies?”. The target of his fury dropped to his knees and began to kowtow but this did little to appease his rage, “Maybe a flogging will help your vigilance? Guards!”. Lu Bu stood from his seat as the same two Guards who had allowed Fang Wei to enter came storming in and bowed their heads, they dragged the Wei advisor outside as Fengxian ordered them to administer twenty lashes as punishment.

The rest of the Advisors and Generals were quiet as Lu Bu turned his attention on the man who had come to offer his services. He picked up his famous Halberd which had been laying next to his seat and he stormed over with a dark look on his face. He halted directly in front of the Armoured man purposefully towering over him, Lu Bu had yet to meet a man taller or stronger than he. Intimidation was a useful tactic he employed to test the iron of his men, he would be most interested to see how this man would react. He stared intently in his eyes which caused Lu Bu to smirk, he could see no hint of fear or trepidation, in fact he could see nothing in those soulless voids. He gave a quick glance to the pathetic gimp grovelling on the floor and was utterly disgusted, he gave the thing a kick in the chest with his armoured boots which likely broke more than a few ribs. Finally he spoke with the would be General, his voice commanding and full of distain.

“You dare to boast of your skill at killing? You do know who I am don’t you?”

[Fang Wei]

Fang Wei looked on eagerly as Lu Bu layed into his sycophants which he had surrounded himself with. He took note of that, it said a lot about the man. People could say a lot about Fang Wei, he was mad, evil, twisted, some times a little gay as well as a lot of other things but he was not stupid. He noticed things others missed, that's why he had survived for so long doing the things he did. There was a reason his name was cursed by many of those who had the misfortune of meeting him. He only wished he could go outside and watch the guard get whipped, he was quite the sadist other peoples pain was his pleasure. Well maybe later Lu Bu would allow it, otherwise he might have to find some peasant and have a little fun, who knows maybe he would invite Lu Bu to sit in. The man was the ultimate master of death but he could probably stand to learn something about causing pain.

"Ah my lord, its an honor to be your toy." The priest called out as Lu Bu kicked him in the side, doubtless cracking ribs. Well that was a long way from the worst that had happened to him. Fang Wei had put him threw so much that he felt only pleasure in place of pain now, his mind had snapped long ago. As a result he was no longer very much fun, he preferred his victims sane, at least at first. Finally Lu Bu came to him, threatening him with his weapon. Of course Fang Wei felt no fear, he was long past emotions like that, insanity took care of such things. If anything he looked eager, excited by the prospect of death even if it was him on the chopping block.

"Of course i didn't come here to work for some mortal fop of a king. Your Lu Bu the master of warfare the god of death. Who else would i offer my services too." Fang Wei said, staying well on the side of complimentary even just a little shy of full on toadying. He admired Lu Bu now he was before him, he could also sense the death energy's that surrounded him like a haze.

"Your aura is red my lord, you have pleased the dark ones with your power, truly you are blessed." Fang Wei said, unable to keep the fan boy in him quite silent. He was in semi awe of this man, the terrible evil he had caused. Fang Wei could bask in it even if it was not as refined as his own it was pure in its power. Still he had not come here to preach but to kill. What death art they could work together.

[Lu Bu]

God of Death? That was a new one, Lu Bu had been insulted and abused by arrogant inferiors who had dared to view themselves as his equal. He wasn’t sure if this man was praising or insulting him with such words, he decided eventually that is was a compliment and so he gave an arrogant grin and then turned away moving casually back to his seat at the head of his Generals. When he sat himself back down he clicked his fingers and the serving wench brought him a new jug of wine and poured him a cup, he placed his Halberd by his side and then took a couple of swigs and held it out for a refill.

“Well I wont lie to you, I am in need of good men”, he glared at the nervous faces surrounding him and scoffed in displeasure. “As you can see I am severely lacking in that department,” he took another large gulp of wine and then beckoned Fang Wei come forward with his hand resting his legs on the table as he did so covering the map in the process. “So how many men do you bring?,” the question was asked firmly in a tone that suggested it had better be more than that one weirdo priest.

Lu Bu had never lost a battle since he became a vassal to Cao Mengde, he fought with such rage and disregard for his personal safety that he was truly unstoppable. Ever since Diao Chan abandoned him it was if he had given up on life was merely waiting for somebody to end it all, at least that was what he wanted them all to think. In reality Lu Bu was in no hurry to die, he would not rest until he had extracted cruel justice on his enemies and former friends who betrayed and abandoned him to the hounds of Wei.

The problem he now faced though was he had no men he could call his own, Cao Cao had been careful to separate him from the likes of Gao Shun and even Zhang Liao. He was in desperate need of men loyal to him rather than loyal to Wei, perhaps this Freak was someone he could use. He did need to be careful though, these Wei lackeys were loyal only to Cao Cao, they cared little about Lu Bu and would take any opportunity to destroy him.

[Fang Wei]

Lu Bu seemed to take his words to heart, pleased by them as he had anticipated. Although they had actually been honest he was glad his strategy was paying off. Lu Bu was as he had been told just a blunt instrument of destruction to be pointed at whoever the evil ones wanted destroyed. At the moment, that was Liu Bei of Shu, so it seemed them had common purpose anyway at least for the moment. What deeds they could do together, the north would tremble before they were threw with it. He could almost smile, almost instead he settled for a rather smug look.

"Why not get rid of them all your lordship. If they are no use, them feed them to the dogs. You can tell his lordship Cao Cao that the enemy did it." Fang Wei suggested laughing gently at the idea, although he doubted Lu Bu would take him up on it, it would have been amusing to watch. He didn't care for these stuck up fools with there pitiful ideas, was was death nothing more, nothing less. If they wanted to sit around a table and feel 'involved' that was all well as good, at least as long as he could stick a sword in their pompous ass. Although that might be took quick, he liked to take his time with these things, well maybe he could talk to Lu Bu about that later. At the moment they had death to talk about, perhaps his favorite thing in the world. If Lu Bu had not already realized he was completely insane, he could not miss the next hint.

"I have my own following of bandits, most of who are former followers of Yuan Shao. Besides that i have other assets." Fang Wei said leering down at the priest still sniveling on the floor, pitiful just like the rest of his kind, how he loathed all people. "I am high priest of a...cult you might say. In fact i would be happy to induct some of your advisers too it, if you so desire." He laughed, a high pitched inhuman sound. As he spoke he fingered a little dagger, coated in old blood. It had been far too long since he practiced his death or torture arts. If he went too long without indulging himself he went even more off the rails than normal.

[Lu Bu]

Lu Bu released a burst of taunting laughter at his subordinates, in return they all stared at each other uncomfortably. Each and every one of them had taken an immediate dislike to this strange Bandit, not only was a thief and murderer but he was also a former vassal of Yuan Shao whom many of these men had fought a bitter war with not so long ago. Not only that but he had only just entered the service of Lu Bu, he was daring to make threats as if he was in some way superior. Added to that the disturbing figure of the crawling Priest and eyes that spoke of death, it was not hard to hate this would be General. Not that Lu Bu cared. He could see the look of contempt on their stupid faces and it made him deliriously happy. Anyone who would come in as bold as this man, insulting those worthless weasels with such confidence was alright by him.

Soon his laughter subsided into a slight chuckle and finally a frown as he shook his head and finished his wine. “As much as I would love to feed these imbeciles to the hounds I’m afraid that’s not possible, though perhaps some of them would benefit from joining your cult no?.” He gave Fang Wei a cheeky wink and beckoned him to sit down in the chair opposite his and poured them both some wine. He turned to his officers and viciously waved them away, “Leave us” he yelled threateningly, they did not hang about upon hearing this and began to shuffle clumsily out the building, not one even looking Fang Wei in the eyes either through fear or disdain.

“Sit!” he commanded and then leaned back in his chair sloughing as he casually sipped his cup. “We are surrounded on three sides” he said as he waved his hand dismissively over the map. “I’ve heard reports that Ma Chao and Ma Teng are gathering an army to assault us here at Tian Shui, I don’t have the men to fight both of them at once, tell me what would you do?”

[Fang Wei]

Fang Wei watched with only vague interest as Lu Bu council of sycophants and cowards were dismissed. They hated and loathed him, good then they understood him well enough already. It was so time consuming when they didn't understand what he was, now they knew well enough to avoid him. Some times that causes attempts on his life of course, he really didn't care. Once you stopped fearing death it had no hold over you. Lu Bu invited, well more accurately commanded him to take a seat. With the slobbering idiots now gone he gladly took his place, he could see he was needed here.

It had been almost immediately apparent what the situation was here. Lu Bu had neither a strategist nore anyone else he could trust. This provided an opportunity for someone, like say him to step into the gap. He didn't really care to earn Lu Bu's trust, he would either take his advice or he would not. What he really wanted was to advance the cause of destruction and death, while perhaps spreading his cult in the process. If that helped Lu Bu as well then all the better, the man was one of the few in this world he could respect. While Fang Wei himself was far from being a strategist of renowned he was considered to be 'smart' at least in some circles. He didn't strategies as much as he plotted and schemed his way threw life.

"Your a tiger Lu Bu, your not meant to fight with your back against the wall. Here in Tian Shui your isolated and vulnerable, they can take all the time in the world to destroy you." Fang Wei said, while speaking he scratched the palm of his hands. The hundreds of scars lining the skin of his palms often caused him discomfort, it had become almost a tick.

"But the way i see it, this is an opportunity not a crisis. While your forces here are surrounded, you also have opened up another flank against Ma Teng. Were you to attack him in concert with Cao Cao, he would be in dire trouble. All that would be required would be to send men to cut the rope bridges and paths between Chang An and Han Zhong. Isolate and destroy Ma Teng before he can do the same to you." Fang Wei said, giving him his honest assessment on how he saw the situation. Of course he was no strategist and he didn't know if Cao Cao would consent to help. Then again if he was not willing to rescue Lu Bu or take Chang An? well he was no use anyway then. Lu Bu could in that situation easy defect from his side, as long as he executed a few spying advisers first, which would be oh so sad. Either way Fang Wei thought Lu Bu had an opportunity here which ever way things turned out.

[Lu Bu]

He was silent as Fang Wei offered him his advise, he merely sat staring intently at his wine cup as he twirled it round in his fingers causing it to splash around. He gave a deep resigning sigh however upon hearing that he may require reinforcements from his new liege lord Cao Cao. He pondered for a while and took one last sip of his wine before using the strength in his bulky fingers to crack the cup. Looking up from his drink he gave his new ally a dark, brooding look of disgust and then finally smashed the cup completely in his hand. Wine poured down over his deadly black heavy plate armour and some of the porcelain shards stuck into his over sized hands, it did not phase him one bit however, in fact he hardly seemed to notice.

“I will not go begging to Cao Ahman for aid!”

The tone was furious and suggested at once that any further mention of calling for help from Cao Cao was not an option. He smashed his fist hard on the table which caused the wine jug to topple over spilling red wine over the paper map. Lu Bu just stared disapprovingly at Feng Xian making no effort to save it or clean up the mess he had made, his eyes were burning with a vengeful passion and his jaw was tightly clenched, a nerve had most definitely been hit.

“I like not his plan of yours! Give me a new plan! I am Lu ‘Fucking’ Bu! I do not need help from that poisonous snake! Understand?!?”

[Fang Wei]

Fang Wei raised a cynically eye brow as he watched Lu Bu 'go off' apparently he really didn't like the idea of getting help from Cao Cao. Which was not entirely accurate they would just be attacking the same enemy, if he wanted to act like he wasn't part of Wei it would just get him killed. Of course he reasoned, with little sense he still had that Lu Bu dying would not exactly be a disaster, as long as he took a lot of innocent people with him. The question was could he still be useful, when he was quite as stupid as he appeared to be. The dark ones might have blessed him with looks and martial skills but the man was damned stupid. Well that could work out well, it certainly made people easier to manipulate if they were brain dead. The problem was getting around the man's pride, or perhaps using that to get him to do what the dark ones wanted from him. Which in this case was slaughter, not exactly a difficult task in all honesty.

"Haha, well i guess we do things the hard way then." Fang Wei said leaning forward in his seat to get a better look at the maps. He showed absolutely no sign of fear, while most men would quail before Lu Bu's rage. He did know better than to provoke him, he simply did not care much. Pain was something he both took and delivered with equal pleasure. Besides he would not be much use for strategy after he had been beaten into another incarnation.

He considered what the next best option would be. Attacking Ma Chao was the least positive idea, the narrow passes and high mountains of Han Zhong made it a natural fortress. Worse if Ma Teng attacked from the rear they would be slaughtered. Generally Fang Wei liked slaughtered but he preferred they not be quite so one sided as that, a meat grinder battle was maximum fatalities was his ideal here. Defending Tian Shui would a poor idea as well, they would be outnumbered and surrounded, cut off from any escape they would have little chance. Again that kind of battle would be too one sided for his liking and worse it might result in his own death, that was not the plan. That left two viable options the way he saw things.

"Its a simple matter of numbers, we don't need Cao Cao specifically just fodder for the front lines. If Cao Cao is out of the question how about Han Sui?" Fang Wei suggested, knowing that that former oath brother of Ma Teng was a more 'risky' ally. However it would make things more interesting from his perspective and if it came to it Lu Bu could always just kill the man and conscript his troops. He proceeded to suggest as much to Lu Bu.

"Either way you should go on the offensive, i suggest getting rid of Ma Teng first. His cavalry troops are good on the open plain, but limited in any other kind of battle. You should use the hilly terrain around Chang An to your advantage. Once he is dead you can march on Ma Chao and crush him at your leisure." Fang Wei said, making it sound a lot easier than it would really be. Of course Lu Bu in his supreme arrogance was likely to believe his presence alone would result in victory. Well let him keep thinking that.

"The hard part will be drawing Ma Teng into the hills to face you. However a few properly time massacres at out lying towns and villages should force his hand." Fang Wei was quite eager at the thought of slaughtering innocent people, it was more than a hobby it was a possession of his. He knew how to make people hate him, how to get them so angry they would think of nothing else but killing you. That's what he wanted to Lu Bu to be like in order to draw out Ma Teng. After that, he had something else in mind for the mighty general. The question in his mind now was, would Lu Bu be stupid enough to go for this plan. It would without doubt result in the most death of almost anything he could suggest, which was the general idea.

[Lu Bu]

Lu Bu kept quiet as Feng Xian studied the map, he was perfectly still the only movement coming from his jaw as he ground his teeth in irritation. He was often angry these days made all the worse by his constant drinking, he had almost forgotten what it was like to be sober. The drink helped him forget, when his one true love Diao Chan abandoned and betrayed him for the rat Sun Ce she left a hole in his heart that could only be fixed with excessive alcohol consumption. It still tore him up every night and no matter how hard he tried he could not get her evil image out his head. Sometimes when he was alone he would regret his harsh words and short temper and vowed never to threaten his subordinates again, of course this only lasted till morning when once again the slightest annoyance would take him to boiling point.

He began to calm down once Feng Xian gave him a new strategy, the serving wench reappeared and began to clean up the mess he had made by scrubbing his armour down with a wet cloth, Bu did not even acknowledge her existence. She was actually quite pretty in a common sort of way, it was clear that he did not treat her unkindly, dressed as she was in expensive silk garments with a contented look on her fresh face. Lu Bu had always treated his women well, he treated his women far better than his men, despite all his personality flaws that was one positive aspect of his character, though others would call it a weakness no doubt.

“Do you really think Han Sui would betray his oath brother?” The idea definitely appealed to him but he was sceptical of its success. The second ploy seemed more likely and it was something that Lu Bu knew he could accomplish quite well. Killing innocents was not particularly something he relished but if it meant destroying Ma Teng he was prepared. “hmm, I guess I can go for that, you said you had a talent for killing did you not? I couldn’t trust these weasels Cao Ahman has lumped me with to carry out this ‘unpleasantness’.”

[Fang Wei]

The second plan seemed to go over far better with Lu Bu, which was perhaps fortunate. He had been running short of ideas, at least ones that were not too suicidal. Of course it seemed to him that Lu Bu was likely too stupid to notice either way. In the end things had at least gone well, this course of action would result in nearly maximum casualties on every side. As long as that was the end result it didn't even really too much which side won in the long run.

He eyed Lu Bu's serving wench as she pored her master a new drink. He was interested in her, although not in the usual sense. He had no desires for her beyond the pain he could inflict on her tender flesh. Perhaps sensing this or maybe it was just the dead look in his eyes, the girl seemed some what intimidated by him. Why Lu Bu kept her just from drinks he didn't know, perhaps he had gotten soft after Diao Chan. He kept that thought to himself, the one person he knew better than to mention to his new lord was that women. His moment of distraction over he got back to the plotting.

"Han Sui and Ma Teng are no longer what you might call friends. If he does not help us his oath brother will slip a knife in his back eventually." Fang Wei explained thinking about the things that had come between the two men at Tong pass. It had been Han Sui fault that they lost that battle, it was not the sort of thing even an oath brother would forgive. If they pushed him just right he might come on side. Assuming of course Lu Bu council of misfits didn't manage to mess anything up before then.

"The master will bled them dry, just like a leach....yes yess i want to watch." His priest who was still bent over on the floor chuckled again when Lu Bu mentioned the slaughtering. Even with his broken ribs the priest reacted as he had been trained. After all the things he had seen he knew well what Fang Wei was capable off. Yes he was good at that, better than anyone he had meet.

"I doubt those fools have the stomach for that kind of job. I on the other hand, let me be your blade and i paint the land scape red." Fang Wei declared confidently, as well he might be. It was doing exactly that sort of thing that he had made a name for himself. There was nothing he took more pleasure in that slaughtering a whole lot of innocent people. The thought of it seemed to cause him almost sexual pleasure his eyes for just a moment coming alight with glee.