Toshi
Toshi smiled his eyes on the distant peaks. They were already dusted with snow, and that icy blanket would soon descend to his valley and close off the passes leaving him trapped. Trapped with close to two hundred mouths to feed, and no real prospect of feeding them until spring. He had been steadily laying in all the dried meats and rice and beans that passed through, but as the situation in the empire degenerated, more fled to him, and more were sure to come before winter.
Toshi's smile broadened. His lieutenants and those who had been with him the longest gave him a wide berth. Toshi was dangerous when he smiled that way.
There were only a few options. One, stay the course and impose harsh rationing effective immediately and pray to any god or ancestor who would listen for a short winter. Two, try to move the encampment out of the valley, which would certainly attract unwanted attention if they moved toward the empire and leave them in the Koguri plain if they moved away, where they would be at the mercy of barbarian hordes and cursed spirits alike. Three, he could decide that this wasn't his problem and take his loyal men and go back to being good honest bandits again. He didn't like any of those options.
Luckily for Toshi, there was rarely a time where one didn't have the option of doing something really, really stupid. He had often heard others attribute his success to luck, but he firmly believed that his blessed life was a combination of virtuous living and knowing the right moment to do really really stupid things.
"Kade! Saddle our horses, pack for a week, and pick...oh...eight others to do the same. Good horsemen and good shots all. We ride at dusk."
Kade nodded. He didn't know what Toshi had planned but he was pretty sure he didn't like it. Anytime Toshi looked that happy there was bound to be trouble. But Kade did know that Toshi had persisted in surviving long after he ought to have by all rights, and managed to bring an overwhelming majority of his followers with him. Things were certainly simpler when there had only been a dozen of them, but these people needed help, and damn the empire anyhow. Kade swung onto his horse bareback to go pick out those who would come with them, those who would ride into the dragon's jaws.
Toshi's smile broadened. His lieutenants and those who had been with him the longest gave him a wide berth. Toshi was dangerous when he smiled that way.
There were only a few options. One, stay the course and impose harsh rationing effective immediately and pray to any god or ancestor who would listen for a short winter. Two, try to move the encampment out of the valley, which would certainly attract unwanted attention if they moved toward the empire and leave them in the Koguri plain if they moved away, where they would be at the mercy of barbarian hordes and cursed spirits alike. Three, he could decide that this wasn't his problem and take his loyal men and go back to being good honest bandits again. He didn't like any of those options.
Luckily for Toshi, there was rarely a time where one didn't have the option of doing something really, really stupid. He had often heard others attribute his success to luck, but he firmly believed that his blessed life was a combination of virtuous living and knowing the right moment to do really really stupid things.
"Kade! Saddle our horses, pack for a week, and pick...oh...eight others to do the same. Good horsemen and good shots all. We ride at dusk."
Kade nodded. He didn't know what Toshi had planned but he was pretty sure he didn't like it. Anytime Toshi looked that happy there was bound to be trouble. But Kade did know that Toshi had persisted in surviving long after he ought to have by all rights, and managed to bring an overwhelming majority of his followers with him. Things were certainly simpler when there had only been a dozen of them, but these people needed help, and damn the empire anyhow. Kade swung onto his horse bareback to go pick out those who would come with them, those who would ride into the dragon's jaws.