Down the Moonbeam Road – Civil Unrest

Listen to this”, interjected Martin “Dated, Summer 1651”

“General Yuan Kui, leading the Army of the Front, defeated the rebel armies and pursued them to the wasteland region. Following their moment of glory, the Imperial troops succumbed to a plague in the marshland region decimating their ranks and curtailing further pursuit of enemy survivors. Isolating the infection is a high priority, advise no further expeditions be sent until the threat of plague has passed, signed General Yuan Kui, Army of the North.”

From the court official’s journal

 

A flock of birds fled their shelter in a nearby wood, signalling the approach of the Imperial vanguard. Labouring through trackless ground that masked treacherous boggy ground, this was an ideal spot for an ambush thought General Wang Yun. As leader of the rebel troops, his sole worry at the moment, could his troops hold their concealment long enough before the signal for a general assault be given. Timing was crucial.

The crack of musket fire broke the general’s thought as to his right, Imperial light horse opened fired on Yellow Turban mounted scouts taking flight. “Good, they are taking the bait” thought Yun, as Imperial cavalry moved in pursuit. This had the expected result, the Imperial infantry too, joined the chase.

General Yuan Kui had been confident his Imperial troops were sufficient to destroy the rebels, but a sinking feeling gripped the general’s stomach as musket fire erupted at the rear of the column. A heartbeat later, rockets burst overhead to be joined by the screams of a thousand voices, waving banners as they attacked the centre of his column. Within minutes, the impressive and confident bearing of the Imperial column was now a shambles.

Later that evening and twenty li from the battlefield, the shattered remains of the Army of the North straggled back toward a makeshift camp and after a brief rest, they would continue their march back. Riding at their head and shamed by the defeat, General Yuan Kui began to compose his report to be presented to the Inspector of the Northern Commanderies.

  

Following Martin’s reading of the passage, Hermann added, “Translating the Elven names and coordinates did reveal many interesting bits of information, but prominent among them were the similarity in names to locations found in the historic past of the Peoples Republic of China. Most bizarre however, the region labelled “Khan Dao”, Herman continued, “have similar coordinates to a land mass stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.”

“Canada?”