User:Nabu/Ravages of time
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The Ravages of Time (火凤燎原 lit. The Fiery Phoenix Razes the Steppes) is an epic Hong Kong manhua series created by Chan Mou. It's a retelling of the events leading from the late Han Dynasty to probably the foundation of the Jin dynasty, with the Three Kingdom period in-between. It can also count as an adaptation of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
It is the year 190 A.D., China. The Han dynasty is in turmoil. After decades of mismanagement from the government whose emperor had become a mere puppet to the "Ten Attendants" (eunuchs who governed in the Han Emperor's stead), the population had revolted and so ensued the "Yellow Turban Rebellion" which was squashed by different warlords/vassal of Imperial Han. The eunuchs are deposed and exterminated. Then worse, the old emperor dies and the warlord Dong Zhuo seizes power by installing the young heir (like what a six year old boy?) as a puppet and trying to control things. However, the court manages to write and send a formal call to arms to all the warlords of China who will unite to punish the malevolent disloyal Dong Zhuo, at least in theory. Ensues a lot of battles, bloodshed, politicking, plans and gambits both small and large, as well as the rise of falls of heroes and scoundrels alike.
The story is centered around two people. The first is Sima Yi, future founder of the Jin imperial dynasty but right now just the very clever heir of the Sima merchant clan. The second is Liaoyuan Huo, Sima Yi's best assassin, a young boy who just can't feel pain and who is destined to become one of the most famous generals of his time. The two will try to survive, thrive and find their true calling in this tumultuous era.
Sima Clan & Handicapped Warriors
The Sima clan are a wealthy merchant clan mostly based in Henei, central northern China. Their leader is Sima Yi, a lazy bum but also a true genius who can analyze and anticipate what will happen in China. He mostly uses his genius to advise his clan on what to anticipate in order to have the best commercial trades possible and avoid warlords demanding tributes to them. The Sima clan tend to manipulate things from the shadows to further their interests but soon their game turns against them.
Notable members:
- Sima Yi, the protagonist. Fated to found to imperial Jin dynasty. At the beginning, he dreams about his future, sitting on the throne and someone with an eyepatch attacking him. Sima Yi is a lazy bum but he's extremely intelligent and savvy as the heir of a powerful merchant clan. Extremely cynic, he believes in ending wars quickly to then take control of the winning side from the shadows. Has a wolf neck and so he can turn the head pretty much 180°.
Handicapped Warriors
The Handicapped Warriors are the private assassins of the Sima Clan, although anyone can buy their services. They are composed of various assassins who are handicapped in one way or another and they are famous for never missing their target. The Handicapped Warriors are said to be led by a one-eyed assassin. They are the best assassins in China too. Any of their member is a deadly fighter, though the strongest is their leader Liaoyuan Huo, a young lad who can't feel pain.
Notable Members:
- Liaoyuan Hao: the current head of the Handicapped Warriors. His handicap is that he can't feel pain, which is actually nice for him. Very cunning and a fearsome fighter. He is fated to become Zhao Yun, one of Liu Bei's generals.
- Xiao Meng, or sister Meng. A eunuch and Chinese trap. Very good with a bow, and uses his great beauty to pose as a woman. Insists he's a man but like nobody seem to care. Very important secondary character. Taught by Cao Xing.
Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo is a warlord based in Luoyang, the current capital of China but his real power base is in the West. He's a powerful warlord who deposed the eunuchs but then openly displayed his ambitions by placing a puppet emperor and being generally a chad who doesn't give a fuck about protocol or being respectable. Will go down as a malevolent pig in History. Is currently in trouble because most of the other warlords in China are against him, an official "rebel".
Notable Members:
- Dong Zhuo. Faction leader. A powerful and cunning warlord who openly shows his ambition of hegemony. A chad who doesn't give a fuck about anything but his own interests but sadly doesn't have enough brains.
- Xu Lin: Dong Zhuo's top advisor.
Lu Bu Faction
Lu Bu's clique. If Dong Zhuo was an alpha, Lu Bu is the sigma to end all sigmas. Lu Bu is initially an officer serving under Dong Zhuo but he'll betray Dong Zhuo and become one of the most famous warlords in Chinese history, known for his disloyalty and his combat prowess. Lu Bu's nicknamed the "God of War" because no one except a couple of guys in China can beat him. He manages to gather some good men around him and wrecks havoc in the North of China.
Notable Members:
- Lu Bu: the sigma, the ubermensch, the Lu Bu amongst men. A mega-chad with a lot of ambition and who doesn't give a fuck about morality, he wants power and will take it. One of the one-man-armies in the setting, there's only a couple of guys who can match him in a fight. He's also very cunning as a complotist and a general. Somewhat burdened by the fact that he's betrayed two people so far and so everybody knows he's a backstabbing bastard.
- Zhang Liao: Lu Bu's right hand man, a young general who'll become and surpass Lu Bu's prowess in time. For not, he's a loyal dog for Lu Bu. Very strong and very cunning. Loves to say that nobody survives the reach of his sword but he's taught a lesson or two.
- Gao Shun: leader of the chargers, an elite cavalry unit.
- Chen Gong: an aging military strategist who's as renowned as the 8 geniuses. He's very good because he's particularly meticulous and covers every eventuality. Like think 100 moves in advances and then rethink again for if X or Y changes.
Cao Clan
The Cao Clan, initially a minor clan in the North of China, but full of talents. Their leader is Cao Cao, the "evil chancellor" of China, fucking brilliant at many things included warfare and poetry but also ambitious and evil. He's infamous in the legend because he held the Emperor hostage too at one point and did some really disgusting things like having the ears of POW cut off to destroy the enemy's morale. Here, he's also a man of integrity who decides to be as savage as possible in times of war to end them quickly and be a benevolent ruler in peace. He goes from minor warlord to most powerful warlord in the North of China, accumulating many many talented and loyal subordinates. Seriously, he's got 50% of the characters that really matter and 3 geniuses on his side. His clan will found the Wei kingdom.
Note that the Cao Clan is intimely intertwined with the Xiahou Clan, because Cao Cao is a Xiahou by blood but adopted into the Cao Clan and they follow Cao Cao with great loyalty.
Notable Members:
- Cao Cao: The "big bad", the "evil chancellor" to beat all evil chancellors. He's actually a loyalist who decides to be as brutal as possible in times of war to shorten then and he's also a very good ruler in times of peace. He's not a notable fighter but an excellent leader who gets the best out of his men as well as one of the greatest military commander, with an unmatched grasp of military maneuvers. He's actually from the Xiahou clan but got adopted, often reminding people that as a descendant of an eunuch clan, he had it rough. He's also a good writer and a womanizer.
- Cao Ren: A clan brother. General who protects the rear.
- Cao Chun: leader of the elite Tiger & Leopard cavalry unit.
- Xiahou Dun: Cao Cao's cousin. A pretty awesome general who's got an excellent eye and can throw a spear hundreds of meter and still impale you. Will lose his good eye but that won't slow him down on bit. He even ate his eye, just to scare his enemies.
- Xiahou Yuan: Another of Cao Cao's cousins. He's a good general notably in terms of deploying his units.
- Dian Wei: an assassin and a scout. Extremely loyal and can't feel pain either.
- Xu Chu: Xu Lin's son. He's a big heavy guy. Very strong as a warrior but tends to talk slowly so everyone thinks he's just muscles.
- Recurring generals: Han Hao, Li Dian, Yu Jin, Yue Jin
Liu Clan
The Liu Clan is a big but disparate clan. They are actually Imperial scions, and the Han Dynasty comes from their clan. However, most of them are just minor warlords and renowned for their "indecisiveness".
Liu Bei
Liu Bei, the future founder of the Shu Han kingdom in the South-West of China. Liu Bei is the "benevolent underdog" of the three major factions, renowned for his loyalty, integrity, benevolence, and for being continously being shat on by the other factions though he manages to do something of himself. Liu Bei begins really low on the social ladder as a shoe seller. However, he can count on the might of his two sworn brothers Guan Yu (the real God of War) and Zhang Fei. He's a distant relative of the Emperor but that won't mean shit until he becomes famous and adulated by the populace. In the story, he becomes a top-notch politician who knows how to build his fame and then milk his popularity for all it's worth.
Notable Members:
- Liu Bei: the future founder of the Shu Han kingdom. A pretty awesome character who's all brains and heart. He's began as a poor shoe seller who's got a tenuous blood relation to the Emperor because he's from the Liu clan. He then strikes a friendship with two awesome guys and they become sworn brothers. Liu Bei is very honorable and loyal to imperial Han, so everybody begins to love him, peasants and lords alike. He's not only got CHARISMA but also a good amount of brains. His expertise is PR and his plan is to become more and more popular and use his popularity to gain enough support to rule. However, he's got no money or land or army, or real support for that matter, and he gets fucked over a fair bit. He wisens up though. Loves his sworn brothers more than his family.
- Guan Yu: The best warrior in China, period. Nobody beats him, almost nobody can actually lift his halberd let alone swing it. He's very honorable, to the point some easily exploit it, but who the fuck cares, nobody can touch this guy. Got a pretty awesome beard too. Will be deified after his death as an actual war god and Chinese people sometimes still pray to him. He was actually a cop before joining Liu Bei.
- Zhang Fei: The best character in the series, hands down. He's renowned as a loyal brute in the legend but Ravages of Times changes his character a lot. Here Zhang Fei is only faking it so that people underestimate him. He's actually a very cunning man and he's often doing dirty work to further Liu Bei's interests, although Liu Bei always object to his methods. Zhang Fei doesn't care, Liu Bei is the best man he knows and he'll do anything to help his brother ascend. Zhang Fei is pure awesome. He's fucking strong, near Lu Bu level, but he's also a very good strategist. His other identity is that of a famous painter, but that's also cover for him to scout the terrain. As a result, he's a master of using the landscape to his advantage.
Misc. Lius
Some guys who obey to other Lius that aren't Liu Bei. Mostly randoms. However, Gan Ning and Huand Zhong will become famous generals and they are badass.
Notable Members:
- Huang Zhong: A general serving Liu Biao, but is fated to eventually serve Liu Bei. He's the old soldier among general. White eye and wrinkled face, but still strong as an ox. He's an archer specialist too. Taught Gang Ning
- Cai Mao: A general serving Liu Biao, but will work for Cao Cao instead.
Summary of the Lius. Liu Biao governs Jingzhou, the province right in the middle of China. It's of great strategic value so everyone is walking on it. Liu Biao is mostly getting stepped over by the Sun Clan.
Liu Chong is a random Liu who was being backed by Pang Tong. But Sima Yi has Liu Chong killed by samurai guy.
Liu Zhang is governor of Yi province, South West tip of China. His province is rich because it was far from the wars until the scramble for Jingzhou post Red Cliff. He's being double tagged by Zhang Lu, a warlord from the North, and by the dark faction in Liu Bei's camp.
