Office of the Regent

The cold still bites.

Even within stone fortress and fire, the cold still bites. It cuts into the flesh like a blade, sharp and intense. Armor and cloth only lessens the intensity and the sharpness. But in the Land of Iron - a land bound in snow and ice - the cold is law. Fight the cold and be consumed. Accept the cold and grow bitter. The cold is the only victor against willpower.

But born within the cold are a people that have become as cold. They are the samurai.

The clans of samurai in the Land of Iron are forged in the biting cold, tempered in frost and snow. Their blade is as sharp as the biting cold. Their armor as impenetrable as the ice that covers the lakes. Many have tried to fight the Land of Iron in the past, but they have lost to the children of the biting cold. They know the land well, know how to fight the foes that depend on tricks and beasts to win. The energy is eaten away in the icy winds, and the snow shows their movements. The beasts freeze away in the harsh tundra.

The cold still bites.

The samurai, caught in this new age, feel the bite os loss. The ninja moved forward with technology and unity that left the neutral samurai behind in their cold land. Many houses defied the change, frozen in ignorance to the change. They moved like a harsh wind to keep the change from happening... from letting a new life to take hold. To keep the biting cold from consuming all within the Land of Iron. They spilled warm blood onto the bitter ground, and kept the city in an icy grip.

The cold still bites, indifferent to ignorance.

Those who opposed the old ways fought them in cold city, taking it back with steel and blood. A single man stood against the frozen hearts and the bitter cold, and turned the tide. He was appointed General-Regent of the Land of Iron until the harsh civil war was over. He would stay in the stone fortress, occasionally shiver from the ever-biting cold. He waits for the day he can look out to his homeland and see the path away from the biting cold into a warmer future.

But for now... the cold still bites.

General Regent?

Karasu looks up from his desk, littered with papers. The fire in the center hearth burns low, keeping the stone room warmed. Behind Karasu was his sword Hane, hanging within arms reach. The man who spoke to him stood beside the door across the hearth. Karasu had to get used to being the General of the land of Iron since the civil war. It had only been two months since the Battle of Sanrō City, and it had only recovered slightly in the time spent. As such, he grew exhausted in work.

Yes?

The patrols have returned. The fallen houses have remained hidden still. If we can say an opinion, it is that the fallen houses have hidden themselves in the different lands of the shinobi.

Opinion taken. Take your leave.

Yes sir.

The soldier leaves. Karasu ponders at the report. Could the fallen houses have retreated to the shinobi lands and seek to reposition themselves? They also have enough wealth to request shinobi aid, capable of bolstering their numbers and fighting power. To fight both samurai and shinobi? A chill runs down his spine.

Another knock at the door. He wondered who it would be.

Come in.

Another samurai, this time female. Because of the state of affairs in the Land of Iron, gender wasn't considered an issue of service. If one could wield a blade and fight, he couldn't care less. He preferred though that the ones that could cary to future wouldn't put themselves at harms way.

Lord General Regent, a message from Konoha.

She gave him the scroll. He reads it over, seeing it is regarding the Chunin Exams. He writes a quick response, and hands it back to the female samurai.

Get it back to Hokage. We'll need to bolster our own numbers by the time the Exam comes.

Yes sir.

She leaves, and Karasu returns to his thoughts. It would be in poor favor if he didn't show up. The Land of Iron needs this moment, and he couldn't pass it up just because of some unchangeable old farts want to cause a ruckus. He would hope that their ways would poison them from within, turning into harmless madness. By strategically crippling them in a single battle, he wounded their morale enough for them to go into hiding. But like a cornered beast, they could snap back savagely. He doesn't want to lead people to that kind of retaliation.

Bolstering numbers, eh?

Karasu barely had to look up.  The girl in question was a Kumogakure shinobi "advisor" to him by his house.  Her lack of warming attire always made him feel out of place and uncomfortable.  In the months spent together, she had always kept an "out of sight, but not out of mind" approach to him and how he ran the city.  If it wasn't for the fact she would appear around others or when they both ate together, no one else would of known she existed. Her skills were needed in these times. He tolerated her mostly because she could equal him in a duel and he didn't know of a way to get rid of her. Like a cat, she would come back and haunt him once thrown out. If he could muster it, her swordsmanship was beautiful.

Yes, bolstering numbers.  I know how hard that will be.

You'll have to hold a draft or forced conscription just to maintain force, let alone bolster.  And I saw you write to the Hokage that you would show up for the Chunin Exams as to be a spectator.  You think that will be safe, knowing that the bad blood samurai are at the door waiting for something like this?

I know this... Shikyo-san.

I know you know, but when stuck between a rock and a hard place, it is better to stay and maintain the push instead of looking for the way out.  

Until something gives.  Like my men.

Or you. Being in command takes a toll on the mind and body. It's tragic, y'know?

Are you going to advise on this, or try to cut me with your words? The cold would do better than that.

If you think it can work, that is fine. I can stay here and watch the fort... but for a price.

She-devil.

Tut tut... don't you know services come with a price?

He gets up and picks up Hane, and puts it to the special containment sheath on his back plate. He walks out, letting the cold wind blow through the room. Shikyo sighs.

Men. He needs to hunker down with a good woman, or else the cold will make him a frigid bachelor...

She points two fingers up to her lips, and she vanishes again.