Taxman Part 1

"Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute."

Star War: The Phantom Menace, opening Crawl

"The best Star Wars is Phantom Menace. All the new ones suck."

Rainbow-Monkey-Sock (Player who runs Bo-Jing)


Bo-Jing comes from a prominent family, most well known for their wealth and mercantile prowess, but with a history of military success and loyalty to the Imperial Khan's great-grandfather. Bo-Jing's own recent success in battle gave new currency to the old stories and brought him to the attention of the Emperor himself.  Bo-Jing and his friends were invited to the Capital to witness Bo-Jing receive his commission as as Imperial agent, charged with collecting taxes and keeping order in the lands of the Naran horde, on the wild northern edge of the Empire.  He was granted authority to recruit assistants and used this authority to grant commissions to a few of his cousins.

On the way to the lands of the Naran Horde, Bo-Jing and Beatriss, together with their henchmen Ryu and Naron and Bo-Jing's cousins, stopped in Blue City where Bo-Jing met his immediate supervisor, the local governor.  The governor advised Bo-Jing that his new role would give him great authority over the local populace.  "But whatever you do, don't cheat the Emperor.  He will find out and you will be punished."  Bo-Jing and Beatriss joined a caravan bound for Banua, the capital of the Naran horde. Along the way, Bo-Jing recruited local warriors to join his squad. From them he learned that the Naran horde, following the death of it leader, had split into two rival branches, led by twin brothers. Gaanbaatar, the older twin led the larger Bolad horde, and controlled the old capital of Banua and most of his father’s lands. Gaansukh, whom Bo-Jing would learn based his claim to leadership on his strength, had established his own seat in a fortified camp on the shore of a lake known as Khuzu Kala.

When Bo-Jing arrived in Banua Gaanbaatar met him with courteous disdain, alluding to an appeal he’d made to the Emperor five years ago when his brother revolted and split the horde in two. His attitude softened greatly when Bo-Jing shared the details of his commission and how he planned to spend his salary. The Emperor had promised to pay him a bonus for taxes collected beyond the last census count and he wanted to use that money to build a road to connect Banua with Khuzu Kala. Gaanbaatar tested him, asking, “But surely you want to collect your money as quickly as possible and return to court?” No, Bo-Jing, assured him, he had no interest in court life and had chased adventure across the ocean and over burning deserts. Now his ambition was to make sure the people saw their tax money put to good use. Gaanbaatar suggested that he could handle the collection of taxes and Bo-Jing could help him with another problem. His people didn’t need a road. They just needed to be able to ride to Khuzu Kala without fear of a bandit attack. As Gaanbaatar explained it, a group of bloodthirsty bandits lived in the rough borderland between the two brothers. Merchants were afraid to make the trip and even poor nomads knew that they put themselves at risk when crossing the borderlands to visit family on the other side. The bandits had evaded the Khan’s men, but perhaps a small group of canny and experienced warriors would be able to track them down.

Bo-Jing pledged to help with the bandits. During his few days of rest, he heard rumors about other things that interested him. Monks in mountains, magical coins, and a Valley of Five Fires that all the surrounding hordes had agreed not to enter.