Return of the Jing...

As he disembarked from the chariot that had led him to the imposing fortress that was the Grand Master Oh's abode, his hands grew clammy with sweat. The sounds of clacking tiles and mirthful laughter punctuated with the distinctive shouts of "WHO" that were so characteristic of the castle were not heard.

Instead, silence pervaded the neighbourhood.

The night seemed to grow even more chilly, and he shivered involuntarily.

Muttering a quick prayer under his breath, the knight drew his cloak around him as if to summon the courage that he did not possess.

When the gate slid open, he was greeted by the throaty growling of the canine guardian of the castle whom they called Maximus. Distantly related to Cerberus, the hound of Hades, this fearsome creature with an insatiable appetite for the Apples of Eden strained at its leash to get at the hooded knight.

Ushered through the damp dungeon-like passages of the castle, he eventually arrived at the visitors' quarters. Thereupon the bench sat the ghostly figure of the legendary Jing, who was said to appear only once a year to a select group of persons. His presence was said to cure the terrible afflictions of Cagerissimus that was caused by the beast's venomous bite. Indeed, the knight sensed liberation, as though an invisible weight was being lifted from his shoulders.

And Grand Master Yun's shrieks emanated from the depths of the castle, as Maximus took to his leg with frenzied aggression.

However, the effort of his exertions clearly took a toll on Jing. His skin turned ghastly white from the strain, and he instructed the Grand Master to convene the coalition of the Cagers, the elite magi of the three distinct races of people that inhabited the lands of Smu, Nus and Ntu. It was during these conventions that the magi worked their powers to restore the Tan of the Jing.

And so it was decided. Wednesday would mark his reappearance at the Cage.