Re: Chapter 5 - Imperial Dispensation
The man greeted by the guard is one that many might find a bit unusual for someone reporting to an imperial agent. Tall and thin, he has a shifty and shrewd look to him-- between his two-piece clothing style of green garb covered with gold designed and trimmed with blue and his facial hair style of a triangular goatee and long, thin mustache, he doesn't fit the 'profile' of any particular clan, but he doesn't have the rugged and wild look of a typical ronin either.
He unstraps a wide, curved blade (dao sword) from his back, a sword that one might well question if this weak, delicate-looking man even has much skill in using, and places it upon a weapon rack provided. It is transparant that he does in fact have another weapon in his possession, but wound and wrapped tightly in fabric, it is clearly meant to be presented as a gift-- the man would easily be cut down before having any chance to make use of the weapon.
Although he makes a cursorary glance towards Kedo and the guardsman, affording them a large, friendly smile-- much like a merchant might silently greet a customer in his shop, he turns and heads in to see the Miya and her guests. His manner of greeting is quite over-the-top and exhubriant, not at all refined and proper, "Miya-sama!!" he exclaims with a wide grin, "You make the sun brood with envy of your radiance!" He makes very little note of Sakura, not likely due to overlooking the beautiful shugenja, but perhaps simply because he has found it better to focus on flattering the person in the position of power.
As he comes closer he kneels down, his voice becoming quieter and his demeanor becoming only marginally more proper as he gets a gleefully devious look in his eyes as he explains quietly while twirling the end of his mustache, "You are going to love this, Miya-sama!... I've got 1000 sets of standard military gear in route for the imperial legions, all at the price it would have cost to produce 300 sets."
He then lifts up the wrapped katana and places it down upon the ground before Shiko before adding pleasantly enough, "As a special bonus, to show my overwhelming gratitude that in your great wisdom and insight you chose to allow me to help you in this matter, I have come with this item of interest discovered amongst the gear. According to the markings, I believe it belonged to the Ikoma family-- however, I have it on good authority that this blade may have belonged to one of 2000 personal retainers of our illustrious Emporer from the time before he took the throne." Of course, there really isn't any effective way to verify this claim, "I felt that an item of such historic importance needed particularly special care."