[Yuudai (NPC), Ikoma Hitori (NPC), Kedo, Asahina Byako]

"I'm sure that the courtiers who keep score of such things would be terribly aggrieved that I am doing anything that would relieve any sort of perceived debt you, or they, feel that you owe the Crane clan. But, I am not of that mind. Oh well, I guess they will assume that I take on any debt they think I've relieved you of.
At any rate, what I wanted to ask is: do you know of anyone who would be willing to teach a complete novice, specifically myself, the basics of theology and divination?"

[Yuudai (NPC), Ikoma Hitori (NPC), Kedo, Asahina Byako]

 "I do not imagine that the simple sharing of what poor insight I possess would be counted so highly either by myself or by the Crane." replies Kedo softly, almost as if he hadn't been the  architect of an alarming number of bone-deep shocks to the quiet Crane city - not least of which featured his help in shattering a Lion Siege. The question when addressed to him causes him to pause however, patently it was not what he was expecting although he's ready enough to answer that "I know a little of divination, although it is truly the art of the Shugenja. My knowledge of theology is perhaps slightly greater, and I shall gladly share what I know but it is at the feet of a monk I would recommend that you sit should you wish true insight."

"Ah, yes, this being the tournament of the minor clans, perhaps there is a Dragonfly about that could be convinced the share a modicum of their knowledge about divination with me. As for a monk, have you seen any around? They seem to be a bit on short supply. Since you know a bit, would you be willing to give me a primer? I want to at least understand some of the vocabulary used by my opponents while they teach me the path to enlightenment."

 "It would seem likely, although I do not know how much can be imparted in a few short words of what must generally be demonstrated by experience..." Kedo answers uncertainly - a rare state of events for him to enter although one he's been becoming more familiar with of late, which is probably to the good all things being considered - "...For serious study, it is best to take oneself away from the familiar and the notionally important."

 So far, so thoroughly orthodox although his answer to being 'taught the path to enlightenment' would be considered a thoroughgoing heresy in many places, revolving as it does around the rueful but reverent admission that "Enlightenment is not a destination to be reached or a path that can be taught, it is something that can only be discovered by living it... And even had I the secret in the palm of my hand, it would not help in the debate since theology covers more than the words of Shinsei - you may find yourself debating the proper means by which a field should be blessed or a roadside shrine venerated, depending upon the knowledge and interests of your opponent and the nature of the question asked."

 He seems to think for a moment, addressing the most practical question in the most practical fashion - and without showing too much of the way smile forming in his heart as he comments "As it should happen I do believe that I might have a notion as to where one or more might be found. Have you explored the encampment of the Dragon yet?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:42, Mon 18 Jan 2016.

[Yuudai (NPC), Ikoma Hitori (NPC), Kedo, Asahina Byako]

"You tease, Kedo-san," Ikoma Hitori smiled, "but now is the season of the Ronin. Between the Black Lion's military success culminating in the Second Day of Thunder and the Tournament of the Emperor's Favored, Ronin of every stripe are demanding recognition of their merits in the Empire, but their value will remain unrecognized if thereis no one who will tell their stories."

[Doji Iwao (NPC), Kitsune Daichi, Bayushi Kenshin, Daidoji Sakura]

Doji Iwao fumed as his daughter departed with her fiance, but he fumed in silence.


[Doji Naomi (NPC), Kitsune Shoji]


[Kakita Nakamura (NPC), Kakita Yaimoko (NPC), Daidoji Kasumi]

[Yuudai (NPC), Ikoma Hitori (NPC), Kedo, Asahina Byako]

"I have not yet explored the Dragon camp. I will wander there next, and see if the Fortunes deign to smile upon me. In the meantime I will consider what you've said and see if my thoughts can sway towards the ideals that you have established as the basis for the matter of theology."

[Doji Naomi (NPC), Kitsune Shoji]
Shoji briefly closed his eyes, long enough to process Naomi's words, but not long enough to run into a surprised stranger.

"My hopes for a peaceful tournament are dashed, aren't they," Shoji mused.  "Whatever happens with us, I would prefer that it be on our terms, not the machinations of others.  Thank you for the warning.  I saw Nakamura-san talking to your father.  Who is he?"

"Doji-San" Kenshin began, "is there anything special that we must know -- say, something that we can bring?"

He could "fish" as well as any Scorpion; he just used what he caught for different ends.

Sakura decided that now was a good time to cease to be "unobtrusive". She slid in next to Iwao, her position being one of a Daidoji "protecting" the Kakita from the dangerous Scorpion. She bowed appropriately to Iwao, but said nothing preferring him to "break the ice."

[OOC: Sorry for the delay, it took me quite some time to figure something out. Hopefully, this is sufficiently sneaky.]

Kasumi had heard enough.

What she wanted to do was execute them both, but that was simply too ... obvious. No, she would need to be subtle. The Honor of the Crane was at stake -- not to mention Kedo's life. She snuck back a bit, looking to this time make it "obvious" where she was coming from.

She slid in next to the two Kakita, pretending that she hadn't heard anything.

"As you may know" she whispered, "My sister and I are Crane Magistrates. Something has recently come up, a matter of Crane Honor, that we need some help with. Kakita Yaimoko -- I apologize, but I need to draft you for a short while, to assist in a ... sensitive matter."

The delivery, of course, was key: let them be scared at first, and then realize that this was completely unrelated. Yes, that would work ... she hoped.

[OOC: no clue what roll will be required, if any; but she will be spending a void point on it.]

After indicating to her husband's charge that she had no insight as to the origin or story of Yuudai, Ikaji whispered to her husband and the two of them began to move toward Kakita Nakamura and her nephew.  Everyone else had a reason to be here, but those two did not, so far as Ikaji knew.  Anomalies beg questions, and every question needs an answer.

As she neared them she bowed politely, and a hair further than circumstances would require.  "Kakita Nakamura-san!  I did not know that you enjoyed the honorable competition of sumai.  Did you come to see a particular competitor, for enjoyment of the event itself, or as part of enjoying the current peace between the clans?"

[Yuudai (NPC), Ikoma Hitori (NPC), Kedo, Asahina Byako]

 "The nightingale may demand recognition of the eagle for the beauty of its song, but that does not make doing so wise." Kedo answers as readily as he is called out upon his teasing, but the natural concession that follows is that "And we would be the poorer without their song."

 Of course, almost immediately he takes the suggestion of the Asahina as a worthwhile one and remarks "Perhaps it would do us well to see what the Mountain Clan have to say - it is not for nothing that they are spoken of as possessing great insight.", smoothly insinuating himself into the expedition (and managing a moderately good job of quashing a strong pang of homesickness for the shade of Dragon-green as he does so).

[Yuudai (NPC), Ikoma Hitori (NPC), Kedo, Asahina Byako]

"I have heard as much. Ikoma-san, Yuudai-san, would you care to join us in our quest for knowledge? Or is it for enlightenment? I guess we'll find out!"

[Ikoma Hitori (NPC), Yuudai (NPC), Asahina Byako, Kedo]

"My goals are not so lofty as enlightenment, Asahina-san, though there is wisdom to be found on the Mountain," the ronin Yuudai smiled, "as Akodo said, Way is not my Way. I must admit to some low interest in being the hero of an epic tale though, Ikoma-san," the large man winked, "perhaps Kedo-san can be the self-effacing sidekick."

"Somehow, I expect this tale to have more twists and turns than a simple epic could provide, Yuudai-san," Ikoma Hitori laughed, "and you, Kedo-san, nor Yuudai-san, are not nightingales in the face of eagles. You are morning glories among roses, too clever to be pierced with thorns and bright enough to be seen apart from the blossoms."

[Doji Naomi (NPC), Kitsune Shoji]


[Kakita Nakamura (NPC), Kakita Yaimoko (NPC), Daidoji Kasumi]


[Doji Iwao (NPC), Kitsune Daichi, Bayushi Kenshin, Daidoji Sakura]

"Yourselves, Bayushi-san," Doji Iwao replied, "we are, after all, guests of the Sparrow for the duration of the tournament."

[Doji Naomi (NPC), Kitsune Shoji]

"The last thing I need right now is to be associated with a ronin," Shoji sighed.  His head turned to look across the ring to look for the Ronin in question, "especially one with a following of his own."

"Naomi-chan, What have you heard about the ronin and I?  Should I avoid him?"  Despite his issues with her family, Shoji trusted his fiance as much as anyone, except, perhaps his brother.

[Asahina Byako, Ikoma Hitori (NPC), Kedo, Yuudai (NPC)]

 "It would be a pleasant reprieve from budding notoriety... Not to mention the risk of being drawn from amidst the roses and placed in a Kakita maidens bowl." Kedo remarks quietly, his particular choice of words driven by forces deeper than he's currently able to appreciate, for all his insight, "But if it is twists and turns we seek, then the mountain clan knows them better than any other. Shall we depart?"

[Asahina Byako, Ikoma Hitori (NPC), Kedo, Yuudai (NPC)]

"Perhaps I'm wrong, but I believe enlightenment may be a journey, not a destination. Perhaps, despite Way not being your way, you may find yourself walking the Way anyhow. Who knows? Maybe I will too? At any rate, my goal, and it is a destination, rather than a journey, is simply to gain enough knowledge of theology to avoid embarrassing myself in the test. I think avoiding embarrassment is probably a worthy goal of anyone who unwisely chooses to enter a test of knowledge of which they have little prior experience."

In response to Kedo, Byako turns and begins to walk towards the Dragon encampment, assuming that everyone will as well. Obviously a woman of (way too) many words, she doesn't let walking interfere with her continued conversation: "As for avoiding blooming into a wildflower that will attract the attention of a maiden, there's always the possibility of simply hunting the mouse instead of the rabbit; it will still be enough to eat, but will not attract others who wish to share."

"Ironic that you were discussing family honor" Sakura said, motioning for Yaimoko to follow. "I'm on a mission of Clan honor."

"Tell me, Kakita-San -- how ... accomplished are you in Iaijutsu?"

[Ikoma Hitori (NPC), Yuudai (NPC), Asahina Byako, Kedo]

Link back to this game

[Doji Naomi (NPC), Kitsune Shoji]

"The ronin Kedo? He's on a Musha Shyugo," Naomi answered, referring to a training quest during which a samurai relinquished their past for the duration of the journey. It was considered disrespectful to refer to that samurai's past under their prior identity.

"But most recently he was employed by the Crane as a yojimbo to Daidoji Sakura. By all accounts, they parted on good terms and he acquitted himself with honor, during the Seige of Toshi Ranbo, better, if rumors are to be believed. You will be competing in many of the same events," she smiled wryly, "I can't imagine avoiding him will be possible."

[Kakita Yaimoko (NPC), Daidoji Kasumi]

Kakita Yaimoko was clearly nervous. Of course, that might have had something to do with the fact that he was being interviewed on a matter of Clan honor by a woman (or her twin, the rumors were never quite clear) widely considered by many to be a problem solver. He just hoped that he hadn’t been identified as a problem.

”I have some small skill,” Yaimoko replied modestly, ”though I am certainly not in the same class as Bayushi Kenshin.” That the Scorpion student of the Kakita style had been in Toshi Ranbo and was well acquainted with the twins was no great secret. ”What is this about?”

[Kakita Nakamura (NPC), Shiba Ikaji]


"The event itself, Shiba-san," Kakita Nakamura bowed politely, "it is, after all, a historic event, one that may not be seen again in our lifetime. A new dynasty, a new era for the Empire, how could we miss it?"

[Kakita Nakamura (NPC), Shiba Ikaji]

"The event itself, Shiba-san," Kakita Nakamura bowed politely, "it is, after all, a historic event, one that may not be seen again in our lifetime. A new dynasty, a new era for the Empire, how could we miss it?"
</quote>

"I'm sorry, Kakita-san, I had missed the indication that the new dynasty will be doing away with the tournament."  Ikaji replied, barely keeping her eyebrows from raising in surprise.  Sincerely curious, she asked "Have you heard this, or are you just commenting on the uncertainty of the era?"

---

15:35, Today: Shiba Ikaji rolled 38 using 9d10, keeping the 5 highest rolls, rerolling max with rolls of 7,4,1,9,4,8,5,9,5.  Courtier/Awareness.
16:21, Today: Shiba Ikaji rolled 28 using 9d10, keeping the 5 highest rolls, rerolling max with rolls of 5,3,2,5,3,1,8,6,4.  Awareness/Ettiquette - Sincerity.

"Certainly not! I am sorry that you misunderstood," Kakita Nakamura replied condesendingly, "it has never been seen, in the history of the Empire that the very first of any dynasty has attended the Tournament of the Emperor's Favored. No, this era will be one of prosperity, particularly for the Crane."

[Doji Naomi (NPC), Kitsune Shoji]

"Lovely.  So Nakamura-san is cooking up some sort of plan between myself and, ronin or not, a hero of Toshia Ranbo.  Lovely." Being of a Minor Clan was a difficult enough position in this arrangement, but even more so in terms of being somehow tied to a ronin that might overshadow him.  "I just wish I knew more.  Maybe there would be a way to put myself in a better position.  I don't think my Iaijutsu is going to help," he closed the thought with a self-depricating smile, a reference to the recent and quite public instruction session by Bayushi Kenshin.

He paused, content to put the thought behind him for the moment.

"You look nice," he offered, pointing toward his betrothed's kimono.  "Its the perfect cut and color for you."

He regretted the words almost immediately, hoping she didn't take them as an insult.  It was meant as a compliment, but he worried that telling a Doji that she dresses well puts forth the connotation that it was possible for her not to.

Kasumi shifted a stray lock of hair, her Daidoji tatoo peeking out as she did so. "How much do you want to know?"Her eyes refocused to the distance, making sure there were no "prying ears" as she continued.

"Your part is strictly honorable -- in fact, the more honorable the better. It comes in two parts: second, to enter the Iaijutsu tournament and be a suitable challenge the Ronin Kedo."

"Like I said" she emphasized, "strictly honorable -- you must do your absolute best to defeat him. Whether you do is beside the point."

"The first is likewise simple and honorable: teach me the basics of Iai."

This was something that her Sister would not approve of -- nor was the fact that she was going to enter the tournament herself.

[Besides the obvious, she wants to gain enough familiarity with his movement style to recognize him in the dark. Well, that's the Theory anyway ...]

[Doji Naomi (NPC), Kitsune Shoji]

"Thank you," Naomi turned a very pale shade of pink, conscious of the complement Shoji paid her rather than whatever negative implications it might have had. Whatever else anyone might say of her, she was definitely a person who assumed kindness rather than the opposite.

But then, of course, the problems surrounding their particular situation reasserted themselves in her mind.

"Whatever the plan is, it doesn't seem particularly well considered," Naomi frowned, "nothing about the Ronin Kedo would indicate he's the kind of samurai who is easily manipulated. I know it seems outlandish, but perhaps a direct conversation with him would be the best course."

[Kakita Yaimoko (NPC), Daidoji Kasumi]



"As little as possible," Kakita Yaimoko replied, closing his eyes. It wasn't that Yaimoko wasn't curious--he was definitely intrigued, probably more than was strictly healthy. But he also knew the less he knew, the more easily he could honorably and truthfully claim plausible deniability if it ever came to offering testimony. And there were zero cases in which being called to offer testimony would bode ill for the magistrate before him.

He almost pitied Kakita Nakamura and her machinations. Almost.



With competitors such as Bayushi Kenshin competing, I have some doubt that I will even have the opportunity to face, him, but that seems easily done," he replied. Also, Yaimoko was even more certain that he most definitely did not want to know any more. Any time a Daidoji insisted on someone being strictly honorable it meant that someone was going to get the sharp edge of a blade. He definitely did not want to know who it was going to be.



"Oh, that, that I can do. When would you like to begin?"

[Doji Naomi (NPC), Kitsune Shoji]
"I know it seems outlandish, but perhaps a direct conversation with him would be the best course."

Shoji laughed in response to what he took as kind admonishment.  "Your practicality is admirable, Naomi-san.  I'll seek out this ronin Kedo immediately.  Perhaps we can help each other without respective problems."

With out further ado, Shoji moved to heed Naomi's suggestion.  He gave a deep bow to his betrothed before turning to depart.  The shugenja allowed himself a glance over his shoulder, pleased that despite the familial issues that the woman Shoji was promised to held so much of his respect.

The Kitsune made one stop on his search for the Kedo, a side-trip to gather his brother.  If he and this Kedo were to be challenged by Doji Iwao and Kakita Nakamora, Shoji suspected it would be best if they shared what they knew.  It was only then he started his search for the well-glorified hero of Toshi Ranbo.