Re: The Call to Adventure
The acolytes get everyone seated, and the two servants on either side of the double rice-paper doors slide them fully open to reveal a combination of three rectangular rooms, all similar to the one you are in now. The sliding doors of each have been opened to create one large room (approx 20' wide by 55' long).
Approximately 20' from your position is the end of the first section. The next area is a step higher and is approximately 15' x20' while the final area---the jodan---is another step higher and is about 10' x 20'. In the final section sit two figures to the left and right of an honored place in the center of the jodan. In that spot, a large, sky-blue sitting cushion remains empty. A small "armrest table" that is barely 8" wide and about 18" long and only about 10" high is next to the empty sky-blue cushion.
To the right (your left) of the jodan's honored empty seat, sits the beautiful, apparently human, and perhaps about 30 year-old shugenja from the night before. She wears her immaculate, snow-white robe. Her jet black is pulled back in a different (but still elaborate) braiding than last night. Once again it seems to enhance the beauty of her naturally pale complexion. She sits silently in a formal posture as her gaze quickly moves from person to person.
To the left (your right) of the jodan's center seat is an apparently human, dark-skinned male wearing the formal, ceremonial robes of a sohei. The robe barely seems able to contain the man's massive shoulders and wide chest. His head is shaved smooth, except for a thick but tightly-braided ponytail that extends from the back of his head and is drapped across his right shoulder. A sheathed jian (longsword) lay on the floor near his right thigh.
The servant who led you along the porch touches his forehead to the floor and announces your names:
"Kasumi, your young brother, defender of Renshu Kiro
Kuuhaku, defender of Renshu Kiro
Daikihina, defender of Renshu Kiro
Ishikawa Chizuru, defender of the common children along the Imperial Road
Tenba Ichiro, defender of the common children along the Imperial Road
Zheng-Ze, defender of the common children along the Imperial Road
O, defender of the common children along the Imperial Road."