truemane
2018-01-15, 09:39 PM
"Before crossing swords, we sit. We sit sonkyu to know each other. To gain serenity. To savour a moment's silence amid the tumult and chaos of life. Sankyu is respect."
-Standard lesson, Kakita Dueling Academy
"War is deception. The best liar wins."
-Matsu Kohei
The road to Samnyaku began on a river. The road to power began with a hasty flight from danger. The road to fame and glory began with ignominious stealth.
With the skies behind them still alight with the fire of the theatre, Tenjin's men, under his command, lead the boat down the narrow winding river with a skill and a care born of years of training and practice.
Tenjin moved from one end of the boat to the other, hissing orders as he went and in his wake silent shadows rushed to do his bidding.
One of the crew, a tall, painfully thin samurai-ko whose face was a mask of scars lead Kayuga to the covered cabin at one end of the boat. Several other crew members (including Ghoro-me) carried the unconscious Otomo with them.
They entered the cabin, revealing a small, oblong room with two stools and a narrow cot. A young woman sat on one of the stools, bearing the mon of the Kitsune Clan, and token of office stating her to be some kind of magistrate.
Otomo was placed on the cot. And the crew departed. Ghoro stated his intention to stand guard outside the door and to come if needed.
*****
When Tenjin got going, he moved with a speed and precision and purpose much belied by his sometimes slovenly and indulgent appearance. After swearing allegiance to Tenjin, Misako's next 48 hours was an absolute whirlwind of activity. Packing. Preparing. Saying goodbye to friends and family reading maps and scrolls in the vain attempt to learn where they were going or what they might be doing. Every adult she'd ever known stopped by at some point to offer advice or counsel or sympathy or congratulations.
No one really seemed to know which one it should be. And so they were all delivered as if they were a question.
Tenjn was little help. The space of time he set aside to recruit her (if indeed that's what it was) was apparently all the time he had to spare. He had meetings all day and night. Sent reams of messages to people across the empire. He haggled with merchants over the price of supplies and seemingly cashed in every favour he'd ever earned (or ever will earn) with her father for food and weapons.
The only assistance he afforded her was the service of one his crew, a samurai-ko named Yoritomo-me Hatta, a tall woman who was painfully, painfully thin. Her face was a mask of poorly healed scars (as her were arms and legs, although she typically covered them). Her voice was harsh and grating, as though she were talking through sawdust, but her manner was both familiar and kind. She was not available often, and was not able (or willing) to tell Misako much about where they were going, but she was very helpful in offering advice about what she should take (bow, yes, many shoes no). And she told Misako stories of her time on the seas and the rivers.
And then, seemingly all at once, everything came together and they were off. First on his large sailing vessel and then on a smaller one as they moved into Scorpion lands and into smaller, narrower rivers.
They were on the river no more than two days, his entire crew rowing against the current (and with no small help from Tenjin himself, who was able to convince the Air and Water Kami to perform feats she'd never seen before), and then in the dead of night they stopped.
Tenjin bade her wait in the cabin. And to not leave the boat. And he was gone for an hour. Two. Three. And then the tumult of return, the skies alight with fire. The winds strong and chilled. A sudden squall of rain. The kami in an absolute uproar.
And then the doors opened and in came two Scorpion. One looking almost dead and on the cot bleeding. And the other half naked, soaked through, and looking like she might want to join the man on the bed in death.
Welcome to the game! So here you two are. You have a space of time to talk before the next bit happens. So this is now "Now", "In-Game." So you're only in control of yourself, make roles for anything that you need rolling for. And whatever happens is binding.
Let me know if you have any questions.
-Standard lesson, Kakita Dueling Academy
"War is deception. The best liar wins."
-Matsu Kohei
The road to Samnyaku began on a river. The road to power began with a hasty flight from danger. The road to fame and glory began with ignominious stealth.
With the skies behind them still alight with the fire of the theatre, Tenjin's men, under his command, lead the boat down the narrow winding river with a skill and a care born of years of training and practice.
Tenjin moved from one end of the boat to the other, hissing orders as he went and in his wake silent shadows rushed to do his bidding.
One of the crew, a tall, painfully thin samurai-ko whose face was a mask of scars lead Kayuga to the covered cabin at one end of the boat. Several other crew members (including Ghoro-me) carried the unconscious Otomo with them.
They entered the cabin, revealing a small, oblong room with two stools and a narrow cot. A young woman sat on one of the stools, bearing the mon of the Kitsune Clan, and token of office stating her to be some kind of magistrate.
Otomo was placed on the cot. And the crew departed. Ghoro stated his intention to stand guard outside the door and to come if needed.
*****
When Tenjin got going, he moved with a speed and precision and purpose much belied by his sometimes slovenly and indulgent appearance. After swearing allegiance to Tenjin, Misako's next 48 hours was an absolute whirlwind of activity. Packing. Preparing. Saying goodbye to friends and family reading maps and scrolls in the vain attempt to learn where they were going or what they might be doing. Every adult she'd ever known stopped by at some point to offer advice or counsel or sympathy or congratulations.
No one really seemed to know which one it should be. And so they were all delivered as if they were a question.
Tenjn was little help. The space of time he set aside to recruit her (if indeed that's what it was) was apparently all the time he had to spare. He had meetings all day and night. Sent reams of messages to people across the empire. He haggled with merchants over the price of supplies and seemingly cashed in every favour he'd ever earned (or ever will earn) with her father for food and weapons.
The only assistance he afforded her was the service of one his crew, a samurai-ko named Yoritomo-me Hatta, a tall woman who was painfully, painfully thin. Her face was a mask of poorly healed scars (as her were arms and legs, although she typically covered them). Her voice was harsh and grating, as though she were talking through sawdust, but her manner was both familiar and kind. She was not available often, and was not able (or willing) to tell Misako much about where they were going, but she was very helpful in offering advice about what she should take (bow, yes, many shoes no). And she told Misako stories of her time on the seas and the rivers.
And then, seemingly all at once, everything came together and they were off. First on his large sailing vessel and then on a smaller one as they moved into Scorpion lands and into smaller, narrower rivers.
They were on the river no more than two days, his entire crew rowing against the current (and with no small help from Tenjin himself, who was able to convince the Air and Water Kami to perform feats she'd never seen before), and then in the dead of night they stopped.
Tenjin bade her wait in the cabin. And to not leave the boat. And he was gone for an hour. Two. Three. And then the tumult of return, the skies alight with fire. The winds strong and chilled. A sudden squall of rain. The kami in an absolute uproar.
And then the doors opened and in came two Scorpion. One looking almost dead and on the cot bleeding. And the other half naked, soaked through, and looking like she might want to join the man on the bed in death.
Welcome to the game! So here you two are. You have a space of time to talk before the next bit happens. So this is now "Now", "In-Game." So you're only in control of yourself, make roles for anything that you need rolling for. And whatever happens is binding.
Let me know if you have any questions.