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Glory of the Emerald Empire (Legend of the 5 Rings Quest)

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Given the time skip we probably have 2 void points again. If we can use one of them to avoid combat that would be a good idea. If we go with the letter getting some extra dice would be a good idea. Or maybe on some other aspect of the plan. After all, it isn't like much else will happen today that needs void right?
 
Hydroplatypus said:
Given the time skip we probably have 2 void points again. If we can use one of them to avoid combat that would be a good idea. If we go with the letter getting some extra dice would be a good idea. Or maybe on some other aspect of the plan. After all, it isn't like much else will happen today that needs void right?
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It's a reasonable choice... but if things *do* descend to combat, we'll probably want both of them for *that*.
 
Sirrocco said:
[x] Your eyes narrow. Your nostrils flare.
[x] "Tarumo, I thank you for not insulting me by suggesting that I pay you for simply returning a thing to its rightful owner once informed of your mistake. I do not respond to such insults well."
[x] "Let us be clear. The hollow tree that you took the necklace from was the home of a spirit ally of the Crab Clan to whom the necklace rightfully belonged. You stole it from her home while she was elsewhere - driving off invaders from gaki-do. I do not blame you for this. I understand that the theft was unintentional - but you will return the necklace."
[x] "That having been said, you are seeking to take part in the twenty goblin winter. Any man or woman who seeks to pit themselves against the shadowlands has my approval, and I would not wish for you to starve before you arrive. Bring me the necklace, and I will see what I can do to help."

I figure that the veiled not-quite-insults and not-quite-threats here should placate our temper a bit.

Obviously, we're not going to give them anything like as much as the necklace is actually worth. We're also not going to empty out our purse on this one. At the same time, if giving them a relatively small sum will ensure that they at least have food for the next while... long enough to get back on their feet, as it were, that seems like a reasonable thing to provide, from a service to the clan standpoint, if nothing else. We have 54 koku on hand. Canonically, a koku is equal in value to enough rice to feed a man for a year. How many ronin are there? If we give them, say, a koku or two per ronin, they'd be hard-pressed to claim that they're going to starve in the next few months.

With respect to the letter of recommendation idea - could we possibly have an Awareness+Etiquette (6k3) to know about letters of introduction, how appropriate they'd be in this case, and how much they'd actually mean?
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Well, the value of Koku has declined a fair bit since the founding of the Empire and the laying down of its monetary system. One Koku is still a fair bit of money, though. More than enough to purchase food for a good length of time.

As for how much Sosuke knows about letters of introduction…

Etiquette Roll: 6k3=30

Quite a bit!

Okay, here's how this works. Letters of introduction can be incredibly valuable and open a lot of doors that would likely remain closed without them. However, making a letter introduction is vouching for the person a little bit. It's not being truly responsible for them, but what they might do with the letter does reflect on you. This is something to keep in mind.

Now you might be uncomfortable with that, but ultimately everything depends on how you write the letter and what its contents contain. You could write a letter that says give these men due attention and consideration, and people would abide by that unless someone of higher status said not to. You could also, however, just explain the situation here and write that these men wish to give their swords to the Crab Clan, and that they're at least worth a half hour interview and inspection.

Ultimately, how much pull your letter has and how much impact it will have on you depends on what you write in it.
 
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Cool. So, something like a few pieces of solid advice, a noncommittal letter of introduction addressed to a specific person that we know at least reasonably well (along with instructions on how to find that person) and something like 10 koku, and they should be fine. They may or may not be *happy* with it, but they'll be fine.

...and hey! we have a personal seal! Awesome. Mind you, getting paper, pen, and ink might be a bit tricky.
 
So, would people like to write out a letter? It'd be nice if I had some consensus on how exactly you'd like to go about the last bit of the vote "I'll see what I can do to help." You know, just so I can act it all out clearly in the next update.
 
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My idea was that that was the vote -- and then we'd have another vote on what to actually give them, if they went for it. Among other things, whether or not they get a letter of recommendation, and how much of a recommendation it contains, will depend rather directly on their comportment here. How *do* they react to realizing that they've committed theft against a spirit-ally of the Clan? (Yes, I know I'm going a bit out on a limb with this one, but I'm fully intending that she *be* a spirit-ally of the clan by the time we're done.)

If you want to get this bit done the sooner, though, and thus want me to extend the vote to include an idea of what to offer them, I can do that.
 
Ah, then we had a slight misunderstanding. My apologies. I was asking if you wanted Sosuke to suggest he could write a letter if the Ronin asked for clarification on what Sosuke could do to help them. You seem to be saying that's part of the vote as it is now. I just wanted to be sure of that.
 
Sirrocco said:
My idea was that that was the vote -- and then we'd have another vote on what to actually give them, if they went for it. Among other things, whether or not they get a letter of recommendation, and how much of a recommendation it contains, will depend rather directly on their comportment here. How *do* they react to realizing that they've committed theft against a spirit-ally of the Clan? (Yes, I know I'm going a bit out on a limb with this one, but I'm fully intending that she *be* a spirit-ally of the clan by the time we're done.)

If you want to get this bit done the sooner, though, and thus want me to extend the vote to include an idea of what to offer them, I can do that.
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They actually don't know if the kitsune is an ally of the clan or not, so is a point in our favor.

Still, I think it will require a roll to see how good we can handle that information, right?

So, putting it under that light, yes, is better to wait for an update to actually give that recomendation, if this ronin continues with his borderline disrespect.
 
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Winged Knight said:
Ah, then we had a slight misunderstanding. My apologies. I was asking if you wanted Sosuke to suggest he could write a letter if the Ronin asked for clarification on what Sosuke could do to help them. You seem to be saying that's part of the vote as it is now. I just wanted to be sure of that.
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No no no. I'm not suggesting anything to be added to the vote as it is now. I'm literally saying that we'll say "I'll see what I can do." with no further explanation. It's going a bit hard-line on this one, with the suggestion that we are intending to help them, but that the degree and kind of help will be at our discretion. Asking stuff about a letter (and other ways he could help) was, if anything, just Sousuke's internal thought processes. If we start talking about what we're going to give them before we get the necklace, they're going to try to drag it back to negotiation (...which might, in turn, force us to start making will checks to not kill them all). If we give them no space to negotiate, and are then reasonably generous with assistance, though....
 
I gotcha. Thanks for clarifying. Update should be coming in a few hours after I get home from work.
 
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    • [x] Behold the majesty of the Tiny Squid and despair!


    Your eyes narrow, and your nostrils flare as you breathe deeply. You get a grip on your temper, but it is a near thing. What the Ronin has said comes very, very close to an insult. But it isn't one just yet, for all the man's disrespect. As such, you can hold yourself back for now. This is a good thing.

    Well, for the Ronin, at any rate. The way this conversation is going, you're still sorely tempted to start breaking skulls. But now is not yet the time for killing. You still have a chance to handle this without bloodshed.

    "Tarumo," you say, keeping your voice even. "I thank you for not insulting me by suggesting that I pay you for simply returning a thing to its rightful owner once informed of your mistake. I do not respond to such insults well."

    "It wasn't an insult, Hiruma-san," Tarumo says. "I'm just stating-"

    "Let us be clear," you interrupt, raising hand to keep the Ronin from speaking. "The hollow tree that you took the necklace from was the home of a spirit ally of the Crab Clan to whom the necklace rightfully belonged. You stole it from her home while she was elsewhere - driving off invaders from Gaki-do. I do not blame you for this. I understand that the theft was unintentional - but you will return the pendant."

    Tarumo scowls, and crosses his arms. His men grumble behind him, and fingers tap on sword hilts. You can hear Hoshi and Jinbei shifting behind you, changing their stances and getting ready to level their spears if need be.

    "So where does that leave us?" Tarumo says, glowering at you. You feel your temper flare up a little at the man's impudence, but quickly reign in your temper before too much of it can show on your face. "We still need food, Hiruma-san, and that costs money."

    "I understand. Regardless, you will still return the pendant," you respond. "That having been said, you are seeking to take part in the Twenty Goblin Winter. Any man or woman who seeks to pit themselves against the Shadowlands has my approval, and I would not wish for you to starve before you arrive. Bring me the necklace, and I will see what I can do to help."

    Tarumo's glower fades, and he turns his head to look at you askance. "Your word on it, Hiruma-san?"

    "I would not lie," you say back, keeping yourself from grinding your teeth. By all that is good and holy, this man is aggravating. "And I will appreciate you to not imply such. But if it will finally put you at ease and cooperate… Yes, you have my word I will do what I can to help you should you hand over the pendant."

    Tarumo looks at you for a few seconds before nodding. He reaches into his shirt and pulls out a glimmering pendant on a gold chain. He tosses it over to you, and you catch it with one hand. You look at it, and see a beautifully made likeness of a fox created from gold and inset with jade at the eyes and nose. The craftsmanship in this piece of jewelry is superb, obviously created by a master.

    You pocket the pendant and look back up, where Tarumo is gazing at you expectantly. Obviously he is waiting for you to reveal just how you plan to help him and his men. From his expression, he wants an explanation quickly.

    [] Write in.
     
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    • So, koku, letter of recomendation, or something else? I don't know very much about L5R bushido rules, but I get the feeling that, even if they are not strictly speaking Samurai, making a promise you have no intention of following up on isn't exactly in line with Bushido teachings.
     
    Oh, Ronin are Samurai. They have no Lord, and are basically considered just a step above bandits most times, but they're still of the Samurai caste. They are disliked so much by so many for the confusion they cause, since they are Samurai but serve no Lord. This is a contradiction to many in the Clans, because Samurai are defined by their duty to Clan and Lord. Ronin serve none but themselves, and are thus distrusted.
     
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    Given how infuriating this man is, I'm *really* not inclined to give him a letter of recommendation. If he acts in this way towards whoever we wrote the letter to, it would *not* reflect well on us.

    I'm thinking 10 koku as far as money goes. My intent is that it be clearly enough for these men to survive on up through the winter, while at the same time clearly not being nearly as much as the necklace is worth. Would that be about right? It's not a trivial amount as far as we're concerned, but it doesn't tap us out either.

    Other than that, I figure we can provide a few useful pieces of information

    - Some basic info on the nezumi, how to get along with them, and their relationship with the Crab Clan (specifically including the bit about how if we find out that you've killed one we will have you executed)
    - A few useful bits of lore on the Shadowlands. Possibly a few handy tricks for the storage and transportation of heads, if we happen to know any.
    - If there is a place that they might go that would allow them further learning or study on shadowlands lore between now and the start of winter, we could tell them that.
    - If we know of anyone in particular who regularly hires ronin on behalf of the clan, especially in cases where they might be working with clan members and facing creatures of the shadowlands (and thus be well placed to learn more of the enemy in semi-controlled circumstances before they head out for themselves) we tell them where to go and who to ask after. We perhaps give him a few pieces of advice on how to comport himself when seeking employment - we don't wish to give offense, but the man really does seem to need it.
    - Tell them that we wish them luck, and that we will pray to the fortunes for their success against our mutual enemy.
    - Actually pray to the fortunes for their success against our mutual enemy.

    None of this is all that hard to get, but it's still worth having, and it may help them plan their next few moves more effectively.
     
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    The extra 50 is your yearly stipend. It's been a year and half since your Gempukku and you didn't spend much at all in that time, so the amount didn't really require refreshing. You're expected to make this money last for a full year should you be required to spend it.

    Just letting you all know.
     
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    gman391 said:
    Shit we could buy a house for that
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    We could, although considering the journey in which sosuke is, not for now.

    Also, I would like to condense sirrocco ideas on a vote... yes, giving advice will suffice, while also using gman's previous vote...

    But is better to do so in the morning.

    EDIT: S-Scorpion'd by the GM. damm.
     
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