So... the magistrates are kind of a funny one. Various paths to the magistrates...
- We could ask Ikoma-sama. This is a poor choice, because we don't really want to be all that heavily connected to Ikoma-sama. On top of that, we don't want to ask him for things, unless it's things directly in support of our searches (which this wouldn't be).
- We could ask Bayushi Kimiko to ask Matsu Ketsui to have one of her underlings introduce us. It would be a minimal request for her, but... I dunno. I feel like we don't want to draw from that well unless we absolutely have to. For one thing, it might in some way diminish the purity of their relationship.
- We could ask the Honorable Progeny. This is doable, but would require actually encountering the Honorable Progeny again. This would be one of the reasons to be seen out there practicing on the sparring fields.
- We could strike up an acquaintanceship with Some Random Lion. This is actually very similar to the Honorable Progeny plan, down to the part where we'd set it off by going out for swording practice and letting them approach us.
- We could approach the magistrates on our own, without an introduction. This has... potentially troublesome implications. I'd want to roll etiquette for it. I *suspect* that it's the sort of thing that we could smooth over easily with a small gift - approaching essentially as a supplicant on behalf of our merchant types. Might be worth it, but it would require knowing enough about one of the magistrates to come up with an appropriate gift - and to pick the right magistrate.
Hmmm.... perhaps something like the following...
[] General actions (habits to cultivate across all days)
-[] Take to spending an hour a day practicing in the practice yards. You are a bushi, and it is well to keep your skills sharp regardless. Pick a time when not *every* Matsu is out there, and one when the standard business of the court is unlikely. Perhaps a short while prior to the evening meal. You've started to develop a reputation as an at least passable swordsman. You may as well sustain it. Also, it's not like Matsu rep is a bad thing, and giving others a predictable time when they might approach you is likely worthwhile.
-[] Approach one of the servants about the Magistrates - just trying to find out who one might talk with among the magistrates, where to find them, how to approach them, and so forth. If the one you've found doesn't know, ask who might, and then go speak with that person. Make a point of being respectful and kind throughout, and appreciative when answered - even inquiring after their health or the equivalent if you can fit it in. If/when appropriate, acknowledge it as a matter of Clan business of no particular urgency. If one of them does let slip some personal issue that you can solve trivially, so much the better. See if you can come up with a few other matters of like nature that you can ask about as the days pass - nothing that their Lords would not wish you to know, but little things that you can use to demonstrate that you are not a monster.
[] Specific actions:
-[] Talk to Pale Oak. Get what info he has on those tracking resources on the Lion side. If it's solid, great. If it's not, figure out how much more time he'll need. Let him know that you need to know about the comparative value of what the Crab have to trade and what we have to trade - you'll be talking with a Yasuki, and need to be well-armed. Make sure to leave an opening for and accept any advice or requests he might have on the topic.
-[] Approach Daidoji-san in court, early on. Ask if he might be willing to play go with you once more. Play casually. Use this as an opportunity to suss him out, see how he might feel (subtly and respectfully) about you and Doji Mariko (I'm sure that Rokugan has some moral equivalent to "I think she's hot, but I don't want to get all up in your business if you were there first"). See if you can cultivate more of a connection with the man and perhaps pick out a few of his opinions on current events, etc. If you win, great. If you lose, don't lose by much. Try not to dominate him too badly.
-[] Once we get an in with the magistrates (either from picking up enough to know who to talk to and how to approach them or by being approached by an appropriate Lion), go talk with the magistrates. Again, be polite, be friendly, be helpful, and be pretty straightfoward about why you're here - you want to make sure that there are no regrettable incidents, and that means being respectful of the opinions and priorities of the magistrates, and that requires knowing what those opinions and priorities *are*. It should be an easy enough sell.
-[] Once you're done with that, get the information to Pale Oak, possibly while exchanging information about other things.
-[] Spend at least some time with Doji Mariko. Probably want to visit her about twice during this process. Next time, give her at least a few teaching games of Go. Do what you can to assist her in acquiring skill. Tune level of flirting a bit based on the feedback you got from Daidoji-san.
-[] Once you have the information from Pale Oak, visit Otomo-sama. Give him the information you've acquired, express respectfulness and continued willingness to assist in any way you can manage, try to pick out a bit more about his opinons on things and/or useful stuff you could be doing for him.
As a general vague plan, I think that *pretty* much fills four days, given a bit of luck. It gets back to Otomo-sama pretty quickly, it keeps us working on the Crane delegation and on the help, it puts a bit of work into maintaining our position with the Lion, and it has a good shot one way or the other of handling the Magistrate thing. It's a bit incomplete, in that it doesn't set us up particularly well to romance anyone not named Doji Mariko, and has no fallback plan if that would horribly offend Daidoji-san. It also puts off talking with the Crab until later, and doesn't do anything with respect to the Phoenix. For the Crab, i think that works. For the Phoenix... it saddens me, but honestly she's just not that useful.
Given the degree of uncertainty here, I'm thinking we should try to be voting one day at a time. Day 1 would then be something like
- Start talking with the servants
- Start practicing with your katana on a daily basis (and interacting with whoever approaches)
- Touch base with Pale Oak - swap info
- Go with Daidoji-san while attending court
- Otomo-sama if you have that data
-- if not, Magistrates if you have that data
--- if not, Something will probably come up. Do that thing.
---- if not, poetry practice?
Of course, at this point, I'm sort of grasping as to how to put these together.
@Maugan Ra, I'd be happy for feedback - especially on how you'd want us to handle the "first we want to figure out things, and then make plans based on those things" issue.
Feedback eagerly welcomed. I think I'm doing better, but I don't want to go full steam into a wall again, so I'm depending on you all to keep an eye open for mistakes, particularly in the overly long posts like this one.
