In Thunder's Echo (Legend of the Five Rings Quest)
Night
Widow Null
- Location
- Hoff
[x] React with a moment of surprise... but one of epiphany, rather than shock. "A letter? Just a letter? And a bizarre change of instructions? Doji-san, are you sure that your instructions are to the benefit of your Lord? There are... many things that can be done with letters."
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[x] React with a moment of surprise... but one of epiphany, rather than shock. "A letter? Just a letter? And a bizarre change of instructions? Doji-san, are you sure that your instructions are to the benefit of your Lord? There are... many things that can be done with letters."
4.04 - The Five Arches
- Location
- London, England
In that one brief moment, everything seems to fall into place, and you are forced to limit your reaction as much as you can for fear of disgracing yourself with overt displays of emotion. Even so it appears that Doji Mariko is a sufficiently fine courtier as to pick up on what little reaction you do display, looking at you and raising an eyebrow. Thinking quickly, you weave what you hope is a coherent narrative out of what an appropriately sincere samurai should know.
"A letter? Just a letter?" You say quietly, seeking clarification. "For such a bizarre change of instructions?"
"Delivered by an official courier from Kyuden Doji, yes." Mariko responds cautiously. "I had thought it strange, but my Champion is highly involved in the reconstruction works. I can only presume he came into possession of new information at a late moment, and had to rely upon such methods to contact those who had already begun their assigned journeys."
You are on dangerous ground here, for the peril that could result from an incautious word would be dire indeed. And yet, every instinct you have tells you that there are great rewards available here, if you can but navigate the delicate path between such troubled waters. Choosing your words with great care, you press on.
"Doji-san, are you sure your instructions are to the benefit of your lord?" You say, pitching your voice so that it does not carry much further than the two of you. "There are... many things that can be done with letters."
You would have expected Doji Mariko to react with shock and outrage to the merest suggestion of such a thing, or at the very least incredulous disbelief, but she controls herself perfectly. No, that is not quite right. It is not that those emotions are controlled, it is that they are not present at all. Indeed, if anything you would say that the Crane looks... resigned.
"I am a samurai. I serve at the command and pleasure of my lord. My life and death are his to do with as he wishes." She says quietly, still walking at a calm and measured pace. "It is not my place to doubt, or to question his motives. If I am given instruction and have no reason to doubt its authenticity, then it is my duty to carry it out."
She falls silent at that, and you find you have no words. Suddenly, you understand why your Clan has always scorned the more restrictive and limiting aspects of custom and etiquette, why they have embraced the shadows and all of their crafts with such dedication. A Scorpion would be able to admit the possibility that their orders were faked, that someone was attempting to exploit their loyalty. To you, there is no shame in such thinking, for your sensei made sure you were aware of such options even if you never learned to employ them personally.
But Mariko is a Crane. Not only would her training have made little to no mention of such tactics, she has likely been brought up to believe that even displaying knowledge of them or thinking of them as a possibility is dishonourable. If the letter does not appear obviously fraudulent (and the chances are delicate correspondence such as this would have been written in a genuine Clan cipher), then she has no viable way to pursue the investigation. Who could she ask to authenticate a letter from the Clan Champion? Who could she confess her doubts to without appearing disloyal? And even if there was such an avenue available, you suspect it would take time to pursue, and if it arrived while she was already en route to Shiro Matsu... well, no wonder she feels resigned. Able to see the trap around her, but denied any means of escaping it.
Except, perhaps, through you.
Slowly, you nod. "I see. An unfortunate situation, Doji-san."
"Indeed." She says quietly. "And one I do not much wish to reflect upon. For now... ah, this must be the theater? Let us set aside such dire thoughts, and focus on appreciating the performance."
-/-
It takes only a little effort to arrange seats for yourself and Doji Mariko at the next play. As you expected, Strong Birch is absolutely delighted to be of service, and his attitude appears to have spread throughout the rest of the theater's staff - all heimin, but well presented and apparently rather well spoken people all the same. They escort you into the audience chamber with all speed, and quickly find you a spot with a fine view of the stage and comfortable cushions to support you as you kneel. You begin to make enquiries about payment, but are informed that such things are waived during the festival - a lie, you are quite sure, but one you are willing to accept.
As is perhaps to be expected in the lands of the Lion, the Five Arches specializes in the controlled and stylized form of acting known as noh. It is a sharp contrast to the more energetic and lively kabuki traditionally favored by the Scorpion, but you suppose it is probably a much better fit for the exceptionally strict and disciplined Lion. Indeed, as you look around the audience you can see at least a couple of dozen samurai from the Lion who have taken the time to attend the performance, in addition to a large number of peasants who come from the more refined and intellectual portions of society (all of whom have left plenty of space between themselves and the nearest samurai). If there are any attendees from the other delegations here, you do not spot them before the lanterns are extinguished and the play begins.
It begins in darkness, with the lights turned down and all of the audience waiting in silence. Then a single candle is lit, cradled in the hands of a single actor in the middle of the stage. He is dressed in robes of the deepest black, and on his face is one of the masks common to noh performances. Where most such masks would have a stylized and exaggerated expression on them, however, this one is perfectly smooth and blank. Aside from the two small slits for eyes and another for the mouth, it is utterly featureless.
"In the beginning, there was Nothing." The actor says slowly, his voice deep and smooth, almost like that of one still half-asleep. "No time or space. No light or darkness. No fire or earth or water or air. Not even the void. There was only I, and I was Nothing."
You recognize the story instantly. This is how the world came to be, as relayed to mankind by the Fortunes themselves, and it is a story that every Rokugani is taught at least once. Still, most plays that touch upon the subject would have cast one of the Fortunes themselves in the narrators role. To cast what appears to be a representation of something which does not exist is an unusual, even unprecedented step.
"It was then that I became aware of myself, and perceived that there was Nothing." The actor says, touching one hand lightly to his chest. "I was perfectly alone, for there was nothing but I and I was Nothing. In that moment, I knew Fear."
In the darkness around the actor there is a flurry of movement, and dim light of the candle picking out a myriad of plains and edges, lending shape to the previously formless shadows. Clearly, the actor is no longer alone upon the stage.
"Afraid of my own isolation, I wished to change it. I wanted for a companion, that my fear might be assuaged and my loneliness ended. And so, I knew Desire."
All around the stage, other candles and lanterns are ignited, small pools of light illuminating the darkness and revealing the growing number of other actors moving onto the stage, each richly attired in sharp contrast to the somber garb of the main narrator.
"It was then that I understood my mistake. I was Nothing, but from my Fear and my Desire had been created Something. My perfect stillness, my very existence was to be undone, for where there is something there cannot be Nothing. In that moment, that first moment, I knew Regret."
Now the lights are brought back up in full, revealing the full cast of the play in all their magnificent finery, thronging around and moving past each other in a carefully controlled dance of absolute anarchy. The stage is all but filled by them, and the pressure of their presence forces the original narrator towards the edges of the stage. But instead of exiting entirely, he pauses there on the threshold and turns to face the audience once more.
"Thus was the world created, born from accident and sin."
All at once, the actors all lift their lanterns and extinguish them once more, plunging the stage into darkness as the introductory scene is concluded.
Doji Mariko takes the opportunity presented by the brief pause to learn over and whisper in your ear, her breath warm against your skin.
"An unusual choice of play, Soshi-san. The manager is quite inspired. How did you come to know him?"
Respond
[ ] Write in
"A letter? Just a letter?" You say quietly, seeking clarification. "For such a bizarre change of instructions?"
"Delivered by an official courier from Kyuden Doji, yes." Mariko responds cautiously. "I had thought it strange, but my Champion is highly involved in the reconstruction works. I can only presume he came into possession of new information at a late moment, and had to rely upon such methods to contact those who had already begun their assigned journeys."
You are on dangerous ground here, for the peril that could result from an incautious word would be dire indeed. And yet, every instinct you have tells you that there are great rewards available here, if you can but navigate the delicate path between such troubled waters. Choosing your words with great care, you press on.
"Doji-san, are you sure your instructions are to the benefit of your lord?" You say, pitching your voice so that it does not carry much further than the two of you. "There are... many things that can be done with letters."
You would have expected Doji Mariko to react with shock and outrage to the merest suggestion of such a thing, or at the very least incredulous disbelief, but she controls herself perfectly. No, that is not quite right. It is not that those emotions are controlled, it is that they are not present at all. Indeed, if anything you would say that the Crane looks... resigned.
"I am a samurai. I serve at the command and pleasure of my lord. My life and death are his to do with as he wishes." She says quietly, still walking at a calm and measured pace. "It is not my place to doubt, or to question his motives. If I am given instruction and have no reason to doubt its authenticity, then it is my duty to carry it out."
She falls silent at that, and you find you have no words. Suddenly, you understand why your Clan has always scorned the more restrictive and limiting aspects of custom and etiquette, why they have embraced the shadows and all of their crafts with such dedication. A Scorpion would be able to admit the possibility that their orders were faked, that someone was attempting to exploit their loyalty. To you, there is no shame in such thinking, for your sensei made sure you were aware of such options even if you never learned to employ them personally.
But Mariko is a Crane. Not only would her training have made little to no mention of such tactics, she has likely been brought up to believe that even displaying knowledge of them or thinking of them as a possibility is dishonourable. If the letter does not appear obviously fraudulent (and the chances are delicate correspondence such as this would have been written in a genuine Clan cipher), then she has no viable way to pursue the investigation. Who could she ask to authenticate a letter from the Clan Champion? Who could she confess her doubts to without appearing disloyal? And even if there was such an avenue available, you suspect it would take time to pursue, and if it arrived while she was already en route to Shiro Matsu... well, no wonder she feels resigned. Able to see the trap around her, but denied any means of escaping it.
Except, perhaps, through you.
Slowly, you nod. "I see. An unfortunate situation, Doji-san."
"Indeed." She says quietly. "And one I do not much wish to reflect upon. For now... ah, this must be the theater? Let us set aside such dire thoughts, and focus on appreciating the performance."
-/-
It takes only a little effort to arrange seats for yourself and Doji Mariko at the next play. As you expected, Strong Birch is absolutely delighted to be of service, and his attitude appears to have spread throughout the rest of the theater's staff - all heimin, but well presented and apparently rather well spoken people all the same. They escort you into the audience chamber with all speed, and quickly find you a spot with a fine view of the stage and comfortable cushions to support you as you kneel. You begin to make enquiries about payment, but are informed that such things are waived during the festival - a lie, you are quite sure, but one you are willing to accept.
As is perhaps to be expected in the lands of the Lion, the Five Arches specializes in the controlled and stylized form of acting known as noh. It is a sharp contrast to the more energetic and lively kabuki traditionally favored by the Scorpion, but you suppose it is probably a much better fit for the exceptionally strict and disciplined Lion. Indeed, as you look around the audience you can see at least a couple of dozen samurai from the Lion who have taken the time to attend the performance, in addition to a large number of peasants who come from the more refined and intellectual portions of society (all of whom have left plenty of space between themselves and the nearest samurai). If there are any attendees from the other delegations here, you do not spot them before the lanterns are extinguished and the play begins.
It begins in darkness, with the lights turned down and all of the audience waiting in silence. Then a single candle is lit, cradled in the hands of a single actor in the middle of the stage. He is dressed in robes of the deepest black, and on his face is one of the masks common to noh performances. Where most such masks would have a stylized and exaggerated expression on them, however, this one is perfectly smooth and blank. Aside from the two small slits for eyes and another for the mouth, it is utterly featureless.
"In the beginning, there was Nothing." The actor says slowly, his voice deep and smooth, almost like that of one still half-asleep. "No time or space. No light or darkness. No fire or earth or water or air. Not even the void. There was only I, and I was Nothing."
You recognize the story instantly. This is how the world came to be, as relayed to mankind by the Fortunes themselves, and it is a story that every Rokugani is taught at least once. Still, most plays that touch upon the subject would have cast one of the Fortunes themselves in the narrators role. To cast what appears to be a representation of something which does not exist is an unusual, even unprecedented step.
"It was then that I became aware of myself, and perceived that there was Nothing." The actor says, touching one hand lightly to his chest. "I was perfectly alone, for there was nothing but I and I was Nothing. In that moment, I knew Fear."
In the darkness around the actor there is a flurry of movement, and dim light of the candle picking out a myriad of plains and edges, lending shape to the previously formless shadows. Clearly, the actor is no longer alone upon the stage.
"Afraid of my own isolation, I wished to change it. I wanted for a companion, that my fear might be assuaged and my loneliness ended. And so, I knew Desire."
All around the stage, other candles and lanterns are ignited, small pools of light illuminating the darkness and revealing the growing number of other actors moving onto the stage, each richly attired in sharp contrast to the somber garb of the main narrator.
"It was then that I understood my mistake. I was Nothing, but from my Fear and my Desire had been created Something. My perfect stillness, my very existence was to be undone, for where there is something there cannot be Nothing. In that moment, that first moment, I knew Regret."
Now the lights are brought back up in full, revealing the full cast of the play in all their magnificent finery, thronging around and moving past each other in a carefully controlled dance of absolute anarchy. The stage is all but filled by them, and the pressure of their presence forces the original narrator towards the edges of the stage. But instead of exiting entirely, he pauses there on the threshold and turns to face the audience once more.
"Thus was the world created, born from accident and sin."
All at once, the actors all lift their lanterns and extinguish them once more, plunging the stage into darkness as the introductory scene is concluded.
Doji Mariko takes the opportunity presented by the brief pause to learn over and whisper in your ear, her breath warm against your skin.
"An unusual choice of play, Soshi-san. The manager is quite inspired. How did you come to know him?"
Respond
[ ] Write in
Hmmm, while normally we might not want to admit much, given that she just shared quite a lot of sensitive information with us it might be in our interest to reciprocate, specially with something as minor as this is. In a way that don't make the Lion look too bad, but still, by admitting to something that she could use to hurt us if she so decided, even if only a bit, is an interesting show of trust, possibly making her trust us more because she believes we also trust her (which is probably true to some degree, if potentially less than one might think 
).
).We should say something like:
"I just helped him with some problems with the Magistrates. No big deal... just cleared some misunderstanding with his situation".
We should imply what we did and allow her to see that we have more resources than her... resources that could be put to her use.
"I just helped him with some problems with the Magistrates. No big deal... just cleared some misunderstanding with his situation".
We should imply what we did and allow her to see that we have more resources than her... resources that could be put to her use.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
Okay. Doji Mariko is... scheming much less deeply than I'd worried. That's *good*. Poor, trapped little Crane.
So now, the scene is set. She can see the trap, but is constrained by honor from releasing herself from it. We know her main goals. She wants to live, and she wants to serve her Lord faithfully, and she wants to act in the way she has always been taught is the honorable and upright way to act. Unfortunately, the last is conflicting rather severely with the first two, and so she finds herself trapped, perhaps despairing, and hoping to salvage what she can from the situation.
We have at least some of the tools we'd need to address such things. We can, in fact, try to play underhand for her.
The question is, while we can do that, should we? ...and how should we do this thing?
[] "He was having some trouble with the magistrates. One of their doshin had falsely accused him. It came to my attention, and I was able to assist him with the matter. It pleases me when I can assist those who are trapped through no fault of their own."
I dunno. Is that last sentence laying it on too thick?
edit: vote changed in later post after feedback.
So now, the scene is set. She can see the trap, but is constrained by honor from releasing herself from it. We know her main goals. She wants to live, and she wants to serve her Lord faithfully, and she wants to act in the way she has always been taught is the honorable and upright way to act. Unfortunately, the last is conflicting rather severely with the first two, and so she finds herself trapped, perhaps despairing, and hoping to salvage what she can from the situation.
We have at least some of the tools we'd need to address such things. We can, in fact, try to play underhand for her.
The question is, while we can do that, should we? ...and how should we do this thing?
I like that.
[] "He was having some trouble with the magistrates. One of their doshin had falsely accused him. It came to my attention, and I was able to assist him with the matter. It pleases me when I can assist those who are trapped through no fault of their own."
I dunno. Is that last sentence laying it on too thick?
edit: vote changed in later post after feedback.
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Very much so. It also might not be good to explicitly tell of the doshin having falsely accused him, a bit too blatant both in terms of etiquette, allowing the Lion keep some face and could be closer to the image of "mysterious scorpion".
Maybe something like:
[x] "He was having some trouble with the magistrates. There were charges brought against him due to a misunderstanding. It came to my attention, and I was able to assist him with the matter."
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[x] "He was having some trouble with the magistrates. There were charges brought against him due to a misunderstanding. It came to my attention, and I was able to assist him with the matter."
I kinda wanna do the last bit as a metaphor instead of something blatant. Maybe like "A bird caught in a snare is a tragic sight. What could I do but assist?"
But that's the whole blatant subtle meanings in this quest that I have no damned idea how to do right.
A Nation's Virtue
南國山河南帝居
I'm probably missing something, but I don't really see any reason not to aside from:
- All of this possibly being a Scorpion plot. (Possible, but I'd rather not paralyze ourselves on maybe's and perhaps').
- Simply not wishing to unnecessarily expose ourselves to possible danger. (Something which Naoto's done before for his own profit)
Overall, I think it's best that we help her if only because we want to find out what's going on while also securing ourselves an ally with the Crane.
If we do do this, a public argument and falling out after our duel could give the impression that we've broken with the Crane while secretly maintaining our relationship. As it is we're publicaly close to Mariko, and giving the impression that we're no longer so would allow us to move more freely and without suspicion when we start investigating.
I'm probably missing something in my all too short analysis of the benefits, but I'm tired and it's late.
[X] "There was a misunderstanding with the magistrates that caused him some trouble. It came to my attention, and I was able to assist him with the matter."
Sirrocco
Pedantic
So... various ways that we could seek to get her out of this problem....
- Win honorably. Actually track down real proof that this was fabricated.
- Difficulty: This is a non-trivial task.
- Control: could become quite a lot easier with assistance from far-flung Scorpion. I *believe* that there is a Wind spell that allows you to send a message to another Shugenja. If there is, and if Yogo Hanzo knows it, then we could conceivably have the question in the ear of an appropriate representative of the Crane Clan Champion pretty quickly.
- Sub-difficulty: getting the Scorpion at that location to agree to help, and then somehow getting the question in front of the Crane champion, and then getting an honest answer, all without giving him cause to demand Doji Mariko's life.
- Difficulty: It *might* be legit (...or at least, the Crane Champion may have agreed to it)
- Difficulty: If this is a Scorpion Plot of some sort, it turns into a hell of a self-inflicted wound.
- Control: this seems pretty unlikely to me. Specifically, it seems *highly* unlikely that the Scorpion would set something like that up and not at least drop hints to any of the ambassadors being sent to the applicable Winter Court
- Control: send a message back to our superiors to check.
- Pass it off to higher. This is some seriously juicy stuff, and we're sure that the Scorpion Clan can make good use of it *somehow*.
- Difficulty: Might not result in an answer that satisfies Ikoma Genji
- Control: note the value of satisfying Ikoma Genji, and let them make the call.
- Difficulty: Might well result in an answer that would see Doji Mariko dead on the floor before Winter Court is out. Poor pretty little dead Crane.
- Control: suck it up and deal.
- Difficulty: If shugenja support not a factor, might move too slowly.
- Difficulty: Higher might nto care and/or might just say that this is for us to deal with.
- Abuse her faith in correspondence. Fabricate something convincing.
- Difficulty: this would require knowing the appropriate codes, and a really high-quality job on the forgery. We have no forgery skill ourselves (though we do have it among our minions), we have no signet ring, and we don't even know what all of the things she would check would be.
- Somehow prove convincingly that this was a fabrication, based on resources available on-hand, and on analyzing the letter.
- Difficulty: still have no access to the letter
- Difficulty: I'm not sure there's *anything* with enough throw-weight in her own personal world to cast doubt on an apparent set of orders from her Clan Champion, other than the word of that Champion himself (and perhaps the Emperor). Certainly, I don't think there's anything around here that could do it, let alone anything that we ourselves have access to..
- Let Ikoma Genji know what we have found. Convince him to send word to his contacts int eh Lion, who can send appropriately worded messages to the Crane Champion, who may be able to send a correction back
- Difficulty: convincing Ikoma Genji to do it, rather than reacting in some other way.
- Difficulty: Turnaround time for the messages sent back and forth
- Difficulty: Someone may be screening Crane Champion's mail - possibly someone capable of forging a reply.
I admit it. We got that gift from the Thunder Dragon, and I got a bit drunk on Honor for a little while there. The obvious answer is to do what best serves the Clan. As such...
Well, this is certainly pertinent information for Ikoma Genji. He would prefer that it were not the act of Doji Kuwanan himself, and there is good reason here to think that perhaps it is not. Unfortunately for him, it is not as simple as just being the fault of those Crane here now. There is still the very real chance of a major inter-Clan incident. We could go to him with this little... but if we somehow could know what was on the letter itself, or even better, what her initial instructions were as compared to what was on the letter, we could give him a fair bit more. Fortunately, we now have an entirely reasonable (and even laudable) reason to wish to know these things. Unfortunately, she's going to feel at least somewhat honor-bound not to show them to us, so it's still not trivial.
Passing it off to the Clan - or at least giving them a heads-up as to what's happening here so that they can exploit it - would also be a way to do this. It would probably wind up in the hands of some high-tier Scorpion Courtier in the main Crane Winter Court, who would hunt down enough of the truth of the matter to exploit it ruthlessly, to the significant disadvantage of at least some members of the Crane Clan, and possibly causing things to explode messily. This would... likely be displeasing to Ikoma Genji, and also the Crane Delegation (though the Crane Delegation would likely be dead).
- Win honorably. Actually track down real proof that this was fabricated.
- Difficulty: This is a non-trivial task.
- Control: could become quite a lot easier with assistance from far-flung Scorpion. I *believe* that there is a Wind spell that allows you to send a message to another Shugenja. If there is, and if Yogo Hanzo knows it, then we could conceivably have the question in the ear of an appropriate representative of the Crane Clan Champion pretty quickly.
- Sub-difficulty: getting the Scorpion at that location to agree to help, and then somehow getting the question in front of the Crane champion, and then getting an honest answer, all without giving him cause to demand Doji Mariko's life.
- Difficulty: It *might* be legit (...or at least, the Crane Champion may have agreed to it)
- Difficulty: If this is a Scorpion Plot of some sort, it turns into a hell of a self-inflicted wound.
- Control: this seems pretty unlikely to me. Specifically, it seems *highly* unlikely that the Scorpion would set something like that up and not at least drop hints to any of the ambassadors being sent to the applicable Winter Court
- Control: send a message back to our superiors to check.
- Pass it off to higher. This is some seriously juicy stuff, and we're sure that the Scorpion Clan can make good use of it *somehow*.
- Difficulty: Might not result in an answer that satisfies Ikoma Genji
- Control: note the value of satisfying Ikoma Genji, and let them make the call.
- Difficulty: Might well result in an answer that would see Doji Mariko dead on the floor before Winter Court is out. Poor pretty little dead Crane.
- Control: suck it up and deal.
- Difficulty: If shugenja support not a factor, might move too slowly.
- Difficulty: Higher might nto care and/or might just say that this is for us to deal with.
- Abuse her faith in correspondence. Fabricate something convincing.
- Difficulty: this would require knowing the appropriate codes, and a really high-quality job on the forgery. We have no forgery skill ourselves (though we do have it among our minions), we have no signet ring, and we don't even know what all of the things she would check would be.
- Somehow prove convincingly that this was a fabrication, based on resources available on-hand, and on analyzing the letter.
- Difficulty: still have no access to the letter
- Difficulty: I'm not sure there's *anything* with enough throw-weight in her own personal world to cast doubt on an apparent set of orders from her Clan Champion, other than the word of that Champion himself (and perhaps the Emperor). Certainly, I don't think there's anything around here that could do it, let alone anything that we ourselves have access to..
- Let Ikoma Genji know what we have found. Convince him to send word to his contacts int eh Lion, who can send appropriately worded messages to the Crane Champion, who may be able to send a correction back
- Difficulty: convincing Ikoma Genji to do it, rather than reacting in some other way.
- Difficulty: Turnaround time for the messages sent back and forth
- Difficulty: Someone may be screening Crane Champion's mail - possibly someone capable of forging a reply.
I admit it. We got that gift from the Thunder Dragon, and I got a bit drunk on Honor for a little while there. The obvious answer is to do what best serves the Clan. As such...
Well, this is certainly pertinent information for Ikoma Genji. He would prefer that it were not the act of Doji Kuwanan himself, and there is good reason here to think that perhaps it is not. Unfortunately for him, it is not as simple as just being the fault of those Crane here now. There is still the very real chance of a major inter-Clan incident. We could go to him with this little... but if we somehow could know what was on the letter itself, or even better, what her initial instructions were as compared to what was on the letter, we could give him a fair bit more. Fortunately, we now have an entirely reasonable (and even laudable) reason to wish to know these things. Unfortunately, she's going to feel at least somewhat honor-bound not to show them to us, so it's still not trivial.
Passing it off to the Clan - or at least giving them a heads-up as to what's happening here so that they can exploit it - would also be a way to do this. It would probably wind up in the hands of some high-tier Scorpion Courtier in the main Crane Winter Court, who would hunt down enough of the truth of the matter to exploit it ruthlessly, to the significant disadvantage of at least some members of the Crane Clan, and possibly causing things to explode messily. This would... likely be displeasing to Ikoma Genji, and also the Crane Delegation (though the Crane Delegation would likely be dead).
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- Location
- Canada
We need more than we have before we return to the Ikoma. What we have now is nothing more than suspicions, with none to blame for the situation. If we come to him, we'd better be damn sure we have either someone to blame for this whole thing, or proof that the orders were faked.
Sirrocco
Pedantic
I don't know that this is true. We don't have enough to ask for anything back from him yet. That's certainly true Still, this is a matter of some interest to the man. "The delegation is just being good little Crane, but the orders they were given are suspect" is actually pertinent information on this matter, and information he might wish to know (...especially if there's a nontrivial chance of us dying in a kenjutsu duel within the next few days).
The cost is that we want to avoid having any connection drawn between the two of us, so passing information becomes nontrivial.
Wade Garrett
Just trying to do the right thing
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
Hmmm. Could we make use of Strong Oak's...niece, IIRC, for that? She owes us one, and it shouldn't be that complicated for a domestic servant to slip a note into Genji's quarters saying to meet Naoto in private somewhere else.
Of course, that tips him off to our little helper among the servants, but given that he's the Lion spy master and Naoto went way out of his way to do this girl's uncle a solid, it doesn't take the Fortune of Wisdom to put two and two together there.
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A Nation's Virtue
南國山河南帝居
I don't think asking a servant to take a note to the Ikoma karo is necessarily that suspicious, though I could be wrong.
Wade Garrett
Just trying to do the right thing
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
We'd want it done discretely, letter under his pillow style, though. It kinda defeats the purpose of covert meetings if we have somebody banging on his door "Message for Ikoma-san from the Scorpion! Message for Ikoma from the Scorpion!"
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Hm, darn, maybe we should've tried to ask her what she was originally being sent here to do. Is there any way to bring that up again? Perhaps later in the conversation, when the topic drifts towards... I dunno, rebuilding and making peace or something, or maybe asking what she'd rather be doing instead.
We weren't able to even make her suspect or doubt that somebody might have faked her orders; too honorable, too... non-Scorpion. On the other hand, at least it did give us confirmation that the Crane are just following orders (orders which are kinda screwing them, but).
We weren't able to even make her suspect or doubt that somebody might have faked her orders; too honorable, too... non-Scorpion. On the other hand, at least it did give us confirmation that the Crane are just following orders (orders which are kinda screwing them, but).
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I think that the piece of the puzzle that is missing would be with one of the other Crane's or with the Mantis clan...
We don't really have a way to prove that the letter content is a lie, but we could get enough evidence to make it's truthfulness be questioned.
(The Mantis, because this seems to be a plot to keep the Crane dependent on their protection )
We don't really have a way to prove that the letter content is a lie, but we could get enough evidence to make it's truthfulness be questioned.
(The Mantis, because this seems to be a plot to keep the Crane dependent on their protection )
- Location
- Earth
Ra, can we get a lore check on that origin myth? Do we know where it is from? Seems a wierd thing to say about this holy world made by the Heavens. Have we ever before heard of that myth?
Noctum
Dual Paradox
- Location
- Under the Skies Above
That's actually the Rokugani creation myth (or maybe fact). It's part of their cosmology and beliefs. Read that scene again. Naoto doesn't react to the lines but rather the unusual choice of having the narrator playing the Nothing there.