Doji Noriko -Lady Noriko is the rightful Empress by law. (x3) -The omens and portents surrounding her are manifestations of the Will of the Heavens (This point is asserted with greater and lesser degrees of certainty) -Lady Noriko's accession will give too much power to the Crane clan. -Lady Noriko ...

There's a sympathetic smile. "I can imagine." The busyness of court is legendary. "Poetry cycle though the seasons of a single, imagined year. Most notably the year the Ki-rin left. It begins with courting poems between Lion and Ki-rin at a winter court, continuing the exchange through spring, summ...

"I haven't had too much of a chance to read for pleasure this court. What sort of work is Seasons?"

"I need for very little. A friend who loves the Empire is good enough for me."

"Your advice is appreciated. It reminds me of Ikoma Honoka's. Not precisely the same, of course. A different approach entirely, but the same conclusion."

"You ask me whether I am compassionate? Whether I look to the heavens for guidance?" She sighs as the questions leave her lips, the ghost of a smile following behind. "You may know me by my deeds--another answer that does not always satisfy, but the only true test of compassion. Have I shown it?" He...

"You are the second to put me to the test, Asahina-san. If I hesitate, it is only because I believe the first wanted a very different response than I was prepared to give. There are some who believe a plan--any plan, no matter how disruptive--is preferable to an ear that hears and a mind open to ide...

"Perhaps it is not the Fortunes that need to hear the prayers of the nation, but the people who hope to claim the throne. Perhaps it is the strength of our ambitions that creates this imbalance of which you speak."

Noriko looked over at the Asahina with an eyebrow raised. There was nothing that suggested insincerity, there, though Noriko would not put it past certain courtiers to stage a public prayer to elicit a response from a Wind. But what to say to something so plaintive? "I find that we share a prayer, A...

Doji Noriko rose and stepped out onto the floor. "Lords and ladies of Rokugan, the attack on our friend Tatsuya and his son was noxious, a direct result of the passions that the unresolved succession has inflamed. It is right and just that this court take a stand against a turn toward violence by pu...

Tucked just behind the main Temple of Tengen was a small shrine--not even a statue, just a block with the name of Hamanri carved upon it. There, a short distance from the site of the fracas of two nights past, Doji Noriko sat in quiet contemplation.

"I shall have to be on guard for my moment, then. And I am fortunate, I think, that I need mostly to be myself. It is far easier to do than to be someone else."

Noriko let that lapse into silence for a moment, testing it out with her mind. Must be nice, she thought at last, to have the luxury of doing the wrong thing. "I pray that you find it quickly, Ikoma-san. Too many missteps can lead to a fall." She turned the thought over once more. "But it is not the...

Noriko chuckled. "Not many would point out her directness as her finest trait, but I think I understand what you mean. It always seemed that she knew what direction people meant to take her and to resolutely choose her own path." Noriko looked out the window. "But it takes good judgment and better i...

Noriko nodded easily to that. "And which Empress' wife would you model yourself on, if you were trying to challenge yourself to go further and reach new heights?"

Noriko considered that for a moment. "Possibly you would be good for him, but you should also consider whether he would be good for you. Marriages must work both ways to be successful, and it can be challenging for one partner to be expected always to push the other partner away from their natural i...

"They all have their virtues, Ikoma-san, as well as their faults. And this choice was not intended for us to begin with, so it stands to reason that it is not easy. But if you have a little faith in your own discernment, I think you will come out alright."

"Reforms that do not risk the Celestial Order can and should be pursued, I believe, but it is clear to me, though apparently not to all, that Seppun Tomaru's ideas will eventually do precisely that."

She smiled a little sadly. "But perhaps Lady Sun will talk some sense into him, neh?"

Winding Water Banquet, Round 1 Earth | 3k3 ⇒ 14 (TN: 5) Winding Water Banquet, Round 1 Artisan: Poetry/Awareness, 3 raises | 8k4 ⇒ 44 (TN: 20) Cold mist rising up leaves dewdrops on tender grass; Night into new dawn Winding Water Banquet, Round 2 Earth | 3k3 ⇒ 5 (TN: 7) It appears the drink done sn...

"I think that Seppun Tomaru's ideas may help to destabilize our society in uncomfortable ways. It certainly would be culturally homogenizing, and I would miss the way our culture flourishes as the different clans intermingle and share ideas and, yes, disagree. I think that it would be particularly b...