[D13, MA] Open RP thread - Festival for Musubi-no-Kami

[Agasha Yuna]

[D13 MA] Festival for Musubi-no-Kami – open RP – food drink dance conversation

The courtyard had been decorated in honor of Musubi-no-Kami, the Fortune of Marriage.

There are tanabata streamers at the entrance to the courtyard, and hanging from the trees in the courtyard, dancing in the chilly winter afternoon breeze.
https://ibb.co/0xwC1w1
https://ibb.co/SXSMbdqS

There are tables of appetizers and desserts, and with each, the opportunity – if desired – to sample a paired drink that makes the perfect culinary marriage.
https://ibb.co/9zVjj49 (savory appetizers)
https://ibb.co/cckJ2vf5 (sushi)
https://ibb.co/60H7x09c (desserts)

There is also, possibly in Otomo Mariko-sama’s honor, a location where shōchū is being poured freely.

There is plenty of space for public and private conversation.

There is space for dancing.

Feel free to post that you are present at the event in this thread. Conversation can happen in this thread, or you can create additional sidebar threads. This is a large space. Many conversations can be happening at the same time.

Participants in the festival can visit all three spaces (open RP, shrine, and art/perform area). You do not have to choose.

[Agasha Yuna]

Agasha Yuna was present, dressed as she had been at court.

She greeted attendees as they arrived, and helped direct them to the places to display their art or perform, to the shrine for prayers, and to the food tables and mingling areas.

She appeared to be in good spirits, though clearly in the mode of a hostess who cannot entirely relax until the crowd is full and merry, and all is fully underway.

[Seppun Tomaru]

Although he seems somewhat somber as he comes off shift, Seppun Tomaru makes an appearance.

"Agasha-san," he says, bowing. "You've put on a lovely event."

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji would never consider insulting the Agasha by skipping the event that she had arranged. It felt rather like her dinner party, but on a much grander scale. She truly was quite the organizer, and quite an asset to the Dragon.

He made sure to give his courtesy to the host of the event.

"Agasha-san, it is pleasing to see that your organizational and hosting abilities can be scaled up in such a grand manner. You should truly be proud." he said, offering a bow.

Her party even had an old man at it!

He bowed to the aged Seppun.

"Seppun-sama, I hope the day finds you well." he said courtesouly.

[Seppun Tomaru]

"Soshi-san," Tomaru replies, returning the bow, "such an event as this improves matters greatly."

He is remarkably sincere. Honest, even.

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji smiles.

"I would be surprised to hear otherwise. Agasha-san has a true talent for boosting morale. Wherever my duties take me and her duties take her, I certainly hope to have more opportunities in the future to attend events arranged by her." he said honestly.

[Yasuki Ryoichi]

Yasuki Ryoichi also came to the festival after court. He bowed politely and paid his respects to the hostess, and to the other attendees.

"Such a lovely gathering you've arranged, Agasha-san," the Yasuki commented. "Good to see you, as well, Seppun-sama ... Soshi-san."

[Seppun Tomaru]

"Yasuki-san," Tomaru says, returning the bow. "A pleasure."

[Agasha Yuna]

Yuna greeted Seppun-sama and Soshi-san and Yasuki-san each warmly.

"I'm so glad you came. Thank you for your kind words! I am so glad everything came together."

"I hope Musubi-no-Kami is pleased. That's the important thing." She glanced over at the shrine.

"The marriages made during this court play an important role in securing the peace between the clans. Rokugan needs stability. Balance. Peace."

"Are you going to tell a story, Soshi-san?"

"And you Yasuki-san? Your gifts to the court have been stunning."

"And Seppun-sama? There is the opportunity to perform, offer art, or a prayer or sermon."

[Seppun Tomaru]

"I might do so," Tomaru says. "Although I would not get in the way of you younger people having a good time."

[Soshi Eiji]

The pause in the Crab's greetings did get a small raise of the eybrows from the Scorpion, but perhaps the Crab was simply overwhelmed by lovely Dragons and old men. He was about to say something clever when he got hit with a blast of the Dragon's famous manic happiness cannon.

"Ah, well I thought I might, Agasha-san, though I will need to consider the tale carefully. Stories honoring Benten are a lot more common and I certainly would not wish to draw Musubi's wrath, say by telling the story I told at your last party." he admitted.

[Agasha Yuna]

"I might do so," Tomaru says. "Although I would not get in the way of you younger people having a good time."

"Your words of wisdom would be a better treat for the young people here, myself included, than any appetizer or dessert that I could serve."

"Ah, well I thought I might, Agasha-san, though I will need to consider the tale carefully. Stories honoring Benten are a lot more common and I certainly would not wish to draw Musubi's wrath, say by telling the story I told at your last party." he admitted.

She smiled. "That was a well told tale, but I do think today is for marriages made, rather than escaped."

[Yasuki Ryoichi]

"And you Yasuki-san? Your gifts to the court have been stunning."

"You're too kind, Agasha-san," Ryoichi said, bowing slightly. "I hope to present a small offering to the festival, but did not want to be the first one - that honor should be reserved for a more distinguished person."

"And Seppun-sama? There is the opportunity to perform, offer art, or a prayer or sermon."

"I might do so," Tomaru says. "Although I would not get in the way of you younger people having a good time."

"Perhaps Seppun-sama would favor us 'younger people' with advice on how to maintain a harmonious marriage and build a prosperous family," the Yasuki suggested. "I'd think you might be the voice of experience there."

[Seppun Tomaru]

"Oh, no," Tomaru says. "I'm a happy husband, but there's no great secret to it."

[Shiba Ryusei]

Of course Ryusei attended.

For one thing, Yuna was hosting the event. Enough said.

For another...

He was so very glad that Musubi-no-Kami was relevant to his relationship with her.

So he was beyond thrilled to note that a couple of his newer friends were in attendance, and he quietly drifted closer.

"That may be, but knowledge doesn't need to be secret to be unknown..."

[Yasuki Ryoichi]

"I imagine most of us who have not yet married would have a certain ignorance on this subject," Ryoichi suggested. "But if this is, in fact, some secretive Hidden Guard technique for keeping a happy home, I would quite understand."

[Seppun Tomaru]

"All of you continue to flatter an old man," Tomaru says. "But I will say to you what I said to a Magistrate when I was being questioned, once."

He gives something of his usual crooked grin.

"To have a happy family, you must yourself be so. My wife, admittedly, makes happiness easier for me than it might otherwise be, but I have seen men sad with the most excellent of wives--and women with the most excellent of husbands, though I have never been such a man.

"There is always a new thrill to be found, if you look hard enough. And a good marriage, where both do that work, is worth doing that work. Or so it has been for me."

He nods.

"As I said, no great secret. And no masterful Technique of the Guard, either," he adds.

[Agasha Yuna]

Yuna smiled brightly to see Ryusei. "Shiba-san, I am so glad you could attend. Perhaps at some time later you and I could pray at the shrine together."

"Oh, no," Tomaru says. "I'm a happy husband, but there's no great secret to it."

"You are kind and thoughtful. That is probably part of the secret. Simple things can be hard to do. As the Little Teacher said: 'The words of the Tao are simple. Following the Tao is complex. So does the simple show the outward things, The complex reveals the soul.'

She turned to Yasuki-san.

"I hope to present a small offering to the festival, but did not want to be the first one - that honor should be reserved for a more distinguished person."

"I am not a more distinguished person than you. Far from it. But I do hear your point that perhaps it would encourage others if I set up my display as an example." She did not immediately depart to do so, but she did glance over at the art and performance area thoughtfully.

[Yasuki Ryoichi]

"To have a happy family, you must yourself be so. My wife, admittedly, makes happiness easier for me than it might otherwise be, but I have seen men sad with the most excellent of wives--and women with the most excellent of husbands, though I have never been such a man.

"There is always a new thrill to be found, if you look hard enough. And a good marriage, where both do that work, is worth doing that work. Or so it has been for me."

"To have a happy family, you must be happy?" The Yasuki's brow furrowed as he absorbed this statement. It was either blindingly obvious, or incredibly deep ... he could not be certain which. " 'Be happy'? It seems ... too simple...."

Ryoichi looked thoughtful as he pondered this idea.

[Seppun Tomaru]

"I told you it was no great mystery, Yasuki-san," Tomaru says.