(D8 LE-expecting) I Hear You're the Expert on <Redacted>

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Southern-raised as she is, Hoshiko bundles up for the short walk across the courtyard from Crane House to Crab House. The locals keep saying it's warm winter, and running around with barely a coat. If nothing else, this winter has Hoshiko resolved not to marry anyone based in the mountains.

At the house, she asks someone if Kuni Shiori-sama was in and seeing visitors.

[Kuni Shiori]

Shiori was indeed found at the Crab House. There wasn't a grand after-party held after the art exhibition, not that Shiori would have joined. Considering the day of court that waited for many of them tomorrow, she doubted that any Crab would have readily joined such would-be celebrations anyway. She would meet Hoshiko personally once she heard someone asking about her.

"Good evening and welcome, Asahina-san. I hope you're doing well?" She greeted her with a polite bow and a small smile, a bit of a pleasant surprise this evening. Thankfully, they can talk this time around in the comfort of the indoors. "Please follow me, there's a place we can talk...it might be a bit late for tea but would you like some? A bit of white tea is often harmless."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"Tea would be lovely," Hoshiko says, gently shedding her heavy coat. "After all these years, it's only the really strong teas that can keep me up." She's dressed simply at this end of the day in a charcoal grey kimono and hakama that look like they've seen some wear and travel. So this is unlikely to be a terribly formal sort of visit.

"I have some strange experiences to share, but if it's too late for serious topics, I've also gotten well into Memories and can stick to literature for the evening."

[Kuni Shiori]

Shiori would lead the way to one of the sitting areas that the delegation had set aside. Given the Crab's tendency to be efficient with space and there were a great number of them there, there were at least a few spaces that she could have chosen. Either she sensed that the topic was going to be of a particular topic or she had a preference for this room, Shiori ended up taking Hoshiko to one of the cramped corner rooms. She would have brought one of the small lanterns with her.

After the tea had been arranged for, she slid the door closed to give them a little more privacy on the matter. "...So I see," she said on a sombre note as her expression turned serious in the shadows cast by the small light. "This does seem like a day for it and I would be more than happy to hear it."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Cramped she may have thought it, Hoshiko found it cozy enough that it simply looked appropriate to tuck her coat across her knees to save space. The fact that it also kept her warmer was a lovely side benefit.

Her eyebrows lift. "A day for it? I take it you've run into something too then?"

A slight wave of her hand nevermind that then fingers touched just to her temple as she shakes her head. "No, no...let me take things in order. First, I have to imagine you felt that terrible spirt wind the day before the Empress...may her memory live forever...died, right?"

[Kuni Shiori]

-

Shiori nodded once at the question and was about to start with her day but put off her response for later so that Hoshiko could say her part. She had a feeling there was going to be a crossroads of thought that they could meet soon eventually, unless the issue was something else entirely.

"I did...At least, it was on the day of her last public appearance. I have no reason to think so but it made me very much suspect that it might have coincided with the time of the late great Empress's death. Some seem to suspect it might have been the earthquake's residual effect but I assumed something like would be felt sooner than a day later." Shiori shook her head, feeling a bit silly that she would brush off something like that rather than consult with other shugenja. She fell quiet as she looked to Hoshiko to follow up with her point.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

snip

Hoshiko is nodding along. All of it is quite reasonable. "I thought much the same...or that whatever angered the earth so greatly might be affecting other spirits as well. I was shaken and threw Kawaru to see what guidance it offered. One coin kept spinning, and in that spin a new symbol was revealed so the reading could match none of the established hexagrams." Her index finger traces a spinning pattern on the table. "It read as something unusual arriving or about to arrive, something that should not be."

"But it's hard to do anything about that kind of warning. No details."

Her hands still, settling on the table. "But last night, as I tried to find signs of the Empress' passage through the realms, another spirit came to shout and threaten. After consultation with Kitsu Shintaro-sama... Did you know he tried to contact the Empress in Yomi to learn her choice among the heirs?" Her voice was incredulous at such daring. "He didn't succeed, talking instead to someone claiming to be Emperor Ningi. We're beginning to think that it's a...well a corrupted spirit we're dealing with." She just couldn't right out say that an Emperor had become an evil ghost or something like it. It seemed to be true, but also sacrilege.

A pause to weight that, and a small shake of her head, as if trying to negate it. "And then...it sounds like you've run into something as well?"

[Kuni Shiori]

-

Shiori slowly lifted her brows more when Hoshiko began to mention more about the hexagram. That concern didn't dissipate in the slightest when she started introducing this Emperor Ningi to the story as well, never mind that the Kitsu was fiddling with contacting the late Empress for the answer to the most pressing problems in the Empire.

"Maybe not so much run into but I had been looking for answers...Agasha Yuna-sama had approached me with questions about the earth kami and the mines, given it is naturally her Family's purview as it is my House. Daidoji Ryu-san had also made mention of you feeling some malign presence in the Kyuden. So, I had sensed your purpose here initially. Of course, conversation about books would have been nice too." She momentarily mustered a brief smile at that light-hearted aside.

The tea would arrive and Shiori was quick to dismiss the servant so that they could return to some relative privacy. They would be left with a small pot of tea with two cups, seemingly to match the size of the room that they were in. Seeing it was just the two of them and the late hour, it would be more than serviceable. Shiori would pour tea for them both, a light green tea blend of sorts.

She took a sip of her tea before continuing with her findings. "I had sought out the earth kami at the mines and asked them directly regarding the source of the earthquake and if it was related to the disturbance. I had been informed about deep roots crumbling, something about an older stone or foundation crumbling. This led me to believe this was beyond the late Empress. Most pertinent to your findings, the earth kami had also shown me a hexagram with one point being most sunken...or uncertain, much like your findings."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

She nods a bit as she reviews information. "Hai, Daidoji-san came in just after that whole mess, glad he's helping share the news...and warning."

As the tea arrives, she notes regretfully, "I, too am rather disappointed that we can't just spend the evening chatting about books. That's really what winter court is for, not..." she pauses, waiting until servant ears have withdrawn, at least visibly.

"for all of this spiritual disturbance. That deep foundation crumbling troubles me, but may touch on a research project I hope to dig into in the library now that I have permission to use it." She sighs. "I don't know whether to try seeking more information on this...likely to be a gaki creature, or the historical crumbling first now."

After Shiori's had some tea, she'll sip her own, worried expression easing a bit at the comfortable and familiar warmth. "You might want to share your findings with Kitsu-sama as well."

[Kuni Shiori]

"It would help greatly to look over Emperor Ningi's circumstance, rule, and ultimate passing," she brought up, likely something that was already on Hoshiko's list of research topics. Of course, she was quite curious. "Not that it matters but I would hope that this foundation crumbling is more figuratively than literally. I'm sure we'll have other matters on our hands if we're looking at another earthquake. On that point, Agasha Yuna's divination apparently foresaw another such earthquake in the future, whether literal or figuratively. Such concerns probably shouldn't be taken so poetically."

She took another sip of her tea and her eyes wandered the walls for a moment, catching the shadows cast by the lantern. It was often something her House was raised to keep an eye on. "Now that I'm scratching the surface, it would indeed help if I just followed through with stepping in. That should likely be my next morning appointment."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Hoshiko nods. "He's been very helpful, enthusiastic even. Though I have some qualms about that attempt to contact the Empress." She pauses for a long moment and decides to share what first brought her to his attention. "Before the court, I received a strange letter. Cool to the touch and the kami gave me a sense of the author as being akin to water and deep as the sea. It recommended that I speak to him. When I did..the most marvelous illusions surrounded us with a message--mostly for him--from the Master of Water."

But "Another earthquake foretold might be more than just poetic, since smaller ones often follow close behind the larger. Did the earth kami still seem angry when you spoke with them?"

[Kuni Shiori]

Shiori glanced off in quick consideration of the Kitsu's actions. She supposed she would have been more easily in the pragmatic camp than the one debating whether or not it was proper. Could this be considered necromancy? Probably not so much more than what the Kitsu already do with their talents, just with a person of greater divine importance. "Given the situation is a bit special and the legacy of the divine late Empress is at stake, I'm sure Kitsu-sama had his reasons. If they were even slightly selfish, I'm sure he wouldn't have even considered this rather audacious method, given his reputation."

"It is a bit curious that you were chosen to be the message, especially by a Master who might have had easier other methods to deliver their message directly," she said before a pause of consideration, looking at her curiously. "Perhaps there is a prestige of your House I'm unaware of, Asahina-san?"

She frowned momentarily in thought. "It can be a bit alarming with how upfront the earth kami can be in interaction. So 'angry' can be discerned as their usual mood but I will say more angry than usual, at least."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"Oh, I'm sure he had a great desire to learn from the experience..and did. He was wildly excited about contacting Emperor Ningi instead, while not recognizing him as...as a dark spirit." Hoshiko shrugs, turning her teacup between her palms, mismatched fingers curled around the warmth. "It's an intellectual sort of desire, if not true selfishness."

"As to the Master of Water, it seems she was keeping some track of those who can traverse the realms and thought my gift might interest Kitsu-sama. She was correct." She sets the cup down. "I may..rather like dreaming but with full intent and fewer encounters with large talking turnips...visit other realms. I've a particular connection to Meido and speak with the clerks there, offering briefs for the departed and the like. I won't deny it has won me some part of the prestige I am afforded."

"But this gift does not much teach me to deal with escaped spirits from other realms invading this one. I hoped your training might be more useful in that regard."

[Kuni Shiori]

Shiori narrowed her eyes and tilted her head with an obvious look of concern on the matter. However, she soon quickly recovers and just resorts to taking a sip of tea. If this was a young Lion with these sorts of talents, she could imagine the great enthusiasm glossing over the fine details but it is a little surprising coming from a daimyo of the Kitsu family. "So I see...I suppose his exuberance on the matter may be just another continued facet of his eager character. Perhaps he was just enthused that he managed to contact anyone at all but he should be more careful in the future, hopefully."

"You are certainly talented, Asahina-san. I suppose that should have been obvious at first blush on our first acquaintance but to hear your reputation proceeding you enough to connect you to a web of other people really puts it into further perspective," she said, a bit curious at how Hoshiko seemed to take this casually.

Well, maybe Shiori would have done the same on second thought.

She looked to her tea cup, more so the tea itself. "My personal experience is limited, I confess. Historically, my House more looked into creative ways when it comes to managing useful spirits. Corrupted spirits have no uses but thankfully, my training does lend me some skills to deal with that. It does make me wonder about the nature of this spirit's..acting as Emperor Ningi...stay. I know that the public history does note some controversy on the surface but nothing has be believe something that would warrant a continued stay in this realm."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Hoshiko nods. "I was a bit surprised too. I've only been to a few courts, though I try to keep in touch with as many of those I meet as possible. Who knows who put a word in her ear. Perhaps her ties to the Crane motivated her as well."

As to the emperor..."I don't think he's been here the whole time. There's some suspicion he's one of those as sometimes slip free of Gaki-do." She grimaces to say it. But it's true right? "I suppose I'm slightly sorry to find that you are not going to be able to simply slap an ofuda on the creature and send it home. That's what would happen in stories, right?" She shakes her head. "But it's not realistic that every Kuni ...or maybe any...lives up to those fictions."

(editing out the oops quote tags)

[Kuni Shiori]

-

Shiori's brows quirked upwards and looked incredulous at the mention of the ofuda, not so sure if Hoshiko was being earnest or throwing a bit of a joke here. She quickly recovered with a shake of her head after taking a small mouthful of tea. "Well, if he was somewhat corporeal in his state or managed to find himself in a physical vessel, like a body of sorts, that's something that could be considered. I hear the Yogo might have something in that regard, but even such a thing it's not so simple. There's a bit of brute force I think my Family would prefer more to use in such matters, vanquish the corruption and purge it from our realm. You can't be too sure. Dancing with more delicate methods will only give it some complication to continue to slip through."

[Asahina Hoshiko]

Hoshiko grimaces. "well, that's all a bit disheartening. We really didn't need such a thing here this season. Ever, really, but it's particularly disruptive right now. I...don't think we want him in a physical vessel at all." That was a terrifying thought.

"We have to hope those here are sufficient to the task of devising *something*. I think there's a Yogo in court to consult, and who knows what resources the Kitsu can bring to bear." Hoshiko's voice takes on tones of determination.

[Kuni Shiori]

Shiori took a moment to busy herself by playing hostess and refilling their tea cups. "Well, let's hope that this spirit is more concerned about keeping subtle than having any sort of ambitions to do anything that might endanger its survival. Given the turbulent political climate, I could imagine it might have some ideas, especially considering its very timely and auspicious appearance. We likely have to throw as many shugenja on it as we can and I get the feeling you know a few?" She said with a faint and hopeful smile.

[Asahina Hoshiko]

"If it's...the hungry sort, I guess there's all kinds of things surging at court that might keep it busy." That wasn't actually a comforting thought "As to shugenja, I know there's at least one other among the Crane (NPC delegate), the Kitsu and Seppun, at least one Yogo..." She thinks of those she's seen in court. "Surely some of the Phoenix...I don't suppose there are any other Kuni?" She says with similar faint hope.

[Kuni Shiori]

Shiori didn't have to think back very hard to realize that there was a distinct lack of other Kuni in the court, even among the background extras. This wasn't an oddity, of course, considering that more than a few would be enough to make the other Clans wonder if there was some sort of inquisitive operation to be conducted here.

She gave a slow shake of her head at the question. "I believe I am the only one here this season. I don't think it's a procedure of any Clan to be equipped for such an occurrence or have the ready means to deal with it, of course, out of respect for our hosts. More than a few minds working on this would be appreciated, however. Have you been in touch with Agasha Yuna, by chance? I suppose I ask because I know that I've been in agreement to keep her in the loop but no sense that both of us should do so."