The door slides open to reveal Lady Doji, with Kakita Irie resting on a cushion some distance behind her and a number of servants waiting in the wings, seated in a chair. Another, empty chair sits across the low table from her. That one must be yours.

Doji Arai arrives at the meeting dressed in a kimono in light blue color with a pattern of darker blue cranes flying over grey clouds. Her peace knotted daisho hangs from a dark blue obi and her hair is held in a topknot. The young duelist enters and offers a very low bow which she maintains until told otherwise.

"Blessings of the fortunes on you and your family, Doji dono. This one is Doji Arai, daimyo of the House Ishimoto. At you service, my Lady."


/Awareness/etiquette, vp, interview with Lady Doji | 8k5 ⇒ 23 (TN: 25)

Lucky re roll

Awareness/etiquette, vp, interview with Lady Doji, lucky re roll | 8k5 ⇒ 46 (TN: 25)

Lady Doji nods in response to your greeting. "Ishimoto-san, good afternoon." She gestures toward the seat opposite her in invitation. "Have you had rice?"

Arai raises from her bow and moves closer to the low table to sit in seiza. Once done, she smiles politely.

"Hai, Lady Doji. Inari no kami has offered her blessings and our hosts have been gracious." Arai is not bad at court, she can be very talkative when circumstances demand it and maintain idle conversations over tea, but above anything else she's a bushi and right now she is talking with the commander of the Crane army, not just her clan champion. So she decides against continuing the conversation further. She's there to answer questions and that's what she will do. Politicking and making connections are both for other times and other places.

If Lady Doji had an opinion about the stiff upper lip she is being shown, it seems clear that she is not willing to share it. Instead, she gestures toward the tea set in invitation for Arai to begin the ceremony.

"I have often found the Lion so, when they have a mind to be. Is this your first time in Lion lands, Ishimoto-san?"

Her lack of reaction is anticipated, no Crane would blatantly show any emotion during a simple conversation like this one, but still it makes Arai somewhat nervous. While thinking, or over thinking to be exact, about her performance, she pours more water than it would be anticipated which leads her to use more tea leaves in order to achieve a somewhat better result.

A faint blush starts forming in her cheeks, but the Doji isn't here to fail. She has a legacy to uphold. Failure can be a chance to get better after all. She smiles politely.

"My mother used to take me with her in the courts she was invited to spend winter. I have not been in Kyuden Ikoma before, but I spent winter in Shiro Akodo once. It was 8 years ago, I believe. I have also been in your magnificent court once and twice in the lands of the Phoenix. But it is different when you are a child. After my gempuku, I spend winter time at home tending our lands in her absence."

/Tea Ceremony/void, clan champion interview | 4k3 ⇒ 17 (TN: 20)
Fail

Lady Doji nods at Arai's assessment.

"I remember well following at my father's heels in courts long past. The play of colors in the kimono was truly splendid in those days. Lady Akodo's ensemble for this season captures some of it, but...well, it was long ago. You say that you have experience with administration?"

Arai smirks at the comment regarding the Akodo daimyo. Whether it was a joke or a veiled insult regarding her styling choices, it was a fitting one.

"Yes, I believe I have. The lands of the Ishimoto are small, but we have the best seafood of the Empire as long as we maintain good relationships with our neighbors and we are allowed access to the sea. I have been cultivating those ties for the past years. I have also been running day to day activities around the estate. In my mother's absence for the last 5 years and permanently since her passing two months ago. I am good with numbers and bookkeeping, but those are not a ruler's main focus. I try to be just to my people and I have undertaken the task of training the house troops. Till my gempuku my house only employed ronin units. Nowadays we also have a samurai and an ashigaru unit. They are not the best yet, but they have learnt how to work together under my command and I trust that they will be effective whenever they are called to action."

"Goodness, an administrator and a soldier. Is there anything that Lady Ishimoto cannot do?"

"Quite a lot of things, of course. I am young and still learning, but my sisters, my brother and the rest of my family are there to consult me in fields in which I lack either the knowledge or the experience. My house is as eager as it has always been to serve you, my lady, and we are determined to do it with our swords, our words and any other skillset you might need from us. We aspire to prove that the Ishimoto remain as useful as they were before my mother's sudden passing. With the example she set for us, we will continue to get better and better."

/Sincerity/awareness, Clan Champion interview | 5k4 ⇒ 32 (TN: 20)

Lady Doji's eyes sparkle. "With such determination, I do not see how you could do otherwise, Ishimoto-san. Though such fire can be difficult to maintain in this place, with the winds blowing in all directions."

"You cannot conquer the elements. You must learn to dance with their harmony." Arai offers back. "The Little Teacher's words."

The young Doji smiles politely. "Sometimes the winds scatter the flames, but there are other times that they make the fire grow stronger. In either case, this servant of yours intends to dance through this court with the grace anticipated from a Doji and the fervor expected by a student of Kakita Dueling Academy."

"Very well, Ishimoto-san. I simply request that you think carefully about when and where to apply that fervor."

"Was there anything you wished to bring to my attention before court formally begins?"

"Hai, my lady, I will!" She agrees. Arai is not a samurai to act on impulse, but her clan champion cannot possibly know that. "I don't believe that I have anything to report yet."

Lady Doji nodded once. "Then I believe we have come to the natural end of this conversation, as sad as it may be to part in so short a time. Please ask Miyahara-san to come in after you."

Arai raises from her seiza and offers another low bow along with a polite smile. "Thank you for gracing me with this meeting, Lady Doji. I will inform her. May the ancestors guide your steps." With that she exits the room.

/scene