[D4, EE] Dinner with Otomo Mariko

[Agasha Yuna]

A tight smile was not necessarily the best possible sign.

Hmmm... Less personal? Keep the focus on Otomo-sama's gift?

"It is not fair to you to try to give a hostess gift after Otomo-sama. It is not possible to match something so fine and rare as the shōchū. Perhaps you should keep it for now, and, if Fortunes and this wise woman bless us, it could one day hang in a place we could both see it."

[Shiba Ryusei]

I love this woman.

"All fair points, but there is little risk of this humble offering outshining Otomo-sama's gift. But I would be a very poor guest indeed if I didn't offer something to my host for her gracious hospitality. Please accept it."

[Agasha Yuna]

She nodded and took the scroll without fanfare, setting it to the side. He knew what it meant to her, but today they needed to show they could be an effective team despite being in love.

The attendants arrived with the first course. They brought cups for the shōchū, and poured it for each guest, pouring first for Otomo-sama.

The appetizer plates included baby carp simmered in sweetened shoyu with ginger, kuruma-ebi (shrimp), hirame kombumaki (flounder with ginger rolled in kelp), and black bean with tsukushi bud.

https://ibb.co/kgRT7wS

https://ibb.co/kJvWYR7

[Otomo Mariko]

"Kampai," Mariko says, and she drains her drink in one pull.

Notably, despite the...intensity of the drink, she does not cough or wheeze.

Indeed, she looks very much like she drank off a swallow of water.

"Carp is an interesting choice," she observes before taking a morsel of it. Once it is disposed of, she adds "Best not to serve to Yasuki, eh?"

[Agasha Yuna]

"Kampai," Yuna echoed and took as deep a drink as she could manage, which was admittedly a little more timid than Otomo-sama's practiced drink.

"The carp, or koi, belonged to Rokugan long before it was the symbol of the Yasuki. It has long been a symbol of courage, persistence, success, and strength of character. The carp’s ability to swim upriver, much like the samurai’s bravery in the face of adversity, has led to this association."

"But if the Yasuki have leant it a little extra association with wealth, with gold... that is apt also."

"The two associations, married together, have much to offer."

[Otomo Mariko]

Mariko smiles again, not as tightly, more authentically.

A servant refills her cup as she says "An apt choice of words, Agasha-san."

She turns her attention to the Phoenix in the room. "Wouldn't you agree, Shiba-san?"

[Shiba Ryusei]

Ryusei wasn't ever going to let himself get overly fond of strong drink, not like his father, but... the shochu was good.

"I find that Agasha-sama seldom has difficulty turning a phrase that is apt for a situation. And I always find myself learning something when she does."

Sip.

"By way of example, on the sea coast, only the carp's culinary and aesthetic virtues are particularly well-known. Its strength in adversity is easy to miss when the fish itself is only found in carefully-cultivated ponds. We see the gold of the scales, but miss the tenacity that makes it possible."

He thought of Yasuki Ryoichi. He'd love the description, if maybe not the dish...

"If we don't see a thing in its natural state, we may miss its finer qualities."

[Otomo Mariko]

Mariko has taken the time Ryusei spends in answering to eat a little more. She dabs at her lips gently.

"Shiba-san is so well spoken and articulate," she says. "A credit to his people, surely."

She takes another bite, chews slowly to revel in the flavor.

"Agasha-san, did your delegation bring chefs with you, or are these locals you have doing this work?"

[Agasha Yuna]

She smiled at the compliment to Shiba-san. (And his words about her.)

"The chef is an artisan friend of my uncle, Ageki Toma-sama. My uncle escorted me here and had several suggestions for making a good impression, including having his chef friend, from Otosan Uchi, assist the delegation in this manner."

She did not have to detail the role Ageki gold had played in affording a chef, nor helping him purchase the ingredients. It perhaps went without saying. And the appeal to the chef of the opportunity to have his work featured for more important potential patrons than herself.

"My uncle's imperial patron also shared advice about how to entertain and plan a fashionable meal. It is not something often needed in Ageki lands, but I am a quick study." A precise memory, in fact.

"I am very grateful for all who helped me prepare to be here. And for all I can learn, now here at the winter court."

The attendants brought the second course. This was a soup course.

The soup included a delicate square of fish paste made with hamaguri clams, garnished with kinome sansho leaves and gold leaf. The sea vegetable in the broth was shinbaso, a rare ingredient said to have particularly nourishing qualities, beyond its desirable flavor.

https://ibb.co/WHQBn9H

[Shiba Ryusei]

Ryusei didn't bother trying to act blase about the soup.

Nor did he stampede a compliment out before the Otomo had gotten a chance to make her appraisal.

But was he appreciative of the delicacy? Oh yes.

[Otomo Mariko]

"I shall have to steal him from you," Mariko says. "This is really quite good work."

When her soup is done, she continues.

"Now, I expect dossiers to be sent to my office here. But I cannot get from them what I get from the people in question. If you would be so kind as to relate to me your places in your respective Houses?"

So much said, her refilled shochu starts to go away again.

[Agasha Yuna]

"I can think of no better way to thank him" - the chef - "for his help to me than to introduce him to you. At the end of the meal, or at another time as you prefer. And I will just mention that he is particularly excited for you to see the third course. That one is the crown of the visual art of cooking as well as the care for balance and taste."

She continued to enjoy her soup, eating with the most dainty and elegant manners. Each motion elegantly choreographed.

And then Otomo-sama asked her to speak more about herself.

"I am the eldest daughter of Lord Ageki. Our house's purpose and great work is research into the earth kami and earth magic. Therefore, the heir is the eldest shugenja child of the Daimyo. The house was founded in the 1st century by Togashi the kami as a vassal house to Agasha, after Ageki, a student of Agasha, performed a great service for Togashi. Centuries of breeding for the strongest shugenja. It is rare for children to not be shugenja."

"As such, I am an ideal candidate for the Agasha to marry outside the family and clan."

"The Dragon do not have a courtier school for a child like myself, with the skills suited for that field. My Uncle Toma-sama helped arrange for me to study with the Asako Loremasters. A place I could thrive, and learn so much, and gain skills helpful to the Dragon in a moment like this. At court."

"As a result, I have spent much of my life in Phoenix lands. And the training and familiarity with Phoenix culture led to placement, after school, as a librarian as the Izaku library - a joint Phoenix / Dragon library - in Agasha lands in Heibeisu. A library focused on magical knowledge and religious lore."

"My Ageki family are Shinteist. That is the greatest gift my parents gave me. Discussion of the Tao was an earnest conversation at the dinner table and expected to inform our decision-making."

"Time with the Phoenix introduced me also to the worship of the Fortunes. My role at the library has primarily been the support of scholars using the religious lore collection, and my participation in conversation there led to a role also a junior karo to the Izaku Daimyo. I have had a chance to study and grow the skills most valuable in one serving as an advisor to the head of a house."

[Otomo Mariko]

Over the rim of her cup, Mariko's eyes cut over to Ryusei.

[Shiba Ryusei]

She asked about your role in your house.

This is not the place to talk about personality.

"I am the eldest surviving child and heir to House Shigi, founded at the Dawn of the Empire when a coastal tribe swore fealty to Shiba-Kami. We still occupy that original coastal holding, and serve the Phoenix primarily in maritime matters, although with all candor, we are a far cry from our glory days. As heir, I am trained as a bushi, since the lord or lady of House Shigi must lead in times of war. My training at Shiro Shiba was thus less in line with becoming one of our famed yojimbo than with being schooled to lead my house's forces- a responsibility I would have to execute even as heir, as my father is physically incapacitated due to an old injury. He is likely to retire soon, at which point I will become lord of House Shigi."

[Agasha Yuna]

As Otomo-sama had time to reflect on their answers, the attendants brought in the 3rd course. The entree course.

A whole red snapper was served in a green bamboo hoekago (a portable shrine to Hamanari, Fortune of Fish and Abundant Meals) with a pine bough and budding kan-botan (Winter Peony) for a roof. In the basket under the shrine, was also squid sashimi, simmered baby daikon radish, and black mushroom. The dipping sauce, momiji-oroshi, was shoyu with grated daikon and a generous squeeze of daidai orange.

https://ibb.co/jGSXGkk

Paired beside on a second plate was the scene of a winter mountain snowscape; crab leg trees in the snow and bamboo grass covered in snow made of shaved ice. The dipping sauce was kani miso, crab internals and vinegar.

https://ibb.co/r50SrB7

[Otomo Mariko]

Mariko nods.

"Then it seems obvious that Agasha-san would join the Shigi," she says. "And this has been cleared by your Champions' offices?"

She looks at the entree.

"Again, this is lovely, Agasha-san. I really will have to take your cook from you."

Her cup is refilled, and the others' topped off.

"Although perhaps he would make it worth visiting Shigi lands sometime."

[Agasha Yuna]

"Yes, the marriage has been reviewed by both of our clans and approved by our Daimyo."

She smiled at the compliment to the chef. "He is a true artisan, and will surely find a good place to serve, at House Shigi, or with an imperial patron."

She tasted the entree with a content expression. Trying to look merely content, and not wildly giddily ecstatic.

"And there is a second marriage that is part of the deal. That would potentially find a bride for my brother, so House Ageki's heir is also well wed. I can share those details when you are ready."



(If folks would like, I could do a summary post describing last two courses and listing the additional marriages discussed, for our records, or we could keep playing through in the background through the dayflip. My assumption is that they will review all current Dragon marriages, since Yuna is proposing the deals in court 3 days later on D7.)

[Otomo Mariko]

Mariko's eyes brighten.

"Oh? Additional marriages? I shall certainly be interested to hear about those, if even only in summary."

(Summary is fine, given the impending dayflip.)

[Agasha Yuna]

Yuna described the deal for the talented Phoenix shugenja, skilled in the earth, to marry into the Dragon. She will be given the opportunity to study at House Ageki with the family and scholars there, and learn about their great work and vow. At the end of six months, she will either take the Ageki vow and marry Ageki Riyu, the heir of House Ageki, or she will choose not to take the Ageki vow and shall marry another Agasha shugenja to be selected at that time. She will become a Dragon.

She also described the marriages related to the Sparrow deal. One in. One out. Suzume Suga, a young musician and holder of minor office shall marry Mirumoto-ke no kashin Toda Yoshiko who was just appointed the manager of the hereditary estate of the Grand Master of Niten. He marries into the Dragon.

Mirumoto Kichinitonda, an acclaimed calligrapher of the Dragon, shall marry Suzume Niitaka, an equally acclaimed storyteller of the Sparrow. He shall marry into the Sparrow, and can thereafter play a role documenting the never previously documented Sparrow stories, and sending the records to a library in Dragon lands with a shelf dedicated to that purpose, as a sign of enduring alliance between the clans.

By this time, the 4th course is served. The rice course.

It is rice cooked with azuki beans, giving a red color, and with dried chestnuts.

https://ibb.co/WDgxsPm

Then, she reviewed the planned marriage for the young Togashi into the Mantis, and the Dragon junior magistrate to a Crane junior magistrate.

(These had been mentioned in court previously, but were now subject to her approval.)

Lastly, she discussed a potential (but to be confirmed) marriage between a Crab scout and a Dragon bushi. He (the Dragon) would marry into the Crab.

The final course, dessert, was winter fruits - melon and strawberry, a bite-sized matcha mousse cake, and a tiny scoop of delicately-flavored sherbet.

https://ibb.co/92JptZK

[Otomo Mariko]

"Agasha-san would sheem to have been busy," Mariko says. "And it is so good of the Dragon to extend shuch courtesy to the Shparrow."

She attends to the meal and her cup with seeming relish.

"Very good, Agasha-san. Very good, indeed."