(D14, EM) Thank you, Phoenix

[Soshi Eiji]

"Pain." he quipped.

He shook his head.

"It's a lack of balance I am concerned about. The Empress being the ruler of the empire and it's diverse clans, will be faced with a variety of difficulties, and have a just as varied tools to call upon to attempt to remedy those difficulties. But using the wrong tool will cause things to be much harder than they need to be. You CAN slice tofu with a katana, you CAN fight off a gang of bandits with a pair of chopsticks. So I worry that those candidates who are naturally inclined to chopsticks will try to use those for everything and those inclined to use katanas will try to use those for everything."

He shrugged a bit.

"I think it more likely that those who favor chopsticks can learn to work with those who favor katanas, but I'm not conviced the reverse is true."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"I... broadly agree, although at least one chopstick aficionado demonstrated that they might be used as torture implements in the event of their victory."

[Soshi Eiji]

"Hmm, are you quite certain they are a chopstick affecionado, Shiba-san? If you met someone who shaved people's faces with a katana, I don't think you'd call them a barber." he mused.

Barbarous, however.....

[Shiba Ryusei]

"I would say chopsticks were their weapon of choice, in the binary you presented... certainly, I think they're accustomed to any physical violence they order to be well beyond arrow-shot..."

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji nodded.

"Most violence certainly is out of arrow shot of the capitol. But the Empress, barring certain very notable exceptions in the Empire's long history, is not the one swinging the sword. Lady Hikari might not be a bushi, but I don't think she'd hestitate to call upon all of the bushi she could to enforce her will." he pointed out.

"One is reminded of the duel between Matsu and Kakita, where Kakita treated every opponent with respect, with the exception of Matsu who had treated none of her opponents with such."

[Shiba Ryusei]

"And we all know who got humiliated there- and whose descendants still bear a grudge."

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji nodded.

"True. But since we are spending the morning speculating. Do you think it would have been better for Kakita to have treated Matsu with respect?" he asked.

[Shiba Ryusei]

Ryusei cocked his head to the side.

"Counterfactuals are difficult to say. I'm sure Matsu wished he had. At the same time, her grudge hasn't changed how the story is told, has it? So in that sense, Kakita has defeated her twice over."

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji nodded.

"That is a fair point, Shiba-san. I was merely musing that if Lady Bian or Baisho Reichiro had been in Kakita's sandals, they would have bowed, and were Lady Hikari in Matsu's sandals, it would not have mattered." he offered.

[Shiba Ryusei]

"We don't know that it would have really mattered to Lady Matsu. That was hardly the only insult in her life she took umbrage with- just the one where she couldn't redress it in her accustomed manner. In that sense, Lady Hikari is infinitely more dangerous."

[Soshi Eiji]

That got a raised eyebrow from the Scorpion.

"That's a bold claim, Shiba-san. Are you just referring to the power granted to an Empress, or is there something seperate from that tht makes her such a threat?"

[Shiba Ryusei]

"I find that malice, coupled with competence, is a recipe for great danger. And how much the more so when the competence doesn't require the one employing it to be there in person."

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji nodded.

"So true, Shiba-san, so true." he said.

"Hmm, if we're to step back from the theoretical, back to your very detailed analysis of each possibility, what are Shiba-san's thoughts on the sixth and seventh possibilities?"

[Shiba Ryusei]

"For the sixth... You mean if no heir is named and acclaimed? Dire. Very dire. But not the worst possible outcome, for all of that. True, there would be chaos, the Heavens would be displeased, and the situation would go on clumsily, but it might preserve an uneasy balance of peace, and buy more time for Lord Baisho's heirs to come to terms, and forge agreements. Dangerous, brittle, but less awful than the seventh possibility I entertain... each Heir's backers acclaiming them in opposition to the others."

His hand didn't shake as he set down his soup bowl, but he had paled a bit.

"Such an outcome would be disastrous even were support uniform across clans... and it isn't. Four competing power bases... yes, I think that would be worse than no heir at all, in the short term, anyway."

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji nodded.

"Ah, very true, Shiba-san, although you've listed 7th and 8th for me rather than 6th." he admitted.

[Shiba Ryusei]

"And that would be?"

[Soshi Eiji]

"Hm. Have you spent any time in conversation with Mirumoto Jinkan, Shiba-san?" he asked, curious.

[Shiba Ryusei]

"I cannot say that I have. I, ah... recused myself from negotiating with the Dragon, since my... affection for Agasha-sama might have compromised me."

[Soshi Eiji]

Eiji nods.

"She is lovely, and while I'm sure that Shiba-san's honor would vouchsafe him from temptation, it was wise to do so. Even the appearance of wrongdoing can lead to problems after all." he says agreeably.

"However, Mirumoto Jinkan claims to be posesses the gift of foresight. Something I'm sure that Shiba-san would agree would be...quite useful in these murky times, were it true, yes?"

[Shiba Ryusei]

"Foresight? That could be... useful, but I imagine also limiting. After all, do the visions always come true, or are they possibilities to be worked toward or avoided?"