((Your host is trapped in meetings for at least another several hours IRL and will get this rolling Friday evening! However, here is a thread to roleplay watching the day's Noh performance. Feel free to settle in?))

Charcoal braziers are scattered throughout the seating area around the forecourt stage to drive off some of the damp for the audience gathered to watch the Noh performance. As is traditional for this play style, there is no curtain dividing the stage from the audience, and the only scenery is the image of the sacred pine tree at the back of the stage.

Link to the Stage

When it came to Noh, Eiji was firmly in the camp comparing it to being eaten to death by beautiful butterflies. Still, the Crane fortunes seemed to be on a meteoric rise this season. If they were going to return to dominance in the courts as many seemed to think, attending a play by one of their great artists seemed like a wise use of his time.

Alas, if only his mask was one that covered the eyes.

Sayomi was quite excited to see the promised Noh play. The drama, the pathos, the graceful movements, the voices behind the masks... it was all amazing!

Despite the somewhat dour mood of the castle after the Empress' passing, she managed to make herself feel good for catching this performance. It would've been a shame if the special mission had made her miss this.

Kitsu Sayomi wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 18, 2025 4:14 am

Sayomi was quite excited to see the promised Noh play.

Ryoichi gave Sayomi a friendly bow as he found his way to a seat to observe the play. He wore a dark blue kimono with colorful fish embroidered around the hem.

"Good to see you again, Kitsu-san," the Yasuki said. "Have you recovered from our little adventure? I saw some of our other companions earlier this morning and they seemed well."

He looked up at the stage, where the shugenja were still performing the purification rituals. "I'm looking forward to seeing this," he confided. "I've heard that Doji-san is very good."

Daichi couldn't very well let his fellow crab participate in this spectacle without being there to watch. Solidarity and all that was quite important after all, it wasn't at all because he wanted something to potentially tease them about. Not at all!

He took a seat near the back though, deciding it wise to leave himself an escape route if it proved necessary. It shouldn't be necessary; it wouldn't be necessary. Still best to be prepared.

Still largely in white, Seppun Tomaru finds a place in the audience.

Notably, there are also several Miharu now in attendance, standing as statues at various places around the seating.

It seems there have been orders given with respect to Tomaru.

(Please let GM Fukurokujin know if you approach Tomaru.)

Yasuki Ryoichi wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 18, 2025 5:27 am

He looked up at the stage, where the shugenja were still performing the purification rituals. "I'm looking forward to seeing this," he confided. "I've heard that Doji-san is very good."

"Hai, I've recovered well enough, Yasuki-sama," she bowed and smiled politely.

"Mm," a nod, "an Ikoma I spoke with before winter had said Doji Shinnosuke-sama's performance he saw in Crane lands was spectacular. So I've been looking forward to this since I heard he was coming here for the season. It's so rare to see a true master of the arts perform Noh."

In a short while, the ritual cleansing of the stage concludes and the first act of the program begins: Hagoromo: The Heavenly Feathered Robe.

((OOC: Everyone should feel free to continue talking--especially since 'silent in the audience' is very much a modern thing!--but I'll link the Stage here at intervals to give you something more to react to. If you want to join the scene but haven't yet, just assume you've been here since the beginning.))

In a short while, the ritual cleansing of the stage concludes and the first act of the program begins: Hagoromo: The Heavenly Feathered Robe.

((OOC: Everyone should feel free to continue interacting--especially since 'silent in the audience' is very much a modern thing!--but I'll link the Stage here at intervals to give you something more to react to. If you want to join the scene but haven't yet, just assume you've been here since the beginning.))

It was well performed, but ah, the format certainly struggled to keep his interest. Instead he thought about the sumai competition that had been announced. What sort of men might they be? He was fairly certain he'd heard some of the names. And would they dance about in feather cloaks? It was an odd thought, but the play was more amusing to think about when you replaced the actors with sumai.

Kitsu Sayomi wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 18, 2025 8:19 pm

"Mm," a nod, "an Ikoma I spoke with before winter had said Doji Shinnosuke-sama's performance he saw in Crane lands was spectacular. So I've been looking forward to this since I heard he was coming here for the season. It's so rare to see a true master of the arts perform Noh."

Looking up at the stage, Ryoichi spotted another familiar face. "Isn't that our friend Ikoma-san up there?" the Yasuki whispered to Sayomi behind a fan, to avoid disrupting the performance. "Huh! She is really good! I suppose I should've known she would be."

Yasuki Ryoichi wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 19, 2025 6:02 am

Looking up at the stage, Ryoichi spotted another familiar face. "Isn't that our friend Ikoma-san up there?" the Yasuki whispered to Sayomi behind a fan, to avoid disrupting the performance. "Huh! She is really good! I suppose I should've known she would be."

"The Ikoma are our bards; many of them learn the arts of singing or music too to accompany their stories," Sayomi replied with a kind smile, forgetting her fan but keeping her voice low.

The smallest of demons caught her attention on the stage. "Oh my Fortunes, did the Crane bring a child actor? She is adorable."

At some point late in the show...

Doji Shinnosuke wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 19, 2025 7:35 pm

D7 ME Theatricals--Momijigari, playing the Lady/Demon. Acting (Noh)/Awareness. KA2 (which is Contested, so I think one doesn't call raises?). KA1, Prodigy, Voice, VP. | 10k7 ⇒ 56

Kakita Artisan Rank 2 technique creates an 'emotional shift' in characters witnessing the Artisan's work. The emotion Shinnosuke is evoking here is something like "Life is short, we should be good to each other." It's not thought control, so how each person is affected by that mood and what it actually looks like on them could be quite individual. It is resisted by a contested Etiquette (Courtesy)/Willpower roll against Shin's roll of 56 and the effect lasts roughly two hours.

One of the Miharu turns her head so that she looks directly at the stage for a moment.

But only for a moment.

The head swivels back into its earlier position. One could be forgiven for thinking they hear the grinding of stone on stone as the Miharu moves.

Sanjuro, still dressed in mostly white, took a seat near the back having arrived a moment late. He thought the story-telling was good and enjoyed the music most of all.

Kitsu Sayomi wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 19, 2025 7:24 pm

"The Ikoma are our bards; many of them learn the arts of singing or music too to accompany their stories," Sayomi replied with a kind smile, forgetting her fan but keeping her voice low.

The smallest of demons caught her attention on the stage. "Oh my Fortunes, did the Crane bring a child actor? She is adorable."

"The talent and versatility of the Ikoma family continues to impress me," the Yasuki commented. "I even heard there is an Ikoma wrestler in the sumai competition this year; do you know him?"

Kuni Shiori wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 19, 2025 2:38 pm

Kuni Shiori would take to the stage once more this afternoon but this time with a performing role!

"Oh, I know the actress playing the mountain kami," Ryoichi said excitedly. "It's Kuni-san! Oh ... oh my. Well, that, umm, certainly was a performance. Good stage voice, though. Mmmm." He raised his courtier's fan.

The Kyogen was a welcome break from all the Noh, and Eiji did smile at the widely comedic bits. The later performance by the Mountain spirt was....amusing at least.

I suppose when you extend the offer for anyone to participate, you leave yourelf open to such. Perhaps the Crane will explain this is a revolution in Noh, the surprise kyogen, or unexpected break. But what was that sumai's name?

Yasuki Ryoichi wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 19, 2025 10:38 pm

"Oh, I know the actress playing the mountain kami," Ryoichi said excitedly. "It's Kuni-san! Oh ... oh my. Well, that, umm, certainly was a performance. Good stage voice, though. Mmmm." He raised his courtier's fan.

"Oh... I... think she's probably bringing in some local knowledge of the mountain spirits." Surely. Right? Right?! How else did you explain the strange things she said.

And then the star of the show truly wowed with his performance, and Sayomi fell silent. It was so touching. The ephemeral beauty of the performance moved her to shed a single tear behind her fan, which she quickly wiped away.

This was Noh. So touching, so emotional!

----

OOC: Sayomi does not resist the KA magic!

Soshi Eiji wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2025 12:48 am

The Kyogen was a welcome break from all the Noh, and Eiji did smile at the widely comedic bits. The later performance by the Mountain spirt was....amusing at least.

I suppose when you extend the offer for anyone to participate, you leave yourelf open to such. Perhaps the Crane will explain this is a revolution in Noh, the surprise kyogen, or unexpected break. But what was that sumai's name?

A Dragon in green brushed the Scorpion's elbow with his hairpin. His hair was coming down now that he had pulled the pin out, almost covering the scars across his face.

"Forgive me, Soshi-san but are you real at the moment?"

Mirumoto Jinkan wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:39 am

A Dragon in green brushed the Scorpion's elbow with his hairpin. His hair was coming down now that he had pulled the pin out, almost covering the scars across his face.

"Forgive me, Soshi-san but are you real at the moment?"

But then the sumai toppled the moutain spirit and then...

The Scorpion blinked, brought back from his reverie of noh sumai.

"As real as one can be in such settings." he replied, offering a seated bow. "We have not yet had the pleasure of introduction, this one is Soshi-ke no kashin Miura Eiji."