Still Waters Run Deep

You may choose to take careful stock of the players around you.

The Scan: Make an Investigation (Notice)/Awareness or Lore: Heraldry/Intelligence roll at TN 25 to identify a character worth analyzing. If successful, you may either name a character you wish to analyze or you may posit criteria that will allow the gm staff to choose a good candidate for you. These criteria cannot be secrets, but can speak to mood, demeanor, style, appearance, reputation, or station in life. You may specify additional criteria or name additional characters with each raise.

The Ping: You should now have a list of characters (and the most general information about each) in your PF for you to study. Please choose 1 of these characters for a more detailed scan. Make a Courtier (Manipulation)/Perception or Investigation (Search)/Perception roll at TN 30. If you succeed, you may pose a question about your target to the gm staff or, if you chose a PC, to that PC's player. You may pose an additional question for each Raise you call. Please post your questions in your PF, even if you chose a PC. We will handle posing the questions to the PC's player. Please note that there may be some negotiation involved in the questions we are willing to entertain, so please post them as soon as practicable.

Data Analysis: Now to put your information to use! Look over your gathered data in your pf, and then follow this procedure:
Do you have the Rumormonger Disadvantage? If so, roll to resist. You may make this roll in your PF. If you fail, then you must deploy some element (or elements) of your gathered data to the Rumormill.

For each piece of data, indicate whether you intend to pass the information to your Delegation Head (Lion Clan members should choose which ones) or sit on it.

For each piece of data you choose to pass to your Delegation Head, make a Courtier (Manipulation)/Awareness roll or Sincerity (Honesty)/Awareness roll at TN 25. A Success will gain you 1 glory point, and each called Raise will earn an additional glory point.

For each piece of data you choose to sit on, you gain a +2 bonus to a Courtier roll against that character when you mention it in conversation.

Shiba Erina watched her friend square her jaw and march off to tangle with the powerful with a wry grin. Now, Lady Michishita did not have any shy daughters, but Erina had thought it fairly clear what her role in the coming weeks was to be. She was a swordswoman, and a good one. Security was her bag, and while she may not be the single most observant of yojimbo, she thought it only right to scan for threats. And so she withdrew to a cosy corner and let her eyes wander over the postures of the mighty men and women. What might their bearing portend?

----
Step 1: Erina calls 1 raise on her first Investigation/Awareness roll and drops 2 void to make up for her sad, sad dice pool. She rolls a 34, which is a success. Not nearly as beguiled by power as her friend Emiko, Erina makes good use of her training to keep an eye out for two criteria: First, anyone behaving shiftily, and second, anyone who seems particularly aggravated.


Step 2: After a brief time, the friendly gm staff gets back to her in her PF with a couple names for her to choose from for the rest of the event. First, she picks one of the two names, then she makes an Investigation/Perception roll to pose a question (TN 30). Erina's question will be about whom, precisely, her choice is bearing aggravation towards. She passes with a 41.

Step 3: Erina may not be as by-the-book as Emiko, but she understands what the gig is for a bushi here at Winter Court, and this may become a security matter, so she voluntarily shares her discovery with Shiba Higashime. This could be a problem. Erina only has a dice pool of 4k3 on Courtier/Awareness or Sincerity/Awareness rolls, and she just blew through her Void. Oops! She fails with what is an objectively decent roll on 4k3, but a 23 just does not cut the mustard. Shiba Higashime does not believe Erina's news is significant, and Erina receives no glory. She does, however, know a little more about her target for the event, and may choose to follow up on it at another time.

Sayomi was mingling, ever watchful. There were so many people though, and almost all of them new faces!

She tried to be watchful for anyone that seemed negative or hostile towards the Lion, but to her eyes everyone seemed to be on their very best behaviour. As samurai should be, of course!


----

D1 EVENT: Still Waters Run Deep. Lore: Heraldry/Intelligence. +1k1 Void. | 6k5 ⇒ 17 (TN: 25)

Honoka had held back, more watching than interacting to begin with, which allowed her to notice something unusual. Unfortunately, despite noticing it, the target in question had no other tells to make the young Lion more suspicious that anything was happening.

(ooc: D1 EN Event: Still Waters run Deep. Investigation(Notice)/Awareness at Tn25. VP spent. | 7k5 ⇒ 32 (TN: 25) passed, got list in pf
D1 EN Event: Still Waters run Deep. Roll 2 - Courtier(Manipulation)/Perception+void point. TN30 | 7k3 ⇒ 21 (TN: 30) failed to get any more info, end of event)

Agasha Yuna had been hoping to study Ikoma-ue, gathering information to help her approach her best in the future regarding library access.

But she noticed nothing useful.




https://sakkaku.org/r/15543 Lore Heraldry 16 vs 25. Failed, but I think no consequences for failure here. Just didn't observe anything useful. Correct me if that isn't right.

Akodo Myorin was present and watchful, looking for any in the crowd who might prove useful to advancing the Lion's agenda. Which probably meant having to dig up information on the Crane...perhaps she could uncover the next artistic trend the powder blue was planning on pushing. Outflank them at the seam as it were.


---------------------
Step 1: Investigation/AWA (Unskilled). No Raises. Spend Void for +1k1 | 5k5 ⇒ 26 (TN: 25) Passed Barely
---------------------

Someone had once told her to go big or go home, probably, regardless Myorin zero'd in on the primary Crane: Doji Minehime. Of course given the Lady of the Crane was engaged with Myorin's own boss...that made her attempts at investigation that much more difficult. In the end the Lioness relented before either of the power players noticed, a tactical withdrawal.

--------------------
Step 2: Courtier(Manipulation)/Perception to learn about Doji girl boss. No Raises. Void spent for +1k1. TN30 | 7k4 ⇒ 29 (TN: 30)
Failed Barely

As befitting for one of her role, Masumi kept an eye out for anyone on the more unscrupulous side of things. I shouldn't watch only the Scorpion, she reminded herself. Every clan had their impure souls... except the Lion, of course.

---

D1 EN Event Roll: Investigation / Awareness TN 25 (The Scan) | 6k3 ⇒ 28 (TN: 25)

---

Mantis and Tortoise, two Minor Clans who often got too uppity for their own good. Out of the two delegation leads, she certainly didn't care for Gusai Rioshida's impertinence! She kept her eyes on the man from a respectable distance, far too much to gather anything too interesting.

---

D1 EN Event Roll: Investigation / Perception TN 30 (The Ping on Gusai Rioshida) | 6k3 ⇒ 25 (TN: 30)

Ryusei surveyed the battlefield.

It was a mystery to him.



[Investigation/Awareness TN 25 to see who to schmooze. The Scan | 4k3 ⇒ 20 (TN: 25)]

Go for the eyes!

Wait, did that sort of thing even matter in a place like this? It sounded more like the option someone should take on the battlefield in a fight with a goblin or something, and while Daichi didn't quite understand courtiers, he didn't think they were goblins. Most days. So, look towards people's eyes he did, more in an effort to try and see who they were watching and who might interest them than anything else. It was after all the best advice he had.

He didn't learn much that way. Though he did spot some ladies with rather attractive eyes, and he was pretty sure that phoenix was looking towards one of the cranes boys pretty lustfully. He couldn't be quite sure though, maybe she was just hungry? Though it was pretty doubtful she was some sort of man-eating fox demon at winter court or the like.

Better to just ignore it.

Day 1 EN the reception. Option 2. Still waters run deep. Roll 1 investigation/awareness tn 25 Void for 1k1. | 6k4 ⇒ 17 (TN: 25) Failzilla.

Ah yes, the courtly art of schmoozing! Rather than rubbing shoulders with the great and the good Kenji chose to observe. There was much to be learned from a gathering like this, it was just a case of choosing the right target.

With the Lion being positioned against the Phoenix they seemed a natural pick for his attention. So Kenji moved through the throng in search of an appropriate person to gather intel on. He imagined it was rather like scouting but without the thrill of potentially being stabbed.

Now if I were a Phoenix where would I roost?

Hmm, whoever Asako Misa was there seemed to be a lot of respect being thrown in that direction. He took a look, listened for a while, but nothing leapt out. Just a regular courtly conversation. Maybe he would do some more investigating another time.

---
Rolls
[D1, EN, EVENT] Still waters run deep. The scan. Lore: Heraldry/Intelligence TN25. | 5k4 ⇒ 28 (TN: 25)
Success! Target identified. Waiting for kindly GM confirmation of potential subjects.

[D1, EN, EVENT] Still waters run deep. The Ping: Asako Misa. Courtier/Perception TN30. | 6k3 ⇒ 24 (TN: 30)
Failure, no info!

A party? At this hour? But Akodo commanded good samurai to be in bed to fight off assassins in the middle of the night! Stiflng a yawn, Eiji surveyed those gathered.

The Scan: 25 vs. 25, pass!

There room was awash in heraldry, but Gorobei had mentoned the Kasuga specifically, and whiile there was a pride of Lions and a herd of Crane about, picking out a Tortoise was fairly easy.

Eiji engaged some of the people about the Tortose, but while he heard some rather amusing rumors of the villian of the court, nothing that was actonable.

The Ping: 27 vs. 30, Fail

Shiori was much like a shadow when it came to the rather busy reception. She was still trying to get settled on her first day of court. Standing and watching was something she was used to doing early in her career, especially when much of her courtly skills came from doing just that as the courts were foreign to most Kuni curriculum. This one provided a challenge to her since she was faced with a large diverse crowd, especially those sporting mons and colours she had seen less of at home. Everyone was curious but couldn't divide her attention or risk just missing the trees from the forest.

Her (polite) gaze would find itself on the Kitsune representative on the courts. Was it often anyone could meet or know a Kitsune outside of their mysterious lands? There was a lot of supposed mysticism surrounding their Clan but there were most mundane matters she was curious about, everything would have to be either considered a bonus or just part of the charming mystique. Unfortunately, it seemed that she could only get surface details about her target.

The mysteries of the Fox eluded her, for now.

Rolls
Day One, The Right Hand's Reception Option 2: The Scan with Investigation (Notice)/Awareness | 6k3 ⇒ 46 (TN: 25)
Day One, The Right Hand's Reception Option 2: The Ping on Kitsune Aiko, Regent of the Fox with Investigation (Search)/Perception | 6k3 ⇒ 17 (TN: 30)

Link to PF, if needed.

Results

Despite some initial success in seeing interesting things, it would seem that no delegate was able to successfully analyze what they had seen.