In the weeks leading up to Winter Court, a letter is deliver, the kanji for River draws the eye at the top of the letter.

A strong young man was rowing up the river in the cold winds of not-yet Winter. His mother had sailed down self-same river many years ago, and now her son sought his own answers at the river's source. The waters were choppy, his siblings rocked the boat, but he was so determined, one might be forgven for thinking that if the river had run dry, he would have rowed along the bare earth.

Happily, the river had not run dry, and he reached the river's source. From there he could see two things. One was that many rivers and streams sprung from the source, leading up and down the Empire. And the second was a slightly older man sitting near a smaller stream that lead into a swamp.

Ashore and waiting,

Soshi-ke no kaishin Miura Eiji