[Day 2, EA] Court: The Floor

[Cearnach]

This space is for the official, formal business of court. Please visit the Court Actions rules to interact in this thread.

[Cearnach]

The first official Imperial Court session this Winter Court has been marked in the inimitable minimalist style of the Ikoma with a single exquisite ikebana display in the middle of the Court floor. The flower? A chrysanthemum of course! Resting its enormous bloom in a rock-crystal bowl of water, the chrysanthemum reflects the resplendent beauty of the Imperial system.

The dais has been set up with shoji screens to allow people to look in its direction without prostrating themselves, lest they catch a glimpse of the Empress' gaze. These screens rest on a raised section of the dais so that the Empress' primary servants, her officers, can sit higher than the court itself but lower than the Daughter of Heaven. 5 seats rest on this lower section, ready to receive the Imperial Chancellor, the Emerald Champion, the Ruby Champion, the Imperial Adviser, and the Imperial Herald.

On the floor, just to the side of the dais, the team of Imperial scribes wet their brushes and get ready to record history in the making!

[Hida Kozume]

Having arrived several minutes early to court, Hida Kozume has ensconced himself in the chair set aside for him. He is dressed in his finest, which for an Imperial officer is merely passable. His demeanor is calm, particularly for someone who spent several months trying to break into this castle by force 45 years ago. He watches each courtier as they enter with half-lidded eyes, as though he were just about to fall asleep.

[Kakita Hajime]

At the moment court officially begins, Kakita Hajime strides into the chamber from the public entrance. He is dressed as required in his uniform, the Emerald Armor, a fitting reminder of his responsibilities, and, alone among non-Seppun, wearing his blades. He moves quickly and firmly down the central aisle to take his unsmiling seat next to Hida Kozume, just to the right of the steps leading up to the Empress' platform.

[Shiba Rumiko]

A few moments into a court, a perfectly composed Imperial Chancellor appears, moving up the aisle to take her place to the left of the Empress' stairs. She is more at ease than her magisterial counterpart. Indeed, she surveys the court like a friend, nodded here or there at some of the veterans in a friendly sort of way. Akodo Sanae and Shiba Higashime receive slightly more formal acknowledgments, while Kaiu Masahiko is favored with a smile and a tiny wave.

[Hantei Retsuhime]

The rear entrance to the chamber opens to admit a small crowd. First, a troop of Seppun move into the court, standing at attention within easy reach of the dais. In the midst of their display, the eagle-eyed among the court might spot a figure being helped by a servant into the Empress' seat behind the shoji screens. It would seem the Empress has arrived.

[Miya Hachi]

At the heels of the Seppun, Miya Hachi walks across the dais to his seat. He is a little stiff in his movements, but impeccably put together. He gives a smile and bow to each of the other officers as he takes up his seat.

[Otomo Keihime]

About five minutes later, the rear entrance opens once more to admit two figures. The first, a youngish man in full court dress and the mons of the Otomo Family stitched in gold thread, practically floats down from the dais to a position in the galleries. The second, a woman of regal bearing and blank expression, enters and takes up the position of the Imperial Adviser. She keeps her eyes trained forward, not favoring anyone with an acknowledgment just yet.

[Shiba Rumiko]

With the high and low assembled all together, the time has come to formally open court. Rising to her feet, the Imperial Chancellor steps forward and extends her arms as though to embrace the court.

"Lords, Ladies, and Honored Delegates, it is my duty and honor to welcome you to Her Imperial Majesty Hantei Retsuhime's Winter Court. With thanks to our gracious host and steward, Ikoma Ryota, we have invited each of you here this season as representatives of your clans in order to conduct the business of the Empire.

"We have had a prosperous but eventful year. Each of you, I know, has come brimming with deep knowledge of the many wonders and the few troubles which have arisen in the Empire over its course. As season passed into season, you devised theory and axiom in your zeal to put wrongs to right and to lay a foundation for the magnification of our Empire's glory in the year to come. This is as it should be.

"Before we cede the floor to entertain your proposals, however, the Empress would like to avail herself of this opportunity to address the court."

Rumiko bows low at this last, maintaining her bow as a signal of what is expected of the court in general as the Empress rises to her feet.

[Hantei Retsuhime]

Emerging from behind the shoji screens in a blatant breach of protocol, Hantei Retsuhime, seeming pale and a little worn, pauses at the top of the steps leading up to her platform. Folding her hands in front of her, she speaks in a firm but flat tone.

"Lovely words, Shiba-san. We have indeed had an eventful year. Much has been made of my age and condition. Well, I am not dead yet. Nor have I gone doo-lally. It is true that I commissioned Lord Ikoma to identify candidates for the succession. I am sure that you are all pleased with that. But let me make this crystal clear. I am the Empress. The Succession is within my prerogatives. I will take any infringement on any of my prerogatives very gravely indeed. Put simply, the choice is mine. Not yours."

She cracks her knuckles, glaring balefully down at the Crane and Scorpion delegations.

"Champions and Daimyo of the Clans, step forward."

[Cearnach]

The official histories of this moment will record the assembled daimyo stepping forward as one, as though this had been choreographed ages beforehand and everyone was on the same page. As it happened, there was a bit of a delay as the unexpected summons sparked confusion and, in the case of Kitsune Aiko, a slow and belabored series of "pardon me-s" as she tried hurriedly to budge her way to the front of the room.

[Hantei Retsuhime]

The leaders of the empire assembled before her, the Empress raised one finger to the Heavens for emphasis.

"You, who owe your lives and lands to me. You, whose forebears knelt before the first Hantei. You will swear me this on your honor as samurai. You will swear that you will draw no sword, that you will raise no army, that you will seek to fight no war nor make any aggression toward each other until I have named my heir."

She paused, then barked out harshly: "Swear It."

[Shiba Higashime]

Without hesitation, Lady Shiba voices her assent.

"I so swear." Her expression is one of fearless self-assurance, looking neither left nor right, but keeping her eyes firmly on the Empress before and after her formal bow.

[Akodo Sanae]

Hot on her heels, and much to the visible surprise of Lady Matsu, Akodo Sanae actually takes a full step ahead of her daimyo to add her voice to Higashime's.

"I so swear."

Her expression is one of naked relief, mirrored in that of Ikoma Ryota and Kitsu Shintaro.

[Matsu Tsuruyo]

Lady Matsu's eyes flashed with surprise, then narrowed in suspicion, she turned her head to stare at Doji Minehime a moment, worrying her lower lip.

[Bayushi Kaguya]

But it is not Minehime who answers next. Instead, Bayushi Kaguya bows from her position just behind and to the right of Ichiro Himari. "I so swear," she says, her voice soft in the wake of the declarations of the Phoenix and the Lion.

[Kaiu Masahiko]

Pleased as punch to have received the precise command he was hoping for, Kaiu Masahiko performed a respectable bow and gave his assent with a broad smile.

"I swear it."

[Togashi Mizohachi]

Togashi Mizohachi spent a long moment considering before he spoke, his eyes on Minehime. "An oath is not an easy thing. It is not a light burden. But this oath grows from the same root as the first one. They ought to bloom together." Turning to the Empress, he bowed deeply. He spoke, his voice just a little wistful. "I shall draw no sword, raise no army, seek to fight no war nor make any aggression toward my fellow Daimyo until you have named your heir."

[Doji Minehime]

Having hesitated long enough for a warrior born, but not so long as to appear in defiance to the Empress, whatever the old monk might think, Doji Minehime bowed gracefully.

"I swear it." When she rose from her bow, she shared a significant look with Sanae, and then a much longer one with Tsuruyo.

[Hantei Retsuhime]

The Great Clans having committed, it was a foregone conclusion that no Minor Clan would have the temerity to refuse the Empress' demand. One by one, with Suzume Ryobu at their head, the Minor Clan representatives gave their oaths.

Satisfied, the Empress acknowledged her vassals with a shallow and nod and then returned to her seat behind the shoji screens.