(D2, EA, Court) A "Guest" and a "Guest"

[Soshi Eiji]

(Making a new thread per the rules of court approaches).

So it is him.

Eiji bowed.

"Your heraldry sensei would be proud of you, Asako-san. Indeed, this one is Soshi-ke no kashin Miura Eiji, a pleasure to meet you." he introduced himself.

He looked thoughtfully at the current squabble in court.

"You know, the proclimation against war seems more sensble watching people argue about such a small thing as a performance." he mused.

[Asako Kenichi]

Emerging from the bag of holding, Kenichi smiled.

"Skirmishes have been fought over less. I believe my House went to war with another House over whose terrizory a peach tree belonged. It was supposedly planted by our founder."

There was a kightness in his tone as he recalled.

"How is Kyuden Ikoma treating you Soshi-san so far?"

[Soshi Eiji]

Emerging from the bag of holding, Kenichi smiled.

"Skirmishes have been fought over less. I believe my House went to war with another House over whose terrizory a peach tree belonged. It was supposedly planted by our founder."

There was a kightness in his tone as he recalled.

"How is Kyuden Ikoma treating you Soshi-san so far?"

Eiji considered his next words carefully. If Kenichi was who Gorobei had been babbling about, he probably wouldn't appreciate talks about peach trees who can't run from wars, effusive praise for their hosts, or raving about how great the Phoenix delegation was.

"Fairly, I would say." he offered diplomatically. "It is impressive, if not unexpected, the breadth and width of talent that has been gathered here. Kemari, for example, is a fun game and an apt metaphor for the precarious balance of court life. However, to be granted the honor of playing such a simple game here of all places, seems to require a devotion to the game that speaks of extensive practice. Do you think every year when assigning duties for freshly gempukked samurai that every lord picks at least one samurai to go 'And you shall dedicate every hour you have to mastering this one game so we have someone to show off at the Imperial Winter Court'?"

[Asako Kenichi]

"Those that know that the Empress favirs kemari surely do so. Perhaps more than one. Alas, I don't really have much skill of the game. Though certwinly, only the most talented and skilled are invited to Winter Court."

He smiled bitterly.

"Or those who are conveniqntly already here, I guess."

[Soshi Eiji]

"Those that know that the Empress favirs kemari surely do so. Perhaps more than one. Alas, I don't really have much skill of the game. Though certwinly, only the most talented and skilled are invited to Winter Court."

He smiled bitterly.

"Or those who are conveniqntly already here, I guess."

Well so much for just politelly pretending that's not the case.

Eiji tapped his fan considering the Phoenix's point.

"I'm afraid I may have to disagree with you on that latter point, Asako-san. This is, after all, the Imperial Winter Court, not a half empty theater in Ryoko Owari Toshi. Kyuden Ikoma is quite large, and not every samurai within it's boundaries have the honor of serving at the court itself. Some must toil away at their other less glorious, if stll honorable duties." he countered.

He spread his fan.

"In fact, Otomo Gorobei was speaking just yesterday of his high expectations for the younger members of the court and mentioned that Lady Keihime had personally petitioned Lady Shiba to extend invitations to talented Phoenix who might have otherwise been overlooked for other reasons."

Eiji scanned the court.

"Hmm, strange, I would have thought Otomo Gorobei would be in court today, with the discussion of the succession. Still, as they say, the court itself is mostly for show. Knowing what needs to be done, perhaps he is looking for ways to demonstrate his worthiness rather than merely showing his face here." he suggested.

[Asako Kenichi]

"Oh? Interesting." He replied simply, stunned by the revelation.

"Arigatou for your kind words Soshi-sa. Sounds like sn enlughtening discussion. How did you find Tomo-sama? I have not had the fortune yet."

He raised his own fan.

"Well, this talk of succession is quute serious, and we do not know what consideration the Empress has at the moment."

[Soshi Eiji]

"Oh? Interesting." He replied simply, stunned by the revelation.

"Arigatou for your kind words Soshi-sa. Sounds like sn enlughtening discussion. How did you find Tomo-sama? I have not had the fortune yet."

He raised his own fan.

"Well, this talk of succession is quute serious, and we do not know what consideration the Empress has at the moment."

"Ah, twas a chance meeting in the courtyard. Even a Vice Minister of Publc Gardens sometimes must get out and see the trees himself. Not all of an Otomo's life is toiling away on a seemingly endless mountain of paperwork." he offered.

He considered the Phoenix's second point.

"Hm, nor are we likely to. The Divine Empress is so much more than a mere daimyo. She's the head of all religion, the divine link between our world and the Heavens. She must decide what is best of the entire empire..a difficult task given the clans penchance for struggling against each other."

He shrugged a bit.

"Hopefully none think that it is a decision they can make for Her. Any foolish enough to do so will likely find this to be their last Winter court." he added.

[Asako Kenichi]

Kenichi hid his smirk behind his fan. "Certwinly so. The gardens are quite lovely though, in my biased opinion." He slowly closed his fan.

"And the clans will do as the Champions are wont to do. Luckily Shiba-ue is quite respectful and sliggtly obsessed with the law and what is legal. And luckily the Empress makes the law, so..."

He glanced back towards the Soshi. "How fare the Scorpion Soshi-san?"

[Soshi Eiji]

Kenichi hid his smirk behind his fan. "Certwinly so. The gardens are quite lovely though, in my biased opinion." He slowly closed his fan.

"And the clans will do as the Champions are wont to do. Luckily Shiba-ue is quite respectful and sliggtly obsessed with the law and what is legal. And luckily the Empress makes the law, so..."

He glanced back towards the Soshi. "How fare the Scorpion Soshi-san?"

Eiji-san considered the question and the questioner.

"Hmm, it sounds like Bayushi-ue and Shiba-ue would get along well, like twins one might be tempted to say." he offered.

While he wasn't just going to open the Scorpion's ledgers to the Asako, you couldn't get any iinformation if your weren't willing to give.

"Overall quite well I'd say, thanks to last year's negotiations. Our smiths, for example, were extremely productive this year, crafting swords, axes, and plowshares as fast as they could work the imported ore. Now their forges are hungry again."

That wasn't the full extent of the Scorpion's ambitions at court, but hopefully it would entice the man from a mountain clan to share a bit.

"And what of the Phoenix, Asako-san?" he asked in return.

[Asako Kenichi]

Eiji-san considered the question and the questioner.

"Hmm, it sounds like Bayushi-ue and Shiba-ue would get along well, like twins one might be tempted to say." he offered.

While he wasn't just going to open the Scorpion's ledgers to the Asako, you couldn't get any iinformation if your weren't willing to give.

"Overall quite well I'd say, thanks to last year's negotiations. Our smiths, for example, were extremely productive this year, crafting swords, axes, and plowshares as fast as they could work the imported ore. Now their forges are hungry again."

That wasn't the full extent of the Scorpion's ambitions at court, but hopefully it would entice the man from a mountain clan to share a bit.

"And what of the Phoenix, Asako-san?" he asked in return.

"Twins? Oh whatever could give you that idea Soshi-san?" His lips quirked in good humor. "Oh? Quite interesting. When thinking of weapon productikn, the Scorpion would not spring to mind foremost. Which is why these talks are so important."

He considered carefully. "The bounty of our forests was quite fruitful. We have an excess of paper and lumber, thankfully."

He wasn't sure if that would entice the Scorpion.

"Hopefully enough to get us what we need. Besides the material needs, there are quite a few things our Masters would like. I am sure the daimyo have their own expectation among rhe Scorpion as well."

[Soshi Eiji]

"Twins? Oh whatever could give you that idea Soshi-san?" His lips quirked in good humor. "Oh? Quite interesting. When thinking of weapon productikn, the Scorpion would not spring to mind foremost. Which is why these talks are so important."

He considered carefully. "The bounty of our forests was quite fruitful. We have an excess of paper and lumber, thankfully."

He wasn't sure if that would entice the Scorpion.

"Hopefully enough to get us what we need. Besides the material needs, there are quite a few things our Masters would like. I am sure the daimyo have their own expectation among rhe Scorpion as well."

"Ah well, when one is neighbors with the Lion clan, it's good to have an excess of armaments. You'll likely be trading arrows with them one way or the other."

He nodded at the Phoenix's own admissions.

"I am unsurprised that the Phoenix forests have been bountiful. Likewise, those axes I mentioned have been felling tree after tree. Unfortunately, unlike the Phoenix, we somewhat lack when it comes to skilled papermakers. Next winter perhaps we'll be playing Game of Woodcuts rather than Game of Letters."

He thought about the Phoenix masters.

"Hmm, of course Asako-san is correct that the daimyo have things they are looking for. It occurs to me that both of our clans have a passion for knowledge, albeit of different types. But perhaps there is an opporunity for an exchange there."

[Asako Kenichi]

"Well, we do have some paper, if you prefer your correspondance wr8tten as opposed to carved. Then again, your maskmakers are quite skilled at the art."

He opened his fan. "We also have some...relics from exot8c places. Mainly the far North, beyond the mountains."

He tilted his uewd in thought. "An exchange of knowledge...and perhaos an exchange of words. We can offer some limited access to my famiky's library. What would your clan have in return?"

[Soshi Eiji]

"Well, we do have some paper, if you prefer your correspondance wr8tten as opposed to carved. Then again, your maskmakers are quite skilled at the art."

He opened his fan. "We also have some...relics from exot8c places. Mainly the far North, beyond the mountains."

He tilted his uewd in thought. "An exchange of knowledge...and perhaos an exchange of words. We can offer some limited access to my famiky's library. What would your clan have in return?"

Eiji raised his fan as well.

"We have something...similarly well travelled one might say. As for knowledge, two things come to mind. The first being is that if someone were to have a question of a non-spiritual nature, we can provide the answer. It's not something we can do infinitely, so one would hope that they had an important question that they really needed an answer to. The second is...."

Eiji looked to his fan.

"...well something truly unique and possibly even more precious, but it's something we can only trade once. Not something we could trade for even the Phoenix's entire supply of paper and every log of their forest. Something I'm not really prepared to discuss in concrete terms, not right now." he decided upon.

[Asako Kenichi]

Eiji raised his fan as well.

"We have something...similarly well travelled one might say. As for knowledge, two things come to mind. The first being is that if someone were to have a question of a non-spiritual nature, we can provide the answer. It's not something we can do infinitely, so one would hope that they had an important question that they really needed an answer to. The second is...."

Eiji looked to his fan.

"...well something truly unique and possibly even more precious, but it's something we can only trade once. Not something we could trade for even the Phoenix's entire supply of paper and every log of their forest. Something I'm not really prepared to discuss in concrete terms, not right now." he decided upon.

Kenichi nodded. "I cannot say I am not intrigued, but I also cannot begrudge you your secrecy." He smiled lightly. "You are of the Clan of Secrets after all."

He gazed across the gathered at court. "There may be one more tooic of interest...the Yogo libraries."

[Soshi Eiji]

He gazed across the gathered at court. "There may be one more tooic of interest...the Yogo libraries."

Well that was a surprise.

"Indeed, Asako-san?" he offered, considering his fan. "Given the Phoenix's mastery of magic and the length of time that has passed since Asako Yogo became Yogo, as a non-shugenja, I wouldn't have thought there was anything of interest for the Phoenix there."


Research from an original Phoenix that had developed into it's very own branch of magic that not even the Phoenix had? Noooo, what possible interest could they have there?


He looked curiously at the Asako.

"I would need to consult with my delegaton to move forward with a discussion of such. But it would speed up the discussion to know what the Phoenix's specific interests are. Whether it's access to research on a specific topic, or an exchange of students or asking us to move them to Kyuden Isawa." he listed off.

He grinned a bit.

"Though I could probably answer that last one without consulting the delegation." he admitted.

[Asako Kenichi]

"Oh nonono...we would move it to Kyuden Asako obviously."

He let out a low chuckle. "One of the Elemental Council wishes access for themselves and some students to do...whatever it is that elemental masters research."

He let out a light shrug.

"I have more worldly concerns at the moment, to be honest."

[Soshi Eiji]

"Oh nonono...we would move it to Kyuden Asako obviously."

He let out a low chuckle. "One of the Elemental Council wishes access for themselves and some students to do...whatever it is that elemental masters research."

He let out a light shrug.

"I have more worldly concerns at the moment, to be honest."

Eiji nodded.

"More reasonable indeed, Asako-san. It is a matter I'll have to raise with the delegation. Is Asako-san at liberty to specify which member of the Elemental Council is asking for access? While I am not privvy to the social lives of the elemental council or the ruling Yogo, I would imagine that like many favors, it helps if the one asking already has a favorable reputation with the one being asked." he asked, seeking clarification.

[Asako Kenichi]

The Phoenix pondered for a moment. "Our Naster of Air." He stated simpmy.

"Anything immaterial that our esteemed twins might wish to achieve this Winter? With some potential help from Phoenix allies?"

[Soshi Eiji]

There were a lot of things they wished to accomplish, but unless the Asako was about to give Eiji the secret handshake to reveal himself as a Scorpion plant, there didn't seem to be much Eiji could openly ask for.

After a bit of thought, he had an answer.

"Well, I would say there is one project that we're looking for help with, but it's not one that the Phoenix would traditionally be able to help with. But perhaps they could in some small way. Most of our endeavors this season are trade focused. But there is one investment opportunity that goes beyond simply making sure that the clan's immediate needs are met. However, it would take a signficiant amount of rice to realize."

He shrugged a bit.

"Now the Scorpion have had a relatively decent year, praise be to Inari. But one of the members of my delegation is just absolutely convinced that were we to seek to accumulate this excess of rice that somewhere in the Empire someone's child must go hungry, and we'd be loudly denounced as heartless monsters who seek their gain at others expense."

Like people didn't do that already.

"So if Asako-san had any insight into the state of agriculture across the Empire to either confirm or assuage my collegue's fears, that would be useful." he admitted.

[Asako Kenichi]

Kenchi pondered.

"There are a few avenues on that front....actually."

His folded fan propped in his chin, Kenichi's eyes glazed over in thought.

"We could bless your crops to oroduce more next season if that helps. If you are actually lookong to know the current state of excess rice...I guess the libraries might be of help?"