Are We Okay? (D4 LA)

[Jihen]

Jihen found his way to the library in the late afternoon. A question lingered on his thoughts the past two court sessions that he sought council for from the past.

He knew that within the Four Temples after a significant event like an earthquake would take place, that there would be prayers offered and regular schedules changed to avoid infringing on taboos likely to further upset the deities responsible for the event.

Having heard reports from the villages which had suffered great damage... Jihen wondered why the Winter Court had not changed its calendar in a similar manner. Was this a common practice for the Winter Court? Were things too busy to pay heed to the very taboos which would protect the people from further calamity? Or was this a modern adaptation... a lapsed protocol which no one seemed to want to resurrect because it infringed upon their ability to maneuver politically?

Whatever the case... Jihen wished to refer to the past. He began pulling histories and looking for similar events and cross referencing them with the location of Winter Courts in the past. Surely... he would be able to glean some information on this with enough energy expended.

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D4 LA Library Questions, Court History, VP 3 Raises | 9k8 ⇒ 41 (TN: 35)

[Jihen]

It was also when he was thus occupied that Jihen felt a great and powerful spiritual wind push upon him as he sat reading a scroll of the Ikoma Histories...

A ripping sound seemed to emanate from everywhere. Jihen turned to see if a door had been destroyed... but did not know which direction to look. It seemed as if the air around him had ripped.

He felt the very air, fire, water, and earth around him begin to rise in movement and anger.

What had done this? Further imbalance... Was this the repercussion of their blatant disregard for the signs the world had shown them?

Jihen began quietly chanting and making esoteric symbols with his hand to soothe the spirits around him. He reached out to touch the greater Void... and was shocked by the unrest and imbalance he perceived. It was if the entire castle was aflame with a fire that no mortal eyes could see. He could feel dots of peace begin to start up at various places throughout the castle, pouring out positive energy which brought the raucous elements into greater harmony like ripples in a pond.

He too set his mind to oneness with the Void... allowing his calm to affect the world around him. Slowly he could feel himself extending out into the library... dancing in harmony with the elements. One could never conquer them... only dance with them and create harmony with the song of the universe.


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D4 Disturbance in the Force, Ett/Ref, VP | 8k4 ⇒ 65 (TN: 20)

D4 Disturbance in the Force, Lore:Theology/Awa, Benten's | 7k5 ⇒ 28 (TN: 15)

D4 Disturbance in the Force, Meditation/Void, Benten's, VP | 10k7 ⇒ 41 (TN: 20)

[Shiba Ryushi]

Jiren would note the fallen Shiba that was praying for guidance at the shrine to Fukurokujin. He just laid there pondering and hurting. The man sighed as many times as he could draw breath.

[Jihen]

Among those dots of soothing influence he had felt one of pain not far away...

Ending his study he came out and found the young Phoenix sighing.

"Are you alright samurai-sama?"

[Shiba Ryushi]

"I am forsaken by the fortunes and the spirits." The Shiba just laid there looking now at the monk. "Life is one of sacrifice and I sometimes wonder if I did the right thing."

[Jihen]

"Do not give into despair Phoenix-sama. 'Every man's life is a story.' You are only part-way through yours... The setbacks we face are often the first steps in greater understanding." He kneels down beside the man.

"What is it you feel you have done wrong?"

[Fukurokujin]

Jiren would note the fallen Shiba that was praying for guidance at the shrine to Fukurokujin. He just laid there pondering and hurting. The man sighed as many times as he could draw breath.

It has to be the wind that somehow says "Pfft."

Has to.

Jihen found his way to the library in the late afternoon. A question lingered on his thoughts the past two court sessions that he sought council for from the past.

He knew that within the Four Temples after a significant event like an earthquake would take place, that there would be prayers offered and regular schedules changed to avoid infringing on taboos likely to further upset the deities responsible for the event.

Having heard reports from the villages which had suffered great damage... Jihen wondered why the Winter Court had not changed its calendar in a similar manner. Was this a common practice for the Winter Court? Were things too busy to pay heed to the very taboos which would protect the people from further calamity? Or was this a modern adaptation... a lapsed protocol which no one seemed to want to resurrect because it infringed upon their ability to maneuver politically?

Whatever the case... Jihen wished to refer to the past. He began pulling histories and looking for similar events and cross referencing them with the location of Winter Courts in the past. Surely... he would be able to glean some information on this with enough energy expended.
D4 LA Library Questions, Court History, VP 3 Raises | 9k8 ⇒ 41 (TN: 35)

The records abound with accounts of Winter Courts past, although it seems that few mention earthquakes or other disasters taking place amid them. Indeed, there are several telling elisions of conditions in several reports, days with little mention when the surrounding days are detailed.

Tellingly, those elisions get really going during the dominance of the Gozoku. It seems that those in power began then to exert more influence to depict things pacifically, doubtlessly to highlight the putative nobility of their cause. After all, if things didn't go wrong while they were in power, then they should well have been in power, right?

[Shiba Ryushi]

"Even the wind mocks me." Ryushi just shook his head. "A story told of fool like me... not likely... a sacrifice for my superiors than now I wonder if I was wise to do so or just plain stupid." He continued laying on the floor. "Many would think that a Phoenix like this one is in the good graces of the fortunes but not this one."

[Jihen]

"The wind is capricious like that... It teases us all at times. Not to drag us down though... It wants to play with us... To have us ride it to where we need to go." he replied.

"What sacrifice were you asked to make?"

[Shiba Ryushi]

"To save a soul... a soul must be sacrificed... To protect one's superior... one must make the ultimate show... as a knee was bent by Shiba no Kami... a knee this one bent for the sake of my commander... one might say it was a foolish errand... other a noble sacrifice... now l lie here... wondering... pondering... and hoping for a better rebirth."

[Jihen]

"You feel as if you have lost your soul then?" He asked.

[Shiba Ryushi]

"Yes." the simple reply from the bushi that has mustered now the strength to sit down in seiza. "the soul may be lost... and perhaps the will to go on... but here is this one praying in hope for forgiveness and a better chance in life."

[Jihen]

"Our souls may get lost from time to time... but they are never 'lost'." He replied with confidence.

"Our actions sometimes may dim the light... Make it harder for us to see our path. But with humility... and dedication... our souls can once again regain any light we may have let slip in the past."

He smiles, "And you look like a man who is indeed humble... Otherwise you would not be so concerned."

[Shiba Ryushi]

"I wish I could see that light. What I see inside myself is the what could have been? The falter in my mind and the idea of a promise that will never come." The Shiba shook their head. "Yet in the darkness... one can see not light but the sin that one can have."

[Jihen]

"Just as what could have been is not... What once was, now not is. What is now... will not be. The path before us all, always changes."

He draws a series of lines in the dust.

"There are many paths one might take to the top of a mountain. Some include crevasses or long walk-arounds."

He paused, "If one keeps stepping with intent to reach the summit... One day... you will end up exactly where you hoped you would be... and just when the universe needs you to be there."

[Shiba Ryushi]

The Shiba shook their head. "I think I have already been where I was needed and now am paying the prize." He sighed one last time as he hope the headache would go away. "Perhaps there is still something the fortunes want of me... that is why I come to pray."

[Jihen]

"And what would you want for yourself?" He asked kindly.

[Shiba Ryushi]

"Right now... direction. I continue to feel lost. The fortunes and the spirits are guiding forces and I wish they didn't work in such mysterious ways." The Shiba explained.

[Jihen]

"Are our souls any less mysterious?" He asked.

"The words of the Tao are simple. Following the Tao is complex. So does the simple show the outward things, The complex reveals the soul."

[Shiba Ryushi]

Ryushi pondered and winced. The man shook his head. "Souls may be like people different in many ways but... perhaps easier to understand than the fortunes. Our ancestors guide us here and in our rebirth."