The Town of Inaba (Episode 1 - Closed)

[May]

Akeha's expression is honestly sympathetic for Lee's difficulty. "I have been in much the same circumstance. While I speak Suizasho's Dragontongue and Riverspeak, I have had to add to my Forest-tongue quite significantly since I arrived. Whoever is best at languages... particularly if they speak Old or High Realm, should try to add our Dragonspeak to their repertoire... it is the language of court, priests, and art for us. As you heard Master Zhao and I earlier, it is not intelligible in either Realm or Rivertongue."

[Carthrat]

((OOC: Andy, I think we're winding up here. How shall we proceed?))

[Excal]

Khun nods at the directions, and instead of coming in directly, he angles his approach so that they have a good view of the town instead.  And as they're at their best view of the city, he lets his anima flare as he funnels six peripheral motes through it, mixing with his aura, and briefly enhancing his sight before spreading out almost as a fine mist, letting him see more than usual.  The All-Encompassing Sorcerer's Sight which would show any magical workings or where reality is thin and the Wyld is peeking through.

<Tarubot> 1,0Snackoo_Detective_Excal rolled :1,0 7#d10 --> 1,0[ 1d10=8 ]1,0{8}, 1,0[ 1d10=8 ]1,0{8}, 1,0[ 1d10=8 ]1,0{8}, 1,0[ 1d10=5 ]1,0{5}, 1,0[ 1d10=9 ]1,0{9}, 1,0[ 1d10=9 ]1,0{9}, 1,0[ 1d10=6 ]1,0{6}  - 5 successes

It seems luck is with him, and his eyes keenly scan the deserted city below.

[AndrewRogue]

Vol/Lee/Akeha

Tora bows his head and laughs. "Mother, are you trying to shame me? The fine warriors of Lady Hakuhi would no doubt find one such as mouse as a mouse underfoot. I would fear that my scurrying would place me quite in the way!" He finishes a cup of the plum wine and places it on the table. "Though I suppose if it is my dear mother's wish and Lady Hakuhi permits it, I would have no choice but to do what I could."

Rishi/Khun

It is almost simultaneous that you both catch it, a gentle sound of scraping drawing your eyes to a building and a lucky glint of light delivers what you need: the brief shine of an arrowhead in a window.

[Excal]

"Don't suppose you can parry an arrowhead?" Khun asks wryly, as he pilots the cloud at the fastest speed he thinks won't convince the archer to fire towards the window he saw the arrowhead from.  His hands safely up, palms forward to show they're empty.  Not that that actually makes him much less dangerous, but symbols are important and it might make the difference.

When they get close enough that he figures he could be heard, he'll shout out, "Friends!  Don't fire!" and just repeat that every minute or so until it's clear they've been heard.

[AndrewRogue]

"Identify yourself! You speak with the warriors of the White Fire, the loyal servitors of the champion of the Crane, Tetsuzuru-san. To challenge us is to choose death, as you no doubt see. Think carefully about your next action." The voice is masculine and commanding.

[Carthrat]

Lee cups her cheek with a sigh. "Too humble by half, Tora!" she says. "As a mother, I can't be upset at good manners, of course. But here I really must insist. And it would be a quick start in familiarising yourself with the local language, insofar as it applies to military matters."

[May]

"Military matters do tend to be conducted in Dragon's Tongue," Akeha agrees, tilting her head a little. "If you have any experience in Old Realm it will provide... at least a minimal foundation to work from," she nods, drawing another careful sip of plum wine.

[Excal]

Khun stands before then, resplendant on his flying cloud as he speaks.  Though he does not intend to fight, neither does he intend to let their bluff posture diminish his own pride and dignity, and as he speaks, he takes on the Mountain Lord's Defiant Stance and lets his voice boom.

I am Khun, of the house of Zhao, Riverspeaker of the Hundred Tongued and Sage of the Jin Tor.  By request of Lady Tetsuzuru, Guardian of the Fox Spring, I bring to you a missive written in her hand for your eyes.

Then, he folds his arms together briefly, letting one reach up his billowing sleeve and grabbing the envelope, then pulling them apart enough to show it, the unblemished seal clearly holding the imprint of Haruki Akeha.

[Magetastica]

Rishi grins, "I actually might be able to. But now's not the best time to find out."

---------------------------

After hearing them speak and seeing Khun hold up the envelope, Rishi drops his hood and slyly brings his hands up with one holding his envelope from Akeha and the other hand holding his emblem. "Sorry I don't speak your language," he shouts, "but hopefully you'll recognize me and the seal on our envelopes enough to hear us out. But first, are there any dangers we're alerting with all this shouting that need to be handled?"

[Carthrat]

"To be sure, we are fluent in Old Realm, but I wonder if it was really meant for casual speech," muses Lee. "Ah, for us it is all about the sound. And speaking of that, perhaps I could demonstrate. Do either of you speak it?" she wonders, thoughtfully.

She reaches for her cup, but blinks. "Oh, dear," she says, before letting her eyes wander around the table until they latch onto Vol. "My, I don't see why we're not all being served in such quantity! Is rice wine not a strong drink in these parts?" she asks, curiously. "Well, I must try one, if you will."

[Hunter Sopko]

Vol relaxes out of his attentive state to smile to Lee, "Quite strong, Lady Aaeiko. If I may?" he will elect to take over the serving duty from Akeha at this point, filling Lee's cup from the communal flask that had been left by the previous server. His technique is similar to Akeha, but more meticulous and precise, as if he'd been schooled and practiced in the art for years. "I think you will find it to your liking."

After serving, he holds his own cup up in a ritual toast of Suizasho, a prayer to the God of Sake.

[Carthrat]

Lee swigs down her cup following the prayer, and- really, how much has she had since she got here? Oh, it doesn't matter, it's a nice dinner party, after all.

"A song! I must commemorate today with a song," she insists, setting down her cup with a satisfying clack. "The words have come to me. I've been working on one for a little while, now- for fateful meetings such as today's. It is in Old Realm, alas, but you don't need to know the words to understand the meaning being it, if you understand? Ah, there was once a time when I had lost all passion for the art but it has been restored and I yet yearn to set it free! We can't have the people outside having all the fun, you know!"

She clears her throat, sparing a moment to glance at Tora. "Now, it does not have a name yet but I shall call it, oh... Fateful Joining?" she muses.

Then, she clears her throat, and swells into an upbeat song that interlaces levity with a high-pitched and urgent chorus. On most verses, she applies curious modulation to individual words that lend the entire thing a surreal, quirky tone. Nobody could doubt the song has an element of humor to it, though it switches between a commanding and comedic melody at the turn of a beat.

"Now child, look! Eyes burning bright;
I've taught you all righteousness;
Now consign that to Lethe
Life gives you branches on one lonesome river
Today the route is clear; do not fear it!

"Why, you cry? Couldn't be simpler-"

"The woman sitting there before you
Is a worthy and heavenly scion of virtue!"

"Below a warrior's coat lies a shy young maid;
Time to use the lessons of your roguelike mind
You only live once and your flame burns yet high;
I won't forgive you if you ruffle no feathers

"But why now, why here, why her? Sweet child! Do not be shy-

"The woman sitting there before you
Is a worthy and heavenly scion of virtue!"

"Join two worthies in an ancient pact!
Time for contemplation's after you've loved and lain-
Make no mistake
It'll soon be too late
Seize the chance to plant a field
Take fate by the arm
Persist with a wish-

For the woman sitting there before you's
a worthy and heavenly scion of virtue!"

At the end, Lee breathes in, and clasps her hands happily together. "How much of that did you get?" she asks, peering closely at Akeha.

[AndrewRogue]

Lee/Akeha/Vol

Tora offers a quiet harmony to help underscore his mother's piece, and a quiet, earnest applause upon its completion.

Rishi/Khun

There are some muttered words below from what you can identify as two distinct voices. They lapse into Forest-Tongue and are hard even for you senses to decipher, but it seems positive, particularly with the word "Rishi." After another moment, they speak again, dropping back into the more common tongue.

"It's clear, otherwise we wouldn't be yelling, sell-sword. The beasts are dead or dispersed. You two can land fine. In fact, if you've got some medical supplies, Hioshi could use them. We've done what we can to help his arm, but it was gonna be a rough trip back regardless. Repeat that to your honored friend if he doesn't speak the Forest-Tongue."

[Excal]

At the mention of an injured person, Khun's eyes narrow.  "Show me your injured." he says in the Forestongue as he moves the cloud up to the window, ready to move in.  Though he has some bandaging, he doesn't have any medicines ready to go.  But, he does have what he needs to make most basic salves in his satchel, and hopefully this won't be anything major.

[May]

((OOC: SUBTLE))

Akeha blinks out of her musical reverie, smiling and clapping with the others. "Very little, and I'm ah... fairly sure some of it was misinterpreted by context cue differences..." she admits, shaking her head. "It was quite beautiful, though. If we could overcome or sidestep the basic prejudices, I'd dare to say you would impress at the Imperial Court..."

[Hunter Sopko]

Vol erupts with applause at the piece, though the look in his eyes is thoughtful. His knowledge of the High Realm language let him pick up some of the meaning of the song, but the ambiguity of it makes him pause. "My, Lady Aaeiko. That was quite something. Bravo."

Once Lee had settled back with the rest of them, Vol attempts to hide the confusion brought on by the song with gentle ribbing. "I must say, Lady Aaeiko, I have never seen alcohol motivate someone quite that quickly."

[Carthrat]

"It is not the alcohol, but our innate temperaments and the spirit of companionship! I did not spend decades studying my craft to avoid using it," Lee says, swirling a finger in Vol's direction. "Alcohol is a mere lubricant at best. But tell me, young man. What motivates you?"

[AndrewRogue]

Lee/Vol/Akeha

"Music and poetry are both arts that speak to the soul, and draw out the hidden feelings that lie within the readers' hearts," Tora speaks to no one in particular, but smiles warmly round the table.

[AndrewRogue]

Rishi/Khun

The man will guide the pair of you into one of the least damage huts, and quickly show you to another in the garb of the crane, his arm messily bandaged with apparently whatever cloth could be found. The wounds do not take an expert the assess: the man clearly got the worst of a mauling on it. Some sort of beast. The man offers a pained grin. "Reinforcements? Were we not trusted to get the job done?"

"We were just discussing what best to do. We need to to report back to Tetsuzuru-san as soon as possible." The uninjured man shakes his head, remaining in Foresttongue once he knows the newcomer speaks it. "Things are bad here, as you no doubt saw. We lost Rin in a skirmish before we even made it. Aki and Shou are in the bodies out there. Sho and I were going to try and make our way back to Inaba and report ahead of them, provided he didn't just drop dead."

[Hunter Sopko]

Vol's eyebrows rise in amusement at the question. "Hmm. A blunt question. I wonder if your opinion of alcohol as a lubricant is strong than you act. Alas, my Lady Aaeiko, my primary motivation is to remain an enigma; a riddle with no answer- or an answer with no riddle, belike." he nods sagely at his correction, taking a satisfied sip of his sake.

[Carthrat]

"Such a question poses no reward for its contemplation; it cannot be so!" Lee replies, scoffing at the notion. "Come, my friend, why so coy? Those are the lackadaisical thoughts of a nothing, a nothing thy are clearly not."

[May]

Akeha watches the interplay between Lee and Vol, with an easy and amused smile creeping across her lips. "Knowing only a little more of Vol than the rest of you, I suspect he worries he is too plain to warrant more worth than as an enigma."

[Hunter Sopko]

"On the contrary, Lady Hakuhi. There is little worry when one knows the answer." his smile stays, sipping his sake comfortably after the verbal riposte. "And to your point, Lady Aaeiko, there is nothing lackadaisical about me, as Lady Hakuhi could tell you. She once asked straight out if I ever slept, given I always seemed to be... 'flitting about' I think it was? On some errand. And no matter how late I stayed up pouring over inventory lists, I was always awake before her to compile and give her morning report. Such bafflement at an easy workload as I have encountered here comes as quite the surprise. I might even have to take up a hobby to fill time."

[Carthrat]

Lee seems visibly confused, and reaches for her cup again only to find it empty. Rather than refill it, however, she just sets it down and leans over the table to get a good long look at Vol's face from an intrusive, up-close-and-personal perspective.