Dark Edge Village

Batul recognized the samurai of the Fairuz among the people on the street. The samurai-ko made her way through them with courteous ways, not getting in the way of the samurai, as the heimin and hinin stood out of her own way. She nodded to one and another figure as she walked at a fast pace till she reached the Fairuz who walked ahead of her, his back against her.

"Sumimasen, Fairuz-sama" She called to him not remembering his name properly "Eto... I am Iuchi Batul, I was hoping I could speak to you."

Kaiya had been thinking to himself as he walked among the village roads, mulling over the various things he had heard and witnessed today, causing a strange couple second delay between his being addressed and suddenly halting, looking around, then finally spotting the Unicorn woman approaching him at a swift pace.

"..Oh! Good afternoon Iuchi-san," he replied with a bow, "of course..! How may Fairuz Kaiya be of assistance?"

"I was wondering if we could talk in brivate." She looked about, it seemed as the whole world was listening to her, but it was mostly her imagination working against her. "I would like to know more about that which you told me about in the yurts, but I believe many would not like to hear about such obscurity."

If he accepts, Batul guides him to a quieter area nearby, to a quiet tea house with private chambers where they can talk in private.

Such accents.. though as many generations as the Unicorn have been away, it is rather wondrous that they still speak the same language at all!

"...Of course. I'm far from the most knowledgeable on such things, but I will answer any questions to the best of my ability."

Kaiya will follow, mostly thinking to himself rather than making small talk. He never was too good at that, and the shadow of the waiting topic ahead clouded such niceties.

Once in the booth of the tea house, Batul asked the tender to bring some tea, making some small talk on the weather of the following days til the kettle rests on the table, and then she dismisses the man and pours tea on each cup, giving time for them to be alone, as the silence starts to creep in.

"Well." She finally says taking a solemn look. "I want to first thank you for making me understand the essential of the magic in the Embire. We, of the Iuchi, have developed another way of Magic that I understand has not been affected by the current state of the Embire." The samurai-ko cleared her throat as she allowed the Fairuz to understand that she had learned about the difficulties of elemental magic. "Seppun-sama informed me that it has been a struggle to hear the kami for the shugenja of the Embire, although he could not say why. I told him that we Iuchi have our sbells engraved in amulets that allow us to call on bower, and this bower has not been affected. But I have yet to understand what this danger on the elemental balance of the Embire is. Could you exblain a bit, Fairuz Kaiya-san?"

Kaiya listened closely, nodding in understanding between sips of tea.

"I have been meaning to speak with one of Iuchi-san's family regarding that magic, as the only thing I have heard so far has been its name.. meishodo?"

The cup returned to the table for the moment as he considered the main question, still mostly full.

"..Unfortunately, I am probably not a useful source of information on this. I know that a few years past, a massive ripple spread throughout the Empire, affecting only those who could speak with the kami, leaving many bedridden for days. This has happened three times in total, worse each time, and with each such occurrence, the elements have felt more and more.. almost sickly. Imagine if casting a spell were like drinking a quantity of kumis all at once.. only, sometimes for it to turn out that the drink had gone long past fermentation and was instead spoiled. Such is the effect of this imbalance on a shugenja if their command of the elements is not complete. Even some of the greatest priests have not been immune to this, as it seems the more complicated the spell, the worse things can go awry.."

He took another sip from his cup, not sure how much of this had been explained already.

"Yes, I heard the same from Sebbun-sama, but this I still don't understand why." The samurai-ko thought deeply, her knowledge was not the best from the Iuchi in magic, much less when it came to the magic of the Empire, where they hadn't lived in centuries. "I am yet a novice in the ways of magic, so my sbells are not comblex ones. Though neither I, nor my fellow Iuchi briests, we have not noticed anything of the sorts. It could be due to the source of our magical bowers, the Meishodo, yes." The samurai-ko pulled out one of her amulets, one of an aquamarine colored gem. "For some reason the Meishodo is not affected by the imbalance. But still our magic is not knowledgeable in some ways." She continued exposing a bit about the Iuchi. "We have not had confronted enemies like the one that showed up the other night. We do not know how to fight them. I hear there is one strong stone that can be used, and some spells that are effective."