[D2 EA] Gotcha!

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Really? What? The muttered warning makes no sense whatsoever to Saksaha. Fortunes and Winds was a tool of the Dark Brother? Or was Bantu talking about shogi? Either way, it seems nonsensical. But it also seems like something she's not supposed to ask about, for whatever reason, so she lets it pass with a mental shrug and resolves to make inquiries later.

"I am not a great player of games of chance," she says instead. "And I am not greatly skilled at games of strategy. But it would be interesting to see if you all have learned to play them by the same rules we do."




Fiyanggu the goat accepts Kaizen's tribute with a regal air, earning a small smile from Saksaha. The dandelion disappears with all speed.

A moment later the goat nudges his hand with a damp nose, just in case he has another treat to offer.

[Soshi Bantu]

"Did your Clan perchance learn any games from your centuries of travel that you would be interested in displaying? I am always keen to learn a new game."

It seems to take a great amount of Willpower for Bantu to contain his excitement about such a potential opportunity.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"I, personally?" Saksaha scratches her cheek and thinks. "You should ask others, especially the Ide. They would be better at teaching. I do not really... well, I throw the shagai, the sheep's ankle bones, with the children at the New Year, of course, but otherwise I do not take a great interest." She sounds a bit apologetic. The whole truth is that games of chance, and those others that involve moving little stones around a gridded board, are all too strongly reminiscent of divination--a serious business--for her to really feel at ease playing them as an entertaining pastime.

[Shiba Kaizen]

The manner in which the goat accepted his treat had Kaizen smiling slightly. Such grace and nobility! Perhaps this goat will start a trend among all samurai? Then four legged imps demand for more however reminded the Shiba how the goat had been on the run before what apparently was a mildly exhausting chase. Still the persistence was admirable and Kaizen plucked a second dandelion from out of rope range for the beast.

The exchange between the Scorpion and Unicorn was really bizarre, a game of the Ninth Kami? Some strange superstition perhaps? Not one the Shiba was familiar with. Regardless the Soshi seemed to really love games and the Iuchi not so much. He took the moment to consider the shugenja. She was attractive in the way some of the other Unicorn maidens were with an exotic quality. Her manner of speech was careful and accented as though she wanted to be certain she was understood.

Curious he asked, "Shagai? Is that a festival game or ritual?"

[Togashi Udo]

Udo moves over to the goat and kneels down in front of it to look it in the eyes... and he begins to sort of lose focus on the things happening around him.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Well...both," Saksaha explains in answer to Kaizen's question. "It is an old Ujik-hai game. We take the four ankle bones of a sheep--" she gestures vaguely in the air, shaping something small and rectangular with her hands "--clean, of course, and throw them to see how they land. They have four sides, all different."

Fiyanggu, mightiest of doe-goats (in her own estimation, anyway), nibbles the second dandelion from Kaizen's hand politely. It's nothing less than her due, after all. At first she feigns goatly indifference to the curious Togashi... but as he stares into her eyes she appears to become mesmerized, staring back just as fixedly while chewing slowly on nothing in particular.

[Togashi Udo]

Oddly, Udo seems to start chewing, too, for the briefest moment before looking up. "A fine goat. Not a horse, and not trying to be." He looks at the Iuchi. "Why does it escape?"

[Soshi Bantu]

"It sounds a little like some of our divination methods here in the Empire." Bantu adds as he pulls out a few of his own kawaru coins.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Oddly, Udo seems to start chewing, too, for the briefest moment before looking up. "A fine goat. Not a horse, and not trying to be." He looks at the Iuchi. "Why does it escape?"

"She becomes bored." Saksaha shrugs. "At my mother's tent, she has three other milch goats for company. Here, only me and a herd of sheep. Sheep are much stupider than goats," she adds, in case this obvious fact is not known in Rokugan. "But if I leave her behind there, she also pines."

Oddly poignant. For a goat.

"It sounds a little like some of our divination methods here in the Empire." Bantu adds as he pulls out a few of his own kawaru coins.

"What are those?" Saksaha leans a bit closer to look at the coins.

[Togashi Udo]

"I have spent time with sheep, and I can vouch for them not being enough. She is looking for good companionship, and it is important to do so in the right places. Here, she is away from home. But perhaps there is another goat around?"

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Perhaps," Saksaha agrees. "To most of our guests it seems she is a novelty, though. If she is looking for a friend of her own kind, I doubt she will find one here." She gestures vaguely at the tents around them, full of Crab, Dragon, Phoenix, and assorted minor clan samurai (or if not the samurai themselves at this hour, then at least their possessions).

[Togashi Udo]

"Maybe she can make friends of another kind, then? There are more than sheep. Plenty are uninterested in novelty, being they are somewhat novelties themselves." Udo runs a hand along one of his tattoos as he speaks.

[Soshi Bantu]

"It sounds a little like some of our divination methods here in the Empire." Bantu adds as he pulls out a few of his own kawaru coins.

"What are those?" Saksaha leans a bit closer to look at the coins.

"These are called Kawaru coins, skilled practitioners can use them to try and glimpse the future."

Bantu explained, pointing out the different symbols around them.

"Unfortunately I am very much only beginning to read them."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

The unaccustomed social effort of being surrounded by several curious guests must be beginning to tell on Saksaha a little, as she has the strange sensation that somehow she's almost conducting more than one conversation at once. And also... maybe not really talking about goats? She blinks and collects her thoughts.

"Maybe she can. There are certainly many new and interesting creatures here. And she has already made several samurai friends, if anyone can say that of a goat." Saksaha takes fresh notice of Udo's tattoos, suddenly realizing why they look so familiar. Of course! Her dark eyes widen slightly, but Oh, I dreamed about tattoos like yours! is not really a thing you say in the middle of a group of people you've just met, so she keeps the realization to herself for now.

"I did not know people here used coins to divine the changes," she replies to Bantu's explanation, raising an eyebrow. "The old way of the Iuchi, which they say came from this land, is to use fifty yarrow sticks or straws. And there is the old Ujik-Hai way, kumalak, with forty-one stones, which I had from my grandmother. To use just three coins seems... very simple."

Losing interest in Udo now that he's paying attention to his fellow humans again, the goat butts her muzzle gently against Saksaha's skirt, receiving an absent-minded scritch on the head in return.

[Togashi Udo]

Udo nods. "That is good."

Udo takes a small step back and turns slightly toward the Shiba, making sure he knows that he is a part of the conversation.