Game On (D3 LE - VERY OPEN)

[Doji Fukawa]

“Oh?” she smiles brightly and then says, “That is clever, so you mark your lover as yours with a fan! Does Doji-san have many fans she is quite pretty must have many men that want to know her.”

She glances at the Matsu and says, “I have no fan perhaps I give my lover bruises to mark as mine.”

Her joke makes her laugh and then she adds, “I like you Sayyeda Doji, show me more of this fashion.”

"Oh, now fashion is a subject any Crane can go on for quite a length, Moto-san, but I would be happy to tell you more about it." she explains.

She slips a gold ring off her finger, for the Unicorn to get a better look at. Rather than a Crane, this one is a coiled dragon.

"Gold jewelry is very in right now. I must have brought a dozen netsuke with me here. Really, this season everyone in court is expected to have at least one gold netsuke upon their person." she explains.

She looks at the Moto curiously.

"Does your family have such a tradition, Moto-san?" she asks, curious.

[Matsu Nintoku]

The Matsu groaned as he blushed once more due to the bluntness of the Moto quickling taking a sip of kumis to hide his bashfulness.

"Matsu do not gift each other fans. If my father had gifted my mother a fan, she'd have broken his nose." he stated plainly, perhaps too candidly due to the alcohol "A Matsu must be earned through martial prowess in a way that would honor our founder Lady Matsu."

"That is even more pressing among my family due to our direct blood tie with Lady Matsu." he continued "We are a lineage of warriors and as warriors we court."

He then returned to his silent state when they spoke of fashion, something that interested him as much as, well, fashion.

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

Tomoe raised a hand to her lips as she held back a giggle when she saw him blush. She understood he had tried to do something to impress her, but ended up looking... well, rather cute instead.

At least she had offered him a graceful way out of it.

"It sounds like your family is blessed with a strong gift for the path of a priest then, to be an heir to such a long line of shugenja," she nodded. "I am still not sure how these meishodo work though. Are they perhaps a variation on a shugenja's ofuda, as sacred paper might've been difficult to come by in your travels?"

Now she was the one who blushed. "... Uhm, if you don't mind me asking, that is. I wouldn't want to intrude upon sacred secrets of your clan."

Instead, Dong-Ha felt the fires of shame burning in his chest, and while he tried to focus on the game at hand, his cheeks remained red, flustered as he was. "Well, my father's sensei was not my grandfather, so the lineage is more... scholastic." There was a slight disgraceful episode that had led to Dong-Ha's father's sensei into adopting Dong-Ha's father as his student, an incident that had never been fully explained to the young man.

"No, no, it's fine. I could toss you one of my amulets... and it would be just that, a trinket." he explained, waving his hadn as if to dispel the awkward moment. "Meishodo is the way of words of creation, words of power uttered at the moment of creation. Words so old that they have the power to make things be. To command the very elements that make up the world." His calloused fingers brushed each of his dangling charms as he spoke. "The art of imbuing the charms with the words requires the student to mediate on the desired effect... and to carve the ancient words.. in a language long dead on them, while making sure that the the charm itself is... suitable for the task."

Dong-Ha freed an amber amulet from his shash, handing it to the Hare. "This here... will grant luck to the bearer, or anyone the bearer touches... for a brief moment once the right words have been spoken."

[Moto Khulun]

“Immediate family likes to wear what we kill, this is wolf pelt,” she says showing the fur to the Crane.

“My first hunt, good kill.”

“We have gold, much of it plunder from our fallen enemies. Styles change when my mother was young it was fashionable to have heavy leather boot and fur lined but then it was not so much fur and more detail… now you add bits of bone and metal. Also boots more stiff… stiffer now.”

She shows her boots to the Crane and then adds, “Beards are quite fashionable too, good beard makes for good man. Ahh I do have this,” she shows off the ivory netsuke on the hilt of her blade Massacre of the ki-rin and crane intertwined.

“Belonged to Shinjo-no-kami, given to her by Doji-no-kami!”

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa was mentally adding, 'Which was then purified by our priests' and 'We did what we had to to fulfill our Kami's commands' rather than freaking out about the Moto having touched so much dead stuff.

She was also amused, picturing the Matsu with a big bushy beard.

But her attention was arrested on the Ivory netsuke.

"That netsuke is amazing, Moto-san. How did it come in to your possession?" she asked, curious.

[Moto Khulun]

“Well… I…” she realizes the words of Ide-dono and says, “A bird brought it to me… it could speak and said this was important. I took it to Rabbit-sensei and she said it was the netsuke given to Shinjo-no-kami by Doji-no-kami.”

“Sadly it is said the Mother of Unicorns would never part with this willingly…”

OOC: Sincerity + Fatigue: 2d10-5 11 for truthiness. #unicornfacts

[Soshi Bantu]

The ancient piece drew Bantu's attention as well.

"If Usagi-san says so, then it is true. She is well versed in history and other scholastic fields."

He turned and offered a bow of respect to Khulan.
"You must be marked for great things to be chosen as the bearer of such an historically important item."

[Usagi Tomoe]

Instead, Dong-Ha felt the fires of shame burning in his chest, and while he tried to focus on the game at hand, his cheeks remained red, flustered as he was. "Well, my father's sensei was not my grandfather, so the lineage is more... scholastic." There was a slight disgraceful episode that had led to Dong-Ha's father's sensei into adopting Dong-Ha's father as his student, an incident that had never been fully explained to the young man.

"No, no, it's fine. I could toss you one of my amulets... and it would be just that, a trinket." he explained, waving his hadn as if to dispel the awkward moment. "Meishodo is the way of words of creation, words of power uttered at the moment of creation. Words so old that they have the power to make things be. To command the very elements that make up the world." His calloused fingers brushed each of his dangling charms as he spoke. "The art of imbuing the charms with the words requires the student to mediate on the desired effect... and to carve the ancient words.. in a language long dead on them, while making sure that the the charm itself is... suitable for the task."

Dong-Ha freed an amber amulet from his shash, handing it to the Hare. "This here... will grant luck to the bearer, or anyone the bearer touches... for a brief moment once the right words have been spoken."

Tomoe cautiously accepted the amber piece, not because she was sceptical of it, but more that she was worried if it was alright for her to touch it. She took a moment to study the piece, wondering a little how something like this could hold that kind of power... but then again, she knew there were nemuranai of small size that could house powerful kami.

"I wish I could understand a little better how this would work... I've only know in theory how shugenja communicate with the kami when they use their sacred prayers, as I'm not a shugenja myself, but my in my family were. In some ways, these sound as if they could be something between nemuranai or ofuda; something that holds the power of a shugenja's prayer, but a little different. When you say the right words, does the power leave this item for good...?"

So curious, she seemed so engrossed with the concept of the item, she didn't even notice that others were speaking about her.

[Moto Khulun]

"You must be marked for great things to be chosen as the bearer of such an historically important item."

“I have the blood of Moto, it is known,” she says proudly.

[Soshi Bantu]

"I am sure your reputation will grow as large as the Black Jackal." Bantu replied with a smile.

[Matsu Nintoku]

The Lion focused on the object as he took another sip. He thought about the talking bird, about the monster she fought and about the scar she received; he would have to inquire further about that tomorrow.

"That blade is quite the work of craftsmanship." he casually commented before coming to the realization that Khulun had the blood of their founder coursing through his veins.

He stared blankly into an empty space, the petite Ide's words echoing in his mind. That Moto was also a kuge.

[Moto Khulun]

The Lion focused on the object as he took another sip. He thought about the talking bird, about the monster she fought and about the scar she received; he would have to inquire further about that tomorrow.

"That blade is quite the work of craftsmanship." he casually commented before coming to the realization that Khulun had the blood of their founder coursing through his veins.

He stared blankly into an empty space, the petite Ide's words echoing in his mind. That Moto was also a kuge.

The Moto princess removes the saya and blade from her hip and holds it out, “Hai, it is Massacre, made of star metal, I can show you if you like?”

[Matsu Nintoku]

"Not here." He shook his head "This is not the place to unsheathe a blade."

[Iuchi Dong-Ha]

Tomoe cautiously accepted the amber piece, not because she was sceptical of it, but more that she was worried if it was alright for her to touch it. She took a moment to study the piece, wondering a little how something like this could hold that kind of power... but then again, she knew there were nemuranai of small size that could house powerful kami.

"I wish I could understand a little better how this would work... I've only know in theory how shugenja communicate with the kami when they use their sacred prayers, as I'm not a shugenja myself, but my in my family were. In some ways, these sound as if they could be something between nemuranai or ofuda; something that holds the power of a shugenja's prayer, but a little different. When you say the right words, does the power leave this item for good...?"

So curious, she seemed so engrossed with the concept of the item, she didn't even notice that others were speaking about her.

Nothing really happened when Tomoe touched the amulet. It felt like a slightly cool stone under her fingers, though most of the charm's surface was filled with minute writing composed of strange and almost impossible shapes. "We are actually planning to test that with Isawa Nonin-san." Finally his sense of shame was receding, being replaced by all encompassing curiosity. "I will work my magic... and he or Moshi... something-san will talk with the spirits, to see how they feel our magic.. if they feel it." He sounded rather convinced that the spirits didn't what the Iuchi did to the elements.

"No, the the power is in the word, the charm is merely a locus." Dong-Ha replied, his dark eyes seeking out Tomoe's. "How the words came to be, we do not know. We know that Iuchi-shiryo gleamed them... and the craft of making this amulets." he reached to pat the amulet she was holding., his fingers brushing over hers as he did so. "..from powerful gaijin sorcerers. He later refined the magic with the help of Iuchi Nobane-shiryo and the end results is in your hands."

[Moto Khulun]

"Not here." He shook his head "This is not the place to unsheathe a blade."

She nods to the Matsu, “As you say.”

She returns the blade still in the saya to her side. “Massacre can wound any creature, it is known.”