Waiting for Godot (D4, EM, Fukawa's Yurt)

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa considered that.

"I'm not sure I'm looking for anything per se, Moto-san." she replies. "My lord bid me attend the miai, and so I attend the miai. The expectation being a successful marriage, but that doesn't mean I'm looking for anything."

She looks at the Moto.

"What about you, Moto-san? Is there anything I can help you find?" she asks.

The Soul of Honor: 50

[Moto Baatar]

"I'm supposed to find a wife at the miai," Baatar admitted. "So far I'm not doing great at this. I know at some point the elders will just pair us off, one girl to each boy, and we'll have to live with whomever we end up. So, falling in love seems foolish when our future is not in our own hands."

"But it would be nice to get paired with someone who I can get along with," Baatar added. "I shouldn't like to go through life with chopsticks of two different lengths." He smiled ruefully.

"How to make that happen, well... I dunno."

--
Etiquette 19 failed to resist contested roll

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa nodded.

"Hm. Have you met any samurai-ko you'd think you'd get along well with Moto-san?" she asked.

[Moto Baatar]

"Well, you seem nice...." Baatar eyed Fukawa speculatively. "Though I don't think I have enough horses to carry all your stuff around."

"I've met some other eastern girls, too; but it's hard to know what they're like after just one meeting."

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa nods.

"Not that this is all my stuff, Moto-san. This is a light load for a 10 day miai, and travel to and hence, but your point is taken." she says.

"It sounds like you need to spend some more time with the eligible candidates."

[Moto Baatar]

"You have even more stuff than this?" Baatar asked, eyeing Fukawa skeptically. "That's... amazing. Are you a daimyo's daughter or something?"

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa shakes her head.

"No, my family is simply well off. It's not that uncommon among the Crane." she admits.

[Moto Baatar]

"I'm sure you must have many marriage prospects, yourself, then," Baatar suggested. "Maybe even someone with enough horses to tow a palace on a wagon for you." He grinned.

[Doji Fukawa]

The Doji looks over at the Moto curiously.


"Oh, did you see many wagons in your travels, Moto-san?" she asks, curious. "They're not used very often here in the Empire, as they are taxed heavily by axle."

[Moto Baatar]

"There's a tribe called the Ra-sha-ri, very distant cousins of the Moto, that use wagons in the west," Baatar said. "They are very fond of their wagons, and paint them with ten thousand bright colors so that anyone can see them coming. I think the different colors of paint can tell you who the wagon owner is related to, and most of those wagons are full of baubles and trinkets and other junk that they'll try to sell you. But never trust a Ra-sha-ri, they are all liars and cheats."

"I don't like wagons, though," he volunteered. "They don't feel like riding a horse, and the wheels get stuck in the sand too much. But it's better than a palanquin; there's something wrong about using people as horses, don't you think?"

[Doji Fukawa]

The Ra'shari sounded interesting to the Crane, but the Moto seemed confused about palanquins.


"The palanquin, for those too important to walk." she offers. "They do have their purposes. People can travel without revealing who they are. They're safer from thieves. They can read or meditate while they travel."


"But they're not using people as horses, Moto-san, they are carried by heimin." she offers.

Fukawa looks thoughtful.

"Although, I guess on your long ride, you must not have had heimin, you just had samurai?"

[Moto Baatar]

"We do have some heimin," Baatar replied. "But not so many that we can treat them like animals. Besides, that'd be cruel; they're still people, after all."

"Is it different in Crane lands?" he asked. "Do you end up riding in palanquins a lot? Personally, I'd feel much safer on horseback than on a palanquin; certainly against bandits and raiders. On a horse, you can charge the bandits, or run away. On a palanquin the bearers can drop you or run away. Then you'll be stuck on foot against the bandits!"

[Doji Fukawa]

"Half-people, Moto-san. That is literally what the word heimin means." she corrects. "And no, we are not cruel to our servants in the lands of the Crane. One does not get the best performance out of anyone, be they samurai, peasant, or eta by being cruel. We do have high standards for them, and occasionally if they step dreadfully out of line an example must be made, but surely it is a better life than the endless warfare of the Lion or the endless subterfuge of the Scorpion."

She shakes her head.

"No, I am not so important than I forgo walking. But horses are not an ideal solution in the cities, Moto-san. The largest cities in the empire hold hundreds of thousands of people, in a relatively small space. Can you imagine the mess that many horses would make in a small space?"

[Moto Baatar]

"It sounds too crowded," Baatar said, shaking his head. "Hundreds of thousands of people, truly? I've heard tales of such cities ... but it must be near impossible to get enough water to supply so many people, much less their horses. And the waste? Must they dig a thousand latrines every day, to get rid of it? Surely it would be foul."

"Have you seen such a city, Doji-san?" he wondered. "Do you live in such a place, in your Crane lands?"

[Doji Fukawa]

Fukawa nods.

"I am from Kyuden Doji." she says. "It's home to a couple hundred thousand samurai, give or take. If you added all the heimen and hinin, it'd probably be closer to 4 million. At least that's what I've heard."