Little Shrine On the Prairie [D4 LA]

[Soshi Yuuru]

He nodded slowly, thinking as he replied, "There's probably quite a bit of that to go around here... There are laws against dealing with foreigners. And the last new group we met... were the Naga... which immediately turned into a massive war. Now we get along... and with my interactions with them I've learned that what we thought of them was entirely wrong."

He shrugged, "A lot of people aren't really willing to admit they are wrong. That taken to an extreme will usually end up somewhere ugly."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Saksaha has her own very current thoughts about 'people who won't admit they're wrong,' but unfortunately not ones she can really share with an outsider, so she just nods. But wait-- "Laws? Against 'dealing with foreigners'? Why?"

She's quite curious about the Naga, as well, but this point seems to demand attention more pressingly.

[Soshi Yuuru]

Yuuru tilted his head, "I think there was a war or something that started it all. I'm not the best with history. But there're restrictions now. Certain things are outlawed, like gaijin pepper. Harboring a gaijin is also a pretty serious offense."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"'Harboring a gaijin'... how do they say who is gaijin?" Saksaha asks, sounding somewhat concerned.

The bit about 'gaijin pepper' doesn't really capture her attention, though it does seem a little odd to have a law against a specific foreign spice. Rokugani food may be a little fussy, but it's not that bland.

[Soshi Yuuru]

"Well... whoever the Emperor says is a gaijin is a gaijin." He replied.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"I... see." Something doesn't seem right about this, but Saksaha can't quite put her finger on it. "Well, this is a good thing to know."

It makes a little more sense of a curious conversation she'd had a couple of days ago, too.

"And if even these Naga can become allies, people here cannot all be so closed-off. They come from the... Shinomen Mori, is that right? I think this is close to Scorpion lands. Have you ever met one?" she asks, summoning up her superficial but recently-reviewed knowledge of Rokugani geography.

[Soshi Yuuru]

He nodded, "I have. Quite a few actually. My duties are in the Shinomen forest. I even wrestled a rogue one once."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Saksaha's dark eyebrows rise under the beaded fringe of her headdress. "Really? What are they like? And, um... how do you wrestle a snake?" She hasn't really been given a coherent physical description of a Naga--her mental picture of wrestling definitely involves legs and arms, and she has no idea if the so-called 'snake people" have any such thing.

[Soshi Yuuru]

"They are very peculiar. They share... a mind... As in they can tap into the memories of the other naga attached to their same group. They are quite large, larger than a man. But they have the torso and head of a man, with their legs being replaced by a snake body." He nodded.

"It's quite difficult to wrangle them down... you have to get their arms and neck in a lock... and even then they are terribly strong. I was able to hold mine down until allies arrived, but I would have been a goner if they had been much slower."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"That does sound... difficult." She's probably referring to the wrestling part, but really this could as easily apply to many things--the circumstances of 'sharing a mind,' for example. "It would be hard to keep a man down if he had no legs to trip." Saksaha's eyes narrow in thought as she tries to picture the physics of such a body. "But you have met others who are friendly, also? Is it like speaking to ordinary people? It is very strange to think of--a whole people who can have no secrets from one another, ever..."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He shrugged, "I'm not sure on the nature of secrets among them, but I know there are different factions now. We work peacefully with one group, but are constantly at war with another. The forest is a dangerous place still. But there is a minor clan there now that is helping the friendly Naga become more adapted to us and our customs. It's rather interesting work actually."

He smiled as he spoke of his duties. He did really care for them, and it was probably apparent to anyone he was speaking with.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Saksaha listens quite intently. There were certainly some Unicorn who thought the age of wonder and discovery might be over once the Clan returned to Rokugan, but she isn't among them.

"Is it hard for them? Or for you, to get along with them? I did not know when we met that your duties were so unusual." Only after asking does she realize that her questions might nearly as well apply to her own half-alien Clan.

[Soshi Yuuru]

'There are moments of confusion yes. Certainly times when we don't understand each other perfectly... From what they tell me they resided in the realm of dreams before returning to this realm. It makes them quite disoriented at times, and difficult to understand exactly what it is they mean." He nodded.

"But I tend to be a pretty open-minded guy... And I like new experiences, new people, new places. I'm willing to listen and to figure out how to react before doing anything rash. The trust between their leader and us is building slowly. They're a proud and strong race, but I think one day they'll be an important contributor to the Empire." He nodded again.

"But I rattle on about myself.... What should I know about you Iuchi-san?" He asked with a warm smile.

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"The realm of dreams?" Saksaha's eyes widen a bit at that. "I did not know anyone from our world could live in that place. To stay there a long time would be..." she trails off, considering. "I am sure it would have strange effects, and returning would be very difficult. It is a seductive place, and has its own logics that are not like ours."

"Me?" She half-smiles and shrugs. "What you should know depends on why you wish to know it, I think? You know my Family, you know I am a priest. My adventures have not been wandering alone in deep woods, or wrestling with great snakes, but have been shared alike with all my Clan, mostly."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He chuckled, "Why I wish to know? Perhaps it is because more so than your family or your profession, I'm interested who you are as a person? I find intelligent, beautiful, and capable women intriguing."

He smiled handsomely and asked, "And so the part of that journey which is uniquely you; where did those travels take you?"