Breakfast For Bastards (D5 Late Morning) [Mizuki's Room]

[Yogo Mizuki]

Mizuki nods. "Yogo. It takes place when Asako Yogo planned to commit seppukku. The entire play is Bayushi talking him out of it. My father - I do call the man who impregnated my mother anything - my father took me to it when I was young. He said it was his favorite. It's comforting to see our great ancestor with the same doubt as us, but ultimately chose to serve the Empire. To choose the path of hope even if there is none."

She looks at the instrument, though does not move to inspect it further without permission. "Who taught you to play?"

[Moto Butaj]

Butaj turns thoughtful. Meeting with Mizuki causes more introspection than usual. Thoughtful Butaj is not a rarity, but certainly not commonplace. But when exposed to new kind of art Butaj need to give it due regard. "Butaj would like to see and hear more theatre stories. It sounds like something Butaj would enjoy and could even try himself. The story of your ancestor is something Butaj could relate to a bit." He then moves his attention to where hers is. "Butaj's mother taught Butaj. And Mizuki is free to inspect the topshur. You might even try playing?"

[Yogo Mizuki]

"Thank you, Butaj-san." Mizuki picks up the instrument. "Will you show me how to play?"

[Moto Butaj]

Butaj nods and without much ceremony scoots to her side. "The box on your lap, the neck in your other hand, bow in the dominant one, elbow high. It has just two strings, different sounds come from different angles on same string, less from different strings. Long swings, sharp angles." He waits for her to assume the right position, correcting it with brief and decisive but gentle touch if there is a need. After all she wishes showing, not telling. He moves to her back, keeping one hand by her elbow and the other on the horsehead. "Try."

[Yogo Mizuki]

Mizuki is not bothered by the touch. She's seen how the Unicorn do things. She attempts to play it.

After she finishes, she gives back the instrument. "Thank you, Butaj-san."

[Moto Butaj]

"Butaj is happy Mizuki likes to try Unicorn things." Butaj smiles brightly, and gets back to his place with the returned morin khur. She is right, touch is not big deal, without significance unless it is given such.

[Yogo Mizuki]

"Of course. While whoever I marry is almost certainly going to marry into the Scorpion, I don't want my future husband to lose himself. Who would want someone so malleable? I'm interested in getting to know your Clan more." Mizuki realizes she missed something she usually asks.

"I am curious. I would like to know more about the Moto specifically."

[Moto Butaj]

"We hail from the Ujik-hai, the horse-riding desert peoples of the Burning Sands Lady Shinjo met and bested first on her journeys who then swore fealty to her and have become her most faithful followers ever since. She gave us the mum to have as our crest, and our motto is that we may die, but we don't yield. The Moto helped the Ki-Rin survive in the desert and fight off the Yobanjin and all other enemies of the Shinjo. We gave the Ki-Rin many of Ujik-hai traditions that have made the Unicorn what they are now. The Marta of the Shinjo are like the Ujik-hai. The Naoko of the Otaku are like the Ujik-hai. The Moto, alongside the Ide, rode with the Ide to the furthest reaches of this land in the West and sailed the western seas. We make the heart of the Unicorn Clan as it is now." Butaj explains in proud voice.

[Yogo Mizuki]

Mizuki was impressed. She was also not surprised by the influence of the Moto. It was obvious. Though one thing pricked her ears. "Your people traveled on the western seas?" Mizuki knew they traveled. She didn't realized they sailed across the seas.

[Moto Butaj]

"Oral traditions say so. That there were some Moto and some Ide who sailed from the place called Aqahba to the land called Merenae. Yuzuki of the Mantis Clan said that people from Merenae visited the East but her little clan destroyed their ships, so there must not have been many? But in the end the Moto are riders of the endless steppe, not sailors."

[Yogo Mizuki]

"No. I don't know much gaijin nations. I only really knew about the Yojoban before I came here and learned a little about some of the other nations. Did you ever visit another nation?" Mizuki was aware of the Long Ride but had no concept of how long it was.

[Moto Butaj]

"Before the ride, when Butaj was a boy, Butaj's family made pastures in the valley of the great Nahr'umar that crosses the grand desert of the Burning Sands and gives life to its greatest city, the City of Peace, the Jewel of the Desert, Medinaat as-Salaam. Oral traditions say the Ujik-hai had raided the Jewel many times until great walls were built to repel them, so Butaj could not enter the city, but he often saw the city from afar. But there were traders from the Jewel sent by the Merchant Kings of Dahab who came to the Moto to exchange goods. They brought stories and Butaj listened to them, though was not understanding all in them because his Mekhem was weak and he was only a boy."

[Yogo Mizuki]

"Merchant Kings? Do they not have the Divine Mandate from their gods?" It may be a bit on the blasphemous side, but Mizuki could appreciate a culture that respected trade a bit more.

[Moto Butaj]

"There are some houses of very rich people who handle much trade across the Burning Sands from their place in the Jewel. They call themselves the Merchant Kings of Dahab. Butaj doesn't know how much power they have but the city also has its Sultan and its Caliph to rule it. Maybe the Sultan and the Caliph are Dahabi too? Butaj never thought about that." The man scratches his stubble in thought, then dampens his lips and throat with tea. "An Ide would know much more than Butaj."

[Yogo Mizuki]

"That's interesting." And it was. Honestly, Mizuki thought all gaijin were savages who may or may not eat dirt or something. That they apparently have a complex political system with two Emperors and merchant kings. This brings another question.

"Do the Unicorn ever plan to go back and see these foreign lands again?"