MOTO 1: Power Ballads (D7, EA & LA)

[Soshi Bantu]

Bantu tentatively stepped up to the mark provided and softly dedicated his song to the Unicorn he'd had the most time with, and even that wasn't much, but he tried his best.

"To Iuchi Yukarin." He spoke softly before launching into song

--------------------------------
D7 - Every Rose; TN15 (Target Yukarin): 4d10+1 19 = 1 point
D7 - Every Night (target Yukarin) VP for skill, 1 CR, +1 glory, -1 Vanity. TN20: 2#4d10o10k3 22 19 = 1 point

Final result = 2 points, +0.1 infamy for Yukarin (sorry)

[Matsu Nintoku]

The Matsu was decided to make his intentions clear. He was going to embrace the Moto tradition fully and prove, to her in particular, that whatever he do he would do perfectly.

He was as far from a poet as there could be but what he lacked in artistic delicacy he made for with passion. He summoned the emotions he felt when he first met her and tried to put them as best as he could into paper. He had hated her and liked her at the same time, he had wished to punch her senseless and kiss her but above all he wanted her. His little foal. The one that would devour his heart.

He paced to the set his eyes filled with stone-cold determination, setting them on Moto Khulun before unleashing his power ballad.

Got a big plan, his mind's set, maybe it's right
At the right place and right time, maybe tonight
In a whisper or handshake sending a sign
Wanna fight and drink hard, wait never mind

Late night, in passing, mention it flip to her
Best friend, it's no thing, maybe it slipped
but the slip turns to terror and a crush to like
when she walked in he froze up, leave it to fright

It's cute in a way, till you cannot speak
And you leave to have a drink, knees get weak
escape was just a nod and a casual wave
Obsess about it, heavy for the next two days

It's only just a crush, it'll go away
It's just like all the others it'll go away
Or maybe this is danger and you just don't know
You pray it all away but it continues to grow

I want to hold you close
Skin pressed against me tight
Lie still, and close your eyes girl
So lovely, it feels so right

I want to hold you close
Soft breath, lips apart
As she whispers in your ear
I want to devour your heart

Then he walked up and told her, thinking maybe it'd pass

And they talked and looked away a lot, doing the dance
Her hand brushed up against his, she left it there
Told her how he felt and then they locked in a stare

They took a step back, thought about it, what should they do
Cause theres always repercussions when you taunt the Lion
But their lips met, and reservations started to pass
Whether this was just an evening or a thing that would last

Either way he wanted her and this was bad
Wanted to do things to her it was making him crazy
Now a little crush turned into a like
And now he wants to grab her by the hair and tell her

I want to hold you close
Skin pressed against me tight
Lie still, and close your eyes girl
So lovely, it feels so right

I want to hold you close
Soft breath, lips apart
As she whispers in your ear
I want to devour your heart


The song had been intense for him just like his relationship with the Moto. He mustered one last gasp to produce a typical Moto ululation before taking one last look at the Moto.

That wasn't a song, it was a bestial roar. Of love.

---

Original lyrics: She Wants Revenge - Tear You Appart
Every Rose Has Its Thorns: SUCCESS
Every Night Has Its Dawn#1: SUCCESS
Every Night Has Its Dawn#2: SUCCESS

3 Points

[Kakita Nanami]

:: Fluff Placeholder ::

OOC: Rolls
This One Goes Out To...: Shinjo Taichi, +1 to all Rolls
Every Rose has its Thorn: Artisan: Poetry / Intelligence (1 CR) + 1 vs TN20 - 24 (Success, 2 Ballad Points)
Every Night Has Its Dawn: Perform: Singing / Awareness (Void for +1k1, 2 CR) + 1 vs TN25 - 22 (Failure, -2 Ballad Points, +0.2 Infamy for Shinjo Taichi)
Every Night Has Its Dawn: Perform: Singing / Awareness + 1 vs TN15 - 25 (Success, 1 Ballad Point)
Total: 1 Ballad Point, +0.2 Infamy for Shinjo Taichi

[Kitsu Takashi]

Takashi came within a few heartbeats of thinking so much that he never got a decent song together. But in that clutch moment, he found the words and even a powerful start to the song...

"It's been a loooong day, here waiting for you.
And we've got soooo much, so much we have in common.
I just knoooow that, you can see this world like I do.

Now we've got soo much, that we can do together.
You love your traade routes, and I want to learn them ah-aaal.
I can perfoooorm well, play any part you li-ike."

It's not a traditional Rokugani song, and it might not sound like much to trained singers and musicians, but the slightly scruffy Lion puts on a great show for the crowd. Towards the end, his rhythm and rhymes (or lack thereof) grow too quaint. Some in the crowd might see in Takashi's eyes less an exhaustion and more a realization that he's started real hot but he doesn't know how to ease into ending well.

So the Lion's song ends weak, leaving room for many to speculate about what might have been. His overall performance is still strong, though, and he can reasonably hope that his real audience appreciates the effort...

OOC:
Singing out to: Iuchi Yukarin (rolls +1)
Every rose: success, with 2 raises.
Every night: +1 => success, with 2 raises.
Every night: argh!
Total 6 ballad points, void used up.

[Seppun Aramoro]

The Imperial was reluctant to sing to someone he wasn't certain about, but he really only knew one person he found interesting enough. He chose the sweet smelling Ide girl, Ide Samai. He started to think about a few performances he saw, but the tragic ones are the ones he liked the most and decided to pick his favourite The Smashing Mochi's.

Kiss and thrill me sweetly
Come and riiiide me home
Drag the miles in me
I am yooooours alone

Inside... where it's warm
Wrap myself in you
Outside where I'm torn
Fight myself in two
In two
Into you

Desire me so deeply
Drain and kick me haaaaard
Whisper secrets for me
Try to go too faaaaar

Inside where it's warm
Wrap myself in you
Outside where I'm torn
Fight myself in two
In two
Into... you

He sang it with great passion, maybe not for her, but beacuse it meant so much to him. Alas, it seemd his heart felt singing could not save the bad reception of the dark demeanour poem. He had the power to sing on, but decided to cut it short, to save the porcelain Samai the embarrassment.

He took a slight bow to the crowd in thanks and then a deep one to Ide Samai in apology. He stepped away, the wounds he carried were now not only on his body, but his ego.


Spell: Mental Quickens Failed 4 times, 5th time Fail= 23 vs TN24 (Black Scrolls now added to TN)( Edit I forgot I am still wounded at 15 thus +3 TN
Cast with last Void Slot succeed: 39 vs TN24
Spell: Earth's Touch Succeed 25 vs 19TN (adjusted for wounds) +1 Stamina

Artisan/Intel Fail 25 vs TN26 (damn you wound penalty) -2 BP
Perform/Awe Succeed 30 vs TN16 +1BP
Perform/Awe Succeed 31 vs TN16 +1BP

0 BP
+.2 Infamy to Ide Samai, sorry

[Isawa Nonin]

Combat skills, fine. Poetry, sure. But singing? Were the Unicorn trying to torture him? Be, he had promised, it would take this one.

Writing a song for a particular person? The only one he knew well enough to even begin was the Sun Priestess, Moshi Asakiko, he hoped he would not offend her with this choice. He set about designing a song that would extols her virtues as priestess, diviner and good woman, he is satisfied by the results. He then set to singing! He voice is a bit reedy but he manage to make his way through without any mistakes.

He bowed to the judges and withdrew, hoping that Moshi-san is not offended.


OOC:
Part 1, Void for Skill, Success, 1 Point
Part 2, Unskilled, Success, 1 Point

2 big Song Points!

[Tonbo Misa]

It was a quandary.

Misa came from a family founded on the very idea of public love despite the odds, and the event was all about declaring so in the most public of ways. With that said, she knew that if she was open with her song for whom she wished it to be, it would likely cause problems, and even if those problems were welcomed as the price for love by them... it wasn't for her. She'd seen enough harm done that she knew couldn't be afforded.

That was why her song, while sung as a song of love, was targeted for political support. She hoped it would be well enough received, and she would have to explain herself later, but she knew she could do so without TOO much trouble... she hoped.

At the end of a day like any other day, one more of the things I cannot see has disappeared
Right now, I'm searching for a road
The voice resounding in the back of my ears often makes me think of you
But I'm still too scared to look back

I hold my fingers up high--the fingers that have strayed from yours
If only I could have the south wind as my company

I'm on a journey to search for myself, as you are to search for yourself
It may be full of doubt and uncertainty, but I can say it now

Holding my lightened traveling pack, I wonder what I should put in next
Maybe I'll pretend to think about that
A dream is just a dream. When I wake up, it will disappear without a trace
It doesn't worth as much as one would think

There are still so many things I don't have, but I guess I don't need an answer
As I will probably be able to answer more than I do now once I get there

I'm on a journey to search for myself, as you are to search for yourself
It may be full of doubt and uncertainty, but I can say it now

I can't even see from here the hazy glow in the distance
But several small lights are shining my footsteps, as if in my dream

The spring song you sing is giving us momentum
And it's only now that I can say thank you, and goodbye

...She would apologize later.

--------------
Song for Kitsune Takeo
Every Rose Has It's Thorn w/ 2 raises = 24 (Fail, -2)
Every Night Has It's Dawn 1 = 26 (Pass, +1)
Every Night Has It's Dawn 2 = 22 (Pass, +1)
Ending Total 0, +0.2 Infamy for Kitsune Takeo

[Otaku Imane]

Eventually it was Imane’s turn. Between the ‘interesting’ romantic announcements, and the two songs that had been addressed to her, she was feeling a little light headed. But this was a Moto event, and her father had been a Moto once, so it would have been disrespectful not to compete. With a deep breath she stepped forward, listened to the rules, nodded, and in a bigger voice than she was expecting announced: “This one goes out to my favourite Badger: Ichiro Daisuke-san.”

For a tiny slip of a girl, it was a powerful song…

“The power of honour is a curious thing
Make a one man weep, make a good woman sing
Change a heart to a little white doe
More than a feeling, that's the power of bushido

He’s tougher than diamonds, sweet like cream
That Badger’s harder than a bad girl’s dream
Make a headache good, mmm make a wrong choice right
Power of my honour would keep you home at night

Don't need money, my horse don't take fame
Don't need no crystal charms to ride with that mane
I’ll be strong and so sudden, might be cruel sometimes
But I might just save your life
That's the power of honour
That's the power of honour

First Shi-o-to-me might make you sad
Next Shi-o-to-me might make you mad
But you'll be glad Daisuke when you've found
Shiotome’s the power that makes your world go round

Don't need money, my horse don't take fame
Don't need no crystal charms to ride with that mane
I’ll be strong and so sudden, might be cruel sometimes
But I might just save your life

They say that all in bushido is fair
Well maybe you don't care
But you know what to do
When it gets hold of you
And with a little help from an ancestor
You feel the power of honour
You feel the power of honour
Can you feel it?

Don't need money, my horse don't take fame
Don't need no crystal charms to ride with that mane
He’s tougher than diamonds, sweet like cream
You won't feel it until you feel
You feel the power, feel the power of honour
That's the power, that's the power of honour.”


The judges seemed impressed mostly by her stamina, but the composition had been acceptable too, and she didn’t seem to have embarrassed Daisuke. Although she couldn’t see him in the crowd either…

(7 pts)

[Iuchi Saksaha]

What the hell. Saksaha was more than half Moto, and that percentage of her was not going to be called a coward! Even if her brothers all regularly compared her singing voice to Fiyanggu's! And also she's short on sleep and has dozed through half the acts before her!

Luckily this thought brings to mind a warrior ballad the Iuchi students had used to sing to pump themselves up before examinations. And who better to dedicate it to than... the most recent male person she'd actually talked to! She's surprised nobody has sung to him yet (unless they did, and she just slept through it... anyway...) and the Dragon, her clan's best allies, could surely use some non-scandalous song dedications. She calls on her magical training to sharpen her focus and increase her energy as she performs some on-the-fly revisions.

Then it's time to actually sing. This is... surprisingly not disastrous. Most of the verses are actually audible from the stands! However, there are also a lot of verses. The furious beat of her chosen melody is probably all that keeps the judges from starting to nod off a little themselves by the end.

Rising up, back on the street,
Did our time, took our chances,
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet!
Just a girl and her will to survive.

So many times it happens too fast,
You trade your passion for glory.
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive!

It's the eye of the Dragon
It's the thrill of the flight,
Rising up to the challenge of arrival,
And the man from the mountains
Sees so far from the heights,
And he's watching us all with the eye of the Dragon!

Face to face, out in the heat,
Hanging tough, staying hungry.
They stack the odds still we take to the street
Find the skill and the will to survive

It's the eye of the Dragon
It's the thrill of the flight...

--
(Cast Earth's Touch on Stamina)

(I've also cast Reversal of Fortunes on some of the rolls, as I noticed another player did so--assumed it would need a separate casting for each go. There is only one roll for which it actually made the difference between success/failure and I've noted that one, so if it's not kosher you can easily disregard it!)

This Song Goes Out To: Togashi Udo (flat +2 to all roll results)
Every Rose: Success, +1
Every Night:
verse 1 - Success, +1
verse 2 - Success, +1
verse 3 - Success but only if RoF applies, +1/+0
verse 4 - Somehow, success!, +1

Total: 5 points (or 4 if I couldn't use RoF)

No infamy for Udo even if Verse 3 failed, since no Raises were called.

[Mindshred]

Ignoring the drama unfolding in the stands, the Moto step forward, thank everyone for participating, and announce the songs that moved their hearts the most!

Togashi Udo earns 3 Courtship Points.
Doji Fukawa earns 2 Courtship Points.
Ide Amaya, Moto Butaj, Doji Ameka, and Otaku Imane earn 1 Courtship Points.


Unfortunately, the performance also scandalized a great many of the participants...

Tonbo Misa: +.2 Infamy
Ide Amaya: +.1 Infamy, Minor Breach
Ide Samai: +.2 Infamy
Iuchi Dong-ha: +.3 Infamy
Iuchi Saksaha: +.2 Infamy
Iuchi Yukarin: +.1 Infamy
Moto Al-Kalb: +.2 Infamy
Otaku Imaine: +.1 Infamy
Shinjo Lei Yu: +.2 Infamy
Shinjo Taichi: +.2 Infamy
Yogo Mizuki: +.2 Infamy
Seppun Hideo: Minor Breach
Kitsune Takeo: +.2 Infamy