Say you, Sayyed (D8 LE, Yuuru's Yurt)

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"It is not too crowded there for this?" Saksaha asks. "I remember some cities where we traded when I was a little girl. It seemed there were people everywhere, in every corner." Her eyes widen a little at the memory. Depending how much he's gathered about her Clan's journey home, Yuuru might realize there must have been several years between the time the Unicorn left the last such city behind and their arrival in Rokugan.

[Soshi Yuuru]

Yuuru nodded, "What type of cities were they... I mean... I guess you haven't seen much of the cities here to compare, but..."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Hm." Saksaha takes on a distant look as she tries to call the images of those lost places to mind. "I remember one city--I was only ten, so maybe it looked bigger to me. But there were buildings as far as I could see, mostly made of, um. I do not know the word in Rokugani. Bricks made of dried mud? Maybe you do not use them here, I think it rains too much. But there is little rain there, and so the people's houses were made of this mud brick, some two and three stories tall, painted blue and white and yellow, all close together, and the tallest palaces of stone. In that place were all kinds of people, many merchants and river traders. The streets were too narrow for many horses, so we had to walk, and my feet got tired." She shakes her head, laughing a little. "Children do not always remember the most important things first."

[Soshi Yuuru]

"Amazing." Yuuru listened intently to the woman's story. "Mud houses."

He then asked, "You last went as a child?"

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Yes, when I was a girl we passed by such cities from time to time." Saksaha nods. "Though we could never stay long because of our quest. Some would go in to trade for supplies and ask news of the roads, while the rest camped at a distance. For maps such as yours maybe the elders would have traded many sheep, or some good horses," she adds with a quick smile.

"After a while there were not so many cities or even towns, and then a great waste where the sun was weak and few people lived. Strange people only, and often none at all, and roads that went in circles while we camped at night." That doesn't seem to be such a happy memory as the others. "So there were no more cities for many seasons, and some of them were hungry seasons."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He nodded, "Your story... it's an impressive tale. How did you survive as a people... just by hunting what was available to eat?"

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Mmm. Sometimes we could hunt. We had a little that we carried and made last. And we had our herds, that is life for us. As long as they are healthy we always have milk and meat. There was enough grazing for them, and a little forage for us, and so we managed." She shakes her head with an inward smile. "The foods some of you from the other Clans found hard to eat on the first day... those are how our children grew strong and tall even in that place."

((Extrapolating... how the heck did they survive? Who knows, a wizard did it! Or a large Family of wizards!))

[Soshi Yuuru]

He nodded, "Your people are a resilient and impressive lot."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"There is much to impress in this country also," she says, fussing unconsciously with the end of one of her bead strands. "I hope we will add each to each, instead of your people expecting ours to change and become all like them."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He nodded, "The pull of civilization is strong... but there are definitely things to be learned."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

She shoots him a peculiar look. "I hope you do not mean we are not civilized."

[Soshi Yuuru]

He chuckled, "It is a different type of civilization than Rokugan. Convincing the Imperials and Crane Courtiers that what you have is truly civilization... will take some doing. For people like me... I only see the harshness of sedentary life and the type of civilization that is structured on as the main thing which will possibly pull you away from your past."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Saksaha shrugs. "We have lived seven centuries in lands where the people are much less like us than here, and we remained ourselves. Maybe we will surprise you."

((Although Lesser Prophecy doesn't extend to reading the sourcebooks and thus knowing for sure that (somehow) the clan still manages to be mostly nomadic right through the 12th century in canon. XD ))

[Soshi Yuuru]

He chuckled, "Whatever works for you all."

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"Well, we should not care only what works for us, but what works for this Empire. I suppose." Saksaha rubs her cheek. "If it is best that we change, we will. If it is best that you change..." she trails off with a quick grin.

((Hmm, we're going on five pages! Should we think about winding down?))