Choosing Your Match

[Mindshred]

Here is the list of competitors in the order in which they are allowed to choose their match. When it is their turn to choose their match, players should post in this thread with either the name of the person they are choosing or their decision not to choose a spouse (which will cause them to lose Honor as if they had disobeyed their lord's commands, and they will gain two ranks of Infamy and the Sworn Enemy (Unicorn Clan Samurai) disadvantage).

No other posts should be made in this thread. Please wait your turn to make your selection.

If you wish to give your spouse the Blissful Betrothal advantage or Bitter Betrothal disadvantage, please note such in your private forum. It will cost you 2 XP to give either one to your spouse.

Most marriages do not fall under these categories, however, so by default the marriages produced by this game will be normal marriages with neither advantage nor disadvantage. You may choose to do this if you are the one choosing or if you are the one chosen.

Characters who become engaged to an Imperial will gain the Imperial Spouse advantage.

Non-Unicorn characters with a positive number of Courtship Points (0 or higher) who are left unmatched will be engaged to members of the Unicorn Clan who are not present at the festival, while those who have a negative number of points (-1 or lower) will be sent home with an apologetic letter from the Unicorn, unengaged and quite shamed. These characters will lose Honor as if they had committed a major breach of etiquette and will gain 1 rank of Infamy.

Unicorn characters with a positive number of Courtship Points (0 or higher) who are left unmatched will return home, unmarried but without stigma. Those who have a negative number of points (-1 or lower) return home to shame and punishment from their families and superiors. These characters will lose Honor as if they had committed a major breach of etiquette and will gain 1 rank of Infamy.

Those marrying characters of higher Status will be assumed to be marrying into the Clan of the higher Status individual. Should the Status of two characters be equal, the character with the lower number of Courtship Points will marry into the Clan of their spouse. If there is a further tie, the character with the lower Glory will marry into the Clan of the character with the higher Glory, and if a further tie-breaker is needed, we'll go to Honor and then directly to Orokos flipping a coin.

Characters who do not make a choice in a reasonable amount of time (you will receive a PM) will be matched up with the highest ranking eligible character.

[Mindshred]

[Secret Love disadvantages trigger!]


As the samurai gather to begin choosing their spouses, a group of Otaku approach Ide Dabo and hand him a series of furled scrolls. He asks what they are, but the Otaku merely inform him that everything will be clear once he reads the missives.

One by one, he opens each missive, reads it, and glances at the group of Otaku in increasing anger and annoyance. "This is not how things are done," he points out, setting the last of the scrolls aside.

"Otaku Xiu disagrees," one of the Otaku women points out, with a gesture to the scrolls. "If you wish to disobey her request..."

Dabo raises his hand, cutting her off. "No, there is no need. You have clearly managed to convince her that true love is more important than the rules."

The Otaku woman grins with a bit of fierceness. "A samurai is fearless in all things, Ide-san."

With a heavy sigh, Dabo makes a few quick changes to his list.



[Otaku Chou gains +20 Courtship Points!]
[Otaku Jinjing gains +20 Courtship Points!]
[Otaku Huan gains +20 Courtship Points!]
[Otaku Meixiu gains +20 Courtship Points!]
[Otaku Xantoko gains +20 Courtship Points!]




Otaku Chou steps forward and looks over the crowd. "There are none here who can compete with the might and beauty of the great bear, Kitsune Kumahime. I choose her as my wife, so that she might lend her strength and courage to a new generation of Unicorn children."




Otaku Jinijing is next. She smiles widely as she makes her choice. "Seppun Hideo shall become my husband. I will travel with him to his home and become the first Unicorn to take an Imperial name."




As she finished, Otaku Huan raises her voice. "I have watched many samurai attempt our tests, but none has shown such disappointment and anger at failing as Matsu Yurio. His desire to succeed, despite his inability to do so, has won my heart, and I shall take him home so that he might help my family raise our famed hunting dogs."




Next is Otaku Meixiu. "It has become clear that our Clan must know more about the dark forces arrayed against us. To that end, I shall marry Kaiu Hiroji, slayer of the mighty Orochi, so that he might teach us about not only love, but also the hidden things we must know."




Last to speak was the leader, Otaku Xantoko. "I shall marry Yogo Yuchi. He is unlike us in many ways, and by marrying him, I shall learn more about this Empire we left behind. My children shall be raised as one of the Scorpion, and I shall don a mask to serve as his wife."


(Otaku Chou <-- Kitsune Kumahime)
(Otaku Jinjing --> Seppun Hideo)
(Otaku Huan <-- Matsu Yurio)
(Otaku Meixiu <-- Kaiu Hiroji)
(Otaku Xantoko --> Yogo Yuichi)

[Mindshred]

Selection Order (Unicorn characters are in purple)

1 - Togashi Udo <-- Iuchi Saksaha
2 - Doji Fukawa <-- Shinjo Akil
3 - Otaku Imane <-- Ichiro Daisuke
4 - Seppun Aramoro --> Ide Samai
5 - Seppun Hitako <-- Shinjo Hanashi
6 - Bayushi Hotaru <-- Moto Butaj
7 - Tonbo Misa <-- Shinjo Kemuri
8 - Otomo Tenzo <--Iuchi Batul
9 - Shosoro Yawarakai <-- Otaku Kitakuhime
10 - Iuchi Yukarin --> Yasuki Tomonaga
12 - Kitsune Takeo <-- Ide Amaya
13 - Yogo Mizuki <-- Shinjo Taichi
15 - Usagi Tomoe <-- Iuchi Dong-Ha
16 - Isawa Nonin <-- Shinjo Liu Fei
17 - Shinjo Liu Yue <--Asako Hirase
18 - Asako Yuki <-- Moto Baatar
19 - Soshi Yuuru <-- Moto Khulun
21 - Doji Ameka <-- Shinjo Monkhbaatar
22 - Kitsu Takashi
25 - Fairuz Kaiya
27 - Matsu Nintoku
30 - Soshi Bantu
31 - Soshi Taira
32 - Shimizu Ryori
33 - Kakita Nanami
37 - Yuzuki
38 - Moshi Asakiko
40 - Matsu Kogo

Able to be chosen, cannot choose themselves (-1 points or lower)

Usagi Tsukimi
Miya Mei

Honorably Withdrew

Shiba Kaizen

[Togashi Udo]

Udo will pick Iuchi Saksaha because she is obviously the best, and the fact that she is at negative while Udo is first means the Unicorn clearly have no idea what they're doing

[Doji Fukawa]

"Ide-dono, thank you for providing us all with this wonderful miai. With these matches, I believe that the Unicorn are finally a part of the Empire again, after being separated for so long. I am grateful that I was able to show you my own worth, and have been allowed to request my match so early in the day.

I would ask for the hand of Shinjo Akil. His flute music, part of the Unicorn's soul, will be intertwined with that of the Crane. May the Fortunes smile on this, and every other match made here today."

*Spending xp to give him Blissful betrothal*

[Otaku Imane]

Otaku Imane chooses Ichiro Daisuke, and spends some XP to give him Blissful Betrothal.

[Seppun Aramoro]

Ide Samai I choose you!

I will marry into the Ide family.

If I can I hold onto bestowing B Betrothal for now. Doubt I will since it isn't really justifiable IC.

[Seppun Hitako]

Hitako, when next called up, looks over the crowd of those present (not including her cousin and his beloved), and then stares hard at Iuchi Dong-Ha. "I have considered hard on this question. There are pluses and minuses to any action I could take. I am, to some, the spoiler. The one little noticed until too late. And now, it is my choice."

"I could choose one that would hate me, on the off chance my duty might gain from it. But one that is assigned a duty and hates it, one that even calls into question the Seppun's duty, has no place among them. I thought of others whom I liked, and who could join amicably enough, but do not wish to part those who are blessed by Benten. I am a shugenja, and celebrate those the Fortune has blessed, so would not attempt to break them apart. Another I spent time with, but see more as a sibling, not one to marry. Therefore, I will choose the one who remains and best fits the circumstances. I will choose Shinjo Hanashi-san."

She then steps down, and moves to the side, for the next to speak.

[Bayushi Hotaru]

Hotaru chooses Moto Butaj to make her husband in the Scorpion Clan.

Edit: Link.

[Tonbo Misa]

Misa flinched softly.

Today was a day that showed that fate was a strange thing. She still smiled softly as she made her way forward, but this would take much thought from herself in the coming days, if not weeks. Still, for the moment, there was no use dwelling on the twisting strands of this world. She had a duty to do. There were so many honorable men she'd met, but it had only been a little over a week, and there had been so much demanding everyone's time. It was impossible to say if there was any one man she felt she could call as a front runner for fitting in with her family.

Finally after a moment she made a decision. There had been one man that had shown himself compassionate, honorable, helpful, and dutiful. She gave a small prayer to others she had met that they would find good matches.

"This one chooses Shinjo Kemuri to be her husband."

[Otomo Tenzo]

Iuchi Batul! Join me and rise into the ranks of the mini-kuge and all the glory and honor and splendor that is Imperial-dom!

Linky

[Shosuro Yawarakai]

Shosuro Kitakuhime

link

[Iuchi Yukarin]

Iuchi Yukarin picks Yasuki Tomonaga.

[Kitsune Takeo]

Takeo stepped forward, looking out of the corner of his eye towards Kitakuhime. He had failed her. They had failed each other. And now she was a prisoner to the Scorpion in every figurative sense of the word. Her soul would wither there.

Why was he so angry? With her stripped of her birthright, this was no great political loss for the Fox. Unless...

Oh. This is what love feels like.

Fuck Benten.

As he took his place, he looked out over the crowd. He knew almost nothing about the remaining women, having spoken to the two Shinjo ladies only in passing and neither of them having any sort of station. Even a political match was beyond his reach at this point. Cursing internally, he spoke from behind his steely on.

"In the past days, the Fox have come to recognize true family in the form of the Unicorn. Though they have been gone for nearly 800 years, we recognize ourselves in each of them. We have been, and continue to be, impressed by them, each in their own way. The strength of the Moto. The integrity of the Shinjo. The wisdom of the Iuchi. The diplomacy of the Ide.
And the honor of the Otaku," his eyes flicked, ever so briefly, to Kitakuhime.

"And we are especially impressed by the efforts that the Ide have put forth in planning this wonderful miai. In order to renew our commitment to our ancestral kin, I shall take Ide Amaya as my spouse, that she may return to the Kitsune Mori and learn of our ways as the Ide have been kind enough to show us theirs."

[Yogo Mizuki]

Mizuki steps up. Despite her concerns earlier, she is happy. Watching the heartbreak of those who did get pillow book romances makes her glad she never had one. With a suitor. This is a good start. We will be good together.

"I want to thank Ide-sama and the Unicorn for hold this miai. It was not an easy choice as many of the men here would make fine husbands. Ultimately, one man stood out to me as a man I would be proud to bring home to my family and have bear the Yogo name. That man is Shinjo Taichi."

After the picking, Mizuki goes down to Taichi. She believes she made the right decision. But as they always, believe but verify.