The Welcome Dinner (Post-Event Thread) [D1, Early Evening]

[Shimizu Ryori]

"Um well... Yes... The kumis is quite good" he downs the cup quickly and pours himself another

She laughs and goes back to eating and adds between bites of venison and rice, “Kumis will put hair on your lips and oak in your staff!”

She pounds the table with her free hand and gives a nice good ululation of joy, “This is good chirmpu… shim… shripu? Sea bugs!”

"I don't use a walking stick" he looks confused.

[Moto Khulun]

"I don't use a walking stick" he looks confused.

She just looks at him and then says softly, "Oh... I'm... I had a cousin like that. How'd it happen? Kicked by a mule? Stabbed in a fight?"

[Otaku Chi-Pu]

Kogo looks at Otaku-san with a warm gaze. "It is, very much so. A friend who has been with you through many days and many strange places. I fear too many discount the bonds that can appear between samurai and the other creatures of this world."

"Are there others in the Empire with bonds like our two families have? We certainly encountered many different creatures in our travels that various peoples had bonded and paired with."

[Soshi Taira]

"Is it?" the young Unicorn asks in her lightly accented voice. She lifts her own half-empty cup carefully with two small hands whose nails are blunt but clean, and tests the aroma of the sake with more care and attention this time, the beads of her headdress falling across her cheek as she tips her head a little forward. "It's sweet enough, but I am not used to this clear white rice-stuff. How do you know if it is very good?"

Saksaha's own rice is nearly untouched, but the tidy litter of shells, bones, and skewers decorously stashed in the dish provided for this purpose suggests she hasn't been holding back on the more protein-heavy edibles before her.

"I suppose I can only compare it to what I know, Iuchi-sama."

Taira gave a small chuckle. "Confronted though I may be by many new and wondrous things, there is comfort in a known quality... and such a drink is... comfortable."

[Shimizu Ryori]

"I don't use a walking stick" he looks confused.

She just looks at him and then says softly, "Oh... I'm... I had a cousin like that. How'd it happen? Kicked by a mule? Stabbed in a fight?"

"Wouldnt being kicked by a mule require you to use a walking stick, not imply you don't need one?" he looks more confused.

[Moto Khulun]

"Wouldnt being kicked by a mule require you to use a walking stick, not imply you don't need one?" he looks more confused.

“I don’t know?” she says equally confused.

“Does your stick work? Is this not flirting? Because if you don’t have a stick this won’t work well.”

[Kitsune Kumahime]

Yue looked down at the scallops and considered using the same "gift receiving" tactic again. However, something told her that such trickery would not work on such a robust woman. A different tactic came to mind, though. "I thought I would be the tallest woman here, Kumahime-dono," she remarked, hoping that would serve as a distraction from the food in front of her.

The Fox sizes up her neighbor, but can't quite tell her height from the seated position. But that isn't important now.

"Students at Proud Bear dojo are the biggest and the strongest the Fox clan has to offer!" she proclaims. "My own family has been a part going back generations."

[Shimizu Ryori]

"Wouldnt being kicked by a mule require you to use a walking stick, not imply you don't need one?" he looks more confused.

“I don’t know?” she says equally confused.

“Does your stick work? Is this not flirting? Because if you don’t have a stick this won’t work well.”

"I think we may have a translation issue, I am talking about a stick made of wood, like a cane an old man or injured person uses to walk, like a bo staff, or club, is that not what you are talking about?"

[Ide Samai]

The Ide courtier smiled. "It does seem that you will not be bored during our timr here. How do you like the tea?"


She let out a sigh of shame. "Truthfully, I have not been spending enough time with my dear either "

"It is good!" He nodded and smiled. "Different from our normal drink, but still good."

He nodded. "Perhaps, then, we should both make it a priority tomorrow morning to take our horses to the field? I know Setem would like it, and riding is much better with a friend."

"That sounds like a plan. I am sure Scirocco will also appreciate having some company along." She smiled and fanned herself. "There is certainly a variety here, many I have not seen in the past... and truly, it's been ages since I had some good fish. Anything catch your fancy Shinjo-san?"

[Moto Khulun]

“Oh…” she frowns and then eats more while saying, “I think we think of two different sticks.”

[Iuchi Saksaha]

"I suppose I can only compare it to what I know, Iuchi-sama."

Taira gave a small chuckle. "Confronted though I may be by many new and wondrous things, there is comfort in a known quality... and such a drink is... comfortable."

"Hmm." Saksaha looks at Taira curiously, gives the clear liquid another sniff, and empties the cup. In a thoughtful kind of way, though. "My mother's cooking is comfortable, but all the same I know it is not as fine as this." She tilts her head to indicate the spread on the tables around them--the beads of her headdress clack faintly as she does--and sets the cup down. "Now that I am to live in Rokugan, I think I must learn to tell good sake from bad. Unless I can find among you Rokugani a husband who is content to drink only kumis and arkhi..." She spears a bit of fried cheese with her chopsticks and nibbles, ruminating on this possibility.

[Shimizu Ryori]

“Oh…” she frowns and then eats more while saying, “I think we think of two different sticks.”

"Oh, " he nods looking less confused "so what does your stick mean?"

[Shinjo Liu Yue]

The Fox sizes up her neighbor, but can't quite tell her height from the seated position. But that isn't important now.

"Students at Proud Bear dojo are the biggest and the strongest the Fox clan has to offer!" she proclaims. "My own family has been a part going back generations."

"Kuma," she repeated to herself, thinking on it for a moment. She certainly invokes the image of a bear. Oh, right, Kumahime.

Yue gave the other woman a smile. "Sou desu ka." An amusing thought came to her mind. She laughed and then caught herself; more of such an action would cause her to truly vomit. "Gomennasai," she said in remark to her slight hiccup. "My school is known as well for strong and powerful bushi. Their techniques have made me able to contribute as if I did not possess my injuries."

[Kitsune Kumahime]

"Kuma," she repeated to herself, thinking on it for a moment. She certainly invokes the image of a bear. Oh, right, Kumahime.

Yue gave the other woman a smile. "Sou desu ka." An amusing thought came to her mind. She laughed and then caught herself; more of such an action would cause her to truly vomit. "Gomennasai," she said in remark to her slight hiccup. "My school is known as well for strong and powerful bushi. Their techniques have made me able to contribute as if I did not possess my injuries."

"Oh" she asks, thinking back to the brief she got in her lands. The Shinjo are supposed to be the light, quick ones, but that's not this woman. Schooled by the Moto, maybe? They're supposed to be the ones more... Hida in stature.

"Perhaps we can spar while we are here. It is always good to face different styles, ne? I was always hungry for the opportunity in our forest."

[Shinjo Liu Yue]

"Oh" she asks, thinking back to the brief she got in her lands. The Shinjo are supposed to be the light, quick ones, but that's not this woman. Schooled by the Moto, maybe? They're supposed to be the ones more... Hida in stature.

"Perhaps we can spar while we are here. It is always good to face different styles, ne? I was always hungry for the opportunity in our forest."

Kumahime's suspicions were correct, even if Yue had no way of knowing them to confirm them.

"That sounds wonderful, Kumahime-dono," Yue responded. She placed her hand on her lips for a moment, suppressing the urge to burp. "I am curious," she continued, her words slower as she picked out the words, "about the techniques of different schools. I am familiar with all of the schools within my own Clan due to proximity. Is that the same for you and others in regards to the whole Empire?"