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

[Shimizu Ryori]

Khulun finishes her food and just folds her arms watching him leave before nodding to her cousin and then taking a seat with the Lion. She pours more kumis for them both and says, “Foul company needs good drink to forget their presence.”

“So what do you feed your lion?”

He smiles "meat, preferably fresh but she is making do with your cooked stuff"

He takes the drink and sips this one.

[Shinjo Liu Fei]

"Wait," she said, and paused for an uncomfortably long period of time, "you named your horse after a bug? I don't understand. I mean I called Kon, well uh, Kon... but... is there a special meaning to it?"

That inspired a bit of a stare, a glance to the younger woman's Mon, and then back to her once again, tone heavily showing just how surprised by Yuzuki's confusion she was, "Isn't your entire Clan named after a bug?"

[Shinjo Hanashi]

"...

"It allows for longer tales to be remembered and often rewards those with a quick wit and clever tongue with interesting wordplay. Meant to be humorous most often; sometimes educational. It can rhyme, but always uses alliteration. It also usually involves five lines without consideration to meter or rhythm and a sixth line that would sums up the poem. The first two lines of the poem alliterate, the third line alliterates within itself. The pattern continues for the fourth, fifth, and the sixth lines." He explains, promptly.

[Asako Yuki]

With both the Bayushi and the Moto gone, Yuki stood there awkwardly for several seconds before turning to look at Otaku Kitakuhime once again. "Your clanmate... seems... interesting?"

[Yuzuki]

"Wait," she said, and paused for an uncomfortably long period of time, "you named your horse after a bug? I don't understand. I mean I called Kon, well uh, Kon... but... is there a special meaning to it?"

That inspired a bit of a stare, a glance to the younger woman's Mon, and then back to her once again, tone heavily showing just how surprised by Yuzuki's confusion she was, "Isn't your entire Clan named after a bug?"

"Well... yes. But the Mantis is a fierce creature. A cockroach is just... a cockroach."

[Usagi Tomoe]

...

"Huh," she nodded with great interest. Sure, it sounded rather different from the mono no aware that all Rokugani poetry strived for, but was it not difficult to have poems with no set length... and rhyme?

"I certainly hope there will be a chance to hear this poetry during the miai... maybe not a poetry competition, as it doesn't seem to be the kind of thing some of your kin would like... at least from those I've met, apart from yourself. It really is fascinating how much your clan has picked up and learned in your time abroad, as well as so diligently preserving your heritage from Rokugan itself... I am honestly very impressed, thinking it must have been so difficult for the historians of your clan to keep all the records while you travelled."

[Shinjo Hanashi]

He nods a bit. "The training can be intense. There is much to remember, after all." He taps his head, "Our records are kept, passed from person to person, tale by tale. In many ways our history is as alive as we are that way, for it can give us new lessons with each time that it is told."

[Usagi Tomoe]

"An interesting way to look at it," she nodded. "It sounds very similar to how the Ikoma do it, the historians of the Lion Clan. They are talented bards and storytellers, often telling the tales of great heroes. But most of history in the Empire is found in books and scrolls, written down to be preserved so many can read its accounts... I am more of a book and scroll-kind of gal, to be honest, than one who stands before a crowd to tell a story. Not that I don't like a well-told story, I mean... it is always more entertaining to hear someone bring history to life."

The rabbit finished her serving of baklava, feeling more than comfortably full from all the food now. She rarely ate this much!

"I can only hope I have brought enough paper to write about all I learn and see here, so that I can share my experiences with my clan in hopes that there will be more understanding between the newly returned children of Shinjo and the Hare Clan."

[Shinjo Hanashi]

He nods, a bit firmly.

"Hai. We're likely to change our ways in that regards, as we've been encouraged to..." don't say kill don't say kill "write down our stories in their," final decaying form "purest essence, so they can be more widely shared."

[Usagi Tomoe]

Tomoe cocked her head to the side as she regarded Hanashi.

"Change your ways? Surely you will still continue to tell your tales like you have done for centuries, even if others write them down, no?"

[Shinjo Liu Fei]

"Cockroach's have an endurance special to themselves, in the many lands we have seen they remain present, it shows that even here you know of the insect," she offered in retort. Certainly not studied on it, but having witnessed enough that her words seemed to ring true.

[Yuzuki]

"But..."

She was about to say something about how cockroaches only ever seemed to live in trash-filled surroundings, but thought better of it.

"...I still wouldn't name something important to me after them."

[Shinjo Hanashi]

He frowns, "If I write down a story as I remember it, and three others do as well, there is bound to be discrepancy. I choose a different word, for instance, because I'm used to a certain audience while they are used to others. But in writing down the story I have only an imagined future audience, that can be anyone and at any time."

Another jabbed shrimp. "Those differences show the stories history. And can be celebrated by those listening to it, by those that remember. When its written down, people will start seeking to insure they know the truest version of the tale. When they were all true; it is simply that the duty of a storyteller is to insure that the truths can be heard by the audience. Not all audiences, like moments, are the same."

[Shinjo Liu Fei]

"What is the reason for that, Mantis-san?" she asked, raising her left brow. "Do you not respect Endurance as much as you might fierceness?"

[Usagi Tomoe]

The cheerful Hare turned very thoughtful as she considered Hanashi's situation. It seemed the Unicorn had a very different relationship to history, which was understandable if they had relied on oral traditions for so long compared to the rest of the clans who had eagerly embraced the written forms for both historical accounts and fanciful fiction.

"It is a difficult situation for you I see, one I had not considered," she slowly nodded, obviously taking it into full account. "As for having the truest version of history... such is never possible. There are many Families in the Empire dedicated to preserving history; the Ikoma, the Asako, the Kitsune, the Otomo. Not even all of their accounts are in full agreement with one another, because historians from different sides will always have different information available to pen down events... and that is without even considering political and personal bias an author might add to their work."

"However, merely because something is written down does not change how a story can still be a living and evolving thing. Storytellers and playwrights have for centuries re-told popular stories again and again, all with their own differences and twists, and we as the audience most often appriciate it."