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

[Moto Khulun]

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.

"Can I feed her?" she says excitedly.

"We can get fresh meat! A Mighty killer like her deserves the best."

[Shinjo Hanashi]

...

Hanashi nodded along for a bit. "The Ikoma, Asako, Kitsune and Otomo, you say? I'll have to see about talking to them, thank you Usagi-sama."

He shrugs then. "It is the duty given to me, so it will be done, whether I agree with it or not."

[Otaku Chi-Pu]

Kogo looks thoughtful, "I believe they do. However, some practitioners use primarily herbs and I am sure there is one useful to settling the stomach. Though it is not difficult to withstand the pain, I would want to be at my best for any events tomorrow. For as Akodo says, 'Focus is the key to victory. Know your strengths and weaknesses, focus on them, and you can achieve victory in the face of any hardship.' I wish to ensure my focus is keen and ready for the days to come."

Plus if this continues I may do something unladylike and expel wind. I can feel mother's glare from here at the thought.

"Akodo has great wisdom it seems. I would like to read his 'Leadership' someday. It sounds very insightful for martial matters."

Chi-Pu finishes the last of her tea and looks to the banquet again.

"It seems everyone is getting along well. This is good! The first shared meal can determine relations for years between groups of people. I am quite happy with this outcome."

[Yuzuki]

"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?"

"Eh... I guess it has to do with the places you usually find them?"

[Usagi Tomoe]

...

There was a lot of sympathy in her expression. Not that Tomoe could relate exactly to have Hanashi might feel, but she could understand the feeling of being resigned to duty.

"I am fairly certain there is a high-ranking Kitsune in attendance, from what I heard. Besides, the Kitsune are the descendants of Shinjo's followers who remained in Rokugan, so I'm certain he'll be happy to accomodate you." Her tone turned cheerful, trying to turn the topic into something brighter. It was a festive occassion, right?

"It's really been enjoyable to chat with you, Shinjo-san." Much more than those two Moto. Blegh. "I hope we get the chance to see more of eachother in the coming days, and that I get to meet more of kin."

[Shinjo Liu Fei]

"Eh... I guess it has to do with the places you usually find them?"

"On the ground?" she asked, hiding a smile behind her taciturn expression.

[Matsu Kogo]

Kogo looks thoughtful, "I believe they do. However, some practitioners use primarily herbs and I am sure there is one useful to settling the stomach. Though it is not difficult to withstand the pain, I would want to be at my best for any events tomorrow. For as Akodo says, 'Focus is the key to victory. Know your strengths and weaknesses, focus on them, and you can achieve victory in the face of any hardship.' I wish to ensure my focus is keen and ready for the days to come."

Plus if this continues I may do something unladylike and expel wind. I can feel mother's glare from here at the thought.

"Akodo has great wisdom it seems. I would like to read his 'Leadership' someday. It sounds very insightful for martial matters."

Chi-Pu finishes the last of her tea and looks to the banquet again.

"It seems everyone is getting along well. This is good! The first shared meal can determine relations for years between groups of people. I am quite happy with this outcome."

Kogo nods. "I have brought my copy of Leadership with me, if you wish to borrow it. I find it makes for an educational read at most any time."

Kogo follows her gaze. "It does appear auspicious. Hopefully we have many more days and nights like this. Are feasts of great import to the Unicorn clan?"

[Soshi Taira]

"Perhaps," Saksaha allows. "Although I am sent here to find a husband, not a sensei. It seems to me it is not good to mix the two too closely."

She sets her chopsticks down and rises a little on her knees to get a better view of the table's contents, successfully finding a wooden bowl with a ladle, filled with an opaque creamy liquid which she draws back toward herself and Taira. "You must try the kumis before you can understand arkhi... Scorpion-san?" she says, belatedly taking notice of his colors and insignia. "Kumis is the mother of arkhi. The gentle mother. To make the arkhi it's distilled, with a fire and a cold basin... I am sure your people must have something similar. Only made of rice, or something." Her voice is a mix of confident and vaguely doubtful.

Taking up the ladle, she transfers some of the kumis into an empty cup and slides it toward him.

Taira listened quietly, nodding, and then provided, as she asked, "Soshi Taira. Indeed of the Scorpion. You are... Iuchi-san?"

As she offered the bowl he took it carefully, examining the liquid with a curious gaze.

After a moment he put the bowl to his lips and drank.

Then he set it back down, and said, simply, "It is rather strongly flavored, isn't it? I imagine it takes getting used to."

[Shinjo Hanashi]

..."

"Is that what the Kitsune are? Haven't had much of a chance to learn as of yet. Will certainly need to talk to him, thank you."

[Shinjo Monkhbaatar]

She blinked slowly and shook her head No.

"I've never had a need, to be perfectly honest. I'm an agile sort, on my better days," she added with a small smirk then.

"It's not always about need," he replies. "Sometimes it's just about want. It's a fun and exciting experience, even after all the years I've ridden."

[Otaku Chi-Pu]

Kogo nods. "I have brought my copy of Leadership with me, if you wish to borrow it. I find it makes for an educational read at most any time."

Kogo follows her gaze. "It does appear auspicious. Hopefully we have many more days and nights like this. Are feasts of great import to the Unicorn clan?"

"I couldn't take your only extra copy, there might be many more who want to read it."

Chi-Pu glances around the banquet again.

"I wouldn't say of great import, but sharing a meal is always considered something special. Is it not the same here?"

[Iuchi Saksaha]

Taira listened quietly, nodding, and then provided, as she asked, "Soshi Taira. Indeed of the Scorpion. You are... Iuchi-san?"

As she offered the bowl he took it carefully, examining the liquid with a curious gaze.

After a moment he put the bowl to his lips and drank.

Then he set it back down, and said, simply, "It is rather strongly flavored, isn't it? I imagine it takes getting used to."

"Iuchi Saksaha," she confirms with a slight nod when Taira guesses at her family name. Then she helps herself to half a cup of kumis along with him, as nobody ought to drink alone.

"Does it? It is mother's milk to most of us. Well, mare's milk, truthfully, but the horses of our Clan are also like our aunts and cousins." She licks a stray drop of the stuff from her upper lip, not remembering to hide this undignified action with her hand or sleeve. "If you have a bowl of kumis, you're halfway to a meal. That is one thing you can't say of this sake, sweet though it is."

[Kitsune Kumahime]

The question takes a moment to process, and when it clicks, the Fox can't help but laugh. "We are all friends here! Except when we're not. Politics is politics and my clan tends to stay away from them when we can. But if you want an interesting challenge, or just an interesting story, seek out some of those smaller schools."

Liu Yue blushed slightly and raised her fan to conceal her embarrassment and in case any urges to vomit came back. "Sou desu ka." She scanned the crowd lightly, as best as her good eye could serve her, before turning back to the bear of a woman. "Are there others of smaller schools, as you put it, present? I must admit you have peaked my curiosity. I would enjoy speaking to them, and yourself, in the coming days."

Kumahime shrugs. "I don't know anyone else here, except my cousin, Kitsune Takeo-sama and even he, I do not know well. But that is why we're here, ne? Get to know each other."

She takes a bite of scallop, slowly savoring it now that she's nearly had her fill. "Oh, that is good." She casts a look towards Yue's still considerable amount of food.

[Otaku Kitakuhime]

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?"

Kitakuhime frowns a bit at the whole discussion, and doesn't get a chance to interrupt her clanmate before the damage is done. She looks back to Yuki and almost shrugs, maintaining her cool, "Moto Khulun-san. She's one of our fiercest warriors."

Is Kuhlun-san saw protecting me from something I didn't see? Anyhow, lack of courtesy is not acceptable. I'll have to talk with her and make amendments.

[Shinjo Liu Yue]

Kumahime shrugs. "I don't know anyone else here, except my cousin, Kitsune Takeo-sama and even he, I do not know well. But that is why we're here, ne? Get to know each other."

She takes a bite of scallop, slowly savoring it now that she's nearly had her fill. "Oh, that is good." She casts a look towards Yue's still considerable amount of food.

"Sou desu ka." The Unicorn took that as a cue for her to take another bite from her food, again small. "Have you met any men that you favor highly, Kumahime-dono?"