Prelude: Doji Kyousuke

The Emerald Empire of Rokugan. It is a land upheld by honor, guided by fate, ruled by destiny. The Great Clans each support the Emperor, but inter-clan conflict is inevitable—both in the Emperor’s courts and on the battlefield. In the midst of danger and turmoil, honor must be your sword and your armor.

It is an era of sudden change and upheaval in the Emerald Empire. Mortal schemes, elemental imbalances, and celestial turmoil have disrupted the political, military, and spiritual equilibrium of Rokugan. Long-simmering rivalries and fresh betrayals ripple through the courts and on the battlefield. The Chrysanthemum Throne is beset by threats from without and within, and the honor of the seven Great Clans shall be put to the test.
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Prelude: Doji Kyousuke

Post by Vardaen » Tue Jun 11, 2019 4:54 pm

Image "In the struggle between the stone and water, in time, the water wins." - Rokugani Proverb

The Emerald Empire of Rokugan. It is a land upheld by honor, guided by fate, ruled by destiny. The Great Clans each support the Emperor, but inter-clan conflict is inevitable—both in the Emperor’s courts and on the battlefield. In the midst of danger and turmoil, honor must be your sword and your armor.

From the Shadowlands in the south to the Burning Sands in the north, from the Twilight Mountains in the west to the Islands of Spice and Silk in the east, Rokugan, the Emerald Empire, has stood for over one thousand years thanks to the seven Great Clans who serve the Emperor. As guardians and politicians, each clan fulfills their role in society and are as varied as they are powerful. But all are bound by the same code of honor, the way of the warrior, the code of Bushido. Honor is valued above all else, and a misspoken remark can be just as fatal as an enemy’s blade.
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Kōnotori Mura : White Stork Village

Just another farming and fishing village in the southern Crane lands, Kōnotori Mura, is a pleasant, if not simple, place to be. The village is pleasantly arranged, each house placed just so by a Crane civil planner, as if it was a a piece of ikebana, the Rokugani art of flower arranging. Peasants work the rice fields that spread out around the village for many li. They work with vigor and songs on their lips that help them to keep time as they plant and harvest throughout their lives. The village has a small wharf area with a few floating docks, fishing boats, and a thriving beach side community of fisher folks.

White Stork Village takes its name from the many white storks that migrate through each summer from their breeding grounds in the nearby Uebi Marshes to the west on their way to the south east Isles of Spice and Silk. There among the so called Mantis Clan the storks winter. A large garden, placed just so among the arrangement, is set to invite the storks with dogwoods and lilies. They say it is good fortune if a stork takes notice of you along its flight. The height of Crane fashion will often bear a feather from White Stork Village.

Three roads come into White Stork Village, each one leaving by a cardinal direction North, South or West. Travelers pass through the village daily on their way to other places. Only a rare few come here for the village itself. Some come to visit the garden when the storks are present, others to visit the small Shrine of the Sebun Ronin. All visitors end up at the Cresting Wave Sake House, the only such establishment in town where travelers can get a meal and room.

It is the Month of the Rooster, as the peasants view the calendar. Summer is fading, autumn is coming, the rains will start soon. The storks are nearing the end of their migration, yet many are still found in the garden and waters off the coast of Kōnotori Mura and so too are travelers. Tax season has begun as the rice harvest is starting. Many reasons have brought many souls to this small village, some may call it fate, or fortune, or kharma, whatever the purpose, small ripples have begun to spread across the surface of the water.
Welcome to the game! Please don't post just yet. I'll work in an introduction for each of you as we go forward. As the start of a new game we will have a bit of 'intro' and 'getting to know you' at the start. The game will start off rather sandboxy, player driven, within the set piece of the village until I begin to tell my story for the chapter.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Prelude: Doji Kyousuke

Post by Vardaen » Tue Jun 11, 2019 6:55 pm

Eien no Yuki no Niwa (Garden of Eternal Snow) - The garden is a large patch of land on the north end of the village is set aside for the namesake of Kōnotori Mura. Several acres in size the garden is a sprawling collection of grace and beauty nestled in this otherwise dull little village. Dominating the landscape are dogwood trees that bloom white in the spring along with lilies that keep their blooms all summer long. Winding paths of pebbles circle around a small pond, several stone lanterns and a tiny arched bridge that has a wonderful view of the ocean in the morning. The cool breezes of the sea blow about. Yet it is the hundreds of large white storks that dominate the attention of anyone in the garden. The birds are long slender creatures that measure some five several feet in length. Mostly white, they have black necks and patches of wing feathers giving them a look like some kabuki master.

A few heimin tend the garden under the attention of a Crane Clan artisan. Typically the heimin collect fallen feathers from the storks, keep the garden clean, and weed and tend to the plants. Today two samurai are present in the garden walking peacefully along the path. Doji Aiko is a middle aged Crane Clan woman with a noble bearing out of place in the small village in the of the Crane lands. She move with perfectly polite strides for a woman of her station. Dressed in the finest silk and current fashion, she holds a small sandal wood and silk fan and idly cools herself. At her side is a young man, clearly her son by the look of the two. They are in the middle of a conversation, one they have had several times in the last year. "...she is a perfectly fine woman, but more importantly her family has earned great glory. I know they are members of the Scorpion clan but we mustn't hold that against them when the marriage could produce such perfectly sociable results for the Crane. Bringing our families together through a marriage with you and her could raise our standing greatly in Ryoko Owari Toshi."

She pauses before the bridge, where a heimin man is sweeping it clean of debris.
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Welcome MWD to the game as our poor Crane son.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Prelude: Doji Kyousuke

Post by ManWithDoor » Tue Jun 18, 2019 9:26 pm

The younger man keeping pace and a respectful mien listens attentively, considering her every word. "A most auspicious pairing, Mother." He uses the term with both warmth and deference. "It is not that I find her Clan of origin inherently unworkable. Despite our historical conflicts many such marriages have been arranged since the dawn of the Empire." The response seems a bit too smooth, as though rehearsed, or simply one used many times before.

"But perhaps a better and more advantageous marriage is still possible. My star is rising within both the family and the Clan. A young man recently risen to a new diplomatic posting is a catch, to be sure. The Crane may be better served by a slightly older version of myself, in an even better position to improve our standing and holdings."
Thanks for keeping up the awesome legacy of L5R games! :)
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Prelude: Doji Kyousuke

Post by Vardaen » Thu Jun 20, 2019 1:44 pm

She doesn't show her disappointment or approval of her son. "You will have to marry eventually my son. I know, you are young and eager to prove yourself, but you will have to do your duty to the clan, at some point." She pauses and gazes at a particularly large tree that has ancient branches like old arms reaching up to the sky. "If your father were here he would tell me to let you be, but he isn't, and so you will have to deal with your mother's fawning attention and desire to have grandchildren."

A few storks come flying in low over the garden and join the flock that meanders about on the far side of the garden. "Even such simple creatures understand the need for duty."
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Prelude: Doji Kyousuke

Post by ManWithDoor » Thu Jun 20, 2019 9:45 pm

Doji Kyousuke sighs quietly and nods. "Lord Moon and Lady Sun crafted the world with order, cycles, and seasons. There are lessons to be had in all things, and Kōnotori Mura has special messages to the Crane." He quiets, gazing at the graceful storks flying, feeding, and nesting. "And I understand my duty, Mother. I will carry it out. You have been my example in that, leaving the Imperial City for a marriage arranged similarly for alliance and mutual well-being. It was a sacrifice, even if later personal blessings came from them. I will not disgrace you, the Doji, or the Otomo."
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Prelude: Doji Kyousuke

Post by Vardaen » Mon Jun 24, 2019 8:15 pm

"I am sure you will not disgrace us my son." Then she stops and looks around. "Right here, I think."

She claps her hands twice and the unseen man who had been following the two rushes out from around the corner. He has tucked under his arm an easel, and a set of paints. "Here, you will paint us here."

She stands atop the bridge, having scared the heimin gardener off, behind her the cranes are visible and the sea is as well. "Come Kyousuke, stand next to your mother for this." She motions her son forward even as the painter is setting up his gear to paint the pair.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Prelude: Doji Kyousuke

Post by ManWithDoor » Tue Jun 25, 2019 6:04 pm

The son follows along obediently, moving to his mother's side. The painter is not an unfamiliar sight, and his training in the courts have well-prepared him to hold himself in a striking manner for long periods of time.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Post by Vardaen » Tue Jun 25, 2019 6:36 pm

The family's painter has come along to do just this, paint this fine scene. He begins. Mother and son are able to stand and talk, barely moving, and mother has herself a captive audience for now. She continues to make suggestions on possible brides, some serious some not. The two stand there as the light of the day rises and reaches its peek. It begins to turn to afternoon and the shadows change. Aiko barely moves, she is a skilled courtier and is used to long periods in the court of doing nothing but sitting. A pair of storks fly over head low and she affords herself the indulgence of following their flight out to sea. "Soon the birds will all be gone, south to the Mantis Isles. A shame such graceful creatures sully themselves among such filth as the Mantis Pirates"
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Prelude: Doji Kyousuke

Post by ManWithDoor » Thu Jun 27, 2019 4:03 am

Doji Kyousuke allows himself a small smile at his mother's prejudices. "Well, some cycles set by the kami make less sense than others. Storks are not cranes, after all." He winks. "But perhaps we would appreciate their beauty and grace less if they did not migrate at all, or think more of them than we should if they only visited places we approved of. In the end, they are just birds after all."
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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Prelude: Doji Kyousuke

Post by Vardaen » Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:09 pm

As the pair stand posing for the painting a slender man enters this area of the garden. He is moving with a slow purpose, and from his attire you can see the mon of the Crab, and the Yasuki family. He is older, a bit older than Aiko is, perhaps ten years her senior or more. As he strolls through the garden he doesn't seem to notice the whole set up until he's nearly on the painter and then he stop and looks up as if shocked. "Oh my, pardon me...." he is cut off half way in his sentence and calls out in a bit of shock, which he quickly hides, "Otomo Aiko-san? Is that you?"

Doji Aiko bows in her place, "Yasuki Yoshito-san, I hardly recognized you, my how old you have become."

Both of them smiles at the other and neither takes offence at the other's slights. Kyousuke's mother breaks first, "But its Doji Aiko now, not Otomo, but you knew that."

Yoshito bows, "Yes, you are right, but you shall always be an Otomo to me first, and a Doji second. I did not mean any offence."

"I know that, but, for the sake of my son, Doji Kyousuke, let's use the right name, shall we old friend?" Aiko waves the painter away, and the artist quickly packs up his things and hustles off into the distance to give the group some privacy.

"Of course." says the old Crab, then he whistles, "Well wait a moment now, you aren't tell me this is little Ichiro? I remember when he was only knee high!"

It seems this Yasuki Yoshito and Doji Aiko are old friends.
Image An Old Friend
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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