She jumps in the water, hoping the heimin will have the courage to follow her lead. Once in the water, she tries to make sure he has a secure grip on the board, then holds onto it with one hand herself. "Kick with your legs!" she calls to the heimin. "That will help you move forward." She does her best to guide both herself and the cook through the turbulent water, swimming to join the others, while looking for a safe place they might land.
Scroll One: Kyōen no Torekkā
- Muskrat
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Re: The Great Wave: Impact
Ryoko tries for a reassuring voice, but under the stress it comes out a commanding one. Still, she tells the cook, "Fear not. I will do my best to help you and keep from drowning." She lifts up one of the boards and hands it to the cook. "Hang onto this. The wood should help you float." She surveys the situation and shakes her head. "I think the best thing to do is to leap into the water before the roof collapses--that way, we have some small measure of control. Once we're in the water, I'll swim with you and try to help you stay afloat." She suspects her words could be more reassuring, but she does not want to make promises she can not keep, even to a heimin. That would be dishonorable and insulting. She grips the man by the arm and says, "Are you ready? Then 1-2-3-jump!"
She jumps in the water, hoping the heimin will have the courage to follow her lead. Once in the water, she tries to make sure he has a secure grip on the board, then holds onto it with one hand herself. "Kick with your legs!" she calls to the heimin. "That will help you move forward." She does her best to guide both herself and the cook through the turbulent water, swimming to join the others, while looking for a safe place they might land.
She jumps in the water, hoping the heimin will have the courage to follow her lead. Once in the water, she tries to make sure he has a secure grip on the board, then holds onto it with one hand herself. "Kick with your legs!" she calls to the heimin. "That will help you move forward." She does her best to guide both herself and the cook through the turbulent water, swimming to join the others, while looking for a safe place they might land.
- ManWithDoor
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Re: The Great Wave: Impact
The courtier wishes futilely that he had been brought up as a priest, to make offerings and intercessions with Lord Moon to show mercy, and withdraw the waters of his wrath. From his understanding of ancient history he is not a particularly merciful being, having eaten his children. If he would do so to his own children, what chance does a simple mortal have of being given reprieve? Regardless, he has nothing else. So while he wishes the past were different, in the present he prays to Lord Moon, hoping that it will matter in some small way.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."
- Orvost
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Re: The Great Wave: Impact
Shonogen is about to dive into the water and retrieve the child, but stops and thinks better of it. The child was obviously dead, and Shonogen didn't want to be dragging a corps through the water. At this point, all the floodwaters were a veritable soup of dead flesh. As he hesitates, Shonogen sees Ryoko dive into the water from the inn. When he left the inn, the current had carried him to where he was now. Purhaps she would want to join him in the tree.
- Vardaen
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Re: The Great Wave: Impact
"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
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring
- Muskrat
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Re: The Great Wave: Impact
"Thank you, Doji-san," says Ryoko as he helps her out of the water. She drops onto the roof and surveys the scene, trying to see what happened to the poor cook. Part of her wants to go back into the water and help people, but the wiser part of her decides that would be foolhardy. Besides, Kirino-sama with his dying words had given her an important duty to carry out and she could not do that if she drowned.
She says to the others with her, "I think in this situation, each must decide what the honorable thing to do is. But I have been charged with certain tasks by my master and I cannot carry them out if I drown. And I think we may all do more good if we wait for the waters to recede. We do not even know if any of the samurai who govern this town survived. It may fall on us to bring order among the panicked heimin after the waters recede."
Ryoko briefly had the thought that such a situation would make her job considerably easier; horrified, she pushed it out of her mind.
She says to the others with her, "I think in this situation, each must decide what the honorable thing to do is. But I have been charged with certain tasks by my master and I cannot carry them out if I drown. And I think we may all do more good if we wait for the waters to recede. We do not even know if any of the samurai who govern this town survived. It may fall on us to bring order among the panicked heimin after the waters recede."
Ryoko briefly had the thought that such a situation would make her job considerably easier; horrified, she pushed it out of her mind.
- Orvost
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Re: The Great Wave: Impact
Shonogen sees that the water carried Ryoko to the safety of a small building. He starts looking for others who may need help. Specifically, he looks for people being swept past his location. He is willing to reach out to grasp someone floating by, but he isn't going to put himself at the mercy of the surging current again if he can help it.
The screams of the dying are difficult to listen to, but not everyone who pleads for help can be saved. That is something Shonogen appreciates instinctively as a Hiruma.
The screams of the dying are difficult to listen to, but not everyone who pleads for help can be saved. That is something Shonogen appreciates instinctively as a Hiruma.
- ManWithDoor
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Re: The Great Wave: Impact
Doji Kyousuke nods in agreement with Ryoko. "I have duties to my Clan and Family. ... the Estate we dined at was located on prime land, flat and gentle with the best view of the beauty of nature. It is likely little more than mud and debris now. I cannot save those who are already dead, nor can I serve if I have returned to the realm of my ancestors." He is clearly conflicted, but working on accepting this reality. "I will wait as well. We may end up the most highly ranked survivors once the waters recede. We will need to live up to the expectations made by our forebears, our Lords, and the Kami themselves. May we be not found wanting in their sight."
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."
- Graven
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Re: The Great Wave: Impact
Jun watches the waters for a moment, listening to the swirl of the sea that now surrounds him. Then he looks to the others with him, "We should keep watch, in case anyone passes within reach. One should stay alert while the others rest." At that point, he seems to remember that he is a guest in these lands, "If the Doji think it wise," he says in a quieter tone.
Fantasy is the exercise bike of the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. Of course, I might be wrong.
- Sir Terry Pratchett
I will always return
- Shinjo
Formerly Phlale
- Sir Terry Pratchett
I will always return
- Shinjo
Formerly Phlale
- ManWithDoor
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Re: The Great Wave: Impact
In the chaos and destruction the social niceties or rank, formal address, and the usual avoidance of direct physical contact have been washed away as effectively as the town has been. The reminder is somewhat jarring, and the courtier blinks in surprise. "Oh, of course Jun-san. A wise course of action." He pauses to look out over the flood waters and the other few survivors clinging to trees and buildings. "In times of peril we must remember that we are all Rokugani, all servants of the Emperor and the Celestial Heavens. In the worst times of history the Clans united against a common foe, whether ones of darkness or chaos."
"I pray that this is one of those times. If this tsunami was widespread, not just the Crane have been devastated. The Crab and Phoenix have extensive coastal holdings as well. The Islands of Silk and Spice ... may no longer exist. We will all need to work together, as individuals as well as Clans, to salvage, mourn, and rebuild."
"I pray that this is one of those times. If this tsunami was widespread, not just the Crane have been devastated. The Crab and Phoenix have extensive coastal holdings as well. The Islands of Silk and Spice ... may no longer exist. We will all need to work together, as individuals as well as Clans, to salvage, mourn, and rebuild."
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."
- Hermit
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Re: The Great Wave: Impact
Having taken stock of the wreckage tangled among the branches, Gensai slowly retreats from his precarious perch to rejoin Takashi and Kanko-Cho with the inkling of an idea slowly taking shape within his mind, pausing only once midway in his withdrawal to note the morbid passage of a lone white crane as its lifeless body bobbed swiftly along racing currents, feathers glistening wetly with a lurid iridescence beneath the cold and spiteful gaze of Lord Moon.
Grimacing at the cries of distress from those less fortunate than them, Gensai pauses to breathe deeply and empty his mind of its weariness and troubled thoughts. “I have a plan, one that I pray may yet save at least one more soul from this dire calamity, should the Fortunes so will it.” Waiting until he is certain that he has the full attention of both Kanko-Cho and Takashi, Gensai then proceeds to elaborate on his plan.
”Will you help me in this endeavor? I know that what I am asking of the both of you is no small thing, but I believe that like the Seven who came to this village’s aid so long ago, so too can we rescue those that have yet to find refuge from this storm if we band together in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation. So, what say you?”
Sensing an opportunity to share the plan currently formulating in his head, the shugyōsha fixes his erstwhile companions with a sincere look. “I am humbled by such selfless compassion, Asahina-sama… but I cannot accept it, not yet at least.”Sasori wrote:"Doji Takashi-san, Gensai-san, are the both of you hurt? If you are bleeding or can't feel your arm or leg, please tell me now. The sooner we take care of that, the more likely we will survive all this", says the young Asahina with a trembling voice.
The drowned kimono is starting to drain warmth from her body, so she tries to keep herself busy with things she can do.
Grimacing at the cries of distress from those less fortunate than them, Gensai pauses to breathe deeply and empty his mind of its weariness and troubled thoughts. “I have a plan, one that I pray may yet save at least one more soul from this dire calamity, should the Fortunes so will it.” Waiting until he is certain that he has the full attention of both Kanko-Cho and Takashi, Gensai then proceeds to elaborate on his plan.
”Will you help me in this endeavor? I know that what I am asking of the both of you is no small thing, but I believe that like the Seven who came to this village’s aid so long ago, so too can we rescue those that have yet to find refuge from this storm if we band together in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation. So, what say you?”
''At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.'' - Lao-Tzu