[Day Seven - Late Evening] Finding Balance

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"It does...considering that does split the company in half and the conversations that could be had. I'm sure it makes for a confusing situation when finding which tea house to meet at too," she gave a shake of her head. "Of course, I think I've been made aware today that perhaps my post just lack variety. There are ingredients and techniques to consider. It might be impossible for a tea house to keep all make and blends of tea but there's no need to have two houses that serve Silver Needle, then?"

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

She brought her hand up to her mouth and laughed a little, smiling over at the young woman. "Mirumoto-sama... I confess that I have no sense of the many different blends of tea that are out there." She smirked to herself. "But I suppose that or those who have the luxury of it... they must have so many thoughts on the best tea for the best occasion. I know the sake houses say much the same thing. Your post is quite ... remote is it not?"

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

She nodded once at the question. "It is...but it has grown ever since the start of my training. Before, there was merely a hamlet where the farmers mostly just grow to sustain themselves, relying on a passing merchant who travels between the mountains and the Phoenix lands. I suppose in time, they've managed to set up a store, a restaurant stall...and a tea...room? I suppose it's in a house but just only one room is dedicated to it."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"And now you travel the wide world and see the sights before you return from your pilgrimage," she said, cocking her head. "Well, you should pick up quite a few interesting tales in your time. With any luck, they will not all be stories of glory and battle. I assure you, they're highly overrated, no matter what the bards may say."

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"I wouldn't say I'm travelling the wide world, only the Lion lands. I suppose after I return to my sensei to report my findings, he will likely decide where to go from there. Perhaps I will have accumulated enough to proceed in my role as his assistant or I will require more experience abroad. Our path isn't very typical that we find ourselves in courtly or military duties however but anything is a possibility."

She placed a hand on her chin and nodded. "Hai, my sensei did inform me that the Lion here were very good storytellers, although it is only an interpretation of the truth.Often great deeds should tell themselves."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"We will see in time what comes I suppose." She herself couldn't even be certain how long she would remain in one place or another considering what was going on. She did, however, chuckle a little bit after a moment and glance over. "The Omoidasu are not the only storytellers in the empire. I like to think I can spin a decent yarn now and again, though I wouldn't pretend to be their match. But as you said. It is in the end only an interpretation. The truth is for the eyes to see, is it not?"

Not exactly kosher in rokugani law, but they were hardly in court.

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"Sometimes but I'd like to think that actions would speak the loudest and the effects would ripple from it, no matter how subtle or small," she said imagining that if a hero vanquished a great evil that even the farmer in the fields would appreciate peace, despite being an unsung hero. Wasn't that reward enough?

"What sort of tales do you typically tell?" she asked curiously.

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"By the deeds of a man, you will know him," she said quietly. "And what they would do for others, or to them, will teach of the good or the ill in their heart." She did recall that they said Dragon tended to be a bit more ... blunt than the men of the courts usually were. She could appreciate it, even if there was a hint of bitterness in her tone. It lurked there at the edge sometimes.

"Who, me? I fancy stories of hengeyokai and folk tales, myself. I'll leave the stories of glories and war to greater voices than mine, but every once in a while, the peasants like to hear."

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

She nodded soundly at the ronin's word, it was certainly what she was aiming for in her thoughts.

"Oh, I think we're used to hearing of folklore and fables around our parts." It was that or readings of the Tao. "Tales of Snow Maidens are common place on the mountains and people have always been too cautious about exploring the wilderness, so it is interesting to get a sense of what could lurk in the mountains."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"They're always such lovely little moral lessons aren't they?" she said, the bemused twist there. "Though there's usually enough of a grain of truth. The spiritual creatures who linger among the living can be helpful... but it's dangerous to toy with them. Their ways are not our ways, after all. The snow maiden is... a rather unfortunate example."

Hadn't there been a rather infamous incident a few years back to that effect?

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"I would imagine some part of it could be true, perhaps retold several times by someone who might have actually met either such creatures or beings," she frowned faintly and looked off on a grim note. "I don't want to think that it may be the actual case but I think the possibility of snow maidens might be very real around the Northern Wall Mountains. A year ago, there was a story about a farmhand who had splurged on sake and foolishly wandered off into a snow storm. It took weeks to find him and when they did, he was found naked. So...storied snow maidens are more welcome than hearing about them in reality."

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

She only managed to stifle the chuckle because it sounded like the man had died. That would have been a hilarious story, if he'd been alive and just freezing his drunk rear off. Keeping that to herself, she nodded with a bit of, not so much grim, as serious look in her eyes.

"Similarly, spirits like the kodama are a thing that we had to be mindful of near where I was raised. Quite a few fanciful tales about tree spirits, but best to know the truth of it if you are to have the peasants work in lumber, yes?"

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"Kodoma?" She said curiously, as her lexicon of strange and fantastic creatures in the Empire were rather limited. "If I may ask, what are Kodoma?"

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

She wasn't that thoroughly familiar with spirits, so if the woman wanted the details, she probably wouldn't get them. But a fanciful yarn based upon the story, that would definitely happen. She smiled when the Mirumoto asked and shifted into a more comfortable position.

"There was an old woodcutter in the neighboring village in my grandfather's day. He had a great, old oak at the back of his property that his father and his father's father had allowed to grow. In a hard year, he thought to cut down the tree in the hopes of feeding his family. Such a thing, it didn't seem so unwise, but his mother warned him not to, for fear that he would provoke the kodama of the tree's wrath," she said sighing in memory. Was it a story that actually happened? Perhaps that was up for debate, but she'd heard enough versions that someone probably had done this before.

"He went to chop it down, and when he did he could hear the groaning and clicking of distant trees creaking. They sounded mournful, but he could think of nothing but putting rice upon the table. With the first chop, he should have known something was wrong, for the clicking grew worse. The longer he chopped, the more that they clicked until the moment that they stopped. A creaking and a groaning ensued, and as he looked up they say that he shrieked and pointed, but none may know what he saw or the tree fell on top of him."

A shake of her head and she leaned back, looking at the ceiling. "They say that they live in old trees. The older the tree, the more powerful the spirit of that tree. But if you cut the tree down, the spirit dies. They curse one who would do so, if it is not a mercy to the ancient tree, if they do not venerate, give thanks. Make it clear. They are protectors of the old trees of the forest. I hear there are many, many of them in the Shinomen Mori."

( Fluff storytelling roll 20 )

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"Huh..." Wasako would finally say after a long pause. Despite not being a survivalist or a woodsperson, she still found the concept fascinating as there were trees everywhere, especially on the mountain that she was from. "I suppose I knew there were spirits in all things but I hadn't known that there were protector spirits in trees. It does make sense, given how old and how tall they could grow to be. To think that they could strike you down is something fearsome."

She shook her head, trying to shake the sensation of being spooked from her mind. "Now it makes me wonder if I should be wary of the bean pods or the turnips I eat. Of course, I do give thanks with each meal but did the farmer give thanks before harvesting in my stead?"

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"Even if a peasant isn't a religious soul, they all learn a certain practical reality. Like you said. Everything has a spirit. The older it is, the stronger the spirit. You give thanks for the rice, and to Inari for his blessing. The farmer does as well. You respect your tools, for if they are forgotten... bad things can happen." There were whole bodies of youkai that were discarded tools and toys.

"But I suppose if I were to give advice? Treat anything your father gave you with respect. Anything older than your parents might very well care about what you do with it. And if your grandfather gave it to them? Definitely. It honors the ancestors, but the spirit is as real itself. Only practical yes?" Honestly? Fortunism was such a practical faith. Treat everything with respect because the world was a scary place.

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

Wasako chuckled and gave a nod in acknowledgement. "I suppose that part should be obvious and seems just natural with everything in life. Of course, it's the easy things that are sometimes easily forgotten about, so it does need mentioning. Everything given by parents and my elders has gone to my brothers already. Would it be only objects? I suppose the same could be said about words and memories perhaps? Would honouring those moments also be wise?"

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"Now that," she said with a grin, gesturing vaguely in the Dragon's direction. "That is the task of the tale teller and the omoidasu. To give honor to the memories of those who have gone before us, and the sort of thing we experience and carry with us. I appreciate a fine tale. But I think you understand it well. Anything that casts its presence over time is deserving of respect, and importance."

Mirumoto Wasako · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 4:56 pm **Posts:** 945

"They are probably more akin to memorable words and advice. I don't think my parents or my uncle would find themselves on the same standing as a Lion storyteller...I was thinking more of direct words given by your elders and parents but I suppose the sentiment shares the same concept," she narrowed her eyes in thought. "Maybe less grandiose and less colourful?"

Mari · **Joined:** Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:43 am **Posts:** 702

"Yes. There are many ways in which this can be done. Some are less grand and attention-drawing, but you have the right idea." One way or another, the point was to keep those memories and hold them precious. As ephemeral as air, how would they be held onto and protected if someone did not take the steps. "You have quite a few of those, do you not?"

...

"I wonder, though... does memory walk among us now in flesh?"

[Day Seven - Late Evening] Finding Balance

Who is online