[D9 - LE: Phoenix's Blessing] A Thousand Prayers (Open)

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

Mari was, for the third evening in a row, present in the Phoenix's Blessing. There were countless prayers, countless fortunes to pray to, and so little time. She chose to begin with the Major Fortunes, favoring Hotei and Jurojin first among them. Under the circumstances, they seemed to be the most fitting to pray to. During her early meditations, she rested in front of Hotei's shrine to seek the peace that only a proper, open minded state could maintain.

(Void meditation - 29: +2 VP)

After a time, however, her prayers were a bit more open ended. It was easy to catch her attention if one wanted, while she went from shrine to shrine on a proper circuit. It never hurt to pray, and there was never an end to such things.

Doji Monkhbaatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:29 am **Posts:** 231

Monkhbaatar returned to the temples. He had started his day on the Crane side, now he wanted to see the Phoenix side. They weren't as grand as Benten Seido, but they were still quite beautiful.

He began a rotation of his own, offering prayers to the different shrines as he went along. He was as curious and interested in the Heavens as he was in anything else in the empire. Eventually in his rounds he came across Mari. He nodded to her but did not wish to interrupt if she were busy.

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

When the Crane nodded towards her, she had been between different prayers, and so had a moment. Shifting in her spot, she turned to bow before him, speaking in a polite low voice. "Ah, Crane-sama. I hope I'm not interrupting your meditations..." She actually hadn't run into too many in her life, though she'd always heard that they could be very ... proper.

Doji Monkhbaatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:29 am **Posts:** 231

"Of course not," he says with a respectful bow of his own. "I likewise hope that I am not interrupting your prayers either. I am Doji Monkhbaatar, it is a pleasure to meet you."

His name pretty much gives away his former clan affiliation, but otherwise he acts with the propriety most would expect of the Crane.

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

There was a shift in her tone when he introduced himself. It came almost the instant that he said his given name. The line of her lips thinned, but she maintained a polite tone even if it was cooler than a moment before. She definitely recognized the sound of a gaijin name. No one but a Unicorn would hold it. Marriage?

"You may call me Mari. I am a wave-man visiting the city," she said, nodding to him as she rose from her bow. I wonder if he's under the curse... "Did you come from Toshi no Omoidasu."

Doji Monkhbaatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:29 am **Posts:** 231

"No, I came from Crane lands as soon as I heard what was happening. I arrived in the city two days ago," he says. "Our empire is under threat and I volunteered to help defend it, getting permission from my lord to go to the front lines."

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

"True enough. I confess that I came only for work, as is common among ronin. I do not think they expected this much when they suggested it." Not by half.

"How long have you lived among the Crane, if I may ask, honored samurai?" She hazarded a small, curious look. "You have joined with them through marriage, I take it?" It was the far more likely option. She was, admittedly, asking for a very different reason. The Bargain was always there, in the front of her mind.

Doji Monkhbaatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:29 am **Posts:** 231

"There was a Miai not so long ago, and I married almost immediately after. When the decision was made to leave the Empire on their mission I was officially married then, to ease any burden on the Unicorn in their preparations," he says with a nod. So probably within days before or after the bargain had been struck. No telling which side of that fateful day his family changed.

He then also remembered that his lord said he should not talk about what happened with Kyoushi to anyone that wasn't an official investigating it, since he had been at that fateful meeting when the initial offer had been given. So he caught himself before saying anything about it.

"The Crane have been most welcoming. Though I still have a great deal to learn. Their first lessons for me were how to avoid giving offense and the proper way to do things, something I'm truly grateful for."

"I've not met many ronin. You said you came here for work? What kind of work do you do?"

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

"Your lords in the crane have taught you well, I think. You are well mannered. I suspect in time such training will help those of your clan who remain to acclimate. I am told the Unicorn were in the midst of riding north." Or so had been part of the orders before she became ronin.

She ceased pressing, mostly because it was not out of an interest in knowing who was responsible. She held her opinions on that already, and it wasn't something she wanted to push on because it played out her own hand, that she was under the same Bargain as that clan thanks to their decisions. No, for her own reasons like his orders, there was only so much she would say.

It was just... useful to know if him dying would result in something she'd have to put out of its misery.

His question caused her to settle back and pat her scroll satchel. "I am a priestess of Earth and Water, on musha shugyo. As a healer, I ply my skills in the midst of my pilgrimage to ensure that there is food in my belly." She said.

Doji Monkhbaatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:29 am **Posts:** 231

"I see. I'm not overly familiar with how ronin operate really. I've had limited exposure to such things. So I suppose for the most part you take payment in return for your services?" He thinks on that for a moment. "I'm not overly wealthy, but I have a fair amount of coin that I don't particularly need too much of. Would you be interested in taking a job offer from me?"

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

She blinked and coughed once into her hand. "Ah... -sama.... eheh," she began to say before managing to still the nerves it solicited. "So... may I speak a little frankly, on the common way it is done? Not that I am turning down a job." But kami help her, she did not need her work to be from those under the Bargain all the time. First Baatar, then this, and on top of that the hot-headed Matsu. Kami preserve her.

Doji Monkhbaatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:29 am **Posts:** 231

"I'd welcome the lesson," he replies with a nod.

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

A breath of relief. "You remind me a little of Moto Baatar-sama. That is not a discredit. He and I have simply met recently." Admittedly, she didn't expect hi to bare his chest. That had been ... something. "He is still feeling his way at time. It... usually is not individual samurai, save those in authority to do so, to conscript me who would hire me for more than a single service."

The Matsu had, after all, been low standing, but she had been pronouncing herself as one seeking to prove her mettle as commander of troops. "Normally, after I presented myself in town, I might see if the garrison had need... but the swell of refugees has been great enough that the chaos has ... made proper hiring a bit low priority for them. Yet, there is work that abounds. It is generally handled by someone who is tasked to do such things. Most samurai do not speak of money openly, after all, and a ronin is hired with simple coin. I... can be pickier than some. As I am on musha shugyo, I consider both my own pilgrimage and the needs of the lord. If that means I must leave, I do not question the lord."

(OOC: I honestly can't remember if they ever went into detail in any supplement, so I'm assuming that's about right.)

Doji Monkhbaatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:29 am **Posts:** 231

"Yes, I was told things like haggling were frowned upon. I had no intention of doing so, and the job that I wished to offer was just a simple one, not a long term service," he said with a nod.

"I may not be a Unicorn anymore, but that does not change the fact that I still honor Shinjo-kami's as a student of her teachings. And her Compassion was legendary. I wished to offer to pay for your services assisting the people in the most dire need in the city. I'll be doing what I can to protect them when the enemy arrives, but I can not do anything to minister to those in need directly. I simply lack the skills that they most desperately need. I suppose it would be more akin to patronage than a job? Supporting you in the tasks you are already performing for those in need to ease the burdens of yourself and those you help? This is all new to me."

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

She blinked and put her sleeve in front of her lips to stifle a little laugh.

It is so much harder to hate those of you on the ground. You always end up rather ... endearing despite everything, much as it is hard to forget.

"Believe it or not, I already employ myself in that fashion. I ... have to be careful about it," she said, nodding. "I do not wish, in any way, to imply the Lion cannot perform their duties to feed these people. The governor has face to protect, after all... yet charity is not always frowned upon, and sometimes the peasants tip. I know a prayer to Inari of good use."

A little wink and she dropped her sleeve. "Inari has allowed me to be choosy about my employment in the past. After all, if the kami can feed me, I do not always need a job so desperately, yes? But I would be happy to continue helping the refugees tomorrow, and should you see me in the streets, I would not say no to a tip."

Doji Monkhbaatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:29 am **Posts:** 231

"I see," he says with a nod, becoming slightly sad as a thought crosses his mind. "I wouldn't want to suggest that the Lion cannot care for the people in their care."

He has seen what misunderstandings with Lion can result in. Death. It can result in death. Avoidable, unnecessary and violent death.

"Well, if I see you on the streets I will greet you, and will try not to take too much of your time if you are busy ministering to the needs of the refugees."

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

"Compassion is a tenet of Bushido, of course, so you're welcome to help out as well. I was helped yesterday by a Kaiu and a Naga, if you can believe it. Quite the ... strange people, those." Frankly? They terrified the hell out of her deep down, though for her own reasons. "But certainly you may greet me should you see me helping."

She didn't stress the matter of the Lion. What had happened yesterday? It was extreme, but to a ronin? It was a different matter. You always were wise to tread carefully with the Lion.

Doji Monkhbaatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:29 am **Posts:** 231

"My knowledge of medicine is quite limited, and while I've learned what I can of it, my mind doesn't process such complexities as well as it does the sword or blade. In an emergency, I might be able to save a life that would be otherwise lost, but I wouldn't trust my hands to help in a less dire situation that calls for immediate action. It isn't worth the risk of making things worse if the consequences of inaction aren't death."

"As for Naga, I only saw one for the first time today. It was interesting to see something so totally different, but still eloquent. Far more eloquent than me at least," he says with a shrug. "I honestly have no clue what to make of them."

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

"It is what I have always been trained to do. To preserve the well being of those who I watch over, one way or another. Yours is the art of war, Crane-sama. Rare is there the chance to study more than passingly both arts." Which was to say, she certainly was not going to fault anyone, even a former unicorn for not nowing both. You wouldn't expect it. "Moto Baatar requested my prayers to heal wounds of his incurred against the Steel Chrysanthemum's forces yesterday. If you wish, and have the chance you may inquire with your former kinsman."

Who, kami help him, would keep his big yap shut about the Bargain.

"I suspect we met the same... The Hilsage? I apologize. I am still working out his name. Speaking with him is ... dizzying. I have no idea where they fit in the divine order."

Doji Monkhbaatar · **Joined:** Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:29 am **Posts:** 231

"Oh, I didn't meet him, I just observed him in the court earlier. The whole thing was chaotic and confusing, being my first time in a court. But I did see a Naga there. I couldn't tell you his name."

[D9 - LE: Phoenix's Blessing] A Thousand Prayers (Open)

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