(D11, EM) Insuborndination is a funny word (Closed)

Yogo Aya · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 12:42 am **Posts:** 719

Well Aya's morning was not off to a great start with the latest set of orders. She'd gotten ready as quickly as she could, and then went and pounded on Tamekai's door. She didn't expect him to be able to actually resolve things for her, but he should be kept looped in. In normal times, she could have passed orders up the chain, and waited for the wisdom of someone from up above to come down. Sadly these were NOT normal times, which meant she got the distinct "pleasure" of seeking an audience with the Shosuro daimyo which would mark the second time she would do so, which was two more than she ever wanted.

At least last time that had been Norikami wanting pets from the pretty powerful lady. Maybe Tameki could maneuver things here, but there were limits to what a magistrate could do. The one thing that might cheer her up, besides having Ururawashi magic her problems away, was to see if the guard who called her pumpkin was there.

So she went to seek an audience with the Shosuro daimyo for herself, and for Tameki if he could make it and waited for admittance or refusal.

Soshi Tameaki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:36 pm **Posts:** 234

The magistrate was starting off the day rough - he'd been certain he'd seen bodies recovered until seeing the Steel Chrysanthemum's army's little display this morning. Decidedly uncivilized...

"So what's all this about?" he asks at last. "This will be my second meeting in two days with Shosuro-ue, and I'd rather not risk being seen as trying to either waste or dominate her time..."

Yogo Aya · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 12:42 am **Posts:** 719

Soshi Tameaki wrote:

The magistrate was starting off the day rough - he'd been certain he'd seen bodies recovered until seeing the Steel Chrysanthemum's army's little display this morning. Decidedly uncivilized...

"So what's all this about?" he asks at last. "This will be my second meeting in two days with Shosuro-ue, and I'd rather not risk being seen as trying to either waste or dominate her time..."

Aya handed over the papers. The newest set of orders from Uruwashi, and the older letter from the Lion clan.

"So, the Shosuro daimyo has ordered me to speak in support of Seppun Kaito, and our allies the Lion clan has demanded in return for their 'gift' of a pearl that allows me to speak to the kami without the sickness being such a burden that I speak in support of the Steel Chrysanthemum. I realize that Scorpion have a reputation for being two-faced, but I am not a clever enough politician to literally do both." she groused.

Soshi Tameaki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:36 pm **Posts:** 234

That gives Tameaki pause...

"The Lion...are supporting the Steel Chrysanthemum?" he asks. "Over the Empress, their own kinswoman?"

Yogo Aya · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 12:42 am **Posts:** 719

Soshi Tameaki wrote:

That gives Tameaki pause...

"The Lion...are supporting the Steel Chrysanthemum?" he asks. "Over the Empress, their own kinswoman?"

Aya shrugs.

"At least someone in the Lion with enough pull to have say over who gets magic pearls does. I mean, I've said as much in court, but no one listened." she offered.

Soshi Tameaki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:36 pm **Posts:** 234

"That's deeply troubling. Someone with such influence could prove a severe detriment to the defense of the city," he notes, "since we depend on Lion troops to bear the brunt of the attacks. Perhaps the individual should encounter an accident - such a thing would be quite likely, given the circumstances."

Yogo Aya · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 12:42 am **Posts:** 719

Aya smiled a bit at that.

"Well, that is true, magistrate. But I don't even know if Ikoma Kanto is in town." she said, referring to the Lion lord the letter came from. "Nor do I go about overseeing accidents for Lion nobility on my own accord. It's really not something you want people deciding on their own, hence...."

She gesstured towards Uruwashii's quarters.

Soshi Tameaki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:36 pm **Posts:** 234

"I can't imagine that someone like that would have enough of a role in our plans to warrant preservation," he muses, "but I suppose it is best to check."

Shosuro Uruwashii · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:01 pm **Posts:** 71

Both Scorpion are shown into a meeting room. After a short wait, Shosuro Uruwashii joins them, makeup carefully concealing the tired bags beneath her eyes. "Soshi-san, Yogo-san." She seats herself on a cushion and folds her hands in her lap, waiting.

Soshi Tameaki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:36 pm **Posts:** 234

The daimyo's exhaustion was evident to Tameaki, but he said nothing, instead turning to gesture toward Aya.

"My spiritual advisor," he says, clearly indicating the Yogo, "has brought before us a bit of a puzzle..."

Here he pauses, waiting for Aya to fill in the details.

Yogo Aya · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 12:42 am **Posts:** 719

Aya blinked a bit at the sudden sidestepping by the magistrate.

Wonder if he was a Crab in his past life.

"Sorry, Shosuro-sama, I'll make this quick because I know you are busy. I got your orders this morning that the Scorpion were to support Seppun Kato for Emperor." she said, her voice not terribly compassionate, mostly just trying to hit the facts quickly, despite her opinions.

"However, three days ago, Ikoma Kanto who is the lord of the samurai who arranged for me to receive a Pearl of Purity so I could better carry out my sacred duties for the Scorpion informed me by letter than the Lion clan demanded I support the Steel Chrysanthemum publicly. I don't know if they actually support the Steel Chrysanthemum, or if they thought that a Yogo publicly supporting the Steel Chrysanthemum would not be a good look for the Steel Chrysanthemum."

she shrugged a bit.

"I don't particularly care for the Steel Chrysanthemum, but up to today, I'd just been following through with all the usual grace of a Yogo. That is to say none. But now I've got your orders, conflicting with our allies demands, an ally that certain promises were made to that are not supposed to be broken."

"So, I'm not sure what I should do. It's possible no one will ever listen to me in court, but as the siege wears on, there's a chance that someone might listen, which would be failing the Scorpion. I could act compleltely outlandish in court, show up drunk, ride a horse in...but I think even a Lion would know I was not honoring my pledge made by the Scorpion which is failing the Scorpion."

She sighed a bit.

"Magistrate-sama has suggested it would be beneficial for said Ikoma to have an accident, lest they endangerous the city's security, but that kind of decision, and whether that's best for the Scorpion is for more important people to make." she said bringing her case to a close.

Shosuro Uruwashii · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:01 pm **Posts:** 71

Uruwashii stares at Aya for a moment. "Please allow me to see if I understand the situation, Yogo-san. You were given an order by the Scorpion, the Clan that raised you and trained you, and that order conflicts with a request made by a Lion samurai that gifted you with a particularly sparkly piece of jewelry, and you are not sure what to do?"

Yogo Aya · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 12:42 am **Posts:** 719

Aya shrugged.

"If that's what Shosuro-sama wants to call the sacred item bound to my soul that allows me to call upon the kami without experiencing the severe vomitting that has been plaguing the shugenja of the land so I might serve the clan in the capactiy I was trained for, a sparkly piece of jewerly, that is her right.

If Shosuro-sama says that her orders supercede the original agreement with the Lion clan, our allies, made by the people above me within the clan, that I would do as they ask when they ask for in exchange for that sparkly piece of jewerly, that is her privledge.

I serve the clan first, but not blindly. Only fools serve blindly, the clever master is not served by blind fools."

While Aya had hoped that the Shosuro daimyo would not be quite so willfully ignorant of things, she honestly hadn't expected things to go any better. She'd been amazed with the woman's attention to detail on their first meeting, but clearly the siege had stripped away the pretense of her caring for those who served her.

Shosuro Uruwashii · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:01 pm **Posts:** 71

Uruwashii glares daggers at the younger woman. "I do not appreciate your tone or the intent behind it, Yogo."

"You come to me asking if you should obey Lion or Scorpion, then become snippy when I point out the foolishness of the question. You imply that your debt to a Lion samurai is somehow of equal value to your debt to the Scorpion, then become defensive when that view is challenged. Then, as if that were not enough, you suggest that those who do not suffer from your own particular brand of pigheadedness are foolish and that their lords are idiots."

Uruwashii pinches the bridge of her nose with her hand. "Furthermore, you admit to appearing in open court before our allies and acting like an oaf, simply because you believe the name you wear gives you permission to act however you please? And that you have done this multiple times?"

She casts Tameaki a sideways glance from behind her pinched fingers. "This is the woman you chose as your spiritual advisor, magistrate?" There was a whole province's worth of judgement in her tone.

Soshi Tameaki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:36 pm **Posts:** 234

"It is a decision I may have to reconsider," Tameaki replies. "As I said before you arrived, Shosuro-ue, it seems that the best course would be to follow the orders of the Scorpion and eliminate the troublesome Lion should he decide to cause a fuss over the matter. I'd hoped that the question at hand would be 'can we do away with him', not 'who should be supported'. Had I known that this would be wasting your time to this degree, my lady, I would have put a stop to it..."

Tameaki flashes a look at Aya that is as judgemental as Uruwashii's tone was to him, and as harsh as the daimyo's words to the Yogo had been.

Yogo Aya · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 12:42 am **Posts:** 719

Perhaps it was just all the recent exposure to Toshigoku, but Aya couldn't stop thinking about how pleasant it woud be to burn these two high status twits to death. Would it really be that hard to kill them both and claimed that the enemy forces teleported in and killed them both before she could stop them?

But she was done with words. These two idiots could twists them into whatever shape they found most pleasing and shove them up each other's asses.

Now she was just waiting for dismissal, from the daimyo's presence, from service to the magisgtrate, from life itself. She would just wait.

Soshi Tameaki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:36 pm **Posts:** 234

Hearing only silence from Aya, Tameaki shakes his head.

"She is my yoriki, but I naturally defer to you in this matter, Shosuro-ue," he says, "to set the appropriate response to this folly."

Shosuro Uruwashii · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:01 pm **Posts:** 71

There's a sigh from Uruwashii. Standing, she folds her hands into her sleeves and looks to Tameaki. "Deal with this one as appropriate. I expect a report, as well as a report on this Lion once you know more. It would be illuminating to know how many others have been compromised for such trinkets."

Then she turns and leaves, without bowing, leaving Tameaki and Aya alone in the room.

Soshi Tameaki · **Joined:** Fri Apr 17, 2020 9:36 pm **Posts:** 234

"Are you satisfied?" asks Tameaki, spinning on Aya. "You know well enough that the only question worthy of consideration is: 'How can I serve the Scorpion?". Instead of asking that question, though, you ask if it is appropriate to betray the clan's interests because of concern about the consequences. Worse than that, you drag me into the matter, and your behavior reflects on me!"

The magistrate begins pacing - the day has been a bad one already, and it keeps getting worse.

"You will support Seppun Kato in court, as we have been ordered," he says firmly. "You will also investigate any others in the city who may have received a similar gift, and deliver to me a list of them. Maybe - maybe! - if we can come out of this with some useful information, we can avoid losing too much face."

Yogo Aya · **Joined:** Sun Apr 05, 2020 12:42 am **Posts:** 719

Burning burning burning....crackle crackle crackle.....screaming screaming screaming....

"Am I dismissed magistrate?" she asked.

(D11, EM) Insuborndination is a funny word (Closed)

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