The Counsel of Dragons [Day 2, LM]

Kioka · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:21 pm **Posts:** 86

"Mind if I join you?"

An old monk stands nearby.

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

She is interrupted from her reverie and turns her eyes over to the monk softly.

“Of course Lady Kioka. Having company on the path is always welcome... except when it is not welcome.” She smiled softly.

“Much to ponder on today, no?”

Kioka · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:21 pm **Posts:** 86

"It is so." She comes and sits down with Ren.

"There are many paths we may now take. The temple has been doing what it can to help show the paths available before those who have come, but there is only hope that people will choose the right one."

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

“ ‘The’ right one? Or ‘a’ right one?” She asked.

Kioka · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:21 pm **Posts:** 86

Kioka smiles. "It depends on your perspective."

"Did this temple take the right path when the Lion took over the city? Some don't think so, some do, and only the Heavens know. This one prefers thinking there is a right path, even if one nevers knows that is the one they trod... and there may be other paths nearby."

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

“One cannot traverse a path that is not provided... nor reach a destination that doesn’t exist... The Lion’s taking of the city provided a fork in the path... but that other path no longer exists. Until it does.” She replied.

“Men too can feel the reverberations of the proper path. They experience the world differently from the heavens, yes... but the will to press forward in the dark in and of itself a form of ‘knowing’. We proceed because we ‘know’ what it is we should do... Even if we are unaware of our knowing. The variety of paths in the dark are what I find so... complex.” She replied.

“This violence... these spirits... are of man’s making. We brought this on ourselves due to a select few who could not control their passions... but the rest of us now deal with the results... And yet I cannot find it in myself to resent the ‘weak’ ones who provided this opportunity to learn and grow to the rest of us. I feel sorry for the conditions they will surely meet in their next lives... but the path they trod is not separate from mine. Nor is it ‘a right path’. It is the only path... one we all share.”

Kioka · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:21 pm **Posts:** 86

"That is a very compassionate view."

The monk thinks for a bit. "Your words have kindness and wisdom. You speak of a path that we all share, but if there was no right path, there would be no dharma. No kharma. Nothing by which to determine their rebirth."

She looks up to the sky as she continues. "However, we all experience life in different ways, and yet all of our lives are connected, as you say. Those who have strayed are intimately connected with those who have not, because the self is but a mirror of the other, and the other the self. The Heavens keep balance.

"This one appreciates the way you view things, but believes still that there is a way for those to break out of their weakness and become something more... by following the right path."

She smiles. "But we need not agree to find growth in one another."

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

She nods, “Agreement is never necessary. That which is evident... is exactly that. Anything beyond that which is evident is veiled. We can catch a glimpse... but always limited by our own understanding.”

She continued, “I would say perhaps the paths that lead to the accumulation of karma are not always the wrong path... Failure sometimes is the only way that we learn that which will destroy us if we do not grow... Because one fails in this life does not mean they will not break those bonds and absolve that karma in the next. Nor does it mean that the efforts of others to redeem those who are lost will fail. There are lessons everywhere. Mysteries to be unraveled. Attainment to be achieved. If one’s failures now are the basis for success at a future date... they are not entirely devoid of meaning.”

She paused, “I have begun to believe that the Path men travel is not so formulaic... The Heavens guide... but humans must walk.”

Kioka · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:21 pm **Posts:** 86

"That I agree with, Akodo-sama. Almost all great deeds in the Empire are performed by men, and it was even men who were able to tell secrets to the kami."

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

She chuckled, “I wouldn’t mind them to come and fix all this mess up this time though.”

Kioka · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:21 pm **Posts:** 86

"That would be very nice. The monks that go into the city tell me that tensions here are high, and this one has seen it in those who visit here."

She lets a little air out, a bit of a sigh.

"Though, my own mission is clear. This temple's wisdom must be kept safe."

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

“Is there any way I can assist you in that endeavor?”

Kioka · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:21 pm **Posts:** 86

"Much of the temple's knowledge is secret, Akodo-sama. For the protection of mankind, some things must be kept from it. It is not that the temple does not desire your help, it's that certain things have been kept here since the early days of the Empire. The secret knowledge of our Order and much history unknown about the Oracles."

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

“I’m not unfamiliar with the necessity of esotericism. I was an Asako before... and am always willing to assist in the preservation of truth.” She said with a smile.

“If one cannot protect your wisdom without proper induction... then I would request the ability to learn... and if that too is unacceptable, I will do what I can to see the more physical aspects of your order can survive if a move becomes requisite to survival. You have but to ask.”

Kioka · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:21 pm **Posts:** 86

"You were an Asako?" She peers more closely at you. "As was this one. As were all of those who stayed in this temple before the city became Lion...

"...you know of the Asako's imparted knowledge from Shiba-no-kami?"

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

She nodded, “I have followed the Path of Man since my days as a youth...”

Kioka · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:21 pm **Posts:** 86

Akodo Ren wrote:

She nodded, “I have followed the Path of Man since my days as a youth...”

"Hmm... this temple was originally devoted followers of the Path, but changed on the surface in order to stay in such a powerful place. The temple thought it best to preserve the records and maintain a presence, that doing so would outweigh any dishonor from the subterfuge.

"It is nice to see another who follows the Path. It will be needed in this time."

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

“I would learn more of the history of the temple and its secrets if permitted...” She said with a measure of humility.

“I was present when the spirits from Toshigoku destroyed Kyuden Asako... I would not wish for more knowledge to be lost.”

Kioka · **Joined:** Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:21 pm **Posts:** 86

"It is permitted, to one who knows of and follows the Path of Man."

She waves for Ren to follow her.

"There are two sections of information here. Those on the Oracles and those on the Paths of Man. The Oracles, as I believe you know, were first created here, and this is the main repository of information on them. There is much there that needs to be saved, but it is likely less relevant to you."

They walk into the temple proper.

"The Paths of Man have less written, so it will be easier to save, as they are mostly secrets we want passed orally for those who are ready to hear them. It is harder to destroy a record that doesn't exist."

Akodo Ren · **Joined:** Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:10 am **Posts:** 380

She nodded.

“I’m am willing to engage in the transmission of these secrets.”

The Counsel of Dragons [Day 2, LM]

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