D4EE, A Shisha and a Sparrow...(Closed)

[Miya Kisha]

Brimming with excitement, Kisha makes her way to Crabkaku and gets a table for two. While she waits, she looks over the informational packet she'd been told about. It is, in fact, quite interesting...

[Suzume Hitomi]

Brimming with excitement, Kisha makes her way to Crabkaku and gets a table for two. While she waits, she looks over the informational packet she'd been told about. It is, in fact, quite interesting...

Hitomi parks the little scooter, and checks her hair in the mirror a moment before heading in. She's absolutely dressed for Imperial autumn in an oversized neutral sweater dress split to show the fall colors of the hakama worn underneath. Hair ornaments of sparrows flitting among maple leaves completes the feel. The dress is a bit more modern, but has the advantage of being very washable. Crab can get messy!

She pauses as the hostess checks in with her, then spots Kisha and points. With another few words and a bow, she heads to the table, pausing to peer a moment at a newer crab denizen in one of the tanks. "I hope the Fortunes find you well tonight, Miya-sama!" she says with another bow at the table. "And such a great choice. I'm continually amazed at how many types of crab the Empire seems to contain."

[Miya Kisha]

snip

Kisha sets down the packet, stands, and returns the bow. Her fan-badge glints where she's not yet removed it.

"As many as there are," she says, "it's more amazing how many good people there are to be found in it! Please, join me!"

The Miya will resume her seat. "Have you eaten here before?" she'll ask. "It's my first time, but it all looks very good."

Her smile is almost childlike as she regards Hitomi.

[Suzume Hitomi]

nip

"Twice, now that the crowds have calmed down to merely busy. It was super packed when it was the brand new cool thing, and that's not my speed." She slips into her seat, glancing down the menu. "Everything I've had has been fantastic. Whatever they're blending into the crab cake appetizers is amazing. Those deserve iconic Nakahama specialty status, but it'll be a few more years before they can seem 'traditional'."

She laughs, "so obviously...I recommend those!"

"I imagine you've been busy. Ready to film...whatever this Nakahama by Night thing is going to look like? It sounds very theatrical."

[Miya Kisha]

Hi!

"I'm not sure about the filming," Kisha says. "Given what I know about all of this...the lighting will be terrible, and, well, I'm not sure how well it would be received by my usual audiences."

She purses her lips.

"Much as my own interests may run one way or another, I do have to keep the lights on and all that. It's the only way the Family will continue to give me the leeway that they do, after all.

"But the crab cake appetizers, you say?" Kisha continues. "That sounds like a plan!" She'll wave a server over, ask for an order of those to share, and then listen--and agree--to the recommended drink pairing.

"What I got from FanCon will probably push it as far as that goes. There's enough diversity of interest in that to make the comments worth reading, at least."

[Suzume Hitomi]

Welcome back, Nurgle be praised!

"Oh? Found some good stories at Fancon? Do you have a favorite?" She waits attentively as the appetizer is ordered. "I suspect some of the costumes are doing double-duty in any case. So you certainly caught them in better light there than...wherever they'll be running around tonight."

"What sort of things are well received by your audiences? Is that mostly just in Imperial space, or out on the main Imperial networks everyone taps into?"

[Miya Kisha]

Thank you--and, honestly, did I play 40K, I think I'd either run Noise Marines or Orks. Green iz da best.

"There are good stories everywhere," Kisha says, "but many of the best ones are in the smaller things. They let you get into the people involved, rather than getting carried away in the grand sweeps of history. At least, that's what my audiences have been telling me with their views.

"As to where they are? Well, yes, I've got Imperial viewership, but I've also got some licensing agreements and the like that let me piggyback on some of the MNN feeds. My stuff gets out among the worlds, I'm pleased to say, so things like what's going on here in Tango will get talked about across the stars. As will comments like your slogan from the store--which really, really is quite good!"

The drinks arrive, and Kisha lifts hers. "I have to wonder what new wonders tomorrow will bring."

[Suzume Hitomi]

Haha...I have only played the board game to have much familiarity with the gods there.

Hitomi nods. "We see a bit of that regularly with those visiting the historical sites. There's sometimes questions about how some big event they know of affected the space, but more often they seem invested in smaller things. Fascinated by the games the kids are running around playing or someone trying to make a decision about the color of new cushions for their home."

Apparently, what went with the cakes was a citrus-infused sake with a twist of yuzu peel at the rim. She raise hers as well. "Hah, well, may it be a slogan to pull a few more people to Green Carp! The planet deserves to be appreciated." It's a sideways bit of a toast toward the planet's prosperity they're supposedly all interested in building.

"Now, we do see people still very interested in the names they know," she continues the thread of the discussion. "They'll ask if this or that historical person ever used the artifacts on display or lived in the preserved castle, and so on. I imagine you get more interest when there's a known figure in the middle of your reports too. Which I imagine fancon is one hundred percent great for, yes?"

[Miya Kisha]

That's more play than I've got, I assure you!

"It helps, yes," Kisha says after she drinks the toast. "And given some of the big names that did attend, it will help draw more attention.

"Which reminds me: that announcement, the one about the edge...you've been here a while. Do you have any idea what it's all about?"

The cakes arrive, and Kisha wiggles her hands in excitement. "These do look good!"

[Suzume Hitomi]

snip

"The Edge of Darkness or whatever it was?" Hitomi laughs nervously, "I hadn't heard of it before. They must have been playing it at past fancons, but I didn't really notice. Not really my thing, you know?" She pauses to let the server set the plates. "I've been researching it off and on all day though, it looks like some kind of organizational schism coming to a head this year. One faction uses a century old ruleset! Can you imagine how they must pass around or create copies of such a long out of print book?"

A longer pause to dig into the crab-cakes, soft, rich with perfectly steamed crab bits and a seasoning with just the right bit of pepper flakes and something that offers a hint of seaweed--reminder of the dish's source. She didn't bother with any of the accompanying sauces for that first bite!

"I'm as surprised as anyone to learn the governor is part of this...game? Society? Whatever it is..." She sips her drink after, letting the citrus cut through the fatty richness. "It seems very theatrical, and sounds like they'll be all over the islands. I hope they've let the magistrates office know, or there could be all kinds of strange reports..." There's a pause, covered by another bite as Hitomi puts this together with the odd rumors that had disturbed her through the week.

"Well, it's a pity the lighting means you can't use it, but I do imagine fancon will be a lot more popular anyway, both for your viewers, and as far as generating interest in the province."

[Miya Kisha]

snip

Much of Kisha's attention had been on the food, though not all, certainly, and she puts in "Strange reports? I've not gotten much plugged into events here, yet, at least those beneath the surface presented to visitors and tourists. What kinds of reports do you mean?

"Although, now that I think on it, I have heard things about the local fauna being problematic. Not the crab, clearly, but some fowl. The jimen tori, I think. Also the greatsharks."

She pantomimes a shudder. "To think that such beasts remain even now. One wonders what the samurai of old would have thought of them."

[Suzume Hitomi]

snip

Hitomi waves off in a vague direction, "oh, there was some rumor about folks in robes roaming around. Sounded a little ominous. But that was probably these folks, don't you think?"

She makes sure the food gets appropriate attention. "You should go ask some of the kids flying drones whether they think a greatshark could beat an orochi...I've overheard the arguments. I think the Crab just take them in stride, considering what their ancestors faced, and their armies still face in some sectors." She gestures with the fork in a vaguely stabby fashion.

"Now the rest of our ancestors? Those birds would have terrified *my* ancestors, worried that they'd destroy the yam harvest in a heartbeat. They're honestly rather majestic, but I'm told the farmers find them a bit of a scourge."

[Miya Kisha]

snip

"I should probably fly drones again soon," Kisha says.

"But you're probably right about the robes being the players," she continues. "It's always funny how these things go, though, fads cycling and all. We talked about that some before, didn't we? About how they come around again and again?"

She sits back, as if a deep thought has suddenly struck her. "You know, I'm not a theologian, but I wonder if it has anything to do with reincarnation? I mean, if fads come and go on some kind of pattern, maybe that points to patterns in the migrations of souls."

Kisha shrugs, shakes her head. "It's probably a silly thought. Please excuse it."

[Suzume Hitomi]

snip

"No, no...I mean, I'm no theologian either, but Emma-O's court is always described as just a long wait for judgement and then souls move along. It stands to reason that those souls returning to the wheel are likely to have died at about the same time, so you get some generational return. Memory is removed in Meido, but somehow a soul retains...*something* in their cycles or it's not the same soul, so perhaps that influences things...somehow." The server checks in on them, and Hitomi orders a creamy crab soup as the next course.

"You've picked up a fighting drone then? I tried it a while back, but I just don't have the knack for machines like that. I hope you enjoyed them. Yasuki-sama puts a lot of energy and attention into the league."

[Miya Kisha]

snip

Kisha nods.

To the waiter, she says "The ushiojiru, please."

Then, to Hitomi, she continues. "I did, actually, and flew a couple of bouts. It went well, although it might well have been beginner's luck that let me do well. I'm working on doing a little bit longer a video that features the bouts, so I'll need to go to another duel and try again. Or at least get them to let me film.

"Yasuki-san does put a lot of work into it, though. Talking about past lives, it's like she's got a kite-maker of renown somewhere in her history. I don't have any idea how to do the kind of work it would take to trace such a story, but I have to think there's some interest in there. More than a pillow-book, certainly.

"Speaking of," the Miya adds, "I was able to read that book from your shop. It was one of those that let readers choose their own paths through the narrative. Apropos for events today, as it happens. Although I kept dying, which wasn't great."

[Suzume Hitomi]

snip

Hitomi looks thoughtful. "I'm not sure anyone can trace past lives, or do you mean farther back in her physical lineage? Her family might even have stories about that kind of thing if it's the sort of thing you wanted to work up eventually. More...long form documentary?"

"Oh no! I mean, most of the possible endings are death if I remember that one right. It was a neat little genre for a time there. Are those back in style again yet? Maybe it's about time for it." She pauses to listen to the server offer a few facts about the crab in her soup. Thankfully, knowing that only one in ten thousand of the eggs laid by these creatures made it to full sized crabdom didn't really dim her appetite for the excellent soup.

[Miya Kisha]

snip

"Wow, that's really interesting!" Kisha says at the server's discourse. "Must be a lot of eggs, then!"

After the server steps away, Kisha will return to topic. "It might be that the choose-your-way books will come back. I haven't seen them much recently, but that could just be where I was looking. You're right, though; most endings are death. I suppose that's fitting enough. I'm pretty sure the writer on the one you handed me is a Lion; there's something pretty straightforward in the way it's written."

She takes a spoon of her soup and continues. "But about Yasuki-san: it may be that her family dealt with kites, yeah. It would be something if there were a way to trace past lives, though, wouldn't it? What might we find of our own journeys?"

[Suzume Hitomi]

snip

"She nods. There are a few Ikoma authors that have stood the test of time. You're welcome to see if there are others in the collection that would be of interest."

After a pause to sip her drink and allow the server to do their job, she returns to past lives, "Those spirit journeys are a lot harder to trace, since one assumes souls do not necessarily stick to any given clan or family. And it might be politically imprudent to suggest someone's ancestor did not, in fact, make it to Yomi, but was reborn into a place of less prestige." Tasting the soup, pauses her thoughts for a long moment to enjoy it. "Is there a fortune of good food? There really should be so I can thank them."

"But back to tracing past lives. I imagine that, with the possible repercussions, any such research would be tremendously secretive. Which would make interesting fodder for a book." She considers. "Though possibly a bit too scandalous a topic to ever see print."

"I always did want to see a bit more of the Empire, perhaps the deepset yearning of soul that once rode with the Unicorn? Who knows if Yasuki-san's soul was once a fighter pilot and that translates well into her current work, or a monk meditating on kites on a mountainous world." She smiles, "What sort of possible past lives would Miya-sama imagine?"

[Miya Kisha]

really good stuff that is a pleasure to read

"For myself?" Kisha says. "Perhaps some lonely Otomo standing vigil as a Seppun and longing--ahem."

She blushes slightly and busies herself with her soup for a moment.

"Well, maybe not quite that," she continues. "For some reason, an awkward shugenja in purple comes to mind. An angry young Lion fascinated by some deeper histories. A Toritaka eager to prove herself. Members of the Younger Clans. So kind of all over the place, really. But maybe that makes sense for a shisha."

The Miya shrugs and takes another spoon of soup. "Maybe some writer of greater skill could compose something in that line, tracing the story of trying to trace the path of a single soul through its cycles of reincarnation? I'm not that good, myself, and I don't know right off the top of my head who has that kind of skill, but someone has to, right?

"Anyway," she pivots, "what parts of the Empire has Suzume-san seen?"

[Suzume Hitomi]

tracing the soul

The Suzume has a soft smile for the romantic imaginings. And perhaps such peripatetic souls *would* gravitate the Miya, giving them there reputation for kindness and their understanding of the other clans.

But the question requires a more direct answer, rather than woolgathering. "Very little, actually, Miya-sama. A fair bit of Rokugan, of course. I made journeys to find a site for the shop. Golden Mirror of course...a mirror without the ghosts and soul is such a strange thing to see. Beautiful though, but the cost to locate there was unattainable. Similarly for Pale Blossom." Easy to see why those would be tempting. Both were beautiful and attractive to exactly the sort of people Feather would be popular with." She stirs her soup with a pensive look, remembering. "A short stop at Glitterscale, thinking the proximity of World of Dreams would drive some traffic there, but it wasn't really suitable." Looking up, she smiles, "And then I landed here!"

"I'm sure you've seen a good deal more. Any you'd chose to settle on?"