Aimi, of no family and no clan, stares at the matchmaker. Her plain clothing and weather-beaten face seem only to underline the fact of who and what she is. And this woman asks her to speak of her ancestors, the stars in her sky?
Have it your way.
"My ancestors, Shika-sama?" She says with a small smile, holding up the small item she brought with her. A piece of paper, neatly folded and marked with characters in a steady hand. "Of course. I wrote all I know of them in this letter."
She blinks, and the paper turns to ash in her hands, taken by the gleeful kami of fire. The ash falls softly across the floor of the small receiving room.
"Now you know as much, or more, than I do," the shugenja says, her eyes glinting with hidden flames, her thoughts racing violently as the insight of the spirits touches her.
Invoking the kami for Fukurukojin's Wit. Theology (Fire) self-target. | TN: 1 | Success:
2 / Opportunity:
1 / Strife:
2
(Aimi invokes the fire kami. She spends the one opportunity on the roll to cancel out one of the strife, so her strife is now at one.)
"I shall tell you of my family, my brotherhood, my comrades," she says instead, folding her hands in front of her, "The people who made me who I am, as your ancestors made you."
"The first was Haneko, who I called my older sister, though we shared no blood and she was as lowly as I. Her gift for art and calligraphy was second to none, equal to that of any courtier, and from her I learned my letters and my simple proficiency at the arts. I would have called her the equal to any Crane, but she had never the opportunity to prove it."
D2 MM Speaking of Haneko, Aesthetics (Earth) | TN: 3 | Success:
2 / Opportunity:
1 / Strife:
1
(Failure, albeit only just, and there should have been an additional dice set to opp+strife due to the invocation. Strife is now three)
She's angry, she needs to control that, she can see the way that Shika Pei Pei's eyes are narrowing despite the otherwise flawless nature of her on. A misstep, perhaps, but the spirits of the flame are yet behind her, pushing her onwards.
"Or perhaps I could speak of Mariko, my younger sister, a stray that we adopted when she was but a child. Her fingers were nimble and her voice was clear as a mountain stream, and so we called her a songbird. I cannot carry a tune so well as she, but I should dare any student of the artisan path to say she was anything less than dedicated to her craft."
D2 MM Talking of Mariko and her music, Performance (Earth) | TN: 3 | Success:
1 / Opportunity:
2 / Strife:
1
(Spending one opp to negate strife, so one opp spare, strife is still three)
No, no, she's allowing her contempt and rage to show, this is not good at all. Aimi stops, and takes a calming breath, centring herself and her wit once more. The gift of the fire kami fades from her eyes, and her tone becomes more resigned.
"Ah, but of course Shika-sama, you did not call me here to hear me rant and rave about my sisters and how they blessed me with some small talent at the arts. Shall I speak instead of the man who saved my life, those early days on the road? His name was Gyoji, and he was not a samurai at all, but rather a merchant of the heimin caste. It was he who taught me the value of coin, the need for modesty and restraint in its spending, the value it could have when carefully used. Without his tutoring I would have starved to death or turned to a life of banditry, and then been slain by some magistrate's blade."
She smiles ruefully, turning her hand palm up in a gesture of 'what can you do'. "Is it improper to speak of peasants, Shika-sama, when all others here tell you of their noble samurai ancestors and their mighty deeds? Perhaps. Yet Shinsei was no samurai, and Matsu a retired bandit, when first they met their lords. From even the lowliest of places can insight be found and destiny be shaped."
D2 MM Gyoji and his money-making ways, Commerce (Earth) | TN: 3 | Success:
3 / Opportunity:
1 / Strife:
3
(Success this time but strife rises to six, uh oh.)
Hmm, Pei Pei seemed... not approving, but not disapproving either. She would have to take what she could get.
"And then, of course, there is the one who taught me of my gifts. Which is to say, a monk who taught me of the elements," Aimi sighs at last, shaking her head, "Forgive me, Shika-sama, but I do not know much of him, save that his name was Running Water and he was wiser and kinder than most I could name. He could not hear the kami as I can, nor could any I spoke with, but he taught me respect and the nature of their being, and in so doing gave me the tools to learn what I could of my gifts on my own."
D2 MM Running Water the Monk, Theology (Earth) | TN: 3 | Success:
2 / Opportunity:
1 / Strife:
1
(Strife is at seven and, due to other issues, rises even higher after that. Aimi has become Compromised.)
She is shaking when she finishes, the questions of her ancestry and nature having touched a wound that the ronin thought long healed. Shaking slightly, she makes her apologies to the matchmaker, and bows out to leave.
---
Final Summary
Approach = Stars Across the Empire (Four rolls at TN3, with skills from different skill groups each time)
Rolls Passed = 1 out of four
- Note - Two other rolls fell one point short, with two successes each, should that become relevant.
Opportunity = Four left uncommitted, used to make a distinct impression on the matchmaker and hopefully compensate for any downturn in opinion from failing the rolls
Stats at time of test = H36, G36, S24
