Post
by Matsu Ishioka » Tue Aug 17, 2021 10:48 pm
"Mmm, as you wish, Moto-san," the Lion agrees. "This one is a simple embassy guard, so I have no stories to compete with daring rides across vast desert and such. Instead, let me tell you of an assignment escorting two diplomats, courtiers of my clan, on a fact-finding mission to the Kaiu Kabe, the great Carpenter Wall near Kyuden Hida. Sanctioned by the Crab Clan and with a Hida veteran as our guide, it seemed an unremarkable assignment -- really just an ego boost for one of the courtiers to have an honor guard from his own clan accompanying this mission."
"I and two of my soldiers trailed those courtiers through the entire, elaborate tour of Crab facilities around the Wall. By the time we got to the last, grudgingly approved part of the agenda, a view from atop the wall, my soldiers and I were pretty tired of getting dirty looks from the defenders of the wall for our pristine armor and equipment. But it seemed a pleasant enough day, with good visibility, so a view from the top of the wall sounded inspiring. The Kaiu Wall is just a remarkable feat of engineering. Anyway, we reached the top and, true to form, these courtiers want to see everything they can, so they are eager to get right up to the battlements."
"That was when the clear day started shifting toward fog all of a sudden -- and I still don't know how this happened -- but in an explosion of activity, there were Crab with weapons drawn and battling these little..." He slows to choose his terminology carefully when discussing sensitive topics in the heart of the empire. "A swarm of creatures had flown or climbed up the wall to come straight into battle on this section of wall where we'd stopped. The reaction of the Crab defenders was like lightning striking: weapons drawn and immediately bearing down on this assault. We had to put the courtiers behind us, pressing them almost flat against the side wall of a tower, with our three blades ready to repel attackers. The Crab -- including our guide -- never hesitated and seemed to work like clockwork in responding. Their level of preparedness is remarkable. But the swarm was not easily driven off, and in the time before another squad of Crab arrived to clear that wall section, we lost our guide, one of my soldiers, and one of the diplomats -- the one, it happens, who had been so motivated to see the wall up close. It turned out to be good fortune that his vanity brought a few of us along as escort, even though we weren't enough to save him in the end."
Ishioka raises his cup. "There's a moral in there somewhere. I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but... it's gotta be there."
Lion Clan * Bushi * "The Stone Matsu" * Few words, many thoughts * Isn't mad at you, but is disappointed
Honor: 61 | Glory: 51 | Status: 35
Courtship points: check
courtship tracker.
Wears/carries: fantastic poker face, common Lion bushi garb, daisho, fan with meditative/skeptical lion painted on it.
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