(D11, LE) Thankful Fortunes (Open)

[Seppun Yuzu]

"Hai. The first time. Although I've seen him before during our trials." He mentions and adds, "The lands of the Asahina are down south near the Crab Clan, though. Not so close as the Kakita or the Doji."

[Moto Mitsuki]

"No more than a few days by boat no? You likely needed more time to come from Otosan Uchi to here on horse than that is needed to move from one port to another. Assuming good winds of course."

[Seppun Yuzu]

He raises a finger, but then lowers it. "I... wouldn't really know. This is my first time outside Otosan Uchi. I am no sailor either. Moto-san has been to many places?"

[Moto Mitsuki]

"Yes, through my knowledge of sea travel is purely theoretical, from the role it plays in the trade routes from the Ivory Kingdoms. Goods transit between there and Rokugan either by sea, and arrive in the ports of the Crane and the Mantis, or by road, through the Burning Sands till they reach the main Unicorn lands. I serve the clan by making sure that crucial road remains open."

[Seppun Yuzu]

"That is both very dangerous and important for the Empire. Also, quite a taboo topic to delve into." The boy mentions, trusting he raised no offense. "Which place is Moto-san's preferred one?"

[Moto Mitsuki]

"As the joke goes: All the best shamisen players use an ivory bachi yet there is no ivory in Rokugan.

For real though, this is a taboo you'll likely have to overlook sooner or later in your duties as a governor. Powerful merchants always have issues they deem important enough to bring before the local authorities, and enough influence to manage an audience."

She pondered his last question:

"I don't think I have an absolute preferred place. I've loved visiting a lot of them for sure, but it's just not possible to establish a hierarchy.

The Eternal Rainbows are a natural marvel, an onsen in the middle of the desert where rainbows dance among the geysers. The Cradle is a city built all in stone, like in Crab lands, but with aesthetics the like of a Crane city. The Three Cults Caves are a series of temples sculpted directly in the rock through generations.

They're all wondrous in their own way, each incomparable."

[Seppun Yuzu]

He nods, and explains, "Chichi-sama always mentioned to me that good leaders avoid trying to do things which they are bad at. Instead, a good leader encircles himself with much more capable people around him and allow them to do so. I should probably find someone to help me with those issues."

The boy imagines the majestic places, but can't hold himself to ask, "What about in Rokugan?"

[Moto Mitsuki]

"I've seen for the first time of my life the eastern side of the Seikitsu Mountains less than two months ago. So, for now, what I know of Rokugan proper is the road between the City of the Rich Frog and here, in a flash to be here in time for the miai.

So... At the moment I don't have an answer to that question."

[Seppun Yuzu]

"So Moto-san has spent most of her days not in the Empire. That is odd, I mean, for me. How is she finding herself?" He asks and adds, "Does Moto-san speak many languages?"

[Moto Mitsuki]

"The Empire only truly ends at the last Unicorn outpost far in the west, deep in the desert, in the same way it extends up to the Mantis islands in the east even though the sea itself is the dominion of no one."

She pondered:

"That's a good question actually. It's a bit hard to keep track, because the Sand Road has many dialects, some close enough than knowing one is enough to handle another, and some just utterly different from the next.

I can get my way around in half a dozen languages I would say. Rokugani and Ujik are the only two I speak and write fluently though."