Finally having been dismissed from the gaijin court, Nobuyoshi heads to the front of the palace. He hadn't decided what he would do. There was an invitation to explore the palace, or perhaps he'd wait on that a bit and go train. He might even go see what was for lunch at the Jade Sun.

All such thoughts flee as he watches the howling storm just outside the palace.

It wasn't that bad outside today, was it? he wonders.


Or perhaps he should take up that invitation to explore the palace....

Jishaku prowled around to the front of the palace to watch the storm. It must have come in suddenly as the weather had not looked too bad on their walk up that morning. Having been dismissed for the moment the Lion had chosen to remain in the vicinity totake a look around. The Captain had asked them to stay alert to anything and everything that was unusual, and the Maharaja's suggestion that the palace was not prepared for guests had niggled. Jishaku's grandmother had been an ambassador many years before and taught him about these gaijin when he was but a tiny cub, even going so far as to teach him their language 'just in case', but she had always been clear that he should never trust them.

Spying the familiar form of Rooster, he decided to approach and make conversation. Two pairs of eyes were better than one, and despite being a Scorpion the man was a Rokugani at least. Approaching he bowed.

"Bayushi-san. I was considering taking a closer look at the Palace, would you care to join me?"

Qian-Fan had also drifted to the front of the palace and was watching the hurricane in more than a little awe.

"I did not expect weather like this . . . "

Nobuyoshi turns and bows to the pair of advisors.

"Better a look around the Palace than a swim home, Akodo-san." Nobuyoshi offers. "Hopefully those on the Half Moon had a chance to secure things before the storm hit. I don't think there will be another ride home coming anytime soon if they've not."

"This weather hardly seems natural. Perhaps I could . . . "

He paused for a second, chewing his bottom lip nervously.

". . . no too rude, and Yoritomo-sama said not to annoy the natives too much. Even if they are heathen witch doctors with no understanding of the kami."

Nobuyoshi looks over to the Phoenix.

"Speaking of that, Agasha-san..." he begins. "Do you have any idea how they pulled that trick with communications? I'm concerned about how it actually works, even if it doesn't involve methods that get you a face full of jade."

Nobuyoshi seems to have struck a sore point there as the Agasha's voice takes a decided turn towards angry.

"It was not done with the kami. Some blasphemous witchery that should not be permitted most likely. It makes my skin crawl. Did you feel how wrong it was when that old charlatan performed his witchcraft?"

His fists clenched, one drawing near to is scroll satchel.

Nobuyoshi nods.

"You are probably more sensitive to it, Agasha-san, as you are actually in tune with the kami. But yes, I did feel it. " Nobuyoshi agrees. "However, my concern with it is more of a temporal nature than a spiritual one, as befitting why the Captain chose to bring us along respectively."

"What I mean is, how did it manage to make our words perfectly understandable to each other? It's so easy to say one thing and mean another, but I had no trouble understanding implied meanings of the participants, nor did people's words seem to be out of sync with their mouths." Nobuyoshi explains. "I'm concerned that that means it would have had to have touched upon our very thoughts to bring meaning. This is concerning when one is negotiating with gaijin, even for a true devotee of Honesty."

"I know of no prayer to the kami that could have achieved what they did today. I am vaguely familiar with one thta works on animals to allow communication there but it is never described as being as all encompassing as this. I feel your concerns may well be very relevant, Bayushi-san. I am at a loss as to why Yoritomo-sama allowed such vile sorceries to be performed on us."

The hand that had strayed to his satchel closed around a certain scroll and stayed there, knuckles white from the death grip he had on the scroll.

Nobuyoshi shrugs.

"Probably a combination of not knowing what it would entail, not having a polite way to refuse, and having not only a ship to worry about, but about getting information of a possible threat to the Empire back home." Nobuyoshi offers. "If we fail here, there may not even be time for the news of the loss of our fleet to get back home before whatever struck the gaijin fleet hits the Mantis Isles, or even the Crane and Phoenix coastline."

Nobuyoshi glances at the priest's death grip.

"Lashing out now might feel good right now, but it's the people back home who will suffer. We will have to demonstrate a remarkable amount of Courtesy if we're going to truly follow Duty."

Qian-Fan stares angrily at the Scorpion's mask for a few heartbeats longer before relenting and lessening his grip on the scroll. His eyes drop to the floor.

"You are right, Bayushi-san. Let us find a pool of still water and I can at least find the source of the bedevilled storm. If it has been summoned by gaijin sorcery to keep us here or damage our ships then Yoritomo-sama needs to know."

Indeed. We must be islands of bushido in a sea of gaijin, neh?" He gives the Bayushi a nod of respect for his dealing with the Phoenix. "Come then, let us explore this palace before they have time to finish removing all the things they do not wish us to see."

The palace, ready for visitors or not, was a beautiful structure in it's own exotic way. Like any civilized place, it had a courtyard garden for the pleasure and relaxation of it's inhabitants. There were plants of all sorts, long, low benches, and, just as the Agasha required, a small pond with colorful fish.

Several gaijin were here, including a few from the Courtroom earlier, talking in low tones. They gave the Rokugani dubious looks, the whispers only increasing.

Spotting the pond, Qian-Fan quickly made up his mind and marched towards it, pulling a different scroll from his satchel to the one he had been gripping tightly. He settled himself and stared at the pond surface for a moment or two before intoning the brief spell. His voice formed the words of the kami as he spoke to the water spirits.

"Noble mizu-kami, what has caused this terrible hurricane to strike Lanka?"

The water ripples, forming small waves before stilling. It becomes opaque, hiding the movements of fish beneath. For one man, the pool clears and shows a familiar Phoenix climbing up a set of stairs. Almost reluctantly, the kami shows Junpei reading from a scroll and his collapse as the kaze-kami answer his prayers.

Qian-Fan looked impassively at the picture before him and rolled up the scroll. Thanking the kami quietly he replaced the scroll in his satchel and rejoined his companions.

"I need to speak to the Captain."

Anyone even remotely perceptive would see that his hands were shaking.

Jishaku gives the gaijin from the courtroom a nod and moves between them and Scholar while he speaks with the kami. The Lion listens to the whispered conversation to see if he can recognise what they are talking about, and looks around the area for anything unusual.

When the Agasha is finished the Lion keeps his eyes on the gaijin. "Immediately or after we have had a look around?"

"You keep looking, it would look strange if we all left now after Yoritomo-sama made an issue of us looking around."

He stared out at the inclement weather before making the final decision, bowing and setting off towards the exit.

"Enjoy the palace, Akodo-san, Bayushi-san."

/exit unless delayed

"Hai, Agasha-san." Jishaku gave the Phoenix a bow as he left and continued to walk around the courtyard. The small group of gaijin were whispering amongst themselves, but clearly didn't think the Rokugani could understand them anyway as the words carried across to him. Apparently they were concerned about some sort of dark magic called by a flying man, or a demon, they couldn't decide which. A few of them suspected it was a preparation for the invasion by the Destroyers, but they couldn't be sure.

The Captain is going to love that. I wonder if it explains the storm?

He shrugged inwardly and moved off to investigate the exits from the courtyard.

The Scorpion also bowed and allowed the Phoenix to leave. Not being able to understand the gaijin, and not understanding the Lion in other sense of the word, he quietly examines the area, trying to make a mental map of the palace, or at least the parts they are permitted to see. The parts they are not get another notation on said mental map.