Day 6, Late Morning, Expatriates, not Ex-patriots

[Bayushi Nobuyoshi]

Having attempted to get information from the not-locals, and the local-but-stuck-with-us, Nobuyoshi checks around the embassy to see if he can find out the location of the not-local-but-more-local-than-us, Yoritomo Keiko.

So much more to do when I'm not on the boat staring at the ocean. he thinks.

[elonweis]

The woman wasn't hard to find. The servants directed him to the small heimen 'village' at the back of the complex. Keiko had her hair pulled up in to a bun, exposing the slender column of her neck. She wore a loose scooped neck tunic, heavy with embroidery, over a pair of equally loose trousers. She nibbled on her lower lip as she looked over a list and checked off items that were carefully being placed into crates. A small furrows touches her brow and she seems focussed, if a little worried.

[Bayushi Nobuyoshi]

Opting for more courtly grace, rather than Scorpion skullduggery, Nobuyoshi approaches the Mantis, making sure she's aware of his approach.

He offers her a polite bow.

"Good morning, Yoritomo-san." he offers politely. "I hope the morning finds you well after that storm yesterday."

[elonweis]

"Oh! Ohayou Bayushi-sama," she smiles and bows to the Scorpion, "Yes, well enough... I hope the day finds you well too..?"

[Bayushi Nobuyoshi]

"Far from home and in a troubled land, but well enough all things considered." Nobuyoshi offers politely.

He looks over the little crate operation.

"Are you busy tending to your duties?" he asks.

[elonweis]

"A little, but I think I'm ahead of schedule," she replies with a grin and a shrug, "Did you need something...? Uminushi-sama said to give what help we could to you lot..."

[Bayushi Nobuyoshi]

"Mostly just asking about to see what's happened since last I spoke to you." Nobuyoshi offers. "With the storm yesterday, I spent most of yesterday stuck at the Palace, and awoke to see the official warning against certain behaviors this morning."

"I thought it wouldn't hurt talk to someone from Rokugan but had a lot more experience in matters of the Kingdom for their opinion."

Nobuyoshi shrugs.

"Or I could just be making excuses to see you again. Scorpions aren't always straightforward about things you know."

[elonweis]

Keiko blushes, but laughs anyways as she shakes her head, "Don't let my brother hear you."

Still, she looks away and fidgets with the wax tablet and stylus in her hand. "Well, rumor has it that one of yours was responsible for the storm yesterday. I don't know the details, but it seems that something was summoned."

The young woman moves to sit on one of the closed crates and indicates another as she continues to explain, "The locals are superstitious at best and that's made them rather uncomfortable. The kami and prayers are different here. They don't understand how our priests work and we don't understand how their priests work see..? So, it might as well be maho in their eyes and, well, do you know about the Mantis' history with them?"

[Bayushi Nobuyoshi]

Nobuyoshi takes the offered seat.

Nobuyoshi shakes his head.

"There was a mention of the Mantis aiding them yesterday made by their leader, but I've not heard about it other than that." Nobuyoshi says. "I know more about the Empire's heart than what's at it's edges."

[elonweis]

"The Cult of Rhumal," she murmurs softly and makes a sign against evil. The young woman's voice drops as she continues to explain, shivering despite the warmth of the day, "They might as well have been blood speakers. The Fortune they followed was evil. Worse than the Ninth in some ways because it wanted to destroy the world, not just Rokugan..."

[Bayushi Nobuyoshi]

To many of my fellow samurai, Rokugan is the world. Nobuyoshi ponders.

"And the Mantis Clan rooted them out?" he asks.

[elonweis]

Keiko, unaware of the Bayushi's thoughts, nods, "We turned the tide. Where others have stories of the Spirit War, my family has stories of the war we fought here. My father said that the ..."

The young woman stops, fingers clenching around the stylus before easing, "... the being's followers give it blood sacrifice and that its hunger was insatiable. The locals don't speak its name, because they believe names and words are power," she smiles a bit weakly and shrugs, "Maybe I've been here too long, but I don't either and after ..."

Her hand lifts to gesture towards the walls outside the embassy, "After yesterday, I never will."

[Bayushi Nobuyoshi]

Nobuyoshi nods.

"That seems reasonable. We don't speak the name of a certain fallen Kami if we can help it, why would you run about speaking the name of the local gaijin version?" Nobuyoshi offers.

[elonweis]

"Yes," she murmurs as annoyance briefly flickers across her face, "Well... I don't know what the man was thinking. He's certainly ended us in a pickle with the restrictions."

[Bayushi Nobuyoshi]

Nobuyoshi shrugs.

"Hopefully, they were noble and foolish, rather than sinister and malicious." Nobuyoshi says. "In either case, at least Ichiro-san, and probably others are going to return to the ship. Which may keep them out of trouble with the local authorities, but as the ship's not leaving without the Captain is unfortunate."

"Nothing to do for it though, just have to make use of those who aren't heading out to pout."

[elonweis]

"I've never been to the mainland," she admits, giving him a curious look, "... are they all like that? I thought we were supposed to be above such behavior?"

[Bayushi Nobuyoshi]

Fortunes, why don't you just ask me why bad things happen to good people? Nobuyoshi wonders.

There is a long pause from the Scorpion while he considers his answer.

"No, every samurai is different." he finally decides. "We're not under specific orders to do anything except keep eyes and ears open if we're on shore leave, so they are not technically violating Duty. Gaijin are considered outside the Celestial Order, so technically one does not need to show them Courtesy. Nor is every samurai heading back to the ship. Every samurai interprets bushido differently, and each come up with a different answer to what we should be doing right now."

Rather than allow the Mantis a chance to follow that particular thought too far, Nobuyoshi seeks to be diverting.

"You said you've never been to the Mainland. Does that mean you were born in the Mantis Isles, and were given duty here?" he asks.

[elonweis]

"It seems a bit bone-headed not to be courteous to a group of people who outnumber you," she murmurs with a shake of her head in pure astonishment. The young woman pauses and smiles, shrugging, "Yeah, basically. I get along with most people and I'm good with languages and numbers, so I got shipped out here."

[Bayushi Nobuyoshi]

Nobuyoshi nods, perhaps at the assessment, or perhaps just in understanding.

"How long have you been here, Yoritomo-san?" Nobuyoshi asks. "You hadn't heard about the war's end, I was wondering what else you might have missed."

[elonweis]

"Three years," she replies with a grin and a twinkle in her eyes, "And we do get news... it's just slower to come and stops during the winter."