[ We find Our Heroes moving along the footpaths in the first tunnel connecting Rokugan and the Brighthome canyon. Occasionally, they can hear the sounds of construction through the walls of earth as work teams labor to create paths capable of sustaining greater traffic between the two canyons. Why they do this is unknown; there hasn't been a lot of traffic along this one in the first place. ] [ However, it is still some few minutes before Rokugan is actually reached, and so there is an opportunity to refine the rules for surviving there before you all arrive. Session Start! ] * Istvan is walking along, holding the Titan's Pick securely in one hand and eyeing it as he moves along. [ The Titan's Pick seems to eye Istvan back; how it accomplishes this without eyes is probably a deeply mystical question that none of you can understand. ] ... I'm starting to think this thing's got some level'a awareness. I wouldn't be surprised. It's very magical. * Alcinoe chuckles a little as she clanks along. "Yeah. Ah would be surprised if it *didn't*." Well, it IS an artifact. Put it away, Istvan. Never dealt with a sentient weapon before. *looks at the Pick; ignores Kenji* So, me'n you gonna be able to work together? * Alcinoe nods at Patrick. "If it's half as powerful as Sherincal's sword-" She cuts off and gets a faraway look in her eyes, then shakes her head. Istvan, if you provoke a war, I will see to it that you are the first to die. It's pretty damn powerful as an artifact. Dunno as a weapon, but in all likelyhood that too. [ Up ahead, you see the light at the end of the tunnel! ] [ Head t'wards the light! ] Istvan, put the pick AWAY. * Istvan eyes Kenji, and then eyes the pick. "Well, then..." There are people on the other side of this tunnel who have been told for five hundred years that if something comes through this tunnel, it's hostile. Just put it away, we don't want to look threatening. If we come through with weapons out, they're going to kill us and ask questions later. * Alcinoe looks at Istvan. "Put it away." Ah don't want us gettin' killed 'cause yer goin' against Kenji jus' ta do it. [ A small stone hand sprouts from the cieling about ten feet ahead of the group; the hand seems to be flipping the bird in the general direction of Kenji. ] * Alcinoe rolls her eyes. "*Istvan*," she says, now sounding genuinely annoyed. * Istvan puts the pick into the holster on his back. "Just wanted to test it out first." * Patrick snerks. Come on, Istvan. Can't you drop it for a little while? * Istvan grins. "I plan to keep mostly quiet while we're in Rokugan territory. Can that be credited towards my 'dropping it' time?" * Alcinoe eyes Istvan briefly. "We'll think about it." She goes back to clanking. Er, walking. (Same thing, isn't it?) (Yes!) [ Soon, you reach the exit to the tunnel! The exit empties into a walled-in area with several large, sturdy men and women in armor standing around looking like they hate their job; in addition, there is a booth off to one side that says 'CENSUS AND EXCISE OFFICE'. ] * HKenji points to the closest samurai and says loudly, "You! Where is the consul?" [ The samurai (a woman with reddish hair, a prominent scar, and, it seems, no teeth) looks Kenji over, and gestures briefly to a set of doors near the marked booth. ] Come. * HKenji follows the woman. * Seylin nods and follows Kenji. * Patrick smiles and follows teh Kenj. * Alcinoe blinks once, then walks right along. * Istvan has apparently gotten the hang of this diplomacy thing, because HE SAYS NOTHING AND FOLLOWS. [ The woman stalks angrily through the doors and into a long, wood-floored hallway. Her sandals clack loudly on the floor as she goes along. ] * Alcinoe beats her by clanking in plate armor. * Patrick is quiet. Because quiet. [ The march ends in a large, open room covered with four straw mats of uniform size. In the center of the room is a wooden table that seems to be barely raised off the floor; a man in an Imaculate Kimono(tm) sits at it, reading from a scroll. ] * HKenji bows deeply. "Ide-san, it is a pleasure to see a familiar face." [ The man at the desk rises and bows - slightly less deeply. "I am sure that it is, Ikoma-san. I welcome you and your friends to Unicorn Lands." ] I thank you for your welcome, and look forward to a short stay. * Alcinoe watches the conversation. She isn't wearing Max's translator, and it looks like she's actually trying to figure it out on her own. How much progress she's making may be another story. [ "Of course. I have ensured that most of the paperwork is taken care of for you; I only need your seal to finalize everything." ] * Istvan is wearing the translator. Just in case someone slips in 'Hey, do you mind if we kill one gaijin, just for fun?' and Kenji starts making suggestions. * HKenji nods. "Of course." * HKenji reaches into his sleeve. * HKenji blinks. * HKenji reaches into his other sleeve. [ The functionary maintains a passive look on his face. ] * HKenji frowns. * Alcinoe starts to look a little worried on Kenji's behalf. This is ususual. * HKenji turns around and shoots a look at Patrick. * Alcinoe blinks, and some of the color drains from her face. "Uh," she says in Common, "Oh." * Alcinoe doesn't look at Patrick; instead, she looks at *Seylin*. * Seylin bites her lip and looks at Alcinoe, her eyes slightly wide. She slowly nods at Alcinoe. * Alcinoe stares at her for a little longer, then lets out a heavy sigh, removes her own pack, and starts looking through it, checking each of the pouches. * Patrick shrugs and starts ruffling through his backpack. [ You could swear a single bead of sweat forms on the functionary's left temple and lingers briefly, before vanishing. ] * Alcinoe pulls a cloth-wrapped object upon checking the last pouch, peeks under said cloth, and walks over to Kenji. She taps him gently on the shoulder, clearly flushed. * Alcinoe has gone from white to red! Pretty hard for a dark-colored person. * HKenji turns to Alcinoe, confused. * Alcinoe smiles sheepishly and hands it over. She leans over and whispers briefly in his ear. * HKenji blinks, then turns red for a moment. He waits a moment to regain control of himself, then turns around. As I said, quite unusual. You have the papers ready? * Alcinoe coughs quietly into one hand and steps away. [ "Of course," says the functionary, seeming to act as though nothing unusual has happened. He picks up a scroll on the table, unfurls it to the last foot or so of paper, and hands it to Kenji. ] * Istvan looks a bit confused, but doesn't ask. * Patrick finishes looking through his pack and slings it back on his back. * HKenji reads through the scroll quickly, then seals it. [ The functionary looks at the seal and nods. "Very good. The samurai who led you in will take you to your escorts, now." ] * HKenji bows. * HKenji turns around and gestures you silly people outside. [ The functionary bows as well. ] * Alcinoe goes way the hell outside. * Patrick follows! * Seylin goes out! [ Outside is the same armored woman; she is, if anything, a great deal angrier now than before. You could swear you feel waves of heat flowing from her. ] * Istvan blinks. He, like most males, have an inherent Detect Angry Female ability. And it's BLARING. * Alcinoe eyes the woman. She's not exactly worried about the armor or the red hair or the anger. She has all of those, depending. (Sorry, reddish. It's not OMG RED like Alci or Ana, I bet.) ( Nah. It's pretty obviously dyed, too. ) * Patrick doesn't look very worried. Angry women aren't too hard to find if you go looking in the right places. * HKenji isn't worried at all. [ The woman storms down the hallway a bit; a mousy young lady in a kimono sees her coming and promptly ducks into another hallway to avoid her. Soon, you are lead back outside, where there are two male guards in blue and white talking seriously about the color of their fingernails, as well as a lady in a kimono and a large man in armor. ] * Takara is the lady in the kimono. She's in her late teens, pale and a bit short, with alert eyes, straight black hair loose but pinned from her face, and long, delicate fingers. In fact, she looks delicate all around. * Takara is wearing a dark purple kimono with white birds stitched into it, and as she bows deeply to Kenji, some jewelry in her ears glitter in the sun. "Welcome home, Hosukawa Kenji," she says in Rokugani, putting the last name first. "I am Ide Takara, and this is Moto Musa. We are here to escort you." * Musa is a man in a kimono. He's also in his late teens, but he's large and muscular, with short-to-medium length black hair. He looks to be simple and not particularly smart, but definetly able to defend himself and Takara if need be. He's got a fuckin' huge eastern sword sheathed behind him, as well as the standard daisho that seems to be common among samurai bushi. * HKenji bows. "I am pleased to meet you, and glad to be welcomed home by the Unicorn, Ide-san." * Musa is wearing a simple purple cloth kimono. He bows to Kenji, not saying a word as Takara has already introduced him. * Takara smiles at Kenji, then looks to his companions. "Is this all of them?" My companions are Alcinoe, currently of no family, Seylin of family Altir, Patrick of family Klamm, Istvan of House Magyarsson, Will of family Schneider, and Tia, Daughter of the Dragon of Water. * Alcinoe looks briefly puzzled, and then she makes a little 'oh' sound. * Musa is, for the record, 5'6" tall. So while he might be 'large' according to Rokugani standards, he's pretty short compared to most of you. * Takara listens to the introductions, looking at Tia most curiously. She makes a bow - a bit more shallow than to Kenji, but still a bow - to the group as a whole. "We are at your service." Then she hesitates a moment and repeats the same in butchered Common: "Lre al at yu survisuu." * Musa bows slightly in tandem with Takara, and speaks to her in Rokugani. "I didn't know you spoke common." She doesn't. You need more practice, Takara-san. * Takara starts to reply to Musa, then smiles sheepishly at Kenji's statement. "I know. I've been trying to learn, but..." She waves vaguely. "It's been such a recent development, and it's difficult when there are no native speakers." * Alcinoe looks a bit sympathetic, but she doesn't say anything. If you would be so kind, you may practice with Alcinoe. She needs to work on her Rokugani, and can help you practice your common. * Takara looks up at Alcinoe. She blinks. "I would be happy to help any way I can." * Alcinoe waves a little to Takara. * HKenji facepalms. Remember your manners, Alcinoe. * Musa looks as clueless as ever. Huh? Oh. * Alcinoe bows instead. * Takara doesn't wave back; maybe she doesn't know how. The bow clues her in, though, and she does so, before she looks to Kenji. "Is the..." She holds up her hand and makes an awkward wave. What is that? It is like a bow. I think it is intended to show that one does not have weapons drawn. * Takara ahs, thinking that over. This will be educational, though perhaps it would be best if I learn during travel. Your horses are nearby, if I may? You brought some of your monstrous Unicorn mounts, I hope? * Takara smiles. "I hope so, too." She turns and leads the lot of you away from the cave which you've been blocking off. * Musa follows Takara, all body-guard like. [ Takara leads off to a collection of horses; three are large and proud, fine mounts by any standard. The rest are either slightly too young or slightly too old to be quite up to the standard of the others, but they are good horses nonetheless. ] * Istvan clanks along. Thankfully, he's remembered that he is grossly deficient in the core reqs for the Cultural Ambassador p-class. * Takara walks up to one of the fine mounts - a dappled gray - and rubs it on the nose. "This one's mine. Hosukawa-san, the white with the brown forelock next to it is meant for you, and the black is Musa- san's. Your friends can choose the others as they wish, besides these three." [ Natrually, you furners are left with the less awesome horses. ] * Istvan looks for a relatively strong-looking horse, since it'd just be cruel to inflict a heavily-armored 240 lb guy on a weaker horse. * HKenji nods. "Mount up. We've got a long ride to Kyuden Hosokawa." * Patrick takes one of the horses almost at random, but ends up with one that can support his weight without trouble. [ Istvan finds that one of the younger ones seems especially solid. However, it also looks somewhat wild. ] * Alcinoe approaches the horses and looks them over, as the plate armor might be a problem in her case, too. * Istvan eyes at the horse. "We ain't gonna have problems, are we?" You should remove your armor. You will not need it, and some passing samurai may choose to take it as a declaration of war. * Takara nods at the sound of Kenji's voice and climbs onto her horse in what looks like one smooth motion. Leather's still fine, isn't it? * Alcinoe chuckles. "Makes sense, though it's weird, strippin' like this." She does so, however, removing her armor piece by piece. * Musa takes his black horse, which notably has a surprising amount of travel supplies, including a bunny, a lucky clicket, and a large oddly- shapped bow. Little do you know, his horse is named DEATH BRINGER... Okay not really. (My horse is named NECROBILE!) * Istvan goes from staring down the horse to eyeing Kenji, then shrugs off his pack and weapon holster and starts removing his armor. "Be ready in a minute." * Alcinoe drops each piece of armor on the ground, making a particularly heavy red dragon scale pile. Once all is said and done, she stretches and then asks, "Weapon an' shield?" Stowed. * Takara watches all of this with poorly disguised curiosity. But it *is* disguised, see. [ The horse eyes Istvan warily. ] You may keep your sword, if you wish. * Istvan gets his torso armor off; he's wearing a tank top underneath. He's pretty muscley! He rolls his shoulders a bit before working on his leg armor. * Alcinoe frowns at first, then relaxes a little at Kenji's statement about her sword and nods. She starts shoveling the pile of armor into her pack. * Alcinoe is less impressively muscley than Istvan. Aw. * Seylin slips out of her mail shirt. She's wearing a perfectly nice blue tunic underneath. * Patrick takes off his leather armor and padding, sporting a basic green shirt underneath it. * Alcinoe finishes with this, eventually working the shield into it somehow, and closes her pack. She refastens her cloak, buckles her sword onto her waist, and slings her pack back on. * Alcinoe *now* works on picking out a horse. * Patrick throws his armor in his pack and, thanks to the magic of... well... magic, he is ready to go! * Istvan manages to get his leg armor off, and pulls a dwarven-style shirt out of his pack and puts it on. He then stows his armor away in his pack before slipping his pick holster back onto his back and walking back over to the horse he was eyeing. [ The horse raises an eyebrow at Istvan, as if in challenge. ] * Patrick can see what Istvan's already doing, and the ranger part of him is telling him that Istvan's totally gonna get skooled. * Alcinoe picks out a less wild horse than Istvan's. *There's* a shocker. She clucks her tongue a little in the general way one does with farm animals, then tries to rub it on its neck. * Istvan grins. "I like this horse already." *rubs at the horse's mane* [ The horse Alcinoe selects approves of this treatment. The horse Istvan selects murmurs discontentedly. ] * Seylin takes the last horse and smiles brightly at it. [ The horse Seylin selects loves her at first sight. Big surprise. ] * Patrick snickers, patting his horse down, speaking to it momentarily. * Alcinoe climbs onto her horse! She's not great, but she's in no danger of falling off. * Istvan massages the horse's neck with one hand. "Surly... ill- tempered... anti-social... we're gonna get along just fine." [ Will and Tia manage to take off their armor (Tia, amazingly, manages to unfasten her breastplate with her wing-claws), and while Will mounts the most docile beast of the lot, Tia just makes friends with a random horse, thankfully not trying to ride it. ] * Istvan secures his pack on the back of the horse, and gives it one last look before he tries to mount up. "Just be aware that I'm not above bribery if that's what it takes to make this work." * Alcinoe is now wearing blue jeans, boots, and a light cotton, red t- shirt. Dungeons and Dragons style! * Patrick is dungeons and dragons style too! [ Istvan's mount appears to go all docile all of a sudden, allowing him to mount up. ] * Istvan grins as he steadies himself, scritching the back of the horse's neck. "Knew we spoke the same language." * Patrick whispers to Seylin. * Takara watches, making sure they're done, then looks to Kenji. "Are they ready? We can make a good amount of progress before nightfall." [ Istvan successfully mounts the horse! There are two brief seconds of silence, and then the horse makes a single, spectacular buck into the air, launching Istvan clear off. ] * HKenji winces. Give it a moment. * Musa laughs a bit before he remembers not to do that. [ Istvan lands about eight feet from the horse, who whinnies and trots in a small circle. ] * Patrick smirks. * Takara refrains from laughing. She looks like she wants to. * Alcinoe grins a little. "Y'all *do* speak the same language." * Seylin stifles a giggle. Buuuuuuuuurn. * Istvan lands hard with a THUD. After a moment of rebooting his brain, he looks up at the horse and points. "Traitor." [ The horse gives Istvan a sly look. ] * HKenji laughs. * Musa pretends like he's not looking. And doing a bad job. * Patrick is grinning from ear to ear. Does he need help? * HKenji grins widely. "I'm quite sure he will manage. Eventually." * Istvan pushes himself back up to his feet, and walks over. "Round 1 to you, horse..." *mounts up again* * Takara nods, smiling faintly. [ The horse stays still for four seconds, allowing Istvan to settle in on the saddle... and then begins bucking wildly! Istvan stays in the saddle for a whole three seconds before being tossed, this time. ] * Takara says, critically, "He is getting better." It doesn't *sound* like a joke. He is more stubborn than the horse. * HKenji states this as simple fact. Or a donkey, of that matter. * Takara blinks at Patrick. * Istvan pulls himself upright, stretching his back. "Damn right I am." *mounts up again* [ The horse ceases bucking immediately after Istvan is thrown clear. ] * Patrick smiles at Takara and motions at his earpiece. "Translator." [ The horse stands there, placid, serene, for nigh on half a minute. Time slows to a crawl, and a nearby mountain stream babbles so slowly that you can almost understand... and then the horse begins bucking again, tossing Istvan clear after ten seconds. ] ... I'm officially impressed with that horse. * Istvan stands back up, rubbing his shoulder. [ The horse whinnies and trots in a circle again. It then stops and glares imperiously at Istvan. ] * Takara looks at Patrick, briefly puzzled, then ahs and goes back to watching Istvan. This is probably the most entertainment she's gotten in weeks. * Istvan walks back up to the horse. "I was raised by dwarves, horse. I know for a a fact that I'm more stub- hmm." * Istvan tilts his head at the horse, and starts walking around it slowly. * Musa looks very amused as well. [ Istvan and the horse eye each other, and the screen goes letterboxed. ] [ And then the world goes normal again, the horse snorts, and presents its side to Istvan, inviting him to mount. ] * Istvan nods at the horse, and mounts up. [ The horse trots forward a few steps, and distinctly does not throw Istvan off its back. ] ... right. This concludes today's entertainment. Next show starts in three hours. I don't think you'll have the energy to do a show in three hours. * HKenji grins at the thought of Istvan having the little problem ALL new riders have. * Takara smiles pleasantly. "Is everyone ready, then?" Quite. Let's go. [ And so they set out! For great adventure! ]