L5R Storytime thread: Shine on you crazy Stonewall edition

Forget about all that. The important part is

>Shoji is NOT a part of the Phoenix delegation.

If he was not invited then what the hell is he doing at this court?

To take away his grandson with a future as a earth tensai

Kakita-sama could have just heard he was Naomi-kun's father and invited him along. He is also the Master of the Earth's father so that's some good status right there. So he might have been invited on his own merits or just shown up and was too important to kick out.

>he was not invited then what the hell is he doing at this court?
Hohiro probably pulled some strings

For what purpose?

If it's then how did he learn of it in the first place? It was something they discovered in private, not sharing with the outsiders.

If something else, then what? Either way, I am worried.

Remember that Naomi writes letters to her family. In the past Shoji had been disposing of the letters, but it's reasonable to assume he read them first. He could have learned of Tsuyosa's gift from one such letter.

Maybe he used a divination as well? He's pretty obsessed about his bloodline and taking one of the kids away to be a tensai would be poetic revenge for ishigaki convincing his son to become a bushi.

The Phoenix clan only gets away with kidnapping kids if they're ishiken, and only after exhausting all other avenues of approach and with the express backing of the elemental council. If he wants a kid to go to the Isawa school, he's going to have to offer something in return.

>he's going to have to offer something in return.
A way out of scorpion's revenge on Ishigaki? He wouldn't agree to it, but Naomi...

>Naomi might give up Tetsute because she thinks that Shoji will love him (since he's listening to earth kami)
I might buy it.

That's fucked

That's Shoji

youtu.be/gpaOy8b8X6A

He could just assume it. Shugenja ability is semi-hereditary (because the kami are more likely to recognize someone who resembles a person they worked with before), and he might just be arrogant enough to assume that anyone in his bloodline would have the talent.

IIRC, they're playing with D20 lore where Shugenja ability is a lot more common and a lot less hereditary.

But Shoji still cares about it being hereditary even if it doesn't actually work that way

>Shoji is the main Bloodspeaker, and the reveal finally makes Naomi snap and utterly wreck her father with her water powers, yelling about how much of an utter bastard he was to her in a bout of cathartic rage.

Greenstone did get mentioned earlier so his "Jade" Avatar could have just been Greenstone. So it isn't impossible.

>I tore up a few tiny strips of chicken for Tsuyosa, to finish of his meal
>he was being weaned after all
>I wiggled the chicken under his nose, and he let go of Naomi so he could have his solids
>There you go. Eat up.
>Tsuyosa gobbled up the chicken greedily, burped all on his own, and then settled into Naomi's arms to resume his nap with a nice full tummy
>I straightened up her kimono for her, since her hands were full of tiny crab, then gave her hair a few strokes
>You stay here and rest with him. I'll go check on the other two.
>Hai.
>As I left Naomi began to sing softly to Tsuyosa, easing him off to sleep
>She really did love to dote on the children
>I eventually found the other two, playing with all the other children their age
>Daiko and Tetsute had taught the other children Strongwall.
>The two of them stood, daring the other kids to knock them down
>A roughhousing game that left the attendant servants in a small panic.
>clearly worried about what would happen to them if one of the children got hurt, and equally worried about the idea of trying to restrain the terror twins, as they were also samurai.
>Relief flooded the face of one of the servants when they recognized me as the father of the two little demon children
>Great Samurai, please forgive this one for speaking out of turn!
>But your children...
>Someone could get hurt!
>I nodded.
>I'll handle it, don't worry.
>Oh, thank you great samurai!
>Oi! You two!
>The roughhousing broke up as I came over, Daiko and Tetsute staring up at me.
>For that matter, all the other kids did too.
>I was probably the biggest person they'd ever seen
>I leaned down to look my children in the eyes
>You'd better win, okay?
>they broke out into grins, and Daiko thrust her tiny fist into the air
>HAI!
>As for the rest of you...
>I turned to look at the other children
>...You're going to have to work together if you hope to have any chance against these two.
>I walked past the dumbstruck servants
>That should do it.

Not really. Children are like cats, more sensitive to spiritual things than adults. But just because every baby can hear the kami it dosen't mean they can understand them, or make themselves understood. So Shugenja are still rare as hell.

And since certain pyshical traits as well as mental and spiritual ones, can signify strength or weakness with an element and physical traits are more hereditary, Shugenja bloodlines are still a thing. Naomi is the oddball in her family of Earth shugenja, remember?

>Lets his kids have their fun
I don't know what I expected. Thank you for the goodfeels Ishigaki-kun!

Tales from a Stone Wall
Take forever to finish
F5 key is gone

>I turned my head as I left, and spoke over my shoulder
>But if anyone does raise a stink, just tell them to come whine at me.
>...though I suppose you shouldn't phrase it quite like that.
>Well, you'll figure it out.
>I headed back to the rooms where the courtiers were gathering
>I wanted to learn what the hell Shoji was doing her
>I found Kituski-san, talking with a Scoprion woman wearing a scroll satchel
>Ah, Hida Ishigaki-san!
>Hello, Kitsuki-san.
>I turned to look at the Scorpion
>And this must be...
>...Soshi Mariko
>I bowed a greeting to her
>have you had rice today, Soshi-san?
>Yes, I have thank you.
>She read my mood quickly and excused herself
>As she walked past me she whispered
>not yet
>I arched an eyebrow at her, but she walked on
>Did you hear that?
>He nodded
>What was that about?
>Well, most Scropion really do hold to bushido, Ishigaki-san, despite what your Clan and the Lion think of them.
>It's just that they are willing to dirty their hands in times of great need.
>Not unlike the Crab, I think
>Don't insult my clan like that, Kitsuki-san,
>You're my freind so I can let that slide, but if another Crab heard you say that it would mean a duel.
>You know perfectly well I can hold my own in a duel.
>I know. I said that for the sake of my kinsmen
>Anyway, I have need of those all seeing eyes of yours.
>Oh?
>yeah, I want to find out what Shoji is even doing here, so I figured I'd just ask that Asako.
>And I want you to watch. You know, do your thing.
>Of course, Ishigaki-san.
>He shook his head.
>Always so direct, aren't you?
>I shrugged
>It works for me
>He nodded agreement
>I went and found Asako Yuie, while Kitsuki-san hovered about nearby
>hey, I need to speak with you.
>She face me, wrinkling her nose a bit at my brusque manner
>I do not belive I have the pleasure...?
>Hida Ishigaki.
>She tilted her head, Eyes unfocusing while she thought for a moment
>Ah! You are the Husband of Isawa Shoji's daughter!
>I nodded.

>I understand he's not part of the delegation the Phoenix sent though
>Yuie got out her fan and hid behind it at that.
>Naomi had confessed to me once that the Phoenix Clan is it's own worst enemy
>Isawa's actions left a deep, permeant rift between the families of the Clan.
>But this is NOT widely known, because the Clan closes ranks whenever an outsider approaches
>Not unlike the Emprie as a whole, constantly fighting one another...
>...right up until some external threat rears it's ugly head
>I wondered if he reaction was simple reflex, or if she was trying to hide something from me.
>I didn't waste time thinking about it too much
>That's why I asked for Kitsuki-san's help after all
>Yes, Hida-san, it is true that Shoji is here on his own buisiness.
>However, if you wish to know what that might be, I am afraid I cannot help you.
>I simply do not know
>If you will excuse me
>Huh.
>I rejoined Kitsuki-san
>She really doesn't know why he's here.
>However, I get the feeling he has finally lost the trust of the Phoenix Clan.
>At the very least, she is very upset by his presence.
>I see.
>Well, lets the Phoenix have come to the damn senses about him at least.
>Kitsuki-san nodded firmly
>We can hope. He's likely still to well connected for them to ask him to retire early, but if I'm right we can at least expect they will not trust him with any more important duties.

Okay, you take a moment to hold funeral services for you f5 keys, the tendons on the back of my hands are complaining

You do know that you can set threads to auto update...

He probably does. An army of dolts who've been killing their F5s in all these threads seemingly does not.

>Alas, no such luck
>With the visit of the Pearl Champion, and so many courtiers seeing a Naga for the first time
>One was hard pressed to find any topic other than that
>Or something relating to it
>By the fifth time I heard someone talking about it
>Or how glorious the gift was
>Or whether we should even trust the Naga after what had happened
>Or how lovely the Pearl Champions kimono was
>Even I was getting somewhat overwhelmed
>I came here expecting Summer Court
>Not an old wives gossip circle
>It didn't take long before I managed to find an excuse to wander through the palace gardens
>Beautiful plants, but nothing compared to what I'd heard of the gardens of Doji
>These would not do to distract me from the boredom of a stagnating day in court
>Fortunately, I would not have to wait much longer before things got back on track
>This days great contest was about to be held, and it was one that would most likely have every bushi, shugenja and courtier participating
>The Go tournament
>Every single one of us among myself and my companions decided to join
>Although I was quite certain I would not be even near the winners this time
>Games like go, while an entertaining distraction, were no more than that
>Why spend my time with such meaningless games when I could devote it to creating even better art
>The only game I had ever found interesting was the courtly game of Sadane
>Still, there were certain expectations
>Lots were drawn, to see who would go up against who
>And my first opponent would be
>Daidoji-san
>How quaint

This shouldn't be too hard

So, is Shoji here to scheme his bloodspeaker schemes or just trying to remain relevant?

I can't believe Shoji's a bloodspeaker. He's too much of a tool for it. He's the Honorable But Not Good samurai. Blinded by pride and maybe cowardice, but he's not actually a criminal more than being a scumbag is a crime.

This. Hohiro MIGHT be a Bloodspeaker, but Shoji is definitely clean. Spiritually, at least.

Being a big enough cunt to swallow Galactus whole should be made a crime.

kek

It costs koku to post?
I bet the gaijin did this
I bump for crab-san

Nah, you should just have a sandwich board on you that says ASSHOLE at all times

Ishi's dream showed him grotesquely melting away to a skull with white hair, and dreams can be metaphorically prophetic, so while it could mean any sorts of things, I imagine Shoji being a Bloodspeaker is possible out of that.

Or he could sacrifice himself towards stopping or blocking a maho spell that decays or ages someone rapidly

Or his son could be keeping him around specifically so he has a target to shift all his taint to.

Which is why they had to search for Hida.

Or they're BOTH Bloodspeakers.

That should be a law IRL, let alone in L5R

...

2lewd

youtu.be/3fXMD5VipGk

youtu.be/RBDif3eOQII

no dying you, shoo back to the top.

Doing PDF update. No editing besides the normal spelling tonight though.

Eventually I will find the time to give this the editing it properly deserves.

That must have been extremely painful.

She's a big girl.

Crane bamp

The Wall has withstood,
and this little thread
will withstand as well

>implying Crane expose themselves in public and dress so shabbily
That's a ronin, user.

Poor guy seems to have lost a nipple in a previous duel.

I'd go with Spidertrash Daigotsu trying the "evil pretty boy" angle.

...

I keep forgetting people consider the Spider era valid.

Samurai-ko a best

>tfw no burly Shiba girl to gently protect your soft shugenja body

>burly

You want Hida not Shiba.

>Hida
2burly

>2burly
So what? Or does it make you feel impotent?

The goal is to be gently protected. Hida cannot into gentle.

Have you been reading the story of Ishigaki? Hida can into gentle.

Ishigaki is an exception

No he isn't.

page 9 bump

>The Mantis were late
>People were begining to whisper, wondering if the Mantis were doing that on purpose.
>Some sort of protest?
>Mantis-san became quite a popular fellow suddenly, despite his repeated protests that he had no clue what was holding up his Clan's delegates.
>It was in the middle of this drama Ren decided to hold a game of Kemari.
>He insisted I join in
>I seized my oportunity
>Ren-sama, I've never worn the full court attire before. Would you be so kind as to help me with it?
>Of course!
>Alright, good work me.
>Getting him alone to talk had been proving more difficult then I had anticipated.
>Friend or not, there was a large gulf in our status
>But now I had an excuse
>Ren helped me out, wrapping me up in layer upon layer of clothing
>This is the minimum level of dress acceptable for meeting with the Emperor, you know, Ishigaki-san
>I chuckled
>It's so hard to move in all these clothes I can only think that is for the Emperor's safety!
>He laughed along with me.
>You may be right
>Then he looked at me seriously
>You truly find it difficult to move in all these clothes, but not that massive armor you always wear?
>I rolled a shoulder around
>It's a different kind of constriction.
>My armor only weighs about 50 pounds, and all the straps and bindings distribute the weight.
>Plus, we train in our armor nonstop. Our armor really is a second skin to us Crabs.
>He nodded.
>Speaking off us Crabs, Ren-sama.
>You know we're not all that good in court...
>He looked at me, eyebrows shooting up.
>He recovered quickly though, and pinched his chin between thumb and forefinger
>Hmmm. Sensei is handling most of the business for the Clan at this court, I'm just the host...
>I was curious when he said Sensei, but I said nothing, lest I sidetrack him
>Still, I think I may be at least able to make things a bit eiaser on your delegation. Kaiu...Terumune, was it?
>Hai.
>He smilled at me.
>I shall see what I can do for your Clan Ishigaki-san.

Crab-user returns to deliver us from the degeneracy that runs in these threads when he's gone!

Crab-user's back!

>Thank you Ren-sama, I am indebted to you
>Not at all Ishigaki-san!
>I took the oprotunity to change the subject
>So, you said your Sensei is here?
>yes. Tanaka-san handles much of the day to day, but there are still plenty of things I have to be present for...so I Sensei came here to train me.
>I see.
>I have to pay attention to every little thing while Tanaka is handling affairs, because I should be able to do those things as well.
>Between trying to learn how to run this city and Sensei's lessons on court life I am at my wits end!
>There is so much to learn!
>I put a hand on his shoulder
>You'll be fine.
>Will I, though?
>Of course!
>Look,no one is surprised when a Crab figths with a heavy weapon, that's expected.
>Just like it's expected for a Crane to know how to draw his blade quickly, or a Lion to be good at Shogi
>Because these are the things they were born to do; the weight of history and tradition makes it so.
>YOU were born to administer to the Emperor's lands on his behalf.
>I know it seems like there's a lot to take in now, I felt the same way when I first arrived at Sunda Mizu!
>But it will come in time. Just apply yourself diligently.
>He smiled, allowing my words to reassure him.
>Then he looked at me
>Ishigaki-san...
>You folded the wrong side of the Kimono over here.
>HUH?
>Get undressed; we have to start over.

>You folded the wrong side of the Kimono over here.
>Get undressed; we have to start over.

Fucking courtiers.

>My knowledge of the game of Kemari was that it existed.
>beyond that, Ren had to explain everything to me
>I found something deeply offensive in the concept of a game with no points, no way for someone to win
>All you had to do was keep the ball in the air, and pass it to someone else
>Without using your hands
>Ren was very good, bouncing the ball up off his feet, before letting it slide down his back and then hitting it with his hip to pass it to me
>I reacted on pure instinct as it came at me
>I smashed the ball with my forehead.
>It went towards a Mirumoto, who stopped the ball with his chest, caught it on his foot, bounced it a few times, and passed it to Toritaka Kageru with a smile
>She caught the ball even while rolling her eyes
>We played for some time, and I notticed Kageru was a popular choice to pass the ball to
>After the game was over she grabbed my arm and hissed
>get me out of here!
>I looked up
>there WERE several men coming this way, who came to a halt as we made eye contact
>We walked quickly away
>I muttered to her under my breath
>What's all that about?
>Suitors. I'm so sick of it.
>I ached an eyebrow
>Hooo?
>She looked up at me
>I'm a warrior, not some housewife.
>Well, you may want to think about finding one for yourself while you've got the time..
>You mean when the time comes that I'll have to get married
>Bah. I'll be dead in battle before that happens!
>I glanced down at her out of the corner of my eye
>I thought that too, once
>She smirked at me
>For many of us it's true though, Ishagaki-senpai. You must see that you are a rare existence, a tallent seen only once a generation!
>...senpai?
>Hai, I'm trained in the Hida Ryu, not my families bushi School.
>Well still. I'm not all that special. Just tough enough that I can survive to learn from my many mistakes.
>That is a quailty more special than you are willing to admit, Senpai.
>If you say so. To me it just seems like too many young bushi are eager to see their grandparents

>We ate dinner with the rest of court that day
>I felt eyes on me and looked around
>I saw Shoji, but he was quite delebratly NOT looking in my direction
>One of the Shiba sitting next to him, however, was.
>I looked closer.
>And recognized Shiba Hotaru. Shiba Ayame's gunso.
>He was glaring quite openly at me
>So I scratched at my chest and mouthed 'is that all?' to him
>I timed it just right, and he coughed as his food went down the wrong pipe
>I see Shoji prefers obedience over competence in his subordinates.
>things proceded with reletive quite for a few days.
>The guessing as to what was holding up the Mantis delegation continued unabated, each guess more outlandish than the last
>At one point it was suggested the entire delegation ran afoul of an Oni one of the number summoned but could not control, though no one could find out who was the first to suggest that.
>Kitsuki-san found out that Shoji was being shunned quite a bit in this court.
>To everyone's surprise, and relief, aside from the few attendants he had brought, no one seemed to want to have anything to do with him
>The subject of Toshiro, Naomi and myself being friends with Ren became a topic of discussion as well
>Terumune assuered me that, though it wasn't much, the fact that everyone was aware the Crab COULD use that relationship was helping
>he laughed
>It's like building up an army in plain view along the border, Ishigaki-san! They know we have a trump card, so they don't press as hard, lest we feel compelled to use it!
>I see.
>Court really is all about maneuver and perception, isn't it?
>He nodded.
>Very much so.
>On the third day, I came across a Kakita yelling at my wife
>Daiko and Tetsute were hiding behind her, clinging to her kimono
>I put on my grumpy face and aproached quietly from the side
>He was to engrossed in his lecturing on proper behavior in children, and didn't notice me
>Until I stamped my foot down right next to his.

> I came across a Kakita yelling at my wife
aww shit nigga now you fucked up

>He jumped and whirled in mid air, turning to face me
>I half expected him to jump clean out of his clothes, but alas, they went with him
>He blanched as he looked up into my scarred, scowling face, going as white as his hair
>You have something to say about how my children have been raised, Crane-san?
>You...your children?
>He looked back and forth between me and Naomi
>a scarred burly giant, and a small, demure woman
>It seems he didn't expect Naomi would be married to a typical Crab
>The kind of person who is very likely to fly off the handle and hurt someone when they get upset, consequences be damned
>The kind of person who looked like he could beat the shit of an unarmed Crane with little effort
>I had seen these exact same thoughts run through many, many minds, so I could tell simply by the way he held his eyes when the last realization settled in on him
>I smiled at him
>It's time for you to fly away now, little bird. Do you need some help getting into the air?
>Ah...no, That is quite alright
>he took off, almost running
>Without looking down at the kids I spoke
>did you win?
>Yes, father!
>I knelt down and hugged them
>Good work, you two!
>They giggled, delighted at the praise
>Is this really alright, Ishigaki-kun? Won't he just go complain to someone else?
>Let them complain. It's the only thing losers can do
>Naomi blinked
>Then she looked down
>You two have gotten quite dirty. It's bath time
>Naomi took the kids off to get all cleaned up and I smiled to myself as I watched them go
>I was pleased that my children were learning their lessons well
>When a weak person is confronted with a strong one, they will gather other weak people so that numbers will turn the odds in their favor.
>The strong person must never forget how effective that is, and so the strong must watch each other's backs as well
>Daiko and Tetsute would never have won if they didn't work together
>teamwork and cooperation would keep them alive once they took up their duties

#crabdominance

Crab-dad!

As long as they didn't cheat, the crabs are good

The Crab is such a meme Clan

Well, that's one corrupt neckbeard spotted. Who's next?

Spotted a Crane.

>It's time for you to fly away now, little bird. Do you need some help getting into the air?

Absolutely savage.

Hey, apologies for not having posted in a while, essay deadlines have crept up on me and exams are just around the corner, and I have a tendency to procrastinate that is currently biting me in the ass

Will try to get back to posting, at least 1 post per day, until the study window comes up before the exams actually start, then i'll write as much as i can as quickly as i can

For now, I'm glad Ishigaki-san is here to continue his story

At the last Winter Court, we met... I think we called her Sleepy because a maho-tsukai had given her a charm that made her kill a Mantis(?) delegate, though we may have also called her Snake, due to losing an eye in a duel/competition due to the negligence of a Phoenix shugenja, more than likely done at the behest of Shoji? Am I thinking of two different characters? I remember her being left in a temple, training in front of an altar dedicated to Rashomon, but I don't know where she's gone from there.

so is it true they added a lesbian power couple ruling the setting for progressiveness' sake

That was one character, and she hasn't been heard about since then. It's doubtful she led nice life in that place.

Ish
While it does appeal to the more progressive crowd, the justification behind it, as far as I could tell, was keeping as close as they can or want to to oldcanon while changing certain things to make sense, such as all clan champions being the same gender as their founders
Kachiko x Hotaru is one of the points where those two things clash, and for now, we don't know quite yet if they'll handle it competently or not

As long as the LCG and eventually the RPG are good, and the newcanon adheres to the settings internal logic, who cares?

All this talk about samurai and stuff makes me want to play Shogun 2 so much.
>Date are the best