Likewise, the scenes with Miyako were a great highlight point for me too. I think what I really enjoyed with their interactions was that while Miyako wasn't part of a clan yet, she still managed to get her concerns across well without resorting to insulting the Kami or those who followed the Kami (except a little dissing on Bayushi's followers, but Saruko is cool with that ), and she felt she could put a finger on what exactly it was that Miyako was worried about in the future.
So Miyako was perhaps the non-clan person she understood the best! And liked the best, hence the "btw, you're totes welcome at my place" invitation to join the Dragon, and the Saru specifically.
I greatly look forward to see where Miyako will go from here!
Ah yes, lore-focused... *stares at Intelligence 2 and a couple of ranks in Theology and Spirit Realms* I tried to play more that her understanding of the spirit realms were more out of experience rather than studying, as she's had the Medium advantage for most of her life and has been poking around in Chikushudo and Sakkaku for many years. Yume-Do is also a realm she knows well. She's snuck into Tengoku twice (the rascal). Meido isn't her favorite place as she generally doesn't feel comfortable around the dead, but it's certainly preferable to the other dead-places she's glimpsed. Jigoku isn't one she knows by direct experience, but rather that spirits she's encountered over the years would have warned her of it.Nozomi wrote: ↑Tue Jun 16, 2020 5:27 amWhile Saruko was arguably one of our most court-focused and lore focused characters, and thus has less presence in combat scenes for obvious reasons, I really liked seeing her here, and that she was as important to several events as she was.
Phi was a good girl! Shinsei's kid's not going to be tainted! (whew. I was actually worried there a couple times). He's even going to have a face!
... I digress. I will say, however, that I am really looking forward to the Saru-family angles and their ties to Shinsei's line we've talked about. Nozomi won't be joining any families, as you might have guessed, but those two are definitely coming to visit and make plots and plans.
Did you have fun this time around? What's it like to play one of the courtly machines in a shadowlands event?
I didn't expect her courtier-ish focus to be as useful as it was, but I'm glad I could contribute more than just morale.
And yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what happens with Nozomi, and Saruko will be one of the staunchest protectors of Shinsei's teachings while she's alive. I think Shinsei has Saruko as a more costly Ally than she does him.
I had a lot of fun, and I think that having fun in a game where you're a fish out of water relies a lot on managing your own expectations ahead of time. Which I did last time too with this character, as I decided to make her without any ronin school at all (none of the ronin schools fit, and I didn't want to make a shugenja). I invested a lot in arts and crafts supplies before the game, so I was ready to do random stuff and ideas that would spring to mind. And since she did have an understanding of what they were up against on a spiritual level, as well as having useful skills like Investigation, Hunting, Defense, Kenjutsu, Staves, and Stealth, she wasn't a complete dead-weight either for the expedition. Hence why she often spent time doing things like gathering resources in safer places, or quickly volunteered for night watch duties. She was totally ready to bring her 6k3 to attack and 5k2 to damage if any enemy got as far as breaking through the second line!