[D1 EA] Entertainment for the Masses

[Taochusu]

Taochusu found a place in the dining hall along one of the walls and sat on the floor. He unwrapped his mothers guqin and smiled softly at it, as memories of her came back to him. He missed her dearly but it felt like she was there with him as he set the instrument on his lap and prepared to play. He strummed the strings a few times to make sure it was still in tune before beginning playing.

The giant man's massive hands moved deceptively deftly as he thought fondly of the first time his mother played this same song for him.

D1 EA, Perform: Guqin / Agility, Inheritance +1k1, -5 Lost Love, -5 for CR: 7d10o10k5-10 44

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkP-I2D0Pcw

[Miyako]

Off to the side of the dining hall, a young woman stood with a few others as they watched and listened to the man play. The young lady appeared quite focused on the song: as she listened and the song went on, she started to softly hum the notes under her breath, her head swaying slightly back and forth in tune with the rhythm. It came to and end, and the others around her nodded and clapped and then otherwise went about their business, but she remained behind and stepped forward to greet the giant man.

"That was quite a lovely tune," she offered with a smile. "Might I asked where you learned to play? Your hands are quite swift on the strings."

[Yoshitsune Nori]

A Crab man in blue robes emerged from the kitchen carrying a wooden platter. On the platter were stacked rows of savory, square-shaped millet cakes. "Baking these for the expedition," he explained. "Got plenty left over. Want some?" He extended the platter of cakes towards Taochusu and Miyako.

[Taochusu]

"Thank you. My mother, may she rest easy, taught me when I was young. This was her guqin too," he replies with a nod. "When I play it I hear her fixing me or singing along. I didn't get her singing voice though. I learned a lot of songs from her back then."

Looking to the Crab, he smiled and nodded. "Thanks." He reaches to take one of the small cakes and sets it next to him.

His fingers then start mindlessly strumming at the guqin as he introduces himself.

"I am Taochusu. Just a wanderer."

[Miyako]

"Very lovely craftsmanship as well - no doubt to this one that her voice continues to join in even now," she responded, looking the instrument up and down as he talked about it before the Crab came by with the tray of what looked like quite delicious-looking cakes.

"Ah! Much appreciated," she said to the Crab with a moment of surprised that turned into a smile as she took two of them off the tray, one for now and one for later.

"I am Miyako of the Chinsei. A pleasure, Taochusu. And you as well," she said with a nod to the blue-robed man before turning back to the musician. "Just wandering through the city then?"

[Taochusu]

"Originally yes, but then I heard about the trip folks are taking south. Sounded interesting and I figured an extra hunter and hammer might be appreciated," he confirms. "So I offered and someone in the courtyard said sure."

[Miyako]

"And don't forget your mother's instrument as well! A bit of a boost of morale around the campfire keeps the spirits high and makes one forget how tired the feet are after a long day's march. And who knows? Perhaps one might find me singing along next time if you're amenable," she added with a grin as she took a bite out of the cake.

"Mmm, this is really good!" she exclaimed, pausing to chew, swallow, and take another bite to do it all over again. "I have a few distant cousins that are going. One of the elders was looking for more volunteers to learn more of things and help with what we can, and so here I am." And she took yet another bite of delicious chewy goodness.

[Taochusu]

"I wonder how many of the Crab clan are coming. I'd guess that this place was chosen as a staging location more than anything, but it opens the opportunity up for lots of them to come," he says partially directed at the Crab baker.

"And I never minded a sing along with music."

[Miyako]

"I cannot say, but there sure are a lot of people from all over the place here in the city: hard to figure out who's here for the journey and who's just here for anything else. Perhaps it could be many Crab-clan-tribe people, or it could be very few." A pause. "And if the opportunity arises, I'll hold you to that request for a good melody," she said, grinning before she took yet another bite of the millet cake.

[Taochusu]

"Of course. I know a bunch of them," he says, continuing to strum without paying any attention to it. It was coming out in a slow, lilting, and quiet repeating pattern.

"What are you hoping to learn about on the trip? Just anything about different places or something about our goal specifically?"

[Miyako]

"More about the lands, more about these Kami and their clan-tribe things... anything and everything I can, really. My cousins that I mentioned: they were Chinsei once before, maybe still are, but now they live not in my village anymore and answer not to our chieftain but to the one called... Bayushi?" She paused a moment, unsure if she pronounced the name correctly even though she ended up doing so.

"And now they say they are of the one clan-tribe-thing of Scorpion. And my cousins are not the only ones to have done so. But even in my own village it is not as if entire families have done so. In some cases it has been like that, yes. But not so in others. A cousin here, a sibling there, and the others left with their suspicions. They have come and visited the village on occasion to bring others into it. Still some suspicion - others, still much intrigue and interest. I come to not just look over my cousins, but to learn more as to why they did what they did, hear from others on their tribe-clan things, hear from those that do not... and since I have heard at least some of them are here, perhaps to see things for myself."

She shrugged a bit as she finished the last of the cake that she was eating. As for the other one, she took out a strip of cloth and started to gently wrap it around the other one she had been holding in order to save it for another time.

[Taochusu]

"Sounds like a difficult position for your tribe. Numbers shifting like that can really affect a tribe I'd guess. Not really anything I can help on that front though. And I'll probably be learning just as much about the lands down here as you are. Though I've been to a lot of different lands during a lot of different season and survived them without a tribe. Glad to share hunting stories about them too," he offers.

[Jin Mizuku]

Mizuku enters the dining hall, looking for a late lunch. It feels weird getting a free meal, but she follows the line and gets her bowl of some kind of vegetable soup. She notices the man with the guqin and brought her food to a table near him. During her meal she glances up at him a few times, hoping he will play a song. She love music, but would never stop a conversation to ask to hear him play. She hears him strum a bit here and there as he talks, and every time he does her eyes snap up to him to see if he is about to play.

[Miyako]

"I have heard stories of clans mighty in number. Chinsei are not so, but even that number, whatever it is, has become smaller over the seasons. But it is not as if family has been lost: much contact and discussion between the two, merely differences, but most are at least opening to listen. In that I am not unique. To walk these lands alone - that I say, Taochusu, is unique. Much you must have seen on the journey of many steps. And in addition to playing so wonderfully you have hunting stories as well? A friend around a campfire I now know I will most certainly have in the evenings to come," she noted with a grin as she finished up wrapping the cake and slipped it into her pack.

[Taochusu]

While he is not necessarily the most socially adept, mostly tending towards polite enough conversation if sometimes with few manners, one thing he does have is some observational talent. Comes in handy when dangerous animals are lingering near your camp. So the Jin woman's attention on his guqin was not missed.

"Interested in another song?" he asks Miyako. "I don't know what songs you know but if it's among them you can feel free to join in."

[Yoshitsune Nori]

The Crab beamed as Taochusu and Miyako each took a cake.

"I wonder how many of the Crab clan are coming. I'd guess that this place was chosen as a staging location more than anything, but it opens the opportunity up for lots of them to come," he says partially directed at the Crab baker.

"And I never minded a sing along with music."

"Yes, I'm going on the expedition, myself," the Crab replied, setting the platter of cakes down for the moment - within reach of Mizuku, if she wanted one. The cook bowed slightly. "I'm Yoshitsune Nori. I'm glad you and so many others have come to help, some from far away. It's a good omen for the journey."

"And a bit of music will be welcome on the road, I am sure," he added.

[Miyako]

"A pleasure to meet you, Yoshitsune Nori," she greeted the Crab, nodding her head in response to their bow. "Did you make these cakes yourself? They are quite delicious, I must say again: nothing like fresh baked goodness to fill the belly. I hope you will be bringing many more of these along for the journey!" She looked back over to Taochusu.

"Mmm... maybe I know one, but it matters not if our song collections do not cross paths: if one plays some notes for a bit so that I might pick up on a melody, I'll be more than happy to join in with something or another!"

[Taochusu]

"Well, I don't know where the music of my tribe ends and the music of everyone else begins really. But one that seems to be a favorite in most places I go is a drinking song."

He looks down at the guqin and strums a few times to find the rhythm before starting.

D1 EA, Second Perform: Guqin / Agility, Inheritance +1k1, -5 Lost Love, -5 for CR: 7d10o10k5-10 38

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6XAjpEa2r0

[Miyako]

"... now on that I might have heard a couple around a rowdy campfire quite a bit. I'm not much of a partaker myself, but my Uncle Toshi does with the best of them, and he had some most interesting things to say on the matter," Miyako answered, still grinning as she listened in on the notes and the rhythms for a few seconds before joining in, first humming a bit to find her notes in tune with the guqin before joining fully in lyrical song.

"Fleet worldly matters: I laugh at the strain. Quiet, sad feelings are wasted pain.
How to cure sadness: call for wine! When drunk all day bad manners are fine.
Each day of my whole life through, I should drink great pots of brew.
It is such bliss, to cruise the Land of Booze;
Sober, then drunk; drunk and wild as I choose.
Once in the hills I forget big news.~

The sky has a wine star, earth a wine spring; from my cane top many coins swing.
A pool of lees would greatly please; I'd dance tipsily,
Feeling like I'm growing wings, growing wings, becoming divine;
Gaining the Way happily with wine.~"

She left the lyrics at that but sang aloud the notes of the melody in tune with the guqin until the song came to an end, and after it was over Miyako provided her assessment. "Mmm... a little off from not having warmed up properly first. But I think this one I will blame on the lack of actual wine," she stated with a smile.

Perform: Song - 23
Lyrics~

[Taochusu]

"To be honest, I've not had a lot of wine myself. Can't make it myself and I always had more important stuff to trade for. Had some shared at a couple of the villages when I played there, but that's about it," he says. "Though I did get a beer the other day when I got here. Figured if I was going to be tagging along with the expedition, I might as well try some before we headed out. Not gonna be drinking on the expedition after all. Last thing anyone wants is one of the warriors and hunters getting drunk in the middle of a task I imagine."