[D5, EA, Expecting] An Interview with Mr. Crane

[Nanzi]

Satone nods approvingly many times through the lengthy explanation, but also frowns an equal measure.

“Much to think on. Though one must ask, Honor, Duty, Compassion...why have so many rules when you could just say: Be a good person.”

“Because being a good person means many things, if Nanzi say be a good person you may do good things but not all will agree on what those things are. More importantly it is not enough to just be good person, we must be good servants of the Empire, we must be selfless and although this may come naturally to some it will not to all. A code of conduct; a set of rules makes that much easier,” he responded.

“There are several aspects of what it means to be samurai, to be a servant; Compassion, Courage, Courtesy, Duty, Honesty, and Honor are all values that we should aspire to. If we give them names and meaning then all will know what it means to be good, to be samurai, to be a servant of the larger whole to work towards the good of all.”

“Nanzi is here because he has Compassion for his Brother and those that suffer due to the fall. Nanzi has come to this place because he has Courage and seeks adventure and action. Nanzi travels south due to Courtesy, to treat all accordingly with honor even the threats that face us must be given respect. Nanzi is here because it is his Duty, it is what has been asked of him and what he must do. Nanzi speaks with Honesty about his journey, he does not deal in falsehoods. Nanzi is here because Honor demands it, he will do what is right because he is the final arbiter of his own self,” he finished.

“That is more than just being a good person, that is what it means to be samurai.”

[Seidou Satone]

Satone shrugs a little at that.

"Still just sounds like being a good person, though maybe a little more formal. To define it all so closely, you end up leaving things out. I'm afraid that many who have existed for years already with their own ways that work perfectly well for them will be snuffed out due to all of these new rules. You speak of an Empire, and one has to wonder, why should I care what those in the north are doing? Certainly, i wish all to have a good life, but if here in the south we are fighting a battle, I would not wish to send out food off to the north, depriving our warriors of vital nourishment, and the north certainly wouldn't wish to send their own men to fight a war that would never reach them."

"The tribes are good at being ourselves. There has been conflict, and that would be nice to avoid, certainly. But to force all to follow under one banner to an Emperor who does nothing directly for them seems like a large removal of freedom."

[Nanzi]

"Because the Emperor is not responsible for just the North or the South but all and if we could allocate the resources to help your fight here it betters the situation up North if things should ever turn to the worse. The fact that people don't care about the people over the next hill is the very reason or the existence of the Empire. We serve the whole, not just one piece," he replied.

"Fractured tribes can only do so much. A united Empire can accomplish anything."

[Seidou Satone]

"Could not there have been a council? Leaders from all who come together to agree on things? Putting all of the power with just one person seems...fragile."

[Nanzi]

"Could not there have been a council? Leaders from all who come together to agree on things? Putting all of the power with just one person seems...fragile."

“Sure the clans can organize themselves as they see fit, the Kami knew one of them must lead and this is the path that we now walk. We cannot linger on regrets of what could have been,” he responded.

“Power is always fragile be it council or one Emperor, it is the people that serve that make it strong. The Emperor is strong because he has the clans to support him, not because he is the Emperor. He rules, but he does so with the support of those that serve him. Nanzi is curious what freedoms you feel are lost or would lose under the Empire?”

[Seidou Satone]

"It is difficult to explain, and often times I think we will not know what freedoms are lost until they are lost. "

[Nanzi]

"It is difficult to explain, and often times I think we will not know what freedoms are lost until they are lost. "

"Yet you fear this nameless thing?" he asked.

[Doji Kaze]

Kaze frowned. "I was free. Free to hunt what I wished, free to avoid my tribe or suffer a beating. Free to bear my wounds with pride and achieve nothing. But then, that is what many wish. I understand this. Better to live as we always have done than to set it aside for something more fulfilling but that we do not immediately understand. Let no change come, even if it is to heal our wounds and ease our suffering."

His frown disappeared, to be replaced by complete neutrality.

"I do not wish to suffer anymore. My wounds were many, and I was not so enamored of them that I wished to hold them close just to avoid something of which I was afraid. Of course, my entire life was fear. It comforted me and it strangled me. Now, it is gone, and I have gained freedoms that, even if in some philosophical sense I had them, were not accessible to me. The most precious of which is the freedom to discover who I am beneath the wounds that I clung to. In the end, I may transform at last into myself, rather than the thing my tribe and the Shinomen made me."

[Seidou Satone]

"The Kami ask us to trust them to make our lives better, but how can I see that it will be? My life now is good. How can I not fear that they would make it worse? All of us have heard stories of tribes who were taken over by some bloodthirsty chieftain who executed all of the men and children and forced the women to serve, or of the tribes who had to pay so much in tribute that they could not feed themselves. True, that is almost all stories form the long past, but it sticks with us."

Satone looks to Kaze and frowns a little in an empathetic way.

"I am sorry your life was so hard before you found Doji, and I am glad she has truly made it better. But your story is not all of ours."

[Doji Kaze]

"Isn't it?" He tilted his head.

"You fear a tribe coming to slaughter all of your men. That is a wound. When all tribes are one, who will do this? It is not a necessary story. You fear the coming of a tribute so large that the people starve. That is a wound. Not one that you personally have suffered, but one whose pain you feel all the same. When all tribes are one, then all people are one. What good would it do a people to make their own people starve? It is not a necessary story. Your wounds now are different than mine were then, but you cling to them just as tightly. This is an opportunity to let them go. To live without the fear that wounds."

[Seidou Satone]

"I do not fear any tribe coming for the Seidou, we stood firm against enemies both human, and monster. Thogh now so many have gone to the Crab I cannot say if the same will be true for the future, especially if Hida decided to tell us to either join or leave the land."

"What is to stop these new clans from not warring with each other when they disagree? Or stealing from each other? Peoples nature does not change just because they agree to follow someone."

[Nanzi]

“Have you heard tales of the Kami doing such to any tribe? The Crane have not executed anyone, they either choose to serve or they went their own way. Some tribes have been displaced but this is no different than what occurred before but what has been different is that we work to better all within the Empire, not just the few,” he said.

“We are responsible for all; we do not seek tribute or slaves… that would be detestable. We do not desire slaughter; we seek to bring a better tomorrow. If your life is good now then continue as you feel best, but it could be better, but it will require work and sacrifice to make it so. The Empire is nothing like you have seen before, it is a new age.”

“The Kami have gathered followers, the Empire grows day by day and the time of the tribes will end… and we pray peacefully. Instead of hoarding secrets like the Isawa, we seek to bring such luxuries and advancements to all corners of the Empire, with great roads to unite it, large farms, plentiful water, and comfort for those that seek stability. Defended by valiant samurai, who serve at the behest of the whole to make sure each day is better than those that came before.”

He finished with, “Nanzi knows it is not an easy dream but it is one that brings the most good, it is the one that he is willing to die for so his children can continue the great work.”

[Seidou Satone]

Satone takes it all in, saying nothing for a while. She looks to her charge, Haruyo, to see if she has any inputs.

[Seidou Haruyo]

Haruyo sat and listened, there was a difference to the way Nanzi spoke of such things which was far different than any person she had yet spoken with. This was only to be expected because all of those which she has spoken previously were Seidou now following Hida, or those who have not yet committed. Beyond that they were yet far less eloquent of words.

Now however, she stirred from her thought as she felt some attention on her once more. With the breath of an opportunity she asked a most seemingly innocent question: "What is your wife's favorite food?"

[Nanzi]

“Nanzi would like to say it is the cookies he makes for tea, she does adore them, but she always favors lighter meals of vegetables and fruits and subtle flavors. Nanzi suspects if she could survive on tea alone, she would,” he joked.

“Nanzi prefers bold flavors, and good flatbreads to sop up the juices. What do you prefer?” he offered back to his guests.

[Seidou Haruyo]

"There was once a way my mother would cook meats that she had brought to her that I fancied greatly as a child. A spiced meat that greatly appealed to the tongue. It was not a meal she prepared often but when the chance came about she would offer to me it as a treat for having performed well in my studies," she replied. Holding off on continuing while she offered the others a chance to maintain their conversation alongside.

[Nanzi]

"There is nothing quite like the cooking of family, my Nana could make the best meals," he said proudly.

[Doji Kaze]

Kaze, of course, had no experience of anything like this. Having had no appreciable family to cook for him, he had glutted himself on stolen goodies as a boy and learned to apply fire to animals he had killed until they turned brown or black when he slipped away to live on his own. For now, he just kept turning his spit.

[Seidou Haruyo]

Haruyo mulled her thought over, knowing Setsuna was yet beside her she remarked, "I had thought there was another among us," she said, with a shrug. However, there was the whisper in the way she held herself she yet knew that they'd not been deserted but merely that other members had been far more quiet.

"No, there is not. Have you shared such wonderful childhood stories with your wife?" she asked, directing her voice toward his. "What have you thought of them, I wonder."

[Nanzi]

“Nanzi has told the tales enough that he is sure that Doji could recite them word for word, he is proud of his people even if they were not always proud of him. Doji Jigutsuji was of my people,” he gestured to the man at his side, his skin dark as well though not so much as Nanzi.


Jigutsuji spoke warmly, "Doji-ue speaks of her time before the fall, it is difficult to explain as time does not flow in the Heavens the same as here, things that seem like moments could take a thousand summers but there was goodness and order. She was close to her siblings, and she has great respect for her parents, especially her mother.”

“To make a long story short, her father, Lord Moon fell into a mania or madness and coveted the affection his wife gave to the children and devoured them all but Hantei-ue. He was spared by his mother using an enchanted rock to trick the maddened God. One of the children died in his gullet but the rest remained there for how long, who can say. We that would be known as man and the tribes had only just appeared on this world.”

He continued, “Hantei-ue was trained and then challenged his father and cut his siblings free but they fell from the Heavens into Ningen-do, all but one the fallen star we go to save now, known as Fu Leng. Her father grabbed him and Hantei-ue had to sever the arm but he too fell. It is unclear why Hantei-ue and the others fell away from Fu Leng but it matters not now. Perhaps they fell for a thousand years, maybe a hundred but when they arrived the simple beings were now the tribes of the Protected Lands and the rest is as you know.”

“Fu Leng though, his fate was to be alone, and his fall has placed him in a dark place, and we must save him from the greatest evil we have ever encountered.”