[Day 7, EM] The Underground

[Hanzou]

"A little." he nodded. "We haven't interacted much with the denizens of tsiiiisss Jigoku. There aren't many paths from there to the mortal realm. Not until the Kami fell. I've come krerch to learn what I can about how bad this situation is."

"There was so a request, from the sketk other fallen Kami, to watch over his followers." he added.

[Miyako]

"If what they say of this 'Jigoku' realm-place around the campfire is to be believed, maybe that is for the best," she said, looking down a tunnel jutting off the one they currently walked, though she kept moving when she realized it was another dead-end alley-type side tunnel full of houses.

"The other Kami, the ones who are siblings of this Fu Leng named one we venture to rescue: have you had chance to meet any of them in person yet?" she asked. "I have not, but curious what they are like."

[Hanzou]

He shook his head. "I haven't, but I'd like keet to. I'm curious about their feelings towards shick spirits."

[Miyako]

"As ones from another realm - and the heavenly one at that - maybe they have a wealth of knowledge on the realms and spirits to offer and discuss. Or at least I think they would: they seem to know a lot about a lot of things from what I hear," she reasoned to him (and to herself) while she continued to walk, pausing briefly to look down yet another tunnel-alley of homes before continuing onward.

"Have your tribes people found reason to join the cause of any one of them since their arrival all those seasons ago?"

[Hanzou]

He shook his head. "My people have avoided the tribes of man for the seeesk most part and I suspect they'd prefer to continue doing so. But, these Kami are skist something I think they'll have to consider."

[Miyako]

"Mmm, I see," Miyako acknowledged. "I have heard over the past seasons how some of the tribes have almost to a person favored one or another, some being split... and then there are those like my own, the Chinsei, that have taken a more cautious approach for various reasons. That being said, though, even a good half of my cousins have found appeal in the one called Bayushi and his tribe-clan thing, and I think my other cousins are waiting to hear word from the first half and see how they do before they make their own considerations." The tunnel took a small bend to the right and out in front of them appeared to be the exit into what looked like another cavern area.

"Do you think your people might consider one in particular over another under some specific circumstance? Like if they were understanding and knew how to work with your gift, or they themselves took great interest in matters of the spirit and of the realms?"

[Hanzou]

"I'm not sure." he admitted. "They have a connection to the other screeee fallen Kami, Ryoshun, but his followers are located far to the north. I don't think we'd want to leave the kirrr valley, not unless there was a need for our guidance elsewhere. Regardless, it would depend greatly on the clan's attitude hrist towards spirits."

[Miyako]

"The Fallen One... it would make sense if it is true that he already dwells elsewhere in lands not our own. I would hate to move across the whole of the land if it was a place where I had no connection though. If half my tribe left the forest for some desert taking an entire season on foot to get to for some unknown promises and future and changing their whole life around a new climate in the process... well, I'm not sure if I would be inclined to do the same. But I admit, it's not something I've thought too much about before," she said as she stepped out of the tunnel into the cavernous area. It appeared to be quite similar to the one they had just left: high ceiling with all the walls containing what looked like lots more tunnels jutting off in different directions.

"What about that other mysterious one -Togashi I think it is? I have heard some story about how he is quite gifted too, very wise, knowledge in lots of subjects, contemplative, all those sorts of things... or at least those that follow him have said as much. But unlike how we have his siblings Shinjo and Hantei that lead this expedition for their brother and we might go up to them and greet them and learn from them, he seems... less approachable?" She didn't know how to quite put that...

[Hanzou]

"I'll have to ask about shissss him and all the others." he nodded. "The nezumi do seem to have several of these krikt large chambers."

[Miyako]

"That they do..." Miyako responded as she wandered away from the tunnel they had come from and went to check out the one next to it. "Hey, check this out... mushrooms!" she exclaimed and waved one hand at Hanzou while pointing down the tunnel with the other. The tunnel in front of her was very shallow in length, perhaps fifteen steps from entrance to the back of it, with mushrooms of various sizes and colors in large groupings, like mushrooms contained together, close to either wall and a clear path in the middle to walk up and down without disturbing the mushroom patches.

"They didn't grow like that, right? Otherwise I think they'd be all mixed in with one another all over the place. You think this might be some sort of garden of sorts?"

[Hanzou]

He crouched to look them over. "I think you're right. They don't look like they're skreek growing wild. I kicht wonder what else they grow."

[Miyako]

"Don't know too much about farming 'sides the basics: water, dirt, and the light of Lady Sun. And I don't see a lot of Lady Sun's light around," she said, looking up at the tall cavern ceiling and seeing no obvious openings that would allow light to shine through, at least not in this particular cavern.

"Maybe they do a lot of foraging and scrounging nearby, hunt and eat a lot of meat too. Or maybe they do some amount of farming but it's all done on the surface and the food brought and stored down here: the cool air in some of these caves might even help preserve the food. I can't tell if this is for food or... maybe decoration? Like how in the city I saw this one house with a garden where the person was growing flowers rather than vegetables, and someone told me people do that to make things look... pretty? Seemed like a not-so-great use of good food-growing soil to me, though," she said with a shrug of the shoulders.

[Hanzou]

"Some mushrooms crikt glow. That could be pretty" he shrugged. "They could grow fungus for sseeess food, though. Mushrooms and truffles."

[Miyako]

"Oooh, I didn't know that!" she exclaimed about the glowing. "They do come in all sorts of colors and shapes and sizes. I need to do a better job at remembering some of the words and phrases my aunt said about some of them, the ones that let you know which were safe to eat, which were poison, which weren't all that appetizing but were great use when smashed with some other things in a medicine." The tribeswoman looked behind her. "Hey, check that out - I think that's another one!" she said, pointing across the cavern towards another tunnel that looked like it had the same short distance, the entrance to that one having a shroom or two pop out into the cavern area. "I think..."

Miyako quickly left the front of the tunnel they stood in and went to next one, looked into it, then jogged over to the next one beyond that before coming to a stop. "Ha! I knew it! Take a look around - except for the tunnel we came through and maybe one or two others, all of the ones in here I think are also full of mushrooms! I think we're right - this is either some sort of underground garden, either for display or likely for food!"

[Hanzou]

He nodded. "I'm theesth pretty sure these are fine to eat. And, the sisk nezumi might be able to eat some we can't. They're very resourceful."

[Miyako]

"No doubt about that," Miyako said with a nod. "But I think we know what these large caverns might be used for now. Some seem to be transit spots, like a lot of roads meeting in one spot. Others are like this one, a garden of sorts, spots to grow things or store things. And like those little side tunnels of homes we saw, I bet you there are caverns just like that with short house-tunnels all over them - the equivalent of a neighborhood in a city, I think! And I bet the market is a large cavern too, like the town square filled with stalls. There are probably a couple other uses that we haven't come across, but it's neat to find that they all have some purpose or another," she rattled off in assessment.

"Well, this was certainly fun, and thanks for letting me tag along! But I think I could use some fresh air and go about exploring the surface too. Wanna find a couple more of these with me on the way up though? Maybe we'll find one even more interesting than this mushroom one," she asked with a grin.

/scene?

[Hanzou]

He nodded. "Seeing the creess sky again would be nice."

/scene