Sapphire Ambassadors

Well, this morning was pretty stressful, what with all the paperwork, moving heavy loads and absolutely vital meetings. Thankfully there is a place that happens to serve a tea dark enough to keep anyone awake. So off to the Opening Blossom this crab goes.

Choudai had largely made up his mind which tea house was his favorite, but he didn't want to commit fully without having at least sampled one of the others.

And Fortunes knew, the way his day was going, he needed to take the edge off.

He found the Opening Blossom quite pleasant in its way, even if he knew right off that it wasn't going to alter his plans too materially. Still, the cherry blossom motif was damned pleasant.

That said, there's such a thing as being too seasonal...

After his run-in with that groundskeeper, he wasn't too keen on the floral tea he might otherwise have tried, and had his eye on the oolong instead.

Spotting the Crab samurai, he felt a momentary reflexive pang, stamped it down, smiled, and offered a bow.

"Good afternoon, Kaiu-san. I do not believe we have been formally introduced. This one is Bayushi Choudai. Have you had rice today?"

Noticing the scorpion approach, he halts his attempt to order in an effort to be polite. "Indeed we have not, our duties have called us to separate corners up to this point. This one is Kaiu Kunio, and has indeed been blessed by Inari."

"That's good to know. My sensei always said breakfast was extra important to a bushi, since it was often the only meal you could count on with any reliability..."

He signaled for his tea, and moved closer.

"... and my Grandmother always agreed. I believe I saw Kaiu-san earlier today, during that business with the supplies?"

"Indeed you did, I figured since supplies were coming in from my station, I might as well offer to share the boon with my competitors. It is a gift indeed for the Imperial Legion to grant me this opportunity to see the splendors our hosts have to offer. However, I would be remiss if we did not take this opportunity to clear our minds. "

"Ah, so Kaiu-san is with the Imperial Legions?"

Choudai nodded in some sort of general-bushi approval.

"Then you are no stranger to pressure."

"I think it would be hard to find a crab who is a stranger to pressure. However, like all who serve diligently, we are part of a far greater force because of it." With that, tea for 2 comes, not prepared yet upon the Kaiu's request, but the ingredients are already prepared for a tea ceremony, and with that Kaiu sends a silent invitation for the scorpion to join.

Choudai took the offered seat with a poliute bow.

"It will be interesting to see how matters here shake out. May I ask what Kaiu-san's duties with the Legions are? Call it professional interest- I have served in the armies of the Scorpion among the quartermaster's staff."

D1 MA, tea to calm the nerves and recover void point, Tea Ceremony/void TN 15 | 4k3 ⇒ 31 (TN: 15) (Void Point recovered)

The ceremony completed in clear concise steps, each portion well portioned and with no waste. "What a coincidence, I too served a quarter master. The resources of a lord go twice as far when you have a good craftsman amongst your ranks, farther if he is a Kaiu. What good fate the Scorpion wield with one who knows his way around the markets such as yourself."

"Kaiu-san is too gracious. I admit, feeding an army is less aesthetic than feeding a small group of guests, but the broad strokes are identical. Ingredients must be sourced, secured, transported and prepared, and with the utmost care for other potential calls upon one's lird's resources."

He chuckled.

"Alas, this one is no engineer. Better roads would have saved a great deal of trouble in our last war."

"The thing about roads is that everyone values them, but without the dedication of a thousand hands, there isn't much hope of making one that would last. That and the time it takes to make one, especially in a mountain, means that it is an investment which requires great patience to make." He takes another sip of his tea, "now compare that to agriculture, in half a year you make a product that is immediately useful to everyone, that you can move wherever it would be most potent, and can be done with far less hands, no?"

"I certainly know more about the latter than the former."

He chuckled.

"But yes, it's often easier to find food than to move it efficiently."