The Day of Thunder

"Oh, that Bayushi," she replies, her tone unimpressed. "I don't know him, either."

Soju takes a moment to look Ai over again. "You don't look like the daughter of a god. Can you throw lightning bolts or summon storms with a whistle? Must be something, hmm?"

Soju nods in understanding. "A family member among the Scorpion, even better. Do you know which tribe Ojisan belonged to before falling in with the sky-gods?"

As Ai clarifies her calling, Soju gives her a skeptical look. "You must not be married, then."

Soju purses her lips in thought. "I do not believe I know a Bayushi Ojisan, but I am pleased to hear that you have a friend in my Clan." "Not to pry in your business, but you just... felt like you should visit a small village in the northern mountains? And then you followed that urge?" Her voice did...

Soju looks up as she hears the new arrival, but waits for her to get settled and make introductions before speaking.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Nanzi Ai." Sitting up, she affects a faint bow. "I am Haka Soju, of the Scorpion. Is that a local hiking trail of some sort?"

I made a bath thread if anyone wants to steam themselves.

Given the chill in the air and the fog that seemed to enshroud the village, a hot bath seemed like the perfect way to relax. Soju had draped her bone-ladden clothes over the branch of a nearby tree, put her hair up, and sunken into the steaming water. She wasn't sure which of the tribes had come up ...

"Yes. I have only been a Scorpion for a few years, though. My homeland is found in what is now the southern lands of the Kirin. This feels more like home than my current home." She rubs her arms. "Perhaps a bit more chilly, though that could be the fog, or your ghosts." "What of yourself? Your Clan ...

Soju listens attentively as he speaks. "I do not... like the idea of exposing others to spirits in such a way, but you seem to be treating your situation with great care. I truly hope that you find some solution to put the spirits to rest in a more acceptable place " "If I encounter any of the Chusu...

"I have not heard of the Chusu," she admits. "There is a chance that one among the Clans may have belonged to their number, but many of the younger samurai have chosen to turn their backs on their roots." Soju glances down at the memorial beside her and allows her grip on it to loosen. "Consider wha...

Soju shakes her head. "Some things should be forgotten."

It was time to change the subject. She was already gripping the top of the monument so tightly that it turned her knuckles white. "The ghosts that haunt you. Can you tell them apart from each other?"

"Do not involve the Haka or those who were once Shojj," she warns. "It is like adding rotten vegetables to a soup. A meal cannot sustain if the ingredients are rotten. Nothing we did in that forest should be repeated."

"Find a new way. The forest must be silenced, yes. But not like we did."

"Yes, Haka. She was once a Shoji as well. It is because of her that so many of us went to the Scorpion. Perhaps in error." There was a faint shrug. "I have never met Bayushi, and Haka has never spoken of him. The other Scorpion speak highly of him. As for the masks..." She makes a gesture to her unm...

"The empire is very good at asking and taking. Less good at giving." She let that linger for a moment before changing the subject. "Ryoshun is the dead one, yes? Of the sky-gods, I mean. I only know of Bayushi and Shiba in any great detail. And the Spider-god that was pulled from the deep hole in th...

"Newer ghosts," she said, nodding in thought. "That might explain their docile natures. That frustration they feel, it builds over time, becoming violence and then mindless slaughter." After a moment, she smiled thinly. "Or so the priests claimed. I cannot claim to know for certain." "The Shoji were...

She watched him in silence for a long moment, then nodded once. "When I was a Shoji, I would sing to the spirits of the dead. It reminded them of their past lives, kept them... quiet." "This - " She gestured toward Huan in an all-encompassing way, "- is something we saw from time to time. A spirit w...

She turned toward his voice, somewhat surprised to see him, but not startled. "You are not a disturbance," she assured him, her own tribal accent still noticeable. "And I am not a local." She paused to look past him, then refocused her attention on Huan and made a quick warding gesture. "You are tra...

The misty graveyard filled with the soft sound of a woman's voice as she sang a slow, mournful song. "Another turning point, A fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. So make the best of this test, And don't ask why; It's not a question, But a lesson learned in ...

Haka Soju Clan: Scorpion Age: 40 Gender: Female Height: 5'6" Build: Average Hair: Long and dark, worn in tribal braids and loops Eye: Brown (missing right eye) Occupation: Spiritsinger / Performer Marital status: Widow Haka Soju is a recent member of the Scorpion Clan, having only joined in the pas...

Year 12, Summer Shoji Soju stood on the porch of her hut, watching her four-year-old daughters play in the dirt. Mai was chasing her sister around with a handful of mud, and Mika was screaming in feigned terror as she tried to escape a muddy doom. Other villagers kept checking on them, drawn by the...

This feels pretty on-point for Soju. Hello, there The angel from my nightmare The shadow in the background of the morgue The unsuspecting victim Of darkness in the valley We can live like Jack and Sally if we want Where you can always find me And we'll have Halloween on Christmas And in the night, ...