The Day of Thunder

The dragon made his way to the Crab delegation after some of them had agreed to meet him for a Draw Lot play. The one at winter court was a smashing success so it made sense to make a repeat now.

If improving morale was the goal then this could be a great step towards it.

He looked around and spotted the crab banners, tents located in one of the best strategic location available.

Always on guard

One of the Crab warriors, a short woman with young features and a neat ponytail, was doing weapon drills with an axe, but stopped when she saw Wu Zhe approaching.

"Ahh, good morning," the Crab said, bowing politely. "I'm called Yoshitsune Ayako. Can I help you?"

sparring with someone as diminutive as Ayako was always good practice, because Takuma was really the one that was a giant. Though, in battles, she was on the smaller side of the people he'd encountered. He let his head of his tetsubo drop to the ground, and looked around to see the Dragon coming their way. "Hello. I am called Kaiu Takuma."

''Oh! Hello and good morning to you both.'' came as the dragon's reply until he got closer and bowed to them both ''Yoshitsune-san, Kaiu-san. It is a pleasure. I am Wu Zhe.''

''If it is not an inopportune moment I would like to talk to your delegation about organizing a draw lot play for the festival''

Wu Zhe wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 28, 2023 1:04 am

''Oh! Hello and good morning to you both.'' came as the dragon's reply until he got closer and bowed to them both ''Yoshitsune-san, Kaiu-san. It is a pleasure. I am Wu Zhe.''

''If it is not an inopportune moment I would like to talk to your delegation about organizing a draw lot play for the festival''

Tai'd been watching the pair. Not so much to offer advice as to offer assistance if a blow was misjudged and caused serious injury. She pulls herself up off the stone she'd used as a seat, waits for her joints to re-align, and stumps over. "Didn't know we had a reputation as entertainers." The dark on dark eyes examine the Dragon curiously.

Zhe felt an unknown pressure on him when the old lady adressed him.

''I was lead to believe that the draw lot play was something of a Crab tradition at the last Winter Court I attended. One named Yoshitsune Chizu organised it and it was a smash hit''

Wu Zhe wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 28, 2023 1:02 pm

''I was lead to believe that the draw lot play was something of a Crab tradition at the last Winter Court I attended. One named Yoshitsune Chizu organised it and it was a smash hit''

"Oh~~!" Ayako sounded startled, then attempted to compose herself.

"That does sound like something Chizu would've done," she admitted. "We aren't exactly at Imperial Court, though. But how can we help?"

Tai nods at Ayako's words. "We're still gettin' folks who weren't part of a clan last year, let alone the ones my age who've got all their village and tribe traditions. Dragon might be small enough to have themselves some real ones, but we're still a jumble there. Gotta focus more on workin' out food and defense of the border yet."

"But there's plenty of stuff goin' on with this festival. Visitors with their music and so forth. Seems likely to be somethin' that could happen if folks have time to focus on anythin' beyond what's headed our way."

Naraku crept towards the meeting, his face seemingly conflicted. The man was dour and could be a boor and most likely has certainly spoken ill about the more elegant arts, yet all the same, he had decided to make an appearance.

"I guess you are Wu Zhe," he then looked at his gathered clansmates. "I guess we are hoping to give some semblance of normalcy to the people?"

"That seems a correct way of proceeding," he cleared his throat, hoping to hide the slight blush.

''Ah! We Wu are quite the mosaic as well, perhaps more so, still it seems the play was beloved enough to have had a lasting impact on how many view your clan.''

He bowed to the new comer

''Yes I am and right you are. The festival is designed to raised the spirits of the people who are to partake in the cleansing...fight fear with cheer, in a way. A draw lot play seemed to me to be the perfect way to do just that.''

Wu Zhe wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 28, 2023 5:08 pm

''Yes I am and right you are. The festival is designed to raised the spirits of the people who are to partake in the cleansing...fight fear with cheer, in a way. A draw lot play seemed to me to be the perfect way to do just that.''

"Well, the rules are simple enough," Ayako said. "All you need is a helmet, some paper and some people willing to play-act and maybe look a little silly. A bowl will do if you don't have a helmet."

Yoshitsune Ayako wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 28, 2023 5:12 pm

"Well, the rules are simple enough," Ayako said. "All you need is a helmet, some paper and some people willing to play-act and maybe look a little silly. A bowl will do if you don't have a helmet."

"Yep. Same's kids playin' pretend. Don't even need paper if folks just want to declare "I'm a goat! I'm a bandit!" and run with it. Paper's for adults who're out of practice"

Naraku smiles, remembering the games he used to play with his twin. "I always ended up playing the bear, or the bandit, or the ogre..."

"Would be good to play the hero for once"

"Ah! I disagree, venerable Crab-sama, the papers are essential!" The dragon affirmed

"The lucky of the draw brings many unique and interesting combinaisons. That is part of the fun!"

"I do think drawing lots helps," Ayako agreed. "On our own, most of us wouldn't play an old fool, or a rascally thief - it might seem too shameful. But if we have to, because of the luck of the draw, why, that's another story."

"mmmhmm. That's fun for adults. Kids seem a bit more often upset if they don't get to be the bear they wanted...they'll get the slip that says they're a guard and declare themselves a bear guard, you know?" Tai nods, then grins up at Ayako. "Hey now, some've us don't have much choice about that old fool part."

"Anyway, I'm sure it'll lift some spirits."

''I will ask lady Chouri for her help in setting up a stage. While my panda, Shou, acting in one I never actually organized one. Do we need a special theme before hand of the stage master improvised as much as the actors?''

Wu Zhe wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 29, 2023 1:33 am

''Do we need a special theme before hand of the stage master improvised as much as the actors?''

"You might want to come up with a general plot for the story, to give the actors some idea of what they're supposed to do," Ayako suggested. "Just to give them a direction to start in. Usually people will start making up their own story before too long."

Tai nods. "Anything more'n a simple bit's too much planning. Won't stick. Like 'here's the tale of how the village of Two Rivers dealt with an ogre,' and folks are off and runnin'"

The dragon nodded

''Yes, this makes sense'' he took out a piece of paper and wrote it down ''That is a good start...'' he pondered for a second ''...I'll need to find a cosmetic kit''

''Well, thank you all for the help. I was thinking of trying to run the play tomorrow, do you think it's feasible? Once the stage is settled I do not see any more time issues''