[D7, LM] Don't be koi! (Open)

[Tamori Kanna]

Dressed in a modest white blouse and green skirt, Kanna toured the Kuni garden along with Kaida. Igoro somewhere behind as he was a bit awestruck by the diversity on display in the garden and was tapping on his densai to take notes.

Kanna had heard there was a large and very old koi fish that lived in the waters here, and she hoped to see him! Or her!

[Yasuki Taraka]

Dressed in a modest white blouse and green skirt, Kanna toured the Kuni garden along with Kaida. Igoro somewhere behind as he was a bit awestruck by the diversity on display in the garden and was tapping on his densai to take notes.

Kanna had heard there was a large and very old koi fish that lived in the waters here, and she hoped to see him! Or her!

The koi was elusive, but there was a carp! Having enjoyed a lovely tea and tête-à-tête, Taraka decided to take some time to enjoy the gardens. She spotted the Dragon fishing with her eyes, and approached.

"Good morning, Tamori-san. Lovely day for a stroll, ne?" she offered with a bow.

[Tamori Kanna]

"Good morning, Tamori-san. Lovely day for a stroll, ne?" she offered with a bow.

"Good morning, Yasuki-san!" Kanna greeted cheerfully, and bowed in return. "It is a very nice day today, yes! I thought it was a wonderful chance to see if I got spot this ancient koi that lives in the castle garden here. I only saw the holo-koi here on the first night a week ago!"

The Dragon giggled softly. "I'm Tamori Kanna and this is my companion Kaida," she indicated the pomeranian by her feet who was sniffing around some plant, "it's a pleasure to meet another member of the Crab!"

[Yasuki Taraka]

"Good morning, Yasuki-san!" Kanna greeted cheerfully, and bowed in return. "It is a very nice day today, yes! I thought it was a wonderful chance to see if I got spot this ancient koi that lives in the castle garden here. I only saw the holo-koi here on the first night a week ago!"

The Dragon giggled softly. "I'm Tamori Kanna and this is my companion Kaida," she indicated the pomeranian by her feet who was sniffing around some plant, "it's a pleasure to meet another member of the Crab!"

"The pleasure is mine, Tamori-san. I am Yasuki Taraka of Flying Battle Carps." she offers.

She smiles a bit at the Pomeranian.

"He looks like a very good boy indeed. It's always nice to have some cuteness in the morning." she says, definitely finding the dog cute.

[Tamori Kanna]

"The pleasure is mine, Tamori-san. I am Yasuki Taraka of Flying Battle Carps." she offers.

She smiles a bit at the Pomeranian.

"He looks like a very good boy indeed. It's always nice to have some cuteness in the morning." she says, definitely finding the dog cute.

"He is indeed a very good boy!" Kanna confirms with great enthusiasm to her voice. "I've heard of Flying Battle Carps. I know my clan-kin, Kitsuki Ichitaiyo-san, has bought a Carp... Drone...? She's bought one to learn how to fly it and compete!"

What did they call the actual flying battle carps?

[Yasuki Taraka]

"He is indeed a very good boy!" Kanna confirms with great enthusiasm to her voice. "I've heard of Flying Battle Carps. I know my clan-kin, Kitsuki Ichitaiyo-san, has bought a Carp... Drone...? She's bought one to learn how to fly it and compete!"

What did they call the actual flying battle carps?

Taraka nodded.

"She has indeed. She seemed a little skeptical at first, but once she got to try flying one, she was rarin' to go." she related.

"She seems like quite an exemplary samurai, even if she did not much care for the jade chef competition."

She looked back towards the Dragon.

"How have you been finding the various competitions, Tamori-san? Any particular favorites?"

[Tamori Kanna]

snip

"Really? I am so happy for her to hear that! I'm afraid I'm a bit too clumsy myself to control delicate flying drones," she laughed a bit nervously at that. Delicate toys had never had a good track record with her.

"My favorite? Hmmmm... I did really enjoy the First Market, because it was so wonderful to see everyone gathered together like that and work to the benefit of the young ones. It was really sweet. But I had a lot of fun with the roleplay, and the Jade Chef too! If I had to choose it would probably be the First Market, but I've had a great time with everything your clan has offered to us to participate in. Truly!"

Kanna had done pretty well helping out Little Kanna at the market. Not as well as the top scorers, but well. She did seem genuinely delighted about the cozy event the Yasuki had let them participate in.

"I greatly look forward to today's challenge! I understand it's some sort of obstacle course?"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka nodded.

"Indeed it is. Tsuneo's Shiro has existed since the informator came on to the market. Though this will be the first time since it's creation that it will have samurai competing in it. Thematically, it's loosely based on some of the challenges the warriors of the Crab faced back on the home world. So a lot of running and balancing and other obstacles to overcome."

She looked the short Dragon over curiously.

"Will you be competing in it, Tamori-san?" she asked, genuinely curious.

[Tamori Kanna]

"Of course! I want to take part in all the challenges that have been arranged for us. Maybe I'll make it through, maybe not, but it's fun to participate." Nothing was going to stop her from attending these events!

"I think I'll probably end up in some mud pool or trip somewhere, but it's all in good fun. And it's a good way to learn what the Crab Clan find entertaining, fun, or important! I didn't know roleplaying games were so important to your clan, Yasuki-san."

Leech-wraiths still sounded a bit odd to her, but it had been a fun night pretending to be some sort of creature of the night. And everyone had been so creative and inventive in their appearances.

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka grinned.

"It sounds a little bit odd when you put it that way, Tamori-san, but arguably, it has some roots in the old tradition of Draw Lot plays, though it has certainly wildly diverged from it's origin. A big rule of the old draw lots was "No Shadowlands" and some people think Leech-Wraiths are a pretty thinly veiled excuse to skirt around that. But it's a silly way to blow off steam while drawing upon some of our skills we normally use and dialing them up to ridiculous." she explains.

She glanced about just in case the elusive koi showed up.

"What do you do for fun back where you're from, Tamori-san? Surely it's not all sitting on roof-tops while contemplating your navel as some have joked."

[Tamori Kanna]

Kanna had forgotten about the elusive koi, but in the meantime Kaida had caught the scent of something and wandered off... with Igoro following behind, picking up the leash, and making sure the dog didn't a) get into trouble, and b) cause trouble.

"Oh, it makes sense when you put it like that!" she nodded, taking in Taraka's reasoning. "Letting off steam is important!"

The comment did make her laugh. "Nah, that would just be the Togashi," she joked back. "Games are popular, from videogames or cardgames like Fantasy Fight. Going to the swimming pool is popular with the Tonbo, and I've done that a lot myself! Hiking too!"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka nodded.

"Ah, I think I did sere you at the Fantasy Fight tournament didn't I?" she remarked. "I got through the qualifiers and getting to grind that smug Spider's deck of machinations was the highlight of the tournament for me. I'm not terribly serious about the game, I just picked it up so I could help out at Player Station Plus from time to time when they needed another person to round out tournament numbers."

She watched with some amusement as the servant chased the doggo about.

"What is your deck themed around?"

[Tamori Kanna]

"You did! Sadly, I didn't make it through the qualifiers - Kuni Sumie-san's deck was really tough to beat!"

Never mind the fact that she had lost her cards.

"The Nesting Dragon Eggs!" She exclaimed proudly. "It uses these egg-cards that generate dragons with flying, and that brings back the eggs after they've been used to be used again, causing a swarm of flying dragon-creatures that attacks. They're not very tough on their own, but you can get a lot of them and overwhelm the opposing deck, and since they're Flying they're not easily blocked either!"

It was an old meta for sure, but it checked out.

---

OOC: Imagine a swarm deck in old L5R or Magic the Gathering.

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka smiled.

"Ah, so you got taken out by the second place winner, and I got taken out by the 1st place winner. No shame in being beaten by the best. I've seen Flying Dragon Eggs run at Player Station Plus. I'm pretty sure I've heard every egg related taunt by now, 'Don't count your Dragons eggs before they hatch,' 'That deck's not all it's cracked up to be' 'You've really got egg on your face.' she listed off.

She shook her head.

"I run Merchants and Mercenaries. The mercenaries go to the opponent's side at first with ever increasing upkeep while the merchants delay and stall the attacks. Eventually the mercenary upkeep goes beyond what they can afford, and they come back to my side, the longer they stayed over there the stronger they are for me." she explained.

[Tamori Kanna]

That did elicit a good laugh from her. "I love those jokes, and I don't think I've heard them all yet!" she admitted with a giggle.

As Taraka explained her deck, Kanna listened along, nodding a few times. "Oh, that sounds like a fun deck! That's a rather clever mechanic there. I think I've played against similar decks, but not quite like that. It's so great that this game allows for such a huge range of different decks!"

With only a few actually being viable at any given time in the current meta.

"But, to change from cards a bit, I imagine the influx of guests has been good for business? Flying Battle Carps is pretty popular from what I hear!"

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka grinned.

"Well, they're not flying off the shelves," she punned. "But they're decently popular and have given me a chance to meet a lot of movers and shakers amongst the tourists. It's been quite nice actually, meeting new folks. Some of them are even making plans to move in."

She looked to the Dragon.

"So you know what I do for my Duty, Tamori-san. What is it you do when you're not out looking adorable with a dog and hunting for koi?" she asked.

[Tamori Kanna]

"I'm a brand ambassador for my family's business, the Usagi no Yomogi Spa. It's a medical spa, that also offers traditional treatments based on old recipes from the homeworld of Rokugan, combined with modern science in medicine and dermatology!" Kanna explained with great pride in her family's business. "So it was only natural for them to send me to a gathering such as this."

Brand ambassador kind of fit with the job of trying to establish a new branch office.

"We only have presence in Dragon space at the moment, but reaching out to our allies to build further seemed natural, I think. And Nakahama is so wonderful, I really hope it will happen! I'd love to maybe be posted here in the future."

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka nodded.

"Oh that would be nice, Tamori-san. Have you gotten a chance to check out the related areas about Nakahama? Natsuzora is famous, but Ryu river is a hidden gem. Oh, and you should definitely check out the products on offer at Pearl Beuty Boutique. I've got neighbors who swear by their skin care products." she asked.

[Tamori Kanna]

As Taraka listed off each sight, Kanna nodded along.

"I've been staying at the Natsuzora, and it is absolutely wonderful there, and the Ryu River is great too especially since it's a natural hot spring! Shame about the volcano lizard that showed up there though... it did make a big mess." At least no one had died!

"Oh, and I've been to the Pearl Boutique too! I loved it! Pearls also have such a long history in cosmetics; I bet they use some of the old recipes that called for ground up pearls, adding it to powders and creams." Kanna made a note of talking more about that with the Pearl Beauty-staff.

"And I've been to so many locations and shops while here, it's sometimes hard to find the time between all the arrangements provided by Yasuki-dono and meeting other guests, but my time here has been spent doing research. If Usagi no Yomogi would be a harmonious addition to Nakahama, divining the best location for it, and getting to know the locals too. I just wish there were more hours in the day so I could really get to know everyone!"

But Kanna smiled happily. "I think the relaxing atmosphere of the island would be excellent for a medical spa, maybe somewhere near the foot of mount Nakahama if possible so that we can provide a different atmosphere than Natsuzora. We wouldn't want to cause any discord with local businesses after all."

[Yasuki Taraka]

Taraka laughed.

"Ah isn't that the way though, Tamori-san? You're on a relaxing island surrounded by opportunities aplenty, and you have not enough time to take it all in." she offered.

"But some of our 'guests' are already committing to longer term stays. Kakita Haruhi might be here a few years working on her artwork involving the native wildlife, Asako Hikari wants to open his own business here, Kitsuki Ichitaiyo is thinking of becoming a private investigator on the island."

She grinned.

"Clearly, if you want to meet everyone and enjoy everything, you're going to have to find a way to extend your time with us."