The New Winds

Ikoma Eichiro sits at the desk in the room he shares with his brother, Nijiro. Pinned at the head of the desk is a set of words.

'Lion', 'Crane', 'summer', 'pass', and 'they' are carefully written on the page, like a strange word bank.

Eichiro has a stack of blank pages of different colors, and several bottles of ink and a couple brushes set aside. He is likely going to be at this for a while, but for some reason he seems motivated. Hot strong spiced tea steams in a cup on the desk. He takes a sip, and begins to write.

Nijiro slides the door back, walking into the simple room and discarding some of his outerwear. He turns to his brother to see what he is doing at this late night, placing his discarded clothes back in the chest with his items from home.

"Hey, Bro, whats up? the poem competition got you down?"

"Oh no, nailed it." Eichiro replies absently, "I had good inspiration from this morning so I went with that."

He writes a few more characters on the page, finishing his thought. "Cubs in, Lions out." He says, nodding towards the door as he checks the window for anyone nearby.

Nijiro face grows stern at that comment, and he nods, grabbing something heavy that clangs as he pushes it under his kimono

Day 4 LE hiding something under kimono: 9d10o10k4 43

(let me know if you beat this with a per investigation)

"One second"

He rushes out the door and is gone for a few minutes, only to return and nod "No one" he says as he moves to put the same clanging thing into his chest.

"Whats up?"

D4 LE: Did I hear something? Invest/Perc 7k3: 7d10o10k3 24

Eichiro closes the window for a moment and speaks in a low tone in the middle of the room, "So, Akodo Eiko-sama really dinged Hitoshi-san today. A warning and a loss of points. Worse than Matsu Qiang-san's penalty for beating that Kakita up."

"So Matsu Qiang-san and I went to talk to him at his office after the events, and didn't find him there. What we did find is a note, Akodo Eiko-sama was blackmailed Nijiro. Qiang-san and I had to leave the note there, but the Ikoma school memory training is helping me to remember it."

Nijiro takes in the info "Wait, ok, stop. Go through this step by step, dont leave anything out."

(ooc no reason to actually do that assume it is done.)

After hearing everything, Nijiro looks at the writing. "So, what is all of this?"

"So, I chose a few of the words that seemed distinctive," He motions to the note, "and really burned them in so I could copy them later."

"Now is the hard part, I'm going to actually do homework this time," He sighs, "I'm writing letters to all of the judges, the runner up and the Topaz Champion, and anyone else that might be in town for this event. Sensei wanted me to record what happened here for the library, well I'm going to do that and get some samples of all of their handwriting in the process."

"I'll be trying to make them write those words in their reply, so I can see of any of them wrote the note."

His face softens, almost to a smile. "Very wise, brother." He goes to the window and opens it up, and peers into the darkness for a long moment, before sighing, and closing the shades.

He sits near his chest for a while, before opening it, and rummaging though, finally taking a pack, some black clothes, and a small bottle, as well as a large metallic item in the pack

Day 4 LE hiding something under kimono prt 2: 9d10o10k4 45

Satisfied, he turns to his brother "Now I need the desk for a moment, and I need you to leave the room." His face stern but commanding, as if he has aged 4 years in one thread.... "And I will let you come back in after you have ordered some mochi balls for the common room, bean paste, my favorite.

After his brother leaves he writes quickly on a piece of paper
Day 4 LE writing a letter furiously Int/forgery: 4d10o10k3 19

Then he leaves by the window, taking the pack with him
Day 4 LE leaving the room- stealth: 9d10o10k4 40

A brother returns to find the room empty. He frowns, perhaps disappointed, but returns to his desk and continues writing. He had a long night ahead of him.

The brother's letters are similar for each group to whom he is writing. They are all written in a more scholarly style, with paper that indicates curiosity and gratitude.

Letter to Judges wrote: <Name>-sensei,

I am Ikoma Eichiro, and one of the duties of my school and family is to record history and experiences. First I wanted to thank you for helping to continue the tradition for my generation of samurai. Without your participation, such things would not be possible. <Insert anecdote relating to the person in question. For example, Ikehata's reaction to my near miss at the Culture event or the moment when Eiko called me up to demonstrate my martial prowess. Absent is any mention of the shenanigans that have been occuring.>

I am writing to ask you a few questions about your experience as an honored judge during this event so far, how your travels were, and whether you were blessed to attend this event when you were our age.

Thank you for your time,
Ikoma Eichiro

Letter to Topaz Champion and runner-up wrote: <Name>-sama,

I am Ikoma Eichiro, and one of the duties of my school and family is to record history and experiences. First I wanted to thank you for helping to continue the tradition for my generation of samurai. Without your participation, such things would not be possible. <Insert anecdote about seeing them for the first time, personalized for each of them. It is genuine, if a little overblown>

I am writing to ask you a few questions about both this years events and last years events. Without giving too much away, which events did you find to be the most interesting last year? Which event were you most looking forward to witnessing this year? Finally, do any specific moments stand out to you regarding last years championship?

My thanks,
Ikoma Eichiro.