Court of Toshi No Omoidoso

[Lolli Puppy]

Welcome Samurai of Rokugon to 年の重い度祖 (Toshi No Omoidoso)the City of Remembrance!






The City of Remembrance lies near the edge of Dragon and Phoenix lands. The city itself is a bustling metropolis dealing in trade with the Shiba and Crane clan--though dealings with the Mantis have become more prevalent as the city becomes a major port-trade city within the Phoenix clan. The city is home to the shrine of the seven dragons as the Dragon Oracles were born here. Because the city is home to many powerful phoenix shugensha the city houses many shrines to the kami as well.  



The Courtrooms of this city are filled with lavish red, orange, and gold draperies and brocades. The walls climb with soaring phoenix and twisting dragons (in reverence to the spirits that dwell here). Paintings, vases, masks, and other artistic works adorn the walls, and a great Phoenix Clan mon is etched skillfully onto the floor. Two phoenix guardians with wings outstretched watch over the most prominent feature in the great room--the platform on which the governor's winged throne sits alongside the red padded benches for his council. A small claw-footed table stands by the throne, on which the governor has placed a small red tea cup, a scroll, and a quill. Outside the window to the left of the platform, the edge of a gaudy golden statue can just barely be seen through the branches of a blooming tree.
The great courtroom is spacious, with standing room, and room to mill around beside or behind the rows of wooden benches set out in front of the platform for guests to sit when court is called. There are many rooms in the governor's establishment that a curious samurai could explore.



The halls are lined with more gifts to the Phoenix Dymio. Three shining and well crafted arrows are bolted to the wall underneath a worn and rusted katana. Several hallways are lined with shelves full of scrolls, and books. The hallway adjacent to the great room houses a shelf with an ornate box next to a scroll, featuring at the moment a depiction of the war between the Dragon and the Phoenix. At the end of the hallway near a window sits a roped off pedestal, on it lies a leather bound book with foreign writing on the cover--cloth book marks hang loosely from several places between it's pages.  




Lady Doji Kyoko of Crane Clan
Major Domo of the City of Remembrance

どじ居子の鶴:

[Lolli Puppy]

Kyoko sat heavily on the steps to the throne tapping her unopened fan to her temple. She stared at the golden phoenix beside her, it's wings outstretched protectively, and stroked its beak with a single finger. The gold was cold and smooth to the touch-it was somehow soothing to the frazzled nerves she couldn't let show. She wondered if this is how her grandfather felt-she doubted her brother ever did-he was always the strong one. She was born to be a governess, to be a leader, but she worried all the same. She grew up on the steps of the court-as her son after her. A hint of smile played across her face. Soon there would be a phoenix child playing on these very steps.

She hoped that the cycle of the phoenix would not continue, a life for a life, but it seemed strangely inevitable with all of the trouble this city had been through. So many peasants lost their lives because of one renegade ronin.

Kyoko pulled a small black book out of her kimono sleeve and began to write:

Rise Rise,
Little phoenix
Rise!
From the soot
your spirit flies.

Come,
Let your eternal beauty
Flow,
Let happiness and hopefulness
Grow
With every wing beat.

But lo,
There is sweet sorrow
In the ashes
You scattered
To the wind.

She snapped her book shut abruptly. Perhaps only the unicorn could appreciate this.
Kyoko stands and looks out over the court yard.
Although she is a crane, she will be as this phoenix, she will protect this city.

Lady Doji Kyoko of Crane Clan
Major Domo of the City of Remembrance

どじ居子の鶴:

[LadyMyuu]

Out of Character: Isawa Sona - Phoenix Courtisan/artisan - the one that never talks at the games

Sona had walked the city as much as she could. She felt slightly avoided by now, she had found any hands that had little work and sent them to the farms. Her gentle and simple demeanor, not at all imposing like many others, had been strangely convincing to the peasants when convincing them of their needs. After all her time watching and observing as she always did, it felt good to do something. Almost as good as when she played her Koto.

She wasn't thinking of where to walk next, which is probably why instinct brought her to the court and its outer entrance. She stopped to look up a moment, realizing where she was. The flutter in her stomach brought her hand down in a more obvious show of the acceptance that she was with child. She would have too size up her kimono soon. Sona pushed a lose strand of hair that needed repined behind her ear and looked into the courtyard. She spotted who she expected, there were pretty much two places that the Master of Courts could be found. Not that Sona was looking for her.

She liked Lady Kyoko of the Crane, she felt a likeness to her that was probably due to her mothers side of the family. Sona would never deny she was Phoenix, but she often thought like her mother, a crane. The phoenix courtier remained at the entrance as the Master of Courts wrote down her thoughts. She had no reason to disturb her, but could see the spark of creativity and imagination that often hit artisans, and to break that concentration would be rude indeed.

So when the book closed and Lady Doji would look up, she'd see the Samurai courtisan with a thoughtful look of entering the courtyard or passing on by. But now that she was spotted she'd go to walk the length of the yard to the steps before bowing and with a soft smile and even softer voice the almost too timid Sona would speak, "I didn't mean to disturb your thoughts, Lady Doji, but I am glad you are finally free to meditate away from the endless requests." ever since the Govenor went on business, she knew that Kyoko would be torn between her duties here and that of the Teahouse ever more, and that must have been difficult.

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