Composition

Almost all samurai are literate, for holding nearly any office, bureaucratic or military, requires the ability to read and write. Thus, while not all samurai explore the finer points of wordsmithing, literature is an elevated art in Kiga. Courtly samurai are expected to know dozens of classic poems by heart and grasp literary allusions that can provide important subtext in conversation. The best poets compose in the moment, with every sentence they speak layered with meaning.
Haiku, a three-line poem with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, then five in the last, is one of the most popular forms of poetry in Kiga. Writers often use it to describe a moment in time, from the first snowflake seen in winter to a moment of tranquility by a pond. Others practice different forms of poetry, including longer poems and competitions of linked poems traded back and forth, or write prose in the form of travel diaries, philosophical essays, and even fantastical tales.
Literature allows a character to create powerful compositions that sway readers and to understand the literary devices and allusions that underlie such influential works. Additionally, the aesthetics of calligraphy are important to many writers in Kiga, so Composition also governs the act of putting words on a surface in ink in a pleasing way.

Composition Approaches

The Composition skill can be used with the appropriate rings as follows:

• Restore Approach (Earth Ring): Restoring an old text that has been damaged by time or exposure, annotating a difficult text with references that make it easier for readers to understand, transcribing a work without errors.
• Adapt Approach (Water Ring): Translating a text from another language, adapting a work for a new medium, using an old quote in a new context that reframes its meaning, combining visual elements with textual elements.
• Invent Approach (Fire Ring): Writing a first draft of a new text, filling in the missing gaps of an incomplete text, brainstorming ideas for new written works.
• Refine Approach (Air Ring): Correcting errors in a work, removing excessive and unnecessary verbiage from a work to make it read more cleanly and quickly, adding a nuanced allusion or reference, introducing implications and subtext.
• Attune Approach (Void Ring): Understanding a writer’s deeper purpose behind a work, discerning whether a work has any supernatural qualities or features, learning about oneself from a text.

POSSIBLE COMPOSITION SUBSKILLS
Calligraphy, Essays, Poetry, Monogatari(Narrative Literature), Nikki Bungaku (Travel Diaries)