Ryūzaki Sanosuke and the Swelling of Ranks

Gathering / Conference

As the interim between tournament brackets dragged on, Ryūzaki Sanosuke was hailed by a mental message from his adviser, Trivia. She informed him that, if he was not busy, there were several people in and about Nijō Castle who wished for an audience with him. Five of them, in fact. With mild shock at the size of this number, Sanosuke repaired to a meeting room in his castle and asked Trivia to send them in, one by one.

His first visitor was the most urgent case. A young woman from the Lunar Empire named Umbriel, she identified with a group known as the Children of Avatea. It seemed that she was now seeking sanctuary from Lunarian powers which no doubt desired to reclaim her.   Sanosuke quickly found that Umbriel was possessed of a peculiar method of speaking. She uttered only eight words at a time, no more and no less, with a subtle rhythm about them, almost like a lyrical verse. His uncommon insight picked up on this, and as he began to match her patterns, the tall beauty warmed to him quickly. Umbriel explained, in her own way, that she did not have the freedom to visit the surface of Earth, nor traverse the “sides” of the moon, and so had escaped with her siblings to the current era with her siblings. As the Children of Avatea did not often see eye-to-eye, they had split themselves amongst various clans and powers of the country.   Curious, Sanosuek summoned Kaguya-hime herself to the chamber, eager to hear another Lunarian’s take. For her part, Umbriel was quite starstruck at the Lunar Princess’ presence. She spoke of the other Lunarian as an inspiration, and a great figure among her and her siblings. Upon Kaguya’s recommendation, Sanosuke approved sanctuary for Umbriel, and welcomed her to the castle.   Later, after the other had left, Kaguya divulged some of her true thoughts on the matter. Tsukuyomi, her father, would surely be displeased. However, the Children of Avatea had been quite ingenious in a way. By spreading themselves throughout the different clans, the Moon God could not act without serious risk of temporal disruption. He would likely not try to strike back directly, even with Sanosuke now harboring two Lunar fugitives. If it came to a conflict, however, Kaguya was careful to warn Sanosuke that his aide Trivia would likely not fall onto his side. As for the Children, it was Kaguya’s private thought that they could not have accessed the technology to travel to this time without help from a powerful member of the Lunar Court. Of those, Avatea seemed to fit the bill most cleanly, although she had nothing with which to confirm her suspicions fully.   Thanking the princess for her insight, Sanosuke offered for her to stay for the remainder of the interviews. Kaguya agreed, always pleased to spend time with her Champion, but with the caveat that she would not offer much herself, for fear of causing more disruption to the timeline. It was beginning to seem to her, however, that such precautions were a lost cause.   Sanosuke’s second interviewee was a slight, plain girl he had met previously in Bungo Province. Affectionately nicknamed “Dust Fairy,” her true name was Daidōji Tsuneyo, and she was an unsung priestess of a forgotten shrine. It was for this reason that she had come here, among others, but she began by thanking Sanosuke for his help in her previous issues. Compelled by her host’s graciousness, Tsuneyo opened up a bit further, and divulged that her sister would probably not like her being there.   That triggered something in the back of Sanosuke’s memory. He recalled receiving another letter from a Daidōji; a quite impudent missive which professed strong opinions about his handling of the shrine fortunes issue which had brought him into contact with Tsuneyo. The present Daidooji apologized for her sister’s impertinence. Daidōji Tomoyo liked to make a big deal about things, she explained, and stick up for people who didn’t really need it. They didn’t often get along very well, as whenever her sister remembered she existed, it was only to create more drama.   Sanosuke offered to set up some kind of meeting, to mediate the issues between siblings, and Tsuneyo hesitantly agreed. However, with a courageous push, she finally blurted out the reason for her visit. She wanted Sanosuke to become patron of her shrine. The Silver General did not deliberate long, but accepted Tsuneyo’s request on the condition that she humor him by meeting with her sister. Relieved, and more than a little shocked that he had agreed, Tsuneyo acquiesced, thanked him, and began to leave. Sanosuke found this haste suspicious, but a closer inspection of the girl revealed that she was simply not used to speaking to people for so long, and was seeking an escape. Without pressing the matter, he let her go. After all, as she herself said, he knew where to find her when he was ready for that family gathering.   Soon after Tsuneyo’s departure, Sanosuke called for Trivia to see in the next guest. Apparently this visitor had already taken their leave, but they had left him a message. Shortly, a guard delivered the missive, which was little more than a folded-over sheet of parchment, and Sanosuke opened it, intrigued. The top half of the paper was a makeshift “deed” to Kamigamo-jinja in Kaya. Further down, the document devolved into doodles of fish, fanciful clothing, and a pair of vilified faces with horns and long tongues. Sanosuke thought he saw a resemblance in them to a pair of priestesses he had met on his last visit to Kaya. Kaguya was understandably puzzled by the message, and Sanosuke felt moved to explain. The deed, while not something that would stand up in “Moon Court,” was a gesture of friendship and loyalty from a certain priestess in Kaya. While no such words had truly been spoken, he could now count her among his followers.   As he called for the next visitor, Trivia informed him that this individual, too, was seeking sanctuary. She provided this with the caveat, however, that she had not actually met or spoken with this candidate. Apparently she was here on the recommendation of Tsukijō Hanahane. Sanosuke tried not to let that information bother him as he welcomed the stern-faced, straw-haired woman in.   Her voice was clear and deliberate as she spoke, but Eleonora Wiek made no concessions for her native tongue. Sanosuke, being utterly lost when it came to the Gewehrman language, was compelled to invite in Kusuzaki Astrid. The half-foreign girl was Gewehrman on her mother’s side and, as luck would have it, had learned the language as a child despite growing up in Japan. Astrid was flustered at the disruption from her normal schedule, but soon settled into a routine of translating between Sanosuke and his visitor.   Eleonora, who had now introduced herself, explained in simple and professional terms that she had been forced to flee her home country of Gewehrland thanks to the actions of a Trufflish spy. She was in a peculiar position, as she did not know the spy’s intentions, nor to what ends the Truffle Tsardom would go to in order to silence or capture her. She was a risk, and she knew it, but was forced by circumstances to seek sanctuary regardless. Sanosuke was always eager to welcome another talented woman to his staff, but Eleonora seemed unwilling to proceed without some kind of exchange on her part as well. So, Sanosuke agreed to harbor her at Nijō Castle in exchange for what she knew about the Tsardom. It was no more than any other Gewehrman soldier, she explained, but likely far more comprehensive than anyone from this foreign land.   The exchange was kept short and businesslike, and Sanosuke bid Astrid to see to Eleonora’s quarters. The language issue, he expressed, was a problem he would deal with another time. There was at least one person he knew who could fix it with the wave of a wand, but she was currently occupied on a secret project for the daimyō, so it couldn’t be helped.   As Sanosuke recovered from that mildly bewildering encounter, his next guest was not so much seen in as entered on her own terms. After asking politely, she sat across from him and produced a stone bottle of sake, from which she filled cups for both Sanosuke and Kaguya. Ever polite, Kaguya partook immediately, but Sanosuke felt compelled to sniff the drink for poison or other additions before enjoying his own. This young woman introduced herself as Shibai: a keen-eyed, cunning type, but most of all an excellent performer. The name was merely a description, a word for a woman performer, as she made too many enemies for her family name to be given out freely. Shibai expressed utmost admiration toward Sanosuke. Indeed, she was quite forward in her advances toward him, and blunt in her desire to join him at Nijoo Castle. Again, Sanosuke was not about to turn down a lady of such caliber from joining him, but he exercised some caution in response to her clear guile. Reading her, Sanosuke determined with some confidence that Shibai was looking for something. Something, or someone, which she believed to be in Nijō Castle. He decided to welcome her aboard for the time being, but took some private precautions just in case.   With that done, Sanosuke found himself five lovely generals richer, and had enjoyed tea and lunch with a Lunar Princess as well. As far as ways to spend time during the tournament break went, he could have done much worse.