Cephiro, Elven Province

[Carthrat]

The province of Cephrio is a peaceful elven land, adjacent to the sea and three generall benign human provinces. When warlike incursions do occur, the elven martial might is brought to bear. More than one army has turned tail and fled from hundreds of arrows brought forth from seemingly empty forests, and even those that managed to close on the elves find their Samurai warriors more than capable with the blades they wield.

Forty miles from the border of Cephiro, deep within the High Forest is an elven canopy town, where house built into and hanging off the massive blackwood trees are inhabited by about a hundred elves. Everyone knows everyone else. The elves are going about their daily business; foraging, hunting, smithing, building, training, and the general tasks that must be done in any community. The town is aesthetically pleasing to behold, and is joined together by various bridges and the occasional rope swing.

A few elven samurai are keeping watch, though it's highly unlikely anything is going to attack. They look impressive in their armour, which despite being made of metal is light and flexible to allow room for movement. Katana and wakizashi hang at their belts, but their most useful weapon is the one in their hands; their enormous Daikyu's, ready to unleash a flurry of arrows on any enemy of elfdom.

Three elfmaidens sit inside one of the elven houses, chatting away aimlessly at this and that. They know it's their turn to take watch in an hour, but they also know that that mostly consists of more talk..

During this conversation, a pointy-eared head pops through the curtain-door. "Fuu-san, Umi-san, Hikaru-san. You've been relieved from guard duty. Instead, Master Toshi would like to see you in half an hours time. He said it was important, but wants you to have the rest of your time free before he sees you."

With that, the face leaves, leaving the girls to wonder..

OOC: Ok, physical descriptions, girls. I'll start the game proper tomorrow, so have some fun, or whatever. The house is yours to toy with. ^^

[Ebiris]

"I wonder what Master Toshi wishes to see us about?" says on of the elf girls, rising from her seat.

Fuu Phoenixwind stands at near average height for a female elf, barely topping five feet. She is dressed in a loosely fitting, wide sleeved gi top, with a Tao symbol on the front. Underneath that she wears a similarly coloured dress, tied with a black obi, which flares out into a knee length skirt. Her legs are also covered by leggings which come down to just above her ankles, and she wears comfortable indoor slippers on her feet. The uniform green of her attire is only broken by the trimming, which is a light brown, matching her fairly short hair.

[Corwin]

Umi Dragonsblossom, a 5'2''-tall moon elf with rich, long sky-blue hair stands up and turns to look at her two friends, her large light-blue mantle flutterring. A blue tunic, complementing her eyes perfectly, covers the elfin girl's upper body to the waist, where it splits into twin long, loose flaps that extend down to her knees. The split between the tunic's tails shows that the girl's modesty is guarded by a black leotard, worn underneath her clothing. Her legs are covered by flexible white boots that reach her thighs, while white, elbow-length gloves inlaid with large azure gems, complete the attire.

"I don't know," Umi replies to her blonde friend, before focusing her mind on the azure gem in her left glove, which glows in response. A mithril shirt and a pair of arm bracers appear on her, fitting in perfectly with the rest of her clothing, as if they were tailored towards that end. At the same time, a long rapier appears in her hand. The sword's hilt is made in the image of a dragon, the wings serving as the crossguard, and it glows slightly as she gives it a few practice swings, the large, deep-blue shoulder guards of Umi's outfit not restricting her motions in the slightest.

"But I figure we might as well be prepared," she says, returning her weapon back into the glove, yet keeping her armor on.

[Ebiris]

Fuu smiles indulgently, "I doubt we will need to be armed just to visit Master Toshi," she says, walking over to a nearby shelf and picking up a quiver of arrows which she ties onto the obi round her waist. Nodding once it's secure, she goes to the door and takes the long, forest green cloak which hangs there, swiftly donning it, while at the same time kicking off her slippers and sliding her feet into a pair of soft leather boots. Her preperations almost complete, she finishes by grabbing her Daikyu from where it hangs on the wall, securing the unstrung bow underneath her cloak. "But since we will likely have to begin our watch after seeing him, there is no harm in getting ready."

[Halbarad]

The third of the group stands up and giggles. "At least I don't have to worry about that very much. I hardly need to get ready at all."

Hikaru Lionheart smiles from the bench where she's been listening to the exchange between the other two. The girl, slightly shorter than either of her companions, is clad in a soft pink lotus-patterened silk kimono, with the cuffs and skirts hemmed in golden thread, the garment held in place by a deep scarlet obi. Her short pink hair is somewhat messy, and a smile plays at the corner of her mouth. "I hope Toshi-sensei's got something interesting for us to do; guard duty every day is kind of boring. Maybe we'll get to go out on a long scouting trip or something."

[Corwin]

"A scouting trip... how exciting," Umi says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "You're right, though," she continues, deflating slightly. "Daily guard duty doesn't exactly give us enough chances to meet worthy opponents."

[Ebiris]

"I'm sure whatever Master Toshi has for us will be important, since he would hardly call us out simply to tell us to do what we were doing anyway," Fuu points out reasonably.

[Carthrat]

It isn't long after this little talk that the tree elfmaidens find themselves in front of their esteemed Master's presence.

Toshi was known throughout the elves as Master; not because of his fearsome fighting prowess, but because of the great deal of lore he had acquired on many different topics. When an elf had a question, the first person to turn to was probably master Toshi. He was a great storyteller to children, a learned teacher to young adults, and a consultant to everyone.

He acquired much of this knowledge on his oft-talked about journey throughout the rest of Japania, and is the subject of some heroism with younger elves. His hut is rife with odd items.

It's also something of a chaotic mess at the moment, as the elfmaidens step into the area. Toshi has apparently been searching for something. Maps, books, the occasional weapon, open chests of odd junk, a strange hair ornament, something the girls remember him calling a 'clock' (some gaijin invention that's meant to tell the time, but what use is telling the time when nobody else can tell it?), and all sorts of other assorted junk were strewn about.

The elf himself was kneeling in the middle of all this rubble, a lock of black hair hanging from his face. He was a middle-aged elf; right up there in the four hundred bracket. No wrinkles showed on his face, and like all elves, he was beardless. He was wearing lots of white; a white gi top and hakama pants, with a yin-yang stiched on the breast and on the back.

He was apparently meditating on something. His katana was at his side; a rarity for Toshi. Despite his incredible skill with the blade, he was not often seen with it, stating often that to carry a blade is to have the intent to use it.

"Ah, girls," he says, opening his eyes when they walk in. "Sit, sit. Oh, clear some space, I don't need most of this junk. Would you like some tea?"

The girls all instantly pick up he's worried about something; Toshi does not often mince words, not to mention the state of his usually pristine hut and the fact that he's wearing his blade..

[Ebiris]

Fuu quickly moves aside a few items to clear enough space that she can kneel before the Master.

"Some tea would certainly be nice, Master Toshi," she says appreciatively. Besides which, he seemed rather distracted, and making tea would no doubt give him a few moments to collect his thoughts.

[Carthrat]

"Yes, of course," he replies, quickly going about the motions with a kettle in his fireplace.

A few moments later, when everyone has a cup of tea in their hands, he seems to collect himself.

"The Matsu family is massing on the northen border," he says, abruptly changing tone. "Again. Apparently they believe that after a few years we will be less strong than before."

You all have flashbacks to that last Matsu invasion. They had managed to push a fair way into the forest, but were turned back when the main elven force was brought to bear. Hundreds of arrows demorialized their troops, even more than simply inflicting casualties. While they managed to burn some chunks of woodland, they eventually turned with their tales between their legs. The elves approached other, neighbouring provinces whom they were more friendly with. These provinces agreed to place trade sanctions on the Matsu. The Matsu were extremely bitter, but could not retaliate because they knew the Elves would not take kindly..

"My scouts have told only me this today, but it will be common knowledge by midsun tomorrow. I am.. concerned," he continues. "The Matsu attacked us originally for our land, but this time around, I fear they may be out for revenge. My early scouts reported that instead of preparing an army for taking of ground- that would consist mostly of archers and infantry- they are preparing catapults, burning oil.. they observed archers being trained in firing flaming arrows.

They've even brought a few shugenja along; in typical Matsu fashion, most of their weaves are focused on destruction, I'm told.

However, this concerns me to a great deal. While it is true that human samurai often worry far too much about marks on their honor and so forth, we defeated them in fair combat. An invading force dedicated to destruction seems over the top for Otoshi, the Matsu Champion. While he is seemingly devoted to taking as much territory as possible, never once has he simply set out to destroy, rape, and pillage as we believe this army is going to do."

Toshi lets out a sigh, and produces something from the rubble.

It's a small bowl filled with liquid that does not tip out no matter which way it turns. You all remember seeing it before.

"This is, as you likely know, a scrying dish. I have been trying to use it to spy on the Matsu camp from afar.. but my efforts are blocked, somehow. I don't know where the Matsu would have acquired a device to prevent my scrying; I know for a fact that their spellweavers are not skilled enough to prevent my spying.

Before I decide on what to do, I'm interested in what you have to say about it. Youth may see what age does not," he finishes, with a chuckle.

[Halbarad]

Hikaru groans. "I wanted something to do besides guard duty, but this is NOT what I had in mind."

She gives the scrying dish a curious glance. "If the Matsu themselves can't stop you from spying on them, who can? I mean, it's obvious they've got some kind of help, but figuring out who it is will be the tricky part."

[Carthrat]

"The Himura, or possibly the Asahina," replies Toshi. "I believe both those clans were allied with the Matsu.. but it seems unlikely, to me. The scouts didn't report any samurai except Matsu samurai at the camp, and neither of the other clans would have left such a potent power in Matsu possession without leaving a group to guard it, even if it is just a token resistance."

[Ebiris]

Fuu sips her tea thoughtfully as she considers her response. After a moment, she sets the cup down and speaks, "Perhaps whomever is blocking your scrying is also the one instigating the Matsu to act in this manner. Rather than the Matsu making use of someone of considerable power to hide their army, perhaps it is someone of power who seeks to use the Matsu as a catspaw against us? Someone of such power would no doubt possess considerable leverage amongst the humans."

[Carthrat]

Toshi nods, smiling. "Exactly what I thought, Fuu. I do indeed believe that someone or something is manipulating the Matsu. Furthermore, I have suspcions on who it may be," he says, producing a strip of purple cloth emblazoned with an image of a green tiger.

"This is the insignia of the Daidoji clan, a clan which, as you well know, is extremely well versed in trickery, deception, and working behind the scenes.

We can now eliminate them from our list of possible subjects," he finishes, putting it away. "One of my scouts found it far too easily; it must have been a plant."

[Corwin]

"Well, you obviously have some idea about the likeliest suspect, Master Toshi," Umi comments. "More than any of us would, in any case."