The Meeting of the Faiths

[Lawrence Taft]

Taft grins, thoroughly amused at the shy Savage. He'd bite. "Tell us, then; what new calling have you found? We are in a place or - more or less - open exchange." She knows how to keep the Shadow's attention. An open book is easy to read, but this one? Tantalizing.

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-13 11:00:17		Lawrence Taft rolls 3 to Int + Academics to 'have I read this somewhere?' (10 Again)		10, 5, 3, 8		2 successes

Something Takeda mentions reminds Taft of a book he's read. It had been... mostly for amusement. "The Book of Emptiness, isn't that? I had picked up a copy in a bookstore once. It had far more words in it than I'd anticipated." A dry jab and play on words all in one. "An interesting read, though. I found myself missing coffee that afternoon."

[Niamh Sionnaigh]

"The tongue twists, hither and yon, even by those most skillful in its mastery," was that a gentle flirtation? An innuendo? Or perhaps it was just a witlessguiless savage innocently speaking, unknowing to the subtler ascpects of speech.

"Who's to say I've found a new calling?" Niamh evades, not skillfully. Mind occupied by the orental haunt's words. Had she found favor with another? "This event is being held for a reason, no?"

  itty bitty lie, 1 Suxx

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-13 16:40:39		Niamh Sionnaigh rolls 5 to Who said anything about that? (Manipulation 3 + Subterfuge 2) (10 Again)		3, 7, 6, 4, 10, 6		1 success

[Takeda Katsumi]

"A woman with a full cup will not ask for more tea," Takeda replied bluntly. "If you were truly curious, you would ask more questions."

A subjective statement, if there ever was one, though she had not sensed honesty in the other woman's question. Defensiveness, assuredly, but nothing else that she could name.

"And you are not wrong, Mr. Taft, though I prefer to think of it as the Book of Void. Emptiness does not have the same connotation, for Musashi, wise as he was, was not the first to discuss the concept, and he misnamed it. If you wish to explore it further, read Mumonkan, and you will understand that Musashi was discussing Mu."

  1 success, defender wins!

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-13 21:26:33		Lies? rolls 2 to wits3-1untrained (10 Again)		5, 9		1 success

[Lawrence Taft]

  3 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-02-15 18:59:40		Lawrence Taft rolls 6 to Wits + Empathy to lies? (10 Again)		8, 5, 4, 8, 2, 8		3 successes

Taft's smile bears teeth now. the Irish Savage's attempts to mislead them are terribly amusing. "You may not have said so. Directly. But I find myself agreeing with our other companion." He indicates Takeda with a slight nod. "And who is to say your reason for being here aligns with the rest of the assembly?" A question framed, purposefully, to echo the one she had posed to them.

"I just might." After all, there are little grains of truth in almost any philosophical text. "But was he right?" He says, returning to the meat of the statement. "There are some who ascribe themselves to personal godhood. That the only true path is the one that they, themselves, experience. After all: you can only experience the universe through your own eyes." Well, perhaps this is true of everyone else in the room. Taft tries not to smile at the thought. All-encompassing might be a tad out of his reach, but only just so. The webs weaved by the shared experiences of the blood encompass a great deal. Perhaps he could share this with them in a different setting.

[Niamh Sionnaigh]

"Ah," her head ducks, not in shame, but in acknowledgement. "I could counter that why ask questions when everything is being offered freely here? One just has to listen." lips quirk up, "But I won't. I don't know what I'm looking for or if I've already found it. All I know is I'm taking things one night at a time."

Her hand raises, her fingernails are blunt, but chipped. "Like this Book of the Void, I'm learning that it exists and us important to you, and while you talk and I listen, I do not ask the wrong questions."

[Takeda Katsumi]

Takeda paused, attempting to find flaw in the Water Demon's words, but even as her mind churned like the swirl of the sea, a part of her new that there would be none. The foreign woman's words echoed those of the Bosatsu and she knew that she would be able to find none.

"I am humbled by your wisdom," Takeda finally said, bowing slightly to Niamh, though the killer was careful to keep the Giant in the corner of her eye at all times. "Perhaps I should follow your example and see what I might be able to learn."

[Takeda Katsumi]

How anyone could mistake a bow, a near universal sign of respect and acknowledgement, for an outright threat, Takeda could not fathom. Of course, that was assuming that Krieg truly had made a mistake. It was all the more likely that the giant from the west was merely attempting to live up to his name.

Someday, she would show him what the true meaning of war was. Today, however, she would merely ignore his provocations. It was difficult, though. There was already a reply sitting heavily upon her tongue, threatening to drop at any moment and reveal that only a fool mistook his own shadow for that of another, but she held the comment back. Instead of replying so crassly she would follow the Water Demon's wise example and see what could be gained through the act of listening, rather than conversing.

Soon, anyways. She would do that soon. For now, there was one last comment that needed to be made in reply to the giant, though it was not one that would be made with words.

Takeda slowly raised her right hand, keeping it only inches from her own body, her fingers extending, her thumb tucked in toward her palm in the mudra of semui-in, or abhaya. It was the symbol of fearlessness and protection, but she did not make it with the matching symbol of welcome. It was not comfort she was intending to give, only a reminder of her earlier warning.