Injudicious Wanderings

[Izayoi Goto]

Words are wind, even those of fresh ink upon fragile rice paper.

Delicately scribed characters, the words in the awkward and convoluted English language, entrusted to hands not her own herald her arrival in the Californian Capitol.

Receiving no word in return, not even from who she assumed to be the head of the capricious clan of shadows left the once and always Iga Jōnin wrong footed.

Was she akin to a mayfly to these American kindred bound to the Domain once of Asa Clarke, now of Alessandra Antinori, that they cared not if she struggled in vain against the Laws of Poaching and Squatting?

Having remained outside of the claimed borders of the Sacramento Domain for far longer then she thinks she aught, the kunoichi having sacrificed her honour long before her death, steps over those invisible lines and ventures farther and farther inward, and if any would ask, why, she was simply on her way to Court, for her Acknowledgement, of course.

[Izayoi Goto]

-1 Vitae Blush of Life

[Izayoi Goto]

derpderp forgot these

  always armed

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-03-22 20:12:11		Izayoi Goto rolls 8 to Touch of Shadow Wakizashi (10 Again)		5, 8, 10, 8, 6, 4, 5, 6, 1		3 successes
2018-03-22 20:11:52		Izayoi Goto rolls 8 to Touch of Shadow katana (10 Again)		2, 5, 1, 8, 1, 8, 9, 1		3 successes

[Lawrence Taft]

A Spider prowls on this same night. One with an endless hunger. For Blood. Knowledge. A privileged few know them to be one and the same. He, of course, could be counted among them. Mocking life in more ways than one, he pulls up the collar of a dark peacoat, adding to the illusion that he cared what the temperature outside feels like. Behind the gesture, his eyes remain alert - looking for a particular caliber of prey. The kind that would remain useful long after his thirst was slaked...

The prey he runs into, though, is a different breed. The aristocratic eastern woman draws his attention first with the the fluidness of her walk. Then, in a split moment, his Beast - that Spider beneath the skin - recognizes kin. And weakness. It begs a web to be drawn to lure the foreign beauty to his fangs. Taft, the Man, has difficulty finding a reason not to. The anger, the hunger, the temptation...

No. At least, not under these circumstances.

The bald man relaxes his collar down again enough to expose his face. Let her see who addresses her and see if she is strong enough not to flee.

"Good evening. You look lost." He smiles an unpleasant and thin smile.

[Takeda Katsumi]

The night was young, and it so happened that Takeda had news, news that she was most eager to share with her one remaining ally. Her left hand drifted down towards the shrouded daisho about her waist as she walked, not out of apprehension, but rather out of something much closer to affectation than anything else. Soon, they would drawn in the moonlight. Soon, they would execute something beyond Takeda's own feeble will, her own misguided attachments.

Of course, expectations, as with all attachments, were most dangerous when they seemed innocent.

The Killer came to a sudden halt as she neared the Spider and felt the unfamiliar tremors of another Demon wading through the seas of Blood.

"Good evening," Takeda declared as she approached, her left hand steady upon the sheathes of her blades.

  Touch of Shadows, katana 1, wakizashi 3

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-03-22 20:37:54		Takeda rolls 5 to Always Armed wakizashi (wits3+larc2+obfu1-1retry) (10 Again)		8, 9, 3, 8, 7		3 successes
2018-03-22 20:37:39		Takeda rolls 6 to Always Armed wakizashi (wits3+larc2+obfu1) (10 Again)		6, 7, 3, 6, 5, 3		failure
2018-03-22 20:37:25		Takeda rolls 6 to Always Armed (wits3+larc2+obfu1) (10 Again)		7, 5, 9, 6, 4, 1		1 success

[Izayoi Goto]

"Konbanwa," she returns forgetting herself, the gates of Jigoku open wide, presenting her with demons - oni, monsters greater then she, unprepared she feels flat footed. Cursing herself, entering this territory she should have known that the the seeming lack of interest in her was only bait to this trap.

"Hai-" the Sakki threatens to drown her in its intent, the lesser demon the most overtly threatening, though her features offer the most comfort. There is something familiar in the line of her jaw and the slope if her nose..."Excuse me. Good evening, yes. I am attempting to locate the Nox Pupuli." the planned words pour from her mouth like river water flowing downstream. "I am Izayoi Goto." she says in the western fashion, but dosen't prevent herself from bowing politely.

Manners Maketh and all that.

  is truth! 2 Suxx

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-03-22 21:48:10		Izayoi Goto rolls 6 to Is truth I swear! (Manip 2 + subterfuge 3 + spec) (10 Again)		6, 8, 4, 5, 4, 8		2 successes

[Lawrence Taft]

His attentions focused on the new prey, Taft is caught offguard amused by Takeda's appearance. Amusement tempered with the familiar unease of her murderous intent. He inclines his head to her, and, then, returns his gaze to the newcomer.

Some foreign words leave her lips... nothing he would grasp without unconventional help. He doesn't react. Not until she mentions the Nox. Her words are polite, but sound far too convenient for his comfort.

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-03-23 20:36:18		Lawrence Taft rolls 6 to Wits + Empathy to lies? (10 Again)		10, 6, 7, 10, 2, 4, 7, 5		2 successes

"You are Ms. Goto? I believe I received your letter. I hadn't expected to bump into you. Here. In such a wonderful place for food." He chuckles, in spite of the severity of the situation. Hadn't he been forced to do the same, for a time? "I could, perhaps, keep your secret. Perhaps even show you to the Nox. Though my compatriot..." he nods in Takeda's direction. "is very much her own master. What do you think, Ms. Katsumi." His dark enthusiasm for the potential of this meeting 'going south' is evident. It far outshines his curiosity at meeting Takeda here, on this night.

[Takeda Katsumi]

"I think," Takeda replied after a moment, "that I might become offended if you insist on using my familiar name, Mr. Taft. That is for my Coterie."

The intent was turned upon the Spider, though there was something unmistakably wry in the Killer's expression.

"Miss Takeda is the form of address that you are searching for."

She did not let the recrimination linger, and instead transferred her gaze back to the stranger amongst them. The temptation to reply to 'Miss Goto' in her native tongue was strong, but due to present company it would not due to make it appear as though they were keeping anything secret between them. Conspiracies were often most enticing when they did not exist, after all.

"Welcome to Sacramento, Goto-san. It would be extremely rude of us not to take you at your word, and so we would be happy to escort you to the Nox Populi. From where have you come from, if I might ask?"

[Izayoi Goto]

"Madam Goto," she corrects with a slight upturn of her lips, her lie being found out might have burned had it not followed by the admission of reviving her letter of introduction, A Shadow seeing through a paltry lie wasn't anything of note. "Then you must be Mister Taft..?" which is comfermed moments later as a ger peices the night.

Izayoi wondered if it was an admission of intimacy or a show if Western ignorance. "In the West, your surname is given last, in Japan it is given first. Were I home, I would introduce myself Goto Izayoi." she explained with a kind looking smile, though the light of recrimination is clear. He had known the Takeda (and was she truly Takeda?) before this night, to forgo the opportunity to learn more...Tisk, Tisk.

"I thank you for this welcome, and to ensure I will not continue to stumble lost in unfamilair streets Takeda-san," Izayoi offers another bow, her mind focusing upon the name and the familiar features in her face. "Before my path took me here to the River City, I spent many years in the City of Lights." another slight bow at her poetic word play. "Of course there has been many stops along this path as travel, I'm sure you know is...tedious." a understated, yet jovial tone is taken as she expands upon her words.

[Lawrence Taft]

The oppressive will emanating from Takeda does not go unnoticed. Nor does the tongue-in-cheek suggestion. Food for thought for the networking Shadow.

Goto, echoes Takeda's chide, albeit with less suggested murder. Taft can only shrug. He hasn't spent enough time among easterners, it would seem. "My apologies. Miss Takeda and Madam Goto." he says, with a nod to each. This, at least, he understands. Easterners often lower their heads to show deference. Or, in this case, admit to a wrong. No sense in aggravating Takeda further.

Politics are very much a part of the Spider's game, but holding the new Shadow's deceptions over her aren't. "As she says, then. Allow us to escort to you the club proper." he offers, extending a hand outward in the Nox's general direction. Then, without missing a beat. "Paris, is it? A long trip indeed. I imagine you'd be hungry. No sense in wasting time getting you acknowledged, then." Never mind that the Shadows have no Priscus in Sacramento. Taft wouldn't see reason to be Priscus over himself, after all.

"What brings you here tonight, Miss Takeda? I find myself curious, though if you would prefer not to discuss this among strangers..." a glance at Goto ​"I would understand."