- "These cheap gaijin carriages are ruining the Rokugani palanquin industry! They're promoting that caring for a single horse is cheaper and more efficient than the cost of an entire team of palanquin bearers. What about the comfort and style? You might as well arrive in a cart pulled by a mule! If we don't restrict imports soon, they're going to put me out of business."
- The novel Siege of the Heart has recently become popular. In it a brave samurai falls in love with a virtuous peasant girl during a siege.
- “These filthy, stinking barbarians seduce our courts with strange
trinkets and offers of gold, but they barely speak our language and know
nothing of honor, tradition, or etiquette. Can they even be considered
human?”
- Confessions of an Opium Eater has been published anonymously after the death of the author, and become a massive success and topic of discussion. The diary of a young samurai woman's life in Ryoko Owari, it has attracted attention due to the many scandalous passages describing her decadent lifestyle. All names and identities have been obscured, even the author's own, leading to much popular speculation on who is being referred to.
- Additional versions of the story of Oiwa have been heard around the quarter.
As an unrecognized noble described it, "Oume had been seen flirting with Iemon and finding reasons to run into him or visit his home. When he wasn't in or Oiwa was around her entire demeanor changed with her becoming cold and distant. She murdered Oiwa so she could have the object of her desire. Except on her wedding night it became clear that he would never truly love her. In her jealous madness she slashed her own face to match Oiwa's, and eventually took her own life."
A leatherworker making her rounds loudly argued with her companion that, "Iemon and Oume conspired to murder his wife so he could marry Oume for the money. Except Takuetsu, acting out of his pure love for the woman who had been wronged, found out. He confronted the couple on their wedding night and in the subsequent argument Oume was killed by accident. Iemon used to distraction to escape. Even now Takuetsu pursues the fiend Iemon!"
- Iuchi Sadako was overheard at the Scorpion Garden bath house: "One of the magistrates is a shapeshifter! Ichiro Bando is clearly a tanuki in the guise of a man. If he wasn't afraid of being revealed, he'd just show us his testicles and prove he isn't!"
- Imperial taxes are up, as is the expected grumbling from merchants. The widespread theory is that Doji Satsume, like the rest of the pompous, hypocritical Crane, is enacting his revenge against Scorpion Daimyo Bayushi Shoju for having outmaneuvered him in court several months back. Whenever the subject of exactly how he was so cleverly bested or what the issue itself was, however, the matter is quickly waved away. Everybody knows that he has it in for the Scorpion, and envies the wealth of Ryoko Owari in particular. Does it really matter exactly what the cause was?
- Ikoma Taru is almost finished with a new play. Her last work was so disappointing; will this be the one that returns high military drama to fashion?
- Everyone seems absorbed with the latest trend: birds!
Brightly-colored artificial birds worn on the shoulder have been adopted
by nearly everyone in town. Apparently, the type of bird worn makes a
powerful statement with different combinations of color and species
having a complex association of meaning. Anyone who's anyone has made careful study of the definitive guide to this new form of personal expression, The Song in Your Heart: A Brief Guide to Birds and Their Meaning.
- Precious has recently been spotted wearing narrow, casual obi tied into even more elaborate knots. When paired with her typically intricate kimono, the contrast is made even more apparent. However none but the most daring have been bold enough to attempt the style themselves.
- A recent pamphlet calling for significant political and military reforms, Five Points Towards a Greater Rokugan, has been quietly circulating. Credited only to the mysterious "Makoto" (誠, truth/honesty).
- "I've heard that Bayushi Korechika because Otado knows that his latest poem was really written by a Leatherworker!"
- Jewel is predicting a return to tradition and austerity; it's reputed she's already looking for a poet to grace her fans and umbrellas with verse.
- A new writing by Makoto has appeared: The Samurai’s Place in a Greater Rokugan. Evidently this is Makoto's response to the proposal to create the long-theorized role of Shogun and elevate and elevate Matsu Tsuko to it. His clear support has begun to endear his words even more to her followers. Pointing out how it calls for the need of a military leader who will transcend clan and serve with only the empire as a whole in mind. Much as Doji Satsume currently does by serving with his greater loyalty as the Emerald Champion despite being the Crane Clan Champion.
- Iuchi Sadako
insists that birds are not real. All the birds were slowly killed off
over the past 40 years and gradually replaced with artificial replicas —
indistinguishable from the real thing — animated by magic. They then
report back to the government on everything that happens within the
empire. That's how the Shadow Emperor (who seized power in an invisible
coup 200 years ago) is able to maintain power. He now exists as a
magical being of literal shadow who rules in secret through a powerful cabal within the imperial bureaucracy and an army of shape-shifting ninja.
- Jewel has been seen displaying the poetry of Akodo Ume on her accessories, causing a wave of interest in the young Lion.
- Makoto's latest tract has reached the city: Bushido in a Greater Rokugan. The enigmatic writer has laid out a personal interpretation of the tenets of bushido, describing those who embody it as shishi or "men of virtue" and calling on them to defend the empire. Once again it describes a focus on national unity and duty to the emperor in the face of foreign influence, emphasizing that these shishi should be prepared to lay down their lives in its service.
- Everyone is abuzz with talk of what Bayushi Kachiko
is wearing while in town. It seems that a heavily layered look is
likely to take hold soon with some fashion forward types wearing so many
that they can barely move. Meanwhile observers are watching to see how
local tastemaker Precious responds.
- "Have you read Akodo Ume's latest poem? I personally think it's simply about migrating swallows, but Shinjo Sanefusa thinks it's about Magda and is VERY upset!"
- Early reviews are reaching the city of Ikoma Taru's latest play. While it's set several hundred years in the past and the names are changed, it's clearly a roman à clef of Akodo Akiyoshi and his courageous actions during the Battle of Toshi Ranbo.
- "Soshi Moriko got what was coming to her. It's a shame to see such a nice young woman meet such a terrible end, but that's what happens when you get involved in radical politics. Sooner or later someone was bound to track down this Makoto. She shouldn't have played with fire if she didn't want to get burned. Hopefully this serves as a lesson to other young people. Splashing some cold water on their hot blood."
- Iuchi Sadako comes in to the Magistrate Residence with her arms full of papers, her "research", insisting that Soshi Moriko
wasn't the real Makoto. She launches into a rant that lasts for the
better part of the afternoon. She's so wrapped up in it, she fails to
notice how Ichiro Taiki's polite nodding quickly gives way to him slumped over the desk asleep for the majority of it.
"... that's what the Kolat want people to think because Makoto has been hiding messages in his writing to his allies among the Reptile Cult who are currently engaged in the Secret War with the Shadow Court. Because what people don't realize is that gaijin are actually from Dimension X and they've brought their centuries-long battle across time to Rokugan as the final battleground. Which the Shadow Court doesn't know about as they remain pawns for the Xiliens in their bid for ascension to godhood through a dark ritual that can only be completed here with their forbidden knowledge...
"... but all of that just proves who Makoto isn't, not their actual identity. However if we utilize a linguistic dialectological analysis of Makoto's previous writings we can see that there are distinct markers that point to the northern Lion provinces: the Castle of the Swift Sword, Rugashi Toshi, or possibly Oiku. It was the latter that really drew my attention because there was something odd about it. It wasn't in line with the flowery speech of the Ikoma, but there was something more delicate and formal to it. And then I realized it, the courtly dialect of the Doji! But who would be likely to write in a manner blending the patterns of such bitter enemies, especially at present? Except Oiku was the staging grounds for the Lion assaults on Toshi Ranbo until recently. That was where the Lion and Crane mixed! And the garrison commander had married a Doji. Everything fell into place! Especially since Akodo Akiyoshi, the son of the commander, has risen to prominence recently. This could only be the work of Akodo Ayame, the shugenja daughter of a powerful family taking action in the only way available to her as she noticed the rising Nationalist sentiment of her brother!
"...
"Ichiro-san? Kamahime-san?" - Street violence has been on the rise, particularly among the lower peasant classes. The Kenjingumi have increased patrols in response. Generally the presence of an armed swordsman has been enough to cool tempers down but occasionally someone has taken a swing and been whipped in the street as punishment. On only the rarest occasions has someone attempted to assault a member with a deadly weapon and tragically lost their life as a result. The eta continue to police themselves admirably and know their place, with little cause for concern.
- A new and intriguing brothel has opened in the Licensed Quarter with only a single oiran
named Uondo serving customers. Although by all accounts she has an
extremely beautiful face, the prices are absurdly high, especially
considering the single service offered. This is because Uondo is
reputedly a ningyo (fish person), the offspring of Urashima Taro and the beautiful courtesan Orino from the undersea Dragon Palace. While as a ningyo she has no arms or legs, it is well-known that eating the flesh of a ningyo
will grant eternal life and youth, so in exchange for her fee a client
is allowed to lick Uondo, which is alleged to add at least a few years
to your life. Clients have already claimed that a single session has
made them look years younger.
- The novel Embarking at the Harbor of Love has become as popular as it is scandalous. Published under an obvious pseudonym, the story depicts the forbidden romance between a wealthy samurai woman and a lowly gaijin sailor. The illustrations in particular leave nothing to the imagination, depicting some of the most salacious examples as she lustfully submits her pure, delicate body to his bestial passions.
- There has arisen speculation that Kaiu Shinya's wife Sakyo is something other than she appears to be. She is not beautiful enough to be a fox or crane, but legends also tell of frogs, clams, and other small creatures also taking human form and husbands. She is certainly small and timid. While many say that her seclusion at home is just the result of the pregnancy taking its toll on her health there are others claiming that she is afraid that the birth of the child will reveal her true nature.