Iron Hearts: Kameyama Jima
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The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
http://ironhearts2.fallenash.com/viewtopic.php?f=131&t=1124		 Page 2 of 3
Author:  Iuchi Ruqqayah [ Mon Dec 04, 2017 3:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
She nodded. "In the meantime, as you know, I will be going home... If we have been successful, it will soon be apparent. I'm sure I'll be asked about our child's parentage. Shall I tell them that my husband's identity is Iuchi Ban?"
Author:  Hantei Jama [ Mon Dec 04, 2017 3:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
"Yes. If you reveal the child's parentage too early people having more power than you will try to reshape into a tool of their statecraft, and make your womb their bargaining chip. It is a tragedy of politics that has happened before."
Author:  Iuchi Ruqqayah [ Mon Dec 04, 2017 10:49 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
She nodded a little. "Then we're on the same page, there... Is there anything specific you need me to say, not say, or do after we part that I should know? That we haven't talked about already, I mean."
Author:  Hantei Jama [ Mon Dec 04, 2017 1:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
"Silence curiosity with dogma. Are you not like Shinjo herself who travelled to the wondrous oasis to conceive? Your pregnancy should be cherished, but not pried on."
Author:  Iuchi Ruqqayah [ Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
She exhales softly through her nose and smiles. "I suppose my family of anyone can hardly argue with it."
Author:  Hantei Jama [ Tue Dec 05, 2017 5:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
He nodded.

"What will you tell your father on all other matters?"
Author:  Iuchi Ruqqayah [ Tue Dec 05, 2017 6:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
"In general, I'm going to let him know what I've seen and heard... Try to urge his support away from Hulagu." She said the a soft sigh. "I can't tell him what I came out here for. I'll probably tell him the same thing I told others."
Author:  Hantei Jama [ Tue Dec 05, 2017 10:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
"Our separation won't be too long, several months, maybe a year. Important shifts will be running concurrently in at least three lands across the world. The Merenaese gambit will unfold first. If in only one of these places we succeed, the game is not over. If things get awry in the Tarkhanate for whatever reason, and Saionji secures his claims in Merenae, join him there. You must be safe."
Author:  Iuchi Ruqqayah [ Tue Dec 05, 2017 11:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
You must be safe... She looked toward him, eyebrows knit. "What about you, and your safety? I don't know what the situation in Rokugan is well."
Author:  Hantei Jama [ Sat Dec 09, 2017 7:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
"I must groom new followers, and learn to rely on them. Miya siblings and Seppun Kaiya are among the most trusted. The latter will travel back with me." He replied after a moment. "In Rokugan, there are more I can rely on."
Author:  Iuchi Ruqqayah [ Sat Dec 09, 2017 11:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
She nodded, reassured. "I've met Miya Suihime, at least, during the Jinn incident. I can see her as trustworthy."
Author:  Hantei Jama [ Mon Dec 11, 2017 1:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
"She's helped me research your people for quite a while. She's a resourceful assistant, if sometimes restless. If her restlessness does not overtake her resourcefulness, I foresee a great future for her. But as my friend often says, people often discard their potential and longtime effort for the least substantial reasons."
Author:  Iuchi Ruqqayah [ Mon Dec 11, 2017 1:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
She nodded to herself thoughtfully. "If she had been born among my people, that restlessness might have served her well. Well, I'll hope for the best for all involved."
Author:  Hantei Jama [ Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:08 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
"Her brother has chance to be more instrumental in the near future. Have you managed to make any close associates among my Explorers?"
Author:  Iuchi Ruqqayah [ Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
"Agasha Utsusemi for certain. I would say she's a friend, even. Bellena. I haven't had time to become closer to most of the rest aside from Miya-san, yet."
Author:  Hantei Jama [ Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
"Neither of the two is too loyal to me. That's both good and bad, but worth remembering whenever you confide in them."
Author:  Iuchi Ruqqayah [ Mon Dec 11, 2017 9:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
"I'll keep it in mind."
Author:  Hantei Jama [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 10:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
"I suppose we should discuss Merenaese matters in greater length." He naturally shifted the language. "I gave Don Salvador de Muxaqui my tentative endorsement but this is just one way it can be resolved. The very notion of this rebellion stems from my grandfather's failed attempt to put my father, a Xantello, on the Merenaese throne when he was but a child. That attempt failed; destiny had greater designs for him, but the outcome was a thorough purge of the Cornejo in Merenae. The young leader of the Tortuga has only an associative claim, and for the Merenaese he may be only a practical choice, with no birthright and of purely foreign stock, elevated because of the ties between the Tortoise and the Merenaese noble houses. His power will lean on the support of the Quijanos, what will bring no strong loyalty from Almerias or Abertzales, and resentment from pro-royalist houses. Besides, he may well be relinquishing his deeper involvement in the Tarkhanate, but neither Kublai nor Hulagu might forget that he has pledged his loyalty to them and can see the emergence of Merenae under his rule as bringing that country into the Unicorn Khaganate, especially if he draws support from the Grand Vizier and borrows Mamluks to win the civil war, which is probably his only realistic option. If this reign happens, it can be short, violent, and soon replaced."

He kissed her forehead.

"The best claim in any Xantellado affair is of course mine; but without the Cornejo reinstated it cannot be realistically advanced without my personal involvement. At that time, I have to be back in the Empire. Still, the mounainfolk of Aberri is most likely to align behind a true Cornejo than anyone else because of shared history and their own agendas. If Don Xavier Arrigorriagakoa proves to be cunning enough to have his way, he may well be able to push for fragmentation of the kingdom into a confederacy ruled by a council at the behest of an absentee king, me. Abertzale cannot be trusted, but the patterns of their treachery are known. And their relative power is weak toward the rest of Merenae without Cornejos to back them up. Almerias and southern families have no love for them."

He looked to the ceiling while wrapping his fingers in her wavy hair.

"Right now, the Almerias have the best shot. They have a Cornejo y Xantello bastard already married to one of them, with her heir, my half-nephew already in this world. They have the money, the position in the kingdom and the external assets to win. Except in their case a Marenae allied with Rokugan is unlikely to happen if my sister will have any say in this. I have reasons to believe she holds a grudge against the Empire and is unlikely to be stately enough to see past it. The Almerias are not beyond purges, religious or otherwise; they had been instrumental in destroying the power of my family 40 years ago. Under their rule Imperial influence in Merenae, through Tortoise or otherwise, may be extricated."

He looked into her eyes.

"This is more or less what you will face sailing east with Edogawa or Berena. I want you to bear this all in mind if you ever come to consider your personal involvement for the rights of our child to La Corna and the kingdom as a whole. For us, a longer game than a success in this rebellion may prove to be a better one."
Author:  Iuchi Ruqqayah [ Thu Dec 14, 2017 8:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
Ruqqayah listened quietly as he spoke of the complex political situation in Merenae, nodding periodically and smiling when he kissed her forehead or played with her hair. She was focused on his words, listening intently and giving thought to them, but each contact still filled her with warm happiness. While she responded to it seriously, there was still some of that warmth in her voice.

"Mm... That's something I'll need some time to think about. Our son's claim will be better than one by simple association, but the longer we wait, the more established the other side becomes in the minds of the Merenaese people. His claim may also not alleviate the avarice of whomever claims the Tarkhanate since, without my brother to inherit, I must take on the mantle of the Iuchi daimyo when my father passes on." Saying that, her expression changed to one of pain, and she has to bring a hand up to her eyes briefly. Still, she tried to muddle forward with what she wanted to say. "Even if I manage to bring him back and am not so directly tied, they will still try to leverage it. I think my best point of influence is to try and build a power base in the Tarkhanate beyond my father's and use both to discourage that. Are there any unmarried scions of the Almerias? If there are, taking advantage of that with a marriage may help swing them a little closer toward alignment with you." She had more she wanted to say, clearly, but she was having a slightly difficult time continuing.
Author:  Hantei Jama [ Fri Dec 15, 2017 12:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The Pillow Fortress of Solitude [LN9]
Jama thought about it, kissing the tension off her temples. Her frown manifested something that would have to be addressed at some point, but not tonight. He wanted to stay focused.

"Sowing division among the Almerias is an interesting idea; the local governor would be the easiest to approach but less so to sway. I'll think about it."

He paused to pull her closer into a more contiguous alignment with his own body.

"Your decisive claim over the leadership of your family and of the related religious position among the Unicorn is both a priority and a necessity. My understanding is that the doctrine of your faith is not inflexible even if your father would like to retain in its current form. For the worship of Shinjo to fit alongside the worship of other Kami it will have to evolve further."

He then sought her peridots and smiled fondly.

"Our child will have greatness written into the puzzle of its life by virtue of who you and I are. But we should not carve just one path for him or her, but keep many destinies open so he or she can claim his or her own, just like you and I have been doing. I won't repeat my grandfather's mistake. I am not worried about entrenchment or avarice. Blood of our blood will know how to sway, crush, uproot and surmount all opposition to his or her will."
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