[D2LA] Bonsai Bonanza (PLAYER EVENT)

[Doji Hikaru]

Lady Doji is a master of many arts, and she has worked diligently in bringing them to the Empire. Many of those already existed in one form or another, and Lady Doji merely helped to refine them. But some of them are new, like the art of bonsai! After all, before the Kami improved the lives of the people within the Empire, how many people could spend years caring for and shaping a tiny useless tree?

Doji Hikaru intends to do his part as a servant of Lady Doji to spread this art. Unfortunately, he has studied only the basics. Well, no matter! Surely strong will and enthusiasm can make up for any lack of skill!

Step One: Finding the Perfect Branch

Perfect bonsai don't grow on trees (?), and using the plants of the Imperial Household is definitely Not Done. Those wishing to make a bonsai will need to find appropriate materials. Time to go tromping about in the snow and cold!

Allowed Rolls: Hunting/Perception TN 10, Investigation/Perception TN 15, Lore:Nature TN 20. Way of the Land for this area will earn a Free Raise on this roll.
SPECIAL: If you have a pet capable of reasonable quick travel speed and intelligence (comparable to, say, a fox), you may enlist its help in finding the right materials by using Animal Handling/Awareness TN 15.

Success on this roll earns two BONSAI points, plus one BONSAI point per raise. You may still proceed on a failure, but you have a substandard stick

Step Two: The First Cut is the Deepest

Having found your tree (or stick), it is time to do the work of shaping it.

Allowed Rolls: Artisan Bonsai/Awareness TN 10, Knives/Awareness TN 15, Kenjutsu/Awareness TN20.

Success on this roll earns one BONSAI point, plus one BONSAI point per raise.

OPTIONAL: Cut Away Everything That Doesn't Look Like a Bonsai

If you are unhappy with your roll in Step Two, you can try again. Just make a few more adjustments! However, if you make a second roll, you may score a maximum of two BONSAI points in Step Two, and if you make a third, you may only score a single BONSAI point in Step Two. After a third attempt, no further attempts may be made.

Only the last roll you make counts, both for earning points and for tiebreakers.

Determining Winners

The best Bonsai will be determined by most BONSAI points, with ties broken in the following order: Fewest rolls on Step Two, Most raises on Step Two, highest roll used on Step Two, highest roll on Step One

First place receives a bonsai personally tended by Lady Doji
Second place receives a painting of Lady Doji's bonsai, by Lady Doji
Third place receives a painting of Lady Doji tending to her bonsai, by Doji Hikaru

Everyone may keep their bonsai, of course.

[Doji Misaki]

Misaki knew nothing of Bonsai. But plants... she did know how to prune and shape and such. So, having chosen entirely the wrong branch for the occasion, she still managed to create something quite beautiful. All things considered at least.

Perfect Branch = No Points

First Cut = 3 points

[Togashi Satsuki]

Bonsai-cutting... that actually sounded like a lovely thing to do. Peace and quiet, outdoors for a while, meditation over a beautiful piece of nature. No stupid courtly robes or mindless talk.

Perfect.

Satsuki managed to find a pretty alright branch, even if she wasn't much of a hunter. It was perfectly suitable, a branch of potential rather than a masterpiece already.

It wasn't really an art she had practiced before, but some of her mother's artistic skills had carried on to her and her siblings... perhaps she should've tried harder to make it even more beautiful, but Satsuki was pleased with the result nonetheless.


-----

D2 EVENT: Bonsai Bonanza. Investigation/Perception. +1k1 Void. TN 15: 4d10o10k3 15 - 2 points
D2 EVENT: Bonsai Bonanza. Artisan: Bonsai/Awareness. Void for Skill. 1 Raise. TN 15: 4d10o10k3 37 - 2 points

4 Bonsai Points

[Hantei Kinsen]

Kinsen gets out to find herself a bonsai, and –– unfortunately –– doesn't find any good branch that doesn't have a stain, or some sort of blackening to it. Nevertheless, willing simply to learn and participate, she takes it with her from some good trimming.

Rubbing her chin, the Stag Queen analyzes exactly where to cut to remove that impurity from the branch. With an intuitive snap of her incredibly sharp red fingernails, she removes the blackening away.

"Lesson learned: There's no thing as perfect branch. One needs to trim it away constantly so impurities are kept at bay." She says while bowing to Hikaru and grateful for the experience.

--
D2, LA, Finding the Perfect Branch TN 15 (10 + 1 Raise) + Void: 4d10o10k3 11
D2, LA, The First Cut is the Deepest TN 10: 2d10 11 1 Bonsai Point
Total 1 Bonsai Point

[Doji Tsubaki]

Tsubaki had some experience tending to plants - but trees were far from the tea bushes with which she was familiar. Still it would not do to not support a fellow Crane in sharing art even if she doubted the outcome of her own attempts in this arena.

Though she eventually gave up and picked any branch with enough greenery to still work with her artist's soul shined through and the final result ended up actually resembling a bonsai - much to her own surprise.

(Hunting Unskilled TN10 = 9 - 0 Points
Artisan Bonsai/Awareness, VP for phantom skill, 3 raises called, TN25 = 27 - 4 points

Total: 4 points)

[Makime Ayano]

Bonsai, Ayano had heard of such and was eager a surprisingly eager young lady ready to try this out. She had none of the skills, only the raw potential of her soul. And her soul wanted this, it wanted this very, very much.

Fortunately for her, the Lioness was both perceptive and empathetic. And by the end she had cobbled together an attempt that was not only serviceable but....not half bad.

-----------------
Hunting/Perception. Void for 1 Rank. 2 Raises. TN20: 5d10o10k4 24 - 4 points

Bonsai/AWA. 1 VP for Phantom Rank. 1 Raise. TN15: 4d10o10k3 20 - 2 points

6 points of Ayano's Sorrowfully Sensitive Striving Soul's outpouring.

[Jiyo Sora]

Sora wouldn't be caught dead at an event about snipping parts off of a tree to keep it tiny... but Phi? Phi had other ideas.

And with her father seeming awfully distracted since the day before, she took the liberty of stepping out and took a keen interest in the proceedings.

Even if she had to be careful not to get in any of the adults' way.

[And lacking a dice pool of any sort, can be assumed to NPC-participate as best a twelve year old who finds the idea intriguing can manage]

[Yuzuru]

A very disappointed fox was staring at all the tiny sticks being cut away around him. None of these were worthy of the name 'Stick'. None of them would ever be thrown and partially returned by the fox. None of them would ever be chewed for days on end. None of them would be hidden under Shiba's pillow to chew on later. None of them would trip over unsuspecting Consorts.

Tiny trees sucked as far as Hsieh-Hsieh was concerned.

Yuzuru however.

"So, you stunt their growth deliberately for the aesthetic appeal then?"

He asked the host, actually sounding interested.

[Nozomi]

Nozomi was willing, unlike Sora, to completely play along with this particular little game. Really? She found the entire premise of this courtly nonsense exactly that. Nonsense. However, the fact remained that these were plants and she'd spent a chunk of the last few years of her life tending to such things. There was something a bit wholesome about it. Admittedly, the notion of 'perfection' was a bit lost on her exactly. If ever there was someone who appreciated the notion of wabi-sabi, it was probably her without putting it into words.

Still, finding an appropriate plant in the midst of the sudden snowfall wasn't actually difficult when you spent your life hunting for a living, and a chunk of your monastic life hunting because monks needed to eat and millet only went so far. She arrived with what arguably was a good specimen, and settled down to work.

To her, it was more about the natural beauty of the thing, not a desired shape. There were branches that seemed unhealthy, out of place and not belonging, and she worked with that in mind, not some sort of aesthetics, and if the plant was already beautiful then even better. Nozomi was probably hampering herself in thinking in these ways, and yet there was a truth to the principle. Nothing needed to be cut that didn't need to be cut, and what needed to be cut very much needed to be cut. The result was ... actually not bad.

She rather thought it looked like the wind sweeping naturally across space.

Smirking, she glanced over at Jiyo Sora and winked. "And people say I have no culture."

(OOC: Rolls above - good specimen Perception/Hunting 10, CR 1, Total TN 15 - Rolled 24, forgot to explode hah
Bonsai Crafting Artisan Bonsai/Awareness TN 10, CR 1, Void for Skill, TN 15 - rolled 20, accidentally kept lowest and I think I like that because that matches what she was trying to do. Re-learning Orokos but I like these rolls.)

Total Points: 3 for Acquisition, 2 for Crafting = 5 Points I believe
-1 Void Point

[Doji Hikaru]

Sora wouldn't be caught dead at an event about snipping parts off of a tree to keep it tiny... but Phi? Phi had other ideas.

And with her father seeming awfully distracted since the day before, she took the liberty of stepping out and took a keen interest in the proceedings.

Even if she had to be careful not to get in any of the adults' way.

[And lacking a dice pool of any sort, can be assumed to NPC-participate as best a twelve year old who finds the idea intriguing can manage]

Hikaru did not smile at the child; at least, not more than the tiniest bit. But his watchful eyes were on her when they went into the still cold outdoors. And when they returned, he made sure she had an excellent view of what was happening.

"It is a strange art, but an art nonetheless." He said to her, his tone kindly if not warm. "So you must go with your feelings. Look at the branch, and cut away what you feel does not belong." He demonstrated, trimming just a little from around the edge of his branch.

"What do you think?" He asked, looking at her. "More? Or perhaps a little from the other side?" It looked a little lopsided... but as a tree might grow lopsided in nature.

A very disappointed fox was staring at all the tiny sticks being cut away around him. None of these were worthy of the name 'Stick'. None of them would ever be thrown and partially returned by the fox. None of them would ever be chewed for days on end. None of them would be hidden under Shiba's pillow to chew on later. None of them would trip over unsuspecting Consorts.

Tiny trees sucked as far as Hsieh-Hsieh was concerned.

Yuzuru however.

"So, you stunt their growth deliberately for the aesthetic appeal then?"

He asked the host, actually sounding interested.

Hikaru turned, bowing deeply as he recognized the newest guest. "As with all art, bonsai is more than aesthetics, or so Lady Doji explained it to me. Perhaps especially with Bonsai, given the years one can take, caring for one of these plants."

His gaze went distant as he thought back; Yuzuru might hear his breathing slow. "Perhaps one might compare it to our tea ceremony, which is about more than the drinking of tea. As one cultivates the bonsai, so does one cultivate patience and peace within the self."

[Togashi Satsuki]

Hearing Yuzuru speak with the Crane, Satsuki drifted closer to listen in.

Only to spot the Fox.

The Breakfast-thief himself, descended from a long line of breakfast-thieves. Hah joke's on you, Satsuki thought, I have no food with me!

[Yuzuru]

Hikaru turned, bowing deeply as he recognized the newest guest. "As with all art, bonsai is more than aesthetics, or so Lady Doji explained it to me. Perhaps especially with Bonsai, given the years one can take, caring for one of these plants."

His gaze went distant as he thought back; Yuzuru might hear his breathing slow. "Perhaps one might compare it to our tea ceremony, which is about more than the drinking of tea. As one cultivates the bonsai, so does one cultivate patience and peace within the self."

Yuzuru did, indeed, hear better than the average person. Perhaps a compensation to his lack of sight.

"Well the aesthetics would be wasted on me. I doubt the tactile touch of a tiny tree helps much. A focus for a higher purpose I can understand, but does it truly connect to the Void in this way?"

Hearing Yuzuru speak with the Crane, Satsuki drifted closer to listen in.

Only to spot the Fox.

The Breakfast-thief himself, descended from a long line of breakfast-thieves. Hah joke's on you, Satsuki thought, I have no food with me!

The now bored fox suddenly sniffed and pricked an ear. He turned his aged, grizzled muzzle and grinned at Satsuki, tongue lolling out. They would not dance the duel of the morning sustenance now . . . but there was always tomorrow.

[Saru Yatsufusa]

This was the second event organized by the Crane that Yatsu had to experience during the day. He heard that one could bring one animal to it, so he decided to bring Reimei, his trained female falcon.

After hearing the rules, and that background of peace and beauty, spoused by the followers of Doji-no-kami, Yatsu was ready for it. He thought in using the elemental kami to help him, so as to talk directly to Reimei, but instead he decided to not use such an advantage and instead used the training and skill from his mother. Reimei was trained by her after all, and she was one if not the best falcon trainer up in the mountains.

Also he thought that his deep connection through his father heritage would be enough for complimenting his lack of skill in the topic, in regard with talking and making Reimei found what was needed.

Yatsufusa extended the arm from where Reimei was standing, and got it close to the bird's ears. With a gentle whisper he gave the instructions to the creature of Chikushudo, extending his spiritual bond with it so it would be easier for it to found the perfect twig/tree. The falcon took to the skies...

Yatsufusa didn't knew about Bonsai, but he knew a bit about gardening, so maybe he could extend his skills towards that area of artistic expression.

After a few minutes had passed, Reimei's impecable raptor sight managed to find the perfect looking plant that could be worked on. Yatsu noticed the bird circling above in the skies not far from he was and the young dragon, slowly went to where it was.

Then, using his skill on gardening and nature, he tried his best to model the tree/twig to be a perfect expression of the art. It was quite a result, and with it, the dragon didn't think that the tree needed any other modification after the first try.

******************************************

[OOC-Rolls]

1) Animal Handling/Awareness, +1k1 Child of Chikushudo, Inheritance: Trained Falcon, 3CR - 51|Pass [TN30, 3CR]
2) Artisan: Bonsai/Awareness, VP for trained skill, 3CR - 41|Pass [TN25, 3CR, 1 VP]

Results

9 Bonsai points.
1/3 Void Points left

[Makime Ayano]

Having finished her fancy stick, Ayano moved along into the crowd. Her eyes widened a fraction at the height of the...Dragon, she remembered her from the gifting at the wedding...but the Togashi looked larger now. Bigger then mother technically...but Lady Makime surpassed all others in size in the mind of Ayano. It brought a small shiver to the back of her spine.

She also noted the Dragon as being striking, the Hantei had been as well...children of the gods indeed.

Her eyes settled on a red cat like creature. No not cat like, dog like....dog with cat characteristics. A fox then, and rather brazen too. So an Imperial Fox. Dangerous indeed.

[Kuu]

Kuu had heard of this interesting art form. He was not a master in any arts, but he had dabbled in so many. But this one dealt with little trees and that sounded unique so he decided to give it a go.

Unlike most people who had to rush around outside in the snow and cold, Kuu cut a path slowly through it by turning his skin as hot as flame. He used the ambient heat to melt snow off of the little bushes so that he could inspect them better. Occasionally, when he saw other people on the lookout, he offered them a short respite allowing them to warm themselves by his heat. As he searches for the plant he thinks will be best he identifies one. As he is about to dig it up though, he sees that there seems to be some sort of small animal hibernating in it. Luckily he saw it before bringing it back to the group and possibly causing a ruckus. So he moves on and finds a bush that is just as nice, but without anything living in it.

When it is time to get to work he spends quite a bit of time simply walking in circles around the bonsai. He is almost meditating on it. At one point, you could swear he leaned in and asked it something. Very strange indeed. And then he smiles at it before taking up a pruning knife and making 3 precise cuts. As he steps back the bonsai seems to somehow be simultaneously guided by his hand, and yet natural as though this is what it had intended, but just couldn't get there by itself.

"This is what we are attempting to create correct? To nurture it and yet to allow it to maintain it's nature? To help it become something it could not have been otherwise?" he asks, feeling he may have a pretty decent grasp on the idea.

----

D2 LA, Bonsai, Finding Branch, Investigation/Perception, 2 CR, VP +1k1, TN 25: 6d10o10k4 20 Luck rerolled
D2 LA, Bonsai, Finding Branch, Investigation/Perception, 2 CR, VP +1k1, TN 25, Luck Reroll: 6d10o10k4 41 4 points (2 + 2 raises)

D2 LA, Bonsai, First Cut, Artisan:Bonsai/Awareness, Soul of Artistry, 3 CR, VP +1k1 TN 25: 5d10o10k4 29 4 points (1 + 3 raises)

Total: 8 bonsai points

[Hisomu Ayeka]

Ayeka heads off to go hunting for her preferred materials for this. It is a grand success, with a grand bush perfect for this fledgling art of bonsai. She bows to the bush, draws her katana and takes careful aim... but on the initial cut, she slices far to low. She is able to recover it well to a fine little piece, but seems just a bit nonplussed, clearly thinking she could do better.




---------

BONSAI BONANZA! Step 1: Hunting / perception, 3 raises. TN 25. Void. +7 from Matsu 1: 6d10o10k4+7 38 - success with 3 raises, 4 bonsai points

BONSAI BONANZA! Step 2: Kenjutsu / awareness, 3 raises. TN 35. Void.: 9d10o10k4 31 - failure 1 with 3 raises - 0 points

BONSAI BONANZA! Step 2: Kenjutsu / awareness, 1 raise. TN 25. Void.: 9d10o10k4 47 - success with 1 raise. 2 points.

7 Bonsai points

[Doji Hikaru]

"This is what we are attempting to create correct? To nurture it and yet to allow it to maintain it's nature? To help it become something it could not have been otherwise?" he asks, feeling he may have a pretty decent grasp on the idea.

Hikaru bowed to the monk. "I believe you have the right of it, wise one. It is to shape it, yet let it grow, control it, yet nurture it."

Gracefully, he bowed again, this time to the group. "In truth, I am but a beginner at this art, my only learning coming from observing Lady Doji. It is my hope that we might all learn something about it together today."

[Jiyo Sora]

Hikaru did not smile at the child; at least, not more than the tiniest bit. But his watchful eyes were on her when they went into the still cold outdoors. And when they returned, he made sure she had an excellent view of what was happening.

"It is a strange art, but an art nonetheless." He said to her, his tone kindly if not warm. "So you must go with your feelings. Look at the branch, and cut away what you feel does not belong." He demonstrated, trimming just a little from around the edge of his branch.

"What do you think?" He asked, looking at her. "More? Or perhaps a little from the other side?" It looked a little lopsided... but as a tree might grow lopsided in nature.

Phi had listened attentively, and had been about to offer her opinion (since it had specifically been asked for!) when Uncle Yuzuru showed up... and so she spent the next few seconds trying to creep up on Hsieh-Hsieh. With Satsuki on hand to outflank the wily beast, there was always the chance of securing a guest for a tea party....

[Yuzuru]

Yuzuru continued to learn more about this strange new art from each addition by the guests.

Meanwhile, the wily old fox flicked his tail in Phi's direction. He was working now and had no intention of ending up a tea party guest . . . even if they did have the chicken dumplings today.

[Togashi Satsuki]

Having finished her fancy stick, Ayano moved along into the crowd. Her eyes widened a fraction at the height of the...Dragon, she remembered her from the gifting at the wedding...but the Togashi looked larger now. Bigger then mother technically...but Lady Makime surpassed all others in size in the mind of Ayano. It brought a small shiver to the back of her spine.

She also noted the Dragon as being striking, the Hantei had been as well...children of the gods indeed.

Her eyes settled on a red cat like creature. No not cat like, dog like....dog with cat characteristics. A fox then, and rather brazen too. So an Imperial Fox. Dangerous indeed.

Finishing her staring contest with the Wily Old Fox, who had moved on to younger prey (but perhaps even more formidable), Satsuki turned and noticed the Lion.

"Hey," she raised a hand and waved, offering a smile.