Trying to sort the mess [D9, open, LM]

[Isawa Kyosei]

Kyosei has said he knows where there are 4 mines, outside of Stag lands. Which he does! And even has maps showing where they are. If only he knew which maps. Or could read his own handwriting. There is a pile that overflows two desks of maps. Isawa Kyosei is trying to sort them, but even he didn't realize how many he had!

The monks and librarians are unhappy with him, but as he is doing the bidding of the Emperor, they can't really say anything about it. Still, he is clearly, visibly, struggling. He makes one last use of 'teaching' for Shirayuki, and asks her to try to find someone - ANYONE! - who could help him. The more, the merrier!

[Otomo Gusai]

Gusai finds his way to the library again, thinking to work on his reading. And he finds the Isawa there, poring over maps frantically.

He smiles. This, I can do, he thinks, and approaches, bowing.

"Use a hand?" he asks.

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Please! I need the maps for the Bat, the Spider, the Ratlings, the Scorpion, and the Ki Rin! But, ah, I never really organized them as I made them. So, they could be anywhere in here."

[Otomo Gusai]

"Well, let's take a look, eh?" Gusai offers as he starts flipping through the stack. His knowledge of charts and navigation serves him well (Sailing 38), and he soon pulls several of the maps requested. "Looks like these, right?" he offers.

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Okay, that's the Spider, yes. That's the Scorpion, right, but that one's part of the lands ceded to the Crab, not the Bat. And," he takes the last one, then turns it upside down. "Oh. Mismarked, Spider again." It isn't just one map for each clan, there are multiples. He isn't a bird to give a bird's eye view, but a man in a wagon, making the map as he went. Sometimes with ink, sometimes with charcoal, sometimes with... was that one dirty rainwater? This was a mess.

[Otomo Gusai]

"So," Gusai continues, "what's the project?"

[Isawa Kyosei]

"I have to find the ones that I noted have the Jade mines to be - that is, areas I noted jade was, but had not been found by others yet. We will need it. But, my memory is fallible, that's why I drew the maps in the first place. I just, well, aren't very good at it."

[Otomo Gusai]

"It's a skill, chart-making," Gusai replies, "and one that needs practice. But how'd you find jade?"

[Isawa Kyosei]

"I am aligned, most closely, with the Earth spirits. I have also spent the last 15 or more years moving around, looking for trade partners, and, well, exploring."

[Otomo Gusai]

"Then I think you and I have some things to talk about," Gusai says. "I've an interest in that kind of thing, after all."

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Ah? What might you, and your clan and family, be most interested in trading? I am most usually looking for more places for my silver mine, though we also get brass from it. I also have helped others find trade-areas for their own items."

[Otomo Gusai]

"I'm away from my stores at present, as you might guess, but after the Imperial command, getting jade where it needs to go is a concern," Gusai replies. "I can do a lot to handle it up and down the coast, if you and yours can arrange for it to get there."

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Stag is obviously easy; Haven't seen any in Crane lands, but I'm planning to go through there this spring. If we can find the Spider one, then that one can be moved to the coast fairly easily. The one between Ki Rin and Scorpion lands is an offshoot of one of the minor passes there; almost decent for land travel, but nowhere really near water. And there's one in Bat lands, as well. Far from everything."

[Otomo Gusai]

"Of course. There's always one."

[Isawa Kyosei]

Kyosei smiles slightly, even as he keeps checking maps. "Isn't there always? I found it by accident, I remember, when I got lost, and stopped for the evening."

[Otomo Gusai]

"Getting lost does offer useful insights," Gusai replies. "Or so I'm told; I don't really get lost, though, even if I have been blown off course more than once."

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Ever find anything interesting when you're blown off course? A new island, or a protected bay, not previously known?"

[Otomo Gusai]

"Something like that, yeah."

[Isawa Kyosei]

"Oh?" He looks up from his perusal of more of the maps. "Hey! A Bat clan map! Oh, no, doesn't have the mine on it. But, might be important later!"

[Otomo Gusai]

"Charts often are," Gusai allows. "Never do know what all'll turn up on them."