(no subject)
Monday 18th May (Continued)
It seemed that we had the rest of the day to do with, as we wanted which I spent walking around The City of the Castle of the White Heron. The sights are beautiful and the rebuilding works seem to be almost complete. It has been an interesting day but the more pressing duties of escorting Nene to our capital city. The transition between the restfulness of Kyoto and the much more active service out in the province has seemed almost imperceptible.
This evening I relaxed further with the books and scrolls we had taken. The events of the past few weeks sinking in and preparing me for the years of service head, be it in life or death. The mountains of responsibility settling more on my shoulders.
Tuesday 19th May
Sakuma-san has left for his meeting and I unsure as to how spend the day. I spent the morning in the company of Nene, although she did seem rather more interested in the book on flower arranging. The afternoon was spent talking to the garrison guard. They seemed to be concerned with the diminishing number of troops stationed here especially as a large number would be leaving with us to Nishigori City. It seems our Lord is concerned about trouble in the north.
I Have spent the evening looking further through the notes and came across a section that seemed to be nonsense with a section at the back containing, to my surprise, the Rykuge clan mon. This leads me to believe that this document is encoded rather than gibberish. Nishigori-san has wisely counseled that we await our arrival in Nishigori City before investigating it any further.
Wednesday 20th may
I awoke this morning and stretched out and felt my shoulder click back into place. Strange as the wound seemed so recent, how time has passed. We have assembled with 120 men with 20 samurai amongst their number, a large force to be travelling though friendly lands with. They are probably going to be re-assigned to different parts of the Han. With mustering finished we started our trek towards the west.
Thursday 21st may
Heading through the low lands we have started to ascend into the mountains.
Friday 22nd may
Our march has continued into the higher climbs and the views over our Han are simple breath taking.
Saturday 23rd May
The refreshing air up here seems to have re-invigorated everyone as we have been making a good brisk pace all day.
Sunday 24th may
Mountain Air Light,
Gazing like...
Hum I still can't seem to write poetry of any caliber, I must ask Nishigori -san to help me if he has some time.
Monday 25th May
The books I have brought with me are starting to come together; perhaps it is all this time I have had to think as we march along.
Tuesday 26th may
Our mountain trek continues and I have started to learn some of the Ashigari's marching songs, they are rather crude but amusing.
Wednesday 27th May
Our pace seems to have found a happy medium between the hardier members of the group and the civilians that are accompanying us.
Thursday 28th May
The sun has greeted us as we passed below one of the lesser peaks, the sun appearing as a halo around a sharp blade of rock piercing the sky.
Friday 29th May
I am becoming slightly tired after all of this walking but it has been most refreshing to get exercise outside of the city.
Saturday 30th May
We have finally arrived in Nishigori City, Nishigori-san has been collecting his business interests together and speaking to his theatre company. The rest of us are heading to Ogata-san's family shrine and prayed for various fortunes that have befallen us. We all found it very relaxing and enjoyable, we also made plans for a celebration at some point this evening.
I have spent the afternoon arranging my room, there isn't much to sort, but it does have a place where one can rest. We were also informed of a meeting tomorrow with a number of important people, but tonight we celebrate our return to our home city.
Sunday 31st May
A very heavy nights drinking with Togashi-san as everyone else had long fallen asleep. We have all decided to head to the bathhouse to ensure we were our best to meet our Daymio. Having never the great man himself I was somewhat overawed. He congratulated us all about the actions we had taken since Nishigori-san went to Kyoto.
We then went to a meeting with the Master of Arrows Ozaki Mitsuaki and General Katsumo Jenko and a number of ancillary persons. We spent many hours briefing them on the intelligence Sakuma-san has collected recently.
The questions lasted into the night and we then headed to our beds.
Monday 1st June
Rising in this city is much different from Kyoto, as there is a much more peaceful sound to it. I spent the day reading through more notes to see if these are more messages from the Rykuge clan and further delving into the mysteries of the strange sea beast. I then spent the night visiting family and discussing past events and current goings on.
Tuesday 2nd May
Nishigori-san has kindly lent me the funds to get the furniture for the Doktanu finished. It beautifully matches my Katana and Wakazashi. The remainder of the day was spent looking through more of the notes.
Wednesday 3rd June
Sakuma-san has gone for a meeting and I have decided to take myself to the Zen gardens and practice my kata with the new hilt. The blade is somewhat heavier but it seems to cut though the air like sliding between silk.
We were later informed that we need to be ready for a hasty departure and so I have ensured all of my possessions are ready to go.
The night was spent thinking about the previous' days reading and how it fitted together, this is all becoming a little over my head, nonetheless I will push on and end what I have started.
Thursday 4th June
The notes seem to have caught me and I must finish this thread of information. The whole has seemed to wash by as I studied the diagrams and text.
Friday 5th June
This morning we have been called to a meeting to discuss the implications of the information that we had gathered. It seems the Han to our northwest has been secretly gathering troops near our borders. It seems that the second Rykuge is hiding out in their capital city and it seems he is likely to be behind the attack by land and the attack from sea. Along their coast it seems there is a gaijin trading post of some kind. We have been given the task of taking the ship Lost Mountain to meet with these traders and buy as much of their 'smoking powder' as we can and then return it here as fast as possible.
A further goal is for us to eliminate the possibility of Rykuge succession, and to investigate the gathering ships at Bia Bay.
We have also been tasked to visit two temples to ask for the return of a favor and support us for any defenses we may need to raise. We have also been cautioned to avoid causing any 'diplomatic incidents' with our actions. Further we have been informed that any chance to impede their war machines should be taken if the opportunity arises. It seems that we are to leave directly and take a monk with us to help communicate with the Gaijin.
We have made sure we are fully equipped to head out and meet our duties head on.
Just catching the evening tide out we have ridden hard to meet the ship. A crew of 40 men with an ancillary 8 samurai and 2 scouts Nikin and Toymora.
It seems everyone is rather on edge and has relaxed much more. A sense of safety has overcome the crew as we left the land and headed out into the sea.
The captain requested our presence and informed us that we are bearing a large amount of money with us and a greater amount of responsibility to our clan. We also seem to be going in somewhat blind into this venture and we don't know what to expect. I personally have never had dealings with the Gaijin before but I will draw strength from the leadership of Nishigori-san.
Saturday 6th June
Heavy weather has slowed our progress again but mainly through caution. I have spent the morning talking to the monk about the gaijin language. He seems to know a great deal about foreign tongues and is a very gifted in this department.
Sunday 7th June
I have continued my studies and am amusing my self with the garishness of their tongue.
Monday 8th June
We have spent the day discussing the nuances of the strange language; it seems they only have 26 different pictograms, laughable.
Tuesday 9th June
The monk and I have continued our discussions, but I have become rather distracted by other matters concerning our task. We as a clan are defying the orders of the Shogun himself, and this places me in a very difficult position. I do not feel comfortable sailing under a blank sail deceiving people that we pass as we sail. The gaijin have no honor so one may deal with them as a dangerous child, but these commands come directly from Lord Nishigori himself and my life is his.
Wednesday 10th June
We have sighted the trading post and are looking to arrive by the mid-morning. We have found the large trading vessel without being apprehended by any other ships. A small party of us is looking to go and negotiate our talks over the 'smoking powder'. After a hurried conversation (fortunately in the open) we have landed on the beach to start discussions and business. It seems they pulled in to the cove to repair some storm damage they suffered. They have a Korean man with them to translate and act as business intermediate. The dealings were done quickly and concluded with us purchasing 2 tons of gunpowder and some of their Teppos. They also had one of the dragons for sale but that was well outside of the amount of money we had been allocated. The good were then exchanged and we left trying to be as expedient as possible.
Thursday 11th June
Despite my initial nerves we have manage to conclude business with speed and success. I just hope for a smooth return voyage.
Friday 12th June
With two tonnes of explosives on board we have been very cautious to keep all flames and heat sources away from this possible death trap.
Saturday 13th June
The breeze has been whipping up the white tips of the waves and we again have fish swimming by the bow of the ship. Most peaceful.
Sunday 14th June
We have returned to the Nishigori lands and have headed to return the goods we had bargained for. It was a good idea as the Master of Arrows was pleased to receive the weapons we had acquired.
Our next agenda item was to rally the temples to our cause and then heading to Bai Bay to spy out our enemy’s movements.
Monday 15th June
We have ridden hard back to the boat, sadly missing the tide and looking to head out tomorrow at dawn.
Tuesday 16th June
The captain has caught the tide well and we have got set off to a good start. I have been making good progress with these notes.
Wednesday 17th June
Seeing an end in sight I have spent the day pushing on with the reading.
Thursday 18th June
Clear weather has been refreshing with a swift wind from behind.
Friday 19th June
We have arrived at the lands of our allies and shall set off on the morrow by horseback to the nearest temple.
Saturday 20th June
We have set off up into the mountains for an invigorating ride, there was a slight delay when we encountered a patrol but all of our papers were in order so presented no problems. We have arrived late in the day to find the temple straddling a mountain pass with a few villages at the base. We are looking to arrive at some point in the evening.
Our arrival was met by 2 of their monks and third man representing the clan whose lands we had entered. They have offered us a place to stay for the evening and showed us inside. It seemed a good place to rest and the sight of 50 monks practicing Kat was most graceful. Once we had been shown our rooms we left to dine with the monks. Sadly I don't fully understand the formalities and ceremony then enact with meals.
Sunday 21st June
It is a very brisk freshness that one experience when awakening in such a high and exposed place. They have a beautiful arrangement of rocks where I spent my morning in contemplation getting ready for this afternoon's meeting. The abbot was a most gracious man and received us well. Most of the conversation seemed to be bartering us into how deep the favor was that was owed. Finally he has agreed to lend us 50 of his monks and an officer to lead them.
The evening was spent reading quietly while the others enjoyed the peace of meditation.
Monday 22nd June
Leaving the temple this morning we have made good headway but the weather seems to close in as we settled in for the evening.
Tuesday 23rd June
Being stuck in an inn has been rather boring and I am coming to the end of these works.
Wednesday 24th June
The weather has remained awful and we have again not been able to move on any further.
Thursday 25th June
We have finally arrived at the Yamadu temple that is located on the flats leading back down to the coast. We again arrived late in the evening and enjoyed a simple repast with the monks again.
Friday 26th June
I have finished the remains of the scrolls and will document their contents when I have more time to do so. I also think my thoughts need to marshaled and ordered before I do so anyway.
The meeting with the abbot has gone well and has offered every man available and an advisor to go with them. Most gracious of the abbot I felt but they will be fighting for a great cause, the Nishigori clan.
Saturday 27th June
We have made a thunderous pace across these lands to meet up with our ship. They in the mean time had re-supplied and are awaiting to leave at the crack of dawn.
Sunday 28th June
We have left on the morning tide out and are looking to head to Nishigori lands before we go onto unknown lands and serious work.
Monday 29th June
I have started making earnest preparations for what I see as a battle torn future and glorious victories for our clan.
Tuesday 30th June
The gentle rocking of the boat is most soothing to awake to and the fresh sushi from the sea most excellent.
Wednesday 1st July
These texts on generalship are somewhat familiar but it is always good to ensure one knows the basics and fundamentals of anything you wish to learn.
Thursday 2nd July
Our voyage has continued, and we have started to plan as to how to proceed further.
Friday 3rd July
We have arrived back at Izangi and spent the rest of the day re-supplying our ship and making important purchases. We are looking to climb over the range of mountains to view the bay from above and give us a good amount of intelligence, wisely this task has been assigned to Sakuma-san and the two scouts.
Saturday 4th July
I have decided to review the scrolls I though complete as a large number of questions have risen in my mind, ones I should be able to answer.
Sunday 5th July
The two scouts have been limbering up for what could be a most arduous trip into enemy territory.
Monday 6th July
We have arrived near the bay and Sakuma-san has left with the scouts to see what forces have been marshaled against us.
Tuesday 7th July
Being sheltered in this small cove has kept us out of sight of others and shielded us from the worst of the weather.
Wednesday 8th July
There have been no events of note today and we have all mainly been keeping to ourselves, reading and such matters.
Thursday 9th July
Waiting for Sakuma-san to return, as our captain grows nervous about staying here too long before we are spotted.
Friday 10th July
The night has brought us no more news but ever patient we await their return.
Saturday 11th July
The parts I missed in the collected works are becoming clearer now. It will take a great deal of time to fully comprehend what is in these pages.
Sunday 12th July
As an aide I have now started to take notes to keep track of what I am reading. Perhaps if Ogata-san could spare some time I could understand of what is written here.
Monday 13th July
I have started the day with some simple prayers that my father taught me as a child. It was his tradition to say these prayers to keep his mind focused on his duty, as do i.
Tuesday 14th July
Sakuma-san arrived back at the ship with the scouts looking exhausted reporting back there were 1500 men and 50 ships. Simple routes though the mountains have been plotted but more planning will continue tomorrow when Sakuma-san is rested.