LC0215

You’ve just arrived in a swampy, dim town. As you look around, your gaze is met with shacks and cabins. It smells of rotted wood and wet moss. You duck and step into a tattered tent, illuminated by a series of candles suspended in the air. At the back of the tent, an old hag raises her head, “What brings you to this dingy town? she begins, then pauses to study your face—”Ah, it’s you. I’ve been expecting you. Sit,” she gestures at a cushion, “Tell me your story.”

((How do you respond?))

Makoto would step into the tent giving a respectful bow to the old woman as he speaks up "Thank you for letting me in" as he would take a seat on the cushion letting out a sigh before quickly standing up and brushing off some dirt and muck from his bottom.He would than speak "I am Masayoshi Makoto but since you already expected me I can only hope you aren't a debt collector aha...ha.." Makoto would laugh awkwardly before coughing as he spoke once again "Right sorry i shouldn't be pointing fingers and assuming things,you were asking for a story yea? well I guess i don't mind where do i begin...i guess at the start like any good story,not like mines all that interesting but ah well" Makoto would state standing up as he reached into his pocket pulling out a pipe and a small pouch taking some herbs out as he shoved it into the pipe once than holding it over one of the candles before speaking as he waits "This story begins with a boy being born with a kō father who i never had even heard of until some years ago and small time geisha mother,naturally this did not sit well with some of the higher class kids around the town especially when in my younger year i tried to learn how to play music,i mean i heard her sing and the instruments that followed her just sounded beautiful" Makoto would finally pull the pipe away from the flames as he took in a long inhale before exhaling a cloud of smoke before speaking again "They would come by and try to start a fight or flat out slap the instrument out of my hands,naturally i tried to fight back i learnt a few tricks from a friend of my mother who was around talon during the Tai Ping Killings but some of them were from those military families so i got beaten up quick but that was just kids being kids.Skip over to about some years i was..eighteen i believe when i took my first steps into a gambling hall and-heh" Makoto would flash a grin "It was something..i remember it like it was yesterday,I played some dice and cards before with friends and on the street but the halls were different the dedicated players and shameful samurai looking to enjoy their guilty pleasure..i thought i was going to lose most of that weeks coin that night...but i walked out with almost a entire months pay in my pocktes and from there,that was the place to be for me atleast once or twice a week.Makoto would sigh his grin slowly fading as he looked to the old woman "But no good story has just happiness,eventually my mother passed away and before that i had spent a good portion of our coin buying medicine and other remedies to help her but..it was just her time,I din't have enough coins to cover a decent funeral at the time so i was stumped,than one of my friends recommended I go see a man..hakita to get some help...never should have listened to him.I got a loan from him and got together that funeral but..it left me essentially dry and so i had to sell as much as i could quick..but less and less people were interested more of the customers i knew were beginning to flee fearing the new shogun's rule i don't blame them considering one of his men shook me down and "confiscated" some of my wares i was trying to help sell,I tried my luck at the gambling hall but that honestly made it worse,seems I ran out of luck at just the wrong time and those dried my pockets even further,Hakita himself would come and "remind" me of the debt before taking what i had and leaving raising it each time.Eventually after a while I decided i couldn't take it anymore not like i had anything left so I up and left in the dead of the night leaving a note expressing my "gratitude" to him along with a bucket of rotted fish i got from the market ontop of his door heh" Makoto would flash another smile taking another long inhale and exhale of the pipe "But uhh...like i said pockets were running dry,and i din't have the most reliable way here.It was a small and creaky merchant boat that needed a crew,so i told them i was willing to help and they let me on board...it was honestly a stressful journey im fairly certained the captain or anyone else who controlled the boat knew what they were doing..." He would looking away and shuddering for a moment "But we made it here...and on our first day we crashed the ship into the shore,turns out the wheelmen had stayed up last night dealing with i don't know what and than proceeded to drunk off a bottle  may or may not have snuck him during the day.And so that is my story..and also i should most probably inform them of this place so if you will excuse me" Makoto would say as he stands up giving another bow to the old woman before speed walking off