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The white cloud of Hiroto

Posted in Black Caste, Black Ember Port, Mastery, Uncategorized on June 4, 2026 by crow1971

[04:40:01] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) walked up to the camp and noted the bond. A brief “Tal Kedja.” was offered before he went to collect the offering bowls and then refill them.

[04:41:43] KeDjA (lilli.breda) sets down the clean dishes and looks up when she hears footsteps. “Tal Jarl,” she says, smiling at Vesper and wiping her hands on her tunic as she watches him.

[04:43:17] Crow (melchior.wardell) slammed his brief-opener in the squealing fish so it would stop. It was more of a moment of reflection, to see how hard it was to pierce a dagger into the wood. To feel if there was truly that effect of danger and being the scariest in the room. The fish seemed not to be bothered and continued. He would withdraw the tool and clean it before he would put back to his belt. He would look from one to the other. “Greetings you both. I have good news … Bertram is missing.”
[04:44:42] Crow (melchior.wardell) continued “There is bad news too …. since Klauw is too. So I wonder what might have happened. I doubt they eloped.”

[04:47:55] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) filled up the bowls with water, rice, and a few petals before he noted the older Killer returning to the camp. “Good morning Killer.” He offered with a customary nod and then watched him slam the blade into the table. He smirked, seeing the effect it had on the fish was about the same it had on him….which was negligible. If it had stopped with just the display, he might have chalked it up only to Randy’s effect but the mentioning of Bertram and Klauw missing made an eyebrow raise. “If that damn tharlarion has started a war….again…..I will not be pleased.”

[04:49:15] KeDjA (lilli.breda) flinches slightly when she hears the sound of blades scraping against wood and fish. She shakes her head slightly as she watches the knife and the fish, before Crow pulls the blade away again. When she hears the good news, a cheerful chuckle escapes her for a moment. She clears her throat hastily to cover it up. Especially when he continues speaking. Her head tilts slightly. “Has anyone checked the inn’s kitchen yet?” Both Tharlarions were considered gluttonous, and it stood to reason that they would be enjoying themselves there while their owners attended to other matters. Then she remembers something she’d almost forgotten: “Would you like something to drink, Jarl?” That sentence will haunt either her or him in their dreams at some point. Her eyes sparkle with amusement as she keeps her gaze fixed on Crow.

[04:53:16] Crow (melchior.wardell) arched a brow at the ; I will not be pleased. It was something similar as saying ‘foei’ when men were in a bar-fight. As if that would stop any of them. “Let us hope your beast has no bad influence on mine. Since there is little dissapointment but just murder.” he replied. When Kedja offered a drink he shook his head, but seemed to be taken the offer for something quite normal. “No I am fine for now. I need to find that beast.” he stated. “The Inn might be a good spot to start.” he remembered the sausages the Innkeeper made and the effect they had on Klauw.

[04:58:05] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) looks at the offering bowls and picked them up, “Just a moment and I’ll join the search with you.” His time in Sendai had given him one thing…if anything at all…more of an understanding of what needed to be dealt with right away and what could be taken care of after tending to things that grounded him and provided him structure. He felt the magma flowing in his internal self but did not allow the steam to escape. He moved inside, made his offerings to those he had set space aside for and then moved back out once more.
[05:00:11] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) wiped his hands on the cloth and set it down and then let his teasing begin in earnest, “Well since the bond won’t offer me a drink, let’s head to the inn to see what might be on offer…..perhaps a tharlarion or two.”

[05:02:05] KeDjA (lilli.breda) shrugs when Crow declines a drink. All that mattered to her was the offer itself, not whether he accepted it. She glances back and forth between the two men until Vesper walks toward his tent with the filled bowls. She turns her head to keep an eye on him until he returns. A brief smile plays on her lips. “Oh, forgive me, Jarl. A drink?” she offered. He seemed so busy filling the bowls that it didn’t even occur to her he might be interested in anything else. Until Bertram comes into play.

[05:06:01] Crow (melchior.wardell) spied the girl taking V under observation. A brow arched in curiosity. It meant something was up. He wouldn’t speak of it but waited. Wondering what would come to surface. The shrug was noted too, something that made his jaw set just a bit. As if the mere motion wasn’t in his book when it came to exquisite beauty of a slave. But for once he held his tongue for now. “Let us hope we will find those beasts before the Innkeeper does. She seems to take her time to accept me in her good graces.” he admitted. “Not that it matters. When I am in need of anything more warm and cozy there is someone else that can provide such.” his eyes roam over Kedja in that moment. “But alright when ever you are ready, Killer.”

[05:11:05] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) felt Hiroto move to the surface as he returned from the tent. A signal that he was not fully aware of something but that forces were at work. He had paused slightly at the door before leaving his tent and noted the new artwork but he made no mention of it, but Hiroto eyed Kedja as perhaps one of those cuts of meat, wondering how to torture her best. He did not speak, that would give him away. He just nodded and gestured to the Killer to move on.

[05:14:34] KeDjA (lilli.breda) Crow’s remark about the innkeeper elicits an amused smile from her, but it fades as he continues speaking and she feels his gaze. That tingling sensation spreads through her stomach again—that mixture of darkness and joy. Her eyes flicker slightly as she meets his gaze for a moment before looking away. Her muscles tense slightly. Whatever this man stirred in her, it was something she both hated and missed when he ignored her. It was paradoxical. She turned her head and now met Vesper’s gaze as well. Irritation flashed in her eyes, for his gaze suddenly no longer seemed like the one she was used to seeing from him. What was going on here?

[05:21:26] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) watched the girl carefully, noted the way her eyes changed. He didn’t speak while the other Killer held his own silence. Instead, he moved to the table with the open bags of flour….looked her in the eye directly….and then batted the bag of flour onto the ground almost with the same energy as a gianni tapping objects off a shelf. He would see how the bond danced.

[05:24:45] KeDjA (lilli.breda) watches Vesper and already senses that something is about to happen that she probably won’t like. And sure enough, the next moment she’s standing in a cloud of flour. She squints her eyes and covers her mouth and nose with one hand, though she coughs anyway because, of course, she reacted too late. She spins around on her heels as if that would help and waves her other hand pointlessly through the air to disperse the cloud.

[05:28:54] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) simply tilted his head to the side and watched what happened and then as quickly as Hiroto was here, he was gone, the Record Keeper providing no information from one personality to the next as Vesper heard the coughing and rose to the surface to see what was the matter. He rose his eyebrow slightly and said, “Kedja, you really do need to be more careful.”

[05:33:10] Crow (melchior.wardell) had been in deep thoughts and when he paid attention had no clue as to what happened, but of course would blame the bond. She was the one in layers of flour. “That is a waste of coin. Do you have any idea how that coin was made ? What had to be done before we were able to acquire this bag of flour?” he was teasing of course. “Can you imagine the relatives that are calling out your name in dispair as we need to find a new target to get paid for”

[05:39:47] KeDjA (lilli.breda) mutters under her breath as the men act as if it’s her fault. She turns back around as the fog lifts, and there she stands before them, covered in white powder. Luckily, she isn’t wearing black today. Her eyes sparkle with anger.

[05:43:57] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) seemed concerned for the bond now, as if what she had experienced, while he definitely thought was her fault as he had no understanding of what Hiroto had been up to, was somehow requiring action on his part. He grabbed the rep cloth from the side of the table and threw it her way. “I always seem to have the worst luck with clumsy camp slaves…but this one is owned by Arsus…and yet still clumsy.” He shook his head.

[05:45:46] Crow (melchior.wardell) didn’t know Kedja to be clumsy. Hot headed, fierce, amazingly wonderful in the furs, brazen and sassy but clumsy ? No that was not a fit for her. “I think she did it on purpose. What did you say ?” he asks Vesper .”Surely she lost control. Perhaps we should teach her as we teach our lads the control their emotions.”

[05:49:48] KeDjA (lilli.breda) caught the cloth with the reflexes she’d been trained to have—reflexes even the resurgence of her Nordic nature couldn’t suppress. She snorts lightly and mutters, “I didn’t knock over the sack of flour,” then wipes the flour dust from her face with the cloth. Not particularly thoroughly, but at least from her eyes, nose, and mouth. Her head snapped toward Crow, and she stared at him as if he were crazy. He had seen exactly what had happened. And Vesper… he had done it. Once again, she found herself in a situation that—at least in her mind—felt threatening. And once again, Crow was involved. And once again, he was the one pushing things forward. Her body begins to tremble slightly with rage, while she is now truly speechless for the moment.

[05:54:22] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) raised his eyebrow slightly higher noting the temper sending the body of the bond to tremble. “Indeed, the neurochemicals in her body are fiercely raging, Killer. Do you see how she trembles…adrenaline coursing through her veins. Do you think she needs a physician?” Razius now moved to the surface to make the assessment along with Vesper.

[05:55:27] Crow (melchior.wardell) had seen nothing. Too deep in thoughts and in the compound – the only place he dared to let his guard down – that meant he truly hadn;t registered. “You didn’t?”he asks with a challenge. “Who else would it have been ? The ghost of the forest … The spirit of the underworld .. The ancestor of the bonds of hte north?” he teased her further. When V spoke he shook his head ‘Nah … it is her temper nothing more … something she really need to control, before I whip it out of her.” he stated, more firm than he might have meant it.

[06:00:57] KeDjA (lilli.breda) tosses the cloth onto the table in front of her and pants slightly before beating the fur draped over her shoulders much harder than necessary. “I don’t need a physician, I’m fine, Jarl,” she forces out through clenched teeth, as if removing the flour required far more strength than it actually did. As Crow speaks, making a mockery of the whole situation in her eyes, the beating grows even more intense. To the point of whipping. This brief remark makes her pause and now she just glares at him angrily. Her fingers dig into the fur before she tenses her shoulders and wraps the fur back around them. She thinks. Of course. Admitting a mistake actually goes against her sense of justice. But at the same time, she fears the whip far more. She was not someone who enjoyed pain. Especially not this kind. Her lips press tightly together before she bends down to right the overturned sack. It wasn’t completely empty, thankfully. In fact, most of the flour was still inside and could thus be saved. The
[06:00:57] KeDjA (lilli.breda): rest… well, that was scattered in the grass

[06:05:50] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) noted the flour on his hands and figured it had come from when he tossed the cloth to the bond, his personalities not always keeping track of time and action from one alter to the next. He dusted off his hands and said, “Well, it seems as if Arsus has his hands full with this one.” Vesper clearly had no idea why the bond would be upset at all.

[06:09:15] Crow (melchior.wardell) noted that she didn’t speak who had done it. Something about that made him look at V. For a moment considering the odds. He knew the bond had a sense of understanding when it came to justice. But he wouldn’t dare to accuse anyone else if not given any indication. He would shrug “Arsus likes troublemakers. You should see him on his tarn.” he stated as an example. “It is how these two met. I guess it keeps him entertained.” the fact he too was entertained he left for anyones guess. “So the Inn as in search for the two beasts. With all of this we might have waited to long and the Innkeeper already knows who took her famous sausages.”

[06:12:51] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) shrugged, “Yes, two troublesome beasts…the tarn and the bond….surely the problem is with Arsus after all.” he mused and then would follow the Killer.

[06:13:50] KeDjA (lilli.breda) lets out a soft hum. The whole thing with Arsus and his Tarn would normally prompt her to say something. But there was that threat, which is keeping her from wanting to get herself into further trouble. She uses the shoes she’s wearing today—for once—to push the flour across the grass to spread it out. Her eyes flicker slightly, and she shakes her head ever so slightly. After Crow steers the conversation back to the Tharlarions and the landlady, her shoulders relax slightly and she mutters, “You’d better go look for the animals before the innkeeper skewers them.”

The Black Ember Port

Posted in Black Ember Port, Pani, Sanctuay of the Nightbound, Uncategorized on May 9, 2026 by crow1971

[13:17] Hosokawa Mei 芽依 followed him and processed the information he had given. She understood that he explained more to her than he might have given others. The privilege one she would never abuse. As she moved into the camp, she could see it being bigger than the one she visited in Var-Kor. She would bow deeply before the Master Assassin. “Greetings, Lord Master Assassin.” she gave him the full title in the language he would understand. Her smile warm and kind as she posed demure and yet firm before him. She did not bow down out of submission.

[13:19] Crow (melchior.wardell) stood as he always did in the presence of women. It was something he had been taught as a young boy. The freewoman were given the respect they owed. As ever he would be critical in how one portrayed one self but that was another matter. “Tal Killer, lady Mei.” he would incline his head. “I see you have returned in one piece.” the golden coin still laying on the spot he had laid it.

[13:22] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) moved Lady Mei next to him within the ring of the campfire. He stood before the venerable older Killer and said, “Tal Killer. The Daimyo has released Lady Mei to me without coin and with his blessing.” He pulled the gold coin off of the wooden log bench that he left there the previous night before and placing it into one of his hidden obi pockets.”One piece indeed, but with an idea after speaking with Kage in Var-Kor today….a refuge….a place where Lady Yoko’s talents could thrive and, perhaps, other Pani could come in time….a place with the significance held in the words Kuro Okibi Minato….Black Ember Port. Would such a venture be possible?” He laid out so much in just a few words and then stood silent before the Killer.

[13:27] Hosokawa Mei 芽依 (adaugoalika) felt the heat of the campfire on her face, but it was nothing compared to the warmth of Kinsei beside her. She was living proof that he had been granted the blessing of the Daimyo. When he spoke of the name Black Ember Port, she felt a thrill of recognition. It wwas a name that carried both the weight of the steel they forged and the hope of the culture they carried. She looked from Kinsei to Crow. Her expression calmj and supportive. A silent pilar for the man who was daring to dream. “An ember is small, but it holds the memory of the fire and the promise of the hearth. To create a refuge where the Pani way can flourish alongside the strength of the Caste… it would be more than a venture. It would be a bridge between the world we left and the world we are building.” she stated in firm support of the man that brought forth the idea.

[13:33] Crow (melchior.wardell) noted the retrieval of the golden coin. His gaze remained fixed on the lady. She was indeed a sight to be hold. She was the living testament of his brother favor. As Vesper spoke of the idea he would listen, wave his hand as to invite them to take a seat. He would wait to take one – only when lady Mei would be seated. “An ember is a dangerous thing, Lady Mei.” he replied with a hint of humor. “It is quiet, yes , it is small. But it is the part of the fire that refuses to die. To build a port on such a foundation suggests a place that is hidden until it is ready to consume.” He turned his attention back to Vesper. his posture shifting as he gave it more thought. “The venture is possible,” he conceded. “But it must be built as we build ourselves: in the shadows, layer by layer. If Lady Yoko’s talents are to thrive there, she must be protected by more than just words. Let us see if this ember can withstand the coming winter.”

[13:40] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) listened in calm silence as Lady Mei pulled the concept forth and gave it new light. He saw the poise in how she took such subtlety in phrasing and gave it new meaning. He remained steadfast at her side and looked to the Killer who he trusted more than any other to see what he would say. It was a small movement of his eyes that would track from Lady Mei to the Master Killer, his body otherwise remained calm in its stillness. He waited for Lady Mei to settle on the log where he picked up the golden coin and directed her with a wave of his hand to sit. “The shadows must always hold us, Killer, and that is not something that either you nor I can brazenly ignore. There is a reason we keep to the shadows, it keeps us breathing. The camp should remain such. Yet, I wonder if we created a port…if we financed the port, would we perhaps not find ourselves also able to gain contracts from those who might travel to the port for gambling and entertainment?” He paused, “…and there is one more important thing it could be a place where Lady Yoko and Lady Mei could glean information that was useful to the Caste.”

[13:45] Hosokawa Mei 芽依 moved with deliberate graceful and slow-motion, accepting the invitatioin to sit on the log. She waited for the men to settle, her presence radiating a quiet, focused strenght that matched the weight of the conversation. She bowed her head to the wisdom of his words. She looked toward Kinsei, her expression one of shared resolve. “Lady Yoko and I understand the value of layer by layer. If the Black Ember is to thrive, it must be a place where the shadows are part of the architecture. We will provide the ‘entertainment’ that loosens the mind, and the silk that masks the steel. The information we glean will be the wind that keeps the ember burning through any winter.” she promised. She felt the complexity Kinsei had mentioned earlier. The dappled light of being a Lady who is also a Spymaster. It was a role she felt born to play.

[13:50] Crow (melchior.wardell) watched how the lady would take her seat on the log with the grace of a falling petal. Her words carried the weight of a blade. The proposal had shifted from a sanctuary to a trap and it was a language he understood. “Gambling and silk.” he stated. “The things that strip a man of his caution faster than any torture. You propose to build a port that is not just a refuge, but a filter. A place where the gold of the cities flows into our purses and their secrets inot our ears.” he chuckles. “The lady of your choosing is quite the promise.” he offered to his son. “He turned back to Vesper, his eyes narrowing. “Proceed with your ‘Black Ember Port.’ Use the gold to buy the silence. I have earned more than enough of my share in Ar. If Lady Yoko and Lady Mei can turn the breath of a drunken traveler into the wind that feeds our fire, then we have done more than build a port. We have built a throat through which the secrets of the Vosk will scream.”

[13:57] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) waited for the Master Assassin to take a seat and he tended to the fire as the older Killer did so. He watched Lady Mei out of the corner of his eyes and, although his face remained stone, he felt an inner sense of excitement that he was lucky enough to be connected to the woman who held such thoughtful wisdom and prowess. She was an asset to him, yes, but also a force to be reckoned with in her own right. He watched from his place at the fire, the logs placed in their structure before he sat, how each of them saw the merit in each other and the strong symbiosis that could come from the shared space and purpose. “The secrets scream and the hearts of men will be opened. Now, I think you see why she won my heart so easily perhaps?” He sat at the right side of his Master Assassin, his Sensei, and then looked to the woman he loved, his weaver of stars and heartstrings, and he felt joy and peace and he remained still in that moment taking it in.

[14:01] Hosokawa Mei 芽依 felt the weight of Kinsei’s gaze, a warmth that rivaled the fire in the pit. When he spoke of her winning his heart so easily she didn’t blush with the modesty of the girl. She met his eyes with the depth of a woman who knew exactly what she brought to this union. She watched him take his place at the Master Assassins right hand. “The heart is the most difficult lock to pick, Kinsei- dono.” she said softly. Her voice carrying that trace of thoughtfulness. She sat in her stillness with them. A shared moment that felt like the quiet before a magnificent storm. The weaver of stars was no longer just weaving thread.

[14:06] Crow (melchior.wardell) watched the two of them, he saw something different. A shared frequency, a strenght that made a house so much stronger than the sum of its blades. When Vesper spoke of her winning his heart, he would regard the lady. He listened to her response and knew it to be true. “A lock that is picked can be closed again.” he reasons. “A heart that is woven into cause .. that is a knot that even the sharpest of blade can not sever. You have not just won his heart, lady Mei. You have anchored his purpose.” He looked at Vesper, acknowledging the man’s position at his right hand. It was a place of honor, but also a place of shared burden. “You feel peace in this moment, Vesper, because the shadows have finally stopped fighting you,” Crow continued. “But do not mistake this stillness for safety. It is, as the Lady says, the quiet before the storm. The ‘Black Ember Port’ is a dream that will soon wake up hungry.”

[14:17] Hosokawa Kinsei – Vesper™ 細川金星 (razius) looked to the Master Assassin. His words were calm, without challenge, and with understanding of the man. “Killer, in all the time you have known me, you have never known a whole man. You have known a fractured and tortured soul, scattered into a thousand pieces and pulled this way and that by a thousand voices.” His voice was thoughtful now, more so than usual as he said, “In this moment, Killer, when all of me is allowed to live within this camp as a whole man, both Pani and Killer, I am more dangerous than I have ever been because nothing pulls at me, nothing weighs me down, all of me moves forward in the same unified direction.” He looked at the fire briefly and then back to the man, “Some would say that I can no longer be Pani because I am a Killer….that is incorrect. Some would say that I cannot be a Killer because I am Pani….also incorrect. What these people do not realize is that it is BECAUSE I am both at the same time that I no longer need their approval or permission.” He looked to Lady Mei for a moment and then back to the Master Assassin. “She was the first to see all of me and accept me….you are the second….it is the two of you who will eventually see what it means when the quiet and the stillness in me is but the eye of the storm itself….I am the oncoming storm.”