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 Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:47 pm
Jilan walks up to Setsushi's udonya, hauling his leather bookbag along with him. It is the same one he had when he returned from the Silver World the first time, but of course it is three years older and filled with more books; it does not look like it will last too much longer. The youth's robes, on the other hand, look nearly brand new, and fit Jilan's taller frame nicely.
He reaches the door and knocks as he projects a greeting to announce his approach. The little scholar is unable to keep his excitement from showing.
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 5:58 pm
"How may I serve--" Setsushi begins replying to the knock -- but then changes to a projection of a warm greeting as he recognizes Jilan and appears at the door to welcome him. He's wearing an apron and has his hair pinned up, ready to serve customers... ... ... though there don't appear to be any today. Not yet, at least.
"Jilan," he acknowledges him, looking over his new robes with a slight feeling of admiration... and at his wagon with a slight feeling of pity. sweatdrop It is good to see him again; it has been quite some time. Setsushi is sure Kouyo has missed him as well, if he has not already met with him?
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:16 pm
Jilan happily and politely greets Setsushi, bowing as he does so, and tells the Knight that he met Kouyo a few days ago. He looks around as he drags his books inside, sending out little playful tendrils of thoughts as he asks Setsushi if High Priest Kouyo is here now?
And Setsushi also wishes to see him, yes? To discuss something? Lucretia passed the message along to him.
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:20 pm
Kouyo is out at the moment -- Setsushi believes he is visiting the model-store. If Jilan has a message for him, Setsushi will be happy to pass it on.
And, ah... 'something to discuss' sounds a bit ominous. sweatdrop Rather, Setsushi was wondering, since Jilan is newly returned from the Silver World, if the young scholar might like to compare notes with Setsushi on that place and any clues as to the predicament of the Golden World Porcelain?
... And while they talk, would Jilan like anything to eat or drink?
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:40 pm
Oh, maybe he can wait here for the High Priest for a little while, then? Maybe he will return while Jilan and Setsushi are chatting? Otherwise, the scholar can always come back tomorrow or something to catch him.
And sure, he can share whatever about the Silver World. Jilan sets his bookbag down and crouches beside it before opening it and rummaging around a little inside. He takes out two thick books on magical philosophy and sets them aside before locating his journal. He explains to the Knight as he puts the other two textbooks back in the bag that he writes... a lot while he is gone, even if not all of it is important. But his journal will be a good memory-refresher of the last three years. What would Sir Setsushi like to know?
At the mention of food, the little scholar's insides make a drawn-out sound reminiscent of the front door of a haunted house; as Jilan blushes and squirms, he wonders if perhaps he could have some noodle soup?
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 6:45 pm
"Certainly," Setsushi replies smilingly -- but he doesn't just mean the soup, surely? How about a big bowl of steaming noodles and vegetables? Setsushi hopes Jilan isn't being shy; when he was that age he had a ravenous appetite...
While walking towards the kitchen, Setsushi ponders a moment, then asks Jilan just generally what his impression of the Silver World is -- magically, Setsushi means. Does Jilan have any insights into the nature of that place or why there might be portals appearing on the Gaian Porcelain's front steps?
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 7:05 pm
The youth picks a chair and settles into it, paging through his journal a little before closing it and folding his hands. He laughs a little and concedes that he is pretty hungry, so he will eat everything the Knight wants to add to the soup.
And then he slouches a little in his chair, blushing again. Ah, well, he is hardly a magical expert - High Priest Kouyo is going to teach him magic, but for now, the little scholar cannot do anything impressive. He fixes his glasses as they try to slide down his nose, and adds that, well, the Silver World felt different than Gaia, but since he has never been to the Golden World, he cannot really compare the feeling. As for the portals, he is still not really sure what to make of them. It was on the list of things he wanted to ask Jin about, though....
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 7:13 pm
Setsushi gives off a slight feeling of surprise, but holds off on explaining it as he ponders, fishing through the icebox and slicing vegetables quietly.
... In truth, Setsushi has recently received some disturbing revelations through the Celestial Oracle of Gaia, Master Boyan. However, he was hoping to hear Jilan's opinion first, in case the new knowledge might taint the young scholar's own theories. But... Jilan did not find the Silver World strange in any way? Nothing struck him as off or perhaps unlikely about the place and the people?
... Has he read many history texts from that Empire?
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 7:35 pm
The little scholar saw nothing wrong with the people there, he quickly assures Setsushi. Genka and his wife were quite accomodating and kind to him for the most part, and he made several new friends as well. He smiles a little and adds that his host parents even had a new little one join the family, as well, while Jilan was staying with them.
... Although... now that Sir Setsushi mentions it, there were little things here and there that seemed strange or maybe just a bit out of place. The three years he was there, for instance, Jilan did not see Jin at all. Hir apartment was still being rented in hir name, and Jilan spent two years leaving notes there, one a month, but never saw his previous guardian, nor did he receive a reply to any of his messages. Neither he nor Miss Nusumu nor Princess Shuuken seemed to be able to find a way up to the Upper Palace, where the Silver Empress resides. It seemed like many of Jilan's acquaintances met with ill fortune during his last year there - though that could have just been a coincidence. And... the youth's brow furrows a bit. The priests seemed very cold, in general. Jilan did not speak to them much, but it was because he did not particularly wish to.
Is High Priest Kouyo's gentle and kind disposition unusual among the priests of the Golden World?
Jilan admits that he has perhaps slipped a bit in his history studies in favor of reading texts on magic, but he did get a book before he left that he has started to read. Ah, is there anything in particular he should be looking for as he reads it? sweatdrop
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 7:42 pm
Setsushi listens to Jilan's list carefully, not giving his own opinion until the scholar asks of the priests of the Golden World. The Knight replies that Kouyo is not unusual -- that in fact, though Kouyo is certainly kind-hearted, he is much more withdrawn and unsociable than the other priests Setsushi has met, which should give Jilan an idea of their average gregariousness. In Setsushi's homeland, priests go into that profession due to their love of people and desire to improve their lives, and do not become unfriendly unless many years of tragedies turn them cynical...
... anyway. sweatdrop
... Setsushi wonders, even if Jilan has not studied much history, if he has taken note of the dates on his magic textbooks? Setsushi did not do much investigation in that field himself, but he did take a brief glance at a few natural philosophy texts -- and found it very strange that there do not seem to have been any advancements in the two centuries before Jilan and the others' arrival...
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:17 pm
Jilan is sure to mention that he thought High Priest Kouyo seemed happier and much more at ease when they both went out for coffee and tea a few days ago. But... what Setsushi tells him is what he expected. And, well, "people-loving" is not a word that comes to mind when the little scholar recalls his few encounters with the priests.
Again, he opens his journal to the ribbon marker for the current page, and flips backwards, scanning a few of his entries. And yes, Jilan did notice that, though... he was not completely sure if perhaps whatever had been discovered was in other books? It seems unlikely, though, that there would be no mention of it, even in more recently published volumes. So why had his teachers at school insisted upon only the most recent (and expensive!) textbooks where they were required, he wonders....
The next time he visits, Jilan plans to try to find a scholar of magical philosophy with whom to study, but... hopefully it will be possible to find such a man.
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:27 pm
Setsushi wouldn't be surprised if such a scholar were a woman -- as the cultural tendencies and gender roles of the 'Silver World' do not seem to have changed at all, too. According to Rika, these things are not static and have changed quite a lot over the centuries of the Empire... so why would they suddenly halt in the year 720?
... While the water is boiling, Setsushi would like to show Jilan a particular passage...
He leaves the burners briefly to fish under his bed, drawing out a copy of Records of the First Millenium and bringing it to Jilan, flipping it open to a particular page. Setsushi has no need of a bookmark; this section has been scrutinized so much and so roughly the spine has begun to be damaged, opening the book automatically.
Setsushi is quite sure he was not assassinated. But even more suspicious than that, Tenryuu and Unsou arrived at the same moment in Gaia, and if they had really died in this way, there would have been bodies and witnesses, wouldn't there? Doesn't Jilan find this strange -- and a strange thing to even bother covering up in the first place?
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:45 pm
Ah, right sweatdrop Jilan just cannot help but think of Kumoru first when thinking of magic. Though... he frowns a little, tracing a finger down one of the lines painted on his face today. Being a man will not be likely to hinder his studies and advancement in the Silver World in the future, will it?
He lets the question go for the moment in favor of looking over the passage Setsushi offers him. Confusion and surprise radiate from the youth as he pushes his glasses back up his nose and brings the book closer, reading the page a second time. So... Dame Tenryuu and Dame Unsou have both come to Gaia, as well? Is Dame Chourou in Gaia as well? It even says in the book that her body was found....
At least High Priest Kouyo's reported death made a bit sense, since the short biographies in his poetry text and the Anthology of High Priests' Writings had said no one ever found his remains. Perhaps he should have tried to work up the courage to inquire about Kouyo around the temples while he was in the Silver World or something....
The boy crosses his arms, grasping the opposite sleeves of his robes lightly as he shivers a little and gives off a troubled feeling.
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 8:54 pm
... Setsushi doesn't have any answers either, and so it is all right if Jilan does not. He was hoping, though, that his many stays in that world would have given him some sort of useful insight... But perhaps not. After all, it seems to be real... here they are, handling books from that world...
He goes back to the kitchen, brooding slightly, and turns his back on Jilan while tending the noodles. Finally, he speaks, aloud this time: "Although I am not yet sure of the correct interpretation, the Oracle has suggested that the 'Silver World' is neither the Silver World nor the Golden World." He hesitates a moment, then, a little embarrassed, tries to convey the bakery analogy that Boyan told Setsushi and Shuuken. sweatdrop
Although Shuuken was quite incensed by this possibility... and, if Setsushi isn't mistaken, she seems to harbor a special enmity for this Jin that Jilan mentioned earlier... Honestly, the details do not concern Setsushi. His goal is to return home, and it seems from this evidence that the 'Silver World' is not that home.
... Does this make sense to Jilan? Setsushi is quite confused himself.
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Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2009 9:42 pm
Jilan lowers his gaze and studies the table, giving off an apologetic feeling - he was focusing on his studies, so he must have been paying attention to the wrong things. Perhaps he missed something important....
He pays attention as the Knight mentions what the Oracle had said, and laughs faintly at the strange analogy. Maybe if he thinks on it a little bit, Jilan would be able to make more sense out of it, but it sounds to him right now that it would seem to suggest that the place he had been was not the Silver World. The little scholar will do his best to find out more the next time he goes back to... whatever the place is, though. Once he has studied more with Kouyo and Kumoru and may be a bit more useful than he is right now sweatdrop
At the mention of Shuuken's hatred for Jin, Jilan falls quiet, but cannot completely hide his feelings of worry. Then he becomes decidedly upset instead, and asks Setsushi if the Knight suspects little Jilan of being a traitor? For all the time he has spent in the Silver World, for being the first Porcelain to return from that place, for his relationship to Jin, for anything.
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