PARADISA LOST

[Tashime had spent the entirety of the morning within his headspace, owing not to a desire to be left alone, but to the sheer immensity of the realm. The entrance to his room leads to one of seven identical fortresses arranged symmetrically around the base of a mighty peak. The fortress a given enters into is the same each time, though different people will appear in different fortresses. If there is a correlation between the people who arrive in the same fortress, it is not immediately apparent.

These seven, which appear as Asian castles except much larger, each easily a mile in height, are all similar in design. Upon the mountain-facing wall of each is etched a different kanji. Due to the universality of language in Paradisa, everyone - even those unfamiliar with Japanese writing - will recognize these symbols to be completely meaningless, as though carved by people who were familiar with what kanji are supposed to look like, but without any specific symbol in mind. Each of the seven fortresses contains an extensive library of carefully-kept scrolls, attended to by temple monks, though similar to the markings that appear on the wall of each fortress, none of the scrolls' writing makes any sense. The monks are no help, answering any question posed them in riddles that seemingly have no answer.

The space between the seven fortresses and the mountain is considerably less enigmatic, and also incredibly beautiful to those with a taste for nature. The trees are overgrown and challenge the feet of fortress and mountain alike, while great streams of the purest water snake through the area, lain with sturdy wooden bridges. There is no apparent wildlife here though, and all is quiet save for the rolling sound of water.

Frustrated by his inability to glean any meaning from within the fortresses, the samurai has spent the better part of the day searching for a way to climb the central mountain, but though the rocky slope appears perfectly climbable, with ample handholds and footholds, Tashime is unable to advance himself more than ten feet above the surface. Anyone else with climbing experience can climb this mountain with relative ease. Carrying Tashime while doing so, however, is going to be a bit harder, especially for smaller folk.]

Such a strange place. Familiar, yet foreign. And I do not understand the texts in the libraries. Is this truly what dwells within my head?

[ooc: Open to anyone. Tashime is a bit lonely here, and unsure of what to do.]

[ A man of perhaps 35 or 40 years of age comes to on the bank of the duck pond. The morning is awake with the dulcet tones of the cranes, the sweet flutterings of the hummingbirds - ambience the man can only hear because of his sensibility of nature's blessings. He gets to his feet, appeased by the beauty around him, but unsure of where in the vast Empire of Rokugan he comes from the winds of fate have seen fit to deposit him.

He bears vaguely Asian features, and sports a samurai haircut, with his daisho - the two swords emblematic of the samurai class - at his waist. The most notable thing about him, however, is his state of dress. He is adorned with a lavish kimono woven of the finest fabrics to be found anywhere. His kataginu, the jacket worn over his robes, is of a handsome silk dyed in a deep emerald green. On his sleeves and back is a circular symbol: a blooming chrysanthemum flower. Anyone familiar with Rokugani customs will recognize this as the symbol of the Imperial Families, marking the stranger as a samurai of the highest prestige; not some wandering ronin seeking cheap coin. ]