A word to the most honorable Lion

[Doji Yoshi]

Greetings Samurai-san,

I write this to you in hopes of persuading you to withhold your troops from the lands of the Crane Clan. The Crane are very honored that you would consider us a threat to the great and powerful Lion armies. It would be a great honor to meet you on the fields of battle to prove our worth in combat. Even so, I do not believe it is the best timing of such an occurrence.

Even now, a legion of Samurai prepares to battle the Yobanjin hoards. These troops will attack us like dogs, with no regard to our honor, or our traditions. They spit in our face and will take our lands and our children performing unspeakable gaijin sins.

I can only hope that wisdom will prevail in our two clans, that we may take justice and fear to the Yobanjin threat, that we can free our Empire and Emperor from the danger of these assailants.

If you will spare the Crane from your armies, and instead assist the Khan, the Crane would be more than willing to assist by sending our own armies to join in the fight. We also would be willing to assist in sustaining the armies of the Lion while we help the Khan destroy such ravenous beasts.

I also have other pressing concerns to bring to the Lion Clan, but none are as pressing as what is occurring at Mountain Watch Keep.

Oh, honorable servants of the Emperor, what say you?

Doji Yoshi

[Akodo Tomatsu]

Doji-sama,
I will take the time to write you this letter personally, so that you know how serious I take this issue. While we all await the end of Winter Court, and with it the knowledge of the effort of the past two months, there are many in the Lion clan who seek peace between our two clans. Much blood has been split over the many years between our two clans, both in glorious battle and in honorable duels, however enough is enough. I know some of my ancestors will bemoan any peace between our clans, however I hope that some will be allowed to enter Yumi-do if there is peace between our clans, much the same with some of your ancestors.

If there is to be peace between our clans, perhaps a show of unity will be in order? Would you be opposed to, say, some political marriages to bring our clans together? Perhaps even a joint military venture against the Yobanjin that threaten our lands?

I hope this letter brightens your day, or that it finds you in already high spirits.

Respectfully yours,

Akodo Tomatsu

[Akodo Jafuri]

My lords,

Seeing that the letter from the esteemed Doji Yoshi has been posted pubicly among the halls of the Lion, it is fitting that it be replied to by the members of that Clan. Our Champion--long may he command!--has addressed the issue, and there are none to gainsay him. Indeed, I write in support of his wisdom, as one who attends to things that he may direct his attention to those things which only he may do.

I have fought the Yobanjin. I have been to their camps. I have slain them where they stand in readiness to thrust into the Empire, a spear aimed poorly perhaps but driven with great force. And I cannot say that I would turn aside any who would join that fight.

I look forward to seeing the prowess of the esteemed house of Crane directed towards the enemies of the Empire.

Carry the Fortunes,

Akodo Jafuri

[Doji Yoshi]

Akodo Tomatsu-san,

I have received your letter, and I was excited to hear from you.
Daidoji Fitsu sent your warm regards into my hand directly.
I'm sorry to inform you that the Crane cannot match the Lion numbers. It's not that we don't wish to. But the Lion have such vast numbers of trained troops compared to the Crane that if we match the Lion troops, our lands would be left open for any such opportunities of thieves or bandits to have their prize. Perhaps we can work out an arrangement between us that will be acceptable to you, and honor you still.

In addition, I have contacted the Emerald Champion concerning the 3rd Legion. I was hoping that the Legion could be sent to assist our troops since Taisa Kakita Totani is currently leading them. No word has come back yet from the Emerald Champion, but Totani-Taisa assures me that the Emerald Champion should give approval.

I was also quite disturbed to hear of the behavior of Bayushi Senshi-san. That the Crane's position was called into question by a servant was a disgrace to him. I want you to know that if our positions were reversed, I would have questioned his honor. Although we both know how the Scorpion work, that was still no excuse for his actions. So I apologize that there was no official response available, and I would hope that if there is any question in the future that you can come to me. I am not above anyone, nor would I ever refuse to discuss any matters that might arise that we could solve amongst our clans.

May the Kami be with you,
Doji Yoshi

[Akodo Tomatsu]

Doji-Sama,

I'm glad to hear from you. I only wish to respond to a few of your points in this letter, preparations for war have become my life. But then again what life of a Lion isn't taken up by war preparations? My first response is a question. I assume you've requested that the third legion be sent to deal with the Yobanjin, correct?

My other point I want to make is that I understand you and Senshi-san have had cause to have disputes. While you know he and I are close friends, I hope to one day be that way with you Doji-sama. Perhaps one day in the future we can all be at peace, together.

That being said I request a personal meeting between you and I, at your earliest convenience. I have several matters to discuss with you involving the eventual peace between our clans that would need to be taken care of before we can make it official, purely logistical things, nothing of great difficultly but none the less must be done. I hope this letter finds you in good spirits and good health.

Akodo Tomatsu.

[Doji Yoshi]

Honorable Akodo-san,

Thank you for your kind words. I am in good health, and I hope that you are also feeling well.
By now Daidoji Fitsu has arrived with the Crane troops. I advised him to take many of our troops and a small detachment of elite Iron Crane bushi. I hope that these will help in the war efforts and advised Fitsu-san to be cautious and to take care in every tactic. I'm sure with you as the battle commander the effort will go quite well.

You are correct that I am requesting the Emperor's Third Legion be sent to the front lines. Unfortunately they will not arrive for some time, I'm afraid. Totani-san says that the Emerald Champion will require them for a time, and as soon as they are released from that duty, they will make their way towards Mountain Watch Keep.

I would like to attend to a personal meeting, but I'm unfortunately stuck here in Kyuden Doji at the moment.
So as an alternative, I would invite you to a personal meeting in my outer chambers, except that you are currently leading troops. If you can leave them for a moment, and meet, then I would definitely spare the time. However, if you can't leave the troops, I understand.

Otherwise, I might have to delay our meeting until I can make it to the warfront.

Take care of yourself Akodo-san,
Doji Yoshi

[Akodo Tomatsu]

Doji-sama,

Thank you for your explanations, I now understand better the circumstance.

I also write you to let you know that as of now we are marching to meet the second contingent of our army at Beiden Pass before making for Mountain Watch Keep. I also wanted you to know on a personal level that Daidoji Fitsu is in the best of hands, and that I promise to lay down my own life to protect his should he fall into any danger that he could not handle. I know how important he is to your clan and I would not want his death to destroy our chances for peace.

Unfortunately I have been away from the front too long to spare a moment to meet you at Kyuden Doji, however I can offer two counter proposals. Should you find yourself able to make it to the front at Mountain Watch Keep, I would be honored to host you, or failing that I can make my way to Kyuden Doji to meet with you once this battle with the Yobanjin is over with. I would prefer to meet with you in a more informal setting at the front, as large functions are hard to prepare so close to the battle. If we are to meet later, I would be willing to have a more ceremonial meeting with you. I would be more than willing to have one of my servants provide one of yours with a list of samurai and courtiers from the Lion clan that would be in attendance, should we decide to meet then.

I hope that you will be able to join us at the front, I invite you to come and spend time at my camp, so that our commanders may dine together to hopefully foster some friendships between our clan.

I look forward to your response Doji-sama,

Akodo Tomatsu