While Aerys is talking to Hú Lí, Ishirou steps out of a shelter and looks over the group, first at Noriaki and Takahaan, then towards Kane, whom he approaches.
“I thank you for your words last night, though you cannot understand,” he says. “I wish to give you something.” He smiles very faintly. “I collect maps. They are mostly useless, as you see; I keep them because they are beautiful. But perhaps you will find one of them interesting.” He hands Kane a sheaf of maps, and without waiting for the man’s reply, turns and approaches Noriaki and Takahaan.
[sblock=Ishirou’s Maps]As Ishirou said, these are most likely worthless. Many of them are only partly completed, apparently abandoned because of mistakes. Some of them seem to have been constructed entirely from fancy--at least, they don’t depict any place you’ve ever heard of. But they are all quite skillfully drawn, and it is easy to see why Ishirou might treasure them.
But one of them is definitely of particular interest. It isn’t so much a map, as two pictures, both prettily rendered. The first shows a distinctive-looking hill. It is surrounded by jungle, but the top of the hill is bare. The sun is shown setting in the background. The picture is labeled, “SHIV EAST.”
The second picture shows a view from a high vantage point of the sun rising exactly between two spike-shaped rocks that stick up out of the ocean.[/sblock]
Reaching Noriaki and Takahaan, Ishirou bows and addresses slender young man. “I must speak,” he says. “You were mistaken when you spoke last night, though the fault was mine: you are a man of nobility and honor, and have no reason to suspect deceit in others. I am a commoner. When I was a boy, I wanted nothing more than to bear a sword and win honor, but I was not born to that station. One day a merchant ship arrived in the port. The people that owned it wished to hire guards and mercenaries. They would pay me to carry a sword. I was young and did not know any better than to agree. I thought that the sword was everything. After many years I longed to see my home again, but I knew that if I returned I would be known for what I was--a peasant, playing at being a warrior, in the service of anyone who would pay.
“Now I want nothing more than to see my home again. This”--he unfastens the shoulder strap that holds his katana--“is a lie.” He hands the weapon, sheathed and with the strap attached, to Noriaki. “It is you who must decide: If I am worthy of this weapon, then give it to me, and I shall bear it for the first time with honor, and do your bidding, even should you require me to take my own life. If I am not worthy, then let me wander the jungle until I perish. I cannot fight to escape this island if I dishonor the weapon I carry.”
-------------------------
Meanwhile, Aerys speaks to Hú Lí in a manner uncharacteristically nervous. “I have a problem,” she says. “I--drink. Too much. Not that it’s so bad when there’s plenty of it to be had, of course. Well--it is bad. I--I’ve tried to quit before, but.... Anyway, I’m going to have to stop, obviously, because we’re going to run out. And ... I won’t be good for much when we do, I can tell you.” She takes a deep breath. Her hands are shaking slightly.
“I--need help. I’m going to be a mess. When I tried last time, there was something that helped--viper nettle berries. They grow on some of these islands, supposedly. If we can find some....”
Hú Lí has heard of viper nettles, although they aren’t found in the Kingdom of Jade and she has never seen them.
+3 vs. AC, 1d6-1 damage
