Starring:
Date: March 18, 2015
Summary:
After hearing about the material crisis in the Land of Rivers, Shuuren calls an old friend to offer to help them as well as another group related to her.
"Poachers of Giants - Striking Accords"
Tea Village - Daimyo’s Office
While he's insanely busy these days, Shuuren is always looking to expand trade. Though he doesn't have time right now to travel to the new village of Suisei himself, after hearing of their material shortage, he sent a message to an old friend within the group that's helping rebuild it. The Daimyo and worldwide businessman is looking to do business with the merchants and contractors within the Land of Rivers. Of course, there's also more to it the visit than just that since he sent the request specifically to her.
Sitting at his desk, the Daimyo, as always, is going through a giant pile of paperwork. It seems to be never-ending, but it's nothing he's not used to. A knock comes to his door while he's writing, causing him to look up to his secretary as she cracks the door and announces, "Nagamura-dono, the envoy from the Land of Rivers is here for your appointment." The Daimyo gives a simple nod to that, saying, "Send her in."
It didn't take long until the infamous Soubi had revealed herself. Adorned in a midnight black kimono, sashed with lavender and trimed with red patterned flora, carefully she made way into into the main doors, her azure eyes looking over him with a hint of curiosity. "It has been…quite some time… Nagamura-san," Soubi speaks softly as she waves a hand towards him. She appeared to be not alone however. A slithering white snake lightly licks it's tongue as if tasting the air, and feeding her information. The truth was she never traveled alone. "I'm glad you could make the time to speak with me. Never did I think that I would ever come to you for a meeting between growing nations…"
As Soubi steps in, Shuuren smiles and nods to her, lifting a hand to wave in return. "My, you look lovely. That's a far cry from the demon cloaks you usually wear," he compliments her then looks to the snake and nods to it as well. "Ah. I see you've brought one of the snake clan with you…. Welcome to the Land of Tea. I'm actually glad you came along because I have some business with your clan that I need to bring to your attention and hopefully strike an accord to help you with after Soubi and I've finished our talk." He then looks back to Soubi, saying, "The shinobi world is strange, fate even stranger, but I am proud to see you grow into such a position, Soubi-san." With that he gestures toward a seat across from him, offering for her to sit in it. "So I hear your new village that's growing where the Void once stood is having some issues with rebuilding due to lack of supplies in the land. As you know, I'm still a businessman along with being a daimyo, and I'd like to be the first to offer to increase proper trade with the businessmen of your land so the issue can be resolved."
Soubi inclines her head, there is a slight smile upon her lips, as she was quite humble of any compliments given to her. "There isn't much reason for me to be a devil as I once was. I live to help people now," Soubi speaks softly as she bows her head once more and eventually takes a seat, while allowing the snake to slip away into the fabric of her clothing. "You have to forgive that one. He is a little shy, much like many of the other younglings within the clan. If there is a problem… I'd love to hear about it as well," She then pauses and presses onto his later statements. "You have always been a rather good business man. Materials would be wonderful. We are just not carving out a piece of the Land that will lead to prosperity. But the fact of the matter is…Good will will only get you so far. We need more resources to make sure everyone is well taken cared of," Soubi continued to speak as she brought more light to their situation. "What would you like of the village of Suisei? We are still in the process of discovering more of our natural resources… while at the same time making sure no bandits attempt to exploit them,"
"I'm glad to see it," Shuuren says with a smile, putting his pen down and sitting back in his chair a bit. "We'll go over that next then," he says with a nod. He listens to her next words, taking in all the information before replying to her question. "So long as my caravans are protected and your contracts pay their dues on what's sold to them, I require nothing more. If you like, I can also have some of my own companies assist with your rebuilding and allow you all to pay off your invoice at a later date or through missions. That way you have less worry of thugs trying to set traps in any of the construction."
"It's as simple as that then? Just straight one for one business?" Soubi asks curiously, honestly a just a tad bit surprised. Shuuren was a pretty straight forward guy, but she known him to be the type to plan…10 steps ahead. She could try and wrap her mind around how such a deal could be so simple…but it honestly wasn't worth it. Soubi then prods a finger along her cheek. It was obvious she was doing some silent pondering. " My contracts will pay, and as long as you go about the recommended routes your caravans will be protected as well." She pauses and nods along with his other statements. " Some extra help with the construction would be wonderful. I wouldn't want you to be empty handed though. While Hanpa does represent it's citizens we are also capable of many other things. Is the Land of Tea in need of any services? You and I have an…interesting background. So you are more than welcome to ask much of me,"
"That's all that's needed in a situation like this. If you recall, it is my belief that we should bind this world together through trade. This only helps that cause," Shuuren says with a shrug of his shoulders. "As long as payments are made or services exchanged for what's given, I won't be empty handed. We'll simply add things up. You can pay what you like in money and some in missions or other services. So long as we have an agreement, every detail of repayment from the country itself doesn't have to be set in stone right now. The contractors and merchants can handle their own payment, unless they've got some kind of contract with you guys, but that's between you all."
"Hanpa doesn't profit from it's citizens. We don't expect any tax until everyone is capable of actually conducting routine trade. I don't think we will have an issue there." Soubi informs, a little more about their situation as she considers things a bit more. "Shall we put this agreement in writing then? it sounds pretty favorable on both sides to me. I will send this missive to our organization and if you want… I can escort the first round of caravans personally. We will likely move by boat. It is easier to the coast along the Land of Rivers, rather than treking through the Land of Fire, and possible the Land of Rice,"
"Sure. I'll have it drafted up bring it to you all to sign," Shuuren says with a nod then looks back to the snake for a moment before looking back to Soubi. "As far as that goes, we've another piece of business to attend to… It's recently come to my attention that a group of black market merchants are hiring ex-shinobi to poach summon animals. I would like to speak to the snake clan about letting me come investigate because I believe they may be the next target these men are aiming for. If I'm right, I should be able to stop them before they're able to do any harm, but, if they try what they did against the last clan I saved, they could suffer tremendous casualties."
The topic did bring some alarm to Soubi. She arched her eyebrow faintly, curious on just what situation would lead to. "Poaching…summons? That is a very outlandish and very specific taste." Soubi paused after she had spoke. Considering the problem pretty closely. It had been quite some time since she had returned back to the cave to speak with the 'Sage'. " I personally don't think they will have a prolem with it… But they will want some evidence of this being the case. The place from which they come from is a very sacred location. Much like any other animal clan. What clan was previously put in such a situation?" Soubi couldn't help but to ask. The snack along her clothes did peek it's head out from her collar. Listening with it's tongue undoubtly.
"It's not really outlandish, just brave… or stupid," Shuuren says, letting out a sigh. "By taking out these giant creatures, they can harvest the valuable pieces and get far more dividends out of it than they would poaching normal animals." He nods at her concerns, pulling a folder from his desk as he says, "The last target was the Bat Clan. They attacked through putting a chemical they couldn't digest into the food supply with the help of a biologist. I've sent someone to handle the biologist so they lose the knowledge factor, but I believe he may have already figured out a way to hurt the snake clan or at least some theory that he gave the poachers."
"I see…well this is a rather alarming situation. Nevertheless… it is unlikely i will be able to take you to where you wish to go. Odagu-kun?" Soubi speaks softly to her her snake as it comes unwraps completely to nest along her lap. It craned it's head, still wordless but obviously was responsive to human tongue. " The best way to get attention is through action. If you think something is wrong…then simply take care of it. You will likely need someone to shadow you in order to understand the weight of the situation. You can take Odagu-kun along with you… He is young, a little small, but incredibly ambitious…" She smiles at that as the snake slithered a bit more forward, head inched along the edge of the desk. "Sssshuuureen-sssan," Odagu merely hisses with a raspy tone.
"Good enough," Shuuren says with a nod to Soubi. "I'll be sure all parties involved in this poaching are punished appropriately." He looks down to the small snake that appears, nodding to him. "A pleasure, Odagu-san," he says before looking back up to Soubi. "I'll get the agreement drafted up and brought to you with a shipment. I'll also be right on getting rid of these poachers. It's going to be a nasty bit of business, but worth it to spare such noble clans from pointless death."
"You can spare me the dilemma, Shuuren-san. I know very well you don't mind getting your hands dirty every now and then," Soubi merely replies back with a light smirk, and a faint shrug of her shoulders. " If you need my assistance you need just ask… But it seems like you have everything taken cared of. If you need me you can just tell Odagu-kun to come get me…otherwise he is on loan to you until you get finished with this poacher business," Soubi states while bowing her head lightly. " I look forward to the signing said contract and the first round of trade. I know everyone at home is ready to get some extra help, and they need to know we are doing everything we can to find it.
"Then we have an accord," Shuuren says with a smile to Soubi, standing to offer a hand to shake her own. "It's been a pleasure seeing you again, Soubi-san. If you like, you may stay in the diplomatic suite tonight. You'll find it quite elaborate since needing to rebuild it resulted in my being able to build it to my own design."
Reaches out lightly to shake Shuuren's hand, following soon after with a nod. " I suppose that will be that then. Very well, I will stay there for tonight and then hopefully be ready to go by tomorrow…Or however long it takes to get everything setup. As always it is a pleasure to work with you Shuuren," Soubi speaks softly as she bows once more.. It looks like things were finally getting up…It was just a matter of time now.
