<div class="floatleft">(http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/9637/basisliskxxx2sg2.png)</div><br/><em>So many things make sense in this world, but so many others do not.  At one time I would fret over such oddities, worry over their seemingly disconnected nature.  Now I know that there are simply unknown variables at work, unknown forces moving about that must be found in order to understand the whole.  Much as the koi do not understand the food that falls on their pond because they do not see the hand with rice.  My youth would have been spent searching for the rice in the sky, but now my time is spent seeking the hand which drops the mysterious food.  A subtle difference perhaps, but one I can appreciate now in my room.<br/><br/>The day is young and the sun is only now daring to climb the horizon.  Below my room the people have taken to the streets in order to conduct their business.  Some were out before even the sun, but the majority stayed inside the safety of their rooms.  I dare not say home because I know so few here are native to this village.  The Imperial Court has come to this village with its regalia and promise of riches.  So like the koi at the pond we must cluster and fight for our food.  Beneath me I see a dazzling array of colors from the many Clans gathered below.  I would like to say that my own Clan did not come here to grovel and beg favor, but already I spot my proud lineage below.  No doubt the Yasuki are busy securing rice and arms for the armies at home.  Their gilded tongues waggling from their mouths with all the best intentions for those brave soldiers at the Wall.  The thought of my proud Clansmen having to resort to merchants in order to defend these borders turns my stomach.<br/><br/>The Imperial Court comes and so do the others.  Resources are to be gained, favor courted and alliances struck.  That is why those below are here.  Not I.  The reason for my arrival is a mystery still yet to be told and discovered.  My eyes turn out to the structure in the distance.  Answers are to be found ahead my heart tells me, but my soul is far less convinced.  Few things in life are discovered with ease.  Beneath me the chains of my punishment shackle me to this world, twisting with pain as I strain to stand.  Already the difference in temperature has taken its toll on my body.  A limp I no longer struggle to hide shows my weakness as I walk from my room and to the street below.  The distance is small but my travel will still be long.  At my waist the weight of my blades drags on my kimono, striking against me with each awkward step.  I would not dare remove them.  They are my pride and my burden to bear.<br/><br/>Around me the lowest give me space to walk.  Beyond me the bravest stand aside for fear of what I might bring.  Deformity is often seen as a sign of the Taint and the colors of the Crab make me suspect.  Even my Clansmen wonder over my condition at times, but I ignore them.  They will leave this place for the Wall and a time of glorious death.  Behind them I will remain to contemplate mysteries they cannot fathom and to die without a whisper of my passing.  Such is the fate I accept.  My hands rest on the silken caress of my obi as I walk, more to keep my clothing fixed in place while I jolt the threads with every struggling step.  Mud sucks at my sandals, but I pass over the squishing sound and uneven dirt with the grace of a plodding pony.  Let them watch.  My desire to spit on them stirs, but I do not answer.  There is no place for such crudeness where I will soon tread.<br/><br/>Ahead of me hangs the memory of the Seppun recently arrived in my life.  The rumor of my being a magistrate had not even begun, much less an appointment.  Still the Seppun had come to me to give me a duty for the Empire.  I do not understand this choice and so I must learn the details.  I must seek the hand above my little pond and wonder at the other koi that eat so contently the fallen rice.</em>