<div class="floatright">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/1/13/Keitaro.jpg)</div>Keitaro could hear movement around the camp as the other samurai went about minor tasks and otherwise prepared for the night, but the noises all seemed to fade away as he prepared for the tea ceremony. A pot of water was heating up on the campfile while he unpacked each utensil carefully. There was so much about this ceremony that would not be completely proper, but he knew it was necessary. Maseko needed his help to focus and push aside the demands of her body, and he himself could do with the extra clarity. There was no doubt that the others could benefit from it as well.<br/><br/>He prepared a bowl of cool water and placed it to his left, along with a small towel, before all of the other samurai had joined him at the fire. This was for the participants to wash their hands and mouths before the serving of the tea. Using a second bowl of water and another cloth, he raised each utensil, presented it silently to the other samurai, and cleaned it with the cloth. As he wiped each item free of grime and dust, he felt his own cares being wiped away, and hoped that the others would experience the same clarity.<br/><br/>Once the utensils were clean, he simply watched the pot until it boiled, sitting in silence. His breathing slowed and became steady, like a monk in meditation. The tea bowl itself was simple, a clay bowl of modest make glazed in Lion colours. He measured out five serves of green tea from a small box, then added the boiling water and stirred it with a whisk made from fine reeds. The scent of steeping tea suffused the campsite as he sat the bowl in front of him, giving it time to mature and settle.<br/><br/>When his intuition told him the time was right, he picked up the bowl in both hands, and looked over his comrades. At this point, he would usually offer the bowl to the samurai of highest station, but they were all equal now. They were newly adopted into the Owl Clan, and while they had worked together well, none of them had made any accomplishments that were noted by their new daimyo. He paused for long enough to allow this to become clear, then passed the bowl to his left, to Maseko, as the ceremony was primarily for her benefit. He passed another towel with it, so that each samurai in turn could sip from the bowl, wipe it clean and pass it along.<br/><br/>As he moved through each stage of the ceremony, in perfect silence and perfect focus, he felt clarity returning to his world again. He had performed this ceremony countless times before, for his wife and their guests, and now he was performing it for his new clan. This was his duty, and this was the proper way of things.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC</div><div class="spoiler_body">I'm using the writeup of the Rokugani tea ceremony found here (http://l5r.wikia.com/wiki/Tea_ceremony), because it's actually quite different from the Japanese tea ceremony.<br/><br/>The base TN for the Tea Ceremony skill is 15. Each extra participant adds 5 to the TN, so I'm spending a Void point to use my Paragon (Duty) advantage "to negate all TN penalties for that roll", so the TN stays at 15.<br/><br/>At 2015-12-09 07:10:58, Keitaro (uid: 25346) rolls: 5d10k2e10 DC: 15 Result: 17 (https://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=83010)<br/><br/>Success! Everyone regains 1 Void, and can generally feel at peace and stuff.<br/></div></div>