The Land of Rumours

[Yolotan]

(OOC-prologue of this story shall be in the vignette of Niccolò  Daza)

Coast of Daito, 1301

The Travel had been long and tough, for almost 3 months, Niccolò had already been sailing on the ocean looking for the mysterious lands of Ardia, it was known there was land here, but not many had been there, whether it was because of lack of resources, fear of hostile people, or fear of the travel itself, not many outside of Ardia had been in these lands, all the knowledge there was about these lands came from vague rumours and stories from drunken sailors about lands with people who look different, and food that is also different to the Vaguzian kitchen, and most importantly new opportunities for wealth.

Niccolò Daza, the 26 year old son of the Saburise Merchant Matthieu Daza, had always been obsessed by the stories told about these mysterious lands and never understood the unwillingness to further discover these far away lands, a few weeks ago, Niccolò had sailed past the Iwi lands, from this point, all knowledge there was, was based on rumours so they now sailed for land and soon saw a fisher town in the distance which had just about enough space for the two boats of Niccolò which had around 100 men with them, mainly merchants and servants of Niccolò, Niccolò on purpose had not taken any knights or soldiers with him as he wanted to show that they came in peace and were purely out there for diplomacy, knowledge, cultural exchange and trade, most of the people on this journey were armed with a sword but this was considered normal in the parts of Mundus where Niccolò came from. The boat now arrived and Niccolò could see that the boats stationed looked quite different from what Vaguziase ships normally looked like "well those sails look quite interesting, i wonder what the idea is behind them" Pierre-Nathan Fillon, the captain of Niccolò's ship remarked "it's certainly one of the many things i wonder about this place" Niccolò replied as the ship now entered the port.

As the ship entered the port, a small crowd had gathered to look at the strange ships entering the town Niccolò gave a small wave, he assumed this was a friendly sign even in this part of Mundus. As the ship had now docked in the port, Niccolò made sure he was the the first to exit the ship to show that he was in command to the locals, and when he looked at the local he immediately noticed that these people indeed did look different than what he had seen "okay their eyes do look different, and their clothes look odd, but it's still clear that these are fishers" he said to his captain Pierre-Nathan, "i guess fishers just look the same everywhere" he replied. The crowd that had awaited the ships looked a little confused, and soon walked towards the crew entering their town and started touching the hair of some of the crew members, mainly the ones who had curly hair, "it seems like they haven't seen people like us before either" Niccolò noted as some of the people also touched his hair and beard. Now with sign language Niccolò tried to explain the people what he wanted "Could any of you tell me where we  are?" No reply  "okay i guess we have to start with something different, okay okay, look at me yes? I am Niccolò, and you are?" He said as he pointed towards a random person in the crowd "Keisuke!" The fella replied "ah look we are getting somewhere, do you guys have a leader?, A boss?, An elder?" Niccolò asked while trying to make himself clear with some kind of sign language, but unfortunately, again, no reply " I'm afraid this will be a long day" "don't worry sir, i think that whatever leader there is here, we will get their attention soon enough, come on, around 100 strange looking people, entering their land, trying to communicate, find shelter, surely this must be to some interest to local leaders?" Pierre-Nathan replied.

[Daitō]

Nagao no Yoshitomo had been Shugo of Ashina Province since his father's death nearly eight years ago. It was a poor land, at least by comparison to the Kinai that surrounded the capital, but the people there were a hardy sort. Suffice to say, it was not a place that had many visitors, since they were likely to just keep sailing further south anyways. When he had heard that foreigners had landed, owing to their number, he felt he had to do something. Sure, it was more likely that they were Kitaban that had become lost on their way to wealthier ports, but part of him was certain, and not without good reason, that this was a ploy by the Ardians to invade once more. As such, he sent a message by carrier pigeon to the Shogun's Court, seeking orders for what they were to do.

Once this was done, however, the lowly Shugo of Ashina rode out to meet these strangers from beyond the Horizon. After all, even if his orders were yet to arrive, he was still a gracious host, when he needed to be, anyways. Riding through the streets, he would find a large crowd had begun to form. For most of them, this was the first time they had seen someone who looked different to them. They'd heard rumors, of course, of people whose faces were naturally as white as snow, but those were only rumors. But for Yoshitomo, all Ardians were the same.
   "Ardian!" He said, raising his voice so he might be heard above the commotion. "What business do you have here?" He asked in that most foul of tongues, the Ardian language, although his accent was certainly noticeable. To Niccolò, based on the clothing that he wore, the man who spoke to him was likely to be of some importance, though to what degree he was unlikely to be certain.

[Yolotan]

Niccolo, laughed a bit when he heard the word Ardia coming from the quite fancy looking strange who had just arrived on horse, he looked like someone of importance as everyone made way for him as soon as they could.

"No, no, please, i am certainly not from Ardia, ive visited some of its more northern and eastern parts, but most lands of Ardia i am not too familiar with, including yours. I am from Saburi, a small but wealthy nation in the Island Continent just north of Ardia." Niccolo said as he looked to the translator if he could make any sense about it.

"Why i am here? Well, i am mercant  Niccolò Daza, son of merchant Matthieu Daza and i am mainly here for information at this moment, this world is big but not too big, and where i come from, we only know so few about what is out there, i want to change that, and find out what countries and cultures are out here, i would like to exchange culture and perhaps also goods, but that is completely up to you, i do want to ensure to you that we mean no harm at all, my nation became wealthy and relatively powerful with trade, and almost never with force, we dont have the need for that, and neither the power for it, with that being said, could you tell me something about where we are now, oh and before you do, please accept our gift for you."

Niccolo was handed a large sword by one of the sailors and he now walked with it toward the important looking stranger.

"This is a sword usually carried by the elite Knights of Saburi, and its only suited for the most brave and honourable men, it is believed in my country that those who carry this sword have the protection of Helus and Jekar. "