I had my player receive a personal invitation to the winter court with Bayushi Shoju as regent. This means that she needs to give a gift to the regent, but I can't come up with a proper gift she might give. For context, she is a Isawa shugenja and emerald magistrate. Do you guys have any ideas?

Whatever gift she gives, it should be something personal, something that reflects the individual giving it, while being unique--for instance, a poem that she wrote describing her journey to Winter Court, an heirloom tea service given to her by her grandmother, an ikebana flower arrangement she did herself, from flowers growing in her own garden, that sort of thing. The more layers of meaning she can incorporate into the gift, the better. She should avoid mundane things (since the Emperor technically "owns" everything the Empire), things that are strictly utilitarian, or things that she might think the Emperor "needs"; none of those things would appropriate, and could be considered quite insulting.

Gift-giving is a profoundly important thing in Rokugan, treated with great gravitas. This is especially true for the gifts given at the outset of Winter Court; a good gift that's well-received can greatly increase a samurai's standing in the Court (at least, for a time), while a poorly-received one can dog a delegate through the entire winter, diminishing their influence.

In our former campaign, we went to a winter court where Hantei Sotorii would be present. We were all playing as Cranes. The Kakita Duelist from the Doji family gave him an ikebana arrangement made by himself with flowers local to Seawatch Castle. The Doji trained as a Doji Diplomat was able to use Shallow Waters along with Tributaries of Trade to pull from his behind a diary attributed to a famous Kakita duelist from the past that was written during his Warrior's pilgrimage where he described all his defeated foes in Quentin Tarantino's level of gore (he won LOTS of Glory for that), meanwhile, my character who was a Kakita from the Kakita Duelist school, gave the death poem of a famous ancestor who was attributed to killing a bunch of Lion bushi in battle.

@DGLaderoute 's outline is pretty thorough - the only other thing I'd suggest would impact the decision is who the gift is to; that is, since you say it's a 'personal invitation', is the invitation from Bayushi Shoju, Regent to Hantei XXXIX, and therefore essentially a gift to the Emperor, or is it a gift to Bayushi Shoju-ue, Champion of the Scorpion Clan? Yes, they look very similar to one another but they're legally and culturally two distinct individuals and expectations would be different.

(Since you're not a Scorpion yourself I'm assuming it's not in his persona as Bayushi family daimyo)

Equally, who is going to be witnessing this?

(In our play-through of Winter's Embrace, since the gift-giving at the opening ceremony was public the Ikoma - surprise surprise - offered a gift which was respectful to the recipient but at the same time trolling one of the audience in the hope of provoking a reaction)

It seems to me that the best sort of gift would be something that they could not easily get on their own. I mean-- obviously as acting emperor, he could demand someone go fetch him anything that exists in all of Rokugan.

But if it is something from your character's home province in the Phoenix land, there is a good chance that he has rarely even seen it before. It could be a basket of persimmons, although I don't know if they would still be ripe by the time winter court occurs, or live crabs that could then be cooked up by the imperial chefs if you could figure out a clever way of transporting them. Being a Scorpion, he has probably very rarely had the opportunity to eat either. Such things would be relatively simple for a Phoenix to obtain but would be rare delicacies across the rest of the empire.

It could also potentially be a box crafted by a local master craftsman with a far more mundane gift within it.

As an Isawa, I suppose you could offer some sort of magical charm-- although you should keep in mind that he has the entire Yogo family at his beck and call who are masters at identifying and fighting evil magic and the Seppun who are the masters of divination and protection magic at his beck and call so... if the charm is something along those lines, it'll only be a worse version of what he already has.

Although-- part of me needs to wonder-- is it even proper to offer a gift to the Emperor (or regeant)? He technically already owns everything in the land, including you, so it would be something he owns offering something else he already owns up to him in order to try to garner favor. In a way, it could be considered insulting to attempt to offer any gift to one who sits upon the throne.

I mean, one thing the Emperor ordering a poet to write him a poem. Another entirely is a poem given of its own volition. As always, it’s not about what is happening in the open but the veiled meaning behind it.

1 hour ago, TheHobgoblyn said:

Although-- part of me needs to wonder-- is it even proper to offer a gift to the Emperor (or regeant)? He technically already owns everything in the land, including you, so it would be something he owns offering something else he already owns up to him in order to try to garner favor. In a way, it could be considered insulting to attempt to offer any gift to one who sits upon the throne.

Hence why I was asking what the PCs relationship with Shoju is and who - and in what capacity - the personal invitation is from.

3 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Hence why I was asking what the PCs relationship with Shoju is and who - and in what capacity - the personal invitation is from.

Well I copied your idea of having the Topaz champion being invited to the winter court and she became the Topaz champion, so this links nicely to winters embrace. Shoju will be filling his role as regent during the gift-giving ceremony and as far as she knows, she doesn't know any Scorpions.

9 hours ago, Kiso said:

Well I copied your idea of having the Topaz champion being invited to the winter court

Not my original idea, I must say. Descriptions of the imperial party at Winter Court in prior editions say " and the Jewelled champions", and whilst unimaginably the junior of the three extent titles, the Topaz Champion is one.

In which case, yes, she's attending as a personal guest of the Emperor (slash Regent) rather than arriving on one of the Scorpion clan's invitation.

That means your gift is to the host, which can be either the regent or the emperor - both would be socially acceptable, but one is a sign of support for the recency whilst the other is publically drawing attention to the fact that Daisetsu, Hantei XXXIX, isn't there and (is the rumour mill is to be believed) Shoju doesn't know where he actually is - which is primarily a sign of support for Kakita Yoshi.

Note that this is an either-or choice and likely to leave you perceived to be in one of the two factions' camps from day one. Bear in mind also - if playing winter's embrace without huge changes - that Yoshi's faction will enjoy a huge home-court advantage if it's at Kyuden Doji.

Since you don't know Shoju, you can't offer anything personal to your connection, and offering anything personal to him is arguably intrusive since there's very little 'public knowledge' about him. So it's down to something personal to you: either something crafted/grown/painted/written yourself or an heirloom of some kind with some heritage.

Something which recognises her junior status would be good.

It's also worth noting that according to the old Secrets of the Crane book, the "Topaz Champion" as a concept was created by Hantei XXXVIII. That means your character is the last ever Topaz Champion of the Emperor who first created the post, and commemorating the history of the post would be good - no small number of influential movers and shakers in the Empire (e.g. Matsu Tsuko) are former Topaz Champion's.

You're also the first Topaz Champion of a new emperors reign and therefore will be the one whose actions defines what a Topaz Champion 'is' in this new era. Note that rather than being a great scholar of law, or a hunter of maho-tsukai, or a general, the Topaz Champion's demonstrated skill is exemplary conduct in their gempukku - and that, almost uniquely, this is a ceremony the current Son of Heaven has yet to undergo. Getting yourself earmarked as the Emperor's second/aide/attendant/companion prior to and during his gempukku is not an unrealistic or irrational goal for a Topaz Champion during a regency and the glory/status boost from that would be eye-watering .

I definitely think it'd be worth giving your gift in your persona as the 'current holder of the office of topaz champion'. Yes, it's basically a meaningless attaboy for posh students. Yes it has no official duties or powers. But it is a jewelled champion.

right now, today, you get to stand on the second step of the Imperial Dais, alongside the Emerald and Ruby champions, and present yourself as a direct personal vassal of the Son of Heaven, for this specific day a legal peer to the Jewelled champions, clan champions and the Emperor's chosen, to his proxy the Regent, in front of a rogue's gallery of every influential political mover and shaker in the Empire.

It is literally impossible for you to overdo this in terms of the effort you put in.

22 hours ago, TheHobgoblyn said:

Although-- part of me needs to wonder-- is it even proper to offer a gift to the Emperor (or regeant)? He technically already owns everything in the land, including you, so it would be something he owns offering something else he already owns up to him in order to try to garner favor. In a way, it could be considered insulting to attempt to offer any gift to one who sits upon the throne.

That's why it's important to not give the Emperor something functional or utilitarian, something "off the shelf" or so generic that it has no true meaning. For instance, a beautiful ikebana flower arrangement or bonsai tree is nice, but unless you actually cultivated and arranged them yourself, in some manner that is personal to you and represents a true effort to provide the Emperor with something unique and meaningful, then it's not a good gift. So, "Your most honored and esteemed majesty, this ikebana arrangement is made from flowers originally cultivated by my grandmother, and arrange in a vase that was given to me by my mother--both of whom died in loyal service to the resplendent Throne during the Blah-blah War..." that sort of thing, is fine. "Your most honored and esteemed majesty, here's a flower arrangement I thought would look nice in your front hall..." eh, not so much.

That's why the best gifts for the Emperor are things like poems, stories, songs, hand-crafted works of art, a specially-choreographed dance, that sort of thing. It should be something that clearly shows that you invested time, effort and creativity into it--so the gift is really a reaffirmation of your affection for, and devotion to, the Emperor.

Oh, incidentally--if the gift can simultaneously embarrass or insult a political rival in some subtle, but unmistakable way, so much the better. In the Imperial Court, politics infuses gift giving as much as it does anything else!

There was one game (set in the pre-coup era) I was in where an important gift given by the Crane was a beautiful carving made from the previous gates of Toshi Ranbo.

I should note that, sometimes, it's worthwhile to deliver an inappropriate, or even an insulting gift. For instance, in the AEG online Winter Court 3 event, the Spider delegation (actually, one of their members, IIRC) offered the Governor of the Imperial Colonies in the former Ivory Kingdoms, Otomo Suikihime, the gift of an elephant tusk. It had apparently been cut off the animal right after it was killed, and delivered, still bloody, to the Court during the gift-giving ceremony. Needless to say, this was a SUPER offensive gift, but it had clearly been delivered with a deliberate purpose. The Spider realized they'd always be the reviled outsiders in the Court, so this gift was actually a message to all the other delegations--basically, if you f**k with us, then we'll f**k you right back, because we don't care about playing nice. The giver (a Spider shohei, I think) was banned from Court for some time, and made to apologize, but the point had been made. Nor did it really hurt the Spider's standing in Court, which was already pretty much bottom-rung, anyway.

Incidentally, I should emphasize that this happened in the OLD setting of AEG. In the current, FFG setting, this event--assuming it happens at all, which is pretty unlikely--wouldn't be happening for another 70-ish years. I'm offering it only as an example of how there are circumstances in which a bad gift might suit the giver's particular political agenda.

24 minutes ago, DGLaderoute said:

I should note that, sometimes, it's worthwhile to deliver an inappropriate, or even an insulting gift. For instance, in the AEG online Winter Court 3 event, the Spider delegation (actually, one of their members, IIRC) offered the Governor of the Imperial Colonies in the former Ivory Kingdoms, Otomo Suikihime, the gift of an elephant tusk. It had apparently been cut off the animal right after it was killed, and delivered, still bloody, to the Court during the gift-giving ceremony. Needless to say, this was a SUPER offensive gift, but it had clearly been delivered with a deliberate purpose. The Spider realized they'd always be the reviled outsiders in the Court, so this gift was actually a message to all the other delegations--basically, if you f**k with us, then we'll f**k you right back, because we don't care about playing nice. The giver (a Spider shohei, I think) was banned from Court for some time, and made to apologize, but the point had been made. Nor did it really hurt the Spider's standing in Court, which was already pretty much bottom-rung, anyway.

Incidentally, I should emphasize that this happened in the OLD setting of AEG. In the current, FFG setting, this event--assuming it happens at all, which is pretty unlikely--wouldn't be happening for another 70-ish years. I'm offering it only as an example of how there are circumstances in which a bad gift might suit the giver's particular political agenda.

I am pretty sure the term "Spider delegation" made it more than clear enough that it was in the old setting.

There is no Spider Clan right now.

Or... I mean.... I guess there could be if one really wanted... Somewhere out in the Shadowlands, a city of corrupted who are playing at being a clan in service to Fu Leng so that he doesn't have to feel left out of having one like all the other Kami. Maybe made up of the Noriaki, the Chuda (Bloodspeakers using the infamous name, not true descendants), the Goju and the Dark Moto (maybe they could be called "Kuramoto"). Maybe that would be a fun project to put together if I manage to finish my current ones.

Maybe those who want to play more of a "fight the evil Shadowlands samurai" rather than "Samurai politics where both no one and everyone are the bad guy" kind of game would find use for it.

32 minutes ago, TheHobgoblyn said:

I am pretty sure the term "Spider delegation" made it more than clear enough that it was in the old setting.

There is no Spider Clan right now.

I don't want to assume that everyone reading this is necessarily familiar with the distinctions between the old setting, and the current one. Newer players/fans could read this and go, Spider Clan? Huh? What did I miss? It's all part of trying to keep things accessible to both the established AND the new folks.

10 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

You're also the first Topaz Champion of a new emperors reign and therefore will be the one whose actions defines what a Topaz Champion 'is' in this new era. Note that rather than being a great scholar of law, or a hunter of maho-tsukai, or a general, the Topaz Champion's demonstrated skill is exemplary conduct in their gempukku - and that, almost uniquely, this is a ceremony the current Son of Heaven has yet to undergo. Getting yourself earmarked as the Emperor's second/aide/attendant/companion prior to and during his gempukku is not an unrealistic or irrational goal for a Topaz Champion during a regency and the glory/status boost from that would be eye-watering .

This gives me an idea for a series of adventures. Maybe the Topaz Champion can 'save' the crown prince from the Perfect Land Sect heretics. Especially fun as she is a Phoenix samurai. After that, helping the prince with his gempukku and becoming a 'good' ruler.

4 hours ago, Magnus Grendel said:

I definitely think it'd be worth giving your gift in your persona as the 'current holder of the office of topaz champion'. Yes, it's basically a meaningless attaboy for posh students. Yes it has no official duties or powers. But it is a jewelled champion.

I think you are right. 🤔 Time to have a talk with the player how her character can best handle the situation. Because she wants encourage her clan and the regent/emperor to re-open the Jade office, so this winter court could be her only chance to influence the rulers.

Talking about winter court, I was thinking that the guests could cast a vote during the day. Mostly for small mundane things, as asking which colour of blue a certain fence in Kyuden Doji is going to be painted or which type of flower bouquet tomorrow will be standing in frond of the castle entrance. Then in between some Rokugan 'shaking' questions can come up. For example asking the guests if a new Emerald Championship should be held next year (Toturi hasn't shown up in my version and Shoju will still be the regent,... for now 😉 . Hopefully this makes running Winters Embrace a little bit easier). It is not like the majority really decides the outcome to those questions, but it is a way to gauge for people the public opinion. The right cast a vote would only be certain important people and those with a personal invitation. Only those people with personal invitations are allowed ask questions for voting (with approval of the host) and only once during the current winter court. Would this be anyway realistic to happen during a Rokugani winter court? This setup at least would help my player with her plan for a Jade office, but I'm just curious how realistic this would be for the setting.

1 hour ago, Kiso said:

Because she wants encourage her clan and the regent/emperor to re-open the Jade office, so this winter court could be her only chance to influence the rulers.

Honestly, it's going to be her own clan which is the issue. The Imperial court would have very little problem with the idea, it's mostly that the Elemental council would beat one another unconscious trying to be the first to strangle the idea in its crib...

2 hours ago, Kiso said:

This setup at least would help my player with her plan for a Jade office, but I'm just curious how realistic this would be for the setting.

If the Elemental imbalance became known - even if discretely among the various shujenga families, and especially the hidden guard, then they might use imperial authority force a coordinated effort, and create an office of jade champion.

She should throw away the invitation and denounce the traitor's false regency.

13 hours ago, Ruffles240 said:

She should throw away the invitation and denounce the traitor's false regency.

Whilst she's entitled to if she feels thats what hoour demands, the problem is that since she's a just-out-of-gempuku junior magistrate; if she throws the invitation away, she's not got much of a platform to do any denouncing from.

Plus, assuming she's been made a magistrate via In the Palace of the Emerald Champion , she is better informed than most about the prince's and the existence - if not the identity - of the Kolat 'Master Chrysanthemum', meaning you'd like to think she'd have the sense and courtesy to compare notes with Agasha Sumiko-ue before setting off any hand grenades in a public court...