Dignitary quarters
The phoenix man clearly seems agitated, although not beyond thinking his thoughts out loud. "Ah, of course, I must have caught you on pressing business.

Scrolls? You mean ofuda? Aren't there other Shugenja scribing ofuda at the shrine nearby? They provide services to the public, sure, but they'll also scribe a spell for you. You have that signet ring, so certainly they'll record it and send it to Otosan Uchi for compensation. That's worked for me. He rises from his table, bowing graciously and looking as if he must leave, himself.

Ah, please enjoy more tea with me again some time soon! We should have a larger gathering. I find those to be most invigorating, and we'd love to be able to share more with our Emerald Dignitaries.

--

Hut North-west of Kyuden Gotei
With little to discuss, you speed your way to the jetty upon which a small house perches. There's a sizable bamboo marsh between that divides this stretch of and from the mainland, and it seems to be well-groomed. Two medium-sized plots of land hold worked-and-planted vegetables, and it seems the stretch closest to the hut has been partially plowed, but the sailor has taken a break. Many vegetables that looks like a cross between miniature green trees and flowers have been dug up and a man heaves a sack into a cart.

One of the fishermen in your boat stand as they dock on a soft, gentle curve of land that's perfect for landing small craft. "Oi! Ahab! How are you?"

"Come help me finish this harvest. Damn legs giving me trouble--"
"I thought they regrew it?"
Never had a leg regrown by a spell? Still smarts summat awful!"
The two sailors look askew at each other but offer their help. "We'll give you what aid we can, but how long should it take?
"Five 'o Us be done before tha sun moves much further."

He sits on his porch and, nursing a leg that he treats tenderly, he gives snappy and loud encouragement to finish the tasks. With the four of you rotating to work the plow--and it's awkwardly hard work to push for all but the anja monk--you make short work of the field's structure. With a bit of direction, the old sailor has all the field plowed and planted and a great harvest to look at.

While you've all worked at the fields, he's sorted through his crops and decided what to compost, what to eat, and--apparently--what to cook.

Nearly half the field were tubers--either yams or just sweet potatoes--and some of them are quite large.

"Lucky you came. I was going to have to make the rest of these tubers into schochu!"
"You know how to do that?!?"
"I've learned a lot, living here mostly alone, these past twelve years, so yes. "
"You've lived here that long?"
Aye. If my crew hadn't all drowned before I got here, and if I hadn't had my leg regrown by that kind witch or whatever..."
"Shugenja?"
"Aye. She took me in, an' I'm sure I'd still be off trying to kill the whale that took it."
The other sailor, the one that's a bit older, spits on a rock that nearly trips him. "This is a poor plot of land, though."
"But favored by the gods, she said. And poor the land may be, I can smell the sea and work the land o' tha sadness ta turn it inna what? All this! "

He gestures to his little islet, and it truly is peaceful. Amidst what must would normally be buffeted horribly by the winds and storms, it's certainly very calm, and birds fly overhead, even, to catch the insects in the marshy area that separates this land from the rest. His bamboo-wood hut has been divided efficiently into a storage area, an area to sleep, and a rudimentary kitchen, which even includes a cooling hole to chill items for a long while. It's not terribly tall (seven feet at most)

"I have'n axe, stone to sharpen it, blades to cut what I need, nets to fish the shore, an' no bustle o' tha land back home.
It's peace enough for a broken heart."

When the sorting has finished, the harvested crops either well-arranged--including a sizable haul of vegetables for the sailors--or composted into rather large pits which the accented ex-sailor says is how he gets such excellent yields--he sits you all down into his hut and thanks you profoundly.

"Now...This old man never brings strangers here unless they have an odd request
The elder fisherman flinches a little at being so directly pointed out, but he nods his head.
"Out with it. I'll see what I can do as I heat up this stew."