Kaori

Kaori guided their companion across the great stone plaza, past the statue of the giant fish, the sound of the falls a constant roar. "We all saw it," a boat-builder would later recount, their voice hushed with awe. "The Council sent their diplomat, but with them was Tengu, who walks the line between life and death. We expected fear, a show of force. Instead, Kaori spoke of the fishing routes and the quality of the stonework, treating the impossible as ordinary. In that moment, they didn't just broker a treaty with our city; they taught us that the strongest bridges are built not of rock, but of respect. That is the true work of the Panda Council." The builder would always finish by tapping their own handiwork. "Wood rots. Stone crumbles. That lesson does not."