Okay, so here's the discussion thread for the game. We can use it to talk about game rules when we have questions, discuss character advancement, etc. I don't know how much we will be using this, but it's always nice to have it.
Campaign thread will be going up momentarily - everybody check in here and post there as soon as you can!
They cannot. Though technically, who said there was a culminating iaijutsu tournament? ;)
Getting an in-character breakdown of the tournament is possible, but will require actually asking around, possibly in conjuction with some Courtier (Gossip) rolls.
Just realized that I made my last post as my main account, lol. DERP.
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*nod* yeah, I thought that was probably the case, but it's stil too much. The appropriate honorific then would be -san, because even that's more than she "deserves." -sama is honoring her so much that most people would probably take it as mockery. *shrug* It's not a big deal, but I thought I'd point it out anyway.
It's not all that difficult, really!
General rule of thumb: if someone's below you in station, calling them anything other than -san (or -chan if you're really close for some reason) is out-of-the-ordinary. After all, they don't deserve that much respect.
Example: Rurouni Kenshin. Kenshin calls most women by their name and the -dono suffix, usually reserved for lords and extremely powerful people. This is extremely weird and would probably invite suspicion and social ostracization in an era outside the Meiji.
The *default* assumptions are:
Most samurai, pretty much any other PC: -san
Individuals of noticably lower station, including peasants and possibly ronin if you want to be a jerk about it: no honorific
Samurai of higher rank than you: -sama
Your own personal lord: -dono
The Emperor or Empress: -heika
A male child (affectionately): -kun (can also be used with a lover, not unlike calling someone "baby")
A close friend, female family member or lover: -chan (someone you might call "dearest")
Someone with a specific job: -[that job]
Note that using the "wrong" honorific can have strong implications, saying quite a bit more than the literal meaning. For instance, Rurouni Kenshin is literally placing himself at the service of the women he meets by treating them as his feudal lords. Using "sama" with someone who doesn't deserve it can be considered mockery, rather like calling someone "princess." Using "chan" or "kun" at the wrong time can imply an unwelcome intimacy, while skipping "san" for an equal is pretty much always an insult.
Since we're not actual Japanese speakers here - or at least, I don't think we are - I'm certainly not going to fuss over it much; if the context suggests you're deliberately using it wrong - i.e., trying to insult someone - I might ask OOC to clarify, but that's about it. (If fact, if you are doing it deliberately, an OOC comment to that effect might be a good idea.)