What happens to them on the road is likely to be too load-bearing to come out as a novella or a novel, i.e. in a place where a large number of the players wouldn't see it.

That's an interesting consideration.

FFG certainly may decide otherwise down the road, but as it stands, the novellas are kind of like "side quests" in a video game. They depart from the through-line of the main story, which is about the Imperial succession and the clans struggles with all of their various problems, tell their own story about something that is interesting about that clan, then rejoin it in some fashion at the end. They also tend to focus on other characters we haven't seen much, or at all yet, in the main story. Now, again, FFG will do as they wish, of course, but I suspect that a novella for each clan using this general theme will be what we see for longer-format fiction, at least for foreseeable future.

They're also ideally self-contained stories, or at least mostly so -- not just longer episodes from the ongoing narrative. Which means they need a degree of narrative resolution Daisetsu and Shahai are unlikely to get in the near term.

I guess I hadn't been viewing the novellas from that perspective, but it makes sense.

A self-cotained road-story novela for Shaisetsu would be actually pretty nice IMO. Just something short and simple, like a storm trapping the two in a roadside inn with a bunch of other people and then a MYSTERIOUS MURDER happens and Daisetsu - the only person around with magistrate training - has to roll it up before the MYSTERIOUS MURDERER claims another victim. Kind of a "filler episode" about Shaisetsu.

So Shahai continues to elicit tons of sympathy. Poor girl just can't seem to stop stopping Sotorii from dying.

Probably their best course of action would be to board a Tortoise boat headed for the Ivory Kingdoms. But I can't shake the idea that they'll end up in Crab lands and run into Yori and Tadaka...

I don't know why but I just got this feeling they're going to run into the Perfect Land Sect. That story thread seems important, but irrelevant to the overall rest of what's going on in the story, so I think this is where it will tie in. No idea what this encounter would bode for Shaisetsu. Don't know if they'd go into hiding amongst them, form the Spider Clan (Order of Venom) with them, get discovered by Miyako, be captured... really no idea, I just get some sinister vibes from those guys and we know who Shaisetsu were in the old lore.

7 hours ago, shineyorkboy said:

So Shahai continues to elicit tons of sympathy. Poor girl just can't seem to stop stopping Sotorii from dying.

Probably their best course of action would be to board a Tortoise boat headed for the Ivory Kingdoms. But I can't shake the idea that they'll end up in Crab lands and run into Yori and Tadaka ...

Kisada's Ambition 2.0.

Instead of seizing the throne for himself because the Emperor is a doddering fool, he plans to put an Emperor on the throne who appreciates the Crab's situation ("Look, Hantei. Look and see what the Crab face ."), and possibly shore up some form of alliance with the Unicorn for saving the Iuchi Daimyo's daughter while he's at it.

26 minutes ago, Mangod said:

Kisada's Ambition 2.0.

Daisetsu would meta the living crap out of Kisada and Kisada would most likely choke Daisetsu to death with the boy's own guts. There are places in Rokugan where you can be a smart*ss and get away with it... the Crab Lands are not one of those places.

So more rampant speculation on my part. Looking at logically where Shasetsu would go after fleeing the palace I see a very strong argument for them to head towards Ryoko Oawri. It has a very large Unicorn presence and based on his friendship with Dairu seems like a logical friendly city to aim for. Now of course that all goes out the window when they find out that Shoju is either supporting Sotorii or has taken his place as the next Emperor leaving Daisetsu as a liability that needs to likely be dealt with.

Now the reason why them visiting Ryoko Owari is so important is that the city is a pretty symptomatic of what's wrong with Rokugani Bushido and the lip service that is played towards it. Would be a perfect opportunity to finally break Daisetsu of the chains of Bushido and get him on the route to the new philosophy of Shourido.

Dairu will almost certainly link up with them at the city gates. We need the third wheel for our youngster team and Dairu following Daisetsu to **** and back is already set up by Shoju. Then their detination is clear: Toshi Ranbo. It is now this weird semi-indenpendent place and I bet it will be the rallying beacon for Team Paragon and their HQ too while Team Renegade will reside in Otosan Uchi.

Ryoko Owari will be the first city the two teams fight over because IIRC we already have the two sides there (the Scorpion governor guy and the Dragon lady). Then we will either get a fight over the Crab Clan OR resolve the Unicorn/Lion conflict where each team has to pick one clan and hand over the other.

On ‎8‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 6:22 PM, AtoMaki said:

Toshi Ranbo. It is now this weird semi-indenpendent place and I bet it will be the rallying beacon for Team Paragon and their HQ

It's also, if we're talking "for the good of the Empire' types, where Bayushi Yojiro is - someone who's already screwed his own clan (and specifically Kachiko and Aramoro) over once in the name of the greater good of the Empire.