I had a love/hate relationship with the Ratling faction when AEG produced the game. Do you think FFG will keep the Ratlings around in their reboot or maybe wait a while for their reintroduction. What aspects to the clan would you like to see kept or revised?

FFG is all into non-humans, so there will be Nezumi for sure in one way or another.

Also, as I read The Way of the Nezumi not long ago, I must say that most of their stuff is rated A for Awesome. It is definitely one of the better The Way of X books (it was a true blessing after reading The Way of the Mary Sue Scorpion ). The only thing that needs some revision is their origin story (there should be more about it, and either have the Naga-related story or have something more compatible like the Nezumi being the descendants of the rat who won the Great Race). Also, I would like to see less emphasis on the scavenger nature of the race and more about the Nezumi trying to return to some sort of solid civilization like state.

As a clan or faction? No, not for quite awhile. FFG has to go through the major clans before it can delve into others.

I can see a neutral character/follower popping up in the core set to give a wink to older players and to establish new, current lore about them.

I sure hope so and will do everything I can to get them in the game.

The Ratlings were a grade A pain in the ass, mechanically, but from a storyline point of view they were solid gold. Assuming that FFG continues the plot, however, they're dead. SO thats a problem. If they decide to do some kind of soft or hard reboot, then i could see them featuring in that, but they won't be a starter faction, i'd bet. but first or second wave of expansions? probably, given the fan demand.

Those Who Waits, the last nezumi tribe, still exists. They have a few handful members and being rats, they could repopulate to a few hundred in a timejump without problem.

Those Who Waits, the last nezumi tribe, still exists. They have a few handful members and being rats, they could repopulate to a few hundred in a timejump without problem.

There's a bit you could do with that story and voting/player influence wise. An example could be voting for a new tribe because the new ratlings are so successful or choosing clan they could ally with.

I'm sure that there will be one or two unaligned nezumi-for-hire somewhere along the line.

As setting dressing, Nezumi will likely exist. However, it'd be a waste of design space to make them a "thing" in the CCG. One or two random scout followers with the Ratling trait, or a random unaligned in "Bushido Pack Cycle 4" is fine, but you've already got so many plates spinning with the factions that actually have existing player-bases, it'd be silly to give over resources to a faction that maaaaybe 18 people actively played outside of its most degenerate moments (Screw Depths for making an incredibly mechanically interesting faction a brainless set of interchangeable cogs). LCGs are already squeezed for card-slots-per-time-period compared to a CCG, so it would be best to use those to service factions that actually bring the company money. I say this as a big Ratling fan and someone who played them actively in competitive play throughout their tenure as a playable faction.

The Meeting Place is still basically my favorite L5R Stronghold ever printed.

I am thinking there will be increased access to multi-faction dynasties so why not rope in some extra rat juice?

Ratling cards, I think it is probable. Ratling faction, not really.