From what little I know of Tsuko, the Loyalty choice seems the most obvious and in-character — almost cliche. For that reason I favor the selection of Justice as the more interesting possibility. It gives her a little more nuance and perhaps puts her at odds with other more hot-headed members of her clan. And it feels like a choice which might bring her, begrudgingly, more in alignment with Toturi.

I think I'd always err on the side of uncovering plots and schemes. Wouldn't do to rush onto the fields of battle without knowing what's going on elsewhere.

1 hour ago, InquisitorM said:

I assume you mean Doji Kuwanan?

Thanks! Hard to keep track of all the names.

"Duty" is Tsuko saying "OK, somebody's manipulating me and I don't care. I'll be a good pawn and do what he wants."

That wouldn't make a lot of sense, even for our old hot-blooded Tsuko. This would not make her better than Toturi at all, that would just make her a fool and a tool.

Justice because Scorpion. Probably.

But then we get a Scorpion Shogun and it's all about duty.

I'm torn about this. On the one hand, I'm a Scorpion and thus I want the Crane at each others' throats. Plus I'm not entirely sure if this was a Scorpion plot or not, and I don't want to risk revealing it just in case it was.

On the other hand, I think Justice will lead to a more interesting story - it certainly plays to the strengths of the Crane more than the Lion, and I'm more interested to see the Lion outside their comfort zone than the Crane (considering that the Crane are already in rough shape)

Let's just play Pacifism on all of them.

Don't be a pawn of the manipulation of the so-called Boar clan. Investigate, together, what's really going on.

"Justice".

My personal vote is Justice.

Realistically, the results will probably be:

Duty has Tsuko release Kuwanan to defend the Osari Plains. She seeks him out on the battlefield, kills him. Rift between Lion and Crane widens.

Justice has Tsuko release Kuwanan to return to his sister and persuade her to investigate their father's death. Along the way, he meets with an "accident" and never reaches his sister. Lion are blamed. Rift between Lion and Crane widens.

Both options: Toturi disapproves of Tsuko's choice, rift within the Lion widens. Kachiko rubs her hands together in villainous glee. Shoju pokes at fish in a pond.

Justice

It will be good character development for Tsuko as a character I feel.

3 hours ago, Zesu Shadaban said:

My personal vote is Justice.

Realistically, the results will probably be:

Duty has Tsuko release Kuwanan to defend the Osari Plains. She seeks him out on the battlefield, kills him. Rift between Lion and Crane widens.

Justice has Tsuko release Kuwanan to return to his sister and persuade her to investigate their father's death. Along the way, he meets with an "accident" and never reaches his sister. Lion are blamed. Rift between Lion and Crane widens.

Both options: Toturi disapproves of Tsuko's choice, rift within the Lion widens. Kachiko rubs her hands together in villainous glee. Shoju pokes at fish in a pond.

I don't think the result will the the same either way. I hope not.

The Lion want the territory regardless of outside manipulation. I see duty favoring a Lion victory and continuing with someone behind the scenes manipulating things.

Justice would favor a Crane victory, uncover who ever is being a dirt bag, and lead to a different type of issue.

I take that back, reverse which decision benefits which clan.

I never payed any attention to the old story at all. This games fiction is amazing!

Am I the only one who thinks the terms are reversed?

I see duty as doing the right thing and sending Kuwanon back to his sister to uncover the manipulations. I see justice as vengeance and the desire to meet him on the battlefield to avenge the loss of kin.

Either way the Lion are honorable in battle, and if they or the Crane have any inkling of outside manipulation I fully believe they would investigate it to the fullest.

Maybe the Shogun should consult the best Lion player at Worlds before making the decision. I think that would be a nice touch.

Lastly, I cannot resist some light role play and say I could really care less. I don't have time to be involved in this childish bickering, the Wall will not stand by itself! We sacrifice much for your freedom and what do we get? Petty squabbles? *spits*

I will speak no more of this, I have Oni to slay. Come and help if you think yourself worthy, I'll show you true duty!

1 hour ago, TheSpitfired said:

Maybe the Shogun should consult the best Lion player at Worlds before making the decision. I think that would be a nice touch.

You sure you have the right mon with pincers? That's a rather backhanded way of saying the Shogun isn't going to be a Lion player.

1 hour ago, Shu2jack said:

I see duty favoring a Lion victory and continuing with someone behind the scenes manipulating things.

Justice would favor a Crane victory, uncover who ever is being a dirt bag, and lead to a different type of issue.

Maybe the fight for the plains will be settled with this decision? But it seems like that's really tied pretty close to the fate of Toshi Ranbo, and I seriously doubt that will be settled with this. For one thing, the upcoming Kotei season is specifically named Toshi Ranbo. For another, the clan with the most Glory Points from the Kotei season will be getting Toshi Ranbo as a card. Though I'll admit I'm still keenly interested to find out if/how that will translate into the storyline's progression.

13 minutes ago, Zesu Shadaban said:

You sure you have the right mon with pincers? That's a rather backhanded way of saying the Shogun isn't going to be a Lion player.

Of course not. It will be a Crab. That's why so many of FFG's pre-Worlds interviews have been with Crab Hatamotos.

I feel that Matsu Tsuko is a hot head and typically would be one to jump to her passion which in this case would be the #Duty choice, but as a Lion, Tradition is ingrained into her very core. If she didn't have time to think about this I would say #Duty is the choice, but as she has time to consider things I feel that she would go with #Justice. I see this as the choice I belive her character would make and also the most interesting one to see unfold. I can see interesting options either way.

i would like to see teh justice option happen. duty means one major character dies early in the stroyline without having made any impact and

i think that is poor storytelling.

9 hours ago, Shu2jack said:

I don't think the result will the the same either way. I hope not.

But we will never know for sure, considering the consequences of only one of the choice will be revealed.

This is obviously a Scorpion plot, therefore it obviously can not be a Scorpion plot.

The very first thing I thought after reading this (aside from how completely awesome Matsu Tsuko is) was that the scorpion are getting sloppy. Dress up as Lions, hire some ronin to attack the Crane. So far so good, but taking Doji Kuwanan alive is a deal breaker for me. The Lion know they didn't hire any ronin, having the ronin report back to their 'employers' with Kuwanan reveals the whole plot. Scorpion plots are not this simple, and easy to sniff out.

Likely the Crane are behind the whole thing in an overly complicated false flag attack. Either choice is a win for them. Either the Lion attack and have to suffer political fallback for hiring ronin, or the plot is 'revealed', casting shame on the Lion's trustworthy ally the Scorpion Clan.

Let me throw in the Lost in the conspiracy theories of who`s pulling the strings. This is a new setting so there's no need to have the Shadowlands be restricted to hordes and legions of foul, dumb creatures running at the Wall. As the Crab Core Set fiction shows, the Shadowlands is on the march, preparing for a major attack, already kind of pushing the Crab. Infiltrating the Empire and orchestrating the Boar Ronin massacre, pitting the clans against each other (divide&conquer), yes, I could see some smart Jigoku followers behind it all.

6 hours ago, Eisenmerc said:

Likely the Crane are behind the whole thing in an overly complicated false flag attack. Either choice is a win for them. Either the Lion attack and have to suffer political fallback for hiring ronin, or the plot is 'revealed', casting shame on the Lion's trustworthy ally the Scorpion Clan.

I don't think this is a Crane plot - it isn't even remotely close to their style, and if it was them they would likely have had Kuwanan escape completely. They would never allow their champion's brother to be treated so shamefully.

5 hours ago, Yakamo no Oni said:

Let me throw in the Lost in the conspiracy theories of who`s pulling the strings. This is a new setting so there's no need to have the Shadowlands be restricted to hordes and legions of foul, dumb creatures running at the Wall. As the Crab Core Set fiction shows, the Shadowlands is on the march, preparing for a major attack, already kind of pushing the Crab. Infiltrating the Empire and orchestrating the Boar Ronin massacre, pitting the clans against each other (divide&conquer), yes, I could see some smart Jigoku followers behind it all.

I support this theory. Either that, or the Perfect Land Sect (which is clearly a Kolat front)

Courtesy - Tsuko releases Kuwanan to the Crane on the condition Hotaru takes the field directly against Tsuko.

Dragon plot. Togashi pulling the strings

Tsuko should attack Osari plains. Kuwannon there or not.

2 hours ago, suburbaknght said:

Courtesy - Tsuko releases Kuwanan to the Crane on the condition Hotaru takes the field directly against Tsuko.

Yeah, who needs a Lion schism when Hotaru can just shoot all of Toturi's competition?

1 hour ago, JolOfNar said:

Dragon plot. Togashi pulling the strings

Tsuko should attack Osari plains. Kuwannon there or not.

Pretty sure that's her plan.