7 hours ago, Manchu said:

What would Sun Tao say about this? A good general wins every battle she fights. A great general can win a battle without fighting.

Togashi Mitsu is very likeable. But he is somewhat rash. Just as he assumed the ronin were on Lion's payroll, he assumed he misled Ikoma Tsanuri. In reality, Tsanuri would have been fully within her rights to destroy the trespassing Dragon army. But to what end? Having obtained Mitsu's word that Dragon is not marching to Crane's aid, and having accepted Mitsu's excuse that the Dragon were ignorant as to in whose territory they were discovered, Tsanuri stood to gain nothing from engaging them. She obtained important intelligence, especially Togashi Yokuni's own prophetic utterance regarding Crane. Mitsu can recognize that Tsanuri is a wise woman and yet believes she would come to the most superficial conclusion. Perhaps because that is his own nature?

My compliments to @Kinzen for beautifully introducing this illustrious Lion character in the new continuity.

Man, Lions are really insecure huh.

Good story. Not really thrilled to see Hitomi. (I thought replacing the Sun & Moon with mortals was one of the dumbest things AEG ever did.)

11 hours ago, Shiba Gunichi said:

Also good to see Mitsu allowing everyone involved in his little conversation to save some face.

It seems to me that the best politicking in the new fiction we've seen has come from Mantis, Dragon, Crab, and Spider (yes, I consider Heart of the Garden to be a Spider story).

Crane and Scorpion political tales have all fallen flat. Probably due to to the fact that those Clans have no greater goal than other than telling themselves how awesome they are. And jerking everyone else around.

(Just to round it out, I feel the Phoenix stories work best when they are being Honest. It's fun to watch.)

5 hours ago, mirrorcat said:

And in a surprise twist Crab wins the tournament, is awarded the fort+region and immediately offers it to the Mantis so that it may become their first stronghold as major clan

Approved! (Here is your Jade, Crab-san.)

6 hours ago, Tabris2k said:

Toshi Ranbo is not gonna be occupied military, it will be assigned by Imperial Decree. Hence the “Glory Points” to decide which clan gets it.

So there will be no need to put a garrison to defend it, nobody will go against the will of the emperor. 

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but an Imperial Decree has said the clans aren't supposed to go to war with one another yet that doesn't really stop them from fighting - they can technically obey the will of the Emperor while still getting around it (the Lion go "we have seen the Crane marching, they clearly plan to take the city in defiance of the Emperor! In the interest of good relations with the Crab, we will march and defend the city!" and suddenly it's occupied by the Lion and it's a Lion city in everything but name again but they're totally just keeping it safe for the Crab, swearsies).

Edit: Ignore this post; accidentally double posted and can't figure out how to delete.

29 minutes ago, kTravio said:

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but an Imperial Decree has said the clans aren't supposed to go to war with one another yet that doesn't really stop them from fighting - they can technically obey the will of the Emperor while still getting around it (the Lion go "we have seen the Crane marching, they clearly plan to take the city in defiance of the Emperor! In the interest of good relations with the Crab, we will march and defend the city!" and suddenly it's occupied by the Lion and it's a Lion city in everything but name again but they're totally just keeping it safe for the Crab, swearsies).

Until the Crab say nope didn't happen at which point the Lion are in violation of said decree and the full fury of the Empire falls on them.

1 hour ago, kTravio said:

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but an Imperial Decree has said the clans aren't supposed to go to war with one another yet that doesn't really stop them from fighting - they can technically obey the will of the Emperor while still getting around it (the Lion go "we have seen the Crane marching, they clearly plan to take the city in defiance of the Emperor! In the interest of good relations with the Crab, we will march and defend the city!" and suddenly it's occupied by the Lion and it's a Lion city in everything but name again but they're totally just keeping it safe for the Crab, swearsies).

There’s a imperial decree forbidding total war between clans, but no skirmishes. That’s why the Lion cannot commit all its troops to a conflict with the Unicorn, or the Phoenix cannot send its whole Elemental Army to wreak havoc in Dragon Lands, to put two examples.

Now, a Imperial Decree regarding something as specific as the ruling of a city cannot be so easily circumvented or ignored. Sure, some years from now, there can be some claims over the city, but they will be warred in court, not in the battlefield. Until the Emperor cancels the decree, maybe if it’s argued that the Crab is neglecting its duties in the city.

5 hours ago, Doji Hyōkin said:

Of particular interest is the Crane turning inward.

It's already happened. Kuwanan and Hotaru are at odds, and the sudden tsunami-induced penury has forced the Crane to look inward. They're certainly not active in the political sphere at present, beyond some desperate scrambling for advantage and a few attempts to whistle past the graveyard and convince everybody that they're doing all right.

22 hours ago, Coyote Walks said:

Good story. Not really thrilled to see Hitomi. (I thought replacing the Sun & Moon with mortals was one of the dumbest things AEG ever did.)

It seems to me that the best politicking in the new fiction we've seen has come from Mantis, Dragon, Crab, and Spider (yes, I consider Heart of the Garden to be a Spider story).

Crane and Scorpion political tales have all fallen flat. Probably due to to the fact that those Clans have no greater goal than other than telling themselves how awesome they are. And jerking everyone else around.

(Just to round it out, I feel the Phoenix stories work best when they are being Honest. It's fun to watch.)

Approved! (Here is your Jade, Crab-san.)

Scorpion had some good stuff, like he Made magistrate in the duel. And I can understand Kachiko's motivation. She feels superior and thinks she can run things better.

Shoju hasn't really shown what he is up to yet, but seems to ultimately be in favour of keeping the Empire strong and the scorpion as perceived to be weak so they can keep sabotaging other clans.

I think correctly they are presenting Shoju as a cypher to the reader and to the people in scenes with him. Though his most candid conversation was with Kachiko and in that conversation he seemed directly opposed to her ambition. Shoju seems like a traditionalist in that fiction. The "I can Swim" philosophy would dictate that Scorpion should appear outwardly weak to the rest of the clans. That's something they are definitely failing at since right at the beginning of the new fictions everyone is concerned with the growing influence of the Scorpion's in the court. They have become an obvious threat. Even the emperor seems to acknowledge this fact when he denies Kachiko her request to give the Scorpion the emerald champion appointment without a tournament. She's being way too obvious, and that's starting to work against them. I think we are meant to believe Shoju is being sincere in that fiction. Though ultimately who knows

Even though I wasn't excited that Scorpion was getting their clan pack before everyone else, I am excited to read their clan novella. Yojiro is a great character. Also I get the impression that Yojiro would favor Shoju's more subtle approach to Kachiko's ambitious bid for power. I believe that's inline with his previous portrayal.

I also am really enjoying the H iroue /Miyako Perfect Land Sect investigation. I feel like that's a good story plot to give to the Scorpion. Intelligence gathering is one of the primary strengths after all.

I'd note that what constitutes "war" in terms of whether a clan can all it that or not is being left deliberately vague. There's actually PROBABLY an Imperial scroll somewhere that says a clan may mobilize up to this many legions or that many ashigaru without Imperial sanction, but those numbers will probably never be specified in the narrative. So look at this way--a clan isn't "at war" in terms of defying the Imperial edict as long as they can convince the Emperor they're not. That leads to a LOT of potential politics going on among multiple clans, the Imperial families, the Emperor, etc. One clan may get away with calling an army of, say, 20 legions a skirmish force, while at another time another clan may not get away with more than 10. Like everything in Rokugan, it's complicated, largely subjective and the focus of a great deal of political effort.