1 hour ago, Kinzen said:Oddly, one of my favorite touches in this story is also one of the most understated: the Emperor is abdicating because he has cataracts .
I love that because stories so often reach for the big, grand moves instead. But no -- his vision is failing him, and he's smart enough to know that compensating for that handicap would require him to trust the people around him. In another society that would work just fine . . . but not here. And Rokugan may have magic, but it can't fix everything, and cataracts are on the list of problems it can't solve. Other health problems, too, but that little touch about his vision just pleases me all out of proportion.
I hadnt ubderstood it that way. My impressionwas the cataracts was a sympton of a bigger issue: he is old and not as "sharp" (is that the right word?). I took the issue with yhe eyes as another point after the physical descriptions of him and how he did the kata. His comment about not seeing well I took as the classic rokugani way of saying one thing but meaning the literal and more of it. He doesnt see well physically, but also isnt as quick of thought as before, etc.