This is a SPOlLER-FRIENDLY discussion of the information revealed in the recently published L5R RPG adventure, "In the Palace of the Emerald Champion". Proceed at your own discretion.

So....

Satsume was Kolat and was killed by them. Can't say I saw that coming! And now he apparently had some solution to maintaining the empire without either prince assuming the throne? Will this perhaps play into the oncoming drama surrounding the succession?

I HATE THIS REVELATION. Honestly. I hoped we were done with the Kolat shtick. But no. Apparently we need our sleeper agents-brainwashing-illuminati secret society. As though interclan political maneuvering cannot provide drama. I am honestly disappointed. Maybe I'll change my mind. But this is just another warning for me, that FFG will NOT do a serious cleaning of the l5r universe and we will get our standard 7 8 Great clans against whatever Big Bad we'll have on the menu

So far they've handled the reboot really well. Really don't think that's fair to say at all. If they can make the Phoenix an interesting faction I'm sure they can make the Kolat better than they were in AEG's game.

2 minutes ago, Araenon said:

I HATE THIS REVELATION. Honestly. I hoped we were done with the Kolat shtick. But no. Apparently we need our sleeper agents-brainwashing-illuminati secret society. As though interclan political maneuvering cannot provide drama. I am honestly disappointed. Maybe I'll change my mind. But this is just another warning for me, that FFG will NOT do a serious cleaning of the l5r universe and we will get our standard 7 8 Great clans against whatever Big Bad we'll have on the menu

I'm not a fan of the Kolat either, but I think FFG is committed to doing something other than "giant supernatural threat comes stomping in, clans band together to whack it, rinse and repeat" story pattern AEG fell into. Lots of the new conflicts they've introduced are ripe for more complicated types of resolution than that. And so, while I just sort of give a tired shrug in the direction of the Kolat, I'm also willing to wait and see if FFG does something more interesting with them.

32 minutes ago, Kaito Kikaze said:

Will this perhaps play into the oncoming drama surrounding the succession?

Oh Gods, I hope so. I'd love to see a giant mess happen because Satsume isn't there to handle it.

Also, was anyone else interested/alarmed that there are Goblins and an Ogre so close to the Capital? Can't get more 'Lost the Favor of the Heavens' without Shinjo herself coming down and offering the Throne directly to Yoritomo (so he can clean up the mess).

1 minute ago, Araenon said:

I HATE THIS REVELATION.

I like metaplot. And Kolat are better than that thrice-damned Shadow Dragon.

3 minutes ago, Araenon said:

8 Great clans

4 minutes ago, Coyote Walks said:

Oh Gods, I hope so. I'd love to see a giant mess happen because Satsume isn't there to handle it.

Also, was anyone else interested/alarmed that there are Goblins and an Ogre so close to the Capital? Can't get more 'Lost the Favor of the Heavens' without Shinjo herself coming down and offering the Throne directly to Yoritomo (so he can clean up the mess).

I like metaplot. And Kolat are better than that thrice-damned Shadow Dragon.

I think there's plenty of territory to play with in the Kolat story. I think their's lots of story to work from if you play up they seem to be a Yakuza type organization just scratching out what power they can but as you dig deeper and deeper and move higher up the hierarchy more of the over arching plot becomes visible and the conspiracy unfolds.

Also

4 minutes ago, Kinzen said:

Lots of the new conflicts they've introduced are ripe for more complicated types of resolution than that

I am 100% agree with you and i was cautiously optimistic about the future . And yet they still reintroduced Kolat . Ooph, okay, i need to take a break. It's not the end of the world. But god i am nerdraging like ****

7 minutes ago, Coyote Walks said:

And Kolat are better than that thrice-damned Shadow Dragon

Who says we wouldn't see him?

And yeah, if Kolat is in, Mantis is an 8th Great clan guaranteed. Despite them being just outright criminals leading an alliance of minor clans that have nothing in common with each other.

2 minutes ago, Araenon said:

I am 100% agree with you and i was cautiously optimistic about the future . And yet they still reintroduced Kolat . Ooph, okay, i need to take a break. It's not the end of the world. But god i am nerdraging like ****

Who says we wouldn't see him?

And yeah, if Kolat is in, Mantis is an 8th Great clan guaranteed. Despite them being just outright criminals leading an alliance of minor clans that have nothing in common with each other.

Actually Mantis would make a great front for the Kolat and are in many ways the embodiment of the ideal (so wish they had explored that more in the old game) so the two could end up going hand in hand

Yoritomo was going to have the Kolat keyword on one of his cards at some point in the old lore.

So it’s totally possible.

It seems like the Kolat are known about already? "Kāgi is obsessed with Kolat. He sees them everywhere!" I'm skimming so I could have missed something that says for sure either way.

So they'll be a clan of samurai pirates illumintai manipulators? Oh god it sounds so ridiculous it's probably true. Add some rebellious philosophy on top and that will be pure gold... (remembers Mantis stance on Shourido in latter days of AEG) Oh boy here we go

I'm a bit disappointed that the Kolat has already reared its ugly head.

They were trying to kill the Ruby Champion as well:

There is great joy from your first accomplishment. Now that the green is dead, ensure the red is next.

Also, the Soshuro daimyo is in the adventure posing as a magistrate (Bayushi Ago), and hates Hotaru and the Crane, and apparently his sister Kachiko too:

He hates Hotaru, whose clandestine relationship with his sister Kachiko compromises his sister’s loyalty to the Scorpion and, worse in his eyes, threatens to make his sister happy.

Oh, and Satsume was killed with poison.

Seriously, a lot is going on in this adventure.

Are we certain the information in the adventure is canon as far as the LCG lore is concerned? There seems to be a contradiction regarding the timeline.

At the end of the adventure Agasha Sumiko makes an oficial statement regarding the death of Satsume. This event would take place before the Emerald Championship, as she is still filling in as acting Emerald Champion.

However, we know Hotaru was present at the conclusion of the Championship, which must have happened at a latter point, yet in “A Crane Takes Flight” she tells Kuwanan that the Emerald Magistrates hadn’t made their report by the time she left Otosan Uchi. We also know Sumiko was at the city at least shortly after the championship, though Hotaru could have left by that point. Still seems unlikely she wouldn’t have heard the news.

So, either Hotaru lied to her brother's face (possible, but she didn’t seem to have a reason to do so) or there are some discrepancies there.

I don't see any reason to believe it isn't canon. I'm not a huge kolat fan, but bring them on. I'm eager to see if FFG can handle them well this time around.

One distinction at least is that there appears to be a preliminary report submitted by the Emerald Magistrates ruling the natural death of Satsume. They've confirmed at this point Satsume is already dead, cremated, and we've moved on...but for some reason Sumiko has a separate report she has waited to release for her (Ruby Champion) official statement regarding Satsume's death. I think this is likely one of the reasons everyone is still talking about it, because it seems odd that there would be such a seemingly long wait for a follow up report. We don't know when exactly this falls in the overall story arc, but it's possible Hotaru stops by the Emerald Champion's Castle on her way to the front lines, so this takes place shortly before/at the same time as "A Crane Takes Flight".

Interestingly enough, Hametsu is the one who gave Sadako the critical task of delivering the scroll to the Crane Guesthouse where Satsume's possessions are being stored. Given these revelations that Hametsu hates Hotaru and Kachiko's happiness with the Crane Champion, it seems likely he is planting some sort of evidence - false or otherwise - to drive a wedge between them, and possibly drive a wedge between Hotaru and Kuwana/others of the Crane Clan if she is somehow implicated as complicit or at least knowledgeable of the truth.

17 minutes ago, Kaito Kikaze said:

We don't know when exactly this falls in the overall story arc, but it's possible Hotaru stops by the Emerald Champion's Castle on her way to the front lines, so this takes place shortly before/at the same time as "A Crane Takes Flight“.

In “A Crane Takes Flight” Kuwanan clearly mentions the Emerald Championship having already taken place:

Quote

I’ve heard that Bayushi Aramoro was a final contender for the Emerald Championship. It may have been Akodo Toturi who ultimately won the office

Meanwhile the adventure document states that:

Quote

The new Emerald Champion has yet to be determined, and the Emerald Championship tournament is currently being planned in Otosan Uchi.

It seems unlikely to me that both events would be so close in time.

Sure Satsume was Kolat? Adventure says he has some Kolat propaganda addressed to him, but the Kolat killed him. I am wondering if his opinion on the heirs came to someone's ears and the Kolat reached out to him expecting him to be sympathetic. But whatever they proposed he ultimately disagreed with so they assassinated him to make sure he didn't expose them.

Not that he likely would have, his ghost seems interested in having you just bury the fact that he even spoke to them.

23 minutes ago, Waywardpaladin said:

Sure Satsume was Kolat? Adventure says he has some Kolay propaganda addressed to him, but the Kolat killed him. I am wondering if his opinion in the heirs came to someone's ears and the Kolat reached out to him expecting him to be sympathetic. But whatever they proposed be ultimately disagreed with so they assassinated him to make sure he didn't expose them.

Not that he likely would have, his ghost seems interested in having you just bury the fact that he even spoke to them.

Yeah, I realized with a rereading that it wasn't for sure that he was part of them, just possibly being scouted for recruitment. Just seemed weird that according to the info included, he knew about the room where they had brewed up the poison and the tunnel where the additional papers were found, having all those secret meetings and stuff. Maybe it was all just intended as a ploy to implicate him as Kolat or a Kolat sympathizer after his death.

This kind of leads me to wonder then, if the plan to set up Daisetsu with a trusted regent originated with Satsume, and somehow reached the emperor either through communication shortly prior to his death, or a ghostly visit. I seem to recall one of the letters indicating he'd thought up a solution to what he saw as two bad choices for succession.

8 hours ago, llamaman88 said:

It seems like the Kolat are known about already? "Kāgi is obsessed with Kolat. He sees them everywhere!" I'm skimming so I could have missed something that says for sure either way.

Known, but no widely. Which is a refreshing change from O5R.

Now that the PCs are more aware of the Kolat, they also hear whispers of the group and how much the Ruby Champion has fought against them. Sumiko was very vocal and forthright that the only thing worse than the Kolat would be for its threat to become widely known .

4 hours ago, Waywardpaladin said:

Sure Satsume was Kolat? Adventure says he has some Kolat propaganda addressed to him, but the Kolat killed him. I am wondering if his opinion on the heirs came to someone's ears and the Kolat reached out to him expecting him to be sympathetic. But whatever they proposed he ultimately disagreed with so they assassinated him to make sure he didn't expose them.

This is exactly what happened. Satsume talked with somebody he calls “his friend and peer” at Otosan Uchi:

Satsume says he is convinced that the two Imperial heirs are totally unsuited for rule, one being too cruel and the other too weak. Such thoughts, while not formally of the Kolat, are still blasphemy against the rule of the divine Hantei family!
Whoever his high-ranking correspondent is, that person seems to have encouraged such dangerous beliefs, but became upset when Satsume indicated he had a possible solution to the matter that would keep the Empire stable.

So they tried to make Satsume Kolat, but failed, which lead to his death:

The papers contain the same unfamiliar handwriting as on the papers found earlier in the cave tunnel, but are addressed to some- one called "Hidden Serpent." The words angrily denounce "the green" for betraying humans to the Kami. This is clearly directed at Satsume, the Emerald Champion.

I already like this better. Not widely known, but still a threat at least the Emerald Magistrates know exists and fight in secret. Good for the roleplaying game if nothing else.

1 hour ago, llamaman88 said:

I already like this better. Not widely known, but still a threat at least the Emerald Magistrates know exists and fight in secret. Good for the roleplaying game if nothing else.

Exactly. They don't have to be super-duper-know-everything-brainwashing-illuminate, but basically just an organised bunch of anarchists.

The more important issue;

Whilst it may not have been de scorpion wot didz it, it woz dun. Which means, that - if one has the persistence, evidence exists to support foul play - including a bunch of emerald magistrates who've knowingly quashed a verdict of murder. Which means there is evidence for the more militant branches of the Crane to find if they go behind Hotaru's back and insist on looking.

It also raises the question - since the argument for a verdict of natural death is "the stability of the empire", has someone told Hotaru? Because "I've been told what happened by the Ruby Champion and I'm trying to avoid anyone hearing the word 'Kolat' in connection with the death" is potentially as valid a reason for being stand-offish of anyone questioning the magistrate's findings as the oft-rumoured "I'm too busy making nicey-nicey with Kachiko".

9 hours ago, Tabris2k said:

Also, the Soshuro daimyo is in the adventure posing as a magistrate (Bayushi Ago), and hates Hotaru and the Crane, and apparently his sister Kachiko too:

He hates Hotaru, whose clandestine relationship with his sister Kachiko compromises his sister’s loyalty to the Scorpion and, worse in his eyes, threatens to make his sister happy.

Interesting that the Scorpion see Kachiko as compromised by Hotaru , rather than the other way around.

1 minute ago, Magnus Grendel said:

Interesting that the Scorpion see Kachiko as compromised by Hotaru , rather than the other way around.

Based on her misgivings the one time she thinks about it.... they're not far wrong.