FFG posted a new Crane Clan fiction.

Please see the below link:

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2019/10/23/the-price-of-failure/

The drama thickens.

I am just going to pop in here and say, preemptively, that the reference in this story to Arasou being Tsuko's brother is an ERROR, not a sudden shift into Lannister territory. He was her fiance. I've asked to have that fixed!

53 minutes ago, DGLaderoute said:

I am just going to pop in here and say, preemptively, that the reference in this story to Arasou being Tsuko's brother is an ERROR, not a sudden shift into Lannister territory. He was her fiance. I've asked to have that fixed!

Ah I was just getting my Lion's never forget memes ready too.

Tell us again, Kuwanan and Uji, how insulting it is for another Great Clan to strike at you without a proper declaration of war... and how you've done so in order to defy the late Emperor's wishes. We'll sit beside the Lion in the front row to watch.

That certainly shakes things up.

So I see Lion, Crane and Unicorn possibly allying against Shoju. Minus Toturi of course. Phoenix seem like a massive wildcard.

Hard to imagine a Crane-Lion alliance at this point. The issues underlying their conflict have not been resolved and the unofficial war has just kicked off to the next level.

Also Tsuko and Kuwanan raising their banners together against (purported) usurpation? Maybe Kuwanan could get away with this but Tsuko doesn’t have a leg to stand on, morally.

1 hour ago, Radix2309 said:

So I see Lion, Crane and Unicorn possibly allying against Shoju. Minus Toturi of course. Phoenix seem like a massive wildcard.

Nah we are in for a 3 way Dance. Crane/Unicorn vs. Lion/Phoenix vs. Scorpion/Dragon with a surprise appearance by the Crab popping in for a mantis fuel chair shot to draw the fight out.

The question I have at this point is who the Crane/Unicorn end up supporting as I don't see Sotorii falling in line with them and my prediction is he's about to stumble across a Lion patrol that will be delivering him to Tsuko, and he is going to sick her his enemies in the palace . All of course fuel by the inevitable word they will get via Seppun Ishikawa that Toturi was "assassinated" before the Scorpion took the throne. And the Phoenix falling in line behind the "true" heir with Kaede currently missing with Toturi makes a fair amount of sense.

Scorpion/Dragon are obviously team Daisetsu since they know the Edict is true.

Leaves Unicorn/Crane with no real strong choice for who to support unless they actually have Shaisetsu in hand to use as their rallying point and turn it against the Scorpion who are "usurping" his throne.

The other big question mark is where will the Crab fall in this. Obviously the Scorpion giving them the Jade mine near Toshi Ranbo made them friends, and Kisada has too much on his hands what with the Shadowlands on his flank, but turning forces North to just smack everyone upside the head and bring the leadership crisis under control would almost make sense for them. And with Mantis backing them with supplies and additional troops to alleviate the strain on the Wall that could be the direction they go.

1 hour ago, Schmoozies said:

Nah we are in for a 3 way Dance. Crane/Unicorn vs. Lion/Phoenix vs. Scorpion/Dragon with a surprise appearance by the Crab popping in for a mantis fuel chair shot to draw the fight out.

"Kisada with a steel chair!" "As Gawd is my witness, he is broken in half!"

Now I want an April Fools-story where the Samurai of Rokugan are replaced with Luchadores.

I have to admit, imagining the look on Kuwanan's face as he did his "H-olysh-itome" take made me smile.

Well done! Another great story.

2 hours ago, Manchu said:

Hard to imagine a Crane-Lion alliance at this point. The issues underlying their conflict have not been resolved and the unofficial war has just kicked off to the next level.

Also Tsuko and Kuwanan raising their banners together against (purported) usurpation? Maybe Kuwanan could get away with this but Tsuko doesn’t have a leg to stand on, morally.

What about Tsuko and Kuwana raising their banners together in support of the right candidate, even if it isn't the officially correct one?

That’s a more convincing slogan for them.

Best part of the story is when you realize Kuwanan is staring down Hitomi on the battlefield. That was a great reveal. Up until that point it looked like everything was coming up Kuwanan. Then he got Niten schooled.

It would be interesting if Kuwanan and Tsuko eventually end up fighting together for Sotorii. Though Kuwanan being allied with Yoshi means they'll need to settle the big issue of Kyuden Kakita first. that said Tsuko supporting Kuwanan against his sister seems not out of the realm of possibility. She pretty much was encouraging Kuwanan to start down this path originally.

13 minutes ago, phillos said:

Best part of the story is when you realize Kuwanan is staring down Hitomi on the battlefield.

I'm calling it the "H-olysh-itome"

tm

And I totally agree that was such a good reveal.

42 minutes ago, phillos said:

Best part of the story is when you realize Kuwanan is staring down Hitomi on the battlefield. That was a great reveal. Up until that point it looked like everything was coming up Kuwanan. Then he got Niten schooled.

I'm curious how that'll play out actually - Hitomi doesn't strike me as the sort of person to not report that the convoy transporting the Emperor's firstborn son got attacked by the brother/nephew of the Crane Clan Champion and Imperial Chancellor respectively. I mean... there's no way to paint attacking- and murdering an Imperial Prince's bodyguards as a positive, is there?

Seems like Yoshi has some competition for which highly-placed Crane can do the most damage to their own side

Jeeze, Kuwanan. There is ALWAYS free cheese in a mousetrap, didn't anyone ever teach you that?

I love that Kuwanan just mentally skips over the casual murder of Seppun guards. This isn’t a border skirmish or a good ol’ raid on Lion outriders, this is the planned ambush of an Imperial convoy that was entirely predicated on Sotorii wanting to work with Kuwanan against his brother. I mean I know he’s already given up on his sister, but there’s no real indication that he’s ever even met Sotorii in person. Now there’s heirs on the loose everywhere and there’s a Dragon witness to Crane rebellion.

The fact that we know Oromo Sorai is allied with Kachiko, this can easily be a softball attempt to provoke the Crane that just paid off like gangbusters. At this point I’m thinking Uji should be in charge...

1 hour ago, Mangod said:

there's no way to paint attacking- and murdering an Imperial Prince's bodyguards as a positive, is there?

Nope, not without Sotorii in-hand and on-script calling Shoju an usurper. Without that, the Crane just straight up rebelled against the Throne and brutally murdered members of the Imperial family in an unprovoked ambush. Kuwanan is even heard confirming the presence of Sotorii before advancing on him with a drawn weapon. At best, the Crane might disavow Kuwanan who will then have to explain how his sister having an affair means he gets to kill Seppun guards on their way to a monastery.

1 minute ago, Doji Hyōkin said:

At best, Hotaru might disavow Kuwanan who will then have to explain how his sister having an affair means he gets to kill Seppun guards on their way to a monastery.

This kinda puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

On a side note, I wonder who Sotorii will inevitably run into?

1 minute ago, Hydraxus said:

On a side note, I wonder who Sotorii will inevitably run into?

Passing close to Kyuden Kakita, so my money is on Tsuko.

1 hour ago, UnitOmega said:

Passing close to Kyuden Kakita, so my money is on Tsuko.

Makes sense- especially since Toturi wrote the edict. She's already thrown him under the bus as hard as she could, after all.

6 hours ago, Radix2309 said:

So I see Lion, Crane and Unicorn possibly allying against Shoju. Minus Toturi of course. Phoenix seem like a massive wildcard.

Crane are about to have an actual civil war- and every clan has its internal stresses.

I can easily see elements of every clan falling on either side, thereby insuring that NOBODY gets out of this in good shape.

Story where everyone fights everyone, including themselves.

Could a miniatures war game be in the works?

54 minutes ago, Manchu said:

Story where everyone fights everyone, including themselves.

Could a miniatures war game be in the works?

The AEG L5R miniatures game was called Clan Wars...

8 hours ago, Schmoozies said:

Nah we are in for a 3 way Dance. Crane/Unicorn vs. Lion/Phoenix vs. Scorpion/Dragon with a surprise appearance by the Crab popping in for a mantis fuel chair shot to draw the fight out

Just realized it did not have to be just a 3 way war. Remember that internally each clan has a chance or is having internal conflict already, so by dividing the war between those who support Sotori and Daisetsu it can be something like:

Crane (Kuwanan)/Lion (Tsuko) vs Crane (Hotaru) / Unicorn (Shahai father) vs Scorp (Kachiko) /(_____) vs Scorp (Shoju) / Crab/ Dragon (Hitomi group) vs Dragon ( Daisetsu group) vs ...and so on and so forth... Clan war series will be epic...

It's interesting (at least to me), now that I re-read the story, that Sotorii starts the skirmish mounted and yet at some point (after the Dragon appear - Kuwanan remarks that the figure that answers his shouts loomed over him on horseback, and that Sotorii gapes down at him (as an aside, does he positively identify the figure as Sotorii, or just assume they must be since they are answering him?)) he must have dismounted for his horse to be left behind. I wonder why? Cowardice would have seen him simply urge the horse to bolt, surely?

It's also apparent that the melee involves mounted and dismounted Samurai, and broadly speaking remaining mounted provides him more advantages (assuming he is thinking logically of course). It's curious, in that the duel between Hitomi and Kuwanan, whilst undoubtedly requiring both of their full focus, seems to have finished relatively quickly (a minute, maybe two?). So when did he escape? Why did he escape? Why did it have to be on foot ?

(It would be incredibly interesting to see this from his perspective as well, given that he was trained by both Satsume and Sumiko and should be familiar with both styles. What was his reaction to watching an actual fight with the intent to kill, rather than Sumiko's show-spar with him to first blood? Does it cause him to reflect further on his own inadequacies? Re-trench his own self-regard? Has he decided to go Ronin and attempt to find forgiveness (and eventually realise the true forgiveness will be the friends he makes along the way?)?)

Lots of things to think about.