On 5/21/2020 at 11:35 PM, Doji Hyōkin said:

In fact, given that Toturi was the only thing keeping the Lion in check, Shoju’s intransigence over enforcing peace could imply that Toturi’s death was the price the Scorpion paid for a deal with the Lion. Both princes are missing, but they insist on waging war. That is not the actions of a clan with the best interests of the Hantei at heart.

Huh. Kuwanan has vocally declared the Crane for Sotorii against the Dragon, so in a straight up civil war it would be Crane, Phoenix, Unicorn with Sotorii against Crab, Dragon, Lion, Mantis, Scorpion backing Daisetsu.

Or a bunch of internal civil conflicts. Tsuko vs Toturi, Kuwanan vs Toturi, Tsukune vs Tadaka, Yori vs good sense...

I'd be wary of having the Phoenix flat out allying with the Unicorn against the Scorpion and the Lion.

It's the Asako who are pissed at the Ikoma and who saw Altansarnai side with one of their own. There were good reasons for Yoshi appeoaching Togama.

The Isawa still have a vested interest in the Lion despite Kaede's disappearance, and are blaming the Elemental Imbalance on the Unicorn. It remains to be seen how much control they have over the Asako considering that.

The Phoenix are also generally strident proponents of peace. Border skirmishes with the Unicorn? They’re shady anyway. Taking Kyuden Kakita? That’s an early warning sign of an over-bold Lion who might decide that in these troubled times, isn’t it best if the mighty armies of the Right Hand of the Emperor achieve peace through suppressive warfare? Wasn’t the Emerald Champion a Lion? Didn’t he appoint a Kitsu as commander of the Imperial Legions? This is the chance for them to prove they are the only army Rokugan needs. After all, if the regent let’s this play out and the Lion beat the Crane & the Unicorn, who will be able to stop them?

On 5/22/2020 at 9:47 PM, Suzume Chikahisa said:

I'd be wary of having the Phoenix flat out allying with the Unicorn against the Scorpion and the Lion.

If this is a thing that happens, I definitely hope they show how this alliance is actually brokered, because the Phoenix-Unicorn issues shouldn't just suddenly go away. It might be within the power of the Crane to make it happen, but not overnight, barring a Lion invasion of Phoenix lands or the like.

On a different note that may or may not be relevant to the larger story: I wonder if we just saw Asami's Yogo curse manifest. However unwillingly or unwittingly, she easily could've just condemned Aramoro by letting on to his involvement in Toturi's "death." The question may be if he's the one Asami loves most, or their child, or someone else, but from what we've seen so far, I suspect it's him.

A Unicorn-Phoenix alliance is unlikely, to say the least- which is another aspect of the move Yoshi pulled off here. He got two clans which aren't exactly throwing each other flowers to publicly align on an issue contrary to Shoju's position.

10 hours ago, Shiba Gunichi said:

A Unicorn-Phoenix alliance is unlikely, to say the least- which is another aspect of the move Yoshi pulled off here. He got two clans which aren't exactly throwing each other flowers to publicly align on an issue contrary to Shoju's position.

While Unicorn and Phoenix aren't on good terms at the moment, they also aren't at the open hostility stages either, and the issue is one that plays to the strengths and interests of both clans, Unicorn in its to get the Lion to stop raiding their crops and the Phoenix who are just opposed to the idea of conflict entirely, so it may not have been as hard a sell as it appears.

But again the issue is can he maintain the momentum or does this initial show of "support" evaporate as the appearance of Crane "aggression" in occupying Toshi Ranbo may undercut the point he has been trying to make.

I see more the Isawa having a beef with the Unicorn Clan than the entire Phoenix Clan showing hostilities back to the Children of the Wind.

1 hour ago, Diogo Salazar said:

I see more the Isawa having a beef with the Unicorn Clan than the entire Phoenix Clan showing hostilities back to the Children of the Wind.

Given the nature of the Phoenix moves relative to the Unicorn, I doub the nuance is considered all that heavily from the Purple People Eater side...

14 hours ago, Shiba Gunichi said:

Given the nature of the Phoenix moves relative to the Unicorn, I doub the nuance is considered all that heavily from the Purple People Eater side...

If the Unicorn-Lion conflict had been better layed out, the Unicorn had reason to get closer to the Asako from the get go.

Mind you this would also need some depiction of Isawa/Asako tensions or rupture, but the Asako, as a political entity have been, almost, non-existent.

1 minute ago, Suzume Chikahisa said:

If the Unicorn-Lion conflict had been better layed out, the Unicorn had reason to get closer to the Asako from the get go.

Mind you this would also need some depiction of Isawa/Asako tensions or rupture, but the Asako, as a political entity have been, almost, non-existent.

At least their most well known characters are representative of the family. The Agasha and the Kitsu really suffer from having a complete lack of shugenja visible in the fiction. Both Sumiko and Motso are bushi, and the one Kitsu shugenja is an antagonist in the RPG...