New Fiction - The Stained Cup

By Pompz1, in L5R LCG: Lore Discussion

Well, that's someone I wasn't expecting to meet. I really think this could be the making of Sotorii.

Do you guys have any info on Yotsu? From what I understand he is the progenitor of the Yotsu ronin family, but do we have any idea why Lady Matsu wanted him?

1 hour ago, Matsu Kenshin said:

Do you guys have any info on Yotsu? From what I understand he is the progenitor of the Yotsu ronin family, but do we have any idea why Lady Matsu wanted him?

Sadly no. Old Lore he was a Ronin with a bunch of children who rescued Sotorii when he and Daigotsu's pregnant mother were captured by a Bloodspeaker cult. He sneaked into the cult's camp and replaced the prince with one of his own children and escaped. For his rescuing of the prince he was rewarded with the right to found a Ronin family and pass on his name as a new family name to his children.

Fun fact, the child he left in Sotorii place went on to become Daigotsu's yojimbo and the Bloodspeakers tested the same ritual that they eventually used to merge Daigotsu's soul with an oni to merge him with a portion of the Nothing which granted him many of the powers of a faceless ninja while still retaining a sense of him self.

He is a very different person in new5R than old5r lore, so what is in the story is all we have.

I've been wondering what happened to Yotsu ever since Daisetsu was introduced.

Now I'm wondering if his seven or eight chldren are still around.

2 hours ago, Suzume Chikahisa said:

I've been wondering what happened to Yotsu ever since Daisetsu was introduced.

Now I'm wondering if his seven or eight chldren are still around.

Surprise twist - We just met 3 of them, and patricide is something they have in common with Sotorii now...

This was quick for Yotsu... maybe he will return as Undead!Yotsu? Ghost!Yotsu to haunt Sotorii? That would be kinda cool.

So, if I'm getting the trend right, the next story is Daisetsu starting a revolution?

Not much to say on this one.

A familiar face for us old-timers, and Sotorii sees some development.

The writing in the new continuity has been good enough that I'm not sure what to make of Sotorii's rather abrupt character change- yes, he's still a pushy brat, but prior to murdering his father, he was utterly unbearable, whereas here he's just a bit irritating.

4 hours ago, Shiba Gunichi said:

Not much to say on this one.

A familiar face for us old-timers, and Sotorii sees some development.

The writing in the new continuity has been good enough that I'm not sure what to make of Sotorii's rather abrupt character change- yes, he's still a pushy brat, but prior to murdering his father, he was utterly unbearable, whereas here he's just a bit irritating.

I think " Children of the Empire ", " The Last Stone Played " and " Red Petals Scatter " all have thrown some doubt over how much of Sotorii's behaviour is him just being a high-society brat, and how much is some form of malevolent outside interference - it's entirely possible that influence is not active at the moment, hence we're seeing Sotorii as just being a spoiled rich kid.

“A low rumble rippled through Sotorii’s body. He was surrounded on all sides by formless shapes, swiping at each other with sharp blades. A sudden wild, animal fear gripped him as two colossal figures clashed overhead, spraying gouts of blood. All around him was the din and clatter of battle, and a horrible rip and tear of fabric and flesh, and screams, and prayers, and the sounds of dying.”

Something lays a heavy hand on Sotorii. And unfortunately, the life of a Crown Prince encouraged entitlement not enlightenment. Now he is Sotorii alone, probably for the very first time in his life, and that’s a very different context for trying to understand himself.

17 hours ago, Shiba Gunichi said:

The writing in the new continuity has been good enough that I'm not sure what to make of Sotorii's rather abrupt character change- yes, he's still a pushy brat, but prior to murdering his father, he was utterly unbearable, whereas here he's just a bit irritating.

You know, I think Sotorii was the character who had the potential to do a full 180° in a moment's notice by snapping and acquiring meta-awareness. He had the impulsiveness for it clearly established, his internal struggle, and his surface understanding that something was wrong. That was a good basis for a kind of dramatic metamorphosis that would leave Sotorii completely changed for the better(???). He still has it, of course, but I guess the writing team takes things slower and quieter with him.

On ‎8‎/‎16‎/‎2020 at 12:48 PM, Shiba Gunichi said:

Not much to say on this one.

A familiar face for us old-timers, and Sotorii sees some development.

The writing in the new continuity has been good enough that I'm not sure what to make of Sotorii's rather abrupt character change- yes, he's still a pushy brat, but prior to murdering his father, he was utterly unbearable, whereas here he's just a bit irritating.

There's also the fact that Yotsu was literally the only person around, and he was basically crippled. At any other time in his life, he's been able to get what he wants, either from the person in front of him or by yelling loud enough to attract the platoon of Seppun life-guard generally lurking behind the nearest tree.

He's got enough awareness that if Yotsu said 'no', and he wasn't physically capable himself, then....what? It's not like he had any other option but to swallow what he saw as the insult.

8 hours ago, AtoMaki said:

He still has it, of course, but I guess the writing team takes things slower and quieter with him.

Perhaps Sotorii's potential is to be the bodily host of Fu Leng in the mortal realm, and everything that he's going through hopefully provides him with the spiritual fortitude necessary to deny the evil that is his terrible birthright.

3 hours ago, Doji Hyōkin said:

Perhaps Sotorii's potential is to be the bodily host of Fu Leng in the mortal realm, and everything that he's going through hopefully provides him with the spiritual fortitude necessary to deny the evil that is his terrible birthright.

Before the whole patricide event I thought Sotorii would become Tengoku's very own Kharn , a guy who is generally awkward and emotionally unbalanced but becomes an unstoppable killing machine when the red mist descends on his mind. You know, him being a full-blown foil to Daisetsu and playing with the blood red (Sotorii) / emerald green (Daisetsu) color match-up. Then Sotorii shapes up into becoming the leader of the Renegade Faction, while Daisetsu becomes the leader of the Paragon Faction. The Clan War will go down between the Renegades and the Paragons, and whoever loses gets Fu Leng'd.

5 hours ago, Doji Hyōkin said:

Perhaps Sotorii's potential is to be the bodily host of Fu Leng in the mortal realm, and everything that he's going through hopefully provides him with the spiritual fortitude necessary to deny the evil that is his terrible birthright.

I really hope they avoid the whole host of Fu Leng thing for him this time. I'm personally hoping for a redemption arc where we are now seeing him hitting rock bottom and he will have to come to grips with what he did to his father, but rather then just taking the quick route out and committing Seppuku he has to hang on to protect the empire from the rising Shadowlands (and I'm not saying it has to be lead by a corrupt Daisetsu but I want the perfect prince at least getting a little dirtied up) and as the climax of his story after he's helped protect the empire and cleanse the throne he finally gets to atone for his actions and commit Seppuku with true honor.

4 minutes ago, Schmoozies said:

I really hope they avoid the whole host of Fu Leng thing for him this time. I'm personally hoping for a redemption arc where we are now seeing him hitting rock bottom and he will have to come to grips with what he did to his father, but rather then just taking the quick route out and committing Seppuku he has to hang on to protect the empire from the rising Shadowlands (and I'm not saying it has to be lead by a corrupt Daisetsu but I want the perfect prince at least getting a little dirtied up) and as the climax of his story after he's helped protect the empire and cleanse the throne he finally gets to atone for his actions and commit Seppuku with true honor.

Or he commits seppuku at the moment he becomes the mortal host of Fu Leng to defeat the Shadowlands and redeem the honour of an Empire with a single perfect strike. But that just may be the Kakita in me.

4 minutes ago, Doji Hyōkin said:

Or he commits seppuku at the moment he becomes the mortal host of Fu Leng to defeat the Shadowlands and redeem the honour of an Empire with a single perfect strike. But that just may be the Kakita in me.

That could work as well, but still veers to much into the whole possession angle more then I'd like.

My preference is we have a champion for Jigoku (preferably Daisetsu haveing under gone his Gempukku and chosen the name Daigotsu for all the Spider loyalists out there) who is drawing power from Fu Leng as his chosen champion on Ningen-do, but isn't possessed and is merely his favored pawn versus the Seven Thunders and Storii who is acting as the "heir" to Shinsei and has taken his humbling to heart.

38 minutes ago, Schmoozies said:

I really hope they avoid the whole host of Fu Leng thing for him this time.

They can't not have the final boss be Fu Leng. That'd be like rebooting Star Wars and not having a Death Star to blow up.

11 minutes ago, shineyorkboy said:

They can't not have the final boss be Fu Leng. That'd be like rebooting Star Wars and not having a Death Star to blow up.

You can do Fu Leng without the whole possession angle. Just go champion of route.

I actually would love no Second Day of Thunder. Having a new Big F-ing Oni like the Maw, I am okay, but having a Second Day of Thunder with one of the princes being possessed by Fu Leng is boring. It was boring then, it’s still boring now.

The possession angle also ruins any genuine character work, since the character's development is meaningless.

On the other hand... having a prince as the reincarnation of Fu Leng is a horse of a different color.

I dunno guys but slaughtering your sacred emperor father with the sacred magical family relic sword in the sacred magical family shrine is the kind of dishonor you can't wash away with some heroics and a seppuku. I mean, even in the new canon, the whole thing was only borderline acceptable when some guys killed the sacred emperor without actually doing the father/relic sword/sacred shrine bits.

4 hours ago, AtoMaki said:

I dunno guys but slaughtering your sacred emperor father with the sacred magical family relic sword in the sacred magical family shrine is the kind of dishonor you can't wash away with some heroics and a seppuku. I mean, even in the new canon, the whole thing was only borderline acceptable when some guys killed the sacred emperor without actually doing the father/relic sword/sacred shrine bits.

I think in this case it is way worse because of the whole kinslaying with the family weapon.

6 hours ago, AtoMaki said:

I dunno guys but slaughtering your sacred emperor father with the sacred magical family relic sword in the sacred magical family shrine is the kind of dishonor you can't wash away with some heroics and a seppuku. I mean, even in the new canon, the whole thing was only borderline acceptable when some guys killed the sacred emperor without actually doing the father/relic sword/sacred shrine bits.

Nah seppuku fixes everything. You cleanse your stain and proceed to the afterlife to be judged. Since Sotorii wasn't a sitting Emperor he won't get the free pass into the Celestial court but will have to go through the reincarnation loop is all.