New fiction - The Last Leaf Falls

By Schmoozies, in L5R LCG: Lore Discussion

Yes, drama is a powerful motivator. As a wise character once said: It’s like in the great stories Mr. Frodo.
The ones that really mattered.
Full of darkness and danger they were, and sometimes you didn’t want to know the end.

So, while I agree that we need drama to keep the story moving, I don’t like characters holding the idiot ball just so it can generate drama.

Shoju has to keep quiet because Miya Satoshi kept quiet. That’s the stinger at the heart of this muddle. The Imperial Herald was right there just after it happened, and backed Kachiko’s play.

From the outside, it looks like Satoshi is keeping his mouth shut to minimize the PR damage. But Shoju’s authority rests on an Edict dictated by a dead man, written by the target of a Scorpion assassin, and is a placeholder for a prince he doesn’t have custody of. So he does the best he can; he gets Kachiko out of the capital and sends Sotorii off to the monastery as Jodan wished in the company of the Seppun & the Dragon.

Unfortunately, without Kachiko to hamper him, Kakita Yoshi is actually good at what he does and is able to keep the Regent politically neutralized until Sumiko & Toturi’s denunciation flip the Dragon.

There’s nothing Shoju can do as Regent. The Scorpion aren’t allied with the Lion, they’re just common enemies with the Crane. Supporting Matsu Tsuko as Champion is a heavy political lift, and will look very much like he tried to have Toturi offed. They’ve given the Toshi Ranbo jade to the Crab, but the Crab/Mantis alliance can’t help at court but might march because of his arrest.

The Phoenix were tied to the Lion through Toturi and the Crane through Tsuma, but sided with the Crane to encourage peace (and maybe to make sure they don’t find out about the tsunami).

Under Kachiko, the Scorpion became ascendant at court primarily through working with the Otomo to undermine the other Clans and to increase Scorpion/Imperial ties. It was a great deal of power for her personally, but no strong inter-Clan connections. So when she’s pulled off the board, the Scorpion have nothing to fall back on and nothing to offer the other Clans.

Edited by Doji Hyōkin
Silly autocorrect
2 hours ago, TheHobgoblyn said:

Honestly-- it might be most interesting if neither prince is found by any important or influential characters for a good 5 to 10 years within the timeline.

In the Stained Cup topic I made a half-joking note that while Sotorii is having adventures of being miserable Daisetsu should be fostering a peasant uprising or something. I hit pretty darn' close to how the story turned out, much to my surprise. So there are no brakes on this story arc I would say.