Link here .

Shazang! The look into Ujiaki was worth the wait.

So much of what has happened in the Empire is driven entirely by the mutual resentment Yoshi, Kachiko, and Ujiaki have for each other.

Also, I’m not sure Ujiaki made the deal he thinks he did.

6 minutes ago, Doji Hyōkin said:

Also, I’m not sure Ujiaki made the deal he thinks he did.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Lions will rage. Scorpions will scheme. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, Lions were reasonable, Scorpions were noble and apprentices listened to their senseis.

To be fair, I am half surprised to know that Ujiaki isn't a member of the Kolat (or at least, if he is, it seems he is from a different faction than Kage).

Akodo Kage seems like he’s doing the best he can under the circumstances, Ujiaki being dismissive of his subtlety paired with what seemed like legitimate advise & support for Toturi. I’m hoping Kage isn’t Kolat this time around. Though Matsu Hiroru is already teeing himself up to shinobi hard.

Certainly, people with a better memory than mine can point out to which short story Akodo Kage is heavily implied in being a member of the Kolat.

To date, Akodo Kage has made 3 appearances before this story:

Service & Sacrifice where he's legitimately helpful and friendly with Toturi when encouraging him to go for the Emerald Championship. Helps Ujiaki's plot, but is also the best thing for Toturi, probably.

Tactical Maneuvers where Kage is sitting around Fox land musing out loud about how they should probably go back to being Unicorn by now. Part of Ujiaki's overall political strategy to get an excuse to open up a back front in their war. But once Kage gets outplayed he bows back gracefully. Standard courtier work, no evidence either way.

His card which requires that you bid less honor that your opponent, but be more honorable than them. Not conclusive, but the fact that the card requires you to be more honorable might imply that he's not Kolat.

Given the Kolat that we do know and the list of masters from Merchant's Guide, I'm pretty sure that we've got a mostly new set of them. Also that the Kolat itself is a somewhat different beast.

3 hours ago, Doji Hyōkin said:

Also, I’m not sure Ujiaki made the deal he thinks he did.

Exactly what I was going to say myself

Was it just me, or was that the shortest coup of all time? lol

Those delightfully slimy Ikoma. Me gusta.

Of course, Ujiaki is now forming an alliance with someone way better at this sort of thing than he is, and with purer motives. It will be very interesting to see how this shakes out.

21 minutes ago, Hida Vedaru said:

Was it just me, or was that the shortest coup of all time? lol

It's a coup inside a coup inside a coup...

What's funny is, the release stuff way back when FFG hit reset talked about a Lion/Scorpion alliance that was never much in evidence- a mutual appreciation of keeping the Crane away from the levers of real power was as far as that ever got.

4 minutes ago, Shiba Gunichi said:

What's funny is, the release stuff way back when FFG hit reset talked about a Lion/Scorpion alliance that was never much in evidence- a mutual appreciation of keeping the Crane away from the levers of real power was as far as that ever got.

The Lion/Scorpion alliance is the fact that both Bayushi Kachiko & Ikoma Ujiaki hate Kakita Yoshi. Kachiko probably supported the Lion by default in any given court situation, just for the chance to stick it to Yoshi, and used small things like Hatsuko serving bottles decorated with cranes in a Lion sake house to tweak them smugly.

Well this was certainly interesting... I can't help but think Shoju agreed to work with Ujiaki more to keep an eye on him than because he thought any good would come of Ujiaki's scheming.

2 hours ago, shineyorkboy said:

I can't help but think Shoju agreed to work with Ujiaki more to keep an eye on him than because he thought any good would come of Ujiaki's scheming.

First, Ujiaki’s good, but everything he reads from Shoju is suspect.

If Shoju has deliberately cut himself off from outside news, then he’s decided not to contest his seclusion, likely to keep the truth of Jodan’s death concealed.

If he should happen to find out what just occurred in court, he knows that Kakita Yoshi, as legitimate Regent, has ordered a cessation of hostilities, the Lion have refused and have been ejected from court. This is one step before outright civil war between the Lion and the rest of the Empire.

Ujiaki has just convinced him that this is an inflection moment, and he agrees that he will do what it takes to be a ‘bold gardener’.

Shoju believes in the Empire and in peace. What if he confesses to everything Sumiko and Toturi accused him of? He dies in disgrace, what reputation and political power the Scorpion had is gone, but they can rebuild in the shadows the way he wants. It would be a massive win for Toturi, who might be able to rein in the Lion.

And it might happen before he learns of the fate of the Yogo and Kunshu. One last lie from the Master of Whispers in service to the Empire, but too late.

9 hours ago, DSalazar said:

It's a coup inside a coup inside a coup...

Can we assume that, when the game chronology will reach Spring, we will start to see the movilization of armies towards what will become the FFG version of the Clane Wars? Which opposing factions are we seeing for the war? Lion-Scorpion vs Crane-Dragon? Will the Unicorn and the Phoenix tend toward Crane-Dragon and the Crab and the Mantis toward Lion-Scorpion?

I am thinking more of a Lion-Scorpion alliance, a Crane-Unicorn one, maybe a Crab-Phoenix depending how Yori and Tadaka relationship go and the Dragon-Imperials trying to stem the tide of war, er, border skirmishes.

It might not even be that clean cut.

The Crane and the Lion are in the middle of their own little coups.

16 minutes ago, Suzume Chikahisa said:

It might not even be that clean cut.

The Crane and the Lion are in the middle of their own little coups.

Lion is less coup at the moment and more massive power vacuum what with the official champion now a ronin, the "usurper" champion possibly blowed up and their official ambassador to the imperial court "banished" from the court.

Really that should scare the empire more then anything else because the largest army in the empire has just been told by the daimyo of a major family of the clan they are embroiled in a major conflict with (even if he's doing it in his capacity as regent) that they don't get to participate in politics anymore. Of course Ujiaki would say well fine if they don't want us lets just go it on our own and show them what we can really do.

1 hour ago, DSalazar said:

I am thinking more of a Lion-Scorpion alliance, a Crane-Unicorn one, maybe a Crab-Phoenix depending how Yori and Tadaka relationship go and the Dragon-Imperials trying to stem the tide of war, er, border skirmishes.

All signs seem to be Lion is a go versus Crane/Unicorn. Scorpion is still up in the air as while we now have Shoju aligned with the Lion, Kachiko very much seems to be in the Crane (and specifically Hotaru) camp.

Phoenix as of our last sighting seem morally aligned with the Crane as there were Shiba forces present (admittedly they were the forces of the father of the new lord of Kyotei castle who is a Phoenix bride who took over after her Crane spouses seppuku so may be a specific family rather then the clan as a whole) when Hotaru was pushing for her residency in Toshi Ranbo.

I think the idea that Tadaka would push them to align with the Crab is very unlikely given his relative newness to the council and the council as a whole having been hesitant to commit to any previous alliance with the Crab (heck his whole duel with his master came down to he didn't want him studying with the Kuni because he was worried about their methods effecting him). That said we currently have a vacancy in the council with the void seat sitting empty, and all signs seemed to be pointing to the Master of Air being not long for the world so that dynamic may be shifting very soon. But since Tadaka is currently on walkabout in the Shadowlands with Yori doesn't seem like he would be around to push that agenda.

There is also the Kaede question. Her marriage to Toturi was all about strengthening the connections between the Lion and Phoenix to try and bridge the divide between the two. If she is pregnant with Toturi's child then said child has a legitimate claim to the position of Clan Champion so the Phoenix may want to look at the long game as a Clan Champion whose been raised to consider the Phoenix point of view would be a serious victory for them. Now would said champion be able to prevail against centuries of Lion tradition probably not but with enough Phoenix support they may be able to make at least an attempt at it.

Dragon are also one of those who knows what they will end up doing. While they were opposed to Shoju and his regency, they specifically went it alone in deposing him rather then aligning with any of the other clans. Yoshi's regency is less about them saying we trust him and more that he is the most senior Imperial bureaucrat standing so he gets the job by default. If anything I would expect them to act as a wild card popping up to act at the "whim" of their champion rather then formally aligned with any specific faction.

I want to give my thanks to all people discussing the different factions which could arise in an eventual Clan Wars, because they are giving me an excellent summary of the current situation of the setting.

After reading "The Careful Gardener", it seemed quite obvious that, even without becoming a formal alliance, the Scorpion and the Lion will try to coordinate their efforts against the Crane, but when thinking about which clans could support the Crane, I only though about the Dragon due to their presence in the Imperial capital, but maybe the Dragon would just side "with the Imperials", just as they were instrumental in deposing Shoju without allying formally with any Clan. The Unicorn probably would like to help the Crane just to impair the Lion, but I didn't thought about the possibility of a Crane faction aligned with Hotaru siding with the Scorpion. Could the Mantis ships transport a Crab force directly to Otosan Uchi?

3 hours ago, Agrivar said:

I want to give my thanks to all people discussing the different factions which could arise in an eventual Clan Wars, because they are giving me an excellent summary of the current situation of the setting.

After reading "The Careful Gardener", it seemed quite obvious that, even without becoming a formal alliance, the Scorpion and the Lion will try to coordinate their efforts against the Crane, but when thinking about which clans could support the Crane, I only though about the Dragon due to their presence in the Imperial capital, but maybe the Dragon would just side "with the Imperials", just as they were instrumental in deposing Shoju without allying formally with any Clan. The Unicorn probably would like to help the Crane just to impair the Lion, but I didn't thought about the possibility of a Crane faction aligned with Hotaru siding with the Scorpion. Could the Mantis ships transport a Crab force directly to Otosan Uchi?

In theory yes th Mantis could sail a Crab army to just outside Otosan Uchi (slow tide Harbour being the nearest deep water harbour if memory serves).

O5R the Crimson and Jade expansion had the crab actually doing a naval assault on the capital and taking the palace only for the newly possessed Emperor to Gift Kisada with Kushu as part of its culmination (and as a backhanded reward for winning a story prize who which clan would take control of the sword).

11 hours ago, Schmoozies said:

In theory yes th Mantis could sail a Crab army to just outside Otosan Uchi (slow tide Harbour being the nearest deep water harbour if memory serves).

O5R the Crimson and Jade expansion had the crab actually doing a naval assault on the capital and taking the palace only for the newly possessed Emperor to Gift Kisada with Kushu as part of its culmination (and as a backhanded reward for winning a story prize who which clan would take control of the sword).

To clarify that slightly -

holy &#$@ that's the actual cover of the actual book