New Fiction - A Worthy Opponent
Well looks like we have confirmation that 5 of the Black Scrolls have apparently been used now.
Also anyone taking odds on Shoju now knows that Ujiaki has some sort of connection to the Kolat and that he thinks he can leverage that knowledge to use Ujiaki and the Lion as a stick to unite the Empire against the Shadowlands?
I will be your villain Hantei, indeed.
With only 4 of 12 opened, we were already in the suijindai. Each used Scroll measurably tilts the balance in the Empire towards spiritual corruption, and there are still 7 left. Not even at the halfway point of calamity yet.
Also yeah, pretty sure Shoju just learned enough and decided to become head of the Kolat. Which, given he plans to lose, is a legit way of dealing with another problem at the same time.
2 hours ago, Schmoozies said:Well looks like we have confirmation that 5 of the Black Scrolls have apparently been used now.
Also anyone taking odds on Shoju now knows that Ujiaki has some sort of connection to the Kolat and that he thinks he can leverage that knowledge to use Ujiaki and the Lion as a stick to unite the Empire against the Shadowlands?
I called that. But apparently I was mistaken that Akodo Kage was part of it in this timeline.
Also, I am now wondering if that was the second shoe to drop or if there’s going to be a third (and fourth, fifth) to drop.
7 minutes ago, DSalazar said:Also, I am now wondering if that was the second shoe to drop or if there’s going to be a third (and fourth, fifth) to drop.
Pretty sure there is still a shoe store out there waiting to drop, likley when the rest of the Empire finds out about the Castle of Learning
Matsu Tsuko. She’s the wildcard. Most all of the others players have called their shot, but Tsuko keeps having moments of insight and is willing to pivot on a dime. One conversation with Ikoma Tsanuri and there’s no way to predict which way she breaks.
2 hours ago, Doji Hyōkin said:I will be your villain Hantei, indeed.
With only 4 of 12 opened, we were already in the suijindai. Each used Scroll measurably tilts the balance in the Empire towards spiritual corruption, and there are still 7 left. Not even at the halfway point of calamity yet.
Also yeah, pretty sure Shoju just learned enough and decided to become head of the Kolat. Which, given he plans to lose, is a legit way of dealing with another problem at the same time.
Assuming that another one wasn't opened in the GM backstory to Mask of the Oni.
1 hour ago, Doji Hyōkin said:Matsu Tsuko. She’s the wildcard.
A neat trick, since she's presumed dead... she's either in the discard pile or the wildest of wild cards.
As far as the story... Oh, Shoju. You really have achieved actual tragedy this time. I am pleased. No one in the Empire might ever fully grasp your motives, and certainly, I can think of no one in Rokugan who is more genuinely alone with their burdens.
It doesn't have to be he's kolat (though he certainly /can/ be). If Ujiaki is directly responsible for the murder of Doji Satsume.....that should be all the leverage that Shoju needs.
22 minutes ago, KakitaKaori said:It doesn't have to be he's kolat (though he certainly /can/ be). If Ujiaki is directly responsible for the murder of Doji Satsume.....that should be all the leverage that Shoju needs.
I agree.
Whatever Ujiaki's secrets may be (is he Kolat? Is he a useful pawn to the Kolat? Is he just a complete manipulative scumbag with no wider agenda beyond the Lion Clan, but whose misdeeds in advancing that agenda would cause a catastrophe if exposed? Who cares?), the important part is what Shoju will leverage the information to do. Clearly, whatever he learned was enough to give him the upper hand in their partnership, which will be quite the stunning reversal for the Ikoma.
Also... if at least five, possibly six Scrolls have been opened... we may possibly have diagnosed the source of that pesky Elemental Imbalance.
Do we know which scrolls were opened where? Shoju just popped one in the Imperial City, but they were scattered, by design.
1 hour ago, Shiba Gunichi said:Oh, Shoju. You really have achieved actual tragedy this time.
Abso-flippin’-lutely. And so much more so than succumbing to Ambition. His thought process where he recognizes the validity of Toturi & Sumiko’s conclusions is pure gold. But he remains relentlessly dedicated to doing the best he possibly can by Jodan.
1 hour ago, Shiba Gunichi said:Do we know which scrolls were opened where
Gonna go back and do a close read of Shadowlands & Emerald Empire to check exactly that.
1 hour ago, Shiba Gunichi said:A neat trick, since she's presumed dead.
No one’s dead without a proven corpse. The Toturi Rule in play.
23 minutes ago, Doji Hyōkin said:Abso-flippin’-lutely. And so much more so than succumbing to Ambition. His thought process where he recognizes the validity of Toturi & Sumiko’s conclusions is pure gold. But he remains relentlessly dedicated to doing the best he possibly can by Jodan.
Like I said on Discord, he's probably my favorite character to write, ever. And I've written quite a few, both in L5R, and elsewhere. There's a lot of depth to the guy, and every time I get inside his head, I seem to discover a little more of it.
5 hours ago, Doji Hyōkin said:No one’s dead without a proven corpse. The Toturi Rule in play.
"Never count a Human as dead until you see his body. And even then you can make a mistake."
17 hours ago, DSalazar said:
"Never count a Human as dead until you see his body. And even then you can make a mistake."
— Lady Margot Fenring
Pretty sure Tsuko would fail the Bene Gesserit test of Humanity...
She could certainly tank the pain, but trying to beat the Bene Gesserit to death with the pain box would still be a fail
8 hours ago, Shiba Gunichi said:Also... if at least five, possibly six Scrolls have been opened... we may possibly have diagnosed the source of that pesky Elemental Imbalance. Do we know which scrolls were opened where? Shoju just popped one in the Imperial City, but they were scattered, by design.
Given that Skin of Fu Leng wasn't a Black Scroll last time round, it's almost impossible to know which ones have been used. What we do know is that the Demon Bride of Fu Leng opened one centuries ago.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that Iuchiban got his hands on one. He kind of changed the nature of being a maho-tsukai.
It's tempting to suggest that Isawa Akuma found one, but in some ways it's better that every he did was his own efforts.
And, I have been vocal about the idea that Kitsu Sokori used The Wasting Disease.
Agreed. Since she did that in an attempt to inherit her father's title, we can assume that was opened in Kitsu family lands.
The Obsidian Flower used hers in the Shadowlands themselves:
"She stole a Black Scroll from the Yogo family and journeyed into the Shadowlands. There, she used the scroll to become a twisted, demonic conduit, who dwelled within the Forgotten Tomb of Fu Leng, where she waited and planned"