New Fic - The Villain's Mask

By Doji Hyōkin, in L5R LCG: Lore Discussion

Poor Lion when they find out their ally has implicated them as servants of Fu Leng.

2 hours ago, Doji Hyōkin said:

https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/d9/97/d997af8f-ae79-4b21-a5c5-831bb20c0758/10_the_villains_mask.pdf

Bayushi Shoju looks inside himself and grapples with what he sees. Ujiaki has always tried to punch above his weight class. The Vision of the Cresting Wave has come to pass.

Unfortunately for my personal headcanon hopes, it does look like Matsu Tsuko is confirmed dead.

Yeah still not happy that Lion are back on the revolving door or champions track from the AEG days. Also given what we know of Ujiaki's plots at this point how was any of this supposed to actually benefit the Lion.

#ujiakineededtobeakolat

4 hours ago, Schmoozies said:

Also given what we know of Ujiaki's plots at this point how was any of this supposed to actually benefit the Lion.

#ujiakineededtobeakolat

#kakitayoshi'snottheonlyfool.


Also, I see that we are being told about Unicorn/Phoenix bickering over Shahai and Daisetsu hitting the road without having seen the form that bickering is taking. Shades of the bad old days there, FFG!

That quibble aside... Oh, Shoju.

Edited by Shiba Gunichi

Not happy if Tsuko is dead.

Also, is it just me or has anyone else came out of the last couple of fictions with the impression that Ujiaki is in fact not Kolat?

2 hours ago, Suzume Chikahisa said:

Also, is it just me or has anyone else came out of the last couple of fictions with the impression that Ujiaki is in fact not Kolat?

If he was, we’d have seen it in Shoju’s thoughts here. Instead, he’s simply someone who managed to fail up.

On the flip side, my question now is how much does Anakazu know? Ujiaki thinks he’s playing his boss, but was he allowed free reign to set himself up as the fall guy for any Lion aggression?

Certainly, the fact that he was Altansarnai’s intended spouse implies he was all-in on antagonizing the Unicorn, but it’s his wife that protests.

He’s also apparently the one ordering Tsanuri’s raids in tax villages, but that could have been something Ujiaki told Ayano.

He’s notably absent from the leadership debates when Toturi becomes Champion, then again when Tsuko does. If Anakazu is that pro-war, why don’t we see him sitting at the table with Kitsu Motso and Matsu Tsuko? If he isn’t, why didn’t we see him support Toturi alongside Akodo Kage, or reach out to Tsanuri?

Either he’s being masterfully snowed by Ujiaki and is an isolated, powerless figurehead, or Ujiaki isn’t as clever as he thinks he is, and is doing what Anakazu wants while also inadvertently providing plausible deniability.

Anakazu is notably absent, full stop. For someone who's been involved in multiple bits of plot, the Ikoma daimyo hasn't ever appeared on-screen.

10 hours ago, Tonbo Karasu said:

Anakazu is notably absent, full stop. For someone who's been involved in multiple bits of plot, the Ikoma daimyo hasn't ever appeared on-screen.

On reflection, I think they’re the only plot-driving person that’s true for. Anakazu gets name-dropped for the first time in fiction #6 out of #115 as essentially the antagonist. I can’t think of anyone else actively engaged in any of the ongoing situations that we never see on camera.

2 hours ago, Doji Hyōkin said:

On reflection, I think they’re the only plot-driving person that’s true for. Anakazu gets name-dropped for the first time in fiction #6 out of #115 as essentially the antagonist. I can’t think of anyone else actively engaged in any of the ongoing situations that we never see on camera.

There is no one else even close. Anakazu is brought up in 8 different bits of fiction. The next most frequent for someone who's not beem on-screen is 2.

And purely by coincidence, he’s the one in charge of the Ikoma Histories, and so is the one person in Rokugan with the most access to unaltered records of the Hantei.

I’m sure there’s nothing in that reading material that would undermine a samurai’s loyalty to the throne or their belief in the divine blessing of the Hantei...