Here's a brief timeline of events and the
sets they are expressed in:
Scorpion Clan Coup, Scrolls 1-3:
The Scorpion Clan daimyo, Bayushi Shoju, has
come to believe that an ancient prophecy long
held by his clan (the Prophesies of Uikku)
indicate that the 38th Hantei Emperor will be the
source of a consuming evil that will destroy Rokugan.
He acts on these beliefs by killing his liege,
the 38th Hantei, and then attempting to hold the
Imperial capitol of Otosan Uchi against the massed
armies of the other Clans. This defense will be
successful if the Crab Clan throw their allegiance
behind Shoju.
In the end, Hida Kisada, Crab Clan daimyo, does
not support Shoju. The Lion Clan daimyo, Akodo Toturi,
kills Shoju in the resulting general melee in and
around Otosan Uchi.
[ The next events occur after the end of the
Coup, but before the Imperial Edition begins ]
The story branches into several sub-stories
at this point, most of which have some final
resolution by the release of the 5th expansion,
Time of the Void.
The Crane Clan lead a pogrom against the
Scorpion Clan in retaliation for the Coup,
seeking to destroy them utterly.
At the palace, the son of the dead Emperor is
named the 39th Emperor of Rokugan. The son is a vain
and churlish man who was spared from the Coup and
the attempts of the Scorpion assassins to kill him
by unknown plot developments that may be explored in
future sets. He is enraged at the Scorpion, and as a
part of an elaborate series of revenge-motivated
actions, he declares that he will take Bayushi Kachiko,
the most beautiful woman in Rokugan, and wife of the
recently deceased Shoju, as his new bride,
ending Shoju's line.
Akodo Toturi believes this course of action is
unwise, and he protests the Emperor's actions.
Having been nearly killed earlier by a poison
slipped into his sake, thus failing in his duty
to protect the 38th Hantei Emperor, combined
is too much for Hantei the 39th. He orders Toturi
stripped of his family name, and he orders all
the other Akodo to abandon their names as well,
save Akodo Kage, the reversed Master Sensei of the
Lion Clan who is above reproach. Further, he
refuses Toturi the opportunity to commit seppuku,
and instead sends him forth from the capitol a
dishonored ronin - the ultimate disgrace.
Somewhere in the Empire, not currently disclosed,
Yogo Junzo receives news of the Crane purge and
the actions of the new Emperor. He betrays his
families thousand-year oath to guard and protect
the "black scrolls" - ancient spells used to
bind and banish the dark god Fu Leng at the
same time the Empire itself was founded. When
he opens the scroll he guards, its malevolent powers
consume his spirit, and he becomes a puppet in the
service of Fu Leng. The opening of the Scroll also
unleashes a deadly magical plague that begins to
spread through the Empire, killing thousands.
The plague reaches Otosan Uchi, and many members
of the Imperial Court are stricken, including the
new Emperor and all the remaining Hantei heirs -
in fact, the Imperial City is decimated by the plague
despite the best efforts of the various shugenja and
monks who have arrived to treat its victims.
In the aftermath of the Coup, the purge of the
Scorpion, and the terrible sickness sweeping
the Empire, the various Clans begin to turn on
one another, first in minor skirmishes, then
in outright warfare.
Following a thwarted assassination attempt on
the Emperor (thwarted, surprisingly enough by
Kachiko herself, who is wounded in the process),
word is sent to all the Clans that the Emperor
is dying, and that he will name as his successor
the Clan noble who best exemplifies the code of
bushido and the command of the Tao of Shinsei.
Stepping out of the mists of legend and rumor, a
strange group of half man, half serpent creatures
known as the Naga reappear in Rokugan, though
sightings of the creatures are few and far between.
Doji Satsume, Crane Clan Champion and Emerald
Champion dies during this time, though the
nature and reasons for his death remain unrevealed.
The Imperial Edition, first printing
of the L5R Basic Set:
The Clans are actively at war. A series
of battles are fought at the strategic
crossroads of Beiden Pass. Toturi, the former
Lion Clan daimyo has been retained by the forces
of the Dragon Clan to lead their army at Beiden
Pass, for reasons not understood even by the other
Dragon generals. Chief among these generals is
Mirumoto Hitomi, young scion of the Mirumoto Family.
Hitomi has many strong passions, and her greatest
is a festering hatred for the son of the Crab Clan,
Hida Yakamo, who killed her beloved older brother
years earlier in a duel of honor.
At Beiden Pass, Toturi wins several battles,
and loses a few as well. Many temporary alliances
form around these skirmishes, but in the end no
faction is able to hold and control the pass.
At the largest of these battles, the youngest
son of Hida Kisada, Hida Sukune fails to
anticipate Toturi's battlefield tactics and
his forces are overwhelmed. In disgrace,
he returns to the Crab Lands to the wrath
of his father.
Shortly thereafter, Sukune vanishes.
At or around this time, Hida Yakamo loses a
hand in a battle with Hitomi. Kuni Yori,
a powerful Crab Clan shugenja, grafts a
hideous claw-like appendage to Yakamo to
replace his missing hand, using some terrible
ritual that neither will discuss. Empowered
by this magical device, Yakamo returns to the
field of battle, locates Hitomi in the fray,
and in turn severs one of her hands - with the
sword of her brother, which is subsequently
destroyed.
At about this same time, Kuni Yori induces
Yakamo to lend his name to a fearsome oni
which manifests in the material world and
commences an extensive battle of wills with
Yakamo for control of Yakamo's name. More than
one such oni is summoned, but one individual
creature in particular begins to test the will
of Yakamo with regularity. It appears that some
secret bargain has been struck by the Crab Clan
to utilize the monstrous powers of the Shadowlands
in their own bid for the throne.
Shadowlands, the first L5R expansion:
The Naga send an emissary, called Dashmar,
to the Imperial Assembly to inform the Empire
that the Naga have awakened from an ages-long
slumber to fight the rising tide of evil they
sense in the Shadowlands. As the Ambassadors
of the Clans are consumed with the raging civil
war, few take any serious heed to Dashmar's words.
Rebuffed, he seeks to locate those individuals who
will hear the wisdom of the Naga and act accordingly.
In the libraries of the Phoenix Clan, the
Elemental Masters have detected the opening
of the first black scroll, and perhaps more.
They dispatch on of their number, Isawa Tadaka
to seek out the black scrolls and recover them
so that the Phoenix may learn what they truly are.
The Scorpion Clan begin to rebuild their forces
in secret. They retake many of their ancient
castles and fortifications. Kachiko is able
to use her behind-the-scenes power in Otosan Uchi
to end the Crane purge and to restore the Scorpion
some measure of safety. At this time she also
begins to secretly poison the Emperor, seeking
to torture him greatly before killing him as
punishment for killing her husband. Acting with
all decorum, Kachiko becomes in some sense the
unofficial regent of the Empire, wrapping the
bureaucracy around her finger.
Forbidden Knowledge, the second L5R expansion:
More black scrolls are recovered. Many shugenja
are now aware of their existence, and of the
awesome powers they can convey. Isawa Tadaka
and Isawa Uona have become corrupted by the
knowledge gained from the scrolls, but still
they labor to understand their significance.
Battles large and small are common. Land is taken,
retaken, and lost over and over, churning the
farmlands of the peasants into huge fields of mud.
The harvest is terrible. Famine, combined with
the still raging plague, continues to exact
a tremendous toll on the Empire. Combat related
deaths, deaths from starvation and disease
exceed one million Rokugani.
The barriers between the material world and
jingoku, the nether regions of the underworld
begin to weaken. Immensely powerful Elemental
Terrors are unleashed - oni of heretofore
unknown powers.
Hitomi, raving from her injury, is conveyed
to the Imperial Capitol by a band of Ize Zume
(the tattoed men) who are fleeing one of the
many battles at Beiden Pass. In Otosan Uchi,
Hitomi is tended by Kachiko, who seeks to twist
the hatred in her heart for Yakamo into an all
out desire to destroy the Crab Clan itself. In
return for her support, Kachiko provides a
powerful artifact, the Obsidan Hand for Hitomi's use.
A Test is held to chose a new Emerald Champion.
Many samurai from across the Empire have arrived
for the Test. Among them are Doji Hoturi and
Kakita Toshimoko, the young Diamyo of the Crane
and his sensei, the Iaijutsu Master. Kachiko
manages to entrap Hoturi and use another
ancient artifact, the Egg of P'an Ku, to create
a duplicate of him, the False Hoturi, who leaves
the Capitol city and returns to the lands of the Crane,
where his boorish behavior and increasingly
insulting remarks soon so enrage the Lion that
they march openly on the Crane lands.
Shattered by his Lord's behavior, and convinced
that there is something grievously amiss,
Toshimoko enters himself in the Test of the
Emerald Champion at the last minute, and defeats
all challengers, including Hitomi. She survives,
but leaves the Capitol to return to the Dragon
lands to confront Togashi Yokuni, the Dragon Clan
Diamyo. Donning the Emerald Armor, Toshimoko lets
Kachiko know that he will not stand for her
meddling in his affairs. However, as the
representative of the Emperor's justice,
his first actions must be to return home and
kill Hoturi. With heavy heart, he sets out to
fulfill his destiny.
Anvil of Despair, the third L5R expansion:
The forces of the Shadowlands rise to unheard of
powers when Yogo Juzo, the corrupt minion of
Fu Leng appears in the Empire leading a vast
army of goblins, oni, ogres, trolls, and other
foul creatures. A portion of this force detaches
itself from the main body of the Shadowlands horde
and links up with the False Hoturi.
Doji Hoturi is rescued from Kachiko's clutches by an
unknown servant, and transported away from Otosan
Uchi. Lucid, but greatly weakened, Hoturi is able
to get word to Toshimoko of what has occurred.
During this time, the False Hoturi's forces have
been systematically destroying the main Crane
Clan fortifications. The Cranes are forced back and
back - never able to achieve victory, but never being
completely defeated.
Toturi finds himself surrounded by the remains of
the Dragon forces detailed to his command by Yokuni,
along with many ronin who entered his service
during the battles at Beiden Pass. After months
of combat, this army has become a battle-hardened
force of superior strength and arms, used to
living off the land and the gifts of the peasants.
Incredibly, the man once reviled throughout the
Empire as the ultimate disgrace has restored
his honor in the eyes of many, and now leads
one of the most powerful military forces in
the Empire. Instead of turning his attentions
to the petty civil war the rest of the Clans
are fighting, Toturi, listening to the Naga
who have come to advise him, sets his sights
clearly on the main body of the Shadowlands Horde.
Mirumomoto Hitomi reaches Togashi Yokuni and
engages in an extensive, secret dialog with
him. When she is finished, she returns home
to the Mirumoto Lands to raise and equip a
new army of Dragon bushi, and Yokuni vanishes
from the Dragon Clan lands. He travels south
by means unknown, and holds a secret rendezvous
with Kachiko. Kachiko knows a terrible, terrible
secret - the Emperor has become possessed by
a foul spirit, and the power and evil of that
spirit can be only one person.
The Emperor of Rokugan, Son of Heaven, is
the Dark God, Fu Leng.
Yokuni tells Kachiko that the return of Fu Leng
was long prophesied. The wards kept strong by
the Black Scrolls have now been so weakened that
Fu Leng is able to physically control a mortal
body. Out of revenge for his original defeat,
Fu Leng chose the Emperor himself. However,
Fu Leng could not have known that the Emperor's
illness was not caused by disease, but by the
poisons Kachiko continues to administer. Unable
to take a new host, the Emperor is trapped in a
body unable to stand, unable to walk, unable to
do anything other than scream in anger.
But the power of Fu Leng continues to grow, as
each Black Scroll is opened and read. Soon,
he will be able to overcome the infirmaries
of his host body and then the Empire will
know an eternity of darkness -
the revenge of Fu Leng.
Yokuni instructs Kachiko on the things that
must now be done. A great cycle is ending,
and the future is in the balance. She must
return to the palace, despite her fear, and
continue to poison the Emperor's body -
keeping Fu Leng as weak as possible for as
long as possible. She must also hide the knowledge
of his return from the rest of the Empire as
best she can - such information would
surely tear the Empire's fragile civilization asunder.
Yokuni reveals that the lineal descendant of
Shinsei himself walks the Empire as they
speak. Shinsei's descendant is aware of
his place in the cosmic drama as well
- the Seven Thunders of legend have beenn
reborn in this time and place to face
their ancient foe, and Shinsei's descendant
will locate them, instruct them, and gather
them together for the final confrontation.
