History of the Days of Thunders,
Scroll Two
While Kachiko is away from the palace, the guards at
Otosan Uchi detect a massive fleet of ships sailing
northward up the coast. Incredibly, the Crab Clan have
constructed troop ships in secret and have used them
to move their army, unseen, north to attack
the capitol directly.
The Lion Clan armies who guard Otosan Uchi deploy
across the plains surrounding the city. They are
lead by the hot-headed but tactical genius Matsu Tsuko.
Tsuko assembles her command staff on a hill
overlooking the Plains of Otosan Uchi and
prepares to direct the battle. To her left are
the massed armies of the Lion, and to her right,
the dark and ominous presence of the Crab army,
reinforced with oni summoned from jigoku.
Before the battle begins, a messenger appears
from the Capitol. As Tsuko reads the message,
the blood drains from her face, and she drops
to her knees, fists clenched. The message is simple -
Tsuko is to allow the battle to be fought
without her direction. She has no idea why
such an order would be issued. There is no
rational reason for the defense of the Capitol
to be so compromised. But the chop on the
order is the one mark she cannot ignore -
the one sigil that commands obedience.
It is the signature of the Emperor himself.
The armies clash in a day of ferocious battles.
The Crab forces ultimately win through, for
despite the ferocity of the Lion bushi, without
direction they are unable to maintain an
effective strategy across the entire battlefield.
As the Lion forces finally break and run, the
triumphant Crab army, lead by Hida Kisada himself
stride to the great oaken doors of the palace
and hew them from their mounts.
Kisada, Yakamo, and a small detachment of bushi
enter the palace to confront the Emperor. They
fight their way past the remaining Imperial
Guards, finally locating the Emperor's inner
chambers.
What happened within remains uncertain to this
day. What is known for sure is that Yakamo
emerged, carrying the body of Kisada. Both men
were splattered with blood, and Kisada had
suffered a grievous injury. The source of
that wound, the Ancestral Sword of the Hantei
still lay lodged in his gut as Yakamo dragged
his father from the Imperial palace. The Crab
army retreated as well, and as dawn broke over
the plains of Otosan Uchi, none remained to
witness the new day fall on the
blood stained fields.
[ The following is a quick summary of "off screen"
events that occur on or about this time ]
The chaos in the Empire leads to a rise in
banditry and criminal acts. The Unicorn
Clan assumes a large role in trying to stop
this tide of crime, seeking out the various
bandit groups and evil shugenja and putting
them down. The peasants gain a newfound
respect for the Unicorn as the guardians of
what little peace and security they retain.
Yogo Junzo receives new commands from his master.
He is to begin destroying the monastaries of
the Shintao - the Brotherhood of Shinsei.
His mission is to find the descendant of
Shinsei and kill him before he can reunite
the Seven Thunders.
Most of the Clans split into two factions -
one that realizes the horror growing like
a cancer at the center of the Empire, and
the other that seeks to gain advantage in
the civil war and the contest for the
Emerald Throne.
Many of the minor clans of the Empire are
enticed to enter an alliance lead by the
who are mercenary bushi located mainly on
the islands laying just off the eastern coast
of Rokugan. The alliance consists of bushi
and shugenja from across the Empire, united
by a common cause: Stop the bloodshed, force
the Great Clans to honor their ancient obligations
and oaths, and ensure that the Empire is saved
from those who would destroy it.
Crimson & Jade, the fourth L5R expansion:
As the fourth expansion begins, the eyes of the
Empire turn to the lands of the Crane.
Beset by the Shadowlands Horde, the Crane bushi
have given much ground, but have in turn
learned much of their foe. Crane samurai
from across the Empire have returned to aid
their kinsmen, and the coffers of the clan
have been emptied to recruit, arm and equip
a mercenary force lead by the man named Yoritomo,
the Son of Storms. Where Yoritomo once boasted
that he could field nearly 100 men, the legions
that now bear the mon of the Mantis stretch
farther than the eye can see.
The False Hoturi, leading the Horde through
the final pass before the Valley of the
Ashahina believes that this will be the
final conflict - the Crane will die here,
in a region of the Empire that has never
seen conflict in the 1,000 years since the
Founding. As the Horde crosses the final rise,
The False Hoturi is stunned to see not the
demoralized and broken remnants of the Crane
army he has been pursuing for months, but
instead a razor-sharp line of infantry prepared
to charge across the prepared ground
and engage his forces!
The battle that day was epic. Many heroes died
on that field, and many legends were born.
Of them all, the story that will resonate
the longest is of Doji Hoturi, weakened but
determined to end this foe who sullied the
name of the house of Doji. The real Hoturi
reached the False in the middle of the melee,
and issued the ancient challenge. Two blades
flashed, but only one struck true. And in moments,
the threat to the Crane was dead, cleaved
entirely in two by Hoturi's lightning
fast stroke.
A roar arose from those nearby, and the
mercenary army, the Crane stalwarts,
and young Hoturi himself smashed into
the wall of the Horde with renewed vigor.
No matter what the storytellers say -
know this. Even the most cold-hearted,
infernal oni summoned from the deepest
pit of jigoku can know mortal fear.
Far across the Empire a less glorious, and more
tragic tale is unfolding...
Matsu Tsuko reels from her defeat at the
gates to Otosan Uchi. Hida Kisada may have
died in the attempt (or so the rumors say),
but she failed utterly to protect the Capitol
and her Emperor. As the days grow longer and
winter grows close, Tsuko is left to her own
bitter memories of the day she was forced to
stand and watch as the armies of the Lion died.
Far to the south, Hida Yakamo tends to his
injured father. Word has gone forth from the
lands of the Crab that Kisada is no more -
but his incredible strength of will, combined
with the Armor of the Shadow Warrior that
protects him is keeping Kisada alive when
any lesser man would have perished.
Yakamo looks around him at the grim faces
of the Crab warriors, and sees little that
raises his spirits. Where once there was
a fierce pride in the duty to defend the
Empire against the Shadowlands, now Yakamo
sees only the image of broken faith and
shattered illusions on the faces of his bushi.
Kisada will never lead the armies of the Crab
again, and may not survive the winter. Yakamo
listens to the elders of his family and he
thinks long and hard on the price of victory.
Then he makes a fateful choice.
Tsuko too makes a fateful choice. She is
drawn to the camp of Toturi like a moth
to the flame. Something within her cries
out for solace, and she unconsciously
knows that only Toturi can put her
aching soul to rest. There is only
one person fit to lead the honorable warriors
of the Lion. In this time of turmoil and
confusion, only one person has shown a
clarity of purpose and unswerving duty
towards the Empire. That person is the dishonored
son of her own Clan, the man the
Lion call "Toturi the Black". Today,
no Lion samurai would follow Toturi,
regardless of the need. Tomorrow, those
who do not may indeed cause the end of
the Empire and the enslavement of mankind.
Tsuko sneaks into Toturi's camp late at night,
deftly avoiding the sentries. She makes her
way to his command tent, and surpises
Toturi's guards. They make motion to
detain her, but Toturi himself steps
from the shadows of his tent, sees Tsuko
standing in the frigid night air, and
wordlessly beckons her to join him within.
Tsuko explains herself quickly - if the Lion
are to survive, they must break their
ancient oath to defend the Emperor, and instead,
embrace the true nature of that promise,
to defend the Empire itself.
Toturi is unmoved. Beyond the walls of
his tent sleep hundreds of bushi, ronin and
clan-aligned warriors from across the Empire.
These men and women, he tells Tsuko, have chosen
to follow the banner of the Wolf not due to
some need to placate their ancestors or to
prove themselves worthy of lands and titles,
but because doing so may yet save the
Empire from itself. The Lion, like every
other clan, will be welcomed to the growing
ranks of the army, should they choose to join.
But Tsuko knows that the Lion will not,
cannot join Toturi's army. While she lives,
they must follow her, and the promises that
bind the Clan together. While she lives...
A flash of steel, a moment of intense pain,
then Toturi's blade sweeps through the
crisp night air, and Tsuko is no more.
In the morning, Toturi will read her
death poem, and weep. In the days ahead,
the Lion will learn the true meaning of
sacrifice and virtue.
A second cut is made that night as well.
Howling with the incredible, burning pain,
Yakamo saws the tainted claw from his own
wrist, searing the putrefied stump in the
embers of the fire keeping Kisada's
chambers warm. The pain is too great
for even Yakamo to bear in silence,
and his screams echo through the dank
chambers of Hida palace. Yakamo drags
himself from Kisada's chambers, and
painfully staggers into the inner
sanctum of the Crab Clan. There,
among a hundred other rare and fabulous
items, is an articulated hand made entirely
from the finest Jade. As his vision narrows
and his breath grows short, Yakamo places
the hand on his wrist, and wraps the joint
with a silken cord inscribed with the wards
and protections against evil taught to every
Crab bushi in childhood.
Yakamo's last sight is of a strange, hooded
figure leaning over him, pressing cool herbs
into his tortured flesh, and whispering a
soothing ritual. Yakamo's last thought is a
startling one - "my fingers... itch..." then
he finally gives way to the darkness.
As the fourth expansion ends, the stage is
set for the Day of Thunder and the Time of
the Void. The Elemental Masters of the Phoenix
are all corrupted (save Isawa Kaede, who has vanished).
Tsuko's sacrifice shows some of the Lion where
their true path lies - but many remain bound by
oaths they do not understand, but will fulfil
nonetheless. Deep in the heart of Otosan Uchi
the festering hatred of Fu Leng grows stronger
with each passing heartbeat. His minon, Junzo,
is burning the temples of the Shintao, and the
Libraries of the Phoenix, seeking the
descendant of Shinsei.
Alone in his mountain fastness, Togashi Yokuni
alone knows that the great cycle is nearly
complete, and the events he has waited a thousand
years to witness are about to unfold. For on the
fields far below him seven Thunders walk the
Empire, and Shinsei's descendant has arrived
to speak the tao and explain what must be done
to end the menace of Fu Leng once and for all.
Yokuni may save an Empire, but if he does, he
will kill his own brother...
A brief interlude, then we get to the heart of
the matter - Time of the Void.
[Just a quick interjection here - in my previous
post, I described the struggle Yakamo went through
to attach the Jade Hand. As with many things in
Rokugan, there are many stories that may fit
the observed facts. My notes from the time
indicate that something close to what
I wrote occurred. However, I believe that
either John Wick or Ree Soesbee wrote fiction
at a later date with a different story. As in
all things story related, you should assume
that Wick or Soesbee's accounts are more
"cannon" than mine.]
(Nancy-san's Note: See the Clan War novels!)
During the time expressed in the "middle third"
of the expansions, roughly from Forbidden Knowledge
to the end of Crimson & Jade, there were several
smaller stories that were expressed in the cards
and in various other sources which have some
bearing on the larger story.
At some point along this time-line, the Black
Scroll "Return of the Fallen Lord" was recovered
(supposedly by a Lion shugenja...). Shoshi Bantaro,
a powerful Scorpion shugenja used that spell
to return Bayushi Shoju, the Scorpion Clan
daimyo to a hideous state of un-life. Shoju's
undead form was twisted by hatred and evil and
had little connection to his previous life.
Kachiko was saved from his clutches by her
personal servant Akiyoshi, who was probably
the same person who snuck Doji Hoturi out
of Otosan Uchi, and may have some relation
to Toturi's geisha that has yet to be described.
Akodo Kage, the only remaining "Akodo" in the
Empire was discovered to have ties to the
mysterious Kolat, a group of assassins and
saboteurs who are almost completely unknown
in the Empire. Rumors that he was a "Kolat Master"
persist, but nothing was ever proved, and
eye-witness accounts describe his death and
immolation following the end of the Clan War.
The Elemental Masters of the Isawa became
increasingly corrupted by their researches.
Isawa Tadaka, always the strongest of their
number summoned a powerful oni from jigoku
and gave it a portion of his own name to bind
it to the material world. By torturing this oni,
the Phoenix were able to learn much of the dark
god Fu Leng and his minions. However, the price
they paid was terrible indeed. By the
beginning of Time of the Void, all the Masters
(save Kaede) were either slightly or completely
insane. The worst among them, Isawa Tsuke engaged
in a murderous rampage against his own kinsmen,
striking down any Phoenix shugenja who crossed
his path.
The Hooded Ronin, a personality who had
appeared earlier in the war
(in the Shadowlands expansion) was revealed
as the descendant of Shinsei. Shinsei's unbroken
line had preserved secrets of the battle against
Fu Leng and of the thousand-year cycle that was
ending. Combined with the wisdom of Togashi
Yokuni, the Hooded Ronin was able to locate
and bring together all seven reincarnated
Thunders. As TotV opens, the armies of the
Clans have gathered together at last to
fight Fu Leng and the Shadowlands horde.
Many of their number have chosen to side
with their oaths and allegiances, and defend
the Imperial Palace against Toturi's army and
the Thunders. As the winter gave way to spring,
the Empire prepared itself for one last
convulsive battle. Hanging in the balance -
the entire fate of the world...
Time of the Void, the fifth L5R Expansion,
and 1997 ORIGINS Award Winning Best Trading
Card Game Expansion of the Year! (Thanks everyone!)
[ToV was a big set. I mean, really big. It had 225
cards in six rarities, plus two cards found only
in the starter decks. In that mix of cards were 12
cards - one for each faction, with artwork for the
Stronghold that was new, and special "storyline text"
on the backs that told of the battles in and
around Otosan Uchi on the Day of Thunder itself.
Many of those cards were "signed" by the
Design Team and certain individuals who
had provided help above and beyond the
call during the evolution of the game.
In addition, InQuest made a "chromium edition"
of the Lion Clan stronghold to commemorate
the victor of the Day of Thunder, which is
officially considered a part of the "Time of
the Void" set, though we didn't
actually produce them.]
I won't go into the minutia of the Day of
Thunder itself, because that story is told
well and better on the backs of the stronghold
cards. The text from those cards can be found
in several places on the web, and it appeared
in an Imperial Herald as well.
Here is what happened in thumbnail:
1. Initial Skirmishes. The Naga fought and
destroyed a sizeable portion of the Shadowlands
horde on the outskirts of the capital using
ranged attacks, their own pearl magic, and
tactical guidance provided by Mirumoto Daini.
2. The Elemental Masters fought between themselves
in a brutal series of magical battles that
removed many of the Phoenix shugenja from
the assault on the capitol and killed most
of them. In the end Isawa Tsuke was destroyed
by Shiba Ujimitsu, the Phoenix daimyo,
who died in the conflict. Of the Elemental Masters,
only Tadaka lived -
(and Kaede, who was and remains missing).
3. The Lion Schism was healed by Toturi, who rode
into the battle at the head of an awesome army of
ronin and clan samurai. Calling on the Lion to
heed the cry "For Rokugan!" he stopped the
intra-clan battle and managed to avert the
total destruction of his former clan at
their own hands.
4. Yoritomo gained recognition as a major
clan daimyo from Toturi and the other seven
thunders just before they entered Otosan
Uchi to face Fu Leng.
5. The Unicorn battle maidens rode down
Yogo Junzo's horde, killing the undead
creatures he commanded, and Otaku Kamoko
killed Junzo herself by trampling him
with her mighty steed.
6. The Seven Thunders, Togashi Yokuni,
and the Hooded Ronin proceeded into
the palace to hunt down Fu Leng
and destroy him.
6.a. In the throne room, Togashi Yokuni
revealed that he was in fact Togashi, one
of the kami who founded the Empire, and
brother to Fu Leng. Fu Leng mortally wounded
Togashi, but before he died, Mirumoto Hitomi
(Dragon Thunder) used the Obsidian Hand to rip
open his chest and pull forth the 12th black
scroll, which had been hidden within Togashi
for a thousand years. In the process, Hitomi
consumed much of Togashi's spiritual essence
and gained some of his powers.
6.b. Fu Leng laughed to see the 12th Black
Scroll, believing that its appearance gave
him the victory. When Hitomi opened it,
instead of gaining his true and total powers,
the Hooded Ronin took great delight in
informing Fu Leng that his long imprisonment
was now complete, and that the 12th Scroll
had given him total control of the possessed
body he inhabited - and had made him mortal.
6.c. There was a great battle, many desperate
moments, and in the end, Toturi and Hoturi
killed Fu Leng with a double strike of their
ancestral swords, carrying the day for the
forces of light and the Seven Thunders.
7. A whole lot of people died. The known dead include
Doji Hoturi,
Isawa Tadaka,
Isawa Tsuke,
Isawa Tomo,
and Isawa Uona,
Togashi,
Yogo Junzo (completely dead),
Alhundro Cornejo (unaligned anachronism),
most of the Phoenix shugenja,
and thousands of other ronin
and clan samurai of greater or lesser repute.
In the end, Toturi was named Emperor, the whole
Empire began the slow process of rebuilding, and
the stage was set for the Jade Edition and the
Hidden Emperor story arc, which began at the
end of June.
Ryan S. Dancey
Brand Manager, Five Rings Publishing Group
Wizards of the Coast
