The Left Hand's Path - Crane Story Paths

[Doji Satevis]

No, I don't think so. Nor do I think I need to humour someone being unpleasant.

You wish sacrifice? There are means of sacrifice that do not involve throwing oneself at the enemy directly. Sacrificing oneself to risk carrying on protecting what makes the Empire the Empire, for one.

But this will be the last I respond to you, I suspect, because not only will we never agree, you are deciding to get hostile, if not borderline insulting. *shrug*

[Kakita Takata]

Potential 4th option based on the IRL Crane player base. The Crane Clan's internal fighting rips the Great Clan into smaller Minor Clans each going their separate ways. The Daidoji off to war the Asahina to the mountains to meditate on pacifism, the Doji and Kakita to the collonies to preserve culture and establish a new political foothold from which to support the other Great Clans in their war.

[Kakita Kasukaru]

If we go for the Option of trying to maintain culture and laws by using our strengths, rather than weaknesses (that is our political might and economic power), we could also present a deal to all the Clans who decide to oppose Jigoku:
* to the Minor Clans (Sparrow, Badger, etc.): food and shelter.
* to the Lion: horses (we know they want them).
* to the Crab: Daidoji Iron Cranes units (they know what they are worth when they used to man the Wall).
* to the Unicorn: a new protection status for heimin (support to their favoured path now and inclusion in Rokugani legal system for later).
* to the Dragon: should they need it, help in saving the Brotherhood.
* to the Scorpion: similar as for the Crab...
* to the Phoenix: Asahina teams to help them with saving items or finding the seals.
* to the Mantis: more ships and favourable deals in our harbours.
* to the Spider: come and taste our steel... or accept the Doji Tears.
* to Ronins: come and fight for us.
In exchange of what, we require from everyone to help us secure the culture and laws of old Rokugan, as it is our sacred duty, either by hiding, securing, shipping...

In other words: let's reach our goals and maintain our CLan identity, by playing on what we are good at, which is politics, magistrates and wealth.

[Doji Yoshi]

[Dare]

Force is needed to oust the fake Emperor.

We can create the force. Summoning some Onis. They will oust him.


My plan is foolproof, and without negative consequences.

[Zaitoichi]

I could be tempted by Option 3, but I feel than Option 1 is the real answer to Onyx.

We couldn't compromise and as it said in the description of Option 1: "Few know better than you how to overcome superior strength and numbers with unconventional tactics. The disparate clans will need a unifying force, and your skill at making alliances is unparalleled."

This is the way forward - at least to me - or we will have to submit to Dare's CrOnis...

[Doji Kousei]

I think all options have merit, which is why this is tricky.

1) This is where my instinct lies - Jigoku is the antithesis of the Crane; even the old style pacifist Asahina usually made and exception where it was concerned. When oni are running across the land one wants to resist.

2) This has more merits than people give it credit for - acting as a buffer between the orders of the Spider and everyone else, smuggling out resistance fighters, diverting resources where they are needed, etc. There is a lot of good that could be accomplished although it would likely be a thankless task and if Kanpeki discovered what we were doing the repercussions would be huge.

3) If war happened and someone had the chance to save the Caravaggios, the Mozart symphonies, the works of genius that inspire, uplift, provoke thought, but decided not to? It would be a tragedy.

[Doji Ryuichi]

Before I weigh in on these choices, I'd like to take a moment to say a few things about myself. First off, I'm relatively new here and to the game. I only really started playing a year ago, and not very often. However, I have studied much of the history of Rokugan, of the Crane and even the other clans. I've studied the spider and most of the recent events and the entire history of the empire. So while I do not feel I am the most qualified to speak on this matter, it feels as though because I am Crane, I must do what I can. So with that being said, I have a few points to make regarding each option, for those willing to listen.

Option 1: This appears to be the most honorable choice, but possibly the hardest one mechanically. But I do not believe it necessarily means pure military decks...it does seem to imply switch. While the pros of this decision would be retaining our honor and dignity, and doing what is right by bushido, I do notice some flaws with it. Aside from mechanics, this option also will put us in a bad spot should Kanpeki's goals be achieved. We will be even further removed as the Left Hand, and it is quite possible we will find ourselves in a worse position. However, I am not saying we should not choose this path. If we are going to do it, we should strive to achieve alliances with other clans. Opposing Kanpeki, we obviously would. I think we can still use our power and influence as courtiers and with politics to gain allies in the struggle against Kanpeki. After all, I think most, even some Spider, can agree that merging Rokugan with Jigoku is not best for anyone. Without alliances, and put at odds against other clans...defeat will fall upon the Crane. If we cannot convince others to not side with the Spider or if we leave them to their own devices whatever that may be, we stand divided against a common threat. And if death is our ultimate end? I'd rather us die as samurai than as cowards and traitors.

"Those who are reluctant to give up their lives and embrace death are not true warriors.... Go to the battlefield firmly confident of victory, and you will come home with no wounds whatever. Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will be alive; wish to survive in the battle and you will surely meet death. When you leave the house determined not to see it again you will come home safely; when you have any thought of returning you will not return. You may not be in the wrong to think that the world is always subject to change, but the warrior must not entertain this way of thinking, for his fate is always determined."


Option 2: Everyone in the forum has sneered at this option and refused to even consider it. A Spider even came here to try and negotiate with us. I find this shows that the Spider Clan is not the boogeyman evil people jump to think it is. I am not saying we should allow Jigoku to merge with Rokugan, or allow taint to control everyone in the Spider Clan and affect others too. But what I am saying is...let's consider this option. It's on the table. What does it mean? I think understanding that without Daigotsu and Kanpeki, the Destroyer War could still be continuing right now. And I would argue that Daigotsu as Master of Jigoku is probably much safer than Fu Leng. Togashi knew that the Spider would become a Great Clan, and it did indeed happen, and in the process it ousted Kali-Ma. This was good for everyone I think we could all agree. We also know that Kanpeki is not tainted. And the Spider themselves don't seem to all want to allow Kanpeki to embrace the darkness. Let us not forget that he is an actual legitimate heir, a blood descendant of Hantei. Hantei blood ruled because Hantei won the right to rule through combat, and we agreed to serve Hantei as the Left Hand. Hantei and Lady Doji were close, and Doji herself tried to negotiate with Fu Leng. Fu Leng was mad and chaotic...but Kanpeki is not. I'd even go so far as to say not even Daigotsu is not, for he committed seppuku for his clan's own salvation and did as Iweko I told him to. If we are the Crane, I believe it is important that we consider the option of trying to negotiate with Kanpeki and the Spider Clan. Bring Kanpeki into the light. Supporting him could be a great risk that will cost us...but being the Left Hand means being the Left Hand of Hantei. And Kanpeki is of Hantei. We cannot just throw away the principles of Lady Doji, and refuse to even try to speak with the Spider on the matter. Shadowland taint aside, methods aside, darkness aside...we won't know what will happen until we try. And it may be worth the risk. The Spider don't seem to want Kanpeki to be tainted, and we can make sure he becomes an Emperor of Light, not Darkness. If we do this, we may very well save Rokugan in the long run instead of fighting a losing battle. If this obviously is a losing battle to try and negotiate and guide Kanpeki, then I will truly stand down that this should be attempted. But we have a Spider coming to us insisting that they do not all want that...perhaps we should listen and consider speaking with them in choosing paths that benefit both of us without either clan sacrificing something?

"Is there not some way that our lost brother can be saved? Must we destroy him?"
-Doji


Option 3: This one I have much less to say anything about. Art without artists is mythology and history. We may very well preserve Rokugani ways of life, but how long will it really last if the worst comes to fruition? I think it's important to have this to an extent, but to put our all into it? We'd be abandoning everything we stand for in Rokugan. We'd be betraying what it means to be a samurai. And I believe that is the greatest destruction of our culture, art, and way of life than anything else. If we lose who we are, what good does it do to preserve anything?


Perhaps a possible fourth option could be something along the lines of actually attempting to negotiate with the Spider and Kanpeki to offer our support and guide them as the Left Hand should they steer away from madness, taint, and evil. I believe with enough support from the Spider, even Kanpeki would see the truth in this and turn away from it. But if that would fail...then I believe negotiations with other clans will be necessary to obtain victory, or else we may find ourselves in a civil war which ends in darkness. Some interesting things to note, would be that one of the Dragon choices shows that some of the Dragon believe there is more behind all of this than meets the eye. They may attempt to look into it and figure out what's really going on behind the scenes. If there is something more going on that no one is aware of, it may be important to look into this, especially if alliance with the Dragon clan is possible. The Unicorn and Phoenix do seem the most viable to obtain as allies, but undoing the evil that could be very well at our doorstep...makes it hard to ignore the possibility of at least considering it.

Again, I do not feel I am overly qualified to speak on these matters, nor am I as seasoned or experienced as most of you. From my own research and thinking, this is where I currently sit. Essentially, I have been on the fence between options 1 and 2. So if we are to pursue a fourth option...I feel that combining 1 and 2's most favorable options together with none of the drawbacks would be vital here. Perhaps some would hate us for trying to negotiate, but I feel taking this approach is less extreme and more in line with what Lady Doji herself would attempt to do. However...the Jade and Obsidian Dragons decreed how we would choose a new emperor. They never once considered someone like Kanpeki, with Hantei blood, to rule as Emperor. This does cause some concern to me in wishing to negotiate with them. I would like to explore the ideas more though, discussing what option 1 could mean for us and at least trying to give option 2 a bit more credit than "evil nope kill it". Lady Doji didn't behave this way, I don't think we should either. I hope I do not seem overly foolish for wishing to entertain such ideas, or if I am speaking on matters I don't know enough about. At the very least, I do hope this will help shed some light on what we should do. I intend to back whatever choice the majority of the clan wishes.

[Daidoji Tacticus]

Unfortunately, the answers to Doji's questions proved to be, respectively, "no" and "yes". A small portion of the Spider player-base is in favour of rejecting Jigoku, but if you look at the discussions going on on the Spider boards, they are vastly outnumbered. For most of the Spider players who have made their voices heard, Jigoku-powered supervillains are exactly what they signed up for, and promising to support them if they turn away from that isn't going to persuade them - if the Crab offered to ally with us as long as we agreed to stop caring about art, fashion, politeness and anything else that didn't involve hitting things with clubs, would we seriously consider that even for a moment?

The Empire has been talking to the Spider for 26 years, and it ended with this. I do not see us convincing them to turn away from the very thing that is delivering them victory by talking to them some more.

Regarding Kanpeki's Taintedness or lack thereof - Kanpeki may not be Tainted yet as of Seiken's ascension, but we've seen in fiction that he's not just open to the idea, he wants to embrace the Taint. He fantasises about it. Is he really going to reject it while he's in the middle of directly merging Ningen-do with Jigoku?

[AsahinaD]

The Iweko Dynasty was endorsed by the Celestial Heavens, so path 2 is clearly an option that will have us marked as traitors when the Empire is finally saved from Jigoku and it will be sooner or later. Lady Doji cared about her fallen brother and according to a legend she cried for him (alternative myth about Doji's Tears), but she send her son first and daughter later to fight in the First Day of Thunder. She only showed us one path to deal with Jigoku and its minions and that's not trying to save them, especially since now that embracing the taint is a choice. They have no excuse and they don't deserve our Lady's Tears.