[dragon] Loyalty

[Jeff T.]

>From: "Seth Mason" <jeetchon at hotmail.com>

>>Firstly, we don't know if it really is Shosuro, as in THE
>>Shosuro. Even if it is, she faced Fu Leng and would be corr -
>>ah, so THAT's why Shosuro, alone of the thunders, survived
>>facing the Dark Lord and returned untainted. She wore the
>>Obsidian Hand.
>
>No, she brought it back, with the mirror, blade, and the 12 scrolls.

Nope.   Shosuro was wearing the hand.   Being a ninja shapeshifter, 
though, I imagine that (s)he did so only to access its power; if Shosuro 
lost his/her arm, (s)he could just grow one back!

>>Anyway, the Scorpion aren't loyal to the Empire, they're loyal
>>to their Daimyo. They followed Shoju during the coup. Shosuro
>>could be trying to bring the Empire down in revenge for the
>>banishment of the Scorpion clan.
>
>They beleived they were acting in the best intrests of the Empire, much 
>like you beleive the Kolat are. The Scorpion are indeed loyal to the 
>Empire above all. Well, in their better moments.

Except that I think it's safe to assume that the ninja are the ones 
"making the elements bleed."   Shoju and the Scorpion messed with 
politics and power, but never with the fabric of reality.

>>Secondly, the rpg rulebook mentions that the Kolat originated
>>during the Yasuki/Crane breach. To me, this suggests that
>>they're dedicated to maintaining the balance in the Empire.
>>Rokugan hasn't really changed in 1000 years. That's not natural.
>>I think the Kolat are basically a conspiracy of high-ranking
>>members of each clan who work together to ensure the Empire
>>endures, a conspiracy that holds itself above law, bushido, Clan
>>ties, maybe even the Emperor.
>
>That doesn't make them good guys. That doesn't even imply they might be 
>good guys.

We know that the kolat are not "good guys."   This is not speculation.   
The kolat are murderers, liars, and power-brokers.   They sacrifice 
others to gain power for themselves.   They tinker in maho.   
The good of the Empire is not in their best interest; self-promotion and 
powerlust are what they want.   The kolat can be called nothing less 
than villains.

>>If the Kolat were trying to "undo all of Rokugan", you'd think
>>they'd have suceeded by now. I mean, they're even better than
>>the ninja at concealing themselves. They've been around for
>>centuries, and it's only now that anyone knows about them. Akodo
>>Kage was the most respected Lion in Rokugan, and he was a Kolat
>>Master. 

That's nothing.   Shosuro faked her death in the Imperial court.   His 
existance evidences that the ninja have been in Rokugan since the 
founding of the Empire, and they're just now coming to notice, after 
1000 years of working in -- no, BEING -- the shadows of Rokugan.   The 
ninja make the kolat look like what they are: amateurs by comparison.

>>If you have Way of the Lion, read the last paragraph on
>>p. 63. It basically says that Kage is honourable, but will do
>>anything if, in the final analysis, it is good for the Empire.
>>That's how, IMHO, the Kolat work.
>
>It doesn't say that Kage is honorable - It says he can act either (game 
>mechanics) as a low honor (.4 wasn't it?) or high honor (4.?) depending 
>on what he feels like at the time. 

Indeed.   Kage is not interested in the good of the Empire, he is 
interested in the good of Kage.

>>To drag this back to the mountains, if the Kolat are a secretive
>>organisation who work for the good of the Empire, is it
>>acceptable to use Kolat cards in a Light Dragon deck? I'm
>>currently keeping a Kolat Assassin in Kyuden Hitomi...
>
>A secret organization that works for good, while subduing the Clans, 
>killing people in the middle of the night, and planning raids and 
>burning things. Sounds like a bunch of nice people to me. Don't get me 
>wrong, they may be working in the intrests to keep the Empire alive, 
but 
>that hardly makes them good guys. Back to the Scorpion - While Kachiko 
>was trying to take over the whole Empire during the Clan Wars, she was 
>eeeeevil. Mean evil and having fun. But, she said, "Hey, you. Yah, all 
>you Scorpions. Be evil, but don't bargain with the Shadowlands like 
>Kisada did. It'll screw the whole Empire"... That certainly didn't make 
>her good, just interested in keeping the Empire around so she could 
>control it.
>
>Togashi Amadan
>Dragon Clan Corpse
>
>>Gareth
>>Dragon Clan Illuminatus
>>
>>
>>
>>>Well, that, and if the Ninja are really bad bad guys, Amadan...
>>well...
>>>it won't be happy. And no one wants that!
>>>
>>>>|P.S. it is with absolutely no regret that I announce my
>>emmanent
>>>>departure from the ranks of the celibate.
>>>
>>>Perhaps you could have worded that a -teensy- bit differently?
>>>
>>>>Since I will most likely also receive my Masters in Political
>>>Science
>>>at that time,  I was wondering if my friends here could
>>>suggest a new
>>>role for me.  Afterall, calling myself an un-retired >Phoenix
>>Bushi just
>>>doesn't have that ring to it... :)
>>>
>>>Are you coming out of retirement into the Dragon, or back to
>>the
>>>Phoenix? Either way, Magistrate or Ambassador seems to fit near
>>>perfectly.
>>>
>>>Togashi Amadan
>>>Dragon Clan Good Bad Good Guy
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
>
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