From Dave of the Five Rings:
Chapter 15 (04/22/2015)
In Onyx Edition, a time of great darkness has come to Rokugan, and the samurai of Emerald Empire will face a challenge they have never seen before: losing. Bolstered by the power of Jigoku, Daigotsu Kanpeki will declare war on the Empire, and conquer it in the name of his father, the Dark Lord of the Shadowlands. He will sit upon the throne in an age of monsters and demons, and the samurai of Rokugan will have to struggle with the question of if honor can survive in such a world.
Dave Laderoute promised that each Clan would be given a choice of Paths in this arc, and that players will decide for themselves how their Clans develop in this storyline. These initial paths will be chosen by the Clans and refined as the story continues. This new level of participation will be open to all players of L5R – not just the ones scoring tournament victories in the CCG – and the decisions brought before the Clans will transform their identity.
These choices have already begun. Last week, the Brand Team revealed the choice to be put before the players of the Spider Clan. They were not selling these choices short, especially if all are to be as hard hitting as the Spider Clan’s. The Spider Clan has been asked a simple question: do they want to be a Great Clan…or the Greatest Clan? Do they Embrace the Darkness and follow their champion into the arms of Jigoku, who is conquering the Empire, all the while knowing that should their rule ever topple, the Spider Clan will be no more? Or do they Walk in the Light, reject the power of Jigoku, and trust in their own superior natures to claim the Empire from within, knowing that doing so means betraying the clan’s champion and founder, and in doing so will suffer greatly for it? Or is there some still unseen alternative yet to reveal itself, created by the Spider Clan players themselves?
Choices indeed.
The Spider Clan has long been deeply divided over their future, and this set the match to that powder keg; debate among the player base started raging within minutes of the announcement. In the days following, it had not slowed, and not all the debate has been civil. The lines seem to have been drawn rather starkly between the old Shadowlands Hordes players of the CCG against the new Spider Clan players of the RPG, many of whom played at Winter Court IV, with a vocal group advocating several different Third Paths. It is an ugly debate, and one that has revealed a very key truth: the Spider Clan needed this choice badly.
However it resolves, it will change this faction forever. And that is a good thing. As a member of the Spider Clan myself, I cannot yet tell you where I stand. It is a very good question, and one I have not yet decided. As much as I love the Susumu, and the sheer enjoyment I had at playing Susumu Naishi in Winter Court, there is also a simple appeal to being the biggest, baddest bad guy in the playground.
Embracing the Darkness means the Spider Clan gets to conquer the Empire and put Kanpeki on the throne, but is it worth it if it costs me what I love most about the Spider Clan? I genuinely do not know. We shall see how this ends in due time…
Chapter 17 (07/15/2015)
In the previous segment I described the two choices presented to the Spider Clan, with a decision that split us hard down the middle. The community of Spider Clan players reacted strongly to the choice, and quickly both sides had their diehard adherents. Many players welcomed the return to the Shadowlands Horde of Imperial, Jade, and Gold Editions, when monsters from the Shadowlands fought alongside undead horrors and vile blood sorcerers to bring the Empire to its knees.
The option to Embrace the Darkness invigorated these players as nothing else had, as did the promise that the Spider Clan and its Champion would rule Rokugan. It is the promise at the heart of the Spider Clan, that one day, the line of its founder would sit on the throne of Rokugan and rule as its Emperor. To them, the cost of losing the identity of a Great Clan to achieve this end was no true loss.
Many other players rallied to Walk in the Light. Citing the fact that Embrace the Darkness would leave the Spider Clan in a 9 vs 1 fight against the rest of the Empire, these players saw that choice as ultimately shortsighted and a betrayal of the identity they had. The Spider Clan was a Great Clan, built of samurai who served the Empress, albeit in a villainous, ambitious manner.
Seizing the Throne backed by the force of Jigoku would lose the interactivity with the nuanced politics of the setting many fans of the RPG enjoyed, locking the Spider Clan into a marginalized faction of monsters with no real purpose other than frustrating the Story Team with their victories.
Coupled to that was another strong argument that, in a setting where the CCG directly impacts the storyline, victories for the Spider Clan have always been rare. The continued presence of anti-Shadowlands cards in the environment did not promise any change in that, especially in a faction which would be increasingly dependent on cards with the Shadowlands trait.
Between these two sides stood a sizable number of players who were like me. While the idea of ruling the Empire appealed to me as a Spider Clan player, and siding against our Champion in the storyline felt like a betrayal of our ideals, the cost being asked for was simply too high to Embrace the Darkness.
Since returning to the CCG, the Spider Clan has resonated with me in a way that the Shadowlands Horde era never had. The idea of playing the faction of dark samurai, driven by ambition and sworn to the service of a dark god but still servants of Heaven was a fascinating examination of morality separated from the Good vs Evil tropes ubiquitous to fantasy. Embracing the Darkness and Walking in the Light both felt too much like accepting a moral dualism. Worse over, choosing either side in effect meant telling a part of the community that they were playing the Spider Clan wrong.
In the weeks following the announcement of the Story Paths, Spider Clan players watched the other Clan’s choices eagerly to see their respective dilemmas, only to be met with repeated disappointment. Only the Mantis Clan truly had as dire of a choice to make as the Spider Clan, for their Story Path came alongside the announcement that the Mantis Clan would no longer be a playable faction in Onyx Edition. The stakes were high for the Spider Clan, and many rose to the challenge. The community at Shinden Fu Leng pooled their energy, creating path after path to try to present an option other than the two that were given. The community wanted a Story Path it could walk which would allow them to continue the story of dark samurai, without betraying their Champion.
From that brainstorming, the Shourido Above All Story Path was created. Created as an objection to the “Horde-ification” of Embrace the Darkness, it proposed an Empire ruled by the Champion of the Spider Clan where the Spider themselves neither rejected his actions nor embraced Jigoku. Instead, the Spider Clan would shape the Empire in its image, forging a society founded on the principles of Shourido, a martial philosophy created by the Spider Clan as an alternative to Bushido. This path would see the Spider Clan remain as samurai, using the power of Jigoku as necessary but never accepting becoming its servant.
The final version posted pushed this to its necessary extreme, positing a future of conflict between the Champion of the Spider Clan and his own father, the Dark Lord of Jigoku. Failing on the Path of Shourido meant almost certain destruction for the Spider Clan, as it meant angering both the established order and Jigoku. No other path promised to change the Empire as much.
As Shourido Above All came into focus on the forums, the community responded positively. It soon became the rallying cry for Spider Clan players who did not wish to remove either side of their identity. It eventually overtook both of the previous options in popularity and was formally submitted as a Story Path.
And it was accepted by the Story Team, albeit edited slightly, It was included in the official choices.
By the time this article is posted, voting for the Spider Clan Path will have closed. Win or lose, I am honored to have been a part of its creation and I have only the highest hopes for the future of L5R.
Chapter 18 (07/29/2015)
In the Spider Clan, there is no denying that Shourido Above All had a strong following. Rooted in community effort in an attempt to prevent the Story Choice imposed upon us from fracturing our player base further, the campaign for its presence in the storyline was a long and difficult one.
Ultimately, however, it did not take home the majority vote of the Spider Clan.
It didn’t even get the plurality vote.
With everything tallied and tabulated, 41% of the Spider Clan chose to Embrace the Darkness, forsaking their identity as a Great Clan in the favor of placing Daigotsu Kanpeki on the throne of Rokugan through the power of Jigoku. 34% of the Spider Clan chose Shourido Above All, to change the spirit of Rokugan itself through promoting the philosophy of personal power. Only 25% of the Spider Clan chose to Walk in the Light, turning their backs on service to Jigoku as the destruction of fools.
Ultimately, what does this mean? None of the three options managed to score a true majority over the other two, leaving it hopeful that all three will be represented in the story, albeit with a strong direction of Embrace.
Future Story Paths will see how the Spider Clan’s choice of Embracing the Darkness will pan out, and exactly how Shourido and those who Walk In The Light will be dealt with. Both groups remain vocal in the community, and perhaps that is the best part of the Story Choice. Votes were taken , voices were heard, and the game will change as a result.
As a proponent of the Shourido Above All Story Choice, I am genuinely proud of how well we did. Being only 7% behind the winning vote shows that the choice had as much resonance in the community as we had hoped. What had started during a brainstorming session on Shinden Fu Leng will leave a mark on the living world of Rokugan in some fashion. I can point towards that and say, “I own that. That was me.”
Legend of the Five Rings is built upon the promise that any of its players can leave a mark on the world we share in, and through community efforts to create and back Shourido Above All, we have done exactly that. Though we may have lost to Embrace the Darkness, we won the most important victory of all. We mattered.
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The following text is from the L5R Wiki:
During the festivals leading towards the coronation of Iweko Seiken as Iweko II, Shibatsu's brother surprised him with a public announcement that was meant to humiliate Daigotsu Kanpeki. Seiken revealed that once he was emperor Kanpeki would no longer be the Spider Clan Champion and the Daigotsu family no longer the Spider Clan's ruling family. Shibatsu was to join the Susumu family as their daimyo and rule the clan.
This caused Daigotsu Kanpeki to declare war on the Empire. When Iweko II was in power, Shibatsu joined the Susumu family, took their name and ruled over a small contingent of Spider samurai who were loyal to Iweko II while the majority of the Spider Clan kept following Kanpeki into exile and onto the warpath.
The Spider Clan renegades the Empire would consider the legitimate Spider Clan led by their champion Susumu Shibatsu composed mainly of the Susumu family, some untainted members of the Daigotsu family, and the Susumu knew of at least one member of the Gyushi family. The were small, less than 100 samurai, but they held influential Imperial positions.
Secretly, the Susumu family did not severe their connection to the Spider Clan following Daigotsu Kanpeki. They attempted to serve two masters as was their tradition created by Daigotsu Susumu.
Kyuden Shizuka was the only significant palace of the Susumu family, built near the shores of the Golden Sun Bay. It was named after the bride of Susumu, Kakita Shizuka.
In 1200 Daigotsu Kanpeki renounced his position as Spider Clan Champion and declared war on the Empire. The Daigotsu set to fire the palace, locking inside the majority of the members of the Susumu and Gyushi families. Uncertain of the loyalty of the Susumu dwelling within Kyuden Shizuka, Kanpeki elected to burn all inside.