The following text is taken from the Kolat Informer (the website itself claimed to have "taken" the report from Dr. Zen Faulkes' Steel and Iron website).
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Chris Jilot (Unicorn) vs. David La (Lion)
Lion and Unicorn, both upright and honorable clans, right? Maybe. But a lot of spectators couldn’t help feeling some foreboding when they noticed that both Chris and David were wearing Shadowlands baseball hats.
Turn 1
Lion: David buys Ikoma Kaoku. No gold to be seen.
Unicorn: Chris buys Shinjo Sanetama, and immediately attaches Shiryo no Shinjo to him. He then buys a Corrupt Stable, dropping his honor to 2 (remember, this was before The Otaku Palaces!). With some money and a personality who’s now nigh untouchable in battle, Chris definitely has the better start.
Turn 2
Lion: David uses Kaoku to lobby for, and take, the Imperial Favor. Dave’s economic prospects look better after he buys a Copper Mine and Small Farm.
Unicorn: Out comes a Breach of Etiquette, which David negates with the Favor. Chris puts a Fan of Command on Sanetama (he’s now a Tactician who’s untouchable in battle), and brings out two Merchant Caravans.
Turn 3
Lion: David sends Kaoku after the Imperial Favor again. Not much else to do but buys Kitsu Okura at reduced price.
Unicorn: Chris has Imperial Gift show up (my notes don’t say, but I think I remember him fetching the Ancestral Armor of the Unicorn). The fortunes certainly seem to be favouring Chris with the better draw in the early game. Chris buys Iuchi Katta at full price, which should push his honor back to 4, but David plays Slander to stop the honor gain, leaving Chris stuck at 2 honor. (David later told me this was the move that won him the game.)
Turn 4
Lion: David gets a Farmlands showing up in his Province. With his honor lead solidified, David “Favor shuffles” (uses the Favor to draw a card, and lobbies to retake it). I think David hired Ikoma Ryozo and another 2 PH personality on this turn, but my notes don’t say.
Unicorn: Chris has The Doji Plains by this turn. Chris attaches Heavy Mounted Infantry (2 force, with the potential to go to 4) to Shinjo Sanetama (Tactician, can’t be targeted in battle), and declares an attack. Chris takes the province without a contest, and Sanetama goes home bowed. He’s forced to chuck everything in his provinces, including Unicorn’s star personality, Otaku Kamoko, because he can’t make the honor requirements.
Turn 5
Lion: David is sitting at 12 honor, and has Imperial Ambassadorship resolve. Looking for some payback, David attacks a province with The Doji Plains, and gets it, again without opposition. He plays Rallying Cry, and uses Ikoma Kaoku to give his army a +1F/+1C bonus. He ends his turn by buying Ikoma Ryozo at reduced cost.
Unicorn: Chris attaches another Heavy Mounted Infantry to Shinjo Sanetama, who is rapidly becoming “The Unit” (two 2F followers, potentially 4F each, Tactician, and can’t be touched in battle), and attacks again. He destroys the second province.
Turn 6
Lion: David is at 12 honor, and controls the Favor, but he only has two provinces compared to Chris’s three. That makes it very, very interesting when Oni no Akuma turns up in Dave’s rightmost province. Everyone had to be asking themselves: “Is he going to buy it?” David attacks with his two copies of Ikoma Ryozo (lucky he’s controlling the Favor), and gets his second province. He uses Kaoku to give bonuses again, but does not have a Rallying Cry. He buys Ikudaiu, then makes his move. David hires Oni no Akuma and loses his province, prompting an “OooOOOOOooooh!” from the crowd. One province, several personalities bowed from battle… I think everyone was convinced David had just slit his own throat.
Unicorn: Kisada’s Funeral resolves (not that anyone is racing to 40 in a hurry). Chris, I think, smelled blood in the water. He pretty much went straight into his attack phase, and commits with his entire army (total of 8 force): Iuchi Katta and the pumped-up Shinjo Sanetama. “Everyone,” he said, reaching across the table and pointing at David’s last province.
David controls the Favor, but with Shiryo no Shinjo making Sanetama untouchable in battle, and the potential for at least 8 force more (2F each for the two Heavy Mounted Infantry, and 4F Tactician Bonus from chucking the Ancestral Armor of the Unicorn, or something else), Chris obviously feels pretty confident.
David defends with all his unbowed personalities: Oni no Akuma, Ikudaiu, and someone else (Ikoma Kaoku, perhaps). He’s one or two points of force up on Chris.
David takes a card from his hand, and announces, “Deadly Ground.”
Chris looks at his cards, pauses for only a second, then reaches over and offers his hand in congratulations to David.
Many people have said that David would have destroyed the province and hired Akuma no matter what the cards in his hand. Maybe. Maybe not. David told me afterwards that he did count all the force on the table and looked at the Deadly Ground in his hand before he brought out Oni no Akuma. Considering the game situation, David’s decision was absolutely logical. Whether he would have done the same in the force totals were in Chris’s favor, not his, is anybody’s guess.
After the game, Ree Soesbee improvised the ending to the contest of the Jade Champion, describing Kitsu Okura summoning the oni.
David apparently couldn’t be happier at this turn of events. He told me he called the deck, “Akuma’s Army,” and made a lot of references to “Matsu Akuma!” One wag in the audience yell up to him, “David La! You’ve just won the Test of the Jade Champion! What are you doin’ now?!”
“I’m goin’ to the Shadowlands!” he answered.
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The following text is from the L5R Wiki:
Okura was born Akodo Okura, but gave up the Akodo family name and joined the Kitsu family after he showed a natural aptitude for ancestral magic, a few months before the Scorpion Coup. ...
In 1131 in the Month of the Hare, after discovering Oni no Akuma's essence within an abandoned castle at the edge of Lion lands, Okura decided to leave the oni be rather then destroy it. ...
Kitsu Okura was nominated to participate in the Jade Championship after the death of Kitsu Kuroman. It was an opportunity for the Lion Clan to wield more authority while the Empire was in turmoil. Okura realized his abilities were limited even while poring over every scroll in the Kitsu libraries. In the Month of the Ox Okura fell in a tainted madness. It was then that Oni no Akuma offered him his power again. Surprisingly the two came to an agreement, where Kitsu Okura was offered knowledge and power in exchange for binding himself to Akuma and initiating others within the Kitsu to the Shadowlands. He began to gather any Lion disatisfied with Lion Clan Champion Ikoma Tsanuri and secretly initiated them as followers of Akuma, the most notable of which was Matsu Daoquan.
Okura won the title Jade Champion in 1131 after defeating the Doomseeker Iuchi Karasu much to the surprise of those who knew him. Rumours spread of Okura's power being owed to dark allegiances but he was still awarded the post.
Okura's corruption, and the corruption that he had caused within the Lion Clan, came to the fore in 1132 at the battle known as Storms over Matsu Castle. The Unicorn sent Otaku Battle Maidens to assault the castle, discovering the corruption when oni and tainted bushi took the field under the leadership of Okura. The Unicorn were decimated. Though Okura's actions originally had only the best interests ot the clan in mind, he now openly defied Tsanuri.
Okura openly exposed their bindings with the taint, as part of a plan to save the Lion from destruction. He knew that Ikoma Tsanuri marched to aid the Crab against the Shadowlands, but he was misguided by Akuma and foresaw the doom of the Matsu and Ikoma armies in their task. Okura believed himself the defender of the Lion in a time when his homeland was poorly defended and without the guidance of the Lion Clan Champion. At the same time Crane forces commanded by Daidoji Uji marched against them to retake Shiro no Yojin.
Akuma sought his tribute for the victory over the Unicorn, demanding to bound the Jade Champion's name to an oni. Okura agreed, obliged by the bargain he willingly made, and his name was given to Oni no Okura, a spawn of Akuma. The oni summoned was more powerful than Okura thought, and the Jade Champion's will was overwhelmed and died in the process. With his death Akuma was released from the bounds that trapped within the castle.
Okura had been able to plant the noble heart of a shiryo within Okura no Oni, and this action eventually redeemed its dark spirit. The oni embraced the Lion Clan's ideals, rebelled against Akuma and became the guardian of Tengoku.