(Message luke:70)
Date:    Thu, 03 Jun 1999 12:12:21 PDT
To:      <l5rinfo@frpg.com>, <l5rstory@frpg.com>
From:    "Luke Peterschmidt" <Lukeout@frpg.com>
Subject: Effects of the GotE tourney

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Hey All,
   Below is what is at stake for each clan at the Gift of the Emperor
Tournaments. If your clan wins, you will receive the prize noted below by
Ree. This is exactly why this game kicks butt.

-All Hail Mighty Story Queen,
Luke


Ree
*********
Gift of the Emperor
The Imperial Ambassador's footsteps have been heard in all the courts of the
Empire. His message, carried from the Throne of Otosan Uchi, was simple,and
to the point: The Emperor has offered his life-gift to the one who best
proves their loyalty and courage in a test of arms. Tell me, daimyo,
Champion
of your people, what would you request of His Imperial Majesty, Toturi the
First, should the honor fall to you?...

Crab: O-Ushi's eyes were cold and hard, her hand on the hilt of Chakara, the
ancestral sword. "My brother may be dead, but my clan still struggles to
defend your Empire. We ask nothing more from the Emperor. What we desire,
you cannot give us: peace of mind and a good night's sleep." Behind O-Ushi,
her husband nodded in agreement, and the men of the Hiruma cheered.
Crane: In the war-torn courts of the Crane, the Kakita Ambassador, Ichiro,
carried forward a scroll. "My Lord instructs me to remind his Highness,"
Ichiro smiled, "That the noble Emperor is yet unwed, and his line is unsafe
from the knives of fortune. It would be the honor of the Crane to provide a
woman worthy of his line, to bear children for the future of Rokugan." The
Kakita's eyes shone with cunning and victorious glee. "A new Bride for the
Emperor, a new Favor for the land."
Dragon: To the north, the blackened rocks of Sleeping Mountain shone dully
in
the warm sun, ice glittering from their peaks. One tattooed man stood at the
path to the Dragon Homelands, meeting the Emperor's court with a sorrowful
smile. As he bowed, he held out a katana-stand, empty and forlorn. "Our
ancient swords are gone, broken and defiled in the Emperor's service. We
would ask a new daisho be commissioned, to represent our new beginning..."

Lion: "Before these dark times, the Lion served the Emperor with our lives,"
Motso said, rising from the Kitsu dais, a haunted shadow in his eyes. "The
decimation of the Clan Wars has robbed us of our place at his right hand.
We, the houses of the Lion, would raise our banner once more, levying
samurai and heimin from every corner of the land to serve with us." An iron
fist raised before a golden banner, the Lion General snarled, "Tell your
Emperor that if he gives us the men, we shall retake our ancestral place at
the right hand of the Jade Throne!"
Phoenix: Shiba Tsukune, Champion of the Phoenix, looked out over the
mountains of her homeland, the letter from the Emperor crushed in her hand.
"Toturi-sama would know what we require?" The Isawa nodded, and the Imperial
Ambassador smiled. "Then tell him it is time for the Phoenix to learn the
ways of war and weapon, the strength of samurai as well as the power of
spell..."

Scorpion: Kachiko stood alone in the darkness, the passing thunder rippling
through her unbound hair. "So, they think to play a game of chance for the
Emperor's prize?" Aramoro knelt, a stolen missive on the ground between
them.
Silk rustled as she turned, her rich lips coiled in a soft smile and bitter
poison in her voice. "One victory, Aramoro, and it will all be ours again...
our lands, our title, and our position in the court. One battle, and we will
be redeemed...."

Unicorn: In the lands of the Unicorn, horses run free and the battles of the
Empire are far away. However, no distance can separate the shame of a fallen
house. "If you wish to aid our people, my Emperor," the daimyo's reply read,
"Then help us to save our people, lost to the Darkness of the Shadowlands.
Send us armor to protect us from our shame, that we can strike a blow
against the Dark Moto Lord."
Naga: "Your kind is strange, but we begin to understand your nature of this
offering. If your Emperor accepts our Dashmar into his court, we will also
provide him with a gift of our own." The Qamar's pearl staff glittered in
the light of the sun. "An Honor Guard, to defend him from the Darkness that
threatens to engulf the land."
Brotherhood: In the temples of the Brotherhood of Shinsei, Takao and the
monks watched as the Ambassador left, his horse dancing down the road away
from the shrine. "Do you believe he will honor your request, Takao-sama?"
One
of the brothers asked. "I can but hope." Takao whispered. "Only the Emperor
knows the truth of his conversation with the Son of Shinsei. Only he can
rewrite the Tao..."

Mantis: On the Phoenix battlefields, Yoritomo's eyes glowed with honor. "The
Mantis Clan will send our Champions to the field, but the prize we demand is
the right to choose the Emperor's heir, should Toturi die without a son to
carry on his name. Strength wil unify the Empire; strength alone can keep it
safe from civil war." In the eyes of the Wasp, cold hatred burned, and the
Ambassador hurried away.
Toturi's Army: "My Lord," Toshiken knelt at the feet of the golden dais, "No
force in the Empire can take us from you, save Death, and Death you cannot
conquer with steel. By spell alone can we rebuild your city and repair your
Empire. We ask that a new school be built, that the power of noble shugenja
can be at your command, as well as the steel of bushido."
Shadowlands:  Maddened laughter and quiet sanity rend the mind of the
sorcerers of the land. "Know this, my children," Yori murmured, and wetness
oozed from his torn lips. "If the Emperor seeks to turn his mind to
children's games and petty gifts, then now is the time to strike. His favor
shall be destroyed, and what we have lost, we shall regain!"
Ninja: "One darkness, one face, one man." Whispers the shadow behind the
Throne in the cold and moonless night. "A soul, for the soulless, a bargain
will be made... and a mind lost, ruined and forsaken, to be forgotten. A
plaything, a creature to serve the Word and the Shadow, forevermore. One we
could not have had without your command..."


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