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From RyanD@frpg.com Mon Jun 29 04:43:43 1998
Date: Sat, 27 Jun 1998 03:13:50 GMT
From: "Ryan S. Dancey" [RyanD@frpg.com]
Newsgroups: rec.games.trading-cards.misc
Subject: [L5R] And so we begin. Hidden Emperor Episode 1 On Sale Today

Greetings!

After many long months of work, the Legend of the Five Rings Design Team
and Five Rings Publishing Group is very pleased to introduce all of you to
the Hidden Emperor story arc!

Beginning today with Episode 1, and continuing for nine monthly
installments, you'll all have a chance to experience another fantastic,
epic, heroic tale set in the mythical world of Rokugan, the Jade Empire, a
land where Honor is a force more powerful than Steel!

The story proper began almost two months ago with the release of the Jade
Edition for L5R. Jade updated the various factions active in the game to
a time period approximately two years after the defeat of the evil god, Fu
Leng on the Day of Thunder. Since that time, the new Emperor, Toturi, has
been consolidating his power and laying the groundwork for the next
thousand years of Rokugan's development.

But something has gone horribly awry.

Toturi is missing. Many believe that the Scorpion clan have taken their
final revenge on the man who killed Bayushi Shoju during the failed
Scorpion Clan Coup. In the halls of the Imperial Assembly there are calls
for blood - after so much has happened, to have Toturi taken from the
Empire is viewed as the ultimate disaster.

A Kitsuki Magistrate presents physical evidence to the Emerald Champion,
Kakita Toshimoko indicating that the Scorpion may not have been involved.
But in Rokugan, evidence is meaningless - only the testimony of samurai
matters. And after the Coup, the many betrayals of Bayushi Kachiko and
the legacy of fear the Scorpion have engendered, many are willing to
testify against them, and no one of repute is willing to stand against the
Assembly.

Toshimoko makes a fateful choice - instead of death, he orders the
Scorpion Clan exiled, never to return. As proof against their treachery,
he orders the young children of the Scorpion taken from the clan, and
fostered among the other Clans. The threat is clear - return, disobeying
Toshimoko's order, and the Scorpion Children die.

Kachiko rallies the tattered remnants of her Clan, and they depart for the
mysterious wasteland known as the Burning Sands under the watchful eye of
their escort, lead by the butcher of the Clan Wars, Matsu Gohei.

Meanwhile, the Crab Clan have instigated the war they have longed to fight
for generations. With Fu Leng dead, the Crab are convinced that they can
destroy the Shadowlands utterly. Lead by their young, powerful daimyo
Hida Yakamo, a massive army of Crab bushi and Naga allies strike deep into
the old Hiruma provinces and liberate the ruins of Hiruma Castle. The
fight goes well for the Crab, until the Naga mysteriously withdraw from
the field and begin a march northward across the Empire. Without the aid
of their serpent allies, the Crab are driven back, and only a stalwart
band, commanded by Yakamo himself remains ensconced in Hiruma Castle.

The Naga are indeed set on a dark errand. They cross the Empire in mere
days, and commence an assault on the ancient mountain fortresses of the
Dragon Clan. In their haste, they spend no time explaining their actions.
Their diplomats have left the Imperial Court, and none speak for the Naga
in the Assembly. To the rest of Rokugan, the Naga appear to have gone
quite insane, and to have turned on their former allies without
provocation.

At the center of this swirling maelstrom stands the man known to the Naga
as The Daini. Formerly a son of the Mirumoto, brother of Hitomi, current
Dragon Clan daimyo, The Daini must make a fateful choice: Stand with his
adopted people against his clan and Family, or turn his back on the clear
signs of evil in the actions of his sister Hitomi.

With the Empire in political chaos, the Hitomi/Naga war threatens to
spread beyond the provinces of the Dragon, especially when word comes from
the Brotherhood of Shinsei that many members of the Ise Zumi, the tattooed
men have left the protection of Hitomi to take up the cause of Togashi
Hoshi, half man, half dragon, and son of the dead kami, Togashi himself.

Under the gathering storm-clouds of war, the Empire of Rokugan begins a
new, bloody chapter in history. The history of the time of the Hidden
Emperor!

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Hidden Emperor Episode 1 consists of 51 cards. 50 of those cards can be
found in HE/1 boosters, and the other card is available in HE/1 starter
decks, featuring the Forests of Shinomen, a new Stronghold for the Naga!

In the boosters, you will find 15 rare cards, 15 uncommon cards and 20
common cards. These cards are normally packed 1R/2U/5C in the 8 card
booster packs.

You should average about 2 complete sets of HE/1 in a Combo display, and
about 4 complete sets of HE/1 in a Booster display.

Booster packs SRP US$1.99, Stronghold Starter Decks, SRP US$8.99.

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Ryan S. Dancey
Brand Manager, Five Rings Publishing Group
Wizards of the Coast

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last modified December 9, 1999

Legends of the Five Rings CCG and the names of some characters are copyright of the Five Rings Publishing Group and Wizards of the Coast. Other names, stories and ideas are copyright MountainView.