John Wick, the L5R story czar from Imperial Edition to Scorpion Clan Coup, put up a lot of his L5R cards for auction in order to raise funds for his RPG project, Orkworld. In notes for the cards he was selling, he included a lot of nifty tidbits about the evolution of the L5R story. I've organised them roughly chronologically.

I wrote a short story with Hitomi and Toturi a very long time ago. Hitomi was one of the first cards Matt ever painted for L5R. I -remember- that Hitomi was the Very First card, but I might be wrong. I sat at my desk with Matt's Hitomi and Randy's Toturi and wrote that short story in a heartbeat. I passed it around the office and felt the energy grow.

That's when I knew we were on to something. We were holding on to a live wire straight from God. And it -felt- like a live wire. It was hard to hold on to. Sometimes, it was -painful- to hold on to.

I'm often asked, "Did you know Yokuni was a dragon, way back then?" I didn't, but Matt did.

Yes, the Two Yakamos were a mistake. An error on my part. When they came back that way, I did a little dance and said, "Kuni Yori summoned an oni, but needed a name to do it. So, he gave Yakamo's name to the oni." That one sentence changed Rokugani metaphysics forever.

(But everyone knows -that- story. Here's one you may not know.)

When we were first planning the storyline, the second chapter was to be called "Netherworld." Unfortunately, Shadowfist's first expansion was called "Netherworld", so we had to come up with something else. "Shadowlands" was proposed (I can't remember exactly who). Then, someone else (or maybe the same person) suggested that the Shadowlands was an actual place, and not just a plane where evil ghosts and ghoulies lived.

Again, Rokugani metaphysics was changed forever. Matt and I drew up a map of Rokugan and put the Shadowlands south of the Empire, making the Crab the custodians of the Empire. We built 'em a wall and put 'em right there.

Later, Rob Vaux would -really- give the Crab character with his -incredible- Way of the Crab.

By the way, Rob is the -real- the Great Bear. Make sure to call him that the next time you see him.

Right now, looking at my Lion Clan page, I see everybody in their place... and Toturi upside down. Dishonored.

When we first put together every Clan, we had a list of generic names. There was the "Lion Clan Beastmaster", "Lion Clan Shugenja", "Lion Clan Samurai A" and "Lion Clan Samurai B".

When Brian Snoddy's Lion Clan Champion came in, we were all thrown for a loop. It was gorgeous. Magnificent. Detailed beyond expectations.

And our Lion Clan Champion was a woman. A real hottie. Dave nearly threw a fit. A -good- fit. We all nearly threw a fit. She was amazing.

Then the "Lion Clan Fallen Champion" came in. Again, we were knocked to the floor. Randy Gallegos' painting was emotional and powerful. There was a story there, between those two characters. I didn't know it when I saw them, but a week later, I knew it well enough to pitch it to the rest of the guys.

I call it "finding" a character. "I haven't found him yet," I'd tell people. It took me the longest time to find Isawa Tadaka, but when I did, he didn't tap me on the shoulder, he klonked me over the head.

Toturi was a bit more subtle.

I found him in Sun Tzu. I found him in Obi Wan Kenobi. A failed man. A beaten man. A sad man. Those eyes of his, they sang songs so dark.

Then there was Tsuko. Rage. Anger. Fury. Righteous anger. The Lioness. Proud. Powerful.

I didn't really find Tsuko and Toturi. They found me. Told me two very different stories.

Well, in retrospect, maybe they were more similar than I first thought.

Take a look at the paintings of Shiba Tsukune and Shiba Ujimitsu.

I -promise you-, the resemblance is completely coincidence.

There's another typo that set Rokugani metaphysics on their ear. Ujimitsu was the only Champion who wasn't unique. Yes, that was a typo. I fixed it the same way I fixed the Two Yakamos.

"Oh. That. Completely intentional. He shows up all over the place. Ubigutous Ujimitsu."

That fed into his whole re-birth bit quite well.

Strangely enough, I found Tsukune's character listening to Alanis Morrisette. Listening to "Uninvited" gave me her character. Dedicated yojimbo, sworn to protect Isawa Tadaka, falling in love with her duty.

Falling in love with her duty. Hm. Those who've heard me talk about love and duty get that one.

You know, a lot of people have asked me who my favorite character is. I have to say, if Toshimoko ain't my favorite, he's a damn close second. And who did I base him on? At first, I based him on an elderly Musashi. Later, as I grew to know him a little better, much of his personality was inspired by game designer extraordinaire, Greg Stafford. The next time you see him, call him "The Gray Crane" for me.

All 8 Dooms from the Shadowlands set.

(Do you know which ones came to pass and which ones didn't? Let's see; there's the Doom of the Dragon with Fu Leng and Yokuni fighting; there's the Lion on the Emerald Throne, so that's the Fall of the Last Akodo; there's the Doom of the Unicorn with all those little critters who represent corruption; there's Doom of the Crab with Yakamo splitting them in half; there's Doom of the Scorpion which shows "Stingy" in a cage - that's Kachiko's marriage to Fu Leng; there's Doom of the Crane, the poor thing looking at a very dark reflection - or is that a dark twin?; there's Doom of the Phoenix, getting wrapped up in darkness - just like the Elemental Masters; then there's Doom of the Naga with that European sword and shield. Hm.

"Shinsei" means "Holy Way". It also means "Hidden Way". It also means (ahem) "Wick's Way". I have two regrets in L5R. One is that I'll never be able to tell the whole Kachiko/Hoturi story. The other is that I'll never get to write The Tao of Shinsei. But you can have it! And, funny enough, it's never been read - I mean, played.

(What do -I- need to read it for? It's -my way-, after all.)

[Prophecies of Uikku]

Not so subtle a joke as "Shinsei", but some people still didn't figure it out until I told them. Funny like that.

Anything else need to be said?

(Okay, I'll say it. C&J was one of my favorite sets. Lots of fun. Got to cripple the Great Bear, got to kill Tsuko, finally got Ginawa experienced. Lots of good story stuff from C&J.)

(And, by the way, we had a story meeting about Tsuko's death. Dave [Williams] fought it from the start. His favorite character. But killing Tsuko was absolutely necessary to the story. Toturi was already the Lion Clan Thunder. There was nothing for her to do but sit back and watch, overshadowed by the ronin. I had to do something with her, something that not only fulfilled the needs of the storyline, but something that would make the Tsuko [and Lion] fans stand up and cheer. Her death was the most important -- and dangerous -- thing we did with the L5R storyline. I got hate mail over it. During the meeting, when I brought it up, Dave stood up and said, "No way! There is No Way you are killing Tsuko!" John Zinser smiled, put his hands down and said, "And that is -exactly- why we're doing it." Meeting's over!"

Again, do I need to say anything else?

(Yeah, I do.)

(I talked about Tsuko's death in that C&J booster lot. At the Day of Thunder, one of my proudest moments was when Tsuko's ghost appeared. All the Thunders were in trouble (two were dead or dying) and Toturi was out on the floor. It was Tsuko's ghost who put him back on his feet, who directed his hand, who helped him [and Hoturi] banish Fu Leng. When Dave W. realized what was happening, who it was that was holding Toturi's hand... I'll never forget his face. One of my proudest moments.)

Did I ever tell you how I sat in a hotel room at Origins in the middle of pouring rain arguing for 3 hours to keep the Scorpions in Rokugan?

Ask me one day. Maybe I'll tell.