A thousand years ago Shinsie and the seven thunders faced Fu Leng deep in the Shadowlands and used the black scrolls to banish his evil from the world.
The Prophecies of Uikku have all come to pass. The last Akodo has fallen. The Crab have been redeemed by a hero. The Phoenix are corrupted from within by the taint of the Shadowlands. The Naga have returned from their slumber with unheeded warnings and misunderstood motives. The Scorpion know they have failed in their ancestral duty to protect the black scrolls. The Lion are divided, the Crane are exhausted and the Unicorn are distracted.
Fu Leng has possessed the body of the last Hantei emperor. Seated now on the emerald throne he vows his revenge will be an eternity of darkness...
...but the descendant of Shinsei has gathered together the greatest heroes of the age, and against all hope the seven thunders ride now for the showdown at the Imperial palace of Otosan Uchi!
The mysterious figure of Togashi Yokuni has returned from his self-imposed exile. Teh Dragon clan champion hides a great secret beneath his mask, a secret which may prove to be the final doom of Fu Leng. he has waited for his opportunity to fulfill his own role in the unfolding prophecy, and with the arrival of the descendant of Shinsei, Yokuni knows his time is now at hand.
Yakamo is determined to enforce the duties of his ancestors, but a rogue element of Crab clan samurai find his newfound purity a sign of weakness, not of strength. They refuse to acknowledge his right to rule them, and they have rallied around the banner of Hida no Oni, the fearsome Shadowlands creature who bears Yakamo's name.
Amid the smoking ruins of their once mighty temples the shugenja of the Phoenix see at last that the Shadowlands taint upon the elemental masters will be their final doom. Without the strength of the council of five, the Phoenix cannot act, and cannot fight. Those shugenja who have embraced the darkness demonstrate that the quest for power at the expense of honor and duty can have hideous consequences.
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The new expansion strongholds for Legend of the Five Rings are here!
Two clans splinter into opposing factions. Now, those who follow their ancient oaths stand alone!
Despite the corruption that eats at the heart of the Phoenix clan elemental masters, many scholars within the clan have managed to avoid the Shadowlands taint. Despite the fact that all of the major Phoenix temples have been destroyed by the armies of Yogo Junzo, the valiant remnants of the once proud Pjoenix clan rally one last time at the side of the seven thunders.
The Crab have sworn to defend the empire from the evil of the Shadowlands. Despite the loss of some to the destuctive lies of the oni who bears Yakamo's name, the rest of the clan has begun to reconstruct the defenses of the empire and the Crab armies have gathered again to march on Otosan Uchi - this time bent on the destruction of the Shadowlands army, not a vain attempt to seize the emerald throne.
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The saga of the clan war of Rokugan began with the fall of the Hantei dynasty. Teh evil forces of the Shadowlands grew in power as the black scrolls were opened one by one, eventually freeing Fu Leng from his thousand year banishment. Possessing the body of the last Hantei emperor, Fu Leng empowered his general, Yogo Junzo, to search for the descendant of Shinsei, destroying the temples of the Phoenix and the Brotherhood of Shinsei.
Now the time has come to end the story. The elemental masters of the Phoenix are corrupted now body and spirit. Fu Leng's minions have assembled into a mighty horde guarding the capital of Otosan Uchi. The Hooded Ronin, son of a thousand year legacy and bearing the bloodline of Shinsei has assembled the seven thunders - a hero from each of the great clans - to face the Dark One as their ancestors did so long ago. The circle is complete, the cycle is ended, and the prophecy has been fulfilled...
Only now do the clans realizethat the Prophecy does not foretell the winner of the coming struggle...