Imperial Herald #14, Legend of the Five Rings History
Shadowlands
A series of battles were fought at strategic crossroads of Beiden pass. Hida Sukune, the youngest son of the Crab daimyo, failed to anticipate Toturi's battlefield tactics, and his forces were overwhelmed. Yakamo's forces arrived and, in payment for Sukune's failure, crucified Sukune on the Terrible Standard of Fu Lend. The Crab followed this hideous banner back into battle.
Yakamo located Hitomi in the fray and, empowered by his claw, crushed one of her hands - the one holding the sword of her brother - destroying it.
Nevertheless, the Crab failed to hold Beiden Pass, although it had now become clear to all that they had cut a deal with the Shadowlands.
The Naga sent an emissary, called Dashmar, to the Imperial Assembly to inform the Empire that the naga had awakened from an ages-long slumber to fight the rising tide of evil they sensed in the Shadowlands. Concerned primarily with the Empire's civil war, most imperial courtiers took no serious heed of Dashmar's words. Rebuffed, he sought to locate those individuals who would hear the wisdom of the Naga and act accordingly.
In the libraries of the Phoenix Clan, the Elemental Masters detected the opening of the first Black Scroll - and perhaps more. They dispatched one of their number, Isawa Tadaka, to seek out and recover the Black Scrolls, so that the Phoenix might learn the scrolls' true nature.
The Scorpion Clan began to rebuild its forces in
secret, reoccupying many of its ruined castles and fortifications.
Kachiko used her power as the Emperor's wife to end the Crane's
purge of the Scorpion and to restore the Scorpion to some measure
of safety. She also began to secretly poison the Emperor, seeking
to torture him greatly before killing him as punishment for killing
her husband. Acting with great decorum, Kachiko became, in some
sense, the unofficial regent of the Empire, wrapping the bureaucracy
around her finger.