Moronoka was grateful to be released - and almost as grateful to be fed.  She'd been on the road on foot for several days; she was exhausted and half-starved. One of the villagers from Kawacho had disappeared, along with a shipment of Kawacho-brewed sake he was delivering to a samurai in Hirosaka called Ide Sayaka.  Nori (she did tell the PCs his family called themselves the Hidetaka, not that that family name had any legal weight to samurai) had left Kawacho nearly three weeks ago - more than long enough that he should have reached Sayaka's home near Hirosaka and returned to Kawacho before Moronoka set out. Nori was inevitably going to be longer than usual making the delivery, since he was having to pull the cart by hand, but even allowing for this, he was overdue when his family came to ask for Moronoka's help. "Oops." - Goriate's PC realising the situation may be at least partly their fault. More to the point, Moronoka had followed the same road Nori should have taken - meaning if he was simply delayed, she should have passed him - and she'd visited Sayaka's estate to confirm that Nori had never reached it. There were rumours of highwaymen and bandits - she'd seen no sign of them herself, but she was a single person, on foot, in cheap clothes and carrying swords; basically a walking "this one's not worth the trouble" sign.  She was intending to make her way back along the road slowly, checking sideroads and alternate routes. She was asking if one (or more!) of the magistrates could ride to Kawacho and make their way back along the road in the other direction, since that would drastically reduce the time the search would take. She'd come to Hirosaka because finding a Scorpion magistrate would have taken her a week the wrong way (since Kawacho was a very remote village) and they wouldn't have had authority within the Imperial holdings anyway. By comparison, Goriate had seemed like someone she could trust and she hoped she could prevail on whatever goodwill the provision of horses had bought her. The PCs were feeling a bit guilty, and did promise to help. They told Ryu and the household staff to provide Moronoka with a place to sleep for the night and to get four travelling packs made up. Since they'd be leaving Hirosaka to pursue the matter, they did think to ask Seppun Ishima before just disappearing for a week. They also felt they should make a point of replacing the mules they took from Kawacho. Getting horses from Ishima for their own travel was feasible, but getting four more horses that they wouldn't be returning took a more challenging courtesy check. They passed - primarily because they were prepared to take pretty grotty nags (they were for pulling heimin carts, not for samurai riding, after all). More importantly, they got enough opportunities for Ishima not to ask about the circumstances in which the PCs found themselves owing a scorpion village a bunch of horses.  Ishima was fairly happy to allow the PCs to head out of Hirosaka - she had previously said that she intended to use the magistrates to enforce laws in the outer villages, since she could send them and they'd have 'on-site' authority to make sensitive decisions and rulings that a yoriki or doshin wouldn't. When they told her about the squabble at the northeast gate between Moronoka and the city guard, she seemed unsurprised - she'd had her own problems in the last few days. In this case, she said, she was sending them to look for a runaway peasant named Haru. Sadly, she didn't have much of a description to offer - medium height, medium build, dark hair, and a gift for looking like and behaving like other people.  Haru was a con artist - whose main stock-in-trade was impersonating a high-status courtier - he'd pretend to be an obscure ambassador, or distant relative, to worm his way into a wealthy merchant or samurai household, and take advantage of the host's food, sake and occasionally prettier daughters before he was found out and (inevitably) would disappear swiftly.  This time, though, the offended party had been rather quicker off the mark than Haru's usual victims, and he hadn't been able to vanish into the common population of the city like he usually did. He tried to flee the city, but a pair of Seppun Ishima's doshin summoned by the family servants had caught up with him as he was trying to flee through Hirosaka's north-east gate.  This is where it all went wrong. Because what the Seppun guards on the gate saw was a well-dressed samurai courtier being tackled to the ground by two peasant doshin. So of course they intervened, dragged the doshin off Haru and beat them to a pulp. By the time they managed to explain what was going on, Haru was out of the gates and vanished along the road into the treeline. "So far as we know, he has no money on him." Ishima said, "and he certainly has no travelling papers so I doubt he'll be stupid enough to dare the Scorpion Clan border. That means he'll most likely go to ground somewhere along the road - which probably means Nestled Village, Twin Blessings Village or Closed Shell Castle. If you're passing through the region anyway, you can search for any sign of him."  
Happy that they'd gotten official permission to look for Nori - and horses into the bargain, the PCs set off. Their first stop, after a day of travel, was Twin Blessings - or rather Otoha's waystop. They planned to do their searching on the return journey, when not slowed down by the four 'spare' horses, so they didn't actually enter the village itself, camping over at the waystop, relaxing with some nice tea provided by Otoha. During the evening, Uiri was slightly irked to discover a piece of parchment in his travelling pack. On it was a haiku: "You are the person / I'll never stop looking for / In a crowded place." It was unsigned, but whilst Uiri didn't know where it had come from in-character, out of character there was a bone-deep sigh. "She's hiding love-poems in my bags now?" Goriate's player is now trying to persuade Suiren to help him forge more love-poems. This will either be hilarious, or result in a duel to the death. Most likely both, as Suiren's player is trying to decide whether to suggest sending a forged poem purporting to be from Uiri back to Suki. The following day, passing through the woods not too distant from Closed Shell Castle, they encountered a huge grey wolf on the road. It was watching them from some distance ahead, and produced an irritated snarl as they approached. Horonigai tried to approach in a non-threatening fashion, at which point it vanished into the underbrush. The PCs were understandably nervous, and were expecting to be ambushed by a wolf pack at some point later in that day.  Suiren decided that the best plan was for him to follow the PCs in the trees. The forest was pretty dense, so it wasn't too hard, but keeping up with the magistrates riding would push his Weak Heart. Aside from various George of the Jungle jokes (watch out for that tree!), it went okay. He didnt fail but didn't get any opportunities so wasn't being quiet about it.  Whilst the PCs weren't surprised to be attacked by a pack of ten starving wolves, some time later, it's impossible to stay alert indefinitely and they were caught by surprise in the moment. Suiren and Horonigai - with their higher vigilance - were able to go first, but Uiri and Goriate went after the wolves. Horonigai's first action was to draw her wakizashi and cut the 'spare' horses - and Siuiren's horse - loose. Panicked by the wolves, the horses scattered. Suiren tried to scare the wolves off with a bow-shot from the trees, but didn't achieve much.  The wolves rushed forwards, ignoring Horonigai but pouncing on and mauling the spare horses. Goriate and Uiri charged forwards, the Crab killing one wolf outright with a sickening crack with his tetsubo, whilst Uiri wounded a second, leaving it fleeing the field.  At this point the large wolf appeared. Horonigai tried to talk to it, but any peaceful solution which might have been possible was no longer relevant as the corpse of the wolf Goriate had killed twitched nervelessly ground. She did distract the wolf guardian, though, which allowed Suiren to launch himself from the trees at it, sword in hand. Fortunately (this being a risky action) he didn't screw up, and landed a critical strike, badly wounding the wolf despite its fitness check. Seeing the pack leader wounded, the other wolves turned tail and fled, and the grey wolf followed. Goriate and Uiri pursued briefly, killing a second wolf, before they were outdistanced.  two of the horses intended for the villagers had been killed, but fortunately all the riding horses were broadly unharmed. Checking them over, the PCs set of onwards to Kawacho.  

As it happens, that was pretty much the plan. Kazuya wouldn't be required to stick her neck out by creating the situation, but making supportive noises from the background would go a long way. More importantly, she could secure the audience in her role as Chamberlain - keeping it entirely a matter within Sora's household and not involving his court. Uiri took on the job of talking to Sora-sama; assisted by Kazuya throwing in two hoarded void points - one to Seize the moment, and one to invert his Bluntness disadvantage; essentially speaking as one of Sora's vassals and saying as bluntly as he dared "It's our [subtext: your] fault and hence we [subtext: you] have to fix it". He rolled well (despite eating a fair amount of strife due to his Hatred of Formal Court Protocol), and Sora - who was trying to keep at arm's length from the whole affair and didn't want to deal with this annoyance early in the morning - essentially sent him on his way with a "Yes, yes, that. Tell Abe-san to stand in for the Crane if she's not well enough by midday." At the same time, Suiren went to talk to Daidoji Unoku - who - predictably - borderline freaked out. The advisor was able to reassure her they were working on it and a suitable substitute would be found, which mollified her a lot, until they dropped the fact it was Seppun Abe. Unoku may not be an especially nice person but she was a pretty good judge of character and had seen the same display of drunkenness from Abe at the dinner that Horonigai had. Unfortunately for her, the decision had already been made by Sora - Suiren was 'just the messenger' - and she lacked the status to protest. After all, she could hardly suggest the Imperial captain wasn't up to the task without both insulting Abe's own prowess and criticising Sora's judgement for assigning him to her.   
The duel was, as previously agreed, held on the white sand square outside the Magistrate's Station. Usagi Norinaga and Seppun Abe faced off in formal robes, in a classic iaijutsu duel to first blood.  Uiri acted as marshal of the field - he had invigilated a duel during Winter Court, so had more than enough credentials for the role here.  As it happens, a judge's decision was hardly necessary. Usagi Norinaga's main quality as a swordsman - hardly surprising for a Hare clan samurai - was his speed, and the edge of Akodo Kage's sword sliced along the Seppun's forearm before even a quarter of Abe's blade had cleared its sheath. Hatsue, acting as Uiri's assistant, bound up Seppun Abe's wound. It was pretty clear the former Seppun Miharu felt embarrassed by how badly the captain had done, and the handful of witnesses who didn't know Abe very well clearly felt the same. Daidoji Unoku bowed and formally apologised to the Lion and the Hare in sequence, but was clearly fuming. She muttered something nasty-sounding about 'consequences' to the Usagi samurai, who looked very worried, and then withdrew from the square - leaving Hirosaka fairly shortly afterwards as it was clear her backfiring plot had basically pushed the Seven Waves otokodate - who, in the person of Hideki, had also witnessed the duel - into the Lion's waiting arms.  
That was more or less it. The PCs still stood as mediators for the remainder of the talks, but now, with only one party seriously in contention, they weren't really needed. Once the deal was agreed in principle, early in the afternoon, they left and headed back to the townhouse, where Kakita Riku - still watched over by Goriate - was finally able to sit up slightly and had cleaned herself up a little with Suki's help. Later that afternoon, Usagi Norinaga and Kitsune Amane (who'd managed to maintain a more cordial working relationship than their great clan allies through the whole thing) came to the townhouse - hoping to check that Kakita Riku was recovering well. Both had heard the 'food poisoning' story from the court, and showed no sign of knowing anything else (Goriate may have asked some leading questions of Norinaga in a rather intimidating voice, leaving the poor Hare courtier very confused). It turned out Sora had been as furious as expected with his relative's performance, and - needled about it behind the scenes by Otomo Kazuda - had seen Seppun Abe removed from his post as captain and demoted to a common guardsman, assigned to the city gates rather than the Daimyo's court. Which meant Kazuda (in Sora's mansion) probably got what she wanted in terms of not having to deal with him again, but he would be loitering in the city and the PCs may have to encounter him again in the future.  Norinaga also privately noted to Goriate (the Crab's Hero of Shiro Usagi advantage getting the Hare to open up more than he probably should have done) that in many ways, there needn't have been a duel in the first place, as clearly there'd been some miscommunication about what the ronin were wanted for. "Apparently Kage-sama wasn't hiring ronin for service in the Osari Plains after all; the Seven Waves mercenaries are all being sent to a marshalling post near Shiro Matsu instead." "Oh?" "Yes, it surprised me too. Shiro Matsu is too far south for a force staged there to deploy to the disputed areas in the Osari Plains, let alone the Kintani Valley near Kyotei and Toshi Ranbo. But Kage's orders from Matsu Tsuko were very specific. Also, there was something else...you remember how Kage was constantly wanting to know what skills each of the various Seven Waves cadres had beyond just swordsmanship?" "Yes, I think." "Well, Lady Matsu has hired a majority of the otokodate anyway - evidently Kage's coin purse was deeper than he was letting on - but I did notice that they've hired every cadre that claims any meaningful experience of siege warfare. Every. Single. One." "That sounds bad..."

It had just been observed Seppun wouldn't normally support either faction. But regardless of faction politics, they would if their own honour was somehow on the line. Seppun Sora wouldn't be seen as 'siding with the Crane' if he were providing a replacement second for Unoku because he was responsible for her Yojimbo not being available. Riku had no idea what had actually happened, and Rumiko's 'poison' had the symptoms of catastrophic food poisoning, the morning after she ate at a formal dinner given by the Seppun Daimyo. If that were the case, Riku couldn't be blamed as she was seen by the court to be restrained and not overindulging at the meal, and hence her unavailability would be Sora's responsibility, even if he wasn't personally at fault. In that case providing the services of one of his bushi as a stand-in would be the honourable choice.  
That plan, if it worked, took care of any public question of Kakita Riku's honour (the highborn Crane's personal sense of self-worth would likely take a lot longer to recover after her friends seeing her as they did). It also presented, as Horonigai put it, 'an opportunity'. Sora would want to ensure Daidoji Unoku had a strong swordsman as a substitute; if only to prevent any rumours he was responsible. Theoretically, the best swordsman at his disposal should be the captain of his personal guard, Seppun Abe. Who was in fact far less skilled than his position merited and whom Horonigai happened to know would at this point be fighting through a massive hangover, if he was even awake yet.... Fighting and losing was one thing, but a truly dismal performance by Abe - which was supposedly quite likely - when the Daimyo had staked his own honour on the duel - would be shameful enough to justify Otomo Kazuda getting rid of the wastrel, as requested.

looking at the lore that doesnt happen as much as people think. It cant. because if it did they would have been destroyed generations ago. That is the biggest problem with the old lore. and why the new lore is so much better.

I think you expect the Scorpian to be lying far more often than they actually do so. If the scorpion lie as much as you think they do they would never be trusted their lies would be ineffective. So no the scorpian do not alway lie. in fact it would extremely rare

I absolutely agree that flavor text can be an awesome contribution to the story.
Who's going to write it?
FFG pays it writers, so the per-word rate would apply to flavor text on cards as much as it does to fiction. Assuming their budget for writing products is pretty much fixed through their fiscal year (and it almost certainly is), then it's a zero-sum game. In other words, how much fiction are you willing to forego, to get the flavor text put on cards?

Well, to be honest, monetary stuff is kinda redundant thematically, and is largely a chore even with the super-handwavey 4th edition system. We kinda need even simpler rules and not even more complicated. 
 
Like, in my group, we just roll Commerce (Acquisition) / Intelligence or Bureaucracy (Conduction) / Intelligence against a TN pre-determined by our GM depending on what the character wants, and if they succeed, they get what they want. Alternatively, one can replace Intelligence with Wealthy ranks or buy Free Raises by taking Obligation/Ransom (1 Free Raise/point). 
 
There is no point to make it any more complex. Things are either too small (Want a spear? Go down to the armory and take it!), too big (You will gain and lose hundreds of koku each hour as a merchant patron, so why bother?), or go beyond the limits of money (You need to flash something much more than a few koku to get a nemuranai!).  

Goriate launched himself out of his chair and ran towards Kakita Riku's room, with Horonigai and the others following. The Hida practically tore the shoji door to his fiancee's room off its mounting, finding Riku on her knees on the floor next to her sleeping mat, apparently trying to throw up her own toenails. The lacquered floor, and her yukata, was spattered with vomit, and for all her normal Crane reserve her face was tear-stained from pain as her stomach heaved again and again. Anything Riku had eaten had long been regurgitated and all that was left to bring up was stomach acid and bile. Her arms were shaking as she tried to hold herself upright and her signature black-and-white hair was wrapped around one hand whose fingers refused to grip it, in a futile attempt to hold it out of the way. A mortified whimper of "Don't look at me!" was all she managed between dry heaves, trying to turn her back on her friends and nearly collapsing as she did so. Horonigai, as Riku's close friend, went to try and help - snatching the 'tonic' out of Suiren's hands and basically shoving the men out of the room.   
Goriate was - unsurprisingly - incandescently angry. It was only once Horonigai came out and confirmed that the poison didn't seem to be a fatal one and the 'tonic' did seem to have been an antidote that he was talked down from pursuing the Ikoma. The contents of the bottle had neutralized whatever emetic Rumiko had used, and Riku was no longer being sick - but she was as weak as a kitten and she'd be lucky if she could either stand or hold a sword upright that day, let alone do both. There was no way she could act as Daidoji Unoku's second. Assuming Kage had planned this, Goriate was all for standing in himself, before it was pointed out that the person he'd be allowed to vent his rage on if he did was Usagi Norinaga, not the Lion delegate himself. Given his reaction the previous night, the Hare wasn't aware of what was going to happen, and hardly deserved the injuries Hida Goriate would likely inflict if allowed to draw steel on someone. Just as importantly, the three magistrates had been explicitly ordered to be 'impartial' by Seppun Ishima, which was hardly compatible with acting as champion to one side. Finally, as he realised himself, he wasn't going anywhere until he was happy Riku was out of any possible danger...  
With Goriate refusing to leave Riku's side, that left Suiren or Uiri to go and tell Daidoji Unoku that her Yojimbo was 'unavailable' and she might have to fight the duel-to-first-blood herself. "That's not going to go well, is it?" "I doubt it. She's the kind of politician who's probably never drawn a sword for real in her life. Right now she thinks she's a political genius whose sprung a cunning trap on her enemies. We've got to go tell her that not only is her plan not going to work, but someone saw it coming and one of the people supposed to be affected by it essentially gets a 'free swing' at her in the process." "Saw it coming?" "Rumiko almost certainly did....whatever...yesterday lunchtime. When she was free and Suiren elected not to meet her. That means that whatever she dosed with poison was done before the challenge was actually issued." "How'd they know she Unoku would make her accusations?"  "Because Kage knew when he planned to say something 'stupid'. And sure enough, the Crane leaps to her feet yelling 'gotcha' and thinking she's in control of the situation..." It was agreed that the PC with the high courtesy rank (Suiren) would be better doing this than the one with the Bluntness disadvantage (Uiri). Meanwhile, the PCs tried to figure out what they were going to do. It was clear from their discussion they didnt really care who won the duel, but if only for Riku's honour, they had to make a credible attempt to find a substitute for Unoku's second. Their orders from Ishima mean the chief magistrate would be unlikely to help, and whilst as a former Miharu, Hatsue was probably close to Riku's equal as a duellist, she shouldn't be allowed to either. A ronin was a non-starter - either winning or losing would mean offending one of the two clans representing the most profitable work for Hirosaka's ronin community - and any otokodate depending on that work. Kitsune Amane had no more place in a duel than Unoku herself; unlike Norinaga, who might not be a bushi but looked like he could handle himself, Amane wasn't a serious combatant (frankly the cheerful, jokey Fox wasn't a serious anything). If asked to take the Daidoji's place, she probably would, but all that would achieve would be for her to suffer the injury instead of Unoku; it wouldn't change the outcome and palming the injury off onto an ally might be good for Unoku personally but it was hardly an option for the Crane politically. That left either one of the other great clans, who weren't likely to want to stick their necks out - and, Uiri noted, Mirumoto Kazuya could be counted on to stick her oar in for the sake of making her nephew's life as difficult as possible. The final possibility was one of the Seppun. Sora was probably unlikely to aid one party or the other without extremely good cause, since he was nominal host to both.... ...And that's when Horonigai had a nasty idea.

The following morning was comparatively relaxed - there would be no negotiations before the duel was resolved at lunchtime. Suiren was, of course, up bright and early to meet Rumiko. Fuji had laid out his court finest.  "What....why?" "Kaito-sama's instructions, Shosuro-sama. Did I do wrong?"  "Never mind..just....normal clothes....please." "ALSO FOR THE LAST TIME IT'S NOT A DATE!!!!" - Suiren's player.. Ikoma Rumiko arrived shortly after, and the two went for a pleasant breakfast at an izakaya that the Lion recommended, just one square over from the townhouse, which turned out to be delicious.  "Oh...by the way," said Rumiko, "I have a gift."  She produced a small bottle, which, she explain, was a 'health tonic' and very good for "distemper of the stomach, nerve palsy, chest pains....the apothecary who prepares it swears by it. Everyone it's given to generally swears at it, instead, because it tastes very bitter, but in a day or so they're fully recovered." Suiren thanked her, but said she didn't need to offer a gift. The Ikoma actress replied that since she was only a visitor to the town, he was effectively the host and she the guest, so she felt she did. They went through the nominal refusals, but in the end - slightly bemused - he accepted it. As planned, Suiren walked Rumiko to the north-east gate, where the rest of the troupe was waiting. As he took his leave, he overheard Rumiko being needled by one of the other actors about how her romantic breakfast had gone......  
A short while later, back at the townhouse.... "So...how was your breakfast? Did the two of you enjoy the sunrise together?" The three magistrates were being served their own breakfast by Ryu, and were all enjoying taking cheap shots at their advisor. Suiren told the other PCs and showed the 'gift', which didn't help. "Maybe she's worried you can't keep up with her if the relationship gets serious." "I'm keeping a tally of these, and there will be consequences, you know." "It's good to know she's concerned for you, isn't it?" All joking aside, Surien does have both the Weak Heart and (courtesy of Kakita Toshimoko) Nerve Damage disadvantages, so it made a sort of sense, which frankly made the teasing worse. "I...have a different question." Said Mirumoto Uiri, interrupting suddenly. "Why does someone who's been staying at the Daimyo's mansion know where to get really good street food right next to this house?"  
 
 
 
 
 
"Oh."  
 
 
 
 
 
"....erm....has anyone seen Riku yet this morning?"

When Horonigai and Riku returned, Goriate and Riku had a private talk. Horonigai had noted Riku's reaction when talking to the Daidoji but decided not to press her friend as Unoku had clearly ordered her to keep quiet; she asked the Crane to warn her if she was going to have to deal with anything improper or illegal but otherwise respected her confidences. Goriate, on the other hand, felt the reverse - if whatever Unoku and Riku had discussed was making the Kakita uneasy he felt it was better to know about it. As an impartial magistrate he wasnt supposed to care who 'won' the debate, but he didnt intend to allow Riku to get ground up in the gears in the process. The PCs didn't have to let anyone know they knew, and didn't have to act on it, but Goriate didnt plan on leaving Riku potentially stuck in a dangerous position when they might have been able to help. It took a difficult sentiment check, but he was able to persuade Riku to open up. The duellist was used to fighting in honour duels to avenge a genuine insult. To deliberately trap someone in a trick of wording to justify seeking a duel over triviality, though, seemed wrong - even in a good cause. Daidoji Uneko had been sitting back and allowing Akodo Kage plenty of rope in the hopes he'd use it to hang himself. The 'border dispute' line that everyone kept pushing was more than just a convenient fiction for the courts: 'war' between the great clans was forbidden by edict. If she could get Kage to admit the ronin were intended for somethinh which she could argue at court was a wartime duty, she could accuse him of conspiring to violate Imperial law and challenge him with three Emerald Magistrates as witnesses. Yes, the Crane were probably doing exactly the same thing but Unoku was keeping her mouth shut on exactly what Seven Waves were being hired for for precisely this reason. With no Yojimbo, he'd presumably have to face Kakita Riku in person, and Unoku had instructed her to cripple the Lion if she got the chance.  Regardless, losing a duel meant Daidoji Unoku's accusation would be legally sustained. The Lion would have to disavow Akodo Kage's actions, meaning he and Usagi Norinaga would be ejected from Hirosaka, leaving the Lion at least temporarily without any influential representative in the region, and no reputable otokodate would deal with the clan for some time. In short, this wasn't about Seven Waves, it was about choking off the Lion's ability to recruit ronin in the southern cities entirely, giving the Crane forces in the Osari Plains breathing room. This was....well, frankly, kind of hypocritical as it's not like the Crane wanted to hire Seven Waves to stand around looking pretty. But it was within the law, and frankly whilst Akodo Kage was presumably competent with his katana he wasn't a credible threat to Riku. So there wasn't a lot the PCs could do except stand around and watch the car crash happen.  
Meanwhile, the not-a-date was actually going pretty well. Suiren found Rumiko very affable company, and they spent a pleasant evening talking theatre.  One off-hand comment left Suiren realising Rumiko had been on the Islands of Spice and Silk the previous autumn. This wasn't a secret but was something the PCs never cottoned on to during Winter's Embrace, and with that detail added into the mix they're now damned sure (correctly!) that the Ikoma were involved in the Mantis' unexpected invitation to Kyuden Doji. Rumiko actually offered to meet Suiren for a midday meal the following day, since there was a break in rehearsal whilst the troupe had final costume fittings, but he wasn't happy leaving the okiya - since he was the only PC in the antechamber. Rumiko took this pretty well - after all, a Scorpion saying 'sorry, but duty' is hardly unexpected. The two agreed to dine again in the evening instead, which was apparently the kabuki actor's last night in Hirosaka before the troupe left early the following morning.   
The following day, events proceeded pretty much as before. The Lion, Crane and Seven Waves arrived separately, talked in meaningless diplomatic circles for the morning, tea ceremonies at midday, and then settled down for the afternoon session. Suiren was especially paranoid at lunchtime in case Ikoma Rumiko had tried to sneak into the okiya for some wierd reason. The PCs were sure the Lion were plotting something, they just didn't know what. Later that afternoon, Daidoji Unoku finally dropped the hammer. A reference by Kage to 'forward garrison duty' - implying captured territory - was evidently enough in her eyes, and she interrupted, levelling her accusation of intending to violate Imperial edict at the Lion representative. Akodo Kage, as he had to in the situation, demanded satisfaction, which Unoku accepted. Kage suggested dawn for the duel, but after the  Magistrates objected politely, the two settled on midday. Officially the objection was based on Rokugani tradition that duels at dawn and dusk are inauspicious. In fact it was because the PCs wanted to ensure Ikoma Rumiko was out of the city. They also suggested the 'white sands of justice' in front of the magistrate's station to host the duel. Unoku, obviously, instructed Riku to act for her, whilst Akodo Kage offered the use of his sword to Usagi Norinaga, who accepted. With that, the delegates and PCs left slightly early for the day as there didn't seem to be much point staying.  
 
Horonigai once again dined with Riku and Unoku and watched the last Kabuki performance. After the show, Rumiko and Suiren skulked off for another 'date'. "IT'S NOT A DATE! WILL YOU THREE DROP IT!!" - Suiren's player. The not-a-date went as well as the first one, with the two getting on well, and Rumiko asked if she could call on Suiren at home the following morning and the two take breakfast right before the troupe left the town. In no small part happy to walk her to the city gates afterwards and have the opportunity to confirm she'd actually left, Suiren accepted. Back at Sora's mansion, Horonigai and Kakita Riku were about to head back to the townhouse. As they were leaving, the Hare representative, Norinaga, came to talk to Riku. He expressed regret for the two being stuck in a duel, and offered his respects. He'd agreed to act for Kage because the Hare were Lion Clan allies, because he was younger and fitter than the elderly Kage and because he'd been hiring ronin himself for the Lion before the great clans had gotten directly involved, so he could be considered included in Uneko's accusation by implication.  Kakita Riku was merely doing her duty as Yojimbo, so Norinaga didn't want to have to fight her - not least because in addition to the debt the Hare owed her for acting as champion to Usagi Tomoe, he'd spoken to people who'd watched that duel from the walls of Shiro Usagi. His duty gave him no choice, though. The courier's honest opinion of his chances against the Tsume-trained duellist the following lunchtime could be summed up by his only-half-joking use of the phrase "also, please, not the face..."

So - in the morning, everyone headed to Chinoka's okiya for the negotiations. Suiren headed directly there to co-ordinate with Chinoka.  He found two armed ronin outside the okiya - whilst security inside was the responsibility of the Emerald magistrates, Chinoka had hired Himari and Keinosuke again to stand guard at the doors. Fortunately neither was aware that the PCs had been following them only the night before, suspecting them of being murderous undead. Inside, the geisha had prepared a meeting room with three tables for the delegates - Crane, Lion and Seven Waves Ronin - with an antechamber for their assorted aides (the Hare and Fox clan representatives and Unoku's yojimbo). The space between the tables was decorated with some bonsai plants and flowers, meaning anyone at one table would have to go the long way around to reach one of the others, rather than crossing the middle of the room. Each of the corners of the room had a cushion set for one of the magistrates to sit, with the fourth - by the door - also having a tea service for Chinoka to wait to serve the delegates as needed. He greeted the Seven Waves representative - a ronin called Hideki, who arrived with an aide who'd be in the sideroom. Riku and Horonigai headed to collect Daidoji Unoku and Kitsune Amane. Riku went into the Crane's chambers and fell in behind her in yojimbo mode, whilst Horonigai and Amane were joking. Having heard about Amane's increasingly ridiculous 'missions', Horonigai suggested as a joke sending some of Ryu's gyoza to the Crane in the Osari Plains.  "Good?" "Oh, yes. We've missed Ryu's gyoza so much..." "Hmm.. probably rates a full squad to protect it then. Maybe even a cavalry escort to help it get there fresh!"  Goriate and Uiri collected Akodo Kage and Usagi Norinaga from the mansion as well - pointedly from a different gate, with Otomo Kazuda sticking to her promise to keep the two delegates seperate wherever possible.   
Whilst the three magistrates watched the debates, Suiren would watch the sideroom. The PCs were convinced something nasty was being planned, so were looking to make sure no-one was served food or drink that wasn't from a communal plate or tea ceremony (so you couldn't poison one delegate without poisoning everyone) and, whilst in theory the magistrates were just impartial security, they did their best to follow the delegates' bargaining strategies.  Daidoji Unoku's the oddest - largely letting Kage speak and occasionally interjecting observations. She was offering very lucrative payments but with little detail and mostly seemed to be encouraging the Lion delegate to speak.  She also seemed to be deliberately being provocative and borderline rude in some of her statements to the Lion. Akodo Kage meanwhile was focusing more on getting a feel for the skills the various ronin within Seven Waves had. One thing Goriate noted was that the Lion delegate had brought his katana, which he hadn't worn in Kyuden Kitsune - suggesting he expected to have to fight in person. This was a little odd, since he'd dispensed with his ronin yojimbo's services. Hideki was clearly leaning more to the Lion than Crane, since the former was offering more details than the latter and - despite the pay - feeding the otokodate's manpower into an unknown situation was a quick way to end up slaughtered. The Crane were offering a lot of money, though, so Hideki was doing his best not to commit to either side until he had to.  At midday, discussions paused. Chinoka performed a formal tea ceremony for the delegates in the main room (much to the gratitude of the PCs who picked up a void point), whilst she passed word for similar refreshments to be provided to the antechamber. It was, inevitably, Sakura who came and did the same for the side-room.  During a break in the ceremony, she asked to speak to Suiren. She said she had information and a question. The information turned out to be that one of the okiya's attendants had seen the Crane delegation arrive - Unoku, Amane, Riku and Horonigai. That person had also been stationed near the okiya's doors during Chinoka's mysterious 'vip conference', and was certain that Daidoji Unoku and the Crane samurai from that evening were one and the same The PCs weren't sure how to take this - but, given that the other parties had been an Ikoma and an Imperial samurai, "she's plotting something" seemed likely. "And what was the question?" It turned out that Sakura had heard a rumour that Hida Goriate's betrothed was arriving in the city in the next few days. She wanted to talk to Suiren to confirm this, and to see what the plan was - she was concerned that at some point an outraged kakita duellist would burst out of nowhere and decapitate her before she could explain anything. Suiren's player's eye's went wide at this point and the Shosuro was rather uncharacteristically flustered as he tried to get the geisha (who didn't realise Riku was not only already in Hirosaka but was sat in the room) to drop the subject RIGHT NOW before the Kakita overheard them. "If you screw this up, I will kick you so hard your testicles will fly out through your eye sockets" - Goriate's player.  Unsurprisingly, Suiren chose to use his newly acquired void point on the check, and - whilst it was concerningly close, he managed to pass due to a lucky resolution of an explosive success. Sakura wasn't entirely sure about the reason, but she got the hint and dropped the subject.  Riku didn't overhear the specific subjects discussed, being on the other side of the antechamber. But she did catch Suiren and Sakura in close discussion and is aware the Scorpion and the Geisha have a private relationship of some kind. That evening, the various factions headed back to their respective quarters.  Horonigai decided to try and talk to the Crane - all the PCs were aware her negotiating tactics made no sense based on what they knew - so she asked Otomo Kazuda to let her attend the meal at Seppun Sora's court - ostensibly to get a better sight of Seppun Abe, the guard captain Kazuda had asked her to help get rid of. Unoku was happy to speak to her but was politely dismissive - she was 'acting in the best interests of the Crane and the Osari Plains' and she did not require any assistance. Horonigai noticed that Kakita Riku looked unhappy at this but said nothing. She also got her first good look at Seppun Abe - and the young, expensively groomed Seppun officer cheerfully drinking himself into a stupor in the corner of the room certainly seemed to live up to Otomo Kazuda's criticisms of him.  After returning Daidoji Unoku back into the care of Seppun Sora's guards, Horonigai and Riku made their way back to the townhouse. Horonigai - unfortunately - realised slightly too late that leaving the court in Riku's company announced to Uiri's aunt, Mirumoto Kazuya, where the PCs had vanished to after she tried to sabotage their attempts to lease a property in Hirosaka. It was inevitable she'd have found out sooner or later, though.  Uiri and Goriate were home earlier, and arrived to find Ryu instructing two new heimin servants he'd hired in the town in their duties. Due to the PC's lack of funds, they'd have to deal with only the three as household staff for a while.  One, Fuji, would be combination quartermaster and valet, and was a Hirosaka local, whilst the other, Suki, was an experienced attendant formerly of Shiro Usagi. Since the Usagi family was largely gone from the castle, there was little need for her services, and she'd come to Hirosaka 'to find work'. "Wait.....wasn't Suki the name of the maid who was obsessed with Uiri?" "Yes." "She's actually followed him, hasn't she? I mean; Ryu doesn't know who she is, but it's a not a coincidence, is it?" "Yes, and no, respectively." "Bugger." Meanwhile, after their performance in Sora's mansion, the Ikoma Kabuki troupe dispersed, and Ikoma Rumiko met Suiren at the mansion's entrance for their 'date'. "Oh give it a rest. It's not a date." "How do Shinobi flirt, anyway? What's 'small talk'? Preferred shuriken styles? Fashion trends in the world of illegal concealed weaponry?" "IT'S NOT A DATE!" "Totally is." (Suiren and Horonigai's players)

If you're concerned about current canon, then the Maisuna family of the Crab doesn't exist. This appears to just be a Romanji version of "Mason", as in "stone mason"; it was a Kaiu vassal family in the old lore. When I was writing the Crab novella, and described the Gates of Persistence in the Shinomen Mori, I had them built by Kaiu; in the old lore, it was a Maisuna, but FFG seems quite determined to excise things like that from their current lore. There may be other vassal family names that suffer from the same issue.
Of course, if you don't particularly care about the current canon, then by all means carry on, full speed ahead!

I don't want to assume that everyone reading this is necessarily familiar with the distinctions between the old setting, and the current one. Newer players/fans could read this and go, Spider Clan? Huh? What did I miss? It's all part of trying to keep things accessible to both the established AND the new folks.

There was one game (set in the pre-coup era) I was in where an important gift given by the Crane was a beautiful carving made from the previous gates of Toshi Ranbo.

That's why it's important to not give the Emperor something functional or utilitarian, something "off the shelf" or so generic that it has no true meaning. For instance, a beautiful ikebana flower arrangement or bonsai tree is nice, but unless you actually cultivated and arranged them yourself, in some manner that is personal to you and represents a true effort to provide the Emperor with something unique and meaningful, then it's not a good gift. So, "Your most honored and esteemed majesty, this ikebana arrangement is made from flowers originally cultivated by my grandmother, and arrange in a vase that was given to me by my mother--both of whom died in loyal service to the resplendent Throne during the Blah-blah War..." that sort of thing, is fine. "Your most honored and esteemed majesty, here's a flower arrangement I thought would look nice in your front hall..." eh, not so much.
That's why the best gifts for the Emperor are things like poems, stories, songs, hand-crafted works of art, a specially-choreographed dance, that sort of thing. It should be something that clearly shows that you invested time, effort and creativity into it--so the gift is really a reaffirmation of your affection for, and devotion to, the Emperor.
Oh, incidentally--if the gift can simultaneously embarrass or insult a political rival in some subtle, but unmistakable way, so much the better. In the Imperial Court, politics infuses gift giving as much as it does anything else!

Thing is, that kind of means you'll be trying it a lot, so - hopefully - you'll be succeeding every so often and getting the bonus successes.
I kind of like the risky checks mechanic. It's not especially samurai but risky checks give you extra successes and being a treasure hunter gives you extra extra successes, which gives you a big motivation for fighting and negotiating in a sort of Jack Sparrow esque "If I wasn't crazy, this'd probably never work" fashion, leaping onto enemies from high places, swinging from balconies hanging onto banners, and generally behaving like you've escaped from a Jackie Chan or Errol Flynn movie.
I do like the fact it doesn't help you succeed, it just gives you even more bonus successes when you do.
I'm still not a massive fan of the school, but a school ability which deliberately courts actions which either succeed superbly or go horrendously badly wrong at least has decent potential as a narrative engine for the party....
I can see it working outside a dungeon crawl - but I agree I'm not wild about the name.
 
Whilst it's not exactly a normal school, and should be limited in access to it, Champion of Days Gone Tradition is probably close; turning a PC into basically Rokugani Hawkeye.
You get preferential access to Pelting Hail style at rank 1, and can trigger it automatically with every shot. At rank 2, you can instead land a critical strike with every single successful bow-shot. And this from a school which starts with a bunch of flesh-ripper arrows in its standard gear.  
 

I like the idea I have seen in the DIY vassal families thread, that if you are playing a vassal family samurai, that you reduce the glory by 5 and the koku by 1. However I wouldn't just replace one skill for another. Looking at question 7 of character creation, I would just increase one skill that is the most related with the history of the vassal family. That would be a quick and easy addition to character creation I think. Here follows my take on the vassals of the Phoenix:
2a:  If you are a member of a vassal family, reduce the Glory by 5, Starting Wealth by 1 koku and increase one of the follow skills: Phoenix
Asako no Chukan +1 Composition or +1 Government
Asako no Nani +1 Meditation or +1 Theology
Isawa no Shingon +1 Design or +1 Smithing
Shiba no Iga +1 Skullduggery or +1 Theology (there is no information on the wiki, other then one member becoming a maho-tsukai, so let us give this family skills that are relevant for a maho-tsukai?)
Shiba no Koganshi +1 Design or +1 Smithing
Shiba no Nasu +1 Command or +1 Government
Shiba no Sesai +1 Fitness or +1 Skullduggery
Shiba no Sodona +1 Games or +1 Sentiment
Of course adding a short text describing the vassal families goals within the main family, would go a long way. I tried to not overlap this skill increase with the increase they get from choosing the main family.
With this setup, the vassal family samurai would be a little be less known and little bit poorer, but because they had to train/work a little bit harder than the main family, they have gain a little bit more inside than main family samurai.
 
Side note. There are 24 skills, minus the two skills that are increased from the main family, that leaves us with 22 skills. With those 22 skills, there are 22*21-22 = 440 unique combinations possible. So the maximum number of vassal families, which don't overlap in their duties (skills wise at least) for one main family, would be 440.

I definitely think it'd be worth giving your gift in your persona as the 'current holder of the office of topaz champion'. Yes, it's basically a meaningless attaboy for posh students. Yes it has no official duties or powers. But it is a jewelled champion.
right now, today, you get to stand on the second step of the Imperial Dais, alongside the Emerald and Ruby champions, and present yourself as a direct personal vassal of the Son of Heaven, for this specific day a legal peer to the Jewelled champions, clan champions and the Emperor's chosen, to his proxy the Regent, in front of a rogue's gallery of every influential political mover and shaker in the Empire. 
It is literally impossible for you to overdo this in terms of the effort you put in.

Not my original idea, I must say. Descriptions of the imperial party at Winter Court in prior editions say " and the Jewelled champions", and whilst unimaginably the junior of the three extent titles, the Topaz Champion is one. 
In which case, yes, she's attending as a personal guest of the Emperor (slash Regent) rather than arriving on one of the Scorpion clan's invitation.
That means your gift is to the host, which can be either the regent or the emperor - both would be socially acceptable, but one is a sign of support for the recency whilst the other is publically drawing attention to the fact that Daisetsu, Hantei XXXIX, isn't there and (is the rumour mill is to be believed) Shoju doesn't know where he actually is - which is primarily a sign of support for Kakita Yoshi. 
Note that this is an either-or choice and likely to leave you perceived to be in one of the two factions' camps from day one. Bear in mind also - if playing winter's embrace without huge changes - that Yoshi's faction will enjoy a huge home-court advantage if it's at Kyuden Doji.
Since you don't know Shoju, you can't offer anything personal to your connection, and offering anything personal to him is arguably intrusive since there's very little 'public knowledge' about him. So it's down to something personal to you: either something crafted/grown/painted/written yourself or an heirloom of some kind with some heritage.
Something which recognises her junior status would be good.
It's also worth noting that according to the old Secrets of the Crane book,  the "Topaz Champion" as a concept was created by Hantei XXXVIII. That means your character is the last ever Topaz Champion of the Emperor who first created the post, and commemorating the history of the post would be good - no small number of influential movers and shakers in the Empire (e.g. Matsu Tsuko) are former Topaz Champion's.
 
You're also the first Topaz Champion of a new emperors reign and therefore will be the one whose actions defines what a Topaz Champion 'is' in this new era. Note that rather than being a great scholar of law, or a hunter of maho-tsukai, or a general, the Topaz Champion's demonstrated skill is exemplary conduct in their gempukku - and that, almost uniquely, this is a ceremony the current Son of Heaven has yet to undergo. Getting yourself earmarked as the Emperor's second/aide/attendant/companion prior to and during his gempukku is not an unrealistic or irrational goal for a Topaz Champion during a regency and the glory/status boost from that would be eye-watering.

There are a handful of effects that benefit mounted combatants.
Unicorn Characters specifically Heroic Charge adds bonus successes to attacks equal to the number of range bands moved. Being on a horse, you move faster and hence hit harder. An Utaku steed's Paragon of Horses means it gives skilled assistance to its rider on martial skill checks (technically not Unicorn characters only but if you're not they're probably going to want it back!) Born in the Saddle lets you once-per-scene reduce the TN of a check where your horse can assist - a mounted strike is a credible example Generic Advantages such as Animal Bond are reasonable to trigger when fighting from horseback A mounted combatant adds add bonus successes equal to the mount's Water Ring to movement actions. Notice that some melee attacks have the type "movement and attack action" and hence are going to get this benefit - Heartpiercing Strike is a good example of this; a charging lancer on a Unicorn Warhorse using the kata will land a critical strike of a deadliness 6 instead of deadliness 3 with a yari due to being mounted.  Path of Waves includes a few mounted combat-specific Kata - Rider's Haste and Thunderous Hooves style. The latter includes the potential to make occasional attacks with the horses' own stats. 

To be fair, they recognised one another as fellow 'professionals' back at Kyuden Doji. The question is more one of "what the heck are you doing here!?!?!"

Game recognizes game.

The following day, the (slightly sooty) PCs reported to Seppun Ishima. As is almost a tradition with L5R investigations, there was the 'official report' ("we believe Yoshi's murderer was a ronin called 'Watchful', who died last night at a fire at the Grinning Mujina which by the way we helped contain - Yay Us!") and the 'official official report' for Ishima's ears only ("the ronin called 'Watchful' was really an undead vampiric horror who'd been murdering commoners in your town for months without you noticing and we had to burn down the building to kill it also I'm never eating squid again") Ishima was somewhat shocked but thanked them for their efforts. She then said she'd been asked to provide the PC's services as part-security, part-mediators for the Lion/Crane/Seven Waves negotiation that would be starting the following day. The PCs were pleased that Ryu has finally arrived, with a couple of hired hands and carts of their personal property. The heimin servant would begin turning the empty townhouse the PCs had been assigned into a functioning home. Horonigai also received an invitation to take tea with Otomo Kazuda. She was a little nervous, as she surmised (correctly) that Sora's chamberlain wanted to call in one of the favours they owed. Kazuda seemed friendly enough but the other shoe soon dropped. Specifically, she had had enough of Seppun Abe - the head of Sora's guard. Kazuda was permanently run off her feet with the various roles she held, and - by a combination of hard work and a healthy trade in favours - kept all the plates spinning. Abe's post was basically a sinecure - no-one in their right mind would attack an Imperial holding, and law enforcement was delegated to Ishima - that he 'earned' only by virtue of being a distant cousin of Sora, and despite having few practical responsibilities he did nothing to help with the running of the household or the city. Kazuda liked everything organised and ordered, and Abe was high on her list of untidy individuals. Initially, Horonigai thought Otomo Kazuda was asking her to assassinate the seppun captain - and was very reassured that that wasn't the case ("although...duly noted...that access to a few books and filing some paperwork with the Office of Properties is apparently enough inducement for you to think about that" Kazuda said) - she wanted Seppun Abe gone, but didn't specifically wish him ill. If Horonigai and her colleagues could use her influence with the Emerald Magistrature, or her widely rumoured secret alliance with Bayushi Kachiko ("OH FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!!!" - Horonigai's PC) to get him reassigned, or somehow arrange to have him embarrass or disgrace himself in a way that would justify Kazuda persuading Sora to get rid of him. Discrete stabbing should be considered at worst a distant backup plan. She also told the Kaito that whilst the Lion and Crane representatives would be welcomed at Sora's court, speaking as the chancellor, she emphatically did not want the negotiations happening anywhere in the governor's mansion. Firstly, the ronin of the Seven Waves Otokodate were less scruffy and disreputable than most but that still didn't justify allowing them into Seppun Sora's property, and secondly if there was any political fallout (and the Otomo felt it was pretty likely) she didn't want any of it 'splashing' on the Seppun Daimyo or - worse - her. She'd be accommodating both in Sora's guest house but do her level best to keep the two parties separate at all times. She did, however, have the identities of the clan representatives. The Lion Clan were sending Akodo Kage, the old sensei who'd been made their roving 'ambassador to the minor clans' (whom the PCs met in Kyuden Kitsune the previous year). He would be arriving on his own - he no longer had his ronin yojimbo in tow - which made sense since he was travelling to an holding of an Imperial family rather than a minor clan traditionally allied to the Lion's enemies. The Crane were sending a courtier by the name of Daidoji Unoku. She had a reputation as a very successful negotiator in legal and commercial disputes, although she was no soldier and didn't have any specific track record dealing with ronin. Unlike Kage, she did have a bodyguard - specifically Seppun Sora's new family sword instructor, Kakita Riku. Riku would be acting as Unoku's yojimbo "until the negotiations concluded", at which point she would take up her post in Sora's household. At this point, Kazuda politely ushered Horonigai out. Seppun Sora's family was also hosting a respected Kabuki troupe, and in her capacity as chamberlain she needed to organise everything for the performance at that evening's meal - meaning she had about four things she needed to be doing and sadly having a pleasant tea with the Kaito shrine keeper wasn't one of them. The PCs were pleased to hear Riku would be arriving soon - Goriate especially. They considered asking Seppun Ishima to host the negotiations, but decided that if Seven Waves were only 'slightly less disreputable' than the average ronin, they would probably find a magistrate's station a less than comfortable place. Instead, they decided to talk to Chinoka - or more specifically, they sent Shosuro Suiren to talk to her - and ask her to use her okiya to host the negotiations. The okasan was broadly very happy with the idea of sensitive political negotiations being held inside her walls, especially since the PCs would be responsible for ensuring nothing got out of hand. A successful geisha herself, she offered to serve the delegates personally to minimise the number of people in the room (the potential to eavesdrop on the discussions first-hand was obviously not in any way her motivation). Suiren also - looking to keep the close working relationship - decided to give Chinoka the 'official official report' about Yoshi's death - figuring that there was a good chance she'd eventually hear some version of it anyway and this way she would keep a better working relationship with the Scorpion samurai. On his way out, he was able to briefly talk to Sakura. She'd talked to some of the servants and found out that the 'guests' at Chinoka's okiya at the event Yoshi had been hired to guard were not regulars, or even anyone the servants had met before. One - female - was a Crane, the other two - male - were a Lion (an Ikoma, they thought) and a member of the Imperial families (but not, they believed, a Seppun). Chinoka was the only geisha in the room, and according to the attendants who'd brought food, she had been sat with them at the table very much as if she was an equal rather than a geisha attending them. She also noted that Chinoka had been giving her 'odd looks' in the last day and she was worried her questions had gotten back to the okasan somehow. Suiren also decided to use a bit of time and money to have a new mask made up for the event. He rolled extremely well on his fire and air design checks, resulting in a very spending looking (Resplendant) mask with a fox's face, with shimmery looking 'fur' made with fine gold thread in the rich russet of the cloth. "You're not wearing that around the Lion Clan, are you?" "You think it might cause issues?" "We're supposed to be impartial mediators, remember." "You're supposed to be impartial. I'm not a magistrate, I'm just your advisor. Besides, I think it looks nice."  
In the end it was decided that the following morning Goriate and Uiri - as the two bushi - would meet and welcome Akodo Kage (along with Usagi Norinaga, the Hare clan representative, who announced he'd be there to welcome the Lion as well), whilst Horonigai and her 'advisor' (who she managed not to strangle that evening, largely due to being mollified by Ryu's gyoza being back on the menu) would welcome Daidoji Unoku and Kakita Riku (and Kitsune Amane, assuming she mirrored Norinaga and turned up to welcome her great clan ally).  
The meeting with the Lion and the Hare was very.....correct. Kage didn't give any indication he specifically knew Uiri and Goriate had been responsible for messing up his plans in Kyuden Kitsune, and Norinaga - being a Hare courtier - obviously knew and was well disposed to the Hero of Shiro Usagi Hida Goriate, but the overall air was one of everything being strictly business. Kage was not very forthcoming with information, but - passing a sentiment check - Uiri had a distinct impression the Lion was 'plotting something nefarious'. By comparison, Daidoji Unoku, the Crane representative was very friendly, and the presence of Riku - who was clearly struggling to suppress a massive smile behind a yojimbo's professional exterior at the sight of Kaito Horonigai - and the infectious humour of Kitsune Amane did produce a much friendlier atmosphere. Unoku was fairly open about how important the negotiations were to the Crane: The Crane's recent losses at the battle of Three Trees had left Shiro Kyotei threatened. Whilst the bandits in the region had been brought to heel by Tsume Itsuyo and Hida Kyno, doing so had allowed the Lion to focus their efforts on the Crane without needing to detach large forces as garrisons and supply convoy security. With Akodo Toturi acting as Emerald Champion far more than Lion Clan Champion, battlefield command had devolved on Matsu Tsuko, who seemed to have missed a memo on the whole "it's just a border dispute" concept and had launched large-scale assaults on most Crane outposts within the Osari plains and as Tsume Kotonoha had predicted, she seemed set on killing everything down to the chickens. As a result, Unoku had been dispatched with an extremely large coin purse and broad authority to pursue opportunities as she saw fit. Riku was very happy to see her friends, and told them she'd been told by Unoku she would be temporarily released from her duties in the evening (i.e. once Unoku was ensconced in Sora's guest-house and the Seppun Daimyo's guards were responsible for the delegate's security). She hoped the PC's would visit her. When Horonigai asked where, Riku answered that "well, apparently I have a townhouse in the city - which came as a surprise to me. Obviously you'd all be welcome as my guests..." Horonigai was part amused and part embarrassed - since the PCs were all currently living there and had instructed Ryu to decorate, furnish and staff it.  
Later that evening - after Sora had held a welcome meal for the two delegates, Riku arrived at 'her' house to have drinks and catch up with her friends - and her betrothed. Kakita Riku is a court-educated member of the Crane clan, and has lived in the Imperial Palace in Otosan Uchi. Therefore her first words to Goriate were not and would never have been "What the actual **** happened to your face?", but she was clearly somewhat shocked by the nasty scar left by the Onryu of Twin Blessings Village (not to mention he was still rather pale as he was recovering from being rather heavily poisoned by "Watchful"). Goriate's response was that "We encountered a ghost that had forgotten it was dead, and I had to remind it. Twice." This led into a bit of a catching-up session. The events of Willow Forge village were skipped over - burglary on behalf of the Scorpion Clan not really a subject for polite conversation - but Riku was told an only slightly sanitised version of the potentially momentous events involving the Elemental Oracle of Fire. Riku, in turn, let Goriate know how the ongoing negotiations between Kakita Ryoku (who had, rather surprisingly, decided to take over the matter personally) and Kuni Haruna were going. The Shika had been acting as go-betweens - Kakita Riku had finally met Shika Yuki but hadn't let the Deer Clan matchmaker know the whole shooting match wasn't intentional but a result of Hida Goriate's catastrophic inability to read or even detect the presence of subtext. Apparently Ryoku-sama and Yoshi-dono had both officially consented to the match (the latter largely a formality given Ryoku's involvement), and everything was now a matter of details. The working suggestion was that the wedding should be before the next Winter Court. It had been agreed that Goriate would officially become a member of the Kakita family of the Crane clan. Ryoku was insistent, as much to protect Riku's status as a Crane as anything. Apparently - according to Shika Yuki's unnamed colleague in Crab lands - Kuni Haruna had agreed to the suggested condition immediately, and then had proceeded to collapse on the floor of her rooms laughing for nearly five minutes in front of the courier before she could say anything else. Frankly the response of the other players was pretty similar. Kuni Haruna had somewhat gotten her own back by offering to host the wedding itself - which, especially given her quick acceptance of Ryoku's initial condition, the Crane declined to argue with. The reply did not that this made it unlikely that Kakita Yoshi would be able to attend, given his duties in Otosan Uchi. "Oh, no. What a shame. Never mind." - Uiri's player, who it's fair to say is not the Chancellor's biggest fan. According to custom, since Goriate was the one joining the other clan, if any dowry was involved it would be from his family. Riku was not party to the details of what agreements were being made between the two clans as a part of the betrothal, although she did know that for some reason they involved the Mantis clan - she had caught the tail end of a letter being dictated by Kakita Ryoku. She suspected that the Crane might be using the letters discussing the important-but-not-that-important betrothal to hide some sensitive political dealings in plain sight. At this point there was another arrival at 'Riku's' house (a point she took a certain amusement in repeating to Goriate). The PCs weren't expecting anyone, but Riku said she'd invited someone she'd met at Sora's court to join her and the PCs for their catch-up, as she hadn't seen them in months. The other visitor turned out to be Ikoma Rumiko, who despite the tensions between the Lion and Crane had been good company at winter court and gotten on well with the magistrates, Riku, and especially with Shosuro Suiren. The Kabuki troupe that were Seppun Sora's guests was the one she was a part of. Rumiko was a very friendly guest, and had brought with her a gift of good-quality sake, which is always a good start. She'd been in Hirosaka for a day, and - rehearsals aside - had been to see a performance at the Warai puppet theatre, which she'd found very impressive. She claimed she'd only realised the PCs and Riku were in Hirosaka when she spotted Riku bodyguarding one of Seppun Sora's dinner guests in the kabuki troupe's audience. Suiren is a court-educated member of the Scorpion clan, and a famously gifted actor. He therefore had more discretion than to scream out loud "SHINOBI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and instantly draw his sword, but it's fair to say he was....a little guarded?...in his greetings. He (and Uiri) assumed that whatever nefarious plot Akodo Kage was hatching, Rumiko was part of it. He therefore - since they'd gotten on so well at Kyuden Doji, with him arranging her the part of 'Otomo' and the two taking meals and drinks together a few times - took the drastic and potentially dangerous step of inviting her out to dine as soon as her rehearsals and performance were finished the following day. Scoring well on his courtesy check, he actually got her to suggest a private, verging on slightly romantic, venue for their meal herself. Surien's player in fact announced his intention to spend time with Rumiko "as often as possible, for as long as possible, for as long as she's in town. Because I don't trust not having eyes on her at all times......" Goriate's may have made a crack about the Shosuro having 'a date'. "He becomes a Crane and suddenly he thinks he's a comedian..."

Alternatively, if you are creating your own minor clan school, you can just steal the ability but edit it to bump your Vigilance/Focus for Initiative and certain scenes (for treasure hunter I'd say Narrative for basically "exploration scenes" but you could work with other stuff), which was my preferred home-rule if a player just absolutely had to be a Treasure Hunter before the FAQ. 

For what it's worth, the Errata and FAQ has an optional alternate school ability for the Treasure Hunter on the last page.