Thank you so much for doing this. I love the lore and fiction of L5R. However, I'm not a fan of how the fiction is laid out on the FFG site. You are truly doing Amaterasu's work for us. 

Thanks for the feedback.  Tying things to elements was done late in the redesign for L5R since we tested this before in a system that didn't have elemental links like that, so I can definitely work on changing it. 

As for the size, I've written it in depth because, in part, I felt like I needed to make an argument for /why/ you would use these alternate rules instead of just having the alternate rules by themselves.  And as I am not an experienced game master, for me I need things spelled out in more detail to understand it.  It is my husband who is the experienced game designer who made the original design and they are many pages longer in his writeup because he's like that. 🙂 

I can try to make up a 1 page cheat sheet PDF for the Influence Game and Mass Battle for Small Groups at some point. That could help. 
Thanks again.

Thanks for the feedback.  Tying things to elements was done late in the redesign for L5R since we tested this before in a system that didn't have elemental links like that, so I can definitely work on changing it. 

As for the size, I've written it in depth because, in part, I felt like I needed to make an argument for /why/ you would use these alternate rules instead of just having the alternate rules by themselves.  And as I am not an experienced game master, for me I need things spelled out in more detail to understand it.  It is my husband who is the experienced game designer who made the original design and they are many pages longer in his writeup because he's like that. 🙂 

I can try to make up a 1 page cheat sheet PDF for the Influence Game and Mass Battle for Small Groups at some point. That could help. 
Thanks again.

For Gunso, it seems odd to me that they need to use Air to issue a challenge.  It seems to me that a Challenge should be an action taken by an individual soldier against another, and Air seems the least appropriate Ring for it.  Most challenges in my mind would call for Fire, as you loudly question your target's bravery (and use any Strife symbols to make him risk extra Glory by declining). 
In all, though, I'm eagerly looking forward to the end result.  I loved the Game of Influence you did a while ago.
Selfish request: Your 5e conversions all seem to be multiple web pages.  Any chance of ever seeing them as a simple PDF?
EDIT: Also, yes, maybe a little boated, but this seems like what you would use when the battle is the focus of an entire session.  Much like the Influence Game, it might want some tricks for slimming it down, but that can come later.

Have you tried taking a warm bath?

Thank you for the feedback!  I'll bring it back and work on it. 

I don't think you understood Hotaru in this story at all.

Please let me break it down.
 
If Hotaru took the Crane armies back to Kyuden Doji, it would be abandoning the Osari plains to the Lion, abandoning Kintani Valley, and making her, and the Crane, look like a terrible losers to all their enemies. 
If Hotaru took the armies to back up Daidoji Uji, she'd get in his way, imply that he and her brother weren't competent, and force her tired men into another full war.  As well as playing right into Matsu Tsuko's hands, because the whole point of why Tsuko is there is to kill Doji Hotaru.
If Hotaru, however, took her Armies to Toshi Ranbo, that reasserts the Crane Clan claim on both Toshi Ranbo and the Osari Plains,  makes it look like she is taking bold action, and having the right of being 'in Residence' when the Scorpion inevitably withdraw from the city, because they will, either because Shoju will need to consolidate power as regent, or  because he will need to weaken the Scorpion's position some so the clans are satisfied with him being Regent. 
 
Thus, she decides to take her armies to Toshi Ranbo.
However, she doesn't really want to /fight/ the Scorpion over Toshi Ranbo. If she did fight the Scorpion, she might look like she was going against Imperial Edict. Her men are exhausted anyway. And she'd make both the Imperial Armies AND the Scorpion as yet another set of enemies. This would be very bad for the Crane.
Therefore, her goal is to take her armies to Toshi Ranbo and winter there /without/ fighting or bloodshed. 
 
Originally, her argument, made through Tsume Itsuyo, was going to be, "We (Crane, Phoenix, and Tsume) think the Lion are going to turn and attack Toshi Ranbo like they did Kyuden Kakita, therefore, we have brought the Crane armies  here to stay so that the Lion Armies won't defeat the Imperial/Scorpion forces here".  A secondary, though unstated part of this strategy is to just have enough forces from enough clans that Yojiro just caves out of being intimidated. Her third backup plan is to engineer a situation where it's Yojiro's word against her own as clan champion, and claim that Yojiro either did something or said something that required her to take Toshi Ranbo.
However, in the negotiation, Yojiro pretty neatly dodged her traps.  He didn't let himself be intimidated, and he pointed out the weakest point in her argument against defending against the Lion....by countering that the Lion would be more likely attack Toshi Ranbo if she were there.  So she was in the process of looking for how to engineer the situation when she saw Kachiko.
Kachiko suddenly and unexpectedly provided a fourth way of capturing the city.  If Hotaru claimed Yojiro had captured Kachiko, and would duel him to free her, she could defeat or kill Yojiro, and then claim Toshi Ranbo because its magistrate was dead after dishonorably capturing the Imperial Advisor. All the plan needed was for Kachiko to play along, and Kachiko already indicated to Hotaru that it seemed she had been captured there.  This duel is /purely/ political gain for Hotaru...claiming the city honorably and without a big fight or going against the Imperial legions.   Shoju would have to play along, or have his own weaknesses exposed.

Kachiko did no play along, however, showing more loyalty to Shoju than to Hotaru by saying she wasn't captured.  She did, however, understand what Hotaru's position was, and realized having Hotaru there would make her own position much better too. Therefore she negotiated and got Yojiro to let Hotaru stay and keep command of the city, making it the best for both the Crane and Scorpion.

This is not saying that personal feelings weren't there, or that Hotaru would never do anything that would cause her to be manipulated by Kachiko.  But that's not what happened here.



Now, on the other matter.  When Hotaru burned Kachiko's confession, that doesn't suddenly make 'Hotaru a big traitor'.  First, attempted murder, in Rokugan, is not the same thing as in modern time. I mean, Toshimoko tried some attempted murder on Hotaru just for fun the night before.  While Kachiko has every reason to think Toturi didn't escape, Hotaru knows Toturi better, and may very well think that there is every possibility he did. Hotaru's job is not enforcing Imperial Law, and she is not obligated to report every criminal act she ever finds out, by either honor or law.  And finally, Hotaru is well aware of how it would destroy the Empire if she reports it.  Because then it would all come out. Reporting that the old Emperor had been murdered by the initial heir, destroying the divinity of the Hantei line? That'd shatter the faith in the Empire, which is why Kachiko was covering it up in the first place, and why Miya Satoshi agreed to it so easily. Showing that Kachiko used a body double and that Bayushi Shoju was using the body double in her place? That would shatter the Scorpion as well as every agreement Kachiko...or Shoju...ever brokered, undermining even moreso his legitimacy as regent.  It would defy the public order Shoju had given to his Scorpion...to keep Kachiko safe. Having it become public knowledge at all that Kachiko was in Toshi Ranbo (as opposed to known to just those few people in the room)? It would look /terrible/  for her to the Rest of the Crane, because it would look like she had gone to Toshi Ranbo just to rescue Kachiko. 

To protect herself, the Crane, the Scorpion, and the entire Empire, what Kachiko had done to Toturi needed to be kept secret.

The only thing wrong that Hotaru did, maybe, was not write  privately to Shoju to tell him Kachiko's confession. But why should she?  Shoju let one murderer...Sotorii...pass as is.  Why would he not hide the second one? (his, potential, wife)  Quietly reporting it to Shoju would just make it more likely Shoju would make Hotaru dead and put the Crane at a big disadvantage in the court.  Not so good.

You can love someone and still think clearly about things.

Just wanted to share my Mass Battle for Small Groups rules as an alternative to the built in Mass Battle rules.  Let me know what you think! 
 
https://craneclan.weebly.com/mass-battles-for-small-groups.html

Man, quick to condemn much?  There is a separation between what someone thinks/feels and what they do.  You're condemning Ishikawa as unworthy to be head of the guard not because of anything he has done, but because he feels something for Kaede.   Not even anything he did out of those feelings...just the feelings themselves. 
That's....different.

5th Edition is a whole game system about ninjo vs. giri.  Feelings vs Duty. Every single character in the storyline is going to have some sort of conflict between what they feel or want vs. what they have to do.   That's the point.

I don't think you understood Hotaru in this story at all.

Please let me break it down.
 
If Hotaru took the Crane armies back to Kyuden Doji, it would be abandoning the Osari plains to the Lion, abandoning Kintani Valley, and making her, and the Crane, look like a terrible losers to all their enemies. 
If Hotaru took the armies to back up Daidoji Uji, she'd get in his way, imply that he and her brother weren't competent, and force her tired men into another full war.  As well as playing right into Matsu Tsuko's hands, because the whole point of why Tsuko is there is to kill Doji Hotaru.
If Hotaru, however, took her Armies to Toshi Ranbo, that reasserts the Crane Clan claim on both Toshi Ranbo and the Osari Plains,  makes it look like she is taking bold action, and having the right of being 'in Residence' when the Scorpion inevitably withdraw from the city, because they will, either because Shoju will need to consolidate power as regent, or  because he will need to weaken the Scorpion's position some so the clans are satisfied with him being Regent. 
 
Thus, she decides to take her armies to Toshi Ranbo.
However, she doesn't really want to /fight/ the Scorpion over Toshi Ranbo. If she did fight the Scorpion, she might look like she was going against Imperial Edict. Her men are exhausted anyway. And she'd make both the Imperial Armies AND the Scorpion as yet another set of enemies. This would be very bad for the Crane.
Therefore, her goal is to take her armies to Toshi Ranbo and winter there /without/ fighting or bloodshed. 
 
Originally, her argument, made through Tsume Itsuyo, was going to be, "We (Crane, Phoenix, and Tsume) think the Lion are going to turn and attack Toshi Ranbo like they did Kyuden Kakita, therefore, we have brought the Crane armies  here to stay so that the Lion Armies won't defeat the Imperial/Scorpion forces here".  A secondary, though unstated part of this strategy is to just have enough forces from enough clans that Yojiro just caves out of being intimidated. Her third backup plan is to engineer a situation where it's Yojiro's word against her own as clan champion, and claim that Yojiro either did something or said something that required her to take Toshi Ranbo.
However, in the negotiation, Yojiro pretty neatly dodged her traps.  He didn't let himself be intimidated, and he pointed out the weakest point in her argument against defending against the Lion....by countering that the Lion would be more likely attack Toshi Ranbo if she were there.  So she was in the process of looking for how to engineer the situation when she saw Kachiko.
Kachiko suddenly and unexpectedly provided a fourth way of capturing the city.  If Hotaru claimed Yojiro had captured Kachiko, and would duel him to free her, she could defeat or kill Yojiro, and then claim Toshi Ranbo because its magistrate was dead after dishonorably capturing the Imperial Advisor. All the plan needed was for Kachiko to play along, and Kachiko already indicated to Hotaru that it seemed she had been captured there.  This duel is /purely/ political gain for Hotaru...claiming the city honorably and without a big fight or going against the Imperial legions.   Shoju would have to play along, or have his own weaknesses exposed.

Kachiko did no play along, however, showing more loyalty to Shoju than to Hotaru by saying she wasn't captured.  She did, however, understand what Hotaru's position was, and realized having Hotaru there would make her own position much better too. Therefore she negotiated and got Yojiro to let Hotaru stay and keep command of the city, making it the best for both the Crane and Scorpion.

This is not saying that personal feelings weren't there, or that Hotaru would never do anything that would cause her to be manipulated by Kachiko.  But that's not what happened here.



Now, on the other matter.  When Hotaru burned Kachiko's confession, that doesn't suddenly make 'Hotaru a big traitor'.  First, attempted murder, in Rokugan, is not the same thing as in modern time. I mean, Toshimoko tried some attempted murder on Hotaru just for fun the night before.  While Kachiko has every reason to think Toturi didn't escape, Hotaru knows Toturi better, and may very well think that there is every possibility he did. Hotaru's job is not enforcing Imperial Law, and she is not obligated to report every criminal act she ever finds out, by either honor or law.  And finally, Hotaru is well aware of how it would destroy the Empire if she reports it.  Because then it would all come out. Reporting that the old Emperor had been murdered by the initial heir, destroying the divinity of the Hantei line? That'd shatter the faith in the Empire, which is why Kachiko was covering it up in the first place, and why Miya Satoshi agreed to it so easily. Showing that Kachiko used a body double and that Bayushi Shoju was using the body double in her place? That would shatter the Scorpion as well as every agreement Kachiko...or Shoju...ever brokered, undermining even moreso his legitimacy as regent.  It would defy the public order Shoju had given to his Scorpion...to keep Kachiko safe. Having it become public knowledge at all that Kachiko was in Toshi Ranbo (as opposed to known to just those few people in the room)? It would look /terrible/  for her to the Rest of the Crane, because it would look like she had gone to Toshi Ranbo just to rescue Kachiko. 

To protect herself, the Crane, the Scorpion, and the entire Empire, what Kachiko had done to Toturi needed to be kept secret.

The only thing wrong that Hotaru did, maybe, was not write  privately to Shoju to tell him Kachiko's confession. But why should she?  Shoju let one murderer...Sotorii...pass as is.  Why would he not hide the second one? (his, potential, wife)  Quietly reporting it to Shoju would just make it more likely Shoju would make Hotaru dead and put the Crane at a big disadvantage in the court.  Not so good.

You can love someone and still think clearly about things.

Man, quick to condemn much?  There is a separation between what someone thinks/feels and what they do.  You're condemning Ishikawa as unworthy to be head of the guard not because of anything he has done, but because he feels something for Kaede.   Not even anything he did out of those feelings...just the feelings themselves. 
That's....different.

5th Edition is a whole game system about ninjo vs. giri.  Feelings vs Duty. Every single character in the storyline is going to have some sort of conflict between what they feel or want vs. what they have to do.   That's the point.

Just wanted to share my Mass Battle for Small Groups rules as an alternative to the built in Mass Battle rules.  Let me know what you think! 
 
https://craneclan.weebly.com/mass-battles-for-small-groups.html

I would say Toshimoko represents quite well his family, warts and all.

Man, quick to condemn much?  There is a separation between what someone thinks/feels and what they do.  You're condemning Ishikawa as unworthy to be head of the guard not because of anything he has done, but because he feels something for Kaede.   Not even anything he did out of those feelings...just the feelings themselves. 
That's....different.

5th Edition is a whole game system about ninjo vs. giri.  Feelings vs Duty. Every single character in the storyline is going to have some sort of conflict between what they feel or want vs. what they have to do.   That's the point.

Man, quick to condemn much?  There is a separation between what someone thinks/feels and what they do.  You're condemning Ishikawa as unworthy to be head of the guard not because of anything he has done, but because he feels something for Kaede.   Not even anything he did out of those feelings...just the feelings themselves. 
That's....different.

5th Edition is a whole game system about ninjo vs. giri.  Feelings vs Duty. Every single character in the storyline is going to have some sort of conflict between what they feel or want vs. what they have to do.   That's the point.

Man, quick to condemn much?  There is a separation between what someone thinks/feels and what they do.  You're condemning Ishikawa as unworthy to be head of the guard not because of anything he has done, but because he feels something for Kaede.   Not even anything he did out of those feelings...just the feelings themselves. 
That's....different.

5th Edition is a whole game system about ninjo vs. giri.  Feelings vs Duty. Every single character in the storyline is going to have some sort of conflict between what they feel or want vs. what they have to do.   That's the point.

I don't think you understood Hotaru in this story at all.

Please let me break it down.
 
If Hotaru took the Crane armies back to Kyuden Doji, it would be abandoning the Osari plains to the Lion, abandoning Kintani Valley, and making her, and the Crane, look like a terrible losers to all their enemies. 
If Hotaru took the armies to back up Daidoji Uji, she'd get in his way, imply that he and her brother weren't competent, and force her tired men into another full war.  As well as playing right into Matsu Tsuko's hands, because the whole point of why Tsuko is there is to kill Doji Hotaru.
If Hotaru, however, took her Armies to Toshi Ranbo, that reasserts the Crane Clan claim on both Toshi Ranbo and the Osari Plains,  makes it look like she is taking bold action, and having the right of being 'in Residence' when the Scorpion inevitably withdraw from the city, because they will, either because Shoju will need to consolidate power as regent, or  because he will need to weaken the Scorpion's position some so the clans are satisfied with him being Regent. 
 
Thus, she decides to take her armies to Toshi Ranbo.
However, she doesn't really want to /fight/ the Scorpion over Toshi Ranbo. If she did fight the Scorpion, she might look like she was going against Imperial Edict. Her men are exhausted anyway. And she'd make both the Imperial Armies AND the Scorpion as yet another set of enemies. This would be very bad for the Crane.
Therefore, her goal is to take her armies to Toshi Ranbo and winter there /without/ fighting or bloodshed. 
 
Originally, her argument, made through Tsume Itsuyo, was going to be, "We (Crane, Phoenix, and Tsume) think the Lion are going to turn and attack Toshi Ranbo like they did Kyuden Kakita, therefore, we have brought the Crane armies  here to stay so that the Lion Armies won't defeat the Imperial/Scorpion forces here".  A secondary, though unstated part of this strategy is to just have enough forces from enough clans that Yojiro just caves out of being intimidated. Her third backup plan is to engineer a situation where it's Yojiro's word against her own as clan champion, and claim that Yojiro either did something or said something that required her to take Toshi Ranbo.
However, in the negotiation, Yojiro pretty neatly dodged her traps.  He didn't let himself be intimidated, and he pointed out the weakest point in her argument against defending against the Lion....by countering that the Lion would be more likely attack Toshi Ranbo if she were there.  So she was in the process of looking for how to engineer the situation when she saw Kachiko.
Kachiko suddenly and unexpectedly provided a fourth way of capturing the city.  If Hotaru claimed Yojiro had captured Kachiko, and would duel him to free her, she could defeat or kill Yojiro, and then claim Toshi Ranbo because its magistrate was dead after dishonorably capturing the Imperial Advisor. All the plan needed was for Kachiko to play along, and Kachiko already indicated to Hotaru that it seemed she had been captured there.  This duel is /purely/ political gain for Hotaru...claiming the city honorably and without a big fight or going against the Imperial legions.   Shoju would have to play along, or have his own weaknesses exposed.

Kachiko did no play along, however, showing more loyalty to Shoju than to Hotaru by saying she wasn't captured.  She did, however, understand what Hotaru's position was, and realized having Hotaru there would make her own position much better too. Therefore she negotiated and got Yojiro to let Hotaru stay and keep command of the city, making it the best for both the Crane and Scorpion.

This is not saying that personal feelings weren't there, or that Hotaru would never do anything that would cause her to be manipulated by Kachiko.  But that's not what happened here.



Now, on the other matter.  When Hotaru burned Kachiko's confession, that doesn't suddenly make 'Hotaru a big traitor'.  First, attempted murder, in Rokugan, is not the same thing as in modern time. I mean, Toshimoko tried some attempted murder on Hotaru just for fun the night before.  While Kachiko has every reason to think Toturi didn't escape, Hotaru knows Toturi better, and may very well think that there is every possibility he did. Hotaru's job is not enforcing Imperial Law, and she is not obligated to report every criminal act she ever finds out, by either honor or law.  And finally, Hotaru is well aware of how it would destroy the Empire if she reports it.  Because then it would all come out. Reporting that the old Emperor had been murdered by the initial heir, destroying the divinity of the Hantei line? That'd shatter the faith in the Empire, which is why Kachiko was covering it up in the first place, and why Miya Satoshi agreed to it so easily. Showing that Kachiko used a body double and that Bayushi Shoju was using the body double in her place? That would shatter the Scorpion as well as every agreement Kachiko...or Shoju...ever brokered, undermining even moreso his legitimacy as regent.  It would defy the public order Shoju had given to his Scorpion...to keep Kachiko safe. Having it become public knowledge at all that Kachiko was in Toshi Ranbo (as opposed to known to just those few people in the room)? It would look /terrible/  for her to the Rest of the Crane, because it would look like she had gone to Toshi Ranbo just to rescue Kachiko. 

To protect herself, the Crane, the Scorpion, and the entire Empire, what Kachiko had done to Toturi needed to be kept secret.

The only thing wrong that Hotaru did, maybe, was not write  privately to Shoju to tell him Kachiko's confession. But why should she?  Shoju let one murderer...Sotorii...pass as is.  Why would he not hide the second one? (his, potential, wife)  Quietly reporting it to Shoju would just make it more likely Shoju would make Hotaru dead and put the Crane at a big disadvantage in the court.  Not so good.

You can love someone and still think clearly about things.

I don't think you understood Hotaru in this story at all.

Please let me break it down.
 
If Hotaru took the Crane armies back to Kyuden Doji, it would be abandoning the Osari plains to the Lion, abandoning Kintani Valley, and making her, and the Crane, look like a terrible losers to all their enemies. 
If Hotaru took the armies to back up Daidoji Uji, she'd get in his way, imply that he and her brother weren't competent, and force her tired men into another full war.  As well as playing right into Matsu Tsuko's hands, because the whole point of why Tsuko is there is to kill Doji Hotaru.
If Hotaru, however, took her Armies to Toshi Ranbo, that reasserts the Crane Clan claim on both Toshi Ranbo and the Osari Plains,  makes it look like she is taking bold action, and having the right of being 'in Residence' when the Scorpion inevitably withdraw from the city, because they will, either because Shoju will need to consolidate power as regent, or  because he will need to weaken the Scorpion's position some so the clans are satisfied with him being Regent. 
 
Thus, she decides to take her armies to Toshi Ranbo.
However, she doesn't really want to /fight/ the Scorpion over Toshi Ranbo. If she did fight the Scorpion, she might look like she was going against Imperial Edict. Her men are exhausted anyway. And she'd make both the Imperial Armies AND the Scorpion as yet another set of enemies. This would be very bad for the Crane.
Therefore, her goal is to take her armies to Toshi Ranbo and winter there /without/ fighting or bloodshed. 
 
Originally, her argument, made through Tsume Itsuyo, was going to be, "We (Crane, Phoenix, and Tsume) think the Lion are going to turn and attack Toshi Ranbo like they did Kyuden Kakita, therefore, we have brought the Crane armies  here to stay so that the Lion Armies won't defeat the Imperial/Scorpion forces here".  A secondary, though unstated part of this strategy is to just have enough forces from enough clans that Yojiro just caves out of being intimidated. Her third backup plan is to engineer a situation where it's Yojiro's word against her own as clan champion, and claim that Yojiro either did something or said something that required her to take Toshi Ranbo.
However, in the negotiation, Yojiro pretty neatly dodged her traps.  He didn't let himself be intimidated, and he pointed out the weakest point in her argument against defending against the Lion....by countering that the Lion would be more likely attack Toshi Ranbo if she were there.  So she was in the process of looking for how to engineer the situation when she saw Kachiko.
Kachiko suddenly and unexpectedly provided a fourth way of capturing the city.  If Hotaru claimed Yojiro had captured Kachiko, and would duel him to free her, she could defeat or kill Yojiro, and then claim Toshi Ranbo because its magistrate was dead after dishonorably capturing the Imperial Advisor. All the plan needed was for Kachiko to play along, and Kachiko already indicated to Hotaru that it seemed she had been captured there.  This duel is /purely/ political gain for Hotaru...claiming the city honorably and without a big fight or going against the Imperial legions.   Shoju would have to play along, or have his own weaknesses exposed.

Kachiko did no play along, however, showing more loyalty to Shoju than to Hotaru by saying she wasn't captured.  She did, however, understand what Hotaru's position was, and realized having Hotaru there would make her own position much better too. Therefore she negotiated and got Yojiro to let Hotaru stay and keep command of the city, making it the best for both the Crane and Scorpion.

This is not saying that personal feelings weren't there, or that Hotaru would never do anything that would cause her to be manipulated by Kachiko.  But that's not what happened here.



Now, on the other matter.  When Hotaru burned Kachiko's confession, that doesn't suddenly make 'Hotaru a big traitor'.  First, attempted murder, in Rokugan, is not the same thing as in modern time. I mean, Toshimoko tried some attempted murder on Hotaru just for fun the night before.  While Kachiko has every reason to think Toturi didn't escape, Hotaru knows Toturi better, and may very well think that there is every possibility he did. Hotaru's job is not enforcing Imperial Law, and she is not obligated to report every criminal act she ever finds out, by either honor or law.  And finally, Hotaru is well aware of how it would destroy the Empire if she reports it.  Because then it would all come out. Reporting that the old Emperor had been murdered by the initial heir, destroying the divinity of the Hantei line? That'd shatter the faith in the Empire, which is why Kachiko was covering it up in the first place, and why Miya Satoshi agreed to it so easily. Showing that Kachiko used a body double and that Bayushi Shoju was using the body double in her place? That would shatter the Scorpion as well as every agreement Kachiko...or Shoju...ever brokered, undermining even moreso his legitimacy as regent.  It would defy the public order Shoju had given to his Scorpion...to keep Kachiko safe. Having it become public knowledge at all that Kachiko was in Toshi Ranbo (as opposed to known to just those few people in the room)? It would look /terrible/  for her to the Rest of the Crane, because it would look like she had gone to Toshi Ranbo just to rescue Kachiko. 

To protect herself, the Crane, the Scorpion, and the entire Empire, what Kachiko had done to Toturi needed to be kept secret.

The only thing wrong that Hotaru did, maybe, was not write  privately to Shoju to tell him Kachiko's confession. But why should she?  Shoju let one murderer...Sotorii...pass as is.  Why would he not hide the second one? (his, potential, wife)  Quietly reporting it to Shoju would just make it more likely Shoju would make Hotaru dead and put the Crane at a big disadvantage in the court.  Not so good.

You can love someone and still think clearly about things.

I don't think you understood Hotaru in this story at all.

Please let me break it down.
 
If Hotaru took the Crane armies back to Kyuden Doji, it would be abandoning the Osari plains to the Lion, abandoning Kintani Valley, and making her, and the Crane, look like a terrible losers to all their enemies. 
If Hotaru took the armies to back up Daidoji Uji, she'd get in his way, imply that he and her brother weren't competent, and force her tired men into another full war.  As well as playing right into Matsu Tsuko's hands, because the whole point of why Tsuko is there is to kill Doji Hotaru.
If Hotaru, however, took her Armies to Toshi Ranbo, that reasserts the Crane Clan claim on both Toshi Ranbo and the Osari Plains,  makes it look like she is taking bold action, and having the right of being 'in Residence' when the Scorpion inevitably withdraw from the city, because they will, either because Shoju will need to consolidate power as regent, or  because he will need to weaken the Scorpion's position some so the clans are satisfied with him being Regent. 
 
Thus, she decides to take her armies to Toshi Ranbo.
However, she doesn't really want to /fight/ the Scorpion over Toshi Ranbo. If she did fight the Scorpion, she might look like she was going against Imperial Edict. Her men are exhausted anyway. And she'd make both the Imperial Armies AND the Scorpion as yet another set of enemies. This would be very bad for the Crane.
Therefore, her goal is to take her armies to Toshi Ranbo and winter there /without/ fighting or bloodshed. 
 
Originally, her argument, made through Tsume Itsuyo, was going to be, "We (Crane, Phoenix, and Tsume) think the Lion are going to turn and attack Toshi Ranbo like they did Kyuden Kakita, therefore, we have brought the Crane armies  here to stay so that the Lion Armies won't defeat the Imperial/Scorpion forces here".  A secondary, though unstated part of this strategy is to just have enough forces from enough clans that Yojiro just caves out of being intimidated. Her third backup plan is to engineer a situation where it's Yojiro's word against her own as clan champion, and claim that Yojiro either did something or said something that required her to take Toshi Ranbo.
However, in the negotiation, Yojiro pretty neatly dodged her traps.  He didn't let himself be intimidated, and he pointed out the weakest point in her argument against defending against the Lion....by countering that the Lion would be more likely attack Toshi Ranbo if she were there.  So she was in the process of looking for how to engineer the situation when she saw Kachiko.
Kachiko suddenly and unexpectedly provided a fourth way of capturing the city.  If Hotaru claimed Yojiro had captured Kachiko, and would duel him to free her, she could defeat or kill Yojiro, and then claim Toshi Ranbo because its magistrate was dead after dishonorably capturing the Imperial Advisor. All the plan needed was for Kachiko to play along, and Kachiko already indicated to Hotaru that it seemed she had been captured there.  This duel is /purely/ political gain for Hotaru...claiming the city honorably and without a big fight or going against the Imperial legions.   Shoju would have to play along, or have his own weaknesses exposed.

Kachiko did no play along, however, showing more loyalty to Shoju than to Hotaru by saying she wasn't captured.  She did, however, understand what Hotaru's position was, and realized having Hotaru there would make her own position much better too. Therefore she negotiated and got Yojiro to let Hotaru stay and keep command of the city, making it the best for both the Crane and Scorpion.

This is not saying that personal feelings weren't there, or that Hotaru would never do anything that would cause her to be manipulated by Kachiko.  But that's not what happened here.



Now, on the other matter.  When Hotaru burned Kachiko's confession, that doesn't suddenly make 'Hotaru a big traitor'.  First, attempted murder, in Rokugan, is not the same thing as in modern time. I mean, Toshimoko tried some attempted murder on Hotaru just for fun the night before.  While Kachiko has every reason to think Toturi didn't escape, Hotaru knows Toturi better, and may very well think that there is every possibility he did. Hotaru's job is not enforcing Imperial Law, and she is not obligated to report every criminal act she ever finds out, by either honor or law.  And finally, Hotaru is well aware of how it would destroy the Empire if she reports it.  Because then it would all come out. Reporting that the old Emperor had been murdered by the initial heir, destroying the divinity of the Hantei line? That'd shatter the faith in the Empire, which is why Kachiko was covering it up in the first place, and why Miya Satoshi agreed to it so easily. Showing that Kachiko used a body double and that Bayushi Shoju was using the body double in her place? That would shatter the Scorpion as well as every agreement Kachiko...or Shoju...ever brokered, undermining even moreso his legitimacy as regent.  It would defy the public order Shoju had given to his Scorpion...to keep Kachiko safe. Having it become public knowledge at all that Kachiko was in Toshi Ranbo (as opposed to known to just those few people in the room)? It would look /terrible/  for her to the Rest of the Crane, because it would look like she had gone to Toshi Ranbo just to rescue Kachiko. 

To protect herself, the Crane, the Scorpion, and the entire Empire, what Kachiko had done to Toturi needed to be kept secret.

The only thing wrong that Hotaru did, maybe, was not write  privately to Shoju to tell him Kachiko's confession. But why should she?  Shoju let one murderer...Sotorii...pass as is.  Why would he not hide the second one? (his, potential, wife)  Quietly reporting it to Shoju would just make it more likely Shoju would make Hotaru dead and put the Crane at a big disadvantage in the court.  Not so good.

You can love someone and still think clearly about things.

On a different topic...
Katrina posted this today in Discord.

 

It's fine if the big bad /is/ Fu Leng.   It's not Fu Leng that is objectionable...in fact, Fu Leng being as big as he is means you can have all kinds of events leading to his coming.  It's the 'defeat the big' followed by more defeat the big.

But a post-Fu Leng world, assuming the story lasts that long, is one without a Hantei.  At that point, the real politics and clan wars can start. Then you don't need any kami at all to make a wild story. As long as the LCG doesn't incorporate a Shadowlands faction, there's no obligation to give the Shadowlands faction something to do.

This question has now been answered. 

Rather than Kiriko riding out, facing Asahina, and enduring his elemental assaults to block them from the village using her own body, enduring this pain while keeping to the peace that the Crane have decreed should be...
 
She rides out and asks him to stop. When he keeps shooting fireballs, she looks very sad.

Asahina feels guilty because she looks so sad and spends the rest of his life seeking redemption. 

Because who needs agency and courage when you can look sad enough.

Everyone else isn't the Isawa, thus they'd be of limited help with a problem that the Isawa don't understand? How is that not the pinnacle of arrogance?

"Well, I don't understand how this works, so obviously you couldn't be of any help, because you're not a Phoenix."

It's been enough years, I'm making this my own.

This list started out as a list by @Maffster , found  Here.  But since he is not able to update it, I've taken it over for him.  Everything on this list appears sorted by the date of publication. As such, I've modified it from the original list where there are discrepancies.   If it is associated with a box or card pack set, it is associated with the date that product was released. If it was associated with a novel, it is associated with the date it went on sale on the market.
If you want to know when events occur relative to each other in time, you can find it here, at my New 5r Timeline.  Since events in the timeline often interweave each other or are functionally simultaneous, or contain flashbacks of various lengths, I suggest reading in order of release, rather than by timeline.  Also, this timeline has summaries of the fictions for you to refer to and other tools.
If you want to listen to an audio version of many of these stories, you can find them at https://the-table-is-yours.pinecast.co/.
The Great Clans - This flavor text is from the Box set but is a better introduction to L5R than any fiction, and is suggested to start here before launching into the fictions.
01 - Her Fathers Daughter
02 - The Price Of War
03 - The Rising Wave
04 - Dark Hands Of Heaven
05 - Risen From The Flames
06 - Curved Blades
07 - Smokeless Fire
08 - The World, A Stage
09 - An Empire In Turmoil ...........(PDF Version)
10 - A Season Of War ...........(PDF Version)
11 - A Most Suitable Teacher
12 - In the Garden of Lies (Part 1)
13 - In the Garden of Lies (Part 2)
14 - To The South (Part 1)
15 - To The South (Part 2)
16 - The Fate of Flames
17 - Better To Be Certain
18 - The Fires of Justice
19 - The Stories We Tell
20 - Blind Ambition  ...........(PDF Version)
21 - Service and Sacrifice
22 - A Difference Of Lanterns ...........(PDF Version)
23 - Beneath, Below, Beyond
24 - Family Duty ...........(PDF Version)
25 - Flying Chariot, Standing
26 - Court Games ...........(PDF Version)
27 - Honor, Loyalty, Duty
28 - The Bright Flame of the World's Glory ...........(PDF Version)
29 - Wildcats And Dragon Teeth
30 - Fireflies ...........(PDF Version)
31 - The Spectres of War
32- Repentance Does Not Come First
33 - The Sword and the Spirits
34 - Tempests and Tides ...........(PDF Version)
35 - A Crane Takes Flight
36 - Gaze Into Darkness ...........(PDF Version)
37 - Kurosunai Village
38 - Awakened ...........(PDF Version)
39 - Dreams of Shadow ...........(PDF Version)
40 - Outsiders
41 - Heart of the Garden
42 - Snow And Sun ...........(PDF Version)
43 - Between the Lines
44 - A Swift End ...........(PDF Version)
45 - Whispers of Shadow and Steel
46 – Tiger Stalks His Prey
47 - A Simple Test
48 - A Call to Stewardship - Unicorn Clan Letter
49 - A Call to Leadership - Lion Clan Letter
50 - A Call to Witness - Dragon Clan Letter
51 - A Call for Diplomacy - Crane Clan Letter
52 - A Call for Unity - Phoenix Clan Letter
53 - A Call to Investigate - Crab Clan Letter
54 - A Call to Duty - Scorpion Clan Letter
55 - Small Mercies
56 – Imperial Gifts
57 - Across the Burning Sands
58 – Children of the Empire Part 1
59 – Children of the Empire Part 2
60 – Children of the Empire Part 3
61 -Like Seeds on the Wind
62 – Rule from Horseback
63 – The Last Stone Played
64 – Tactical Maneuvers
65 – 2019 Clan Letters
66 – Falling Stars
67 – By the Stroke of a Brush
68 – Red Petals Scatter
69 – Two Swords Fall from Heaven
70 – Black and White
71 – Behind the Empty Throne
72 – Roar of the Lioness
73 – Wind Through Falling Leaves
74 – The Price of Failure
75 - The Eternal Knot
76 – Trust Me
77 – A Game of Promises
78 – The Cornered Lion Part 1
79 – The Cornered Lion Part 2
80 – Bloody Harvest
81 – Pine and Cherry Blossom
82 – We Strike First
83 – Beyond Reach
84 – What the Eye Cannot See
85 – A Night Storm Rages
86 – Cold Autumn Harvests
87 – Hidden Markings
88 - The Art of Matchmaking
89 - How the World Ought to Work 
90 - Caged Birds
91 - Violence Behind Courtliness
92 - Truth and Lies 
93 - Courtly Nets and Hidden Snares
94 - The Sea and the Sun's Shadow
95 - Heart of the Mountain
96 - A Missive from the Front - Lion Clan
97 - A Missive from the Front - Unicorn Clan
98 - A Secret Letter - Scorpion Clan
99 - A Discerning Eye and an Unyielding Resolve
100 - Daidoji
101 - Beneath the Light of Jade
102 - The Shadow of Glory
103 - Duty's Cost
104 - The Stained Cup
105 - Trail of Shadows
106 - The Last Leaf Falls
107 - When the Wave Strikes the Shore
108 - Questionable Shelter
109 - What Cost a Dream
`110 - An Impossible Task
111 - The Yogo Curse Part 1
112 - The Yogo Curse Part 2
113 - The Careful Gardener

This is not exactly good reasoning. "We know there's a problem, and we can't figure it out, but there's no point in telling anybody else about it until we've figured it out" = either "we are afraid to show weakness" or "if we haven't solved it, then clearly nobody else will be able to." Probably both at once. And the latter is, uh, textbook arrogance.