To the Most Honorable <Insert Character Name Here>,

We are pleased to inform you that your application to join the prestigious ranks of the Ninth Imperial Legion has been reviewed and approved. You will be, initially, assigned to the Half Moon for further training and assessment under its Captain, Yoritomo Uminushi, and crew. Please present yourself and this letter on the 7th day of the month of the Moon to the dockmaster in Toshi no Inazuma.

The Half Moon and one other training vessel will be leaving Rokugan to make a brief sojourn to the Coral Islands. Further details regarding the nature of this mission will be given to you by your Captain. Let it be said that one of the reasons you have been chosen for this particular training excercise is for the unique skills you bring to this venture. I look forward to reading the reports of your progress upon your safe return.

Strong Winds and Clear Waters,
Yoritomo Hoheiki
Vice Admiral of the Ninth Legion

Greetings, salutations, and any other word you like for 'Howdy'. Once again, Elonweis and I have decided to subject a select group to our particular breed of madness. Everyone please be kind to Volsung, who is getting his PbP GM feet wet and for who's help Elonweis and I are grateful (and you should be too!)

Now, to the usual player questions!

1. What Kind of Game is This?
This is going to be a game in the 'action' genre. It is also going to be the first game in a planned two-game story. By this, we don't mean an 'In Time of War' sort of two seperate campaign arc shindig but a 'two completely separate games that have the potential to carry over characters/plots'. This one will run this Calendar year, the next in 2012 (assuming the world as we know it hasn't come to a horrifying end).

This is NOT going to be a Court (though if you want to play a courtier anyway, feel free!). This is NOT going to be a 'sandbox'. It's going to be like Kiku Toshi in the way that 'There be plot here and you're going to be part of it whether you like it or not'. That means there's more risk to your character's life and limb and if you're the sort of person who isn't comfortable with that, this game isn't for you.

2. What's the 'Hook'?
We'll cover setting in more detail elsewhere, but the gist of what's going on here is best summed up by this video. You will each be new recruits in the Ninth Imperial Legion, which is a maritime arm of the military, setting out on training maneuvers to the Coral Islands.

3. What sort of experience/IR level are we looking at?
For this game, we're looking at High R1/Low R2. For details on that, please direct your collective gazes to the Character Creation section.

4. Does this mean there's going to be a lot of Combat?
Given that 'a lot' is a subjective descriptor, this one's a little hard. Suffice it to say that there WILL be combat at several points. We realize that combat is one of the #1 drags on both time and energy and we're taking what steps we can to alleviate that somewhat by a.) RL scheduling things in advance and publishing said times/dates and b.) Asking all players to fill out a Battle Strategy sheet to be used if they encounter some unforseen RL circumstances that make them unable to miss a scheduled fight.

5. Is this game going to follow Canon?
The short answer? "Yes, to a certain degree". Things will be canon until the moment your ship sets out of port and Empire-wide massive happenings will certainly factor in, though PC actions have a possibility of affecting things on a certain scale.

6. Does that mean that the Spider are going to get Clan status?
In this game? No. In the next one? Yes. We realize there are strong feelings for both sides of this topic and we frankly don't want to see that drama brought here. If you choose to play in this game or it's sequel, you are accepting the fact that yes, some Spider will be involved. Start up any sort of nonsense over this point and we *will* make judicious use of the Ban Hammer. Consider yourselves warned.

RL to IC Days
Generally, we'll be following a 2/2/3 schedule for IC days. This may change (and the change will be announced) depending on schedules and combat.

End Date
Due to the nature of the game, we do not necessarily have a hard end date. There are multiple endings to the scenario we've built and saying any more will show our hand. The staff, however, does expect the game to wrap up before the start of November.