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Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Daemonfey" data-source="post: 6172111" data-attributes="member: 60980">And that's it. Very small preview. Nothing else to see here. Thrust me. [SPOILER]Kolat9th Century KolatThe Kolat are an organization that follow a philosophy as old as the Emerald Empire, and unlike its enemies, they are not bound by tradition and the Will of the Heavens; as such, the Kolat have assumed many forms and faces over the centuries, discarding guises and adapting to the needs of their mission to establish human dominance of the cosmos. Nobody alive knows what the Kolat before the Return of the Ki-Rin looked like; Shinjo Noburei, the leader of the Unicorn Kolat at the time saw to it that no recollection would be left to challenge his vision for the Kolat. After a swift shadow war against the leaders of the local Kolat, Unicorn hegemony was established. Noburei's Kolat had little in common with the Masters of the Clan War era or the Sects that came later. He established a secret stronghold from which he ruled the conspiracy, the Great Lodge of Rokugan, leaving it clear that all Kolat on the world shared the same agenda, that Rokugan was just one of the many fronts  of the war against celestial tyranny. Leaders of the Kolat gathered at the Great Lodge, while actual managing of the daily activities of the organization was left to four minor groups: the Lodge of the North Wind, the Lodge of the South Wind, the Lodge of the Left Wind and the Lodge of the Right Wind. Minor cells all over the Empire answered to the nearest Lodge, never knowing the members of other cells or Lodges.  The Unicorn leaders of the Kolat gave the organization much-needed wealth, arms, arcane secrets and legitimacy for the cause. They trained the Kolat in techniques from outside Rokugan and in the use of unique and deadly poisons. The Unicorn think they seeded guzuku fortresses as trading nodes and safehouses, but in truth they were designed to be Kolat meeting places. As the Rokugani slowly grew to accept the Unicorn, they too accepted Kolat infiltrators in their palaces and halls. Hantei XXVI was received with mixed feelings by the Kolat. While his defiance against the Heavens and his measures disregarding the Celestial Order could be aligned with the philosophy of the conspiracy, his spy network was all too efficient and he almost caught wind of the Kolat's activities. After too many close shaves, the Kolat decided to avoid the Son of Heaven and his courts. The Great Lodge of Rokugan and its members seemed well positioned to extend their tentacles and achieve dominance of Rokugan before the end of the century. All that changed six years ago, when the entire Lodge system collapsed, all the leaders and lieutenants of the Kolat vanishing into thin air. Fall of the Kolat?No Kolat survivor can explain what happened six years ago, and maybe only two or three persons alive know the answer. Below are some of the theories offered by modern Kolat: - Hantei XXVI finally discovered the conspiracy and culled all the members he that knew about, swiftly and in the shadows. Surviving Kolat should probably lay low, as the Son of Heavens agent continue looking for any remnants; - Those closer to the leaders of the Lodges recall great optimism, as well as declarations that final victory was near. Perhaps the Lodge Kolat left Rokugan in a quest to bring an end to the Celestial Order;- The Kolat have stolen magical secrets from both the Lion and Phoenix during the rule of Hantei XXV, and complemented that with many of Otomo Seimei's unorthodox research. They were also supporting some of the research of the short lived Moshi's Smallest Council. Perhaps the leadership of the Lodge Kolat gathered for a powerful magical ritual and somehow felt victim to it?;  - The Lodge Kolat always had a very international agenda, and they were probably recalled to assist in a crisis beyond Rokugan; - Perhaps that incarnation of the Kolat had an clear cut objective - and they achieved it. It is transfiguring into something new, with a new purpose. Now it falls to the new Kolat to exploit the opportunities created by their predecessors from the Great Lodge.Tora Lives OnThe Lodge Kolat are gone, but they left many safehouses brimming with resources, contacts, information and even strange artifacts. It is true that many safehouses were destroyed by the surviving Kolat in order to safeguard their secrets, but even these drastic measure may not have been enough - there are rumours amongst the Kolat that at least one or two safehouses have been found by Imperial agents investigating the sudden disappearances of many important samurai. Weakened, the Kolat still have many opportunities for rebirth: the Lodge Kolat were dominated by the Unicorn, but now balance has been restored; the agenda of the Great Lodge was the agenda of the Unicorn, but now individual cells can operate without such hassle. The Schism is every Kolat’s wet dream and individual cells might exploit it for great profit - it is a good thing for Rokugan that the Lodge Kolat are no longer active to exploit the spiritual confusion of the era, or the Celestial Order would've crumbled by now.It is an interesting time for the followers of Tora. They might not rule the shadows, but they can shape what the Kolat look like for the next generations - and arm them with the weapons they need to succeed.[/SPOILER]And with further delay... <a href="http://nightcourt.prophpbb.com" target="_blank"> I declare Night Court in session. </a></blockquote>

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