Year 1210 During the reign of Empress Hanzo II, the Daughter of the Sun, the Yodotai War erupts as the long-anticipated threat of the foreign Yodotai Empire materializes from the Burning Sands. For perhaps the first time in the Emerald Empire’s history, all the clans eventually unite against this gaijin threat, eventually narrowly beating it back. The conflict is considered Hanzo II’s finest hour and ensures her place as perhaps the greatest leader in Rokugan’s history.

Year 1567 After centuries in hiding, the lost Tanuki Clan re-emerges into the spotlight. Armed with the Cherry Blossom Sake recipe thought lost during the Third Yasuki War, the Tanuki claim their place as the finest beverageers in Rokugan. The Radiant Emperor, amused at their existence, officially negates the attempts of the earlier Hantei emperor to expunge their existence and agrees to the continuation of their charter.

Year 2023 Isawa Takeda, a minor, unremarkable researcher at the Asako Archives, stumbles across a lost scroll in the deepest levels of the facility. After heading outside to eat lunch among his coworkers, Takeda opens the scroll – and immediately disappears in a flash of light. He reappears amidst the other stunned archivists within minutes, having aged 20 years in the meantime. Takeda refuses to tell his Phoenix superiors what he’d seen or where he’d been other than that a “terrible calamity awaited Rokugan” that he must do anything to avert. He demands an audience with the Emperor, and though none know what is said during their conversation, Takeda is immediately given control of a new Minor Clan, which he names the Rooster. Takeda collects a small number of shugenja from across the Empire, and the Rooster spend the next millennia guarding their founder’s great secret.

Year 2222 The life of the Radiant Empress is saved from a magical mishap by an unassuming ronin named Tachibana. In thanks, the Empress grants Tachibana leave to form her own Minor Clan, which she names the Komodo. The new clan becomes masters of acrobatic shows, though there are darker whispers that is not the only realm into which their talents extend.

Year 2345 Wild spirit rifts begin opening randomly all over the Empire, causing heavy destruction. As the clans begin to blame each other, the tenth Kami Ryoshun manages to gain entry to Ningen-do and begins recruiting heroes from across the Empire. To lead this small but elite army, he chooses an unlikely figure: Ichiro Gozaru, the unassuming third son of the Badger Clan daimyo. The choice proves prescient, as Gozaru manages to quell the divisions between Rokugan’s warring clans and ultimately solve what becomes known as the Crisis on Infinite Realms. In the wake of the conflict, the Badger, though still a minor clan, officially become the Clan of Ryoshun. In addition, the Deer Clan is formed to honor the efforts of the departed Toku Toyotomi, the greatest hero of the Crisis.

Year 2668 At the behest of the Mantis, the long-troublesome Minor Clan known as the Shark are disbanded, wiped from the historical record, and hunted down. Nevertheless, many members of the Shark survive in hiding among the other clans, and swear undying vengeance upon the Clan of Yoritomo.

Year 2765 A scientist of the Phoenix Clan, Asako Netsuo, proves the existence of other planets in space through the use of powerful telescopes and specialised magic. He does not foresee the religious backlash which is triggered by the discovery, which seems to imply the existence of other worlds not subordinate to the Celestial Heavens. Tensions build throughout the Empire, with many decrying Netsuo as a blasphemer. The divisions eventually escalate into a military conflict known as the War of the Tao. The Emperor does not intervene to halt the war, possibly unwilling or unable to quell the dispute.

Year 2775 Under the Emperor’s sponsorship, the most powerful shugenja in the Empire complete a ritual which allows them to observe one of the alien worlds closest to Rokugan. It is a planet full of verdant jungles, and the shugenja conclude it is more strongly influenced by Chikushudo than Rokugan itself, but still very much tied to the Spirit Realms and the greater cosmology of Rokugani beliefs. This brings an end to the War of the Tao as the most religious Rokugani accept the existence of other planets as the will of Heaven, and the Great Clans begin to work together to visit and explore these new worlds.

Year 2797 The Phoenix complete the ritual known as Opening the Way, allowing travel at faster than the speed of the Jade Sun’s light. At the same time, the Unicorn complete construction of the Shinjo, the first fully operational starship. A joint mission of samurai from all of the Great Clans arrive on the nearest alien planet and dub it First Landing. The planet’s life forms are broadly similar to Rokugan’s, but there are many new species as well. Rare or entirely new materials found on the planet fetch astronomical prices on Rokugan’s markets, and all the Great Clans start mounting space expeditions of their own. Eventually, the Unicorn are granted sole stewardship of First Landing.

Year 2802 Crab expeditions to the Shadowlands, sent to finally root out whatever remains of the long-lost Spider Clan, find no trace of them, the City of the Lost completely abandoned. They do, however, find evidence that the Spider, having stolen some of the technological and magical achievements of the Phoenix, have already taken to the stars and abandoned Rokugan Prime.

Year 2812 An Imperial survey team landing on a new planet is almost wiped out by a primitive native race called Ryunin, incredibly powerful warriors fueled by the rage of Toshigoku. After some deliberation, the Emperor decides the security of his citizens is the prime concern, far more significant than the existence of a new race of human-like creatures, and the armies of the Lion declare war on the Ryunin. It takes years to fully pacify the planet, but the Ryunin are ultimately destroyed and the Lion Clan keeps control of the planet under the Emperor’s will.

Year 2817 A team of Mantis explorers discover a world where a crust of ice hides colossal oceans, and detect movement below the ice. The Emperor inexplicably steps forward and gives stewardship of the planet to the Dragon Clan, who close it to exploration by anyone else. The Mantis are incensed, but obey the Emperor’s edicts, and the Dragon never share word of what is on the planet. They do, however, keep a small but strong garrison on it at all times.

Year 2826 As the number of planetary expeditions continues to grow, the Emperor founds the Imperial Exploration Corps, led by shugenja and tasked with exploring and sanctifying planets before allowing colonization. This ensures the Emperor has full knowledge of his Empire’s expanding boundaries and the Imperial families gain the prime choice of sites to colonize.

Year 2828 A Phoenix scientist named Isawa Kazuo discovers “radiant energy,” which involves slightly awakening a material’s spirit to coat it in a field of glowing, powerful warm light. This revolutionizes personal combat, as radiant rifles, armors, and swords are quickly produced; it also allows the development of weapons which function reliably in space. The Phoenix, quickly followed by the other Great Clans, start equipping their vessels with radiant shields and cannons.

Year 2830 A young Mantis shugenja-ko named Komori Azai, perhaps the galaxy’s foremost expert on stellar phenomena, develops strange powers akin to Void magic after repeated exposure to spatial anomalies. The Phoenix attempt to leverage their political power to force Azai into their service, but the Mantis object – leading to the two-year conflict known as the War of the Void. The Unicorn join the side of the Mantis, while the Lion join the side of the Phoenix in what becomes Rokugan’s first interstellar inter-clan conflict. Ultimately, the Crane and Scorpion step in to broker a peace between the two sides – though hard feelings between the Lion and the Mantis engendered by the conflict presage future issues. As a result of the war, Azai is commanded by the Emperor to form her own Minor Clan, which she names the Pangolin, with the mandate to study interstellar phenomena and lend their expertise to all other clans. By Imperial edict, the Pangolin are banned from ever warring or allying with any other clan, whether Great or Minor.

Year 2835 An argument between Mantis and Lion vessels over the control of a newly discovered planet turns sour when the Lion open fire, destroying the Mantis ship. The conflict quickly escalates and for the first time war takes to the stars. Other clans occasionally skirmish as well, and the Emperor allows such conflicts to continue so long as they do not expand to Rokugan itself.

Year 2838 While most of the other clans are embroiled in wars, the Unicorn approach the Emperor with a bold petition. They ask for the remnants of the gaijin nations to be relocated to space, citing dwindling resources on Rokugan’s home planet and the foreign cultures dwindling in the face of ever greater Rokugani numbers. The Emperor accepts the proposal. Many gaijin chafe at having to leave their homes – especially the Thrane, who fight a brief conflict with Rokugan known as the War of Rememberance. Ultimately, their strength proves far too little in comparison to the Emerald Empire, and they have little choice but to submit to the Rokugan’s superior strength. The move ultimately allows all gaijin nations, including the Thrane, to expand again on planets reserved for their own use. Rokugan quickly fills the vacated space, and now rules the entire planet it calls home. At the same time, the Minor Clans are granted a lottery of one world each that they may call their home and rule as they see fit. Almost all of them take to the stars.

Year 2841 The Lion field the first ever Katana-class battlecruiser, the Akodo, which brings unparalleled firepower to their fleet. The other clans quickly develop cruisers of their own, and war temporarily abates as the presence of such powerful ships prevents many small-scale conflicts from escalating or in some cases from happening at all.

Year 2850 With the Emerald Empire coming into contact with more and powerful alien species and empires, it becomes clear a diplomatic hub needs to be established to negotiate with them. The Radiant Emperor commissions a new clan, the Silkworm, with the mandate of xeno-relations, and orders a massive space station built to accommodate this endeavor. After several false starts, the station, called Burning Stars 6 after the first five meet with various types of failure and located near the junction point of the territories of several Great Clans, opens for business. It quickly becomes one of the largest cities in the Empire, with the Silkworm becoming one of the foremost of the Minor Clans.

Year 2872 With the completion of the Peaceful, the Asahina family becomes the last Great Clan family to build a Katana-class cruiser, establishing a balance of forces in the known universe. Exploration continues while the clans carefully watch each other for signs of weakness.

Year 2902 The Scorpion open their largest planet to investment from other clans, claiming this will allow for cooperation and trade in a place with low taxes (and lax law enforcement). This leads to a massive influx of population and capital, and the place is renamed the World of Dreams, the most populated place in the Empire of Emerald Stars.

Year 2911 The Dragon Clan are the first to reach the Eastern Nebula, whose emissions disable all electronic devices and effectively block further travel in that area. The ‘western’ and ‘southern’ regions of the Empire of Emerald Stars are vast fields of emptiness or are devoid of useful planets, so they focus on the denser ‘northern’ sector of the galaxy for further expansion and exploitation. The Dragon maintain a presence near the nebula, studying it in an attempt to understand its nature and function.

Year 2920 The Lion, hungry for new territory and irked at the Hare Clan’s public exposure of a high-ranking member of the Kitsu family as a maho-tsukai, decide to deal with the meddlesome Usagi family for good. As the Lion assault fleet approaches The Burrow, the Hare’s homeworld, all ships are suddenly struck by debilitating computer viruses and are forced to retreat. None can prove the Scorpion are responsible – but none can disprove it either. The Lion decide to leave the Hare alone.

Year 2932 A clash erupts between the Lion and the Crab over who should pacify a new planet, a world inhabited by large animals corrupted by the influence of Gaki-do. The clash soon escalates into an open war. The Crane and Scorpion and support the Lion, while the Mantis, Phoenix, and Unicorn join the Crab, with the Dragon refusing to interfere. This massive conflict quickly expands and becomes known as the Alliance War. It lasts for over thirty years, with enormous casualties on both sides. New ship and weapon designs are developed during the war, as are new tactics and techniques dealing with all types of combat. Several planets and systems are severely damaged in the process.

Year 2967 The Emperor officially calls for an end to the Alliance War, declaring the damage to the Empire is too great and now outweighs whatever insults prompted the initial conflict. Legends later claim the war interrupted shipments of his favorite tea from far across the galaxy and he could not endure such an imposition. Regardless, the two sides reluctantly agree to a truce; there is no clear winner to the War, and the clans retreat to their own worlds and lick their wounds. As part of the settlement, the Dove Clan is founded to attempt to avert future large-scale conflicts between the Great Clans. For several generations afterward, fighting is limited to skirmishes and the Empire prospers again.

Year 3000 Rokugan celebrates its entry to the third millennium, the Empire more prosperous than ever and enjoying a long period of relative peace. The celebrations are among the most lavish in recorded history. However, a number of self-declared prophets appear on different planets, many speaking of doom and destruction as the Third Day of Thunder approaches, with about half of them claiming to be Shinsei’s heir. Some of the most violent eventually have to be eliminated by Imperial security forces.

Year 3052 Agasha Mori creates the first android, attempting to transfer his terminally ill daughter’s consciousness into a robot form. Though his daughter perishes, a curious air kami assumes possession of the robotic form. The Phoenix declare Mori’s creation a heresy, but the Emperor and the Dragon step in to protect him. The more traditional clans, such as the Lion, Phoenix, and Scorpion are apoplectic when the Emperor grants Mori leave to form a new clan, the Otter, whose mandate is to study the field of robotics.

Year 3088 Empress Hanzo CXII ascends the throne after her father dies peacefully in his sleep. She quickly establishes a distant but fair style of ruling, and relaxes the policies governing warfare between the Great Clans as long as they do not threaten the flow of commerce. The most aggressive clans, Lion first, start using this to justify new expansions into other clans’ territories.

Year 3101 The tournament of the Emerald Champion takes place after the previous Champion, Doji Nariko, retires. It is an exceptionally lavish event, the recordings broadcast all across the Empire’s many planets, and features hundreds of participants from all the clans; although many aspects of the competition have changed, it still climaxes in the traditional iaijutsu duels. The winner is a masked man named Nazo, who defeats the favourite contestant and daughter of the previous Champion, Doji Naritako. Nazo keeps his allegiance secret, but immediately starts building his power base.

Year 3110 Crab survey ships attempting to explore the Black Reach that lies beyond the borders of the Emerald Empire begin disappearing. No trace of them – or anything that might have attacked them – can be found, and their loss is attributed to stellar anomalies. The Crab abandon their efforts to explore the Black Reach – for now, at least.

Year 3115 The Lion Clan begin their attempts to pacify the planet of Red Fields, the homeworld of the Yakkari, a race of especially cruel, Tiger-like aliens which superficially resemble the Rakshasa of the Rokugani homeworld. They quickly become bogged down, as the Yakkari’s defensive tactics grind the war to a halt. The Lion settle in for a long slog of a campaign.

Year 3118 The freighter Obsidian Dawn is boarded by the notorious pirate captain Yoritomo Khartai. Only one member of the crew is killed, under mysterious circumstances: a ronin named Naomasa, who leaves behind a pregnant wife, a Kitsuki Investigator named Kitsuki Kaori. Kaori swears revenge.

Year 3119 An attempt to rob the First Bank of Lady Doji on the Crane resort planet of Golden Mirror is foiled at the last second when the robbers make a critical error. Though most of the criminals are rounded up and arrested, the team’s computer hacker (the one who screwed up the job in the first place) manages to beat a hasty escape.

Year 3120 A Dragon Clan patrol finds a devastated world stripped bare of resources on the edge of the eastern nebula. Only one living creature is found, a member of an odd race called the Goryu, tied to Tengoku and Meido. While seemingly peaceful, he is unable to communicate or to explain what happened to his planet. In an effort to attain comprehension, the Dragon Clan Champion personally gives a tattoo to the last Goryu, who takes the name Togashi Jinsu and joins the tattooed order.

Year 3120 (continued) Still distraught over her defeat at the Emerald Championship, Doji Naritako ascends to the position of Crane Clan Champion after her older brother retires. Her first act is to command her clan to investigate the identity of the Emerald Champion, Nazo. The Crane Clan finds itself at odds with the Emerald Champion and his legions several times as he quashes all of their attempts to learn who he is.

Year 3120 (continued) The Crab colony at Dark Horizon goes…well…dark. A rescue mission is launched to determine what happened – which likewise goes dark. When the Crab send a second rescue mission, no physical trace of either the original settlers or the first rescue team is found, though their technology all remains present and dormant – with the exception of one unaccounted-for shuttle from the rescue team. Believing the place to be haunted, the Crab declare Dark Horizon to be a restricted zone until they are able to turn their full attention to it.

Year 3121 A young duelist named Kakita Ikage wins his first significant tournament, the Emerald Juniors on Rokugan Prime. Commentators for Rokugan’s biggest sport agree that Ikage is a top-flight prospect to watch for the future. He begins to attain minor amounts of fame, including a guest spot on Space Law & Order.

Year 3122 Matsu Tomoe, Kakita Ikage, Kochako Kenji, Asako Sanpio, Hida Mako, Kitsuki Kaori, and Moto Tamir all find themselves, for various reasons, drawn to Burning Stars 6, setting in motion events which will shake the very foundations of the Emerald Empire…