From the introduction: The Shinomen Mori, the great, dark forest of southern Rokugan, has always been steeped in mystery and menace. Now, it appears the shadows beneath the ancient trees have begun to spread. After years of relative peace, a town near the forest border is falling into unrest, as old rivalries suddenly flare between two of the Minor Clans. A war on its southern border is something the Scorpion Clan can ill-afford at the best of times. With tension rife among the Great Clans, Bayushi Paneki, Scorpion Clan Champion, requires eyes and ears in the south, and quickly. But even for the Clan of Secrets, this is no simple task. The resources of the Scorpion are stretched across the Empire, and few are available to meet this new and sudden threat. Difficult times sometimes call for unusual measures, so Paneki has chosen to dispatch a group of investigators into the south to determine what has sparked the embers of conflict between the Kitsune and Suzume Clans in the normally peaceful town of Kudo. Is Paneki’s promise of lucrative payment—as well as his thinly veiled threat of retribution for any betrayal of Scorpion trust—enough to unite these ad hoc investigators in common purpose? Can anything cause such a disparate group to put aside personal differences and clan rivalries long enough to learn the truth about what is happening in Kudo? And will they be prepared to deal with whatever that truth may be?