A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
A player, 22 February 2012
If my magistrate is in a battle with a Henshin that has a few items on him (a weapon and a follower for this example), if I target his unit with A Stain Cleansed, then he uses his stronghold to transfer the attachments to a Henshin at home, a couple questions come out of this:
Will the attachments be destroyed since they were targetted when the unit was targetted, despite being on another guy currently?
When I go to pay costs, is the unit cost still considered Henshin + weapon + follower? or just the Henshin?
Since I know that my A Stain Cleansed will not destroy the Henshin, can I choose not to pay his cost in the unit cost and just destroy the attachments?
If the above is true, or if I choose to not pay any of the costs, do the attachments still transfer and the Henshin is stuck there at the battle with me without attachments?
Relevant Text:
Waystation of the Path Reaction: After another player's action targets your performing Henshin, target another of your Personalities: The Henshin is reborn. Transfer his attachments and tokens to the other Personality. The action's effects that would destroy your Henshin instead overlay him onto the Personality.
A Stain Cleansed Battle: Choose your performing unbowed Magistrate, target an enemy card without attachments or an enemy unit, and pay Gold equal to the card or unit's total Gold Cost minus 2: Destroy it.
Ben Higgins (rules official), 23 February 2012
Will the attachments be destroyed since they were targetted when the unit was targetted, despite being on another guy currently?
The attachments were never targeted, so will not be destroyed.
When I go to pay costs, is the unit cost still considered Henshin + weapon + follower? or just the Henshin?
A unit's cost is the sum of the Gold Costs on each card in the unit, which at this point in your example is just the Henshin.
Since I know that my A Stain Cleansed will not destroy the Henshin, can I choose not to pay his cost in the unit cost and just destroy the attachments?
The Unit cost has been changed by adding/removing cards in the unit. Under the rules for interference with mandatory costs under step D, this allows you to decide to pay the costs or not. If you choose to not pay the cost, the effects will fail and A Stain Cleansed will be discarded.
You may not elect to retarget the action at this point in the sequence, so the attachments will still be safe, having been transferred to the other Personality.
If the above is true, or if I choose to not pay any of the costs, do the attachments still transfer and the Henshin is stuck there at the battle with me without attachments?
The timing for the Reaction on Waystation of the Path does occur before costs are paid, so you are correct that the attachments would still transfer and the Henshin would remain still at the battle, sans protection, if you elected to not pay the costs of A Stained Cleansed.