[L5R 4th Edition] Night Court PbP

[Daemonfey]

We apologize for the extra long preview this week, as the Phoenix has more de facto daimyo than other clans. We hope that the fact that this clan casts more light upon the Schism and the aftermath of the War of the Broken Wagon makes up for it.

The State of the Clans - Phoenix

Phoenix Clan Champion: Shiba Kasuihiko (M)

Usually able to stay in the sidelines of the Empire's most drastic events, their relationship to the Emperor and the appointment of one of their own as Emerald Champion has made impossible for the Phoenix to avoid any of the crisis faced by Hantei XXVI during his reign. While politically powerful and, with the shunning of the Dragon and the division amongst the Brotherhood, being the unquestionable defenders of Rokugani faith, the Phoenix has suffered from disasters and poor domestic policies. The Phoenix also lost many of their alliances in the quagmire that was the War of the Broken Wagon, as even their most loyal friends abandoned the conflict at one point or another.

Shiba Kasuihiko is not a happy man, a slightly overweight, short and bald young man that seems resigned to serve as the vessel for Shiba's soul. His older sister was a prodigy Topaz Champion that was named Voice of the Masters after the previous one retired, while Kasuihiko seemed to be a poor bushi with little talent as yojimbo. As part of negotiations with the Dragon, Kasuihiko was sent to train and eventually marry off to the court of a Mirumoto governor.

When Shiba Sakaya, the previous Champion, was ambushed and slain by Iuchi raiders early in the conflict that would become the War of the Broken Wagon, the clan feared that they would be leaderless and subsequently be forced to capitulate to the Unicorn war machine. To everyone's surprise, Kasuihiko returned from the Dragon lands, revealing that Shiba had chosen him as the new Champion. The Masters were reluctant in accepting that turn of events, as were many of the more experienced commanders who wished for a general to take charge of the clan, only capitulating to Kasuihiko after peace was settled.

All doubts vanished in the week following Kasuihiko's appointment when the Dragon attacked both Phoenix and Unicorn, joining the war for the Dragon Heart Plain. It was clear that Shiba meant Kasuihiko to lead the Phoenix to victory, counting on his knowledge of the Dragon to give the Phoenix’s armies an edge.

While he was a mediocre bushi and as inept at Niten as he was with spear, Kasuihiko's aptitude with military tactics was soon found to be on par with even the Emerald Champion or Hantei Nichira, allowing the Phoenix to regain the foothold that they had lost in the opening phase of the conflict and earning his place as one of the Five Tiger Generals. As the war dragged on, Kasuihiko turned to the planning and construction of new fortifications, strangling any advance that the Unicorn could attempt beyond the Plain. While a master of defensive warfare, Kasuihiko’s thunder was stolen by Nichira and his bold maneuvers. This event, coupled with Nichira later marriage into the Crane, has been a source of strain between the Phoenix-Crane alliance and has prevented the two friends from reforging their ties.

As brilliant as Kasuihiko was as commander, he was a poor administrator and had issues delegating and appraising the talent of his underlings. Corruption is rampant in the Asako and Shiba administration and many environmental disasters, years of weak and decadent governors and the toll of the War of the Broken Wagon left the Phoenix a giant with clay feet. They are still a force to be reckoned, but they need to recover fast, or someone will sense their weakness and pounce, destroying all that the clan has accomplished.

Kasuihiko is painfully aware of this.

Trouble:

Political, religious and military expansion of the smallest Great Clan was a costly affair. The half-people have been paying the most of the toll, but ji-samurai and even landed buke are starting to feel the pain in their netsuke. The Phoenix lacks the manpower to honour its compromises and is nearing full economic collapse, all while trying to stay relevant in so many fronts. Corners will have to be cut, and sacrifices will have to be made or everything will come crashing down like a house of cards. The corruption and incompetency of most of the kuge administrators is not something that can be easily dealt with, and it will be hard to obtain immediate results. Until recovery can become real, the Phoenix need to regain lost alliances that will either lend them much needed koku or help the Phoenix in their duties.

Allies:

The Phoenix need allies most than ever, but their rise in importance in the last decade has strained much of their relationships. The Crane remain their only ally, and even them have a hard time swallowing the many Phoenix offenses - as the economical crisis worsens, provincial lords have been known to raid into Crane lands during Summer. The War of the Broken Wagon and Asahina Nichira further complicated the relationship between the two clans; Nikesake was once a serene place of philosophy and diplomacy, but now it seems a gaijin powder keg ready to explode.

Enemies:

The Phoenix and the Unicorn are at odds. The Shinjo and Shiba leadership are unable to find common ground at the negotiation tables, as both sides are sore about the War of the Broken Wagon. The zealous Elemental Masters keep causing trouble and discrediting Iuchi shugenja, further antagonizing the Unicorn. The Asako and the Ide families are the only ones maintaining deals and trying to cooperate with each other; their efforts are the sole reason why another war has been averted.

With the division between the Clan Champion and the Voice of the Council, the rampant corruption and economic strain, Phoenix are just as likely to turn on each other as on outsiders. Raids and skirmishes between provincial governors have not been unheard of. The ghost of civil war hangs over the Phoenix lands.

Some fear that if relationships worsen with the Crane, the impossible will happen: war between Crane and Phoenix.

Other Families of the Phoenix

Asako Daimyo - Asako Sotatsu (M)

While he may be the father of the Empress and considered an honorary Chosen of the Emperor and called by the title of Imperial Father at both the Imperial Court of Otosan Uchi and Night Court, Asako Sotatsu remains humble and focuses his efforts towards national policy, a life dedicated to diplomacy, and averting conflict. His strong connections to the Throne have served him well in that regard, and made him such an important figure in Rokugani politics.

This focus on national affairs were not without an heavy cost: Sotatsu often acted dismissive or just ignored the incompetence and corruption of the majority of Phoenix administrators and governors. Sotatsu has been forced to change his stance and is working closely with Shiba Kasuihiko to deal with these internal matters; tragically the corruption seems to go deep into the system and it will not be purged without fighting across endless red tape.

Asako Sotatsu has also severed ties with his daughter, the Empress-Consort. The Asako daimyo supported Hantei Mari's gambling habits with the coffers of the Phoenix, but that is no longer possible. The Imperial Father is slowly becoming more and more irrelevant, to the pleasure of the official Chosen of the Emperor, who consider Asako Sotatsu an obstructive and meddling figure.

The Elemental Council

The Elemental Council of this era is completely obsessed with Sin and the Sinful, to the point it considers the punishment of the Sinful to be the foremost important duty of every single shugenja in Rokugan, to be pursued above any others - by the Tao or by fire, Sin in any form or shape must be purged. The Asako Inquisitors often chase down heretics and have no issue in punishing even Witch Hunters and known Kuroiban allies; the Council believes that they are the sole authority capable of protecting the spiritual purity of the Empire, the other shugenja traditions too unclean, naive or incapable to shoulder this responsibility, the sole exception being the Seppun family. In a clan that is so Imperial-aligned, the strong ties of the Elemental Council to the Seppun are bound to cause further internal strife as the Schism flares.

The Elemental Council is exclusive to the Isawa family, showing a dark trait of the Phoenix leadership of the 9th Century; a tendency to put everyone in their "proper" places. This shows in many different ways: a disdain for those ambitious or that display wealth or positions beyond their "place in the Celestial Order", for members of Clans that venture beyond their traditions and "defy the will of the Kami", and just pretty much any fringe movement of Rokugani society. Nowhere is this contempt as obvious than in the way the Elemental Council deals with non-Isawa Phoenix shugenja. Asako shugenja are either locked in monasteries for "research projects" that are irrelevant or sent into minor courts of the Empire so they don't "embarrass the standards of the Elemental Council" while Shiba shugenja are barely considered priests and are assigned to dangerous military posts or worse, as yojimbo for "real" shugenja. When a member of another family displays a rare mystical ability or mystical prowess that the Council has to admit, is on par with that of the Isawa, they are "strongly nudged" into taking the Isawa name and marrying into the family. Dark rumours speak of the Master of Air taking Isawa children that cannot commune with the kami deep into the Isawa Mori, where he feeds them to terrible spirits.

Finally, all members of the Elemental Council are either antisocial or full-blown misanthropic, avoiding the company of uneducated mortals that cannot even fathom the Celestial mysteries they deal with daily. This disdain extends even to the other Masters, even avoiding interaction with each other as much as possible - too paranoid to rely on constant magical communication. This behavior puts more power in the Voice of the Elemental Council than what the position usually wields; the charismatic Voice is the sole person in Rokugan that can mediate between the five Masters and is able to impose their vision and will upon the Clan and the Empire.

Master of Fire - Isawa Kinnojo (M)

Of all the crazy antisocial zealot Masters, Isawa Kinnojo is the most antisocial, crazy and zealous of the lot. Kinnojo never shows himself in public, and many rumours describe him as a monstrous mass of burnt scars and warped flesh - rumours that nobody has been able to prove. Kinnojo's only attendants are the members of a cult of personality centered around him - the Forty-Seven Flames of the Seven Thunders. His followers are creepy men and women covered in scars and burns, with dead eyes and that claim to have been "espied of all Sin”; their personality and looks are probably the source of the rumours about Kinnojo, as many have to come to believe he underwent more drastic ritual scarring. A very disturbing number of the Forty-Seven Flames have important officer positions in the Inferno and Firestorm Legions, and a reluctant Isawa Nanami even allowed a few of them to join the Asako Inquisitors.

Master of Water - Isawa Nanami (F)

The previous leader of the Asako Inquisitors was a Dragon-sympathetic Asako priest, a wise and tolerant guardian in the shadows until he was drowned by Isawa Nanami during a taryu-jiai duel on the grounds of conspiring with known heretics. Ever since then, Isawa Nanami has been both leader of the Inquisitors and the Master of Water. While she might look like everyone's favorite grandmother, with a homely face, big red cheeks and the belly of a good eater, Nanami is vicious and paranoid, showing no love or affection for anyone except her extended family - all of which have nice and cozy positions in the Inquisitors. Under her leadership the Inquisitors have spread their objectives; hunting maho-tsukai is secondary to exterminating heresy, because what is a tsukai if not an extreme heretic? Purge them early and purge them with extreme prejudice. Isawa Nanami is the most powerful water priest in Rokugan - the Iuchi daimyo would contest such a claim in what would probably be one of the most impressive magical battles in the history of the Emerald Empire - and her mastery of air could rival even the Master of Air; Nanami knows those elements very well and hates the many heretical and petty uses that the air and water kami suffer in the hands of lesser priests, she and her Inquisitors are specially unforgiving to shugenja that misuse their talents in such elements.

Those working closely with Nanami often discover that her definition of misuse can be very hypocritical.

Master of Air - Isawa Yoshimune (M)

Isawa Haruna was a very polite, kind hearted and tireless Master of Air; she was also the voice of the reason within the Elemental Council. When a flying accident left her crippled, she took special attention to select an even more temperate and gentle successor. Isawa Yoshimune seemed a perfect fit; a hermit that lived deep in the Isawa Mori, in perfect communion with the spirits of Chikushudo, wise and powerful in the ways of Air even if he was a little eccentric.

When Haruna finally passed away from her wounds and her disciples actually braved the Isawa Mori in search of Yoshimume, they found just how wrong their former mistress was. Yoshimume was a hulking hirsute man, obsessed with hunting and a braggart that claimed to be the best archer in the Empire, with a loud voice and a thunderous laughter. Athletic inclined, he is a big bully who still manages to inspire people in his own unorthodox and taunting way. Yoshimume seems to lack interest in political and mystical matters, but he is amazing at delegating the many duties attending shrines and temples across the Empire.

Besides rumours about him hunting heimin down for sport, infanticide, and some grisly trophies in his estate, the sad fact is that Yoshimune might be closest the Elemental Council has to a decent human being.

Master of Earth - Isawa Torajiro (M)

A somber man, not very bright, slow of speech and thought. Few know Torajiro personally and nobody ever sees him call upon his supposed great powers upon the Earth kami. The only pleasures of the Master of Earth seem to be painting and sculpture and the Voice often gifts them to dignitaries outside the clan.

Master of Void - Isawa Sakiko (F)

Sakiko is a freak. Thin and too pale, taller than any woman has the right to be and with demeanor and complexion that would make a Moto appear a perfect Rokugani. Born from a line of Isawa that was all too close with the yobanjin and an Iuchi mother, Sakiko was reluctantly accepted because she is the only ishiken of the Phoenix that actually stepped forward to claim the Master of Void position. Some say the position is cursed, and the strange pox that Sakiko is said to have contracted only further fuel these rumours.

Sakiko is more than a Master of Void magic; she spent almost twenty years outside Rokugan studying the gaijin magics supposedly used by Iuchiban, all in an effort to truly terminate the existence of the Bloodspeaker. What the Master of Void discovered is unknown, but that knowledge is enough to assure that the other Masters tolerate this freak.

The Voice of the Masters - Shiba Yomahime (F)

Shiba Kasuihiko's older sibling, she could not be more unlike her brother. Respected, statuesque, eloquent, charismatic and an imposing stoic beauty, Kasuihiko's often pointed out as the ideal of what a Shiba should be - not some weak-willed Dragon trained whelp. Kasuihiko has a reputation, personality and outlook to match her reputation. Her head is shaven and her body tattooed with elemental symbols, showing her devotion to the Elemental Masters, her looks and vanity be damned. Yomahime is a firebrand preacher, who believes which the words of the Masters are Law as absolute as the Heavens.

Since the Masters are too misanthropic to actually do it themselves, Yomahime is the face of the war against Sin - and she has no problem in curbing the heretic and the sinful with her naginata if no priest is available. Yomahime is a powerful defender of morals and tradition, but she lets her words might inflame more than hearts. If civil war strikes the Phoenix, one can expect Shiba Yomahime to be at the center of it.

 

[Daemonfey]

We apologize for the extra long preview this week, as the Phoenix has more de facto daimyo than other clans. We hope that the fact that this clan casts more light upon the Schism and the aftermath of the War of the Broken Wagon makes up for it.

The State of the Clans - Phoenix

Phoenix Clan Champion: Shiba Kasuihiko (M)

Usually able to stay in the sidelines of the Empire's most drastic events, their relationship to the Emperor and the appointment of one of their own as Emerald Champion has made impossible for the Phoenix to avoid any of the crisis faced by Hantei XXVI during his reign. While politically powerful and, with the shunning of the Dragon and the division amongst the Brotherhood, being the unquestionable defenders of Rokugani faith, the Phoenix has suffered from disasters and poor domestic policies. The Phoenix also lost many of their alliances in the quagmire that was the War of the Broken Wagon, as even their most loyal friends abandoned the conflict at one point or another.

Shiba Kasuihiko is not a happy man, a slightly overweight, short and bald young man that seems resigned to serve as the vessel for Shiba's soul. His older sister was a prodigy Topaz Champion that was named Voice of the Masters after the previous one retired, while Kasuihiko seemed to be a poor bushi with little talent as yojimbo. As part of negotiations with the Dragon, Kasuihiko was sent to train and eventually marry off to the court of a Mirumoto governor.

When Shiba Sakaya, the previous Champion, was ambushed and slain by Iuchi raiders early in the conflict that would become the War of the Broken Wagon, the clan feared that they would be leaderless and subsequently be forced to capitulate to the Unicorn war machine. To everyone's surprise, Kasuihiko returned from the Dragon lands, revealing that Shiba had chosen him as the new Champion. The Masters were reluctant in accepting that turn of events, as were many of the more experienced commanders who wished for a general to take charge of the clan, only capitulating to Kasuihiko after peace was settled.

All doubts vanished in the week following Kasuihiko's appointment when the Dragon attacked both Phoenix and Unicorn, joining the war for the Dragon Heart Plain. It was clear that Shiba meant Kasuihiko to lead the Phoenix to victory, counting on his knowledge of the Dragon to give the Phoenix’s armies an edge.

While he was a mediocre bushi and as inept at Niten as he was with spear, Kasuihiko's aptitude with military tactics was soon found to be on par with even the Emerald Champion or Hantei Nichira, allowing the Phoenix to regain the foothold that they had lost in the opening phase of the conflict and earning his place as one of the Five Tiger Generals. As the war dragged on, Kasuihiko turned to the planning and construction of new fortifications, strangling any advance that the Unicorn could attempt beyond the Plain. While a master of defensive warfare, Kasuihiko’s thunder was stolen by Nichira and his bold maneuvers. This event, coupled with Nichira later marriage into the Crane, has been a source of strain between the Phoenix-Crane alliance and has prevented the two friends from reforging their ties.

As brilliant as Kasuihiko was as commander, he was a poor administrator and had issues delegating and appraising the talent of his underlings. Corruption is rampant in the Asako and Shiba administration and many environmental disasters, years of weak and decadent governors and the toll of the War of the Broken Wagon left the Phoenix a giant with clay feet. They are still a force to be reckoned, but they need to recover fast, or someone will sense their weakness and pounce, destroying all that the clan has accomplished.

Kasuihiko is painfully aware of this.

Trouble:

Political, religious and military expansion of the smallest Great Clan was a costly affair. The half-people have been paying the most of the toll, but ji-samurai and even landed buke are starting to feel the pain in their netsuke. The Phoenix lacks the manpower to honour its compromises and is nearing full economic collapse, all while trying to stay relevant in so many fronts. Corners will have to be cut, and sacrifices will have to be made or everything will come crashing down like a house of cards. The corruption and incompetency of most of the kuge administrators is not something that can be easily dealt with, and it will be hard to obtain immediate results. Until recovery can become real, the Phoenix need to regain lost alliances that will either lend them much needed koku or help the Phoenix in their duties.

Allies:

The Phoenix need allies most than ever, but their rise in importance in the last decade has strained much of their relationships. The Crane remain their only ally, and even them have a hard time swallowing the many Phoenix offenses - as the economical crisis worsens, provincial lords have been known to raid into Crane lands during Summer. The War of the Broken Wagon and Asahina Nichira further complicated the relationship between the two clans; Nikesake was once a serene place of philosophy and diplomacy, but now it seems a gaijin powder keg ready to explode.

Enemies:

The Phoenix and the Unicorn are at odds. The Shinjo and Shiba leadership are unable to find common ground at the negotiation tables, as both sides are sore about the War of the Broken Wagon. The zealous Elemental Masters keep causing trouble and discrediting Iuchi shugenja, further antagonizing the Unicorn. The Asako and the Ide families are the only ones maintaining deals and trying to cooperate with each other; their efforts are the sole reason why another war has been averted.

With the division between the Clan Champion and the Voice of the Council, the rampant corruption and economic strain, Phoenix are just as likely to turn on each other as on outsiders. Raids and skirmishes between provincial governors have not been unheard of. The ghost of civil war hangs over the Phoenix lands.

Some fear that if relationships worsen with the Crane, the impossible will happen: war between Crane and Phoenix.

Other Families of the Phoenix

Asako Daimyo - Asako Sotatsu (M)

While he may be the father of the Empress and considered an honorary Chosen of the Emperor and called by the title of Imperial Father at both the Imperial Court of Otosan Uchi and Night Court, Asako Sotatsu remains humble and focuses his efforts towards national policy, a life dedicated to diplomacy, and averting conflict. His strong connections to the Throne have served him well in that regard, and made him such an important figure in Rokugani politics.

This focus on national affairs were not without an heavy cost: Sotatsu often acted dismissive or just ignored the incompetence and corruption of the majority of Phoenix administrators and governors. Sotatsu has been forced to change his stance and is working closely with Shiba Kasuihiko to deal with these internal matters; tragically the corruption seems to go deep into the system and it will not be purged without fighting across endless red tape.

Asako Sotatsu has also severed ties with his daughter, the Empress-Consort. The Asako daimyo supported Hantei Mari's gambling habits with the coffers of the Phoenix, but that is no longer possible. The Imperial Father is slowly becoming more and more irrelevant, to the pleasure of the official Chosen of the Emperor, who consider Asako Sotatsu an obstructive and meddling figure.

The Elemental Council

The Elemental Council of this era is completely obsessed with Sin and the Sinful, to the point it considers the punishment of the Sinful to be the foremost important duty of every single shugenja in Rokugan, to be pursued above any others - by the Tao or by fire, Sin in any form or shape must be purged. The Asako Inquisitors often chase down heretics and have no issue in punishing even Witch Hunters and known Kuroiban allies; the Council believes that they are the sole authority capable of protecting the spiritual purity of the Empire, the other shugenja traditions too unclean, naive or incapable to shoulder this responsibility, the sole exception being the Seppun family. In a clan that is so Imperial-aligned, the strong ties of the Elemental Council to the Seppun are bound to cause further internal strife as the Schism flares.

The Elemental Council is exclusive to the Isawa family, showing a dark trait of the Phoenix leadership of the 9th Century; a tendency to put everyone in their "proper" places. This shows in many different ways: a disdain for those ambitious or that display wealth or positions beyond their "place in the Celestial Order", for members of Clans that venture beyond their traditions and "defy the will of the Kami", and just pretty much any fringe movement of Rokugani society. Nowhere is this contempt as obvious than in the way the Elemental Council deals with non-Isawa Phoenix shugenja. Asako shugenja are either locked in monasteries for "research projects" that are irrelevant or sent into minor courts of the Empire so they don't "embarrass the standards of the Elemental Council" while Shiba shugenja are barely considered priests and are assigned to dangerous military posts or worse, as yojimbo for "real" shugenja. When a member of another family displays a rare mystical ability or mystical prowess that the Council has to admit, is on par with that of the Isawa, they are "strongly nudged" into taking the Isawa name and marrying into the family. Dark rumours speak of the Master of Air taking Isawa children that cannot commune with the kami deep into the Isawa Mori, where he feeds them to terrible spirits.

Finally, all members of the Elemental Council are either antisocial or full-blown misanthropic, avoiding the company of uneducated mortals that cannot even fathom the Celestial mysteries they deal with daily. This disdain extends even to the other Masters, even avoiding interaction with each other as much as possible - too paranoid to rely on constant magical communication. This behavior puts more power in the Voice of the Elemental Council than what the position usually wields; the charismatic Voice is the sole person in Rokugan that can mediate between the five Masters and is able to impose their vision and will upon the Clan and the Empire.

Master of Fire - Isawa Kinnojo (M)

Of all the crazy antisocial zealot Masters, Isawa Kinnojo is the most antisocial, crazy and zealous of the lot. Kinnojo never shows himself in public, and many rumours describe him as a monstrous mass of burnt scars and warped flesh - rumours that nobody has been able to prove. Kinnojo's only attendants are the members of a cult of personality centered around him - the Forty-Seven Flames of the Seven Thunders. His followers are creepy men and women covered in scars and burns, with dead eyes and that claim to have been "espied of all Sin”; their personality and looks are probably the source of the rumours about Kinnojo, as many have to come to believe he underwent more drastic ritual scarring. A very disturbing number of the Forty-Seven Flames have important officer positions in the Inferno and Firestorm Legions, and a reluctant Isawa Nanami even allowed a few of them to join the Asako Inquisitors.

Master of Water - Isawa Nanami (F)

The previous leader of the Asako Inquisitors was a Dragon-sympathetic Asako priest, a wise and tolerant guardian in the shadows until he was drowned by Isawa Nanami during a taryu-jiai duel on the grounds of conspiring with known heretics. Ever since then, Isawa Nanami has been both leader of the Inquisitors and the Master of Water. While she might look like everyone's favorite grandmother, with a homely face, big red cheeks and the belly of a good eater, Nanami is vicious and paranoid, showing no love or affection for anyone except her extended family - all of which have nice and cozy positions in the Inquisitors. Under her leadership the Inquisitors have spread their objectives; hunting maho-tsukai is secondary to exterminating heresy, because what is a tsukai if not an extreme heretic? Purge them early and purge them with extreme prejudice. Isawa Nanami is the most powerful water priest in Rokugan - the Iuchi daimyo would contest such a claim in what would probably be one of the most impressive magical battles in the history of the Emerald Empire - and her mastery of air could rival even the Master of Air; Nanami knows those elements very well and hates the many heretical and petty uses that the air and water kami suffer in the hands of lesser priests, she and her Inquisitors are specially unforgiving to shugenja that misuse their talents in such elements.

Those working closely with Nanami often discover that her definition of misuse can be very hypocritical.

Master of Air - Isawa Yoshimune (M)

Isawa Haruna was a very polite, kind hearted and tireless Master of Air; she was also the voice of the reason within the Elemental Council. When a flying accident left her crippled, she took special attention to select an even more temperate and gentle successor. Isawa Yoshimune seemed a perfect fit; a hermit that lived deep in the Isawa Mori, in perfect communion with the spirits of Chikushudo, wise and powerful in the ways of Air even if he was a little eccentric.

When Haruna finally passed away from her wounds and her disciples actually braved the Isawa Mori in search of Yoshimume, they found just how wrong their former mistress was. Yoshimume was a hulking hirsute man, obsessed with hunting and a braggart that claimed to be the best archer in the Empire, with a loud voice and a thunderous laughter. Athletic inclined, he is a big bully who still manages to inspire people in his own unorthodox and taunting way. Yoshimume seems to lack interest in political and mystical matters, but he is amazing at delegating the many duties attending shrines and temples across the Empire.

Besides rumours about him hunting heimin down for sport, infanticide, and some grisly trophies in his estate, the sad fact is that Yoshimune might be closest the Elemental Council has to a decent human being.

Master of Earth - Isawa Torajiro (M)

A somber man, not very bright, slow of speech and thought. Few know Torajiro personally and nobody ever sees him call upon his supposed great powers upon the Earth kami. The only pleasures of the Master of Earth seem to be painting and sculpture and the Voice often gifts them to dignitaries outside the clan.

Master of Void - Isawa Sakiko (F)

Sakiko is a freak. Thin and too pale, taller than any woman has the right to be and with demeanor and complexion that would make a Moto appear a perfect Rokugani. Born from a line of Isawa that was all too close with the yobanjin and an Iuchi mother, Sakiko was reluctantly accepted because she is the only ishiken of the Phoenix that actually stepped forward to claim the Master of Void position. Some say the position is cursed, and the strange pox that Sakiko is said to have contracted only further fuel these rumours.

Sakiko is more than a Master of Void magic; she spent almost twenty years outside Rokugan studying the gaijin magics supposedly used by Iuchiban, all in an effort to truly terminate the existence of the Bloodspeaker. What the Master of Void discovered is unknown, but that knowledge is enough to assure that the other Masters tolerate this freak.

The Voice of the Masters - Shiba Yomahime (F)

Shiba Kasuihiko's older sibling, she could not be more unlike her brother. Respected, statuesque, eloquent, charismatic and an imposing stoic beauty, Kasuihiko's often pointed out as the ideal of what a Shiba should be - not some weak-willed Dragon trained whelp. Kasuihiko has a reputation, personality and outlook to match her reputation. Her head is shaven and her body tattooed with elemental symbols, showing her devotion to the Elemental Masters, her looks and vanity be damned. Yomahime is a firebrand preacher, who believes which the words of the Masters are Law as absolute as the Heavens.

Since the Masters are too misanthropic to actually do it themselves, Yomahime is the face of the war against Sin - and she has no problem in curbing the heretic and the sinful with her naginata if no priest is available. Yomahime is a powerful defender of morals and tradition, but she lets her words might inflame more than hearts. If civil war strikes the Phoenix, one can expect Shiba Yomahime to be at the center of it.

 

[Daemonfey]

We continue with the clans

The State of the Clans - Scorpion

Scorpion Clan Champion - Bayushi Saemon

Before there was Sukoshi-Joou, Bayushi Saemon was the rags-to-silk tale of the 9th Century; not that many alive would be able to learn that. Except for his closest friends and allies, Saemon saw to it that all that who knew of his humble origins had been killed or blackmailed into silence.

Saemon's grandfather was the son of a famous Soshi itamae, who was cast out from the Scorpion clan when he refused to taint his meals with poison and violate the sacred rules of hospitality to kill guests of his lord. Living as a ronin, the grandfather made sure that his son would preserve his cooking secrets as well as his code of conduct as a chef. Saemon's father then continued the tradition, living as a yojimbo and wandering itamae. Saemon's mother was a ryorishi working for a Yasuki trade delegation, and at their feet, Saemon learned the secrets of herbs and fish, the nuances of traditional Rokugani cooking, and acquired an unequaled skill with knife and blade.

Unlike most ronin, Saemon was not above working alongside peasant cooks and under heimin chefs, and he learned much. He moved to Ryoko Owari, seeking his fortune in the City of Lies. For years he was ignored, fighting a uphill battle to protect his small business from Firemen Gangs and trying to catch the attention of Scorpion patrons. A ryorishi is much more than a chef and an artist; those worthy of the title are great herbalists and masters of antidotes and poisons - and Saemon was without a doubt the best ryorishi of his generation. During a visit of the then-Scorpion Clan Champion to the City of Lies, there was mass poisoning with gaijin herbs that baffled even the Shosuro masters. The poison was going to claim the life of the Clan Champion, but Saemon's quick intervention was able to save him. For this feat, Saemon was allowed to join the Clan of his grandfather and become the personal chef of the Scorpion Clan Champion.

Saemon was quickly gaining a reputation as the ultimate authority in Rokugani cuisine, and had the tongue and Iai to defend it. He was often invited to Winter at Kyuden Doji, where he developed a rivalry with many Kakita-trained ryorishi - including a Daidoji that would eventually become the Kakita family daimyo. His many allies, cultivated at his fine table, had proven themselves loyal and politically advantageous; when calamity took the life of many of Hantei XXV's Chosen and his wife, the Clans Champions elected Saemon as the Imperial Chancellor. His enemies amongst the Crane hoped that the stress of the position would be Saemon's downfall or at least force him to forsake cooking; to their disappointment, Saemon diplomacy was flawless: he worked very closely with the other Chosen, preventing any of Hantei XXV's blunders from breaking into unrest and war. Even the Crane grudgingly sat at his table; the Doji Champion once said “One would be so lucky to die at Saemon's table, for one would drift into Yomi to find the same perfect meal and excellent company." For his services to the Scorpion Clan - and being a member of the kuge due to his position as Imperial Chancellor, - Saemon married one of the many daughters of his Clan Champion.

Saemon served Hantei XXV to the end; when Hantei Tokoro took the throne, the Scorpion Clan Champion retired and Hantei XXVI called for a new election for Imperial Chancellor. While Saemon failed to gather support from the majority of the Great Clans, Hantei XXVI had come to regard the fat and jolly ryorishi as a personal friend and almost like a father figure. With strong Imperial backing, Saemon became the new Scorpion Clan Champion, his rival in-laws silenced when Saemon declared his two eldest nieces his heirs, instead of his own sons and daughters.

Bayushi Saemon is the only Champion of a Great Clan comfortable at Night Court, and is a regular presence there, accompanied by his nieces that act as advisors and leaders of his honor guard, grooming them to command the Clan of Secrets. The contact and trade of secrets between the Scorpion and the Emperor were rarely this close, and while Hantei XXVI has his own private intelligence network, Saemon handles much of the “unconventional peacekeeping” that is expected from the Clan of Secrets. After the Schism, Hantei XXVI tasked Saemon with discovering all the bastards of Hantei XXV’s and decide if they are men and women of worth. This mission has been the source of many doubts within Saemon, but he does his duty. As the Imperial Heir matured, Saemon fully understood the dire necessity for a strong Hantei family, for Hantei Kagetori is completely insane. Nichira and Ichezo are both great men but would make problematic Heirs - even if the clans accepted one of them, the other brother would stir rebellion and discontents of the Hantei rule would flock to him.

Not everyone agrees with the Emperor and the Scorpion Clan Champion, and the shadow war over the spawn of Hantei XXV's loins rages on.

Trouble

Detractors of the Beloved Son of Heaven consider him more Scorpion than the Scorpion, and sometimes even those of the Clan of Secrets wonder if the Emperor does not stare into the shadows all too often. So far the Scorpion Clan Champion and Hantei Tokoro are the best of friends, but one cannot forget what happened to the previous favorite, the Dragon. The Scorpion are wary: when it will be their turn to be cast out by the Emperor? When will the Son of Heaven discover too much about the Clan of Secrets?

Ever vigilant in the shadows, the Scorpion keep to their ancient duties. The rise of the Emperor’s own personal spy network has made things more complicated for the Clan of Secrets, but they try to cope with this encroachment on their charter.

The main issue that worries the Scorpion is the succession and the matter of the Hantei bastards. The Schism can be contained with some assassinations and blackmail, but the Scorpion are just a dam holding the tide, they will not be a solution. Averting a succession crisis, on the other hand, falls right into Scorpion territory.

First, one has to understand the place of the natural children - of Hantei XXV or otherwise - in Rokugani society. The child of a samurai is a samurai, the child of a kuge is kuge. This means that all the sons and daughters of Hantei XXV are nobles of high station, and that cannot be contested by anyone without contesting the very ties that bind the most ancient oaths of vassalage and marriage to the Kami. Second, the concept of “bastard" as it is familiar for Western audiences and in the context of feudal Europe is utterly alien to Rokugan and a son of a concubine, wife or other woman is just as worthy as his other siblings, as long as the third point applies - the succession of Osano-Wo for Championship of the Crab Clan is a good example for those having trouble visualizing the situation, the leadership passing to the son of the Fortune with a peasant woman. The third and most important point is, when you take a family name, be by abdication, adoption, marriage or any other means, you are considered to have fully divorced your previous family ties, forsaking parents, siblings, cousins and Ancestors.

A perceptive reader might notice that until Hantei XXVI granted the Hantei name upon Nichira and Ichezo, the third point alone would ensure that no natural child of Hantei XXV would have any claim on the throne, and even any uncle or cousin of the Seppun and Otomo families would be ahead of them. Yes, that means that the shadow of a succession crisis exists solely because of Hantei XXVI's actions, independent of the number of times Tokoro's father presented samurai-ko with the Imperial Gift.

It then becomes clear how deep the roots of the Schism reach, and why such reforms and actions are met with such resistance from the Imperial families and the most traditionalist samurai. It could cast a shadow of madness upon the Emperor's mind and it is a clear challenge towards the Will of the Heavens. The motivations behind Hantei XXVI's actions are a well closed secret, privy only to a few samurai: the Prophecies of Uikku. The Heavens mean the Hantei Dynasty to lead an accursed existance, the last Hantei prompting the return of Fu Leng and Hantei Tokoro is risking a succession crisis of the sort Rokugan never saw before, all to challenge Fate and create a powerful Hantei family.

Bayushi Saemon has worked closely with Hantei Tokoro in finding and putting the bastards of Hantei XXV under close observation, looking for candidates to be accepted as Imperial Siblings. The original plan was to test the waters with such remarkable individuals taking the Hantei name, and then propose the creation of a family from which the next Emperor would be selected. This, as it is well known, was met with such resistance and caused the Schism. Currently, Hantei XXVI has back-tracked in his desire for reforms, the hope of a child looming on the horizon, and he has gone as far as marrying Nichira off to the Asahina to calm the dissidents. Bayushi Saemon, both aware of the Prophecies and the madness of Hantei Kagetori, knows that Hantei XXVI might be forced to seek a new Heir and might push his polemic agenda once again.

According to the current political situation, Hantei Kagetori is the Imperial Heir. Most people would agree that Hantei Nichira would be next in line, followed by Otomo Seimei and Seppun Kisama. The fact that the second in line is one of Hantei XXV's bastards makes all of them powerful political tools; tracking them is the Scorpion's responsibility, for many factions might try to manipulate them and try to put them forward to join the Hantei family - or kill them altogether, robbing Hantei XXVI of the option of adopting them.

The question about what to do with the bastards is dividing the Scorpion.

Allies:

The Scorpion never had many allies, and it was a surprise that the Crab were receptive to forming a formal alliance of mutual protection. Even with the powerful backing of the Clan of Hida, Scorpion courtiers and generals are apprehensive and would prefer to avoid combat. Their newfound allies seem all too eager to be dragged into a war, leaving the Scorpion's brass pretty nervous.

Enemies:

The Scorpion seem all too keen to make life difficult for the Dragon. The Soshi keep their feud with the Kitsuki and even other families harass, blackmail and even assassinate wandering Dragon, trying to goad them into starting more feuds or even wars. It is depressing how two clans usually so close have been split apart by the Schism. Except for the Soshi family, most Scorpion are unconfortable with this situation, feeling like they are using the Dragon as scapegoats, staving Hantei XXVI's wrath from targeting the Scorpion; but it is a necessary evil that they have to be clear in their enmity towards the Dragon.

Other Families Of The Scorpion

Shosuro Daimyo - Shosuro Kingo (M)

A mysterious figure, Shosuro Kingo has lead his family for thirteen years, rarely leaving his gardens at Shiro Shosuro and using his large family as emissaries and administrators. He is considered a peaceful daimyo of a peaceful Empire.

The serenity of Kingo's life is a lie. He has a lifetime of Dutiful but dishonorable service for the clan and Empire, but spends all his days preparing for the arrangements of his succession, planning his inevitable seppuku.

Kingo believes himself a traitor. A man that serves a mad Champion and a mad Emperor, that must do all he can to stave off the madness, even if he has to go against the wishes of his betters. Kingo is aware of the Prophecies, and that only convinces him of the insanity of the current reforms. He will kill all the bastards and pretenders, and when the succession of the Emperor is safe, he will seppuku and await for Emma-O's judgement.

It is easier said than done. Neither Saemon or Kingo are aware of the identities of all the bastards, forcing the Shosuro daimyo to play a dangerous game of guessing, picking off targets Saemon is not aware of and spending months of planning to evade the agents of the Scorpion Champion and terminating the others. In order to keep his operations secret from the rest of the clan, Kingo goes through great pains, doing every assassination in person.

The greater irony is that Shosuro Kingo cares little about Seppun Kisama, believing him to be an instigator and being irresponsible on the way he fans the fires of the Schism, but his actions will put him on the throne without the Seppun Daimyo having to twitch a finger.

Soshi Daimyo - Soshi Sadako (F)

Soshi Sadako lives to destroy the Kitsuki family. Both her father and brother were slain persecuting the feud with the Dragon family, and this young courtier was called upon the task of leading the Soshi family. Sadako was the typical Scorpion beauty, groomed for court halls, curvy and purring every other word. Her demeanor has changed, and she has taken to wearing armor even within her castle walls, skipping meals and dispensing even with common courtesy. Those that witness the dead-eyed, bony woman in a terrifying scarlet armor can hardly associate her with the silken courtier that wandered the courts of the Empire.

There are many theories behind that transformation, but they are always spoken in hushed whispers. Sadako was the engineer of the Crab-Scorpion alliance and seems to be getting ready for a war that the rest of the clan does not want.

Sadako continues the policies of her father and brother, and a sizable number of Soshi samurai take arms and become bushi instead of following intellectual and courtly pursuits. They still comply with the requests from the Clan Champion, and supply magistrates and courtiers all across Rokugan. In fact, Bayushi Saemon has ordered Sadako to send a few of her family to each court of the Empire, where they will await further instructions while ingratiating themselves with the locals.

The priests of the Soshi, curiously, do not answer to the family daimyo. Sadako gives them much autonomy, and her three older cousins manage the mystical needs of the Scorpion. They too have standing orders from Saemon: do not get involved in the ongoing feud with the Kitsuki and be to be available for any sudden mission or surprise project.

Prophecies seem to be a popular subject of research.

Yogo Daimyo - Yogo Yumi (F)

The Yogo was not a family stranger to suffering, but endured especially testing times in the early 9th Century. The family Daimyo was a petty sociopath, a self-declared prophet, a selfish creature that was not afraid of betraying Kuroiban agents just to squirm a little longer. Clinging to the seat like the disgusting worm he was, he used gaijin magics learned from his Unicorn witch-wife to prolong his miserable life. His gifts were considerable enough to keep him one move ahead from Celestial vengeance.

Yogo Yumi was not born a Yogo, but married one of the infamous daimyo's grandchildren. She passed through the cracks and managed to slay the petty abomination and his wife, removing his name from the family records. Yumi ruled alongside her husband, and took the daimyoship when he passed into Yomi. Popular within the family and seen as a liberator, her daimyoship was a time of healing and enlightenment for the Yogo. Yumi never married again, giving up having children of her own and content to leave the daimyoship to the "proper" Yogo amongst her nephews and nieces.

Yumi cultivated many Imperial connections during her daimyoship, the most rewarding of them being Otomo Seimei. The Imperial Astrologer gave the Kuroiban legitimacy and allowed the Black Watch to finally achieve an Empire-wide presence and to be grudgingly accepted by Witch Hunters and Asako Inquisitors as peers in the fight against the darkness. Under Imperial patronage, the Yogo saw resources like they had never accessed during their history; they delved deeper into the secrets of wards and branched into the studies of less common fields, like the Spirit Realms, prophecy and battlefield magic.

The seemingly unending curiosity of Yumi's Yogo leaves every single other shugenja family of the Empire extremely nervous and dreading that the Yogo's attention will turn towards their secrets and take possession of them. Ever since a Yogo was executed for prying into the scrolls of the Moshi daimyo, court shugenja are advised to not carry scrolls around Yogo, comitting their prayers to memory.

 

[Daemonfey]

Last Great Clan.

The Unicorn Clan

Unicorn Clan Champion - Shinjo Feiwong (M)
Feiwong is an handsome man, going on his third wife and with a veritable army of sons and daughters, all of them trying to outdo each other. He is an amenable workaholic, becoming through dedication and determination, the Champion the Unicorn needed.

The fifth son of the previous Clan Champion, Shinjo Lu Xing, Feiwong was never expected to take such responsibilities, and his father arranged for him to become one of the many architects responsible for the guzuku castles. His life was on the saddle, performing inspections all across Unicorn lands, as the War of the Broken Wagon raged on. One day he returned to Shiro Shinjo to find the castle in turmoil.

His eldest siblings, his father, most of his staff and almost all of the Shinjo kuge had disappeared into thin air.

Shinjo Feiwong took the Championship with the same devotion, and managed to keep the Unicorn relevant in the ongoing war. He led many battles in person, and joined the ranks of the Five Tiger Generals. After the war was over, he went back to his life on the saddle, ruling the clan from tents and dreaming of perfecting the design of the Unicorn castle, a stronghold that would blend in harmony with the savage nature.

Trouble:
The Crab know, the Daidoji and the Shinjo suspect; organized attacks from the Shadowlands have halted, be they led by Dark Moto or Oni. While not even the Crab understand the phenomena, the Unicorn have a dark insight: emissaries from Moto Tsume have been found in their lands. They are either untainted or hide their Taint with blessings of the Ninth Kami, and announce that Moto Tsume has set his own Empire in the Shadowlands. Moto Tsume claims to be the Khan from everything from the Wall to the dark jungles and white deserts that border foreign lands. They invite the Unicorn to join him, and accuses that he was betrayed by the Shinjo and the old gods of the Moto, that they worked to sacrifice the Moto to Fu Leng. The Dark Khan offers salvation to the Unicorn - there is no place for them in Rokugan, and he will take them back to carve a new kingdom.

Anyone known to have contact with emissaries of the Dark Moto is forced to retire to a monastery or seppuku in order to preserve the secret. Fearing the temptation, the Shinjo have ordered that any Moto that has contact with one of their Lost cousins be executed on the spot.

The settlers of the Dragon Heart Plain were once seen as some of the sturdiest and bravest souls of the clan, but are now seen as an embarrassment to the Unicorn. Refusing to abandon the Plain after the end of the War of the Broken Wagon and turning ronin, their association with the Unicorn clan is still pretty clear and their villages are a constant reminder of the tensions between the Northern clans, preventing the wounds of the war from healing. The Unicorn want them either to be eliminated or forced to join another clan, severing any ties they might appear to have with the Children of Shinjo.

Allies:
The Unicorn keep excellent ties with both the Crane and Crab, but they would prefer to keep their alliance out of the battlefields. The Crane refusing to join either side of the War of the Broken Wagon served them well, and the Crab-Scorpion alliance leaves many Unicorn nervous. Economically and politically, the Unicorn works very closely with its allies, protecting their investments from upstart minor clans that believe they deserve a share of the silk trade.

Enemies:
It is hard to imagine a situation in which Lion and Unicorn be anything other than enemies; skirmishes are frequent and the Hideo Reforms have prepared the Lion Clan to face the deadly cavalry of the Unicorn. To some, war seems inevitable, but so far, neither Feiwong or Hideo have been willing to shoot the first arrow.

The situation with the Phoenix remains very tense. Until the two clans find common ground and the ronin settlers of the Dragon Heart Plain are removed, no true peace can be reached. Feiwong is responsible for much of the conflict with the Phoenix; he believes that the disappearance of his family was the result of a powerful Phoenix ritual and will not rest until the Phoenix admit and pay compensation for it.

Other Families Of The Unicorn

Ide Daimyo - Ide Shaoqing (F)
With three generations of Unicorn already born in Rokugani soil, the Ide are finally starting to relax in their integration efforts. The family is now just another of the courtier staples, and they work tirelessly to keep peace - the spite the Clan Champion has towards the Phoenix does not makes matters easier.

Ide Shaoqing is the wife of the previous daimyo, a barren woman in her forties. She is a shrewd merchant, and has turned the attention of the family in renewing their ties with the people of the Burning Sands. She has arranged for many caravans to visit Rokugan in secret and is trying to make other Clans more tolerant of gaijin goods. She had moderate success with followers of the Shikan style.

Moto Daimyo - Moto Aryanna (F)
The White Ghost, Aryanna swore she would never take a husband, cut her hair or wash until she has destroyed Moto Tsume. One of the first students of the Moto Vindicator tradition, she is not a happy woman and is never seen without her grim skull-painting - it gives her a haunting appearance, but it helps with the smell.

The Moto avoid contact with outsiders of the Clan and even other families. So far Shinjo Feiwong has kept Aryanna from learning about the words of Tsume, and nobody knows how she would react.

Iuchi Daimyo - Iuchi Shen-Shunyuan (M)
The Iuchi have always been the lorekeepers of the Unicorn during their voyages, and the hardship of the foreign lands left them well-prepared for struggle and violence. With many Shinjo having died in the War of the Broken Wagon or disappeared without a trace and the corruption of the Moto, many of the Iuchi take military positions and serve alongside the Shinjo and Otaku.

Iuchi Shen-Shunyuan is a bulky, tar-black priest that barely speaks Rokugani. He is probably the most powerful of all Water priests in Rokugan, and is not afraid of complementing his magic with gaijin tricks. Inspired by the Asako Inquisitors and the Kuni Witch Hunters, the Iuchi Daimyo created an elite cavalry force that can travel through water and earth, striking with brutality and leaving no witnesses. Only priests of the kuge are allowed to join this force.

Shen-Shunyuan fears the reports about the Dark Moto, and is making arrangements to use his impressive taskforce to assassinate Aryanna in case she turns rogue.

Otaku Daimyo - Otaku Tai (F)
The Otaku have been laying low in courts, knowing that they are now the main force of the Unicorn and many might be willing to shame them in order to make the Unicorn suffer.

Otaku Tai is a wide-eye idealist, a young woman that is too naive for courtly life but kind-hearted and friendly except in battle, where she is the scourge of the enemies of the clan. Tai works closely with Ide Shaoqing in an effort to improve the image of the Otaku; slowly the Empire is starting to see them as something more than weird gaijin with scary horses or “mounted Matsu”, with many works of art romanticizing the Otaku and their relationship with their mounts.

Tai grew up with tales of gaijin people riding winged horses into battle, and started the tradition of constructing “winged" harnesses and attaching them to horses and armor. The lancers of the Otaku work to make the most detailed and impressive wings. Other Rokugani and even other Unicorn laughed at the notion, until the first winged lancers rode into battle. A Crab scout reported that the cacophony of the horses galloping and the wind being cut by the wings was more terrifying than an oni charge.

 

[Daemonfey]

As the month of September approaches, we speed up our previews.

The Imperials

The Imperial families have never been numerous, but they always have had a lot of impact on national politics and had the best Rokugan could offer; in the 9th Century, the Imperial families are small as ever, but their power is absolute. The ways of the Bureaucracy are more esoteric than the prayers of shugenja, the Matchmakers have the final say in any inter-clan marriage and works hard to limit alliances, and both the Imperial Enforcers and Hantei spy networks keep close tabs on the secret activities of the lords of the Empire and divide and conquer to keep peace.

The different Imperial families face different challenges.

The Otomo Daimyo - Otomo Kentaro (M)
Otomo Kentaro is a bland and boring man on his thirties, a dull host and an unimaginative courtier and administrator. Even if he is supposed to be the leader of the mot influent Imperial family, Kentaro is actually a doormat and the family - and the courts of the Empire - are ruled by other mighty Otomo: his much younger and aggressive wife, the dashing Otomo Niji, disregards courts but goes to great lengths to attent important events and often overrules her husband; Otomo Seimei who is as respected as he is venerable, with many younger Otomo preferring his advice than the daimyo’s; Kentaro's niece Otomo Toyoko is the spymaster of the Hantei and Otomo spy networks and has her index finger on the pulse of information, controlling what the other Otomo know and their actions; even Kentaro’s hatamoto, his cousin Otomo Jiro, is an ambitious man that is rumored to work with unknown parties to artificially prolong the Schism.

Trouble:
Hantei Tokoro manipulates the clans by making their nobles fight for meaningless positions and titles with no real power behind them. There is a flaw on that approach: those "meaningless" positions are actually necessary for the unhindered operation of the Otomo Bureaucracy - but not even Tokoro can pierce that and the secret remains hidden in Kyuden Otomo.

As rank-and-file positions of the Bureaucracy are handed left and right to Great and Minor Clans samurai, the situation is bloating and soon a generation of savvy courtiers will emerge - one that will not be baffled by the constraints of the Bureaucracy. The Otomo seek to clean up the house, remove and destroy even the lowest non-Imperial bureaucrat and preserve the Otomo hegemony.

The Seppun Daimyo - Seppun Kimara (M)
The Seppun were another family involved in the Schism, but their lineage and Imperial status prevented them from suffering any significant negative feedback. In fact, in many ways the Schism has caused people to flock to the Seppun, seeking spiritual support from their traditional ways.

Seppun Kimara is a much younger, balding but handsome cousin of the Emperor, but the blood ties only causes bitterness between him and Tokoro. The Son of Heaven killed Kimara's father upon his ascension, a fact for which Kimara never forgave Tokoro; his sole pleasure in life is to plan the downfall of his divine cousin and slowly erase his mark upon the Empire. Kimara is a cunning statesman and courtier, a philosopher and theologian of renown, a priest whose piety is praised - grudgingly - by even the Elemental Masters. With such high-praise and the friendship of such prestigious elements like the Ikoma daimyo and the Empress-Consort, most samurai of the Empire would die defending his honour. Half the Imperial Legions favor him, not due to blackmail or dishonorable arrangements, but due to his apparent selflessness in the service of Rokugan.

The Emperor is not blind to how little Kimara regards him, but stays his hand. Kimara has no obvious ties to any enemies of the Throne or anti-Hantei rebels and Tokoro tried kinslaying once to deal with an ambitious relative - that was what got him into this mess in the first place.

Trouble:
For someone supposed to be so adept with plots and political maneuvering, Kimara has a glaring blind spot: he has absolutely no idea about how to use and deal with the Hantei Bastards. He has problems reading Nichira and Ichezo's intentions, and has no idea of the numbers and identities of most of the others. Kimara is well aware of how inaccurate his assumptions about the consequences would be. He has to play with the Bastards, but that means blindly playing with fire.

For now Kimara is using the Schism to his advantage, but he is afraid of losing control of the situation. He would have for a more definitive tool for damage control. So the Seppun daimyo is searching for a game changer.

Miya Daimyo - Miya Rinji (F)
Rinji is a beautiful, single Imperial family daimyo that is not very good at her job - but at least is not as bad as her mother, Takohime. Good advisors serve her well. Seriously, there is nothing here to see. All the rumours pertaining Rinji's magical sword, her being a Hantei Bastard and gathering a secret army in remote Miya holdings are just that: rumours. Baseless rumours. Nothing to see here.

Trouble:
There is no trouble. Keep calm and pacify the Empire, one rebel and upset noble at time.

Hantei Emperor - Hantei XXVI
(See Path of Regret for Hantei XXVI)

The Emperor's Chosen

The Chancellor - Akodo Kabushi (M)
A taisa of the 3rd Imperial Legion and married to the niece of the Akodo daimyo, Akodo Kabushi is a talented and proven commander. Catching the attention of many of the kuge during the pacification of Otosan Uchi, everyone expected a promotion coming his way - just not this one. In the months following the riots, many members of Clan delegations to the Imperial Court were ambushed while returning from a play, killed or kidnapped by ronin. The Imperial Chancellor committed seppuku due to his failure to protect the Clan courtiers. When the Clan Champions gathered at the World of The Shining Prince to vote for the next Chancellor, Akodo Kabushi was responsible for handling their safety. The conditions in the capital didn't inspire any confidence in them, and there was no consensus about which candidate support. When Bayushi Saemon removed himself from the race and suggested, to everyone's surprise, that Akodo Kabushi had proven himself capable of keeping order and safety in the court and would be an excellent Imperial Chancellor, there was general shock but nobody was able to find any fault with the suggestion.

As a Chancellor, Kabushi isn't one for fancy talk, but he keeps close tabs on every courtier and has not lost a single samurai to the chaos of Otosan Uchi. Under him the Imperial Court has changed, becoming very spartan and its sessions organized with military discipline, the sound of dripping ink replacing music as hundred of bureaucrats toil in the background. Kabushi is extremely devout to the Emperor, and as a military commander, fully understands and supports what Hantei XXVI is trying to accomplish by keeping the different centers of power separated. The Chancellor beams with pride at the faith that the Son of Heaven and the Clan Champions entrust in him and assures that the cold politics and the legal business of the Empire are conducted with clockwork efficiency; let the Night Court have the "foolishness" and the flights of ambition and artistic frugality. In Otosan Uchi there will be Law.

Akodo Kabushi is also painfully aware that the efficient and organized rule of Hantei XXVI is extremely fragile and relies too much on the Emperor and the talents of those that serve directly under him; the Empire will stand united and strong as long as Shinkage's Heralds keep running and Sukoshi-Joou keeps the pigeons flying, and most importantly, that Hantei XXVI never falters. Akodo Kabushi was approached many times by Seppun Kisama, and is one of the few men in Rokugan fully aware of how ambitious and manipulative the Seppun daimyo actually is.

The Imperial Chancellor might be even more instrumental than Hantei Ichizo in keeping Otosan Uchi out of Seppun Kisama’s control. He will keep doing his duty, but for how long can he hold on?

The Advisor - Daidoji Tetsu'i (M)
Daidoji Tetsu'i proves every day that he is worth the name he chose upon his gempukku. Able to endure any insult and grab the would-be-challengers by the horns, he tunneled his way into the Otomo bureaucracy, latched there and nobody could remove him.

During Tokoro’s bloody ascension, he was the only courtier in the Imperial Court to not keep his cool but to follow and assist the young Emperor. He managed to impress Hantei XXVI so much that he would not hear of any other recommendation: the Imperial Advisor had to be a Crane, and he wanted Daidoji Tetsu'i.

Age has started to wear down iron will, and Tetsu'i grows more and more stressed, losing his patience of old. He has the difficult task of coordinating between the Night Court and the Imperial Court kept by the Imperial Chancellor in Otosan Uchi. He also has close ties with most Clan Champions, and any invitation to the Imperial Villa has to be approved by Daidoji Tetsu'i.

For this season, Tetsu'i will have the leave to spend time with his family in Kyuden Doji. He seems visibly relieved.

The Herald - Miya Shinkage (M)
Unkind courtiers often say that Miya Takohime made two good decisions her entire life: retiring and forgetting tradition to name Miya Shinkage the Imperial Herald instead of herself or her daughter.

Miya Shinkage wasn't always this well regarded; he has achieved respect through decades of impeccable duty. Hida Sachiko once named him the angriest man of Rokugan and his hot-blooded temperament has caused many woes and almost cost him life and honour; through determination and hard work, Shinkage climbed back again and again. He served as Miya Herald, Imperial Enforcer, scout for the Imperial Legions, Imperial Cartographer and many lesser assignments. Eventually he would end up rustling some feathers and getting "promoted" to another position. He was finally assigned as advisor to the mercurial Miya Takohime as a sure sentence of death. To everyone's surprise, the Miya daimyo enjoyed Shinkage’s bluntness and hands-on-approach, prefering him over the legions of syncophants who praised her beauty and intellect.

Shinkage does the job with angry contentment and suffers court like a boiling geyser; all to keep the duties of the Miya working. His age of retirement approaches, but he can't stop; after all, Takohime's daughter seems to be shaping up to be as awful a daimyo as her mother. More stressed than ever, Shinkage seems to be building up for the perfect storm.

The Emerald Champion - Hantei Ichezo (M)
Hantei Ichezo was the son of a Shiba courtesan of Hantei XXV, raised in an isolated estate in Phoenix lands, replacing companionship with the joys of wealth, raised and groomed with the best things an Imperial stipend could provide. Ichezo's spoiled childhood made him weak-willed and loose of morals and netsuke, but his disarming smile and easy-going and approachable attitude made quick allies of enemies and detractors.

Upon his half-brother Tokoro’s bloody ascension, Shiba Ichezo took part in the Emerald Championship. His warm personality, handsomeness and impressive sense of fashion turned him into the candidate everyone should know; soon he was everyone's favorite and nobody was surprised into his victory. The surprise was when Hantei XXVI took him not only as Emerald Champion, but as his long-lost brother, forcing him to take the Hantei name alongside his Emerald duties.

Ichezo didn't have an easy time adjusting to the demands of his new role, but the other new sibling of Hantei XXVI was a gift from Tengoku; Hantei Nichira was much more serious and worldly than Ichezo, with a hands on approach that complemented Ichezo's tendency to over-delegate and lackluster initiative. Ichezo ended up relying so much in Nichira that he named him Rikugunshokan of the Imperial Legions.

That didn't turn out to be a wise decision, as while the two brothers share their view of Law, war was another matter entirely. Ichezo followed Akodo's “Leadership” to the last kanji, worshiping it like the Tao, and was pretty stubborn in his belief that there was nothing more glorious and fashionable pursuit for a samurai than war - sometimes turning a blind eyes to border skirmishes and assuring there was "peace". Nichira was just as devout to Sun Tao and believed that wars were won in peace, the purpose of every war was peace and that the aim in war should be to disable the capacity of the enemy of making war - to do more invited Sin and decadence. This difference in vision often clashed, with Nichira ordering Imperial Legions to assist or disrupt what Ichezo perceived as "harmless skirmishes and training exercises" or "lawful and orderly raids". The situation finally imploded when a rather distressed Hantei Nichira led the Imperial Legions into the Dragon Heart Plain and ended the painfully long War of the Broken Wagon. A rift was then created that time and bitterness only managed to widen.

The lack of initiative of Ichezo's leadership and his joy of delegating has resulted in highly autonomous Emerald Magistrates and Imperial Legion officers, allowing the Kitsuki/Soshi feud to continue unchecked, Justiciars to wander the land punishing people in name of Justice, the Elemental Council to overrule Emerald Magistrates in questions of magic, heresy and sin, and Seppun Kisama to lure and tempt many Imperial Legion commanders into supporting him in the quelling of riots in Otosan Uchi. Nichira is a crucial part of the Emerald Magistracy, but to Ichezo's credit, he is getting there, and is much better at picking underlings than before and just needs more time to be able to stand in his own. Sadly, time isn't on his side and he will have to rise to the occasion or cost the Empire dearly.

 

[Daemonfey]

We are ending the State of the Clans previews.

The State of the Clans - Minor Clans

It is not easy being a Minor Clan. Your job is not honorable, glamorous or glorious and if someone starts thinking it is, one ambitious Great Clan samurai is bound to claim it as a duty of his clan and try to earn a vassal family of his own - taking your feeble lands with it. In court you are often ignored - if you are lucky - or insulted and shamed - if it is court as usual. A Minor Clan courtier has to learn to take the insults with grace and etiquette, avoid attracting attention to the holdings and duties of your clan and somehow get enough support and influence. Of course, you could stick to your traditional Great Clans allies, but of course they will treat you more as vassals or another family that should fall in line with their plans and ambitions.

Even with these risks, you just cannot allow yourself to avoid court and politics.


Badger Clan Champion - Ichiro Hatsue (F)

The “Mercenary Queen" of the badger is a thirty-year old widow, a great beauty with a slight touch of gaijin blood but marred by disfiguring scars that left her unmarriable. Hatsue is one of the strongest warriors of the Empire, and worth of her infamous moniker.

At the time of Hatsue's ascension, the Badger suffered great famine and were unable to feed all their samurai. Hatsue coped with the situation by marrying off many of the Badger to the Dragon and Unicorn, subsisting almost entirely from dowries. That made the situation manageable for a while, but then an opportunity arouse: the War of the Broken Wagon. Instead of allying with one of the sides, Hatsue was cunning enough to figure that war would last for long and sold the services of her samurai. Some Badger performed seppuku in protest, but most knew they had been selling out already with the marriages and that this was necessary to avoid the extinction of the Clan.

That was many years ago.

Hatsue and the rest of the Badger have gained a love for koku. They subsist entirely on mercenary work, with many provincial court having a “Badger diplomat” or two that they use on border skirmishes. Hatsue wants the Badger to keep the illusion they are just one step ahead of starvation, avoiding displays of wealth and guarding the secret that the Badger had already to build two new vaults to accommodate their earnings. The Tenth Kami lies not in a tomb but on a treasure chamber.

Things have been peaceful beyond the frontier, but enemies come from beyond, will the Mercenary Queen’s koku do any good?

Trouble:
Koku will only get the Badger so far, and mercenary work is hard to stomach. Hatsue shares the dislike for commerce of most nobles, and will flee from such endeavours, but she would love to invest in a joint project with another clan - the problem is, she wants to keep the wealth of the Badger secret. Hard to get an investitor or to take the Badger's offers of cooperation serious when they look near starvation.

Allies:
The Badger has friends in many provincial courts, as patrons are usually satisfied with the results. The Crab, Dragon and Unicorn in particular enjoy the marriages and support from the Badger enough to provide them with a nominal Alliance - not that they will lend any manpower, but the three of them are a deterrent to retaliation from other clans against the Badger mercenaries.

Enemies:
The Badger grows fat and greedy without natural predators.


Boar “Champion” - Heichi Jomei (M)

The Boar have been wiped out by Bloodspeakers and the samurai of the clan have been used to fuel the dark ritual that gave birth to the Anvil of Despair. It is said that ghosts of the Clan haunt the passes of the Twilight Mountains and the nightmares of Minor Clanners - a reminder of how easily they can be snuffed.

But the Heichi still live; a small number of samurai escaped in the outpost called “the Lair”. Sometimes a few Heichi take the mantle of a wave-man and wander the Empire, seeking rare supplies for the Lair and information on their Bloodspeaker enemies; these give fuel to stories about weird-speaking ronin spear-fighters of legendary skill.

A group of Heichi deserted the clan, and has been marked to death by Heichi Jomei, lest they doom the last Boars by betraying their secrecy. These deserters have learned about the Bloodswords and the damage they caused to the Empire, and agreed that it was the responsibility of the last Boars to recover and contain them.

Trouble:
Not existing is quite troublesome.

Allies:
Other ronin usually take a liking to the strange Heichi samurai, but clan samurai - even the Crab Clan of their founders - find the Heichi-ronin too unsettling and crude to associate with.

Enemies:
The Bloodspeaker Cult believes there is a little of the First Oni in each of the Boars and would gladly wipe them out and use their souls for dark rituals.


Centipede Champion - Moshi Misato (F)

The Centipede used to be a rather proud and influent Minor Clan, but they have once again retracted into isolationism after the disastrous rulership of the previous daimyo. Her niece, Misato is an unremarkable, pasty and lazy-eyed woman, whose sole strength is her mastery over Fire and Air magic. She is a far cry from the charismatic presences of her aunt and her cousin in the Imperial Villa, but she serves well for a Centipede that wishes the Empire to forget her latest mistakes.

Trouble:
Misato's aunt and previous daimyo, Moshi Kodoku, was a gorgeous and brilliant woman, truly blessed by Lady Sun. Learning about how a small family like the Seppun could still be so imposing due to their mystical mastery, Kodoku believed that the Minor Clans could use their very unique magical traditions to gain a foothold in the courts of the Empire; after all, their duties and lands could be assimilated by the ambitious Great Clans, but the gifts of the Minor Clans priests were beyond their reach. Kodoku studied with other Minor Clans, researching new magic that could only be performed with the coordination of different traditions amongst the Minor Clans. Her dream started to gain form, and a Council of Masters from priests of the Minor Clans - Elemental Masters’ disdain drove the to nickname it “the Smallest Council" - was proposed for Hantei XXVI's consideration. Kodoku's best students studied with the Mantis, Kitsune, Tonbo and some ronin traditions that joined Minor Clans. Kodoku was planning to reveal the fruits of her work six years ago at the Imperial Villa in a definitive attempt to persuade Hantei XXVI, but died a gruesome death before presenting her project, the circumstances a mystery. The Centipede have been keeping the truth between their kuge, at great expense.

Allies:
The Centipede used to be allied with all Minor Clans, but the circumstances of Kodoku's death resulted in the severing of all ties. The Phoenix, usually always supportive of the Centipede, retracted their support after the Smallest Council project was presented, seeing it as an insult to the Elemental Council.

Enemies:
Small blessing; nobody is seeking revenge upon the Moshi and it seems the Empire is willing to forget Kodoku's actions. Unless someone stirs the coals.


Dragonfly Champion - Tonbo Shuzue (F)

Shuzue is only fifteen years-old, a bookish and feeble girl, having performed a hasty gempukku so she could lead the clan. Her father and elder sister were killed trying to defend the Togashi and Dragon stance on the Schism, alongside many Tonbo shugenja and diplomats. For their unwaving loyalty and friendship, the Tonbo received no support from the Dragon. Shuzue's first decision as a daimyo was not born from a desire for revenge or out of spite; she understood that change was necessary, and like Water, it was time for the Tonbo to adapt to the new course. The Dragonfly severed all the ties with the Dragon.

Trouble:
The Dragonfly are a stray clan, desperately in need for support from a Great Clan. Shuzue almost panicked when the Lion started mustering their armies around Lookout Mountain, and fears that Kyuden Tonbo is their target. They are becoming quite desperate on their quest for a Great Clan ally.

Not all the Tonbo were happy from what they see as the abandonment of the Dragon clan, and many gave their lives in protest - further weakening the clan. Even now many whisper that Shuzue will doom the clan, creating a situation worst than anything the Schism could throw at them.

Allies:
The Hare, Sparrow and Kitsune have surprised everyone by defending the Tonbo position in courts. If they are willing to send military support in case the Tonbo need it remains to be seen.

Enemies:
The Lion clan is perceived as an enemy by the Tonbo; fortunate for them, the Lion have much bigger problems and do not even acknowledge the Dragonfly as a possible target.



Falcon Daimyo - Toritaka Yotogi (M)

On the way back from inspecting the new improvements made to the Kaiu Wall, Hantei XXIV stopped to rest at the inn of Twilight Village. A ninja assassin tried to poison the Son of Heaven, but an ashigaru of the local garrison, named Hayabusa, stopped the would-be killer. While Hayabusa died from the poison, the Hantei granted his four sons the Valley of Spirits and enough funds to build their own seat of power.

Thirty years have passed ever since the birth of the Falcon Clan, and the clan has yet to find their identity in Rokugan. The four brothers never stopped bickering, and their sons and daughters seem ready to continue the feud across the next generation. Their castle stands half-build, the koku wasted as change after change was made to the project. Yotogi's only son died after falling from the skeleton of one of the towers; this prompted the Toritaka daimyo to depart in a pilgrimage for Fukurokujin's wisdom in solving the identity crisis of the Falcon.

Trouble:
The situation has only got worse after the departure of Yotogi from the Valley of Spirits, and the three brothers are almost ready to declare blood feuds against each other, letting the last one standing become the heir of Yotogi.

Magohachi is a fat hulking beast of man and the master sensei of the Toritaka Dojo. While Yotogi dreamt the techniques, Magohachi made them real and complemented the bushi teachings with basic kata he learned from the Crab. He married a Hiruma and has been pretty blunt on his stance that the Falcon would serve the Empire better as part of the Crab Clan. The other brothers resent him for this, as they blame the loss of so much of the Imperial funding on his shady dealings with Yasuki.

Aki is a thin and short man, of the quiet contemplative sort, a huntsman and one of the best archers in the Empire. He took a Kitsune wife and their family is the most prolific of the three brothers. He works a lot with the heimin of the valley and believes that the Falcon could do well by having a close connection with the land, living a modest life and shunning wealth and violence. He is starting to believe there is no need for a big castle, and that stealth and guile would serve the Falcon better.

Fujimaro, the youngest, stands out the most. He was once a worldly traveller and an avid collector of books. He was the one that discovered that the so called “ninja” was actually a poor peasant possessed by an evil ghost and the one that persuaded Yotogi to focus the teachings of the Falcon in protecting the half-people and investigating ghosts and hauntings. Fujimaro married a ronin shugenja that he met during his voyages and their lineage supplies the few priests of the Falcon. The youngest brother would seek to gather men and women from across the Empire that know a lot about ghosts and other spirits, create a great library of the subject and turn the Valley of Spirits into a bastion of knowledge.

And someone should really get around to actually finish the castle. It is starting to creep me out.

Allies:
A good thing from Magohachi's dealings with Hiruma and Yasuki is that the Crab hold the Falcon in high regard.

Enemies:
It is a good thing that the Falcon have no other enemies but themselves.


Fox Champion - Kitsune Bunjiro (M)

Brought to the attention of the Empire by the Return of the Ki-Rin, the Fox try to stay hidden in the Shimonen Forest. In recent times the Unicorn have started to be very aggressive on their demands that the Fox rejoin the Unicorn as a family, as the Dark Moto and the War of the Broken Wagon have dealt a heavy blow to their manpower. Bunjiro has no illusions: the Fox are a clan under siege, and he reluctantly sends a few Kitsune to important courts, to prevent the Unicorn from persuading the Emperor to issue an Edict assimilating the Fox.

Trouble:
Very few stand at the Fox's side, and the Emperor does not see a problem with the Ide lobbying for the integration of the Kitsune. Unless something changes, this generation or next the Fox will become just another Unicorn family. Strangely, Bunjiro has received strange letters from important samurai of the Shinjo and Yasuki, who offer friendship and guaranties of the independence. But what will be the price to pay for those unexpected friends?

Above everything else, the Fox wish to remain free, not just a pawn of someone else.

Allies:
A cell of the Great Lodge Kolat survived the colapse of that incarnation of the conspiracy, having many resources hidden in the Shinomen Forest. After the fall of the Great Lodge, they seek to take control of the Kitsune and turn their lands into their new stronghold. An independent, isolationist Fox would be an easy mark.

Enemies:
While not overly antagonistic towards each other, the isolationist stance of the most of the Fox makes them see the Unicorn as enemies.


Hare Champion - Usagi Hideyoshi (M)

The Usagi have kept away from the spotlight, working close with Emerald Champion after Emerald Champion, working hard to get getting the necessary support to hunt maho-tsukai in the shadows. Most people on the Empire spend their lives without seeing an Usagi and probably would confuse one of them with ronin working as yoriki for Jeweled or local authorities; some Usagi earned renown as explorers and loremasters, but they are the exceptions that earn some glory and renown. The Usagi daimyo, a veteran of many battles, shrugs and keeps doing his job, staying away from politics.

Trouble:

The Usagi could use some heavy political support.

Many Usagi have tangled with the Lion over the years, as the Lion have trouble regarding Usagi investigations as anything other than an insult to Honor. Very nasty blood feuds have started between Usagi samurai and Shimizu families - and those seem to end up badly for the Usagi.

Allies:
The Scorpion work closely with the Usagi, and when lawful paths fail, there always seems to be a Bayushi offering a Usagi a cheap alternative. The Usagi just has to check these few people first...
The Usagi find the arrangements acceptable and a strange friendship arose between the two Clans.

Enemies:
The feud with the Shimizu is escalating. It seems inevitable that the Lion will mark the Hare as a fly to be exterminated.


Mantis Champion - Shinjuko (F)

Shinjuko is a young woman that has been fighting half of the Rokugan to keep her clan relevant in these demanding times. So far half Rokugan is losing and the other half is in awe.

The eldest daughter of the previous Mantis champion, Shinjuko was a priestess with a remarkable talent for tailoring and jewelry, but lacked aptitude with the weather magic that came so easily to the line of Kaimetsu-Uo. She was still well loved, and groomed to be a political tool. The young Shinjuko made her debut in the Night Court of 857 - when Hantei XXVI was hand-picking his First Concubine. She was one of the favorites, a nubile kuge that was still from a irrelevant clan; many Great Clans supported her, planning to ally themselves with the Mantis and make use of Shinjuko’s influence over the Emperor. While Sukoshi-Joou won the honor of becoming First Concubine, it was only because of Hantei Tokoro's love for her and Shinjuko being too young. Shinjuko holds no resentment, and in fact regards the First Concubine as a personal friend.

The Mantis conducted secret trade with gaijin, something that went unpunished by Law but didn't escape Heavens’ wrath. A great plague felt upon the Islands of Spice and Silk, wiping out most of the samurai population, including Shinjuko’s father. Shinjuko took control of the clan and proceed to accept ronin and in secret spirit artists and craftsmen away to the islands, offering them the identity and lives of deceased Mantis samurai and their kin. For years the Empire forgot about the Mantis, and was unprepared when they made their return to the active life of Rokugan, white their legion of heimin-turned-samurai workers.

Shinjuko visited many courts, she and her delegation displaying bold designs, haircuts, ingenious jewelry and other vanities of fashion. Many amongst the Crane and Scorpion would later contest the real impact of their contributions to the zeitgeist, but the Mantis Champion pretty much defined what Shikan garments should look like. This established the reputation of Mantis as providers of exotic and daring craftsmanship. They compete with the Unicorn and Crane in the silk business and often work with the Yasuki to corner markets away from these Great Clans. Shinjuko further antagonized the Crane and Unicorn by announcing her intent to build a Mantis stronghold in the mainland.

Trouble:

Through commerce and industry the Mantis have become the wealthiest of the Minor Clans, but many of the survivors resent the lack of military power and abandonment of piracy. A common joke is that anyone could conquer Kyuden Gotei just by walking into the palace; it is more accurate than most think.

Only Shinjuko's skill in business allows the Mantis to compete commercially with Great Clans, but she is bound to make a mistake sooner or later.

Many of the Mantis captains wish to go back to the “old ways”, and return to piracy instead of just ferrying around Shinjuko's cargo. One of these days one of them is bound to either rebel or turn ronin pirate and prey on the wealth of his former clan.

Allies:
The Crab have always seen the Mantis as distant cousins and Shinjuko worked hard to renew the ties between the two clans, specially with the Yasuki family; she is a little worried that the conflict between the Yasuki daimyo and the Crab Clan Champion will worsen their relations. The Tortoise seek friends against the most dangerous threat of all - the Will of the Throne. As they are second only to the Mantis at sea, Shinjuko has reluctantly formed an alliance with them, but keeps the tale of the Gusai family fresh on her mind and is not willing to directly challenge the Son of Heaven.

Enemies:
The Unicorn and the Crane absolutely hate the bubble of Mantis economic strength and will do everything to squash it. The only thing standing in their way is the Edict that prevents Great Clans from attacking Minor ones. Shinjuko is aware that some amongst the Daidoji want war, and will probably attack a Great Clan allied with the Mantis just so they can level the Islands of Spice and Silk.

The Phoenix seem to have a problem with the “loose morals" and “Sinful ways" of “many in the Mantis leadership”, but Shinjuko thinks the problem is much more mundane: she has refused to lend money to the Phoenix. Phoenix coast would be a nice place for a Mantis stronghold, and Shinjuko is not letting a single koku slip in the Phoenix direction unless they cooperate with her designs. If they want money, they will let them build.

Sparrow Champion - Suzume Kenshin (M)

You would think that the Sparrow would prefer not to have anything to do with the outside world, so obsessed with displays of wealth and tormented with spiritual confusion. For a while the old Suzume Kenshin managed to keep his people safe from the Sins of the world, but that all changed when a great famine felt upon Sparrow lands; to save their family, many Suzume became yojimbo and courtiers in service of other Minor Clans. Unlike the Badger, who started to enjoy the mercenary lives, the Suzume refused to give in and returned to their lands as soon as possible, Honor preserved.

That doesn't mean they remained unchanged. Many Sparrow started to disagree with Kenshin, the world outside growing on them. Younger Suzume took “Virtue untested is no virtue at all" as a motto and felt in love with the duality of facing Sin, testing their humble enlightenment against the evils of the world. The Sparrow lived for centuries side by side with the temptation of the wealthy lands whose custody was given to them by the Son of Heaven, and yet they toiled in poverty. They support facing one's Sins and defeating them with Honor. Kenshin just shakes his head, knowing he is too old to fight the tide; he just hopes that the black sheep Suzume that gave up their clan and in to Desire and Fear are the exception, not the rule.

Trouble:

The Sparrow have gained a surprising number of personal enemies, as their tasks for other Clans put them at odds with their enemies, and when they serve as yoriki for law enforcement gain the enmity of criminals everywhere. Pretty much any Suzume worth his name has a couple of sworn enemies, who could cause a lot of trouble to the clan if they were to band together.

Allies:
Most Minor Clans see the Suzume under a positive light, but each individual Suzume can only truly claim the friendship of a clan.

Enemies:
Since any Suzume outside their lands is working with another Minor Clan, it shares their enemies.


Tortoise Kizoku - Kasuga Hokusai (M)

Whenever a new Hantei takes the Throne, the leader of the Kasuga kneels before the Son of Heaven, reports all their true activities and current endeavors and offers to commit seppuku. The Hantei usually refuse.

Tokoro did not.

Hokusai's brother performed seppuku and Hokusai became the Tortoise Kizoku, an old sea-wolf that knew most gaijin lands beyond the sea. Not only he was suddenly stranded in Rokugan, the Emperor kept a close eyes on the actions of the Tortoise. Reports were made more and more frequently and Hantei XXVI personally assigned missions and cancelled expeditions to foreign lands. With great worry, Hokusai obeyed.

Hantei XXVI finally revealed his plan: he cared little about the intel Hokusai brought from foreign harbors. He wanted the Kasuga to spy closer to home, wandering Rokugani ports and infiltrating the strongholds of the clans, keeping tabs on their deals and trades. Not only that, the Son of Heaven wished for the Kasuga to become a fully Imperial family, spies answering only to him - was the Emperor not the true daimyo of the Tortoise?

Trouble:

Hokusai would like to do nothing more than seppuku in protest, but that would make the new leader of the Tortoise one of his seven spoiled children. The three eldest accepted the Imperial patronage, forsake their training and wander the World of the Shining Prince, acting like Otomo idiots. The three that were still in training are now being fostered by different Imperial families. The only hope of Hokusai is a nine-years old child that will somehow grow up to be a true Tortoise.

Hokusai just wishes there will be a Tortoise Clan when the time comes.

Allies:
Hokusai is hoping to gain support from other clans by making themselves useful as an independent Minor Clan. The Mantis and the Crab accepted cooperation between their navies with the Tortoise, a very fruitful alliance. Hokusai was surprised to see the Crane wishing to unofficially support Tortoise independence; after doing some spying, Hokusai discovered that many of the “Imperial" Kasuga are taking bureaucracy jobs the Crane had their sights on, and they would prefer the Kasuga to keep their mysterious and dishonorable duties instead of encroaching the Bureaucracy.

Enemies:
Hokusai just cannot take a break with the Imperial families. Those that want to welcome the Kasuga are enemies against their independency, while those that hate the Kasuga for their assimilation issue being one of the talking points behind of the Schism attack both the Independent and Imperial faction.

 

[Daemonfey]

Extra preview! We have a very special announcement for Wedsneday.

The State of the Clans - Brotherhood and Schism


Unlike any other conflict, the Schism does not stop at clan barriers, family strongholds or battle lines. There are no clear sides and there is no definite goal to achieve. You do not know who truly are your supporters and who is just trying to manipulate the argument in order to favor themselves or unrelated matters.


Even the simple question "What is the Schism about?" demands a very complex answer.


In the Winter of 861, the Schism started due to the following key issues:


The creation of the Hantei family - technically, the Hantei family has always existed; the problem was the increase of its powers (something avoided since the Dawn of the Empire) and the change of the succession process. Kuge of the Great Clans usually are against the Throne on this issue as they fear that it will weaken their power base; all Imperial families have a strong percentage of samurai that opposes this reform and pious characters of all ways of life feel that this is going against the Will of the Heavens. The few supporters of this reform are those ambitious samurai of lower caste and nobles that wish to sponsor and support one of the Hantei Bastards.


The assimilation of the Tortoise Clan - often forgotten by most, this was also a talking point that led to the Schism. Some samurai made of this a big deal; while the duties of the Tortoise are unknown for most Rokugani, it is clear that they have unique duties that is their divine mandate to perform. Assimilating a clan as an Imperial family, no matter its size, would open a horrifying precedent in Rokugani History: the Bureaucracy would continue to expand, engulfing clan after clan and taking their duties until the Bureaucracy became Rokugan. The Seppun and Miya side against this measure, as do the Minor Clans if anyone cares about their opinion; paranoid samurai - or those that know their history - also stand against the Throne on this issue of the Schism, as they fear that the long-terms effects of such an Imperial stance would be akin to the Gozoku and that someone can steal this leviathan organization from the Imperials. This measure is not without supporters; most samurai see no issue, and the Otomo are already making plans how to use the Kasuga family as a recipient for their most toxic assets.


Of course, in no universe would this be enough to cause the level of spiritual chaos and uncertain that the Schism caused; much more polemic reforms had been applied by previous Hantei Emperors, only to be rolled back and erased from the Histories by his successor.


Starting at this point, the issues get muddled, riddled with implications. They were not discussed or acknowledged by the Emperor, but they flared like wildfire. They are pretty much what rumourmongers and courtiers make them be.


"Everything Dragon is Lies" - The Emperor denounced the previous Dragon Clan Champion as an impostor of some sort. Nobody understood what it exactly meant, but the Emperor stormed out of Winter Court and made his ominous proclamation. The most common interpretation amongst scholars and holy men are that the teachings of the Togashi ise zumi are considered heresy and no longer a part of the Kami no Michi (The Way of Gods). This has caused many divisions amongst sects everywhere; while some abandon all connections to the teachings of the Togashi, some Shinseist orders and sects claim that such knowledge is invaluable and the legacy of one of the Kami. Some courtiers and priests are not happy with the most common conclusion; a few samurai and monks, especially those associated with the Lion and Scorpion, have pointed out that the Dragon have been cast out from the Empire and Hantei XXVI's statement is all but declaration of their dissolution as a Great Clan. If resentment against the Dragon grows, these extremists may even lead a holy war, or at the very least, feud with those on the other side of the Schism that would support the Dragon and their teachings.


"Who Needs The Fortunes With Men Like These At My Side?" - The Hantei Bastards used to be only a political issue, but this statement made them an issue of the Schism, pushing previously neutral pious samurai to side against the Throne on the Schism. A rising number of samurai are starting to argue another interpretation: Hantei XXVI was not talking about his siblings, but his entire staff. These samurai believe the Emperor is putting his Chosen, leaders of Imperial families and high officers of the Bureaucracy and the Legions ahead of the Fortunes; they spread resentment against these leaders and disrupts order. Everyone underestimated the effect of this issue upon the common people: heimin and hinin were confused and failed to understand the situation even worse than samurai, filling the blanks with terrible implications - this single issue has caused more riots than any other question raised by the Schism.


Weakening of the Celestial Order - Not a topic many would like to touch, but some have raised the point that Hantei XXVI's actions that led to the Schism weakens the Celestial Order and stresses the bounds between vassal and liege. Not a point that is discussed in anything but whispers, but some people really believe this.


The Hantei and the Seppun - The leader of the Kami no Michi religion is the Son of Heavens, the Emperor of Rokugan and Agent of Tengoku in Ningen-do. So how can anything done by this ultimate authority lead to a Schism? The Brotherhood has no leaders, but of those leaders that they don't have, the most prominent are the Four Temples monks; an order that has such close ties with the Seppun family that they often seem one of the religious arms of that Imperial family. So, if the Seppun family disagrees with the Emperor on religious matters, who should the Brotherhood follow? The choice was natural for the Four Temples, but not easy for other orders.


Hypocrisy in the Brotherhood - This issue is a perfect example of how clever and influential courtiers are using the Schism to further their own goals - when you start poking the holes of religious dogma, all kind of questions arise; this issue was crafted entirely by Sukoshi-Joou to gather support for her little crusade. Having experienced what she perceives as hypocrisy, Sukoshi-Joou has been arming others with words and thoughts denouncing the Brotherhood. As conflict rises within the Brotherhood of Shinsei, samurai point fingers at all the unenlightened practices: the discrimination that is found in certain orders, sects and monasteries; the too-close relationships that certain orders have with certain families; how certain monks seem to actually never retire and use the monk station simply to avoid repercussion; the excessive focus on martial arts and how pointless it is for samurai to retire from a life of violence into another life of violence; and many, many implications that the monks are not utterly fair and samurai-turned-monks usually end in better positions than their heimin-born brothers. As anyone can expect, this issue is very dangerous and always spreads trouble whenever it raises its ugly head; people either believe the Brotherhood are hypocrites and turn on them or heimin protect the monks that they know and believe above any samurai.


The Brotherhood of Shinsei


Right at the center of it, the Brotherhood cannot escape the Schism. Still, while not every monk or order has an opinion on every single issue, they cannot avoid all the issues altogether. You can try to remain blind, but cracks are already showing up, to the point there seem to be two (not) leaders of the Brotherhood of Shinsei.


The Four Temples monks remain at the side of the Seppun and fight to preserve the traditional values of the Way of the Gods above anything else. A sect rose in defiance: the Shinmaki Shinseists claimed that the only true path was that laid out by the Emperor and all things were cyclic: if the Son of Heaven was guided towards change, they would follow behind. Things would change again and the cycle would continue. This is one of the few clear conflicts of the Schism: the Four Temple and the majority of the Fortunist orders against the Shinmaki and a large number of Shinseist orders.


But that is only for the Hantei and Seppun issue of the Schism. No, there are no big uniform blocks, it is not Four Temples kung-fu fighting Shinmaki across Rokugan; when other issues come to their attention, the groups further divide themselves. For example, on the Dragon issue, the tables are turned. Four Temple faction would agree with the Togashi being cast out and some extremists nod at the proposal of retiring the Great Clan status from the Dragon; their rivals of the Shinmaki are mostly Shinseists and believe that ise zumi teachings are priceless and an important legacy of the Empire's spiritual life. Each other issue adds another layer of disagreement, and another, and another...


Trouble:
One way or another, the Brotherhood seek to solve the Schism. No pressure.


Allies:
People turn to the Brotherhood in the times of spiritual need, and this is no exception. They might find a broken organization, but the Brotherhood is still beloved by everyone - even if individual monks or orders might have problems with certain clans or others.


Enemies:
The Schism is the only true enemy of the Brotherhood. Even when they fight each other, they understand the underlying reason why. That and the heretics that seem to sprout in these conflicting times. Both Shinmaki and Four Temples monks are interested in the young monk that seems to be a new prophet with a very radical interpretation of the Tao...

 

[Daemonfey]

The State of the Clans - Special Edition

Ronin


The life of the wave-men has always been hard, and the 9th Century presented them with very unusual challenges. The War of the Broken Wagon saw many otokodate hired by the participant clans, and on the aftermath of the war, many ended up joining the local settlers. Due to wandering otokodate, the Shinjo settlers-turned-ronin, and deserters from both the Dragon and Phoenix, Dragon Heart Plain is without a doubt the place in Rokugan with the highest concentration of ronin. The Scorpion Clan Champion seems to be more amenable with ronin than most kuge, and often hires them to supplement the Scorpion army and magistrates. The Miya have been hiring honorable and discreet ronin to escort heralds and special assignments.


This era also saw the rise of two very odd sorts of ronin: the first, artisan ronins, whose inclination towards the Ju and Shikan styles made them enemy with their own lords and kin and forced them to abandon their clans. This became more and more rare as the Kakita shifted into a more tolerant stance and other artistic schools followed their example. That does not mean the practice has died out completely, as one occasionally finds the romantic ronin that left in a pilgrimage to improve his art, or is looking for a patron more fitting his mindset. The second new breed of ronin are old samurai, way past the age of retirement. They find that their continued presence in their clan brings dishonor and disrupts the kharmic duties of younger generations, but cannot find peace of mind by shaving their heads and joining a Brotherhood split by the Schism. Instead of becoming monks, they abandon their families and lords and wander the Empire, hoping to do some good before dying and finding their own form of Enlightenment the only way they know how - with their souls and blades.


A few ronin families exist, but the 9th century has not been kind to them. Naka Akio disappeared in unusual circumstances and a new Grand Master of the Elements has yet to make himself known. The Tsi family, whose origin is wrapped in legends and whose founder has very conflicting origins, never managed to have more than a few members of unproven lineage. Many times have ronin craftsmen claimed the Tsi family name, usually only to give more credibility to their craft and gather the respect of the commons, but without official records none has been able to prove the legitimacy of their claims to the name. The last man naming himself Tsi, Tsi Kwacha, was killed during the revolts of Otosan Uchi, being an easy target for the samurai-targeted fury of the heimin. Kwacha, his family and apprentices were dragged to their forge and burned alive; from that day forward, the Tsi name is considered cursed, a bringer of misfortune. The never officially accepted Kaeru family of the City of Rich Frog seems to prospering; Lion and Unicorn are at odds ever since the Lion refused to give the city to the Returned Ki-rin, but their city is an excellent hub for trade between the clans - and in that niche, these ronin merchants found great profit.

And that's it. Very small preview. Nothing else to see here. Thrust me.

Spoiler

Kolat


9th Century Kolat


The 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 On


The 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.

And with further delay... I declare Night Court in session.