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 Post subject: The Imperial Families
PostPosted: Mon Mar 30, 2020 10:29 pm 
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The Imperial Families


The Recent Past

The Imperial Families have been blessed with a long line of successful Emperors and daimyo. Or at least, that is the official story as recorded in the Ikoma histories. In truth, the leadership of the Imperial Families has been ravaged by nepotism for generations, and while this has occasionally resulted in competent samurai holding positions of power, more often than not those in power are less skilled than their subordinates.

While most samurai would agree that Hantei XX was a wonderful Emperor in his youth, their praises tend to grow more vague when speaking of his later years. At some point around his seventieth birthday, the Emperor's mind began to leave him and he would often address courtiers by the names of samurai who had died decades earlier. This resulted in a steady series of name changes for those who attended the Imperial Court during this time, for no samurai wished to suggest that the Emperor had remembered their names incorrectly.

The Hantei's memory only seemed to grow worse as the years passed, and by his ninety-fifth birthday, he was essentially living in the past. His decrees at this time were quite confusing, as he frequently restored Clan borders to points where they had not existed in nearly half a century and once demanded to have a Scorpion Champion who had been dead for forty years brought before him to answer for his crimes against the Lion. The Scorpion did as they were bade, and soon the confused Seppun guards were leading away an urn of ashes with instructions to have it executed.

Realizing that the current situation could not stand, the Kakita Daimyo, Kakita Yasuhime, had a magnificent garden built at Seido Jurojin for the Emperor's ninety-seventh birthday. The Emperor visited the garden shortly thereafter and a series of Crane courtiers ensured that he was kept preoccupied with the beauty of the gardens instead of returning home. In his absence, the Emperor directed the events of Rokugan through a series of messages delivered to Otosan Uchi by helpful Crane couriers. Unsurprisingly, most of these missives favored the agendas of the Crane Clan.

Within a few weeks, however, the Emperor passed away in his sleep, paving the way for his eldest surviving son to claim the throne. Doji Hanako quickly levied accusations of murder against the Scorpion Clan, claiming that her guards had almost caught a hooded figure leaving the Emperor's bedchamber the night he died, but these claims of ninja activity were dismissed as "peasant superstition" by most everyone at court. Unwilling to embarrass herself further, Hanako allowed the matter to drop, much as she had done with the suspicious murder of her father two years prior.

The reign of Hantei XXI brought sanity back to the Imperial Court, and soon the reign of Hantei XX was little more than a distant, happily forgotten memory. Though Hantei XXI did not accomplish anything particularly notable during his fourteen years on the throne, his time as Emperor is remembered fondly as a time of peace and prosperity, if only in comparison to the previous and following Emperors. Unfortunately, in 740 he slipped on some ice on the way to his morning bath and injured his hip. Though the healers did not believe this to have been a serious injury, the Emperor's health steadily worsened until he passed away later that winter. The entire Empire mourned his death for a full week, far longer than had been given to his predecessor.

Hantei XXII thus took the throne at the age of seventeen. His first few years as Emperor resulted in a gradual but steady loss of power for the Imperial Families as the Clans more and more frequently treated him as a simple figurehead. That the young Hantei was rather inept at politics was blatantly obvious to the experienced courtiers of the Capital and manipulation of the Emperor's opinions and actions was rampant. With few allies to turn to, the Emperor decided to seek a wife in the hopes that he might find an ally who could support him in the courts as well as in his private life.

This plan failed miserably, as the bride the Hantei selected turned out to be a maho-tsukai in disguise. Though he was saved at the last moment from marrying such a horrible villain by Akodo Shimizu, the damage had been done to the Emperor's confidence. With no certainty left in his own decisions, the Hantei allowed himself to become the figurehead that the Clans wanted, much to the horror of the Imperial Families.

In the winter of 754, the Emperor disappeared on his way to Winter Court, sending waves of panic through the Empire. He reappeared near the end of the season in Dragon lands, having lost a few fingers and toes to frostbite during his flight through the snow-choked lands of the Phoenix. While many initially believed that the Emperor had been taken hostage by the Dragon, the Hantei appeared on the battlefield during the War of Iron Chrysanthemum, bringing an end to the conflict by revealing to the Lion Champion, Akodo Misaki, that he had taken refuge with the Dragon for his own protection, for he suspected that his yojimbo had planned to assassinate him on his way to Winter Court.

Protected by both Lion and Dragon armies, the Emperor remained in seclusion until the winter, when the Dragon opened their borders to the courtiers traveling to Kyuden Agasha for Winter Court at the end of 755. It proved to be a tense gathering, and during the first few weeks the Matsu Daimyo, Matsu Shikyo, saved the Emperor from a second assassination attempt. The Imperial Chancellor, Doji Masato, was exposed as the mastermind of the Gozoku plot and was executed by Suzume Wara, the Emerald Champion, who met his end later in the year in a kharmic strike with the Tortoise Clan Champion, one of Doji Masato's alleged co-conspirators.

Kakita Seiko, the daughter of former Emerald Champion Kakita Isora, claimed the Emerald Championship from her rivals as the Imperials launch a purge to root out Masato's conspirators. The Crane came under close scrutiny as the Imperials attempted to gut the Crane of their most influential samurai, but Seiko took control of the investigation before it could spiral too far out of control.

In protest for their treatment, the daimyo of the Crane family stabbed themselves, bound their fatal wounds, and met with the Emperor to protest the treatment of their Clan at the hands of the Imperial Families. Their deaths - one by one, in front of the horrified Emperor - were enough to make the Hantei realize what he had done, and as the last daimyo bled out in front of him, he announced that all of the Gozoku conspirators had been found and punished.

The unexpected return of Hantei XVI - the so-called "Steel Chrysanthemum" - proved to be a troubling time for the Emperor. When word reached the Hantei that his ancestor wished to meet with him, he turned to his advisors for advice. Distracted with other matters or with hidden agendas of their own, they did little to dissuade the Emperor, and at the Winter Court of 758, the Emperor came face to face with his living ancestor. The Steel Chrysanthemum, for his part, treated his descendant with politeness and cordiality, and the two of them presided over the court together, with the Steel Chrysanthemum deferring to the Emperor on nearly every matter.

The politeness was a ruse, however, merely a means of allowing the Steel Chrysanthemum to get a sense of the Emperor and the political entanglements of his Empire. At the conclusion of Winter Court, the Steel Chrysanthemum took Hantei XXII hostage, demanding that he abdicate his throne. The Emperor refused, and his ancestor killed him and ordered his spirit armies to wreck havoc across the Empire.


The Imperials Today

The Imperial Families have used the exposure of the Gozoku conspiracy as an excuse to ruthlessly reclaim their lost power. With the support of the Imperial Advisor, Agasha Muizu, the Otomo and Seppun spent the winter of 755 and most of the following year removing all threats to their power, whether through political blackmail or a flurry of lethal duels. A number of prominent and otherwise untouchable courtiers from the Great Clans simply disappeared on their way home from their winter courts, never to be seen again.

In the following spring, Hantei XXII returned to Otosan Uchi, which underwent a similar purge at the hands of the Otomo and Seppun families. Businesses that had been under the control of the Great Clans for generations were seized by the Otomo in a month of bloody attacks by Miharu claiming to be rooting out the last remnants of the Gozoku conspiracy. By the time the blood was finally washed from the streets by the spring rains, there was no question that Otosan Uchi was firmly in control of the Imperial Families.

Strict guidelines were put in place to prevent easy passage in and out of the Imperial Capital, ensuring that none who displeased the Imperial Families were allowed past its walls. This most notably included the Tortoise Clan, who - due to the involvement of their Champion in the Gozoku conspiracy - were still allowed to manage the Hub Villages around Otosan Uchi, but were forbidden from entering the Imperial Capital. A frustrated Crane poet remarked that Otosan Uchi had become "a forbidden city," and the name was quickly adopted by other courtiers as a way to show their disapproval with the Imperial Families and their creation of the Forbidden City.

While this purge of the Great Clans was being enacted, the Seppun looked when it was discovered that one of their own, Seppun Takahide, had been a willing participant in the Gozoku conspiracy. Takahide had never expected the Gozoku to resort to the murder of the Hantei and stepped forward to offer testimony against many of his fellow Seppun. With his testimony, the Seppun were able to brutally cut away the infected heart of their family to regain the Emperor's trust.

Having returned from a position of weakness to one of strength, the Imperial Families - and the Otomo in particular - took every step they could to set things right within the Empire. This attitude placed them in direct conflict with the Great Clans, many of whom suspected that the Otomo used the threat of the Gozoku to make a blatant power grab. The Emperor's announcement that the Gozoku had been dealt with brought an end to the purge, but the relationship between the Imperial Families and the Great Clans remains antagonistic.

Unfortunately, the Gozoku were not the only threat to the Emperor's power. During the War of Broken Fangs, the monk Turong discovered a well of healing and brought a drought of the restorative liquid back to the Empire. He gave the water to the Emperor's younger half-brother, Seppun Kato, who had been horribly burnt as a child. The water healed Kato's wounds, allowing the previously bedridden Imperial to shed his bandages and move freely about the Imperial Palace. With little to do to pass the time, Kato had grown up reading and studying the private journals of his ancestors and their advisors, including those that had been penned by Hantei XVI, the Steel Chrysanthemum.

Over the next few years, Seppun Kato began to undermine the rule of his brother while slowly gathering supporters of his own. Those who felt that the Hantei was a weak emperor stood with Kato in the shadows, watching as he spun webs of loyalty and deceit throughout the courts of the Empire. Though his goals are unknown, courtiers across the Empire already debate the extent of his ambition... and whether he might prove to be a stronger Emperor than his brother.

The death of the Emperor has triggered a cascading chain of events that has left the Empire in chaos. The Imperial Families have little love for the Empress, and already the families have begun to make plans to unseat her to place one of the late Emperor's blood relatives on the throne. Seppun Kato is by far away the favorite candidate, due to his influence over his cousins and distant relations, but the insidious influence of Doji Suiminko was resulted in calls for the Imperial Advisor to assume the throne.



The Empress

Hantei Tokiyo: The widow empress was once Matsu Tokiyo, a poet-warrior of the Lion who spent a significant amount of time wandering the Empire on Musha Shugyo. After the Matsu daimyo saved the life of the Emperor in 755, the Lion scrambled to find a suitable candidate to serve as the Hantei's bride, and with few suitable options left to them, they settled upon Tokiyo, much to her surprise.

Though she was honored to marry the Emperor, the betrothal forced Tokiyo to make a number of sacrifices, including turning her back on her ronin lover and their young child. When her brother-in-law, Seppun Kato, learned of her child, Tokiyo was forced to do nothing as the Bayushi Yuuto, the Scorpion Champion, had her beloved and their child murdered to protect the Imperial bloodline. Though heartbroken at the decision, Tokiyo knew that this was simply the price she had to pay to become Empress.

From the moment her engagement became public knowledge, Tokiyo has been hounded by whispers and rumors that she is not a "proper" Empress. Her complexion and straw-colored hair does not suit the Imperial colors, her hands are too rough to be considered dainty, her walk lacks the grace of a trained courtier... nearly everything she does is considered "wrong" in some manner or another, leaving her frustrated with the capital and the Imperials that profess loyalty to her face and then laugh about her accent and rough demeanor behind her back.

Though possessed of a warrior's determination and resolve, the whisper campaign against Tokiyo began to take its toll upon her. There were few moments of happiness or joy in her days, and even her pregnancy - an expected source of great joy - was undermined by the demands of the Imperial physicians, who strictly dictated what she could and could not do at nearly every point of her day. Denied her daily training and prevented from leaving her quarters for much of each day, Tokiyo fell into a listless depression that only worsened as the months pass. When she finally gave birth, it was difficult, and had it not been for the skill of the Imperial physicians, both mother and child would likely have perished.

Tokiyo's recovery was slow and hamstrung at multiple points by the Imperial Families, who quickly rushed her child off to be raised by "proper caretakers," deepening Tokiyo's depression even further. She might have wilted away entirely, had it not been for the sudden and unexpected murder of the Emperor.

With the death of the Hantei, Tokiyo found her anger and forced her way into the throne room, pushing aside those who would not step out of her way. Seating herself on the throne, she demanded that they bring every Lion samurai within the Hub Villages to the throne room. The assembled Seppun and Otomo attempted to reason with the Empress, but her orders were enforced by the Empress Guard, which stepped forward and threatened violence on any samurai who did not follow the commands of their Empress. The Seppun wavered for a moment before bowing in supplication, and the assembled Otomo begrudgingly followed suit.

Tokiyo placed the Lion brought before her in key positions of the Imperial Bureaucracy, ensuring that her commands would be carried out properly. Her demands and the sweeping changes to began to enact to consolidate her power did not sit well with the Otomo, but they had little choice but to go along with her wishes for the time being.




Otomo Daimyo

Otomo Kiku: The current daimyo of the Otomo ascended to her position under awkward circumstances. Following the tragic drowning of Otomo Yao, the position passed to his brother, Otomo Akira, who was promptly lured into a lethal duel by agents of the traitorous Doji Masato. Suspecting that the Crane were attempting to cull the line of succession in an attempt to place a puppet in charge of the Otomo family, the doomed Akira transferred control of the Otomo family to his distant cousin Kiku before following his defeated yojimbo into the next life.

Unfortunately for Akira, he had not kept in touch with his distance cousin, and when Otomo Kiku made her first public appearance, it was rather difficult for her to hide the fact that she was quite pregnant...and also quite unmarried. The scandal raced through the courts, and within a week, the entire Empire was speculating as to the identity of the child's father. Kiku refused to "spoil the game," and even turned down a number of very sudden and unexpected marriage proposals from Seppun men willing to protect her honor by claiming the child as their own.

Though relatively inexperienced in political maneuvering, Kiku has quickly adapted to her new position. She prefers to govern the Otomo with a light touch, dealing with her responsibilities primarily through proxies and appointed representatives while she cares for her young son. Those wishing to speak with her in person must schedule their appointments far in advance, with many courtiers having to wait upwards of a year for their chance to meet with Kiku for a handful of minutes.

More than a few courtiers have started to wonder just what it is that the Otomo daimyo actually does that requires so much of her time, as most of her duties in the capital seem to have been delegated to others. Few speak of such things in public, however, for fear of earning the ire of the woman who is suspected of being a driving force in the recent Gozoku purges.



Seppun Daimyo

Seppun Sadako: Following the sepukku of her father in 743, Sadako stepped up to lead a family shamed by its inability to prevent a maho-tsukai from drawing close to the Emperor. In the fourteen years since, she has greatly increased the security surrounding the Imperial Families, and while the honor of her family has not been entirely restored, few can question Sadako's dedication to her duty. That more than a few of her fellow Seppun have been forced to become honorless assassins in the name of the protecting the Emperor is not a decision that sits well with her, but she understands the need for such action in these particularly troubling times.

Sadako recently stepped back from her duties in order to care for her first child and left the day-to-day operations of the family in the hands of her husband Katoshi. As a member of the Kakita family prior to his marriage, Katoshi's skill as a duelist had kept any accusations of favoritism from coloring his time spent as temporarily head of the Seppun family, despite a number of somewhat suspicious uses of Seppun guards at meetings beneficial to the Crane.

Katoshi's time as acting daimyo was fraught with failure and embarrassment, from loosing the Emperor on the way to Winter Court in 754 to his suspected involvement in the Gozoku conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor. His eventual sepukku at the height of the Gozoku purge cleansed the dishonor of his family and allowed Sadako to resume her duties as daimyo of the Seppun.

Sadako refuses to speak about her husband or his time leading the Seppun, and most of her subordinates have taken the hint and chosen to do the same. The change in leadership has been good for the Seppun, as it has allowed them to look forward past their recent failures and towards a future where they once again stand unwavering beside the other Imperial Families. Though she does not care for the Empress very much, Sadako takes her duty quite seriously and has worked hard to ensure that Hantei Tokiyo's Lion agents have the full support of the Seppun family.



Miya Daimyo / Imperial Herald

Miya Kaemon: The war against Iuchiban took a heavy toll on the daimyo of the Miya family. Though he did not fight against the Bloodspeaker's army himself, Kaemon's fiance, an Akodo bushi, was slain during the Battle of Sleeping River. Kaemon was devastated by her death and fell deeply into a period of mourning. Despite having mostly recovered from such dark thoughts, Kaemon still remains little more than a shadow of his former self, and many whisper that his soul died on the same day as his fiance.

The attempts of the Akodo to find a new bride for Kaemon quickly grew to a point of annoyance for the daimyo, and he actively severed all ties with the Lion Clan in an attempt to keep their courtiers at bay. The Lion Champion, Akodo Misaki, is rumored to have taken personal offense at Kaemon's rejection of her own marriage proposal, but her recent marriage to a Crane courtier seems to have settled the enmity between them. For his part, however, Kaeimon still remembers how the Ikoma ruthlessly slandered the non-Lion women he had considered for marriage, ruining their reputations in the courts; the Crane he had been considering committed sepukku in shame and the Scorpion woman was recalled by her Clan and reassigned to a position in Boar lands, where he later learned that she had been killed by barbarians.

The Lion may consider their dealings finished, but Kaemon still carries a burning hatred in his heart for the Lion Clan, and his rants against the actions and honor of the young Lion Champion are as loud as they are frequent. As the alliance between the Scorpion and Lion has grown, Kaemon has felt his protests fall upon deaf ears, with one notable exception: the Emperor's brother, Seppun Kato, in whose company Kaemon has been seen more frequently in the past few years.

Kaemon has become one of the few vocal critics of the Empress since her rise to power, correctly believing that his status and position will shield him from most of the retribution she can unleash upon him. He has become the face of the resistance in the capital, and though his allies are unable to publicly support him, he has not let that silence his tongue.



Imperial Advisor

Doji Suiminko: Doji Suiminko has risen to the position of Imperial Advisor among unprecedented circumstances. The former advisor, Agasha Muizu, was, to all appearances, the Emperor's closest friend and confidant. In the Month of the Dragon, 758, however, the Emperor was visited by the spirit of his ancestor, Hantei XIV, who warned the Emperor and his wife that Muizu was plotting against his life and advised his descendant to replace him with Doji Suiminko. After the Seppun searched the Emperor's chambers and consulted with the kami, they were forced to admit that the visitation was likely genuine, and the Hantei ordered the confused Muizu to be executed that very afternoon and appointed Suiminko to the position.

What nobody in the Empire realizes is that Muizu's execution and replacement was carefully orchestrated by the Kolat. Doji Suiminko is secretly Master Dream, who utilized a sacred rosary obtained by Kolat Agents in the Naga city of Iyotisha to contact the spirit of Hantei XIV and manipulate him into speaking with his descendant.

The Emperor's death was a setback for Suiminko, but also an opportunity. With the Empress' distrust preventing her from gaining access to the young heir or anyone close to him, she has shifted her strategy to focus upon the Imperial Chancellor.



Imperial Chancellor

Ichiro Wattana: Ichiro Wattana was appointed to the position of Imperial Chancellor in 755, following the execution of the prior Chancellor, Doji Masato, for treason. With so many high profile courtiers having connections to Masato or the Crane, the choice of Wattana made a certain backwards kind of sense. Any given Crane or Scorpion courtier might be an uncovered Gozoku agent, but few could conceive of any scenario where a Badger courtier might be involved in the conspiracy to subvert the Emperor's power.

Exactly who made the suggestion to bestow the position upon Wattana is a matter of some speculation throughout the Empire, but Wattana has thus far managed to remain neutral in the few political dealings she has had since her appointment. While a capable courtier, the training she received from her parents is quite inferior to that provided by the Great Clans in their schools, making Wattana one of the few weak links in the Imperial bureaucracy.

Wattana, for her part, realized this and began spending most of her free time training with Dragonfly tutors that were loaned to her by Agasha Muizu. Though their own techniques are not as refined as those of the Great Clans, just being able to receive advice from courtiers who are accustomed to being manipulated by the Great Clans has been a welcome relief to the overwhelmed Badger. With the absorption of the Dragonfly into the Dragon Clan, Wattana has been left on her own, but she has risen to the challenge and now carries out her duties as quietly and efficiently as possible.

She has recently found a friend in the Imperial Advisor. Just being in the presence of Doji Suiminko seems to make her worries disappear, and though she cannot remember much of what they discuss, she knows that her burdens have become easier to bare since meeting her. More and more, it seems as if she is just sleepwalking through a comfortable dream, one in which everything will turn out just fine, if only she does as her new friend asks of her...



Emerald Champion

Kakita Seiko: The Emerald Championship of 756 was won by Kakita Seiko, the daughter of former Emerald Champion, Kakita Isora. Following the disappearance of her mother, Seiko trained at the feet of Kakita Takashi, a dubious distinction that left her with unsurpassed dueling skill and plenty of emotional trauma. She was quickly rushed through her gempuku and married to Doji Ryota, a relatively unknown courtier, and the couple was blessed with an early child, and another a few years later.

Despite his promising career, Ryora ended up in Seiko's shadow as she continued her dueling career, forcing him to remain home with their children and servants as she traveled across the Empire serving the Clan. Seiko has forbidden any servants from raising her children, which has only served to shackle her husband to their young son and overactive daughter. The bitterness between the Emerald Champion and her husband is well known among the Imperial Court, and it has only deepened as Seiko's new position has increased the duties upon her.

Seiko takes her position seriously and works hard to present herself as a dedicated and honorable servant of the Empire. The recent accusations against the Crane and the rumors circulating around the Empire of her mother's fall to darkness do not make it easy for her, but she has thus far managed to hold her head high despite the chaos swirling around her.



Jade Champion

Fairuz: The success of the ronin Fairuz at the Jade Championship was cause for quite a bit of scandalous rumor, as could only be expected. The Phoenix claimed that their shugenja were only defeated because Fairuz resorted to using illegal gaijin magic, while Yogo Toru, the Scorpion shugenja he defeated in the final round of the tournament, has been nothing but vocal in claiming that Fairuz sold his soul to Fu Leng and is elbow-deep in the darkest kinds of blood magic.

Most of the shugenja who have met with Fairuz, however, speak of the new Jade Champion as a very humble and polite man, despite his somewhat "odd" appearance. This is mostly due to the influence of his father's blood, for Fairuz's father was a gaijin sahir who fled the foreign city of Medinaat Al-Salaam after it was thrown into a fierce civil war. Traveling to Rokugan, Fairuz's father married a young ronin shugenja who died giving birth to their son. It was soon clear that the young child could speak to the spirits of the land much like his mother could, and seeking to pass on his wife's legacy to their child, Fairuz's father did his best to teach the young boy how to speak to these spirits.

As a result of this strange childhood, Fairuz grew up learning a strange combination of Rokugani prayers and gaijin magic that eventually culminated in a way of speaking with the kami that was an amalgam of both heritages. After the death of his father, Fairuz left the unaligned lands at the edge of the Empire that had been their home and traveled to the lands of the Scorpion, as his father had told him that his mother had been one of them before she was cast out for reasons of which she would never speak. The Scorpion shunned Fairuz and cast him out from their lands, however, claiming that no such woman had ever worn one of their masks.

Fairuz spent the next year wandering the Empire at a loss for what to do with his life, until the day that he came upon a Lion courtier who was set upon by bandits. Fairuz rushed to the woman's aid, striking down the bandits with his magic and healing her wounded yojimbo back to full health after the battle was over. The woman vowed to repay the debt she owed Fairuz, and despite his protests, two months later Fairuz found himself with an invitation to the Jade Championship.

Since the tournament, Fairuz and those few ronin shugenja who have sworn fealty to his name - or "House Fairuz" as he calls it, in memory of one of how his father claimed such things were done in his homeland - have taken up residence in the far northwestern corner of the Empire. His assistants - both former Seppun - have been training him in "proper" etiquette to ensure that he does not become another Kuni Tokaji, though Fairuz has thus far been somewhat reluctant to toss away his father's legacy in the name of proving himself to be a "true samurai."

Since the announcement of the Unicorn Clan's imminent return, Fairuz has been preoccupied with a prophecy one of his followers learned from the Oracle of Air. While the Oracle's words were cryptic, they hinted that his family of ronin would find themselves without allies when a "great wind" blew in from the desert. He believes that the two events are related and is searching for a way to lead his family out of destiny's cruel shadow.



Topaz Champion

Kaze: The winner of this year's Topaz Championship is Kaze, a Mantis bushi who prevailed over his rivals in a completely routine and normal tournament. The young samurai was, perhaps, more disciplined and better trained than many of his fellow Mantis, but among the ranks of the Great Clan samurai, his exceptionalism was blunted and did little to make him stand out. Following the conclusion of the tournament, Kakita Rika commanded the instructors of the Dueling Academy to improve their curriculum; while there is no shame in the Crane not winning the tournament, the victory of a Mantis samurai over the students of the Kakita was another matter entirely. If there was any consolation to the Crane, it was that the return of the Unicorn Clan almost completely overshadowed the tournament, all but ensuring that Kaze would be forgotten within months.

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 Post subject: Re: The Imperial Families
PostPosted: Thu Apr 02, 2020 5:50 am 
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Vassal Families of the Imperials

This is a list of the vassal families that are currently in existence within the Imperial Families. Characters that hail from vassal families are treated exactly the same as normal members of the Imperial Families, save that they begin the game with the Vassal Family disadvantage. Members of a vassal family receive the same Trait bonus at character creation as their parent Family.


    Vassal Family [Social] (1 point)
      You are a member of a vassal family, and as a result your word carries less weight than samurai of your patron family. You begin the game with a Status of 0.5, rather than 1.0.*

* Note that this change to Status occurs before the +.5 Status awarded to Imperial characters. An Imperial character with the Vassal Family disadvantage will thus begin the game with a Status of 1.0, rather than 1.5.


Within their family, parent Family, and among the other Imperial Families, members of the vassal Families are called by their vassal family name. To non-Imperials, however, vassal family samurai are simply identified by their parent Family's name. To use a vassal family's name with an outsider over that of a one's parent Family is considered to be an act of arrogance, for it implies that the lineage of one's vassal family is more important and well-known than that of the Family he serves


An Example
For example, Hanako Miki is a member of the Hanako family, vassals of the Seppun Family of the Imperial Families. To other Imperials, she is known as Hanako Miki, as all Imperials are immediately aware of the relation between the Hanako and Seppun families. To non-Imperials, Miki is simply known as Seppun Miki. If she wishes to recognize her own family, particularly if she wishes to be formal, she might introduce herself as "Seppun Miki of House Hanako" or as "Soshi Miki no Hanako."

If an outsider was visiting Imperial lands, these protocol would remain the same, unless that visitor was within the holdings of the Hanako family. In such a case, Miki could refer to herself as "Hanako Miki" without seeming arrogant, as it would be assumed that the visitor would know he was in the lands of the Seppun Family. Given the size of most vassal family holdings, however, this exception occurs only rarely, perhaps once or twice in a normal samurai's lifetime.



Vassal Families

Anou (Miya): Centuries ago, the Anou were vassals of the Kaiu. Kaiu Anout was the family's founder, and perhaps the most brilliant architect the Empire has ever seen. Anou's ideas revolutionized the Rokugani art of construction, from innovative use of materials such as bamboo to new building techniques and architectural forms. In recognition of his many services to the Crab, and for all the favors the Crab gained by allowing other Clans access to Anou's architectural genius, the Crab Champion granted him status as a vassal lord, and instructed him to recruit only the finest students from any Crab Family he wished. Two generations after Anou's death, his granddaughter was commissioned to build a new temple for the Imperial City. So impressed was the Emperor at the speed and efficiency with which the Anou worked that he ordered the family to become vassals of the Miya, in order that their incredible skills should be put to use with the Emperor's Blessing. Centuries later, the Anou remain a driving force behind the Emperor's Blessing, and they are still known for the speed and sturdiness of their work.


Hanako (Seppun): Seppun Hanako was a virtuous woman who had the misfortune of being a loyal Seppun during the reign of Hantei XVI, the tyrant known as the Steel Chrysanthemum. Hanako was witness to the Emperor's depravity and his grotesque misuse of the Mandate of Heaven. Bound by her honor to serve, Hanako could not bring herself to move against the Emperor, even when his son marshaled support among the other Seppun and deposed the despot. It was because of her reputation for honor and virtue that Hanako found herself promoted through the ranks as one of the personal guards of Hantei XVII. It was in this position that she finally made her mark on history when, one spring day, the Emperor casually asked for her thoughts on a matter of legal merit. Having spent a great deal of time dwelling on matters of law and responsibility, Hanako impressed the Hantei with the depth of her response, and the soon began speaking at length on such matters each day. Upon reading her personal notes, the Emperor enacted legal reform based almost exclusively on Hanako's work, which he entitled the Articles of Heaven. Today, the Hanako family still serve the Seppun, primarily as magistrates and representatives in the courts, but the sheer number of Imperial mandates over the past few centuries have rendered the Emperor's law far more complex than it was in Hanako's days. As a result, the family spends a great deal of political pressure ensuring that certain laws are enforced with the spirit in which they are written.


Reju (Otomo): The existence of the Reju is incontrovertible proof of the wrathful and manipulative nature of the Otomo. Otomo Reju was a loyal servant of the Emperor who became embroiled in the first Gozoku conspiracy for philosophical reasons. While he was loyal to the Emperor, Reju also believed that social progress was flagging and desperately needed to be given a boost, something that would never happen with the Hantei line so surrounded by sycophants and inflexible traditionalists. In exchange for supporting the Gozoku with his personal wealth, Reju was given free reign to do as he pleased. He created a number of schools throughout the four Hub Villages, the greatest of which was the Shining House of Light, a facility that endures to this day. When the Gozoku attempted to abolish the Brotherhood, however, the very religious Reju withdrew his backing from the Gozoku and began speaking out against its members, and many place at least some of the credit at the conspiracy's eventually collapse at his feet. Despite this, the Empress Yogozohime was not favorable towards Reju, and banished him to a monastery until the end of his days. Reju's extended family was not pleased with the result, but rather than speak out against the Empress they instead championed the educational facilities that Reju had built. In order to pacify the family - and to monitor Reju's bloodline for future indiscretions - the Otomo daimyo created the Reju vassal family. Today, much of the stigma associated with the name is a distant memory, but the Reju continue to be the stewards of education among the Imperial families, and constantly work to improve the quality of the schools within the capital city.


Kagami (Otomo): The Kagami family is a relatively unknown vassal family that tries to avoid attracting much attention to itself. Created by a Shosuro who married into the Otomo over a hundred years ago, the small vassal family has only one duty: providing body doubles for important Imperial courtiers. This is not only insurance against assassination, but also allows imperial courtiers to tend to less than reputable business while maintaining a very visible presence elsewhere at the same time. Many courtiers with a Kagami double quickly find other perks of such service, such as being able to send one's double to boring social events in their place or taking their place in bed next to their spouse while they carry out a torrid affair. Once a Kagami has been assigned to a courtier, they typically serve for life, using cosmetics and other forms of make-up to bring their appearance as close to their assigned courtier as possible. The loyalty of a Kagami to their assignment is drilled into them from near birth, and as a result most Kagami do not think of themselves as actual people so much as shadows of courtiers they have not yet met. The untimely death of a Kagami's charge is a jarring time for many of them and is usually a prelude to either a quiet retirement if their charge was someone important, or a promotion to an administrative position within their family if their charge passed away before gaining much prominence.

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