The Crab Clan

Current Population: 2,740,000 people, 12% of whom are samurai.


The Recent Past

Forty years ago, the Oni Lord known only as the Maw - bolstered by dark magicks it had learned from the Dark Oracle of Earth - led a massive army of demons out of the Shadowlands and into Crab lands. The army shattered the wall that had stood at the southern border of the Empire since the dawn of the Empire and spilled out across Hiruma lands, slaughtering everything in their path. The Hiruma who did not flee north to warn their cousins of the threat were slain and the Maw's horde of demons claimed Shiro Hiruma for themselves.

The armies of the Maw were finally stopped at the Seigo River by Kuni Osaku, who raised the waters of the river into a wall via a powerful magical ritual. Kuni Osaku was able to keep her magical wall intact for seventy three days by using her own lifeforce to power to the spell. The Crab called in favors from the other Clans, and when Kuni Osaku's life was finally snuffed out by the magic of her ritual, the Crab had finished construction on the Carpenter Wall. The demons were unable to pierce the new defenses and were defeated, and the Maw was slain and its skull was mounted over the gate of Kyuden Hida.

In the forty years that have followed, the Crab have expanded and improved upon the Carpenter Wall, but the demands of maintaining enough troops and resources to keep it functional have placed an unprecedented strain upon the resources of the Crab. The number of bushi and supplies needed to keep each section of the wall operating at full efficiency is staggering, and as a result the Crab soon began to clash with its neighbors over matters of land.

The next twenty years were marked by frequent border conflicts between the Crab and the Crane and Scorpion Clans. The Crab believed that they were entitled to the lands of their neighbors to make up for the Hiruma lands, which had been lost to the Shadowlands, as without more land they would be unable to feed the troops stationed on the Carpenter Wall. Neither Crane nor Scorpion believed that propping up the Crab Clan was their duty, and the many battles over the lands along their borders soon became quite bloody.

These border conflicts came to an abrupt end in the year 736 when Crab Clan Champion Hida Haru awoke to find that his wife had been slain in her sleep, not more than an arm's reach from his own slumbering body. He soon learned that it was not only his wife who had been slain, but also their two sons in the adjacent room, his eldest daughter, who had fallen to her death from the Wall that same night, and his brother, who had apparently collapsed while drunk and drowned in a small puddle of water only a few inches deep.

It was only over the course of the next week that the true extent of the damage to Haru's family became clear, as reports began to arrive detailing the various deaths that had befallen distant members of his family, all on the same night. The only one spared from the tragedy, it seemed, was his youngest daughter, who had been sent away to train among the Shiba as part of a political negotiation. An assassin had attempted to attack her during the night, but her Shiba guards had intercepted the man and slain him before he could reach her bedroom.

Despite the survival of his daughter, the attacks upon Haru's family broke his spirit; he no longer wished to conquer the lands of the Crane or Scorpion, nor did he meet with any of the ambassadors and diplomats that arrived at Kyuden HIda to speak with him. When he failed to attend the coronation of Hantei XXII in 740, the political scandal send shockwaves through the Imperial Court, forcing the Yasuki to expend every political favor they had accumulated over the past decade to simply to keep their Clan from being banished from Otosan Uchi.

In 741, Haru's only remaining relative passed her gempukku and returned to the Clan of her birth, bearing the name Hida Kame. Hida Haru joyfully welcomed his daughter upon her return, and stepped down from his position as Clan Champion in his next breath, much to the shock and surprise of everyone present. Despite Kame's protests, there was little that anyone could say or do to change Haru's mind, and the next morning the old warrior hefted his tetsubo onto his shoulder and walked off into the Shadowlands "to find Hida Atarashi." He was never seen again.

In the sixteen years since her ascension to Clan Champion, Hida Kame has focused upon improving the economic and political resources of the Crab Clan. Though their military presence remains formidable, a great deal of power has been shifted into the hands of the Yasuki, a move with initially surprised many samurai, but has since paid off considerably in easing the burden of keeping the Carpenter Wall operating at full strength.

The most notable accomplishment of Hida Kame, however, was the recent reclamation of Shiro Hiruma in the year 755. The late Jade Champion, Kuni Tokaji, purified the lands of the Hiruma with the sacrifice of the village known as Shinsei's Last Hope, but they still remain barren and fallow, and it will be some years before they can once again bear food to feed the troops housed within Shiro Hiruma.


The Crab Today

The Crab today are bloodied and hurting, but they continue to guard the Empire against the Shadowlands.

Their military was been weakened by the War of Crossed Pincers, in which the Crab marched upon their northern Scorpion neighbors to keep them occupied and unable to to assist their Lion allies as they marched upon the Phoenix. The Crab had little problems pushing the shattered Scorpion military back time and time again, and despite the frequent number of assassinations and sabotage that plagued their forces, Hida Kame was able to capture well over half of the Scorpion lands for the Crab.

The Scorpion were forced to surrender to end the slaughter, but no sooner had they done so than the the Matsu daimyo, Matsu Takeshi, attacked the gathered Crab forces with the intention of reclaiming the lands of the Scorpion for their beleaguered allies. This conflict - the War of Hidden Honor - was a brutal campaign that ground the forces of the Lion and Crab against each other, producing some of the highest casualty rates among any such war in recent memory. It was during this war that the Crab realized that many of the Lion bushi - including the Matsu daimyo himself - were infected with the Shadowlands Taint and were drawing upon the strength of Jigoku to bolster their already formidable strength.

Peace was eventually reached between the Crab and Lion, forcing the Crab to concede a portion of their captured lands back to the Scorpion, but it was a costly war in more ways than one. The Crab forces were so devastated by the war that Hida Kame was forced to disband the fifth army of the Crab and roll it into the fourth army to replenish its numbers and bring it back up to fighting strength. Perhaps more importantly, however, the conflict had brought the corruption of the Lion to the forefront of the Crab's attention. Matsu Takeshi had been slain during the war, but the Crab were left to wonder whether he had been the source of the corruption within the Lion, or merely a symptom of some greater sickness curled around the heart of Akodo's children.

Even after the war had come to a close, the Crab and Lion continued to come into economic conflict. After learning of the corruption of some of their forces and the corruption of Shiro Akodo by one of the Black Scrolls, the Lion began buying up as much of the Empire's jade as possible. The Yasuki responded by doing the same, as the Crab jade reserves had been all but depleted by their recent battles against Tsukuro's Shadowlands armies. Tensions escalated to the brink of war, but the looming third war was averted when the Phoenix gave their entire jade stores to the Lion as a gift at the Lion Champion's wedding. The price of jade has begun to drop, but relations between the Crab and Lion have never been worse.

The Lion are not the only ones with a grudge against the Crab. The Scorpion continue to hold a grudge against the Crab for their invasion of Scorpion lands during the War of Crossed Pincers. A political agreement between the Scorpion and Crab at the Winter Court of 755 returned the lands the Crab captured back to the Scorpion, but after the Scorpion had wrenched control of the courts from the Crane, they immediately began to lobby for increased taxes and tariffs against the Crab Clan. The Yasuki have done what they can to sink these proposals when possible, but the Scorpion have more influence with the Emperor, and every spring since has found the Crab faced with increasingly greater taxes.

This indifference is indicative of the feelings of the Imperial Families toward the Crab. The Crab have tried to make it as clear as possible that the weakened Scorpion military would be unable to stem the tide of demons that will pour into the Empire should the Crab be unable to keep their warriors fed and equipped, but the Otomo have pointed towards their success against Tsukuro as proof that the Crab are managing just fine. Furthermore, they claim, the Shadowlands should no longer be an immediate threat, now that the Crab have killed their general and shattered their military might. The Crab courtiers have been unable to make a compelling counter-argument without bringing up more detailed information about the Shadowlands in open court, which only leaves them open to ridicule by the Scorpion and makes them look foolish in front of the Otomo.

Despite this, the Imperials are correct in their assumption that the Shadowlands no longer poses an immediate threat to the Empire. The undead general Tsukuro attacked the Crab with his legions of undead after realizing that the Crab had pulled a portion of their already taxed military away from the Wall to join the Emperor's war against the Naga in the Shinomen Forest and to complete various construction projects elsewhere in the Empire. The gates of the Carpenter Wall were breached on multiple occasions, but the return of an ancient hero, Hiruma Kazuma, resulted in their salvation. Kazuma led the forces of Shiro Hiruma and multiple Nezumi tribes against the Shadowlands forces in an unexpected rear assault, catching Tsukuro off guard and giving the Crab the opportunity they needed to storm out of their Carpenter Wall and defeat the undead legions.

The Crab were assisted in their hour of need by their allies among the Dragon and Crane. A number of Togashi monks fought against the undead at the wishes of their Champion, as did the Iron Crane of the Daidoji family. The latter brought with them additional supplies, which went quite far in shoring up the dwindling supplies along the most heavily engaged portions of the wall.

The Phoenix supported the Crab as well, though they chose to do so in the courts rather than with troops. This decision was not entirely unexpected, for there are still tensions between Isawa Daiko, the Master of Water, and the Crab Clan after the Isawa woman stole a number of important scrolls from the library of Shiro Hiruma when it was being reclaimed by coalition forces. While the Crab and Phoenix have technically come to peace on that matter in the years since, Isawa Daiko herself is no longer welcome in the lands of the Crab.



Hida Daimyo & Crab Champion

Hida Kame: Though her interest in expanding her Clan's political influence is well-known, Kame herself has become a topic of courtly discussion for a much different reason. Kame has three children - a boy of nine years and a girl of eleven years - with unknown fathers, as well as a more legitimate, younger child with her recent husband. Exactly which child will be considered the heir of the Crab is a matter of debate, and a question that Kame's advisors are pushing for her to answer sooner than later.

Her husband, Shigeo, hails from the Crane, and naming his child as Kame's heir would go a long way towards improving relations between the two Clans. On the other hand, both of Kame's illegitimate children are showing a great deal of prowess in their combat training, and many Crab are doubtful about what sort of child their Champion might have received from a Crane artisan.

When not considering the futures of her children, Kame blames herself for nearly losing the Carpenter Wall to Tsukuro's undead legions. Had she not have sent her forces north to wage war against the Scorpion, the Crab would have been strong enough to fight the undead back. As it was, they were still victorious, but at the cost of thousands of lives and countless supplies. Every time Kame looks over the lists of the dead, she wonders how many more would still be alive, had she not waged war against the other Clans of the Empire.



Kaiu Daimyo

Kaiu Meiji: The new Kaiu daimyo is a bit of an oddity, as he was trained by the Kuni, rather than the Kaiu. His ability to speak with the kami is not particularly great - some might even call it amateurish at best - but the Crab take what they can get when it comes to shugenja. Meiji assumed command of the Kaiu during Tsukuro's assault; after the death of his predecessor at the hands of a giant invisible skeleton, Meiji ensured that the siege weaponry continued to fire against the undead.

Once the undead were driven back, Hida Kame made Meiji's position official and tasked him with getting the Carpenter Wall back to full strength. Many of the repairs have since been completed, but there are still some stretches along the wall that bear signs of the fighting. The bones of the fallen can still be seen from the parapets of the Wall, though the Crab have shattered them into fragments to ensure that they can no longer be animated and turned against them. All attempts to have the bones removed have been blocked by Meiji, who claims that the bones serve a purpose in their current place: they remind the Crab on the Wall of the price they paid for a moment of weakness.

Since the opening of the third Black Scroll, Kaiu Meiji spent increasingly long periods of time with Kuni Toru, the Kuni daimyo. While Meiji does not speak of his shugenja talents to others, many suspect that he is seeking a way to strengthen himself against the growing corruption within the elements.


Kuni Daimyo

None



Hiruma Daimyo

Hiruma Isamu: Hiruma Isamu has been the Hiruma daimyo for seven years, following the very public execution of the former Hiruma daimyo, Hiruma Jun, at the hands of the Kuni Daimyo. Details remain somewhat sketchy due to the Crab Champion's order that the incident never be spoken of again, but whatever happened, it left those who witnessed the events with a haunted look in their eyes. Since that day, Isamu has been determined to redeem the tainted honor of his family in whatever manner he can.

It was his dream to reclaim the lands of the Hiruma from the Shadowlands, and to this end Isamu spent much of his time organizing various raids and strikes along the other side of the Wall in order to feel out the strength of the enemy. Unfortunately, these raids resulted in a high number of casualties among the Hiruma and little damage to the undead and demons, forcing Hida Kame to forbid him from further weakening the Crab forces along the wall with such reckless raids. In response to this, Isamu called upon every political favor he had - and promised far more favors to the other Clans - to create a coalition force drawn from across the Empire.

His plan was met with skepticism and outright derision from his fellow Crab, but it worked and the coalition force was successful in recapturing Shiro Hiruma from the Shadowlands. Less than one third of the samurai sent to reclaim the castle returned from the three week mission, and Isamu and the other Hiruma have made sure that each of the fallen heroes of the campaign has had their named carved upon the walls of Koten, the only non-Crab samurai to have such an honor.With the victory of Hiruma Ryouichi, one of the first students of the resurrected Hiruma Doji, at this year's Topaz Championship, Isamu finally feels that his ancestors can rest easy knowing that their legacy will endure.



Yasuki Daimyo

Yasuki Makoto: Placed in charge of the Yasuki family following the murders of Yasuki Takara and her advisors, Makoto was initially determined to bring the culprit to justice. As the duties of her position began to mount and the trial grew cold, however, Makoto gradually began to realize that there would be no vengeance for her predecessor.

Fortunately, Makoto has some natural skill for numbers and bookkeeping. Though not a merchant herself, her family has supervised generations of merchant vassals, and her family was just paranoid enough to do their own accounting, rather than leaving such a distasteful task to their servants. Makoto is still working to decode the last of Yasuki Takara's bookkeeping codes, but she's made good progress on them, and the Yasuki have more or less recovered from their scandalous daimyo's death.

Though this has kept her busy, Makoto has made no secret of her dislike for the pirates which plague the Crab and Crane coastlines. Once she has settled into her position, she intends to address the problem more directly, particularly where the Mantis Clan is concerned. In Makoto's estimation, the Minor Clan has skirted the good graces of the Great Clans for far too long and are well overdue for a reminder of their proper place in the Empire.

_________________
Credulous at best
Your desire to believe in
Angels in the hearts of men

Vassal Families of the Crab

This is a list of the vassal families that are currently in existence within the Crab Clan. Characters that hail from vassal families are treated exactly the same as normal members of the Clan, 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.

Within their family, parent Family, and Clan, members of the vassal Families are called by their vassal family name. To those outside of their Clan, 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, Fundai Miki is a member of the Fundai family, vassals of the Kaiu Family of the Crab Clan. To those within the Crab, she is known as Fundai Miki, as all Crab are immediately aware of the relation of the Fundai and Kaiu families. To those outside the Crab Clan, Miki is simply known as Kaiu Miki. If she wishes to recognize her own family, particularly if she wishes to be formal, she might introduce herself as "Kaiu Miki of House Fundai" or as "Kaiu Miki no Fundai."

If an outsider was visiting the lands of the Crab, these protocol would remain the same, unless that visitor was within the holdings of the Fundai family. In such a case, Miki could refer to herself as "Fundai Miki" without seeming arrogant, as it would be assumed that the visitor would know he was in the lands of the Kaiu 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

Fundai (Kaiu): The Fundai, founded in the sixth century, are skilled shipwrights. Many of the craftsmen in Crab ports and shipyards are of the Fundai family, and the notorious Crab kotetsukan (the iron-armored "turtle ships") are their creation.

Kakaguchi (Hida): The Kakeguchi family are descended from one of Hida's earliest followers, a man who stood watch and guarded the Crab lands faithfully without thought of reward. When Hida Kakeguchi's brother complained of how their service went unrewarded while Hida showered honors on the Hiruma, Kaiu, and Kuni, Kakeguchi scolded and shamed him, pointing out that simple loyalty was more important than any reward. The Kakeguchi are the strongest supporters and most steadfast of vassals of their Hida patrons, and often serve the Clan as military officers, border wardens, or magistrates.

Kano (Yasuki): The Yasuki are known mainly as merchants and diplomats, but the family's founder was a Crane and an artisan in addition to her other skills. At her death she named her follower Kano as the keeper of those traditions, and when the Yasuki joined the Crab during the Yasuki War, the Kano came with them. In modern times the Kano family are a rare group of peaceful artisans within the harsh brutality of the Crab Clan. They produce beautiful works of art, but also sometimes train with the Kaiu and turn their hands to more useful tasks such as weaponsmithing.

Kitano (Hiruma): The Kitano are the newest of the Crab vassal families, having been created shortly after the reclamation of Shiro Hiruma. Though initially formed of a few of the last surviving ronin to assist with that endeavor, the Kitano quickly implemented a policy similar to that of the 20 Goblin Winter, wherein any ronin who helped to defend the often deadly Hiruma lands for a year were offered fealty in the family. What the Hiruma do not know, however, is that the founder of the family, Hiruma Kitano, is actually Goju Kitano, a minion of the Lying Darkness who is using his vassal family to seed the Crab with his Goju brethren...

Moshibaru (Hida): The Moshibaru were born in the aftermath of the great fourth century war in which the Crab and the Imperial Legions fought side by side against the armies of the Shadowlands. To restore the Clan's numbers, Clan Champion Hida Ichido started the tradition of the Twenty Goblin Winter. This tradition has endured through all the centuries since, and those ronin who win admission to the Crab join the Moshibaru vassal Family.

Raikuto (Yasuki): The Raikuto are descended from Hiruma Saitsune, an aging noblewoman whose wise counsel and diplomatic skill served the Crab Clan extremely well during the late first century. After her death, she was posthumously declared the first daimyo of the Raikuto family (named after her son and heir). The Raikuto specialize in diplomacy and often serve alongside the Yasuki in court. After the fall of Hiruma Castle, the Hiruma daimyo ordered the Raikuto to swear fealty to the Yasuki, since the now landless Hiruma could no longer support them.

Ugawari (Kuni): A small and ill-favored vassal family, the Ugawari originated in the fourth century. They specialize in the capture and imprisonment of Shadowlands creatures, creatures which the Kuni use for study and dissection. Needless to say, this is a highly questionable activity and one which is generally kept from the view of the rest of the Empire. So notorious are the Ugawari that they are regarded dubiously even among the rest of the Crab Clan, although the Kuni consider them valuable vassals.

_________________
Credulous at best
Your desire to believe in
Angels in the hearts of men