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Winds of Calamity - L5R GSRP

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Dragon Clan
Champion - Mirumoto O-Miki
The greatest living master of the Mirumoto Bushi School, O-Miki is a everchanging iconoclast who desires to be known as the Kensai, greatest blade under heaven. The very real potential that the Mirumoto Niten two blade style could be beaten, or have a greater master outside of the Dragons who developed it, haunts the clan elders, who must accommodate their champion.

The first champion of the clan to not hail from the Togashi daimo family, the 46 year old woman is in the peak of her martial life, between youthful strength and aged wisdom, but is constantly gnawed at by the spiritual obligations of not only the clans relationship with the Shinsei but her obligation to in times of war lead tattooed monks and the taoist sword disciples of her own clan.

Even so, this furious storm contains multitudes, including piercing insights and visionary ideas that, goddess willing, will allow the Dragon clan to restore the favor of heaven to Rokugan.
 
I will also attempt to claim the Dragon

Dragon Application
Togashi Midori
The ways of the Dragon are inscrutable and not all those who seek the paths of Togashi quite know how they came to be. Togashi Midori had her own path in comparison to even the eclectic Ise Zumi. She had begun her life not as a Dragon at all, but rather as a ronin by the name of Sanae who become a bandit in a desperate attempt to survive, it was not until the former champion of the Dragon sought her out for their own purposes that her life turned. Spared in order to serve, Midori braved the treacherous Paths of Togashi and journeyed to the High House of Light, and there was reborn as Midori, choosing her name to represent the second blooming of her life. Midori proved to be a skilled philosopher in addition to being a warrior rising high within the Ise Zumi ranks to a comfortable position of being a senior teacher for those pilgrims who sought Togashi's knowledge but were too ill or too weak to brave the mountain passes. Then she was recalled to the High House of Light and spoke to her old teacher, when she emerged, she bore a new tattoo and a new mantle. Champion of the Dragon. What her purpose for the Dragon remains hidden in her mysterious koan: What is the Smallest Sound?
Mirumoto Hirzuen
A man who never wanted to lead the Dragon, the younger brother of Mirumoto Yoriko Daimyo of the Mirumoto, he quietly moved away from politics to focus on the art of the blade. He assumed in time that his dear sister and her wife would adopt a suitable samurai and raise that samurai to become the next daimyo. So he journeyed as one of the strange Taoist Swordsmen who are not quite monks but not quite simple samurai either, and saw much of the Empire as he could. He fought duels and supported his wandering kin in the ise-zumi and cousins in the Kitsuki. Then a message came, that his sister had passed, with no heir thus he returns a man who has lived as the Dragon do forging their own path, but one that must now lead in ways he never wanted to or hoped. Even as he seeks to understand the Clan Champion's cryptic orders.


I choose to put forth two characters here because I'm not entirely sure how the major character thing works if the GM is controlling the Champion by default. I'm fine with either being the major character but figured that it would be appropriate to provide a back up.

Since no one seems to want the Crane I'll throw in an app for them too

Doji Ikumi
The eldest daughter of three sisters. Ikumi has now seen both of her sisters suffer tragedies that she was powerless to stop a fact that endlessly frustrates her. Like most Champions of the Crane she studied in her youth at the Kakita Academy, unlike many Champions before her election she went to the Iron Crane Dojo in Shiro Daidoji, the Temple of the Morning Sun and the Sevenfold Palace to study before taking up a fulltime position as heir and second in command of her late father. This wide range of experiences has stood in her good stead as she leveraged the Crane strengths and used it to cover their weaknesses. All while helping her father orchestrate the marriage of her younger sister, and then youngest sister to the late Emperor. Now it seems to have all gone wrong, but that does not mean the Crane are yet without means, nor does Ikumi intend to break. With her close group of friends cultivated in her wandering years, she seeks to overcome her grief, and make sure that her youngest sister has something of a happy ending. All while ensuring that neither the Lion nor the Crab take advantage of the chaos to redress old grievances.
 
THE CRANE
Major/Champion: Doji Kiguri
The half Daidoji who dropped into the big chair when several claimants ahead of him committed seppuku or took early retirement to a monastary. A little crass, a little crude, quite a few chips on his shoulders and scars on his knuckles.

Overheard:
"Thank you for all that...lovely advice my dearest aunts and uncles, but there's something you all need to remember. Being at the top of this family may make you samurai, but I am the only warrior in this room."

"I don't know a lot of things about a lot of things, but I do know how to blow shit up!"

Said about him:
"You know, Kiguri-san, you might not turn out half bad if you lived like your momma tried to raise you. But I think we both know whose voice makes you do the things you do."
- Kakita Renji

Minor: Kakita Renji
One of the deadliest blades to ever graduate from the Kakita Academy, an accolade sadly tarnished by a string of the most ill advised duels to ever cause a Doji Courtier to bite through their fan, fought on the behalf of peasants, geisha, and even more disreputable, a bleeding heart kept alive by his quick draw.

Overheard:
"So they threw a horse turd at you, they're kids and they're hungry, you the type of man takes it personal if he walks under a flock of birds and they ruin his kimo-okay, we can take the other option if you insist. The other option is, I'll get two of you before any of you get your swords out , I'll take my chances with the other two, and this Emerald Magistrate mon is gonna make it all legal."

Said about him:
"You may be the worst Magistrate in the entire Fortune blessed Empire...but you ain't a bad lawman."
Soshi Chono

"You want to talk about my momma and daddy, think our...shared history gives you some insight into me? Well, that goes both ways, Renji-sama. I know you, you like to walk tall and cut down bad people. But let me ask you this. When you pull on those bad people, whose face are you really seeing?"
- Doji Kiguri

Minor: Doji Minowa
A genuinely cheerful, optimistic samurai who believes the best about everyone around him in the face of all evidence to the contrary, with a political acumen roughly equal to that of a duckling with a concussion. The fact that he has survived and even thrived at Court may just constitute empirical proof that the kami do in fact watch over fools, drunks and small children.

Said about him:
"It's gotta be an act. Gotta be. Nobody can stumble through all the shit he has and really be that dumb."
- Doji Kiguri

"Nobody is that good of an actor."
- Kakita Renji
 
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May I ask if this is taking place in any continuity in particular?

I'm tempted to throw my hat into the ring as the Otter Clan.
 
i would like one (1) scorpion, citing my prior performance as house sesus in ADT and stating that i would like to play a trigger happy suicidally-reckless cheerful bayushi duelist who's unfortunately a suave political operator, and her motley colorful selection of gay villain backup squad members including a yogo who's just the undertaker and a shosuro whose burning racism and hate for the hanteis is barely contained by his small femboy frame. do the right thing and pick me.
 
THE PHOENIX CLAN

CLAN CHAMPION: SHIBA SENA
THE ELEMENTAL COUNCIL: ISAWA UKIFUNE AND FOUR SOON TO BE DEAD MEN
​
SHIBA SENA is an exemplar. Call her the ideal Shiba Champion. Prudent and considerate, humble and loyal - and yet with a steel-sharp heart of honour. She carries the legacy of Shiba effortlessly and lives a life that is a testament that there is more to being a great bushi than violence, and search for glory. She has not forgotten the lessons of being a yojimbo, and they guide her in those troubling times.

But what good would be a work of art, if it was a perfect? No, there must be a flaw to all greatness, for it is through overcoming faults that greatness is made. So here is hers: she was a yojimbo to Isawa Ukifune, and she has not forgotten just how madly in love she was with the Master of Void.

ISAWA UKIFUNE has learned what is received wisdom across all of Rokugan: that Shiba's act of supplication towards Isawa was one of humility. Perhaps humility greater than was strictly correct - for a god to prostrate himself before a mortal? It's a story told to point towards the piety of the Phoenix, towards their wisdom, towards their humility, and towards their weakness. But most of all, it is a story told to remind all that the Phoenix were born not out of pride, not out of power, but out of prudence.

But she is the Master of Void, and so she understands better, deeper, sharper. She knows that Shiba kneeling before Isawa was no humility, was no prudence: it was an act of humiliation. What hope had Isawa against Shiba at the height of his power? To see a being that could effortlessly smite him, like a man pinning a butterfly in a glass case, kneel before him and pretend to be his lesser? She thinks - she is sure - that the god genuflected to hide his smirk, that grin of a con-man seeing an easy mark. Gods that kneel, but were not knelt, are merely toying with men, and Isawa Ukifune, who comprehends the way that the reality is woven together better than anyone knows this. And now, now that the world is falling apart and the pillars of heaven splinter, finally, she will wipe smiles from the faces of Heaven.

ASAKO HOZAN, the daimyo of the Asako family, has recently learned that he must choose between the exaltation of the Phoenix, and the good of the Ningen-do. He will make his decision soon.
 
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Applying For: Dragon

Minor Character:
Kitsuki Sei: To lead the dragon, in practice if not in title, has never been a rewarding position and this year is no exception. The harvest's coming late and low, and none of the dragon's ten thousand ascetics seems to care but you, you need an official position on five diplomatic crises that the Clan Champion has gracefully opted to ignore, and, of course, your Clan Champion has kindly told you jack-and-shit about the heaven's judgement of the Hantei, simply issued more of his ever-cryptic commands. Still, your duty is to lead the dragon in matters temporal, and so lead the dragon you shall.

Now if only you could divine where the fuck Kitsuki Norio is.

Mirumoto Yorihime: This is what you were born for. The empire, once united, must divide. The Hantei have angered heaven itself, the clans vie for their own rules instead of any central justice, and now, finally, you can make the will of Togashi known by force. Show the other clans their folly and secure reliable food for the next century!

At least, you would, were you champion of any other family in any other clan. But no, you are a Mirumoto. So you wait. And listen. Until everyone else realizes what you already know.

Major Character:
Kitsuki Norio:
You wash up on the beach, stinking of salt, fish, and death. The first peasants who find you refuse to believe that you're a samurai, and for a few, disorienting hours, neither do you. You piece together things over the next few days: Who you are, how you ended up in the bay of the golden sun, and what had been murdering peasants in this village over the last weeks. But as you stumble into a panicked Otosan Uchi, as you realize what's been happening in the wider world, you realize why you're here.

The gods destroyed the Imperial Palace for a reason.

You're going to figure out why.
 
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Is there a limit to how many we can apply for? Both of the great houses that I've had my eye on already have applicants and I wanted to apply for a minor clan to at least have a fallback option.
 
Primary Clan

Crab Clan - They Who Hold The Wall
Clan Champion: Hiruma Kaeru - Aloof Bow of the Crab


​
The land is in turmoil, the situation is horrible. The destruction of the Imperial Palace creates weakness in the Empire, and not just internal forces seek to use this to their advantage. The forces of Fu Leng assault the Wall in almost unseen numbers. Torn between the Capital and the Shadowlands, the children of Hida take drastic measures. A Clan Champion who has an intimate knowledge of the Shadowlands must be raised, for to do else would be to invite terror and destruction. For once a Hid is not champion. Instead Hiruma Kaeru, a proud and aloof son of the ancient Hiruma Family is raised up. Born into a family part of the Hiruma, Kaeru rose to prominence as an excellent scout. One of a few Crab to kill an Oni during his Gempukku, his rise was almost meteoric. His skill in navigating the Shadowlands is unmatch, his archery keen and his ability to command raider and scout squads more than impressive.

All this is offset by a rather withdrawn personality. Kaeru clearly prefers the wilderness, on both sides of the Wall, to the company of others. Even for the Hiruma he is aloof, staying at arm's length from most others and visibly uncomfortable in court. Those who supported the young Hiruma were heavily beset by critics of raising such a recalcitrant young man to the Championship, until a solution presented itself. For all that he is a beautiful man, Kaeru was yet unmarried due to his naturally withdrawn tendencies. A marriage to Hida Seki, one of Lord Hida's younger daughters, sealed his rise. For Lady Hida was a kind, bubbly and well loved young woman. The smiling face to her husband's brooding distance, many hope that she will temper the young Kaeru's natural tendencies.

For the Crab are split. Kaeru looks almost myopically towards the Shadowlands, preparing for a long and grinding war against the forces of Jingoku. However many within the Crab, the Yasuki most of all, worry that the greatest danger comes from the north. The weakness of the Empire weakens the Crab whether they like it or not, a new Emperor is needed to safe guard the physical and spiritual security of the Empire. And the other Clans are not as wise as the Crab. The hated Crane especially may take this chance to revenge themselves on the Crab for past slights. Hiruma Kaeru must balance his wife's concerns about his human foes and the growing darkness to the south, lest the Dark Kami triumph over the Wall once and for all
 
OK, that's a gratifyingly long list of applicants already! Recruitment is open for a few days yet at least, because I'm still working on filling out the reference sheet for the various assets that everyone starts with and figuring out if/how I want a discord for the game, but it's good to see we've got interest.

Feel free to apply for multiple Clans. I'll probably do a "first draft" where I pick who plays the various Great Clans, and then we can look at doing a second draft for Minor Clans later. Minor Clans aren't vassals after all, but it's usually a good idea to know who will be ruling the territory near your home before you decide to settle there.
 


Centipede Clan — Emissaries of the Sun

"Dawn may banish even the darkest night,
And to this bitter clime bring warmth and comfort."
- An astrologian of some import

Clan Champion: Moshi Kinsen

With the heavens making their displeasure clear, and the imperial line in unprecedented jeopardy, there are worse people to turn to than the acolytes of Amaterasu. Certainly, the Mother of the Centipede is of that opinion, and if Rokugan will not come to her than the Centipede will come to them.

In other words, I'm thinking of playing Kinsen as someone who wants to advance the Centipede cause and restore Rokugan to order by more forcefully shaping religious culture and building new temples and convents across a broader swathe of the empire, presenting themselves as role models and so on, and in so doing fulfilling their duty to Lady Sun.
 
Two applications, Maugan can choose whichever he prefers; I personally prefer the Lion because it's hilarious, but the Unicorn would be fun as well.

Lion Clan
The Paragon
Major Character: Akodo Honaka
Honaka is a young Champion, of only twenty winters so far- but she has clarity of thought, a keen head for strategy and tactics like much of her family, and moreover- she has a keen and unwavering sense of Bushido. A keen sense that most certainly guides her now.

The favour of Heaven has left the Hantei? Ridiculous. No, more. Blasphemous. There can only be one cause of this outrage- someone has used dark mahou to murder the Emperor of Rokugan.

This will not stand. Honaka will find the one who did this, and ensure their death. Furthermore, the line of succession is not unclear at all! The daughter of a love affair, unlegitimised, cannot become Empress, even if she is of the Lion. An older brother? He stepped out of the line of succession! Why is he casting aspersions on the Son of Heaven now?

Hantei Daisuke may be in the line of succession, but the true Emperor of Rokugan- or Empress- is currently being carried by Hantei Sakura. The Dowager Empress, and the child she is to carry, must be protected and supported by the Emperor's Right Hand.

No matter what anyone else has to say about it.

Unicorn Clan
The Young Genius
Major Character: Utaku Khulan

Utaku Khulan never expected to become the Unicorn Clan Champion. She didn't expect to be Utaku Daimyo, not for ten more years at least. But after a war with the Lion, one in which both her mother and the Khan were slain… the Emperor shocked the Unicorn with his proclamation.

The line of Clan Champions would pass to the Utaku. To a seventeen year old girl who returned from the Burning Sands scant weeks beforehand.

And then, two days later, Heaven plunged him into the sea.

Utaku Khulan is not prepared. She is in a precarious position within her own Clan, with the Shinjo only begrudgingly accepting her rulership of the Clan, a rulership decreed by an Emperor whose very honour is being called into question.

But what she does possess is two things. Firstly, she is shiotome, one of the Utaku Battle Maidens. She has their honour to fall back on.

The second is that she is perhaps one of greatest military geniuses the Unicorn have ever seen; her grasp of strategy keen enough to rival that of the Akodo.

She prays that will be enough, for a storm is on the horizon, and she knows not what way to lead her Clan.
 
very into this. I'm very interested in the story of the Tortoise Clan after a localized apocalyptic event and rising division. will put together the full applicationy writeup later but posting will help the idea maintain object permanence in the meantime
 
BACK UP CLAIM: The Vulture Clan (Hagetaka Family)

A Hagetaka Bushi

Specialties/Roles:
plague wardens, corpse burners, apothecaries, anatomists, gaolers, interrogators, zombie trappers, gaki wranglers

History:
Founded by a swindling knife fighter Crane who was placed in charge of a remote outpost in the middle of a pestilential swamp in the hopes that in this position he would no longer be able to disgrace the Clan and/or possibly contract a plague and die, a move which backfired spectacularly when the entire region was swallowed up in a peasant rebellion backed by a particularly creative sect of maho-tsukai who embraced the use of disease as a weapon. The fortress was set on fire and its garrison was given up for dead, it was therefore something of a surprise when the Imperial Legions that finally put down the uprising were assisted by ragged masked warriors operating out of a burnt out ruin that nontheless flew a ragged Crane banner, warriors who proved to be surprisingly knowledgeable in countering the enemies unsavory tactics...knowledge which they had ripped and torn from the unwilling jaws of captured enemies.

In recognition of their accomplishments and expertise (despite thei unsavory nature of both) the Emperor granted the founder and his followers the right to found a Minor Clan which would dedicate itself to preventing such occurrences in the future.

And they have done so ever since. In times of contagion Daimyo will summon the Vulture to maintain sanitary cordons and uphold the Celestial Order among the sick and dying, to burn the dead with proper rites so that their spirits may pass easily to the next life and their bodies will not be exploited by the blasphemous and depraved. It is a necessary and honorable duty, but it has not made the Vulture loved or respected. Rumors accuse them of all manner of unsavory practices, from robbing the dead of their material possessions to participating in the loathsome feasts of the gaki, none of which is helped by the Clan's practice of accepting known criminals and even peasants into their ranks should they wish to atone for their misdeeds.

It is possible some sinners might try to use this practice as an easy escape from a well deserved punishment, but it would be a very foolish or very ignorant soul who tried such a thing. The Vulture are wise in the ways of sickness and healing, but death by disease is all too common among their ranks, and plague scars are so ubiquitous they are almost as much of a badge of identity as the Clan mon.

WHAT DO YOU SEE YOURSELF DOING IN THIS GSRP:
Essentially the Umbrella Corporation guys in black tacticall gear who get slaughtered so Kuni Leon Kennedy and Yogo Ethan Winters know that things have gotten bad, also the Vulture may be ugly and despised but they know a lot about practical medicine so they've got that as a reason to interact with them. Also also because of the circumstances of their founding and the nature of their work they know more than a bit about the restless dead and those who try to enslave them, sure they're not as good at it as the Kuni or Yogo but they'll work for the change in your couch cushions and nobody important will care if they all die trying to clean up the mess.
 
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Otter Clan - Riverboat Samurai

"I'm afraid to inform you, Doji-San, that the river has been blockaded by at least two Imperial claimants. Not to worry, we'll figure something out." - Susaki Ferryman, who strenuously denies all allegations

Clan Champion: Usogawa Kanako

The Otter rules no land outside the Lake, no castle outside the Riverboat. Still, the calamity that has taken hold of the land after the devastation of the Imperial Palace has not spared Ehime Toshi, and now the ferryman Samurai must swim in turbulent currents. The small clan is split on the current Chaos - with widespread disorder and the threat of civil war on the horizon, the common trade of the Otter would be disrupted - riverboat travel much more closely scrutinized, trade disrupted, the demand for the Clan's famous entertainers would fall. Others look at the chaos engulfing the Empire as an opportunity for Otter mercenaries to ply the waterways and for the strategic importance of river travel to give even the small Otter fleet a chance to play for levers of power they could previously only dream of.

The one given the unenviable task of leading the rambunctious riverboat Clan is Usogawa Kanako, a young prodigy who distinguished herself with her natural talent for the Usogawa Entertainment Arts. Never without humor and eloquence in speech, her ability to defuse the most heated of arguments and walk away with new friends has been sorely tested of late. The Honor of the Hantei line, to whom the Otter owes much, has been questioned, and worried elders begin to fret that the Clan's reputation might put them in danger. Will the smiling Otter, a constant presence in the river, no longer be welcome? Will water run red with Susaki blood and the Usogawa burn alongside their Yakatabune?

To her credit, the stress of these considerations does not seem to be affecting Kanako, who has taken to heart the Usogawa creed of laughing in the face of danger. As one who fully intends to steer the Clan's families towards prosperity, her only doubt now is which claimant is the right one to bet on.

(Otter Clan is semi-official. Most of the content used here was created by the Last Province Podcast, and can be found here.)

The Otter are a very eclectic and heterodox Clan. As a group of bodyguards, smugglers, and entertainers, they have a lot of room to maneuver and act as middlemen for bigger players. They occupy a river fleet niche, meaning they must engage in trade and diplomacy to continue thriving. I also really want to play as bold rivermen who hit people with boat oars.
 
Claim: Crab Clan
Champion: Hida Sayuri

Hida Sayuri in many ways appears to be the archetypical Crab Champion. Disdainful of social niceties, uncompromising in her defense of Rokugan, and as brutal and uncompromising as the Kaiu Wall for those that bear the taint of the Shadowlands. However, that is only what those too used to seeing the Crab in terms of stereotype, for her burning disdain for rokugani society is one born from lengthy personal experience. Her first duty, when she was a young samurai who had just barely earned her grandfather's respect enough to be named the heir-apparent, was to lead a team of Tsukai-sagasu in pursuit of a cult of Maho-tsukai that had wormed its way into the graces of many lofty places throughout Rokugan. Places that it required someone of her status to open the door for the witch-hunters to follow. She spent those years traveling Rokugan and learning to play the games of Rokugani high society to a much greater extent than many would imagine a Crab capable of, though not without also learning to despise most of those involved in it, as well as aiding the witch-hunters in bloodily dispatching the cult root by root.

Now she is approaching forty, having led the Crab through a dozen campaigns with ample skill and tenacity in the decade since her grandfather's passing. Now there is something surely rotten at the heart of Rokugan and the Crab face the greatest trial of her life, the Emperor has lost the mandate of heaven and surely the Shadowlands will take advantage of a weakened and divided Rokugan, and she will not be found wanting in the trials to come. She will pay any price to ensure that evil not be allowed to triumph, as every Crab before her and should she perish all who follow in her footsteps.
 
The Tortoise Clan - Custodians and Fixers

What role do they play?
The Tortoise Clan are custodians. They're the crews that keep the streets of the Imperial City clean and its walls secured. They're the mobbed up union janitor you ask to make messes and problems go away. They're the dry courtier who dances artfully along the edge of propriety but always maintains their balance—and the balance of power.

Consider them opposite some of the clans they resemble: they're both sanctioned wrong-doers, but where the Scorpion are elegant and sinister, loyal villains to test the samurai, the Tortoise are prosaic and humble, their dark deeds focused on the manipulation of the lowest classes and foreign realms. They're both seagoing merchants familiar with the exotic and taboo, but where the Mantis are bold outsiders who seek recognition, the Tortoise have found a quiet, small place near the center of power and simply wish to stay there. They're both mobile and world-wise hunters of outside subversion, but where the Unicorn are marked by their wandering and color, the Tortoise always come back home, and they keep their foreign secrets under their sleeve.

They're a little bit diplomats and a little bit a merchant marine and a little bit the CIA and a little bit medieval chengguan for the Imperial City. They represent other minor clans in the Imperial Court, which used to be more important when it hadn't collapsed.They're responsible for a bunch of dry, dark, essential little tasks at the edges of the imperial bureaucracy, but much of what they do is self-financed and they're underfunded compared to the sheer breadth of their mandates. Even a marginal decline in the support they get from the Emerald Empire is a considerable setback for the Tortoise, demanding hard compromises and a scramble for new opportunities. An actual loss of their mandates could be an existential threat.

Why do you want to play that clan?
In strategy RP kinda setups, the role that interests me most isn't being a central contender making big plays, but trying to change the shape of the game on a secondary axis - take some fact about the game world and change it, or take some ongoing tension and resolve it. I like the idea of playing a clan that is less invested in who becomes Emperor so much as maintaining the institutions of empire (and their place within them).

I also love the idea of the Tortoise as sorta...support player red mages of influence? They're not the best at covert affairs in the dark and they're not the best at the elegance of open court, but they have a role that lets them do both, and move between a bunch of different worlds.

Also I just got really into the Tortoise clan many years ago when I was making a character for a forum game and then never really got to use them or do anything with it. That character concept isn't really part of this, it just contributed to imprinting on Tortoise as My Dudes. So when I saw a game premise that put them in an interesting position I wanted to jump on it.

How would they fit into the broader plot of the game?
The Tortoise desperately need the centers of imperial power to hang together and approve of them. Their key patronage was not just the Hanteis, but the palace and the upper reaches of the Emerald Empire. If the center is holding, they're trying to prove their value and tilt the balance of the ruling coalition towards the people who support and sympathize with them. If the center is falling about, they're trying to patch it back up and preserve whatever parts of the government they can. And if all is lost, and people are talking about cracking down on them for good...well, they'll need to desperately reinvent themselves.

In practice, from my guesses at what the game should look like from what's written so far and what happened in ADT etc, I expect this will look like a mixture of chasing down plots and problems (to help things hold together and buff their rep) with trying to do favors/deals with bigger players to ensure they can make themselves useful and find a place in the new empire.

(Also worth noting I have kind of played down the 'smuggling cartel' aspect of the clan in this writeup for a variety of reasons. I don't want to play the mob so much as I want to play the dirty cops who manage them and have useful relationships - the political police thing is much more interesting to me. It also pushes towards less overlap with the shticks of clans other people will or want to play.)
 
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And yes, both of my submission ideas have a fairly high chance of civil war in the respective Clan; although the Unicorn submission less so than the Lion.
 
I'm in the process of populating the reference docs with the appropriate assets, but I just wanted to take a moment to see what kind of distribution we were looking at in terms of applications and what kind of characters we're pitching.

Great Clans
  • Crab
    • Kreen Warrior; bitter old man focused on endurance, will not fall.
    • Nemesis Scar; implacable defender, worried that his Clan cannot do their duty if the imperial centre falls
    • mcclay; aloof Hiruma seeking to balance foes human and monstrous
    • crilltic; archtypical crab, but has actually done politics in the wider empire, hates everyone involved
  • Crane
    • Who?; Young hothead sworn to be blood brothers with Daisuke
    • gman391; oldest sister of two Empresses, trained in multiple schools
    • Wade Garret; crass and headstrong, by crane standards, chips on his shoulder and scars on his knuckles
  • Dragon
    • Namaroff; iconoclast niten stylist, wants to be greatest swordsman under heaven
    • gman391; quiet taoist swordsman, wanderer called home for duty
    • havocfett; disco elysium but its a kung fu movie
  • Lion
    • Nemesis Scar; Iaijutsu master, young woman new to politics
    • horngeek; honourable champion who blames evil magic for this misfortune, probably going to cause civil war
  • Mantis
    • tenfoldshields; yakuza pirate auntie
    • Shebe Zuu; compromise candidate trying to unite the Mantis
  • Phoenix
    • gargulec; isawa looking to wipe the smile from the faces of heaven
  • Scorpion
    • etranger01; upright warrior among spies, directs underhand at remove
    • mothematics; will play a collection of villainous gay disasters, I haven't seen a full application I just assume at this point
  • Unicorn
    • Shebe Zuu; charismatic third child thrust into rule with suspicious deaths of prior claimants
    • Carol; Vindicator khan now seeking to hunt down the evil and purge the corrupt from Rokugan
    • horngeek; young utaku battle maiden, appointed by the dead emperor
Minor Clans
  • Cat
    • Shebe Zuu; mercenary shinobi now faced with call to duty
  • Centipede
    • Jorgen; when in doubt, do a religious revival
  • Otter
    • amidatelion; friendly entertainer, laughing in the face of chaos
  • Sparrow
    • DanBaque; old man, bending like a reed but still willing to fight
  • Tortoise
    • Potato Anarchy; custodians looking at the collapsed palace and sucking air through their teeth
  • Vulture
    • Wade Garret; blue collar exorcists and plague doctors
  • Wasp
    • etranger01; grandson of Tsuruchi, a wasp's wasp
 
Maugan Ra said:
  • Vulture
    • Wade Garret; blue collar exorcists and plague doctors
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They didn't set out to be blue collar exorcists but you know how it is, you ride all day, in the rain, on your mule because imagine being able to afford horses lol lmao, you finally arrive at the village to try and minister to the sick and burn the dead and oh look, a bunch of maho-tsukai who were throwing dead bodies on the back of a wagon are looking at you with surprised expressions and the day proceeds to get worse from there.
 
Crane Clan

Champion: Doji Umeko
Bureaucratic mean girl

She horribly cultured, traditional, and trained as a bureaucrat and administrator. Her mother's family is Daidoji with branches that stretch out and off the official family tree to Yasuki cousins, and her debut was at a Kyuden Hida winter court. She's spent the decade since her gempukku attending courts across the empire, breaking rivals emotionally, artistically, and romantically, and left a carpet of discarded ladies-in-waiting and people who fucked around and found out from her bodyguards.

With all that in mind, the worst thing anyone could say about her is that she's got a head for money and opportunity. They just refrain from saying so anywhere a little bird might hear and draw steel down on their head.
 
I see quite a handful of minor clan apps.
Would you prefer an app for a Major Clan or Minor Clans are still viable as an option?
 
Carol said:
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Secondary Claim: Fox Clan



We are the sons and daughters of Lady Shinjō. Our ancestors decided to cultivate the estates we had in Rokugan instead of chasing away depravity to the ends of the earth like our wayward kin. In such a manner, the tenor of our existence is purer, more in line with the Celestial Order, and undiluted by gaijin impiety.

Long have we cherished this stalwart connection to the land. At times, it is said, our love for it was intimate, that we mingled mortal blood with the spirits. Regardless of the verity of these sonneteer claims, long have our buke and bonge prospered in proper acknowledgement of what is right and wrong. Even the eta, few as they are here, try their best to cleanse themselves for a better reincarnation.

I am Kitsune Moriko, daimyō of the Fox Clan. During my gempuku, when I had recited the core histories of the Kitsune Library, my predecessor told me about my clan's true purpose. We are the witnesses of every deed, good or evil, in Rokugan. Our will is to record them in immortal memory until the time Lady Shinjō returns once and for all.

The Emperor is dead–this has happened before. He may have been less than ideal–this has been true before. Supernatural events seed discord in the Empire–far too many instances to count before. The combined mischief of the recent crisis is unprecedented, of course, but the parts that constitute it have been seen before.

We will endure.

When the storm passes, we will heal what we can and remember what we cannot as we always have.
 
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Primary Application for Fox Clan

Major Character : Kitsune Jiro; A bushi among a clan of shugenja, seeking to secure the survival of his clan during these turbulent times.

Goals: Survival and Growth of Kitsune, Strengthened ties with Unicorn and Mantis due to Unicorn being distant relatives and Mantis being a rising star.

Secondary Application:
Scorpion Clan

Loyalty to the Emperor does not end on death. And there is no higher virtues than duty and loyalty. Bayushi Hamaro wishes to see Rokugan flourish and prosper while maintaining the Mandate of Heaven. Even if this means allying with Crane; but especially if it does not.

Goal: Remain Loyal to the "spirit" of the Hantei line, Secure influence within the empire for the future, Prevent another Gozoku and if possible undermine Crane's Pretentions.


Tertiary Application:

Falcon Clan: The Falcon Clan was founded in 834 when the Emperor granted the Toritaka province to the son of Hayabusa, who saved the life of an imperial advisor from an assassin. Hayabusa's son, Yotogi, quickly uncovered that the assassin was a peasant maddened by the possession of an evil spirit. The Falcon found their meaning in life, studying the nature of ghosts and other supernatural occurances, which lead to a high demand for their services, especially among the Crab, with whom they quickly became allies.

Major Character: Toritaka Genzo, a bushi dedicated to the maintaining the stability of the Empire.
Goals: A transition of power resulting in the least spread of unclean spirits within Rokugan, The stability of the Wall and the aid of Crab while maintaining independence as a clan.
 
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