The Imperial Families

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Miya Daimyo: Miya Satoshi (m)

Miya Satoshi is generally antagonistic toward samurai of the Great Clans, and he seeks to sow strife as surely as any Otomo family member. Ostensibly, this is to ensure Imperial power, but in truth, he does it to make the Impe-rial line seem weak and ineffectual. Satoshi knows how to play the political game and is adept at maintaining appearances. He typically wears his long black-brown hair in a simple ponytail and prefers to appear clean-shaven. His stark eyebrows are often all that is needed to convey his disapproval or disinterest, even if his average height doesn’t especially inspire confidence or fear.

Otomo Daimyo: Otomo Sorai (m)
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Seppun Daimyo: Unknown
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“Enacting the Will of Heaven.”
Over thirty-nine generations of the Hantei, innumerable siblings have been the “spare” heirs, extra children who were never called upon to ascend the throne. Even within only a few such generations, the number of princes and princesses born to the Imperial family would require an entire city of palaces, and moreover, none but the Emperor and his immediate kin could use the Hantei family name. Rather than challenge the claim of the Emperor’s eldest child, at adulthood these other heirs joined the families of Hantei-no-Kami’s original followers, Miya and Otomo and Seppun. They serve as the heralds and bureaucrats of the Empire, and the bodyguards and spiritual wardens of the Emperor. Together, they are sworn to protect the political power of the Emperor and ensure no one clan grows too influential. Some wonder, however, if they do their jobs of sowing strife among the clans altogether too well.

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The Reju Family
Daimyo: Reju Jikai (m)
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Reju Jikai was once an idealist, but his recent turn of for-tune and subsequent troubles have made him bitter and angry—largely with himself. Recognizing his own inex-perience in governing, he defers to the steward in most things, showing little interest in the lives that depend upon his every decision. Nonetheless, the art of falconry still holds interest. Although he generally conceals the fact, Jikai has always been fascinated by gaijin cultures.

The Reju family is a vassal family of the Otomo, but rather than serving the Emperor as courtiers or ambassadors, the Reju family serves as teachers. Their mon consists of a wisteria flower hanging over a teal background, as the flow-er represents sensitivity and support, the Reju family virtues. The Reju descend from Otomo Reju, who sought to improve the virtue of samurai by improving their early education, and his family continues his work by teaching the children of the Imperial families. Some of Otomo Reju’s opinions on education bordered on heretical; he claimed he could take any child, even peasant-born, under his tutelage and raise them not only to be intelligent and wise, but virtuous and honorable. His family does not give credence to such radical ideas, at least not publicly. Most Reju reside in Otosan Uchi, where they educate the children of other Imperial families. However, even clan samurai sometimes seek out a Reju teacher for their children, particularly those known to be accomplished philosophers or wordsmiths.