Beyond the Walls of Civilization

[Vutall]

Beyond the Walls of Civilization
To its people, Rokugan is the pinnacle of civilization, for it was modeled after the Celestial Heavens themselves. Nevertheless, within the borders of the Emerald Empire there are vast stretches of wilderness. One need not venture far beyond the walls of a town or the farmlands around a village before finding oneself in true wilderness. The wilds of Rokugan—dense forests, isolated valleys, forbidding mountains, and even the sea—hold magnificent beauty and splendor, but also great danger. One must not only admire nature, but respect it. Samurai view themselves as paragons of the civilized world, yet they must often traverse the wilderness. A bushi might prepare an ambush in a mountain pass, a shugenja might commune with forest spirits, or a courtier might seek out a remote pond for poetic inspiration

Unspoiled Coasts
The long eastern coastline of Rokugan has extensive beaches of white, gold, or black sand and cliffs that rise from the water like jade and ivory towers. Rokugan has more than a thousand miles of coastline—controlled by the Crab, Crane, and Phoenix Clans—much of which plays host to harbors and fishing villages. How-ever, other parts of the coast are either too rocky or too prone to dangerous storms for permanent settlements. These unspoiled stretches are sometimes home to heimin hermits or small families seeking a quiet life.

Coastal Resources
A tiny community on a remote, isolated coastline might support itself through subsistence fishing; quarrying limestone, sandstone, salt, or chalk from the cliffs; or diving for pearls, which can be sold for a premium in town for basic necessities. They may also gather niche resources like algae, shells, or animal ink for trade.

Coastal Cultures
Those living on isolated parts of the coast are often poor heimin, but shipwrecked sailors, samurai under self-imposed exile, and shugenja or priests seeking to commune with water kami or build a shrine are not unheard of. Bands of pirates often build secret harbors and hidden lairs into craggy inlets with rough waters. They hope the rough seas and coastal caverns can hide their ships from view. While the amphibious ningyo, one of the Five Ancient Races, are rare, off lonely coasts are where they are most likely to build their underwater cities. Trolls dwell in coastal caverns, representing a danger to humans and ningyo alike.

Mysterious Forests
Rokugan is home to vast, sprawling woodlands that are both feared and necessary to civilization. Its forests house many dangers but also offer opportunities. For every poisonous plant, another feeds the hungry or heals the sick. For every ravenous or defensive beast, there is game to hunt for food, clothing, and medicine

Perhaps the biggest concern in the forest is mystical in nature. Forests notoriously harbor spirits and lie close to the Spirit Realms. Ancient evils and ill-tempered spirits lurk within the tangle of brush and branch-es, leading samurai and heimin alike to ruin. Ogres, tengu, and kansen populate tree-shrouded lands to live far from the distraction of humans, and they are easily roused to violence should they be disturbed. Still, for all the risk, those attuned can commune with powerful kami in the forests.

Forest Resources
The most important resource to come from the forest is lumber. Northern forests have a tendency to favor coniferous trees, while the south has deciduous trees, bamboo, and some fruit trees. Island forests are similar to those in the south, but with lighter woods, palm trees, and a stunning variety of fruit-bearing trees. Wood is a vital resource for construction, decoration, tools, and weapons, so most forests have small villages dedicated to the lumber trade along their edges.

However, lumber is far from the only resource of the forest. Berries, mushrooms, herbs, flowers, leaves, bark, and even insects are all gathered from the woods for food and to serve as components in medicines and alchemical potions. Hinin hunters and trappers catch game for meat, fur, and leather, often deep within the forests, where it’s easy to get lost. Forest game includes deer, antelope, hare, wild pig, squirrel, and pheasant.

Forest Cultures
Stories and superstition surround the forest more densely than the foliage. Folktales warn of its dangers, both to keep children away from its threats and as metaphors for the untamed wild within humanity. Still, despite the healthy fear and respect of the forest that most Rokugani have, there are those who make a life there. Some are exiles, while others are hermits eschewing society for a quiet, solitary life of self-sufficiency and contemplation in the woods.

Shugenja may travel and live in or near forests, erecting shrines deep within to appease local kami and hopefully spare nearby villages their displeasure. Some shugenja schools train within forests, where they teach emerging practitioners to hear the spirits and create scrolls from local wood.

Bandits are also drawn to forests, as the population’s fear of their depths helps them avoid the authorities. They construct homes in the trees or find natural clearings in which to build small support villages. Where there are bandits, there are also rōnin; many rōnin camps can be found at the edges of forests, their inhabitants seeking serenity while staying near enough to logging villages to find work defending locals from bandits, ogres, or other forest threats.

Unforgiving Mountains
Three major mountain ranges loom over Rokugan. The Twilight Mountains—worn, rounded foothills in Crab territory to the south—separate Rokugan from the Shadowlands. The Great Wall of the North mountains form a border along the northern edge of Uni-corn, Dragon, and Phoenix lands. The Spine of the World Mountains are a thin range of tall peaks and treacherous passes that divides Rokugan in two. This range runs through Unicorn lands down the Scorpion border with the Lion lands and then through Crane territory to the coast.

Mountain dangers are many, and travelers fail to stock adequate provisions can easily starve or freeze to death. The stones themselves are dangerous: loose rocks can create rockslides and start avalanches with little warning. In rainy seasons in the south, mudslides are possible. The Northern Wall Mountains have been known to shudder, shake, and spew ash and magma as though actively resisting a convoy’s efforts. The higher one travels in the mountains, the more sparse and dangerous the wildlife, including bears, and mountain lions.

Mountain Resources
For all the mountains’ dangers, their treasures are numerous. Pinewood, river fish, and some of the cleanest water in Rokugan are plentiful, and most Rokugani in the mountains are involved in mining. Basalt, granite, and marble are mined for construction, while veins of iron, copper, silver, gold, platinum, sapphire, diamond, and crystal are highly sought after. Jade can be found in large boulders among foothills, and caves host a number of types of rare minerals and gemstones. Rare flowers and other useful plants hide in mountain peaks and passes as well.

Mountain Culture
The overwhelming majority of those living near mountains are miners or those tasked with supporting or running mining operations. Resources such as iron and jade are vital to military efforts, while others are more important to achieving economic goals. Mining towns might range from a few dozen heimin to vast, permanent complexes of thousands of workers and merchants overseen and protected by ashigaru and even bushi.

Monks are no strangers to mountains, either, often building monasteries and schools there, where they can attune to the elements without distractions. In the mountains, they live a peaceful existence at one with nature, seeking Enlightenment. Hermits, elders, and exiles also immerse themselves in the sweeping vistas of the mountains, trading the dangers of their fellow humans for those of the wooded crags.

Abandoned Ruins
Ruins include ancient abandoned cities, temples, and shrines whose inhabitants have long since passed into their next life. Ruins are rare finds, nestled deep in shadowed forests or high in craggy mountains, or sim-ply undiscovered in out-of-the-way places along the coasts and plains. Architectural instability is the least of their dangers, though. Many ruins host ominous threats from before the Day of Thunder.

Ruins Resources
Ruins are often concentrated sources of mystical energies and spirits. When ruins are newly discovered by a clan, it is likely to keep them secret or even construct a temple within or nearby to take advantage of the site. Ruins are also potential sources of lost and forbid-den knowledge; many a shugenja has recovered a lost technique after studying a scroll found deep within an ancient and crumbling temple. The lure of powerful artifacts also draws bandits and explorers hoping to trade discoveries for fortune and glory.

Ruins Cultures
Because many ruins are still empty and abandoned, a lone shugenja, monk, or scholar might take up residence within one for a time. Caravans of priests, monks, shugenja, and their servants might visit ruins to locate relics or items of legend, commune with certain kami, or even search for a passage to Meido, where the deceased await judgment. Such excursions might be undertaken by half a dozen adventurers or a convoy of several hundred. These groups might be guarded about their goals, but they are likely to extend customary courtesies to any fellow samurai whose paths cross.

Ruins, whether above ground, below the surface, or underwater, are sometimes home to small enclaves of one of the Five Ancient Races. Zokujin, tengu, trolls, ningyo, or kitsu might have dwelled within a structure before it became a ruin, and some might remain, guarding ancient secrets or items. The spirits and ancestors of those who once lived in such places might also linger, unwilling or unable to pass on to their next life without the help of outsiders.