Mountains
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2020 5:22 pm
Mountains
The mountains of Rokugan limn the horizon, whispering of a tumultuous age when the ground heaved upward until stone met sky. Once bringers of catastrophic change, they are now slumbering giants, insurmountable by even the ocean’s winds. Their chaotic forms create expansive walls, defining the borders of Rokugan and its internal territories, but they are far more than just barriers. Mountains are keepers of secrets. They shelter those who wish to hide in their valleys and caves. Behind tons of rock, they conceal troves of precious minerals. In the experience of scaling them, they offer spiritual revelation. It is impossible to fully know a mountain in a single lifetime, and those who try do so at their own risk. Within every secret a mountain holds, there is the danger that someone, or something, has discovered it first.
Weather
Even as mountains slumber, they affect all that surrounds them. The Spine of the World Mountains bisect the Empire, and their icy peaks act like claws, ripping down the ocean winds that try to pass. Cooled, the moist air falls back onto Rokugan’s eastern coast, helping to make the land richly fertile. Even the flat plains of the Lion Clan are profoundly affected by these mountains. Without rivers crossing the bulk of their territory, the Lion depend on rain to water their fields and feed their armies. Cisterns dot the Lion’s plains, collecting water for irrigation, hydrating farm animals, and sustaining peasants without easy access to wells.
It can be argued that some of the Crane’s lands are too wet. In the humid south, the Uebe Marshes stretch for thousands of acres. This wetland frequently overflows during storms, delivering its nutrients to the nearby fields and exhausting the farmers forced to wade through its waters. Bringing both fertility and toil, the east’s precipitation is a mixed blessing. Along the Spine of the World, rich farmland is subject to erosion, and poorly cultivated fields could slough into a mudslide. In the frigid lands of the Phoenix, this rain falls as snow in terrible blizzards.
The western side of the Spine, though dryer, is not completely deprived of water. Unlike the storm-churned soil of the east, the ground in the west retains its volcanic rigidity. Within its craggy landscape, deep-cut rivers of snowmelt flow from the mountains into lower elevations such as Earthquake Fish Bay and Shinomen Forest. The Scorpion and Crab Clans divert the chilled water of these rivers to irrigate their meager fields. However, not all the water that trickles down from the mountain is safe. Shrouded in the shadow of the Spine, marshes bubble with toxic gases released by the water seeping through the black rocks. The animals that have adapted to this odious sludge are likewise poisonous, providing Scorpion assassins with a diversity of toxins. These marshes, therefore, supply the venom in the Scorpion’s sting.
Ore
Without weapons, an army is nothing more than a mob. Any shortcoming, whether it is a lack of resources or political sway, can be overcome with riches. Gold, steel, and jade power the clans of Rokugan—though no honorable samurai would admit this.
The Great Wall of the North lies across the Empire’s northern border like a spiky, ice-laden crown. The section of the range known as the Dragon mountains provides the Dragon Clan with bounteous and often wondrous veins of ore. The Serpent’s Tail Mine contains the invaluable trifecta of gold, iron, and jade. The Dragon Clan have such an abundance of valuable minerals that they are able to trade for most of their food, which is essential while dwelling on barren mountaintops. But there is one treasure that the Dragon do not trade, a mineral rarer than gold. Once a year at the summer solstice, the forge atop Iron Mountain resonates with the chanting of shugenja. Within clay blast furnaces called tatara, iron sand is layered with a mysterious substance. Most forges use charcoal made from white pine when forging iron into steel, but the Drag-on have unearthed a more potent, ancient substance. This highly refined charcoal, called Dragon’s Blood, occurs naturally within the Dragon mountains, cooked in air-tight volcanic chambers. When heated with iron, Dragon’s Blood creates a uniquely durable steel that is perfect for blade edges. Alongside gold and jade, this singular metal is one of the Dragon Clan’s most valuable exports.
Within the Spine of the World Mountains, there is another unique mineral used in the forging of blades. In the lands of the Crane, a twisting length of nearly pure iron plunges through the mountains like a giant, rust-ed spear. According to legend, this vein was indeed a weapon hurled from the sky by the Fortune Bishamon; thus, the Crane call it Celestial Ore. Within the Steel Crane Forge, the resulting steel only requires a few folds before it is rid of impurities and ready to become a sword. The unique grain of Kakita blades includes beautiful swirls resembling crashing ocean waves.
Not all clans have access to high-quality materials. The blades of the Crab are some of the finest in Rokugan, and their special ingredient is tenacity. With the exception of Celestial Ore, iron is found in rust-ed bands contaminated with minerals such as sulfur. Removing these impurities is a tedious process—what does not melt off in the tatara must be kneaded out in a series of folds. Like all masters, the Crab smiths at the Kaiu Forge craft each blade with three types of steel: durable hagane for the blade’s edge, flexible shinganefor its core, and medium kawagane as a skin between the two. Each type requires a different manner of preparation that is overseen by a specialist. Many Kaiu smiths dedicate their entire life to a single step of the process, such as polishing, sharpening, or tempering.
For all steel’s utility, it lacks the beauty of copper or gold. This is why the Lion Clan’s Blazing Forge, which specializes in these metals, is widely considered the most beautiful forge in Rokugan. In it, giant crucibles melt precious ore, separating it from impurities before the metal is poured, like liquid sunlight, into ingot molds. In the case of copper, this process leaves a beautiful byproduct: a green, glass-like slag that artisans carve into decorative inlays resembling gems.
Travel
For most travelers, mountains are nearly insurmountable barriers. Days are lost navigating around a range, and lives are risked attempting to scale it. Due to this fact, trade between the east and west of Rokugan depends on mountain passes. There are several gaps through the Spine of the World Mountains, and more are likely to be discovered. However, the convenience of these routes comes at a cost. Passes funnel merchants through twisting passages surrounded by high ground, making them easy targets for bandits. Many thieves build their hideouts within caves and abandoned watchtowers adjacent to passes. Criminals benefit not only from the proximity of these locations, but also from the fact that mountain passes are territorial grey zones. Samurai and their servants are hesitant to overstep their boundaries and create an incident with rival clans. For instance, on either side of the Beiden Pass, the Lion and Scorpion are far more concerned with each other than with petty thieves.
Along with the danger posed by bandits, mountain passes are prone to natural hazards. South of the Phoenix lands lie the Mountains of Regret, and cut-ting through this chain is the aptly named Treacherous Pass. It is plagued with vicious beasts, mudslides, and floods. Only the desperate traverse this corridor, while others opt to sacrifice time navigating around the fore-boding peaks.
Those who dare scale a mountain face even more challenges. In the Great Wall of the North range, not all of the mountains are slumbering. The Wrath of the Kami is one of several active volcanoes in the region. During the winter, this restless giant stains the snow black with ash and soot, while its frequent tremors shake loose avalanches. A similar quaking can be felt far to the south in the Wall above the Ocean Mountains. This range is small with blunted peaks that the unstable ground of Earthquake Fish Bay has torn apart, leaving deep ravines and precarious footing.
Even in stillness, a mountain is a dangerous adversary. The Spine of the World thwarts adventurers with its two distinct faces: the sheer, storm-buffeted cliffs of the east and the raw, bladelike jaggedness of the west. All mountains threaten explorers with their size and steepness, but modest peaks may also harbor perils. Mountains keep secrets, including the mystery of what lurks within their shadows.
Mountain Hazards
The scale of Rokugan’s mountains presents cartographers with a monumental challenge; mapping a single peak in detail can take a lifetime. For generations, Hiruma scouts have surveyed the Twilight Mountains, making them the most thoroughly documented range in the Empire. In spite of this, the denizens of the Shadowlands still find secret paths into Crab territory. Miners are regularly interrupted by tunneling monsters that seek to bypass the Kaiu Wall. Once in Rokugan, some Shadowlands creatures create secret colonies within its borders. The Spine of the World Mountains hosts a collection of goblins, and hags can be found on isolated peaks throughout the Empire.
Deadly beasts are not unique to the Twilight Mountains, however. While traversing any mountain road, one might encounter a chimi, a malevolent spirit. These monsters surround themselves in unnatural mist and manifest as grotesque animals with human faces. Surviving an encounter does not guarantee a traveler’s safety: chimi are capable of inflicting life-threatening illnesses upon their victims. Another common mountain beast is the ōmukade, giant human-eating centipedes that nest in caves. Their unbreakable exoskeleton protects them from everything but their one weakness: human saliva. Any weapon coated in spit will make quick work of these bugs. A less common, but arguably more terrifying, inhabitant of mountain caves is the onikuma, the demon bear. Giant, fast, and territorial, onikuma can easily rip horses in half and crush a samurai’s armor like tissue paper.
In the Great Wall of the North mountains, on the elevated slopes above the timberline, various groups of humans and spirits live detached from Imperial society. Mountain forests are favored by the tengu, and solitary Great Tengu are said to dwell upon high summits. The rich game that sustains the Unicorn Clan in this area also enables the nomadic lifestyle of the Yobanjin, those humans who rejected the rule of the Kami; overlapping their territory are the hidden settlements of another group of religious outcasts, the Perfect Land Sect
The mountains of Rokugan limn the horizon, whispering of a tumultuous age when the ground heaved upward until stone met sky. Once bringers of catastrophic change, they are now slumbering giants, insurmountable by even the ocean’s winds. Their chaotic forms create expansive walls, defining the borders of Rokugan and its internal territories, but they are far more than just barriers. Mountains are keepers of secrets. They shelter those who wish to hide in their valleys and caves. Behind tons of rock, they conceal troves of precious minerals. In the experience of scaling them, they offer spiritual revelation. It is impossible to fully know a mountain in a single lifetime, and those who try do so at their own risk. Within every secret a mountain holds, there is the danger that someone, or something, has discovered it first.
Weather
Even as mountains slumber, they affect all that surrounds them. The Spine of the World Mountains bisect the Empire, and their icy peaks act like claws, ripping down the ocean winds that try to pass. Cooled, the moist air falls back onto Rokugan’s eastern coast, helping to make the land richly fertile. Even the flat plains of the Lion Clan are profoundly affected by these mountains. Without rivers crossing the bulk of their territory, the Lion depend on rain to water their fields and feed their armies. Cisterns dot the Lion’s plains, collecting water for irrigation, hydrating farm animals, and sustaining peasants without easy access to wells.
It can be argued that some of the Crane’s lands are too wet. In the humid south, the Uebe Marshes stretch for thousands of acres. This wetland frequently overflows during storms, delivering its nutrients to the nearby fields and exhausting the farmers forced to wade through its waters. Bringing both fertility and toil, the east’s precipitation is a mixed blessing. Along the Spine of the World, rich farmland is subject to erosion, and poorly cultivated fields could slough into a mudslide. In the frigid lands of the Phoenix, this rain falls as snow in terrible blizzards.
The western side of the Spine, though dryer, is not completely deprived of water. Unlike the storm-churned soil of the east, the ground in the west retains its volcanic rigidity. Within its craggy landscape, deep-cut rivers of snowmelt flow from the mountains into lower elevations such as Earthquake Fish Bay and Shinomen Forest. The Scorpion and Crab Clans divert the chilled water of these rivers to irrigate their meager fields. However, not all the water that trickles down from the mountain is safe. Shrouded in the shadow of the Spine, marshes bubble with toxic gases released by the water seeping through the black rocks. The animals that have adapted to this odious sludge are likewise poisonous, providing Scorpion assassins with a diversity of toxins. These marshes, therefore, supply the venom in the Scorpion’s sting.
Ore
Without weapons, an army is nothing more than a mob. Any shortcoming, whether it is a lack of resources or political sway, can be overcome with riches. Gold, steel, and jade power the clans of Rokugan—though no honorable samurai would admit this.
The Great Wall of the North lies across the Empire’s northern border like a spiky, ice-laden crown. The section of the range known as the Dragon mountains provides the Dragon Clan with bounteous and often wondrous veins of ore. The Serpent’s Tail Mine contains the invaluable trifecta of gold, iron, and jade. The Dragon Clan have such an abundance of valuable minerals that they are able to trade for most of their food, which is essential while dwelling on barren mountaintops. But there is one treasure that the Dragon do not trade, a mineral rarer than gold. Once a year at the summer solstice, the forge atop Iron Mountain resonates with the chanting of shugenja. Within clay blast furnaces called tatara, iron sand is layered with a mysterious substance. Most forges use charcoal made from white pine when forging iron into steel, but the Drag-on have unearthed a more potent, ancient substance. This highly refined charcoal, called Dragon’s Blood, occurs naturally within the Dragon mountains, cooked in air-tight volcanic chambers. When heated with iron, Dragon’s Blood creates a uniquely durable steel that is perfect for blade edges. Alongside gold and jade, this singular metal is one of the Dragon Clan’s most valuable exports.
Within the Spine of the World Mountains, there is another unique mineral used in the forging of blades. In the lands of the Crane, a twisting length of nearly pure iron plunges through the mountains like a giant, rust-ed spear. According to legend, this vein was indeed a weapon hurled from the sky by the Fortune Bishamon; thus, the Crane call it Celestial Ore. Within the Steel Crane Forge, the resulting steel only requires a few folds before it is rid of impurities and ready to become a sword. The unique grain of Kakita blades includes beautiful swirls resembling crashing ocean waves.
Not all clans have access to high-quality materials. The blades of the Crab are some of the finest in Rokugan, and their special ingredient is tenacity. With the exception of Celestial Ore, iron is found in rust-ed bands contaminated with minerals such as sulfur. Removing these impurities is a tedious process—what does not melt off in the tatara must be kneaded out in a series of folds. Like all masters, the Crab smiths at the Kaiu Forge craft each blade with three types of steel: durable hagane for the blade’s edge, flexible shinganefor its core, and medium kawagane as a skin between the two. Each type requires a different manner of preparation that is overseen by a specialist. Many Kaiu smiths dedicate their entire life to a single step of the process, such as polishing, sharpening, or tempering.
For all steel’s utility, it lacks the beauty of copper or gold. This is why the Lion Clan’s Blazing Forge, which specializes in these metals, is widely considered the most beautiful forge in Rokugan. In it, giant crucibles melt precious ore, separating it from impurities before the metal is poured, like liquid sunlight, into ingot molds. In the case of copper, this process leaves a beautiful byproduct: a green, glass-like slag that artisans carve into decorative inlays resembling gems.
Travel
For most travelers, mountains are nearly insurmountable barriers. Days are lost navigating around a range, and lives are risked attempting to scale it. Due to this fact, trade between the east and west of Rokugan depends on mountain passes. There are several gaps through the Spine of the World Mountains, and more are likely to be discovered. However, the convenience of these routes comes at a cost. Passes funnel merchants through twisting passages surrounded by high ground, making them easy targets for bandits. Many thieves build their hideouts within caves and abandoned watchtowers adjacent to passes. Criminals benefit not only from the proximity of these locations, but also from the fact that mountain passes are territorial grey zones. Samurai and their servants are hesitant to overstep their boundaries and create an incident with rival clans. For instance, on either side of the Beiden Pass, the Lion and Scorpion are far more concerned with each other than with petty thieves.
Along with the danger posed by bandits, mountain passes are prone to natural hazards. South of the Phoenix lands lie the Mountains of Regret, and cut-ting through this chain is the aptly named Treacherous Pass. It is plagued with vicious beasts, mudslides, and floods. Only the desperate traverse this corridor, while others opt to sacrifice time navigating around the fore-boding peaks.
Those who dare scale a mountain face even more challenges. In the Great Wall of the North range, not all of the mountains are slumbering. The Wrath of the Kami is one of several active volcanoes in the region. During the winter, this restless giant stains the snow black with ash and soot, while its frequent tremors shake loose avalanches. A similar quaking can be felt far to the south in the Wall above the Ocean Mountains. This range is small with blunted peaks that the unstable ground of Earthquake Fish Bay has torn apart, leaving deep ravines and precarious footing.
Even in stillness, a mountain is a dangerous adversary. The Spine of the World thwarts adventurers with its two distinct faces: the sheer, storm-buffeted cliffs of the east and the raw, bladelike jaggedness of the west. All mountains threaten explorers with their size and steepness, but modest peaks may also harbor perils. Mountains keep secrets, including the mystery of what lurks within their shadows.
Mountain Hazards
The scale of Rokugan’s mountains presents cartographers with a monumental challenge; mapping a single peak in detail can take a lifetime. For generations, Hiruma scouts have surveyed the Twilight Mountains, making them the most thoroughly documented range in the Empire. In spite of this, the denizens of the Shadowlands still find secret paths into Crab territory. Miners are regularly interrupted by tunneling monsters that seek to bypass the Kaiu Wall. Once in Rokugan, some Shadowlands creatures create secret colonies within its borders. The Spine of the World Mountains hosts a collection of goblins, and hags can be found on isolated peaks throughout the Empire.
Deadly beasts are not unique to the Twilight Mountains, however. While traversing any mountain road, one might encounter a chimi, a malevolent spirit. These monsters surround themselves in unnatural mist and manifest as grotesque animals with human faces. Surviving an encounter does not guarantee a traveler’s safety: chimi are capable of inflicting life-threatening illnesses upon their victims. Another common mountain beast is the ōmukade, giant human-eating centipedes that nest in caves. Their unbreakable exoskeleton protects them from everything but their one weakness: human saliva. Any weapon coated in spit will make quick work of these bugs. A less common, but arguably more terrifying, inhabitant of mountain caves is the onikuma, the demon bear. Giant, fast, and territorial, onikuma can easily rip horses in half and crush a samurai’s armor like tissue paper.
In the Great Wall of the North mountains, on the elevated slopes above the timberline, various groups of humans and spirits live detached from Imperial society. Mountain forests are favored by the tengu, and solitary Great Tengu are said to dwell upon high summits. The rich game that sustains the Unicorn Clan in this area also enables the nomadic lifestyle of the Yobanjin, those humans who rejected the rule of the Kami; overlapping their territory are the hidden settlements of another group of religious outcasts, the Perfect Land Sect