Crane Lands - Kyūden Doji: The Esteemed Palaces of the Crane and Heiwa Mura

[Vutall]

Kyūden Doji
The seat of the Crane Clan’s ruling family stands atop a high, cliff-edged plateau overlooking the Sea of Amaterasu. Below the palace’s height, nestled on the sea-shore, is a “castle town” that is in fact a large port city with thousands of inhabitants. From the city, the keep is a vision of astonishing beauty that can make a viewer catch their breath even if they have lived below it all their life.

Kyūden Doji was not built for military defense; the top of the plateau is encircled by a simple but lovely wall that is little more than a boundary marker (and insurance against guests falling off the cliffs). The keep itself, just barely shorter than the Imperial Palace in Otosan Uchi, is likewise built for aesthetics rather than defensive strength. The Esteemed Palaces of the Crane is a strong-hold of art and culture, not of military power. However, the palace’s location deep within the heart of Crane lands means it has never been threatened by attack

A rocky outcropping on the seashore below Kyūden Doji is the site of the Lady’s Rest, the most sacred place in Crane lands: the place where Lady Doji herself was last seen in the mortal world. Lady Doji had long out-lived her mortal husband, Kakita. When she learned of the death of Hida, the last of her divine siblings, she walked out onto the rocks at sunset and raised her arms, awaiting the waves. It is said she was carried away by a great wave just as Amaterasu’s final rays fell upon her. In modern times, all Crane Clan Champions are expected to spend a night at the Lady’s Rest, pray-ing for wisdom and guidance from their divine ancestor. During the annual Chrysanthemum Festival, youths from all of the clans gather here and adorn the rock with flower blossoms in veneration of Lady Doji.

The Fantastic Gardens of the Doji
One of the greatest attractions of Kyūden Doji is the palace’s legendary gardens, which originated as the personal flower gardens of Lady Doji. This interlinked series of story gardens, sand gardens, rock gardens, and floral displays is larger than many villages and takes up almost half the space within Kyūden Doji’s outer walls. Master gardeners from the Kakita Academy watch over the grounds, making the subtlest of changes over the course of the year to ensure the gar-dens are always showing something new. Although the Crane maintain the gardens’ splendor purely for the sake of keeping such beauty in the world, they are well aware of their value in diplomacy: other samurai pay many favors merely for the chance to visit the place.

The Eternal Second-Best Palace
The palace’s original design is said to have come from Lady Doji, who created it in tribute to the Emperor’s palace in Otosan Uchi. In the centuries since, the Crane Clan has made a point of ensuring that Kyūden Doji is always second only to the Imperial Palace in its appearance. To actually match the seat of the Divine Hantei would be an insult, of course, but at the same time, it would be a great loss of face for Kyūden Doji to be inferior to any other castle in the Empire.

Kyūden Doji has hosted more Imperial Winter Courts than any other castle in the Empire: so many, in fact, that the Crane long ago constructed a magnificent guesthouse for the Emperor on the grounds, along with numerous other guest residences of great size and luxury. Even in years when the Imperial Court goes elsewhere, a winter spent in Kyūden Doji is a great privilege, and samurai from other clans exert tremendous effort to gain an invitation

Flawless Stories
Lady Doji herself can sometimes be seen at dusk or dawn wandering the gardens.

There is a secret museum of artistic failures hidden beneath the palace. It serves as a reminder of the cost of imperfection. New pieces are added only rarely, but to be featured is a fate worse than death.

Certain palace servants gained enough wealth to create new lives in distant cities by revealing secrets of upcoming trends in fashion and art to other clans.

Crane magistrates and their servants strictly monitor the port city below Kyūden Doji to ensure no disreputable elements mar the experience of worthy visitors

[Vutall]

Kyūden Doji
Kyūden Doji is neither as impregnable as the Crab’s strongholds nor as luxurious as the Imperial Palace; yet, it is unquestionably the focus of social life across Rokugan, its halls and courts synonymous with courtly elegance and refinement. The Doji family claims to control access to the Emperor, social custom and fashion, and the standard of courtesy across Rokugan. Kyūden Doji, with its blue-tiled roofs and white stone, is an architectural marvel of staggering beauty. It radiates peace, security, and civilization. But the conflicts that go on within its walls have the highest stakes and the most sophisticated players in Rokugan

Strengths and Weaknesses
Kyūden Doji lies on the coast of the Crane Clan lands, on a towering cliff overlooking the small port city of Heiwa Mura. The tenshukaku sits on the edge of the cliff overlooking the seas, with the rest of the palace stretching out on the mountain slope behind it. The defenses of the tenshukaku are standard, but nothing particularly special: bases of stone, high walls with arrow slits and walkways, well-guarded gatehouses. Kyūden Doji’s guards are highly disciplined and suspicious, following clockwork schedules and allowing no one—not even the Emperor’s retinue—to bypass their strictures and protocols. While the palace is unlikely to see attack in the economic and political heart of Crane territory, it also benefits from a friendly fleet in the harbor and from watchtowers placed inland to signal the approach of any unfamiliar party well in advance.

The Beautiful Castle of the Crane
The keep’s interior is sumptuous and handsomely arranged: expansive corridors, elegantly simple rooms that each feature a single perfect work of art, and wide patios with gorgeous views. The walls, floors, and ceilings of the palace are nearly all hollow. Trapdoors and sliding panels conceal secret doorways leading to a warren of tunnels that fill the areas between the public spaces. Through these secret passages, skilled shinobi can move swiftly and silently, harder to detect than mice.

The true majesty of Kyūden Doji, however, can be found in the expansive gardens that surround the tenshukaku. The gardens of the palace are legendary, and range in styles from exquisitely tended perfection to those carefully cultivated to appear a wilderness grove or isolated pond.

Beyond the castle gardens and the outer walls lie the guest houses. These mansions have been constructed in a style that reflects the aesthetics of each of the Great Clans, which only further reinforces Kyūden Doji as one of the best locations to host a Winter Court. The finest of these houses is built up on a rocky promontory which is only accessible by bridge. This is the Imperial guest house, where the Emperor and his household stay during the time of the Court.

Castle Culture
Kyūden Doji is locked in a tense equilibrium between two schools of thought within the Crane Clan. The Doji’s proximity to the Emperor and secure position within Rokugani high society grant them the ability to define and control courtly manners and social status with greater freedom and facility than any other family. However, some voices within the Crane Clan call for the Crane in general, and the Doji in particular, to end their historical practice of gatekeeping at Kyūden Doji. During the past few years, the Crane’s intimidating practices there have begun to deter courtiers from heading to Kyūden Doji to conduct business. Knowing they would have to operate under the Doji’s watchful eye, their slightest mistake incurring social censure and negative gossip, many courtiers have instead started taking their business to Kyūden Asako, Shika, or some other social hub.

In response to this decentralization of social power, some Crane have suggested that the time has come for the Doji family to shift the culture at its palace. They call for Crane courtiers to reframe social life at Kyūden Doji as an educational experience, whereby those unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the highest echelons of social grace may learn what makes the Crane the masters of courtesy. They argue that lowering the barrier to entering high society will ensure that the Crane and Kyūden Doji remain relevant. Adopting this practice, they hope, will also generate goodwill toward the Crane, indebting to them those they take under their wing

The old guard of the Crane Clan, however, warn that this way lies disaster. Showing mercy toward other clans’ fledgling courtiers would expend the Crane’s social cachet and weaken their hold over the highest echelons of society, they argue. The Crane’s carefully husbanded techniques of social maneuvering would percolate into the other clans, ending the Crane’s social privilege and advantage. Attempts to extend Crane methods, the traditionalists admonish, would come off as patronizing and disingenuous

For now, the old guard’s way remains dominant. In public, at court, at social functions, and at major theatrical and musical performances at Kyūden Doji, the Crane expect everyone to display impeccable manners and to adhere to the strictest standards of grace and discretion. Then, under less formal circumstances—in private apartments, at smaller gatherings in the gardens or on outings in town—the rules change. Social life becomes a battleground of glances, jokes, and gossip, where every word has two meanings and every casual comment raises one’s defenses and jabs at the weaknesses in another’s

Nevertheless, the proponents of the new way, of lowering the barrier, have already begun to assert themselves in flagrant disregard of the old guard’s protestations. Certain courtiers have quietly assembled entourages of clients whom they mentor in the subtleties of Kyūden Doji social life. A conflict between old and new is inevitable. It remains to be seen who will be the victor

Petty Tyrants
Servants at Kyūden Doji hold significant power over their samurai “betters.” If a visiting lord is too presumptuous or angry with their underlings, the palace staff make their displeasure known in subtle ways. The lord’s dinner arrives just a little too late, cold, and overcooked. Their progress through the pal-ace is thwarted and slowed by “renovations,” making them late for important meetings.

Each of these indiscretions has only a small direct impact, but together they rankle and stress. As they are distributed subtly and carefully by the palace staff, the perpetrators are too many and too well hidden for the lord to lash out at them. The lord must either improve their treatment of their servants or spend their entire time at court off balance and quite uncomfortable—vulnerabilities the vicious Doji courtiers will not fail to exploit

What Attracts Visitors
The Imperial Court seats itself at Kyūden Doji more often than at any other kyūden short of the Imperial Palace itself. When it does so, courtiers descend on Kyūden Doji in droves, along with their staffs. This is the most reliable place to see or be seen, to forge alliances and to undermine enemies. Many of the courtiers who visit Kyūden Doji see it as a stepping stone toward having the ear of the Emperor. While the Emperor has time only for the highest-status visitors, supplicants may gain just as much benefit from ingratiating themselves with one of the Crane who fill out the Emperor’s entourage.

To courtiers who feel assured of their own grace and excellence, Kyūden Doji is a proving ground. Spending the winter at court there is a rite of passage. A courtier who manages to get through a season at court without making a fool of themselves will leave with several important new connections to bring credit and power to their clan. They may even get a chance to lure a rival into a critical misstep. Such events could happen at any other palace court, but Kyūden Doji magnifies all successes and failures. The risk is greater. So is the reward.

Guest Houses
Although any kyūden can technically host a Winter Court, few castles have been as extensively developed for the purpose as Kyūden Doji. Much of the castle has been constructed with the comfort of its guests in mind, and nowhere is this more evident than with the castle’s nine guest houses.

Sprawling across the lands outside Kyūden Doji’s gardens, each guest house is an estate in its own right. Moreover, most have been constructed with a specific Great Clan in mind. Much of the Unicorn Clan’s guest house consists of lavish stables, while the Dragon Clan’s house has an attached but isolated monastery for meditation. The most extensive guest house, of course, is reserved for the Emperor and Imperial families. This lavish complex sits apart from the other buildings on a rocky outcropping overlooking the sea.

The Crane have also built a guest house for visiting minor clans, though these clans must share space during a Winter Court. In recent years, they have even begrudgingly built a separate house for the up-and-coming Mantis clan. Everyone, including the Mantis, assumes the building is full of secret passages and spy-holes.

Mice in the Walls
While courtiers see Kyūden Doji as an overwhelming challenge, shinobi tend to view it as the opposite: a relatively safe practice ground where they can easily hone their skills. Over the centuries, small modifications to the palace added by courtiers who wanted ways to avoid notice or get places quickly—a trapdoor here, a secret passage there—have accumulated to form a complex maze of shadowy pathways and secret doors. These kinds of modifications are common in many large castles, but few castles have as widespread a net-work of them as Kyūden Doji. While the shinobi know these passages better than anyone, they must beware: courtiers, servants, and guards know of some of them as well. A shinobi moving too quickly or heedlessly could run right into one of them

An even greater asset to a spy’s work is the enormous palace staff. Far more numerous than the samurai who occupy it, the palace’s servants, guards, custodians, entertainers, and other staff are as highly trained as any bushi or courtier in how to keep the lives of their masters moving. They watch their employers sharply and carefully, noting their moods and intentions and sharing that information with other staff in order to anticipate needs. A Kyūden Doji servant who works there for any length of time inevitably learns a great deal of information which any spymaster or information broker would find invaluable

Further, it is nearly impossible for anyone without a steel-trap memory to know the faces and names of all the residents and guests. Noble visitors may bring with them entourages of dozens, sometimes hundreds. “Sorry, I’m new here” is a particularly believable excuse for a disguised shinobi in the wrong place.

Fun and Entertainment
Kyūden Doji has geisha, musicians, and actors on site at all times. Some of the biggest musical and theatrical productions of the year coincide with Imperial visits. The rotating troupes of actors are excellent cover for infiltrators; several shinobi have managed to infiltrate the palace in the dark garb of stagehands. Actors often teach master classes to courtiers with a hobby interest in the stage, leading to frequent amateur productions of lesser but still reputable quality.

Of course, the greatest attractions are the palace gardens, which can provide one with hours of diversion just walking from sheltered groves to carefully arranged flower beds and tranquil koi ponds. Intermingled with the garden grounds, Kyūden Doji also has several hot springs. A small shrine to Sarutahiko, kami of strength and purity, adjoins the bathing facilities, and the visitors may make an offering before they purify themselves.

The Floating Tea House
In the midst of the Fantastic Gardens of the Crane, a teahouse sits in the middle of a picturesque pond. Cunningly disguised pylons and pillars make it appear as if the entire building floats atop the still waters. Unsurprisingly, inhabitants of the palace know it as the Floating Tea House.

The main rooms of the Floating Tea House maintain the same serene elegance as the rest of Kyūden Doji, and are the perfect locations to host formal tea ceremonies. However, the Floating Tea House also has a well-stocked kitchen and can be a place for courtiers and nobles to come, eat, relax, and enjoy the view

Kyūden Doji’s tea master, Doji Toshiyasu, lives in the Floating Tea House. One of the oldest people at Kyūden Doji, he is in excellent health for his advanced age, attributing his longevity to a healthy diet and frequent bathing in the hot springs. He is a staunch adherent of the philosophy that Kyūden Doji needs to open up more to the lower rungs of society.

On nights when the weather is poor and most people prefer the warmth of the main keep, Doji Toshiyasu holds clandestine salons inside the Floating Tea House to talk over the social events of the past weeks, explain their subtleties, and take questions. The only individuals invited to these salons are those whom he judges to be of generous character and the utmost discretion. He makes these decisions in conference with servants placed throughout the castle whom he pays to keep an eye out for promising young courtiers.

Heiwa Mura
Samurai who tire of the stresses of high society may also wish to venture into Heiwa Mura below the palace. While nothing stops anyone from visiting town in noble finery with bodyguards and servants in tow, doing so misses the point for many young samurai who need a break. More often, they adopt the tawdry dress of kabukimono—flamboyant troublemakers—and sneak out of Kyūden Doji incognito for a night of free spending and hedonism. The red-lantern districts of the city are aware of this noble predilection and cater to their appetites. Downtown, nobles can pretend they are commoners and interact with all manner of other folk without the restrictions of class or social expectations holding them back. This forces the proprietors of local establishments to be cautious. A tavern whose bouncer throws a drunken noble out into the street may find a squad of heavily armed samurai showing up to exact revenge the following night.

A night on the town often sees courtiers at their most loose lipped and least guarded. Anyone hoping to gather information or blackmail material on a courtier might well decide to shadow them into town, or fish for rumors at places they frequent. Rumors circulate around the palace that one of the more popular drinking establishments in the heart of town is in fact owned and operated as a honeypot for indiscreet visitors from Kyūden Doji, but no one has yet exposed whose agenda—or agendas—it serves

Supernatural Phenomenon
On a small rocky outcropping on the cliff beneath the palace, only accessible by a creaking wooden walkway and stairs, is a palace shrine consecrated to the kami of the cliff. Most visitors to Kyūden Doji stay away from the shrine, or are warned away by the more knowledgeable locals. This is because the shrine keeper, who calls himself the Danran Priest, is an elderly tengu, the chief of the small group of tengu who live in the nearby forests. The Danran Priest is thoroughly dedicated to the shrine’s upkeep and the well-being of the mountain kami. If palace residents or visitors attempt to bring their problems to his shrine, Danran has no qualms about chasing them off at the point of his tsurugi; he is, true to form, an expert fencer, though he has only ever taken tengu as students to date, refusing even the most nobly born humans who have sought him out