Imperial Lands - Otosan Uchi
Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2020 7:36 pm
Otosan Uchi
Otosan Uchi, the oldest city in Rokugan (though the settlements of the Isawa predate the Empire itself), is the ultimate example of how a “castle town” can grow over time. Originally a modest village close to where the Kami fell to Rokugan, it is now officially the largest and most populous city in Rokugan. While in truth, Ryokō Owari Toshi might cover a greater land area and hold more residents, few would be so disrespectful as to voice these facts.
Otosan Uchi is divided into three major sections: the Toshisoto, or outer districts; the Ekohikei, or inner districts (including Seppun Hill); and the Forbidden City itself, a unique castle complex containing the Imperial Palace and associated structures. The inner districts, protected by the legendary Enchanted Wall, were built in the first century of the Empire’s history and jointly designed by all the Great Clans, giving them a structured and traditional feel. The outer districts developed more naturally over the subsequent centuries. While an outer circle of walls was built later, it was never fully completed, and the city eventually grew beyond it. In more recent times, those walls have been neglected to the point where they are crumbling in many places, weakened by the earthquakes that occasionally shake the city
The different layers of the city promote a social and cultural divide that mirrors the physical one. The out-er districts, open to all who are not burakumin, have a mixed population of commoners and lower-ranking samurai (and a not-insignificant number of gangs), while the inner districts are dominated by high-ranking samurai and those who serve them. The inner districts house the Great Clan embassies, each a splendid structure in itself, and other famous structures such as the Imperial Museum of Antiquities, the Temple to the Kami, and the Hito Water Gardens. Seppun Hill is the most important of the venerated locations in the Ekohikei, and it remains a hallowed and unspoiled mount: the sacred place where Seppun herself, a holy woman of her tribe, met the eight Kami when they fell from the Celestial Heavens
Architecture in the inner districts is highly traditional and conservative, even by Rokugani standards, but this is unsurprising given that the inner districts exist in the dominating shadow of the Imperial Palace. The Emperor’s palace, built for the first Hantei in the Forbidden City, is considered to be perfection manifest; no other structure is permitted to rival it in height or splendor.
The Tunnels
Otosan Uchi suffers modest but not infrequent earth-quakes, the result of earth kami agitated to this day by the Fall of the Kami. These, combined with the work of the ocean and the occasional typhoon on the sea-shore, have caused natural tunnels to form beneath the city. Over the thousand-year history of Rokugan, these tunnels have been utilized in secret and sinister ways by criminals; smugglers; Mantis, Scorpion, and Tortoise samurai; and even the Emperors themselves. There are now many rooms and complexes created by humans beneath the city, old and new, and even an underground lake with an island that serves as a trading post for various criminal groups.
The Governors and The Sentaku
Otosan Uchi is divided up into many different districts, each of which is run by an appointed governor. In the outer city, the district names are changed to match those of their current governors, while the names of the four inner districts are unchanging. The governors are considered to be roughly equivalent to provincial daimyō in authority and prestige, so these appointments are considered great prizes. The governors report to the Sentaku Tribunal, a specialized element of the Imperial bureaucracy.
The tribunal was created by the Otomo family in the fifth century. It has a number of duties, but its most important task is controlling access to the inner districts and the Forbidden City and thus ensuring the Imperial Court is not overrun with petitioners and sightseers from across the Empire. Within the domain of its authority, the Sentaku Tribunal’s word is law, and it can only be overridden by the Emerald Champion or the Emperor themself.
Concerns of the District Governors
Each district governor in the Ekohikei is concerned with a particular element of Sentaku bureaucracy, and each post is traditionally held by particular clans:
Kanjo District (Phoenix, Scorpion, and Lion): Religion and ceremony
Chisei District (Crane, Dragon, and Minor Clans): Law and interclan relations
Hito District (Unicorn and Lion): Defense and logistics
Karada District (Crab and Crane): Trade policies and the treasury
The Enchanted Wall (Miwaku Kabe)
The famous Miwaku Kabe, the Enchanted Wall of the For-bidden City, was originally built during the First War at the command of Hantei himself. Hantei chose four of the Great Clans—the Crane, Crab, Ki-Rin, and Phoenix—to build the walls to hold the city against Fu Leng’s forces. Fortuitously, the wall’s blessings held most of it sturdy throughout the war, and ever since, it has proven equally resilient to the rumbling powers of the earth kami who often test the city’s resolve. Isawa shugenja were heavily involved in the construction of the wall, and as a result, all four sides incorporate spiritual powers that have maintained them through the centuries.
The Eastern Wall
The Eastern Wall is said to draw its strength from the gloriousness of those who have stood to defend it. Golden kanji adorn the wall’s surface, naming every samurai who has fallen defending it. It is believed that their spirits reside within the wall, ready to take up arms in defense of the city when they are needed again
The Southern Wall
The Southern Wall was consecrated by the lives of a shugenja named Isawa Naigama and his pupils, and when the forces of Fu Leng assaulted the city, the wall seemingly came to life to strike them down. Or at least, the horde seemed to have disappeared. In the intervening centuries, the Asahina Artificers have tried to determine what became of the lost horde, for the spirits of the wall have so far been silent on the matter.
The Southern Gate
The Southern Gate is the main gate into the Forbidden City. It is located at the juncture of the Southern Wall and the Eastern Wall, allowing entry from the Chisei and Kanjo Districts. A massive torii arch crafted entirely out of sacred crystal surmounts the gate. It is said the arch glows with sacred light in the presence of the Shadowlands Taint. (Whether this is true or not is uncertain: there is no recorded instance after the first century of the archway doing this.)
The Western Wall
This wall is believed to contain the bound and imprisoned spirits of the Shadowlands creatures that perished while assaulting the city in the First War. A faint, eerie wailing sometimes emerges from the outside surface of the wall, audible in the nearby districts of the Toshisoto. Over the centuries, many shugenja have studied the wall, but no one has yet determined whether it is dangerous or not. The closest neighborhoods tend to be sparsely populated
The Northern Wall
The Northern Wall was actually destroyed by Fu Leng’s forces during the First War and rebuilt afterward. Although it is officially considered to be the equal to the other three in power and prestige, it has not exhibited any supernatural capabilities in the centuries since that time. This wall was built primarily by the Crab and is riddled with tunnels, mazes, traps, and ambush areas—very similar to what the Crab would later do with the Kaiu Wall.
Rumors and Legends of Otosan Uchi
The Sentaku Tribunal contains a number of criminal syndicate leaders in its ranks, each of whom is the cat’s-paw of a prominent Great Clan or Imperial courtier.
At the Sorrow’s Falls, a young Ikoma samurai is said to have flung herself to her death in order to protect dark secrets of the Hantei line. Some claim her ghost still haunts the waterfall, while others believe her body (which was never found) carried records of the shameful secrets she died to protect.
There is a teahouse in the Karada District of the Ekohikei called the Field of Sharp Returns. It is a modest and rather cramped building, but the tea it serves is of unique and perhaps legendary quality, brewed from a plant that is grown only in the garden that surrounds the building. No doubt there are many who would love to get their hands on that plant.
The Imperial Museum of Antiquities contains the dried (or perhaps petrified) body of a mysterious creature, supposedly brought there by the museum’s founder, Kuni Hazu.
A passage within the Imperial Palace leads to the Bay of the Golden Sun, but it is warded so that anyone not of Hantei blood will become hopelessly lost within it.
Otosan Uchi, the oldest city in Rokugan (though the settlements of the Isawa predate the Empire itself), is the ultimate example of how a “castle town” can grow over time. Originally a modest village close to where the Kami fell to Rokugan, it is now officially the largest and most populous city in Rokugan. While in truth, Ryokō Owari Toshi might cover a greater land area and hold more residents, few would be so disrespectful as to voice these facts.
Otosan Uchi is divided into three major sections: the Toshisoto, or outer districts; the Ekohikei, or inner districts (including Seppun Hill); and the Forbidden City itself, a unique castle complex containing the Imperial Palace and associated structures. The inner districts, protected by the legendary Enchanted Wall, were built in the first century of the Empire’s history and jointly designed by all the Great Clans, giving them a structured and traditional feel. The outer districts developed more naturally over the subsequent centuries. While an outer circle of walls was built later, it was never fully completed, and the city eventually grew beyond it. In more recent times, those walls have been neglected to the point where they are crumbling in many places, weakened by the earthquakes that occasionally shake the city
The different layers of the city promote a social and cultural divide that mirrors the physical one. The out-er districts, open to all who are not burakumin, have a mixed population of commoners and lower-ranking samurai (and a not-insignificant number of gangs), while the inner districts are dominated by high-ranking samurai and those who serve them. The inner districts house the Great Clan embassies, each a splendid structure in itself, and other famous structures such as the Imperial Museum of Antiquities, the Temple to the Kami, and the Hito Water Gardens. Seppun Hill is the most important of the venerated locations in the Ekohikei, and it remains a hallowed and unspoiled mount: the sacred place where Seppun herself, a holy woman of her tribe, met the eight Kami when they fell from the Celestial Heavens
Architecture in the inner districts is highly traditional and conservative, even by Rokugani standards, but this is unsurprising given that the inner districts exist in the dominating shadow of the Imperial Palace. The Emperor’s palace, built for the first Hantei in the Forbidden City, is considered to be perfection manifest; no other structure is permitted to rival it in height or splendor.
The Tunnels
Otosan Uchi suffers modest but not infrequent earth-quakes, the result of earth kami agitated to this day by the Fall of the Kami. These, combined with the work of the ocean and the occasional typhoon on the sea-shore, have caused natural tunnels to form beneath the city. Over the thousand-year history of Rokugan, these tunnels have been utilized in secret and sinister ways by criminals; smugglers; Mantis, Scorpion, and Tortoise samurai; and even the Emperors themselves. There are now many rooms and complexes created by humans beneath the city, old and new, and even an underground lake with an island that serves as a trading post for various criminal groups.
The Governors and The Sentaku
Otosan Uchi is divided up into many different districts, each of which is run by an appointed governor. In the outer city, the district names are changed to match those of their current governors, while the names of the four inner districts are unchanging. The governors are considered to be roughly equivalent to provincial daimyō in authority and prestige, so these appointments are considered great prizes. The governors report to the Sentaku Tribunal, a specialized element of the Imperial bureaucracy.
The tribunal was created by the Otomo family in the fifth century. It has a number of duties, but its most important task is controlling access to the inner districts and the Forbidden City and thus ensuring the Imperial Court is not overrun with petitioners and sightseers from across the Empire. Within the domain of its authority, the Sentaku Tribunal’s word is law, and it can only be overridden by the Emerald Champion or the Emperor themself.
Concerns of the District Governors
Each district governor in the Ekohikei is concerned with a particular element of Sentaku bureaucracy, and each post is traditionally held by particular clans:
Kanjo District (Phoenix, Scorpion, and Lion): Religion and ceremony
Chisei District (Crane, Dragon, and Minor Clans): Law and interclan relations
Hito District (Unicorn and Lion): Defense and logistics
Karada District (Crab and Crane): Trade policies and the treasury
The Enchanted Wall (Miwaku Kabe)
The famous Miwaku Kabe, the Enchanted Wall of the For-bidden City, was originally built during the First War at the command of Hantei himself. Hantei chose four of the Great Clans—the Crane, Crab, Ki-Rin, and Phoenix—to build the walls to hold the city against Fu Leng’s forces. Fortuitously, the wall’s blessings held most of it sturdy throughout the war, and ever since, it has proven equally resilient to the rumbling powers of the earth kami who often test the city’s resolve. Isawa shugenja were heavily involved in the construction of the wall, and as a result, all four sides incorporate spiritual powers that have maintained them through the centuries.
The Eastern Wall
The Eastern Wall is said to draw its strength from the gloriousness of those who have stood to defend it. Golden kanji adorn the wall’s surface, naming every samurai who has fallen defending it. It is believed that their spirits reside within the wall, ready to take up arms in defense of the city when they are needed again
The Southern Wall
The Southern Wall was consecrated by the lives of a shugenja named Isawa Naigama and his pupils, and when the forces of Fu Leng assaulted the city, the wall seemingly came to life to strike them down. Or at least, the horde seemed to have disappeared. In the intervening centuries, the Asahina Artificers have tried to determine what became of the lost horde, for the spirits of the wall have so far been silent on the matter.
The Southern Gate
The Southern Gate is the main gate into the Forbidden City. It is located at the juncture of the Southern Wall and the Eastern Wall, allowing entry from the Chisei and Kanjo Districts. A massive torii arch crafted entirely out of sacred crystal surmounts the gate. It is said the arch glows with sacred light in the presence of the Shadowlands Taint. (Whether this is true or not is uncertain: there is no recorded instance after the first century of the archway doing this.)
The Western Wall
This wall is believed to contain the bound and imprisoned spirits of the Shadowlands creatures that perished while assaulting the city in the First War. A faint, eerie wailing sometimes emerges from the outside surface of the wall, audible in the nearby districts of the Toshisoto. Over the centuries, many shugenja have studied the wall, but no one has yet determined whether it is dangerous or not. The closest neighborhoods tend to be sparsely populated
The Northern Wall
The Northern Wall was actually destroyed by Fu Leng’s forces during the First War and rebuilt afterward. Although it is officially considered to be the equal to the other three in power and prestige, it has not exhibited any supernatural capabilities in the centuries since that time. This wall was built primarily by the Crab and is riddled with tunnels, mazes, traps, and ambush areas—very similar to what the Crab would later do with the Kaiu Wall.
Rumors and Legends of Otosan Uchi
The Sentaku Tribunal contains a number of criminal syndicate leaders in its ranks, each of whom is the cat’s-paw of a prominent Great Clan or Imperial courtier.
At the Sorrow’s Falls, a young Ikoma samurai is said to have flung herself to her death in order to protect dark secrets of the Hantei line. Some claim her ghost still haunts the waterfall, while others believe her body (which was never found) carried records of the shameful secrets she died to protect.
There is a teahouse in the Karada District of the Ekohikei called the Field of Sharp Returns. It is a modest and rather cramped building, but the tea it serves is of unique and perhaps legendary quality, brewed from a plant that is grown only in the garden that surrounds the building. No doubt there are many who would love to get their hands on that plant.
The Imperial Museum of Antiquities contains the dried (or perhaps petrified) body of a mysterious creature, supposedly brought there by the museum’s founder, Kuni Hazu.
A passage within the Imperial Palace leads to the Bay of the Golden Sun, but it is warded so that anyone not of Hantei blood will become hopelessly lost within it.