Imperial Lands - Twin Blessings Village, Closed Shell Castle, Koden Mori, and Pearl-Shine River

[Vutall]

Geography
Twin Blessings Village owes its name to the twin hills that shelter it from the fiercest weather. These could be replaced by mountains, if the village is located in Dragon lands. Alternatively, the name could come from the two water sources; wherever the village is located, it gets its water from a river that runs right through it, and it has the added benefit of a small hot spring nearby. Some villagers, particularly the older ones, might instead attribute the village’s name to a legend of the village founder

Thanks largely to the presence of Pearl-Shine River and the digging of well-placed channels, the villagers have plenty of water to keep the rice paddies wet. They also have enough fertile ground for millet fields. The latter provides the bulk of the villagers’ food, while the rice pays their taxes and feeds the lord and his court at the nearby castle. The nearest neighboring village is Nestled Village, half a day’s walk away. It and Twin Blessings Village both have common-land forest, known as iriaiyama, in different parts of Koden Mori. Although they have been close neighbors for generations, there is a growing tension between these two villages

Superstitions
There is no such thing as a good ghost, the dead should stay dead—they only return to do harm.

An onryō cannot rest until it has destroyed all friends and relations of the one who wronged them, so cursed families should be ousted.

The only way to stop the destruction an onryō inflicts on a village is to make those it hates suffer just as much as it has.

No house should be left empty for too long; such places attract restless spirits.

Any family who does not care properly for their dead should be punished for bringing such creatures on us.

Evil spirits follow wanderers and criminals, so we should never let strangers into our village.

Samurai do not fear the dead; their shugenja invoke the ghosts of their ancestors to protect them.

If a ghost rises, it is a priest’s fault for failing to perform the correct rites.

Wolves are sacred messengers of forest spirits and should be revered.

If you’re ever followed by a wolf, don’t stop and look back, and be careful where you step. If you trip and fall, you’ll be devoured at once.

Wolves are intelligent and dangerous hunters, and if a villager disappears in the forest they’re likely to have been eaten by them.

Wolves protect the rice fields from other hungry animals, but only if we remember to thank them.

Be careful what you say in the forest, as wolves might be listening.

Closed Shell Castle
Some villages fall under the jurisdiction of the nearest town, but Twin Blessings Village is part of the small territory ruled by Closed Shell Castle. The castle is an unpopular holding. The post of daimyō there had been left unfilled for a number of years, the lands managed by a steward. Recently, a new shugo, or minor daimyō, named Reju Jikai has moved into the castle with his samurai. Theoretically, this should make little difference to the village. As long as the annual rice tax is paid and the village doesn’t need samurai protection, the lord is likely to have little to do with the village at all. However, if the new lord proves cruel, demanding, or simply inexperienced at managing land, his appointment might have a detrimental effect on the village.

The castle was designed by Otomo Nahoko successful general who won many battles, developing tactics the Imperial Legions still practice, such as the inescapable “closed shell” maneuver. What the histories fail to mention is that as she aged, she grew paranoid, seeing enemies everywhere, and yet refused to retire to a monastery. Her family’s solution was to give her land to build herself a castle and live out the remainder of her life governing a small territory.

Nahoko designed the Castle of the Closed Shell herself, and her growing paranoia is evident in every-thing from the unusually deep moat and vast number of yasama (arrow-slits), to the numerous trick doors and trapdoors. Though the land Nahoko was given to govern was small and relatively safe, surrounded by other imperial holdings, she built so many defenses that courtiers laughed about it behind their fans. Even the hill the castle stands on is artificial, as Nahoko lamented there was no location in her new territory with suitable natural defenses.

Officially, Nahoko died of old age, barricaded inside a castle that never saw a siege, but rumor has it her death was hastened by her own successor, who grew tired of being embarrassed by her. Some say both Nahoko’s ghost and that of her successor haunt the family rooms in the castle, and their arguments keep the resident family awake at night.

The area Nahoko had cleared around the castle remains barren and unsightly, and the elemental imbalance is clear here. This means that no village has ever grown up in the shadow of the castle, and Twin Blessings Village serves most of the castle’s needs. According to the resident spiritual advisor, Reju Toshio, the imbalance is due to the kami Nahoko angered when she built the castle, failing to listen to her advisers and take care that the castle fitted well with its surroundings. However, this does not explain why the imbalance is now spreading and worsening

Undesirable Territory
Closed Shell Castle has endured periods with no official daimyō in residence, and its territory has been divided and parts given away. It has shrunk to include a single village, some fields and forests, and the barren wasteland around the castle itself. Jikai is daimyō in name only; his posting at the castle is an insult, barely a step up from stripping his title from him entirely. The daimyō above him, Otomo Itsuki, has little sympathy for this minor lord, and would likely not deign to notice if a neighboring lord was to attempt to add Jikai’s land to their own. Even the servants at Closed Shell Castle consider it inevitable that the castle’s territory will be shared out between neighboring lords eventually.

Koden Mori
The large forest near the village is the source of many tales—and much awe—for the villagers. They rely on the forest for firewood and timber. They forage for edible mushrooms and berries there, and occasionally they trap animals as well. Though the villagers appreciate the bounty of the forest, they only venture under the trees by day, and they never pass the Cursed Stone that marks the end of their iriaiyama. No villager would dare enter the forest at night, when all manner of spirits and monsters, wild beasts, and bandits are about. Each villager can provide a personal account of some-thing they have seen or heard when they remained too late into the evening, such as strange lights or dangerous shadows in the gloom, eerie cries, laughter, or unaccountable silences.

Yamabura
Yamauba are supernatural monsters that appear as normal Rokugani. They have a second mouth at the top of their heads, though, one that is always hungry for human flesh. Yamauba are highly resistant to physical damage and often display great cunning in capturing their prey

Pearl-Shine River
Pearl-Shine River, wide and fast-moving, flows past Closed-Shell Castle, through Twin Blessings Village, and away toward the sea. Its current is so strong that it is safer to fish from the bank than from a boat, and there is little traffic on the water. The river gets its name from the white sheen on its surface in the sunlight. Although the villagers don’t know what causes that phenomenon, it hasn’t stopped their children from searching for pearls along the bank, or in shallower areas where the current is not as strong. Shortly before the river reaches the village, a small waterfall has formed a plunge pool where the largest fish of the river can be seen. How-ever, the villagers never fish there, because tales warn of disaster that will befall the village if they do