Villages and Farms

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Villages and Farms
Most villages form to exploit a particular resource such as arable land or abundant fish, and most people who live in a village work at jobs linked tightly to that resource. The availability of various goods depends upon an area’s mix of trades, crops, and other resources. If a particular crop is not suited to a local climate, then that type of food is unlikely to be available. Regional differences provide a distinct flavor to each community as well, differentiating the clothes they wear, the meals they eat, and the tools they use. The residents of a village that cultivates silkworms are much more likely to wear fine clothing than the residents of a mining village. Villages in arid plains cultivate wheat and millet, and tea and soybeans can also be grown in many regions that cannot meet the water needs of rice. Villages and monasteries in mountainous regions must rely more on hunting, and some even make scandalously extensive use of leather and other animal parts in their clothing, homes, and tools. Bamboo is cultivated throughout Rokugan, but particularly in the humid southern regions, and is used for everything from can-teens and art objects to construction. Rice is, of course, cultivated nearly anywhere the climate can support it, and it can make a village relatively wealthy. Plum and cherry trees are popular among both peasants and samurai for their beauty as much as for their fruit.

Special buildings likewise reflect a village’s purpose. A fishing village is likely to have a shipwright and a simple dry dock for repairing fishing boats. A mining village is certain to have a substantial smithy for preparing and repairing tools. A trading village sees enough traffic to maintain a dedicated inn for temporary lodging. Village size plays a large factor in the presence of specialists and specialized buildings as well. A hamlet of only fifty residents is unlikely to support the livelihood of a dedicated blacksmith, but a village of five hundred would be remiss without one.

Tax Collectors
For most villages, the most consistent relationship with nobility is the scheduled tax collector visits. When the tax collector, often a magistrate, arrives, an assessment is made of the village’s yield. A tax, typically in the form of rice—even for villages that do not produce rice—is then levied as a percentage of that yield, as deter-mined annually for each province based on the often contradictory demands of the Emperor, clan champions, and other influential nobles and bureaucrats. If no rice is available, the village leader must negotiate with another village, possibly in a regional marketplace, to trade other goods for the necessary rice. An import-ant factor to consider is that the tax collector is the person who makes the assessment of the town’s yield. This evaluation is performed after a meeting with the village leader, during which the agent reviews the village’s records. Particularly diligent tax collectors may also personally inventory the village’s assets, including their food reserves

The frequency of visits varies in different regions of Rokugan, based largely upon the preferences of the samurai. Annual visits are more common in domains where rice storage is difficult due to climate or infra-structure problems. Tax collection that takes place only once every five years is a regular practice in places where villages are less prone to significant change. This approach requires fewer tax collectors, but the villages and samurai must have the capacity to store much larger reserves of rice

While many tax collectors are just and fair-minded, this is not always the case. Similarly, some village leaders are more prone to inconsistencies in their book-keeping, whether for good or for ill. In some villages, a tax collector visit may be a somber and stressful event in which villagers are concerned that hidden reserves might be uncovered or that the government agent might inflict a heavy tax burden upon the village. In other locales, the arrival of the tax collector may trigger a festival, with sake flowing freely, as frivolity proves the best way to appease the tax collector’s baser nature.

Unchecked Authority
Samurai are an uncommon sight within rural communities. Their social standing grants them essentially limitless power over rural residents. While a samurai faces potential consequences for engaging in dishonor-able actions, isolated villages have no direct recourse should a samurai behave dishonorably there. They do not have the privilege of refusing any requests.

Upon arriving in a village, a samurai can sim-ply walk to its center and shout for the attention of its leader. They can justifiably expect a prompt response and gracious service. If they do not receive it, then they have the authority to dole out punishment or take whatever they wish, in the event it is not freely offered.

While an honorable samurai would never damage a village in the course of a visit, not all strictly adhere to the Code of Bushidō, especially when they have little expectation of being caught in a dishonorable act. There is only limited security and oversight in rural communities. If an honorable samurai sees a dishonorable one act against a village’s interests, the honorable one is obligated to rectify the other’s misdeeds.

Dōshin and Bandits
As samurai are rare and communication is limited, banditry can be a significant problem in rural areas. A group of bandits that carefully chooses its targets and stays on the move or well hidden can prey upon the villages in a large region for decades. In fact, some villages tolerate such relationships, seeing the bandits as little different from tax collectors. Others recognize that the thieves lack the divine mandate to function this way, and few monks or priests would condone such complicity

Without an accessible samurai to provide protection, the responsibility to combat criminal activity falls upon the shoulders of dōshin. These are the lowest-ranking law enforcement authorities within Rokugan, and they often include bonge. Although magistrates must appoint dōshin, they usually do so based on the recommendation of the village leader. In a village that sees a magistrate’s arrival only infrequently, the leader may sometimes appoint acting dōshin, who serve for some time before a magistrate officially confirms the appointment. By default, village leaders must often assume certain law enforcement duties.

Dōshin have the authority to take up arms and assemble enforcers, particularly to eliminate bandits. Their duties also include a responsibility to enforce Imperial law within their village and surrounding areas. Notably, this authority only extends to heimin and hinin.

Village Composition
Some buildings are essential to every rural community, such as homes, barns, and storehouses. Although these have the same functions throughout the Empire, these types of buildings vary in architectural style, location relative to the rest of the village, and sometimes construction materials. Such variations help distinguish one village from another.

The layout of a village depends largely on its function. To maximize land use, all of a farming village’s homes tend to be clustered together in a small area. A common road leads to these homes through the surrounding farmland. Other shared buildings are kept within this same cluster unless there is a compel-ling reason to move them elsewhere. For example, a shrine dedicated to a specific tree or stream or boulder spirit cannot be relocated. A butcher, smithy, or other building that produces unpleasant or unclean odors or byproducts may also be placed farther from residences and other shared buildings.

Villages intended to serve travelers construct their buildings close to the road to make them easily accessible. In contrast, a fishing village may place some buildings a distance from the shoreline, especially if the area is prone to flooding.

Outbuildings
Most villages have a use for specialized structures outside of homes. Village outbuildings may include a kura, a storehouse used to secure precious items, often including rice, or a koya, a shed or pen, which may be used for keeping animals. Fishing villages may have dry docks for storing and servicing boats, while a mining community may need a building for storing ore until it is refined or transported. In many cases, these structures represent shared community assets

Residences
All of the homes within a single village are normally similar in design, though they may have distinctive decorations. With the exception of the village leader’s residence, each of these homes contains a single room, several paces across. To make better use of the space, the room is divided with shōji screens.

These paper dividers provide little privacy for inhabitants in different parts of the home. As a consequence, strict social rules dictate that individuals are expected to ignore everything that happens on the other side of a wall, no matter how clearly they might hear it. The shōji are commonly moved during the day so that the family has more shared space during the day and more privacy at night

The village leader’s home is easily identified upon a traveler’s arrival in a village, as it is nearly double the size of the others. This is because the leader has a second room dedicated to hosting noble visitors. In particularly isolated regions, this room may see little use, but it must be maintained for those rare occasions.

In less prosperous farming communities, some homes have space set aside for livestock. While most farmers prefer to keep these animals in a barn or other outbuilding, constructing and maintaining those structures requires time and resources that may not be available. When weather conditions are favorable, the animals may reside outside in pens. In the event of extreme weather or other imminent dangers, or simply to share warmth in the winter, livestock may be brought into homes even in more affluent villages

Shrine
Almost every village has at least a small shrine or temple. Farmers and other villagers are dependent on nature for their livelihood and are particularly vulnerable to its dangers, so it is vital that they appease the kami. In the smallest farms, this may be just a small nook where villagers can leave an offering and make a prayer. In larger villages and sites that have a particularly notable spiritual tradition, the temple may be the largest building in the village. Larger shrines often have a shrine keeper or priest who is devoted to maintaining the building and serves as a spiritual leader to the community. Exceptional shrines may draw pilgrims from surrounding villages or farther, serving as a point of pride for the community and driving growth.

The shrine is the normally the village’s emotional and spiritual center. Major life events, especially wed-dings, take place at the shrine. Village festivals are also held at the shrine or on its grounds, intermingling spiritual gratitude with every celebration.

Shops
Successful village merchants and artisans may maintain a shop within their home. The more accessible portion of the building provides a customer-facing space. Sale goods are kept available here for prospective customers. A back room, typically separated by shōji screens, provides a workspace for the owner.

Merchants typically carry a range of goods geared toward the needs of the community. For example, a merchant is unlikely to have fishing goods for sale in a mining community. Similarly, gear that only a samurai could use would not be available in a village.

Gathering Places
The shrine may be the spiritual center of the community, but it is not always appropriate for every gathering. Many villages include other places for people to gather, and these vary depending upon the community’s needs and resources. A village located near a natural hot spring may have a community bathhouse that takes advantage of those waters. One along a major thoroughfare likely has an inn, where travelers may rest for the night. If the village has a sake brewery nearby, then a sake house is a natural outgrowth. Similarly, a village that grows or processes tea may have a teahouse. Only a particularly large village would have more than one or at most two of these structures, as they are expensive for the community to maintain

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Agriculture
Almost every village has at least some land set aside for farming, exceptions being those in locations where the environment truly prohibits it. For example, if most of a village’s available water is brackish, then what little is not might be too precious to use for crops. However, even a steep hill can be terraced into arable land, provided the resources and labor to do so are available. Ultimately, for agriculture to be sustainable, the cost of growing enough food to sustain the village must be less than the relative cost of importing the food from elsewhere, assuming that is even an option.

Irrigation
Irrigation systems are vital for sustaining a village’s crops, especially if they include a rice paddy. These systems include artificial ponds designed to collect rainwater, as well as systems of canals and dams that carefully redirect the flow of nearby rivers and streams. Some villages incorporate complex systems of wood-en pipes, which can reduce the amount of water lost through evaporation. Occasionally, they even divert portions of the water flow to provide ready access to water within homes, typically in the form of small flowing pools or basins. Maintaining these systems is labor intensive, and the community shares this responsibility. Villagers regularly gather to perform the necessary maintenance work, including dredging irrigation ditch-es and reinforcing dams. In the case of emergency failures, the entire village convenes to make hasty repairs to the system

Crops
Villages grow crops based upon a combination of environmental factors and their needs. Once the necessities are covered, preference is given to crops that can-not be easily acquired through trade and those that prosper in the village’s location. In cases where two crops fulfill similar needs, such as apricots and plums, most villages are unlikely to grow both

Beans
Beans are a critical source of protein for Rokugan’s citizens. Most villages grow at least some soybeans, simply due to the sheer volume that are consumed and the ease with which they are grown. Mung beans and red adzuki beans are also common varieties. Once beanstalks have matured, they are gathered and then allowed to dry in the fields. After drying, the beans are threshed from the stalks and processed into miso and tofu

Grains
Almost every village grows at least some rice, due to the necessity of using that grain to make tax payments. However, if water is too precious to sustain a rice paddy, then the rice must be purchased. Other grains, including wheat, barley, buckwheat, and millet, are grown throughout Rokugan. Most of these are less labor intensive than rice, and they require less water. However, they are generally considered less palatable and are significantly less valuable. Certain grains, such as barley and wheat, are more valuable for fermentation, and many villages that rely on these crops host breweries or distilleries.

Fruits
Many villages maintain at least a few fruit trees, but some farming villages are capable of supporting entire groves. Cultivated fruits include plums, apricots, peach-es, persimmons, apples, pears, melons, citrus fruits, and cherries. Deep root networks dictate that fruit trees do not usually require regular watering efforts; however, even these trees can die off in the event of a drought. Because these trees can continue to offer fruit for generations, they are attentively cared for

Vegetables
Fresh vegetables provide many necessary vitamins and add flavor to the diet. Common examples include cucumber, squash, cabbage, kale, yam, burdock, car-rot, radish, and onion. Many of these require little cultivation, making them easy to grow in relatively small quantities in villages not devoted to farming. Preference is often given to vegetables such as onions that can be stored for an extended period before consumption.

Tea
Tea leaves are a vital crop, and they require dedicated plantations as well as a significant amount of post-harvest processing. Tea plants, like fruit trees, can continue to produce fresh leaves for generations. They are densely grown and kept cropped to roughly waist height. The tea harvest occurs on a biweekly basis throughout the growing season, requiring an ongoing effort from a large workforce. Tea must be processed near the farm, as the leaves begin to degrade unless quickly treated after harvest.

Fibers
Not all agriculture is for food. Fibrous plants provide the basis for textiles, and they are of great importance throughout Rokugan. Common examples include hemp, cotton, and flax. Bamboo also falls into this category, though it can also be used for construction as well as consumption. Mulberry leaves, which are required to feed silkworms, indirectly fall into this category. Many farmers who work with these crops also spend time spinning thread and weaving.

Livestock
Rokugan farms rely comparatively little on livestock. Poultry, particularly chickens, are the most common type of livestock. Oxen and cattle serve primarily as draft animals, as their meat is considered unclean. If the village has a tannery, there may be more cattle than would otherwise be expected, but the numbers are still relatively few. The other major type of livestock is silk-worms, which are critical to textile production. Farms that maintain a large silkworm population must also grow mulberry leaves to feed them