Life in a Castle

[Vutall]

Life in a Castle
Life in a castle, like life anywhere else in Rokugan, is a thing of ritual and tradition, in which the same actions are repeated daily, yet always performed with precision and care. This is as true for a servant as for a samurai, as true for a simple soldier as for a courtier or a lord. The Rokugani value serenity and harmony in their lives, and they refuse to do things in a casual or lackadaisical fashion. Although they have many specific religious rituals, in a sense their entire lives are an endless succession of rituals, conducted with the same reverence as their prayers.

Regional Variation
Samurai diets and life-styles vary considerably based on regional topography and cultural trends. In the high mountains of Dragon lands, rice is a luxury and barley is a common staple, and meat occupies a small but important part of most people's diets. The Unicorn have an extremely varied cuisine, with recipes drawn from across the span of their journey. Even relative traditionalists like the Scorpion and the Lion prepare their meals in unique ways, Scorpion cuisine favoring rare spices and jarring flavors and Lion meals being notoriously large to support the extremely active lifestyles of their warriors

The Hours of Rokugan
The Rokugani day begins with the Hour of the Hare at dawn (or 6 a.m. by modern, real-world Western clocks) and proceeds through the constellations to the Dragon, Serpent, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar, Rat, Ox, and Tiger. Because there are only twelve divisions in-stead of twenty-four, each “hour” actually lasts two hours in terms of modern, real-world timekeeping

The Bushi
Consider the life of a bushi who serves in the garrison of an archetypical Crane castle such as Kyūden Doji. They rise with the dawn, at the Hour of the Hare, and immediately bathe to remove the sweat of the night. If they are a simple soldier, they wash in the communal bathhouse adjacent to the barracks; if they are an officer, they will have a bathing chamber in their personal quarters, and servants to assist them. Cleansed and dressed, they eat a spare and simple breakfast of rice, tea, miso soup, and dried fish. If they belong to a clan known for strict discipline or limited resources, the breakfast may be nothing more than rice and tea. Even in rich clans such as the Crane and the Unicorn, it is considered proper to avoid gluttony and to eat modestly, especially in the morning.

Much of the morning is given over to training, individually in the castle dōjō or in group exercises on the parade grounds. This can last through mid-morning, to the start of the Hour of the Serpent or even later. When it is done, the bushi will bathe again, then don armor (itself a ritual taking up to thirty minutes) and begin the duties of the day

For a low-ranking soldier, these may be nothing more than watching from the castle wall or standing guard in an empty hallway; however, they are expected to remain alert and focused at all times, scanning for danger even when all seems calm and safe. (Of course, few samurai can live up to the ideal in its entirety: the sleepy or distracted guard is the bane of every castle’s defenses.) An officer may have more complex duties, such as reviewing reports from subordinates, scheduling the upcoming guard rotations, or leading a punitive mission against a local bandit gang.

Lunch is eaten at midday, the Hour of the Horse. It is a brief meal of rice or noodles with vegetables and some fish or bean curd, and of course tea, which is served with every meal and during meetings. Alcohol, naturally, is inappropriate for a soldier on duty.

The bushi’s active duties come to an end in early evening, at the Hour of the Rooster. They bathe once again, visit the family ancestral shrine to pray for guidance, and eat dinner, the only generous meal of the day, although the stricter clans will keep even this meal simple. Bushi may return to duty after the evening meal, especially if their clan is at war, or they may be free to spend time on personal matters. Often this means spending some time with friends drinking sake, although married samurai may choose to spend the time with their family instead.

Sometime in the Hour of the Boar, before midnight, they pray once more and retire for the night.

The Artisan
In that same castle, an artisan follows a very different routine, but one no less structured. Like the bushi, they awaken early, seeking artistic and spiritual inspiration from watching the sun rise. After a bath in their private quarters, they eat the same simple breakfast as the bushi, then go to their study to spend the morning working on current artistic projects. Later in the morning, during the Hour of the Serpent, they may attend the castle’s court chamber to make an artistic presentation. They likely eat lunch at the court along-side the other diplomats, artisans, and guests, taking the opportunity to subtly pick up on the latest gossip, check on the activities of rivals in the court, and perhaps start a rumor or two of their own. The quality of this midday meal will probably be somewhat higher than that of the bushi, and they may even indulge in a bit of sake if opportunity arises

In the afternoon, the artisan seeks inspiration for future works. The Rokugani view nature as the ultimate source of artistic beauty, so the artisan may visit the castle garden or even leave the castle altogether to stroll in the surrounding lands, seeking out places of beauty and tranquility and spending time in them. Of course, in some lands or times, this may be dangerous, requiring that they are accompanied by a bodyguard from the castle garrison.

They also visit several shrines over the course of the day, praying to the Fortunes who watch over the important aspects of their life and artistic pursuits. Preferred Fortunes for artisans include Benten, the Great Fortune of Arts and Romantic Love; Tenjin, the Lesser Fortune of Stories and Secrets; and Sadahako, the Lesser Fortune of Artists.

In the evening, they attend a formal dinner hosted by another resident of the court or even by the lord, if they are not hosting a dinner of their own. They must bathe, dress, and arrange themself for the event with the same meticulous care as a bushi donning their armor. As an artisan and a resident of the court, they likely have several household servants to assist with such things. The meal is not overindulgent, but it offers considerably greater quality and variety of food than a bushi’s simple dinner, perhaps even including a few exotic items with rare ingredients and spices, imported by Unicorn traders or Mantis ships.

They spend the after-dinner hours in the pastimes of the courtly world: gossip, flirtation, and intrigue, all pursued with the restraint and delicacy that is the heart of Rokugani civilization. Their night probably ends later than the bushi’s, after midnight and well into the Hour of the Rat, especially if inspiration strikes and they go back to work in their study once more

The Student
A student at the castle’s dōjō awakens well before sun-rise, in the Hour of the Tiger. Their day begins with various mundane chores, tasks that would normally be performed by servants: cleaning the barracks, washing their clothing, and so forth. This humble work is intend-ed to instill in them a sense of humility, discipline, and obedience, putting them in the correct frame of mind for their studies. Once the work is finished, the student bathes and eats a brief and modest breakfast, often no more than rice, miso soup, and tea

From the Hour of the Dragon onward, the dōjō’s students are in the courtyard performing their daily exercises: calisthenics and basic fighting stances, the latter performed with a wooden practice weapon in hand. In some dōjō, archery or unarmed combat may be practiced at this time as well. The students do these exercises in unison, standing in ordered ranks, under the supervision of a sensei or, perhaps, a senior student chosen for the honor. Typically, each ritual move is accompanied by a shouted kiai (war cry). The students may also go inside the dōjō to engage in one-on-one sparring under the supervision of a senior sensei.

The student takes a brief lunch break at the Hour of the Horse, again eating sparingly and simply. After the meal, a new round of chores begins: cleaning up the practice ground after their work there and preparing the interior of the dōjō for the afternoon’s training. This typically includes sweeping, washing, and polishing the floor. Depending on the dōjō, these tasks may be shared equally among all the students or divvied up according to age; in the latter case, the youngest students get the hardest work

The afternoon is spent in focused training on a specific topic. This may be a particular aspect of swordsmanship, such as clan kata or dueling techniques, or it may be a secondary field of study such as another weapon, archery (in clans that do not consider archery coequal with swordsmanship), riding, or so forth. Academic and theoretical studies, such as of the writings of famous clan samurai or of the ways of battle and warfare, can also take place at this time. Typically, the student will study a single topic intensively for a month at a time and then move to something else.

The afternoon classes end after sunset, during the Hour of the Rooster. The student bathes again to cleanse the sweat and dust of the day’s work and performs ritual prayers. They eat with the other students, although younger students eat separately from the older ones, who may be honored by the presence of the sensei at their tables. This meal will be somewhat more generous than those earlier in the day, but it is still kept simple in content, and sake is normally not served; the students are not yet adults and thus are not permitted to drink alcohol. If there is a special event, such as a ceremony to honor older students or to show reverence to ancestors, the students may be allowed a single cup of sake to perform a ritual toast

After dinner, the student is permitted a brief period of “free time” without any required work or study. How-ever, many dōjō expect their students to use this time for self-improvement, such as by reading educational books like Akodo’s Leadership or Kakita’s The Sword. Prayer and meditation are also considered acceptable ways to pass this time. Regardless, the student must remain on-site at the dōjō unless their sensei grants them specific permission to leave. Rambunctious or dishonorable students sometimes sneak out at night for one reason or another, risking punishment or expulsion.

The day comes to an end at the Hour of the Boar, with the students going to sleep on simple futons or—in the harshest dōjō—bare tatami mats.

The Servant
As a contrast to these three samurai, consider the life of one of the servants at the same castle. This servant awakens well before dawn, during the Hour of the Tiger, eating a small bowl of cold rice or barley and washing their face and hands before dressing in a simple kimono and sandals. They enter the castle through a side entrance, going to the kitchens where other servants are already hard at work preparing rice, dried fish, and miso soup. The servant delivers trays of food to the chambers of a half-dozen different samurai, each time kneeling, sliding open the door, carrying the tray inside, then kneeling again as they close the door behind them. They are careful to move silently and gracefully, avoiding any noise or sudden motion that might bother the samurai. Later, they repeat the process with the same meticulous care when they retrieve the trays and carry them back to the kitchen, where they help wash all the plates and bowls. The fish bones and other garbage from the meal goes into a barrel outside the servants’ entrance, along with the contents of samurai chamber pots; all this refuse, unfit for even a heimin to touch, will later be collected by hinin

Once the work of serving breakfast and cleaning up afterward is finished, the servant starts on the rest of the cleaning and maintenance work for the day. The head servant assigns a particular task, such as cleaning the castle’s polished wooden floors by wiping them with thick linen cloth. The servants run back and forth across the floors while doubled over, pushing the cloths down with both hands for maximum effect. Naturally, this is only done in rooms where samurai are absent, since such work would be distracting to them. Keeping the castle’s floors clean is a massive and continuous labor, with the servants cleaning different rooms on a rotating schedule

At midday, the servant assists in serving lunch to the samurai, then returns to the kitchens with the rest of the servants for their own later lunch. This is a communal meal, served at a large table with everyone sitting cross-legged or standing around it, and it consists of rice or noodles, pickled vegetables, and tea. On lucky occasions, or in castles ruled by exceptionally generous lords, the servants may be fortunate enough to get a little dried fish or bean curd to supplement their diet. Conversely, if the clan or the lord is poor, the meal may substitute millet for rice. Regardless, the meal offers a chance for the servants to briefly relax, gossip, flirt, and otherwise indulge in the human emotions they must keep hidden when in the presence of samurai.

The afternoon is again spent in work, the task depending on the majordomo’s requirements for the day and the servant’s particular skills. This servant is talented with sewing and spends several hours mending and altering the garments of the castle’s resident samurai.

After serving dinner—which involves not only delivering meals to individual samurai but also helping with a dinner party hosted by a resident courtier—the servant eats a late dinner of their own with the other servants. This is again a simple meal, but it may be livened up with a few leftovers from the samurai. Finally, well into the Hour of the Boar and approaching mid-night, the servant bathes in the servants’ communal bathing chamber, then leaves the castle and returns to a simple one-room house in the village to sleep. Other servants operate on a later schedule, ensuring that there is always someone ready to serve the samurai at a moment’s notice

Personal Servants
Servants fill a variety of functions in Rokugani society. A castle’s many servants toil at a variety of duties to maintain it from day to day, regardless of who is lord of the castle or what political machinations or outright war-fare might engulf it. Other servants fill similar functions within the estates of other samurai. In addition, many samurai have personal servants who travel with them wherever their duties might lead

These servants, who might work individually or as part of a group, depending on the prestige and wealth of the samurai, must attend to whatever needs arise. Common duties include helping their master to dress, apply makeup, or don armor. They deliver and receive messages for their master, go shopping on their behalf, and arrange for their meals and lodgings. To succeed as a personal servant, a person must be able to anticipate their master’s every need; failure to do so might see one consigned to the most unsavory duties back at the estate, or dismissed altogether.

[Vutall]

Castle Guests
Because castles are centers of government and diplomacy, it is quite common for visiting samurai from other provinces, family territories, or clans to be guests with-in them. Hospitality, like all other aspects of Rokugani culture, is subject to strict rules and ancient traditions.

When samurai first arrive at a castle, they are expected to present themselves to the castle’s lord, introducing themselves and thanking the lord for their hospitality. Failing to seek this meeting promptly is a show of disrespect to the lord and can result in the guests being expelled from the castle if the lord is particularly angered

Depending on their rank, visiting samurai may have to wait quite some time for the required audience to be granted, and it is entirely possible that the lord will not meet with them, instead delegating the task to a family member, the karō, or someone of even lower rank. This meeting can serve as an opportunity to show esteem or deliver insults in a variety of ways. A long wait indicates the lord has little regard for the guests or wishes to establish that they are less important than other matters occupying the lord’s time—a gesture that is especially insulting to guests of significant rank. Likewise, refusing to greet guests in person can be seen as a snub, especially if the person who does meet them is of lower social rank than the guests. Conversely, a lord who meets quickly and personally with low-ranking guests is showing them favor—which may insult other guests who were not so well treated.

A lord can convey other symbolic messages during this meeting. For example, if the lord’s family is present, this shows friendliness and trust, while if the lord is alone, the situation is more formal and distant. If the lord is armed—or even more so, armored—it shows distrust and hostility toward the guests, a clear insult.

Conversely, a lord who does not even have the usual symbolic guards at the audience demonstrates trust. A lord may require guests to set aside their swords before the audience. This is a legitimate demand, but many samurai still view it as insulting. It is common practice for samurai to leave their blades with “sword polishers.” This saves face for all concerned, as it avoids any unsavory implication of potential hostility.

Blade Placement
Whether one is visiting a court, a samurai’s home, a teahouse, or a geisha house, it is considered polite to leave one’s weapons at the door. If a samurai does retain their weapons in the presence of their host, it is customary to lay them on the floor. The side to which a samurai sets their sword is of great significance. To the right—where it cannot be easily drawn—implies trust, while to the left indicates a potential need for it—a blatant sign of distrust, if not outright hostility, and thus highly insulting

Rights of Guests
Once a samurai has been welcomed into a castle as a guest, they are entitled to the lord’s full hospitality and protection, even if they are bitter enemies. For the lord to do otherwise would be a violation of etiquette and indeed of Bushidō itself (specifically the tenet of Courtesy), dishonoring the lord and insulting the guest. Thus, even in the midst of bitter war or personal blood feud, a visiting samurai is safe within the walls of the castle and is expected to leave their weapons in their chambers. Indeed, to wear their swords in the castle halls would be to insult the host by implying they feel unsafe. (Of course, samurai who are serving as yōjim-bō, or bodyguards, are expected to wear their swords at all times, since they may have to champion their charges in a duel.)

Guests can also expect to be free of open harassment and mistreatment. Part of the reason why the “art of the insult” is such a subtle and delicate skill in Rokugan is because it must be conducted with-out technically violating the rules of etiquette, which include the rights of guests. A samurai who crudely insults or physically attacks a guest not only offends the guest but also dishonors themself and their lord, and the lord will be expected to take punitive action against their ill-mannered vassal. Of course, this does not render the guest immune to the rules of etiquette. They, too, cannot freely insult others or openly disrupt the harmony of their host’s court: to do so would be to incur dishonor. Such offenses not only are a just basis for duels but also grant the lord permission to expel the guest from the castle for violating etiquette

All castles have guards posted strategically through-out their hallways and in major rooms such as the court chamber. This is partly for practical reasons—access to the lord’s personal quarters must always be guarded, for example—but it is also a symbolic reinforcement of the lord’s responsibilities to their guests. The presence of armed and armored guards allows all other residents of the castle to know they are safe under the lord’s protection