World Sketch

The Land of Heights and Depths has fallen into disrepair. Sixteen years ago, two distant claimants to the Sparrow Throne raised armies in response to the emperor's latest head tax and curried the favor of Joukagoku's feudal lords with bribes and promises that could at any point turn out to be empty. These lords, long guided by their sense of self-preservation and self-aggrandizement, understood that the claimants were but figureheads, what with imperial power having been savaged over a century of debt and decline. Their shouted loyalties hold less than a whisper's worth of truth, the imperial game being but a shroud over the quickly-developing true one. Only the weakest and most rural of areas have so far escaped the quicksand of poisoned alliances.

One such land is that of Nanzo, isolated from the chaos by mountain, sea, and valley. The lords of Nanzo have long been able to maintain their state of semi-independence due to their distance from the imperial court and their control over especially hardy bands of warriors. Two closely allied clans, the Ginga and the Utani, rule the island.

The Utani, urban and (for the area) sophisticated, run Rokugan, Nanzo's primary harbor. Their fief is primarily known for silver, wheat, rock salt, and the crabs and fatty fish that swim in its cold waters. The Ginga, rural and hard-bitten, rule a cluster of mountain fortresses, primary among them their ancestral home of Kinomiya Castle. Their fief is primarily known for fur, heavy and durable wood, dye, iron, intricate basketry, and the hearty fruit of its forests.

The two families and their subordinates have had a long history of cooperation-- Rokugan serves as the export point for interior's natural wealth, and the Utani-controlled lands produce enough food to provide for the Ginga to exploit that wealth. The Utani army is large enough to discourage all but the most concerted northern aggression, and hardy Ginga warriors are often lent over to toughen and teach the softer urbanites. Women from one clan's branch families are considered prime candidates to be married into the other clan.

This close-knit situation may be slowly unraveling, however. One of the imperial claimants, the so-called Western Emperor, has died, and the most powerful daimyo of the West has decided the point of succession through a preemptive blow against his rival and, in an unexpected move, has entered into a pact of nonaggression with the imperial court. Traders report that a new fleet of troop transports are being built across the strait. With the imperial remnants and the Eastern daimyo busy bleeding each other dry, the Westerners can finally turn their eyes to bringing Nanzo under control. The Utani, savvy and self-protective, hope to enter into alliance with the Western daimyo, while the proud Ginga prefer their independence.

The Utani have called a meeting with the Ginga to decide the fate of the land.