Inari

The southern continent is home to kingdoms and empires like every other human inhabited part of the world, and one empire set on the easternmost chain of islands has persisted for eight hundred years. The Imperial line is descended from a god, and remains the religious heart of the empire even as prominent members of the warrior caste vie for more practical control. The position of Shogun is hotly contested and has been at various times hereditary, awarded to the most cunning or meritorious, taken by force, or simply non-existent. The current Shogun received the title when his mother died and passed it to him, and he has maintained it by ably defending his islands against the Brass Emperor's incursions from the north and also keeping his own enemies at home from succeeding in any of their schemes.
The reason for his success lies mostly at the feet of Inari, a humble nun at the shogun's preferred temple. Though the shogun often visits with her and rumors abound of an illicit affair (the monks and nuns of the islands are generally expected to distance themselves from physical pleasures and the shogun is married, but an affair like this isn't so scandalous as to upset the shogun's power), but this rumor itself is a ruse. Inari heads a vast network or spies and has information at her disposal the likes of which no one else in the islands does, and the shogun knows this. The movements of the shogun's enemies are all too often broadcast to him before they have time to begin, and a combination of public duels and clandestine assassinations has preserved the shogun's position for the past twenty years. Inari is so trusted that as times she has been able to have her own personal enemies eliminated by the shogun even though they posed no threat to him, though she does this rarely, as she doesn't want to lose the shogun's trust. For her part, Inari is genuinely concerned with keeping harmony on the islands, and believes the shogun is the best man to do so. He also realizes that Inari has a disproportionate amount of power, and that any abuse of her trust or foolish attempts to eliminate her would ensure that he didn't last the night. Both are grateful that the other has the best interests of the island people at heart.