Crab
in CharactersThe Crab stand out in any gathering of samurai, given a wide berth both for their stature and for their gruff, brusque manners. The defenders of the Empire have little time or inclination to practice social niceties; they stand guard upon the Kaiu Wall, an enduring symbol of tenacity against the horrors of the Shadowlands. Often, the members of this clan grumble that their duty is taken for granted, that their fine and honorable samurai succumb to the horrifying Taint while the effete and the careless play at games in an Empire kept safe by the spilled blood of the Crab. At the southern border of Rokugan stands a grim miracle: the Kaiu Wall, stretching like a great puckered scar along the landscape, its slate-gray blocks fitted together seamlessly into a structure thirty feet thick and a hundred feet tall. To the south loom the blighted Shadowlands, the domain of the corrupted armies of Jigoku, and to the north lie the lands of the Crab Clan, the Wall’s crafters and defenders. The Crab Clan are known as guardians and warriors—slayers of monsters and protectors of the realm. Even those who do not fight with weapons often wage war with their minds and words, securing key supplies for their clan, maintaining alliances to guarantee support of the Wall, or engineering new technologies to turn back the endless hordes of the Shadowlands. However, the Crab Clan’s task often weighs heavily upon the disciples of the Kami Hida. They are known as taciturn, battle weary, or even disillusioned. The glories of the battlefield are scant reward, and surviving to fight another day can seem its own punishment at times when facing such a relentless threat. Still, these people find ways to live and express themselves, and many revel in the small joys that life provides them.