Fox Clan

Mechanics:

Fox Clan

Ring Increase: +1 Earth Skill Increase: +1 Survival

Kitsune Family

Ring Increase: +1 Void or +1 Water Skill Increase: +1 Theology, +1 Medicine Glory: 35 Starting Wealth 5 Koku

Information:

The Fox was the first minor clan officially recognized by any Emperor.
The Fox learned the medicinal properties of the plants, mastered Animal Husbandry, and they had an almost uncanny ability to track and hunt. Their shugenja were the most attuned to the wilderness, and were the most practiced in deception and trickery.
The Fox Clan lands cover the entirety of the Kakusu province, and the Kyuden Kitsune is well hidden behind the Kitsune Mori.

History

Ki-Rin's Exodus

When Shinjo took the Ki-Rin Clan to explore for threats beyond the borders of the Empire there were a small number of the clan that, for one reason or another, chose to remain within the Empire. Shinjo bargained with her brother the Emperor that they would have records of all things which she would miss in her time away, and be prepared for her return. Since that day, the Fox libraries have filled with recorded conversations, thoughts, and celebrations directed at Shinjo, in the hopes that one day she would return. For nearly a generation, the Clan of the Fox lived in the Unicorn lands, building Utaku Palace with their own hands and gathering the food and rice that they tilled from the fields.

Serving with the Ikoma

Forty years after the Ki-Rin's Exodus, the last remaining Ki-Rin, which would be later known as the Fox, marched through Ikoma lands, seeking refuge from the waves of uncivilized gaijin. These samurai served with the Ikoma for a generation as huntsmen, scouts and strike force. In the year 89 the remaining members of the Ki-Rin Clan in Rokugan petitioned the Emperor for assistance in combating bandits plaguing their lightly-populated lands. Hantei Genji ordered the Lion Clan to deal with the problem, and they eventually expelled the Ki-Rin from their lands.

Seeking new territory

The Lion Clan removed the threat posed by the barbaric tribes of northmen and the Fox tried to return to their ancestral lands, but the Matsu claimed the former Ki-Rin lands for their own. The small army of the Fox traveled south, through Beiden Pass and into the empty lands below the mountains. The Fox version of this story was more bloody, the Lion claimed the lands for their peasants, assembled an army and marched to the common border, where they utterly crushed the smaller opponent, gaining the Fox enmity.

Founding

The Emperor declared to Shinjo that he would see to the welfare of these people, and when the Ki-Rin departed and the remaining people were kicked out of their lands by the Lion he declared that this remnant were the Fox Clan - the first minor clan recognized by the Emperor. The Emperor also forbade anyone from declaring full-scale warfare of Great Clans against Minor Clans. In 90, he resettled the Fox in the lands below the southern Spine of the World Mountains, granting them lands of Kitsune Mori, closer to Otosan Uchi than the original Ki-Rin lands in order to keep the children of his sister Shinjo close to him. The Fox took the Ki-Rin's place at court and represented that clan's interests while it was abroad.

Binds with the Kitsune

Over the centuries, the Fox clan evolved into a clan distinct from the Ki-Rin, with close ties to the Kitsune shapechangers native to the haunted forests within their lands.  With virtually no arable land at their disposal, the Fox had been forced to hunt for food, an unclean act in Rokugan's society. The Fox survived their hardships due in no small part to the intervention of the kitsune. In gratitude, the Fox Clan forged an ongoing relationship with the kitsune and the nature they revered.

Return of the Ki-Rin

In the Return of the Ki-Rin, the Fox were the first to recognize their lost kin, and they rushed this news to their allies, the Miya.  Once the Ki-Rin were recognized as the Unicorn Clan, after lengthy negotiations they agree to remain separate.  The Unicorn Clan Champion invited the Fox to rejoin their clan and become one once again with the Ki-Rin, but the Fox Clan refused.  Their skills in hunting, herbalism and woodsmanship were unparalleled in Rokugan

Founding Date

89

Type

Geopolitical, Clan