Crane

The Doji family has been intertwined with the Imperial dynasty from the dawn of the Empire. Over the years this connection has garnered them great favors and great responsibilities. The Empress Guard is a unit with some of the greatest warriors of the Crane Clan. They train to protect the Empress herself and spare no expense in their training. Only a handful of the Empress Guard are on duty at any given time, while the rest train intensively, dedicated to maintaining their abilities.

The Kakita are generally regarded as the Crane Clan’s finest artists with a blade, and for exceptionally good reason. The Doji, on the other hand, are generally regarded as courtiers, with both families having a strong tradition of artisans within them as well. However, despite the general stereotype, the truth is that the Kakita produce a significant number of courtiers as well, and the Doji are just as likely to have a scion of the blade among their ranks as any other Crane family.

During the Shattered Empire era, the Crane Clan conducts a major naval buildup and fights an extended series of naval battles and campaigns against Yoritomo’s fleets. This effort is largely organized by Doji Chomei, who had previously served as an ambassador to the Mantis Clan and knew more about them than almost any other Crane alive. He knew the value of training Crane bushi in techniques of naval combat and boarding action, techniques he had seen demonstrated by Yoritomo himself, and made this a centerpiece of the Crane Clan’s naval expansion.

The tradition of the Innocents focuses on upholding Honesty even in the nasty world of politics, avoiding falsehood at all costs and calling on the strength of their honor to lend their words weight.

Even the most honorable samurai may occasionally commit an error of etiquette or make a misstep in a conversation. The Apologists are a group within the Doji Courtier School who are trained specifically to cover for the errors of less-polished comrades and allies, both within and without the clan. After all, a samurai who has been saved from embarrassment is one who may listen with a friendly ear to other things the Doji have to say.

The Trading Council handles the commercial side of the Crane Clan's interests. This is considered a somewhat embarrassing and unpleasant duty, but the Trading Council accepts this task just as the rest of the Daidoji accept the duty of protecting their Doji and Kakita cousins - even at the cost of their own honor. The Trading Council watches their fellow Daidoji carefully and recruits those with the appropriate skills and mindset.

The Daidoji family handles many dishonorable activities which the rest of the Crane cannot sully their hands with, and one of those activities is running the information networks which keep the clan aware of rival and enemy plans. Those experienced Daidoji who exhibit the proper mixture of pragmatism and loyalty, along with the ability to avoid attention, are sometimes recruited to be Spymasters, running these networks and funneling the resulting information to the Doji and Kakita.

The samurai of the Daidoji Heavy Regular units usually train alongside the Crab for at least a year; they are always equipped with the heaviest armor and wield a combination of spears and heavy weaponry. On the battlefield they are usually employed to blunt or break enemy charges, especially when fighting the Lion or the Unicorn. They are also sometimes used as blocking forces to resist enemy arrow barrages, since their heavy armor makes them more resistant to archery fire. They usually prefer either the tetsubo or the dai tsuchi as their primary armament.

The Crane Clan has always had a strong tradition of yarijutsu among its ranks, particularly the Daidoji. Given that the Crane military forces are typically fewer in number than their traditional enemies, any advantage that can be exploited on the battlefield is ruthlessly put to good use. While there are other groups within the clan who excel in this field, such as the Tsume vassal family, it is the Daidoji who supply the clan with its most numerous and proficient spearmen.

The Asahina family are known both for their devotion to peace and for their appreciation of beautiful things, and it is not uncommon for individuals in the family to pursue the creative arts, including sculpture - many of the Asahina monasteries and temples are filled with splendid and famous statues, with admirers traveling from all over the Empire to look upon them. A lesser-known artistic tradition within the family depends not on the permanence of stone but instead on the fleeting beauty of fire to create its sculptures.