The Unicorn, once known as the Ki-Rin Clan, were absent from the Empire for nearly eight centuries as they wandered the world, exploring and ensuring that there were no external threats to the Emperor that might remain unknown. Since their return, they have been regarded by many as barbarians and outsiders, due mostly to their embrace of customs that are in stark contrast to the norm for Rokuan. Still, the Unicorn are universally respected because of their cavalry. They use gaijin steeds and their horse-mounted troops are without compare in the Empire.
The matriarchal Utaku family are rigidly honorable and pious individuals with carefully defined duties depending upon their gender. Women are generally trained to serve with the most elite cavalry units in the world, the Utaku Battle Maidens, while the men manage the households and serve among the legions of infantry in the Unicorn army.
The Shinjo family ruled the Unicorn Clan for most of their history, although in the latter portion of the Empire's development they were removed from power by their founder, the Kami Shinjo, due to corruption within their ranks. The Shinjo are an affable, industrious family whose members adapt easily to almost any task set before them, and who work well with others in virtually any situation.
The Moto exemplify virtually every negative stereotype that the Unicorn Clan as a whole has struggled with since their return to the Empire centuries ago. More than any other family, their gaijin blood is obvious from the look of them, short, and squat as they are. They are alternately boisterous and brusque, depending upon the circumstances, and rarely fit in well with samurai of other Clans. They are respected, however, for their warrior traditions.
With the exception of the Tamori, the Iuchi family is probably the most militant shugenja family in the Empire. They serve in the armies of the Unicorn Clan in considerable numbers, and while they enjoy friendship and scholarly debate as much as any priests, they do not shy away from conflict when pressed.
The public face of the Unicorn, the Ide have worked tirelessly to cmobat the perception many have of the Clan as barbarians and near-gaijin. They flawlessly merge the traditions of their people with the customs of the Empire, and in doing so seek to earn the gradual respect and acceptance of other clans. Samurai of the Ide family are almost universally even-tempered and eager to forge alliances with others, whether personal or larger in scale.
The tiny Horiuchi family has never claimed more than a few dozen members at most. Created a few decades before the Clan War, the Horiuchi are a branch of the Iuchi family that specializes in defensive and protective magic. Horiuchi samurai are compassionate individuals who tend to intervene in the affairs of others during times of crisis.