Shugenja

For centuries the Soshi Deceivers are the darkest secret of the Soshi family: a secret group who combine Air magic and the power of Nothing to produce a host of sinister effects. They are notably adept at illusion magic, cloaking their actions in concealing shadows, rendering themselves invisible, or taking on the visage of others to deflect blame for their actions.

The Colonies are a vast area in which many dangers and secrets are hidden. The other clans are interested in those secrets, interested in what resources and power might be contained or unleashed by them, interested in how they can benefit from such things. But while the clans understand the physical dangers of such things, only the Scorpion understand the spiritual threat. Only they know the razor’s edge on which they walk, risking the integrity of their honor and indeed their souls by studying such gaijin artifacts.

The Scorpion Clan never publicly acknowledges the existence of many of their elite forces. Their assassins and ninja can slip past powerful defenses to reach their targets. However, these ninja are only humaan and have limits to their abilities. The Soshi's Shadow Hunters are adept in speaking with kami, bypassing normal thresholds of power. The Shadow Hunters can alter the world with the help of their spells. These elite assassins meld with the darkness, revealing themselves only to devastate their foes.

The Kuroiban were originally created by the Yogo, and the Yogo family still leads the organization. However, it draws recruits from both the Scorpion shugenja Schools. Only the most trustworthy and skillful shugenja are recruited into the Black Watch, since its very existence is known to only a handful of people. Outside the Scorpion Clan, only the Kuni family is full aware of the Kuroiban, although the Asako Inquisitors have a vague realization that something of the sort exists.

The Fading Shadows are a tiny sect operating out of the Hidden Moon Dojo, the secretive Scorpion organization devoted to studying the Nothing and its manifestations in Rokugan. The Fading Shadows recognize that a link may exist between the Nothing and the Void, a disturbing idea but one that provides useful means of defeating the Nothing’s machinations. They are predominantly Soshi, but the Hidden Moon Dojo does not hesitate to recruit shugenja from other Scorpion families if it seems advantageous to do so.

Founded in the years immediately after the creation of the Centipede Clan, the Sisters of the Sacred Light were originally created to deal with infestations of mischievous spirits. Although founded by the Centipede, they recruit women from several clans, and those women are expected to forsake their former loyalties in order to follow the path of purity and wisdom which the Sisters teach. They dress in the traditional garb of a temple priestess (a red hakama and white gi), bereft of all markings save for a single clan mon to indicate their ancestry.

Founded by the unconventional shugenja Shiba Tsuna, the Illusionists use Air Magic to delight and entertain, following their founder's dictum that there is no sound the Air kami like more than the laughter of children. They are regarded with some hostility by the Isawa, who believe their use of the kami is frivolous, but after the disgrace of Tsuna's rival the Isawa have avoided any direct attack on the organization, preferring to simply ignore it as much as possible.

The Elemental Legions of the Phoenix Clan are a legend even among the Empire’s military traditions. The Firestorm Legion and their attendants in the Legion of Flame are the most aggressive of the Elemental Legions, ever on the forefront of any battle in which they are part of the Phoenix forces. Despite their overwhelmingly aggressive tactics, however, even the vaunted Firestorm Legion must give some attention to defense, and that is the purpose of the Inferno Guard.