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The Peacock Clan
Though its humble foundations began hundreds of years ago during the reign of the 19th Hantei Emperor, the proud and noble Peacock Clan has served every dynasty that has ever sat on the throne including the current Iweko Dynasty. Their role as guardians of the Royal Peacocks is one that the clan takes very seriously and has lead to its near extinction more then a few times in tumultuous history. During the Scorpion Clan Coup, the Clan Champion at the time Kujaku Hakanai died against Scorpion conspirators while defending the peacock pens in the Imperial aviary known as The Righteous Sun. In response to this act of heroism, the Scorpion nearly slaughtered all the peacocks. Luckily Hakanai’s son, Sochi had spirited away four pairs of the lovely birds during the confusion to preserve the integrity of the family and clan. Thought to have been destroyed by many during the Coup, the remnants of the Clan stayed in hiding throughout the Clan War and only reappeared on the day of the coronation of Toturi I. The empire rejoiced when Kujaku Sochi appeared in the throne-room with more then a dozen peacocks, those four he spirited away had been quite busy, and the Peacock Clan was reborn. It was during the subsequent Four Winds Saga that the clan nearly faced extinction again, when Daigotsu attacked and razed Otosan Uchi and the members of the clan struggled to save the Emperors precious peacocks. The clan and the peacocks managed to survive this tragedy only to have their good name and deeds stripped from them when the current Champion at the time, Kujaku Tansei, drunkenly declared his love for Toturi Tsudao in her presence while meeting her and her entourage in the House of the Blue Tanuki after the harrowing attack on the former capital. This act was perceived as crude and ill-timed and Tsudao, in her first act as Empress, took their clan status away. Though shamed, the former clan went into hiding in the fringes of the Empire taking the prized peacocks with them. It would not be until decades later that the Peacock Clan would come into fame again with the coronation of Iweko I. The Clan presented the new Empress and her dynasty with two golden peacocks, the rarest of the rare, and cemented their loyalty to the new power on the throne and with that hopes of reinstatement as a clan.
THE KUJAKU FAMILY: +1 REFLEXES
The glamorous Kujaku family are the heads of the Peacock Clan. Their founder, Doji Kujaku was the most beautiful samurai in all the land and son to the Crane Clan Champion during the reign of Hantei XIX. He was a master of the sword and master of wit and left a long string of devastated opponents in his wake. He was also known to be quite the lothario and was rumored to have fathered several children throughout the Empire. In a drunken celebration during a very momentous winter court, Kujaku “accidentally” slept with and subsequently impregnated the Emperor’s niece, whom was betrothed to the son of the Phoenix Champion at the time. To save face of both the Imperial line and the Crane, Kujaku was “promoted” to guard the Emperor’s prized peacocks. He took to the duty like a good son and served his post until the day he died nearly 18 years later during the Night of Five Fires when the crazed son of the new Phoenix Champion set fire to several buildings within Otosan Uchi. He died saving his wards from the deadly flames and thus maintaining the integrity of his exalted position. In his honor, Hantei XIX posthumously awarded him his own Clan, the Peacock, and named him its illustrious founder. From that day forth, the Kujaku family have served with distinction in their post and are some of the most cunning courtiers and deadly swordsman in all of Rokugan.
NEW BASIC SCHOOL: KUJAKU BUSHI SCHOOL
# Benefit: +1 Awareness
# Skills: Kenjutsu, Iaijutsu, Defense, Etiquette, Perform (choose one), Temptation (Seduction), Animal Handling (Peafowl)
# Honor: 6.5
# Outfit: Light Armor, Sturdy Clothing, Extravagant Outfit, Daisho, any one weapon, Make-up Kit, Traveling Pack, 5 koku
TECHNIQUES
RANK 1: VOW OF THE PEACOCK
The Kujaku are known for their honorable stewardship of the regal birds whose name they bear. When performing the Guard Maneuver you may add your School Rank plus one to the Armor TN of your target, in addition to the normal benefits of the maneuver. Additionally, you have learned that a seductive glance can be just as effective as a swift sword, and gain a +1k0 bonus on your Temptation(Seduction) rolls.
RANK 2: GAZE OF A THOUSAND EYES
Like the watchful and weary peacock, nothing can get by your gaze. When you assume the Center Stance, you gain a bonus to your Iaijutsu (Assessment) Roll equal to your Animal Handling Skill Rank. You also gain a +1k0 bonus on all rolls to detect ambushes or other unseen opponents.
RANK 3: THE HEAVENLY ARRAY
The spirit of the peacock flows through you, giving you influence similar to that of a male peacock over its harem. When using the Guard Maneuver, you may extend the benefits of the maneuver to a number of targets equal to your Air Ring. Furthermore, you have come to understand that the ways of the peacock are beautiful and glorious, and not something to be looked down upon. You no longer lose honor from using the Temptation (Seduction) skill.
RANK 4: AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY
Mimicking the graceful speed and deadliness of an enraged mother peahen, you may now make melee attacks with bladed weapons as a Simple Action.
RANK 5: WRATH OF THE GOLDEN PEACOCK
At the pinnacle of your training, you realize that the peacock is not just an animal of extraordinary beauty, but that it is also a creature of extreme wisdom and cunning. During the Focus segment of a duel, you gain a Free Raise on your Iaijutsu (Focus) roll for every rank you possess in the Animal Handling skill. In addition, if neither you nor your opponent beats the other’s Iaijutsu (Focus) roll by at least 5, you may still make the first strike in the Strike segment of the duel.
PEACOCK ADVANCED SCHOOL: PEACOCK PROVOCATEUR [COURTIER]
REQUIREMENTS:
# Status: 4.0 or greater
# Glory: 2.0 or lower
# Skills: Animal Handling (Peafowl) 5
While many see being assigned as a tender of the Emperor’s favored menagerie as a sign that one has clearly displeased a superior of great influence, many of those who ‘earn’ such a promotion have taken to it with all the devotion and duty that such an important role requires.
A small number of them have even managed to learn something from studying such proud and self-important animals.
TECHNIQUES
RANK 1: DEEDS OF THE PEACOCK
Those who are fortunate enough to earn a place in this highly selective group have learned to wield the power of their position in conjunction with the disregard most of the Empire pays their deeds.
If during a contested social roll, your Status is higher than your opponent and your Glory is lower than your opponent, add twice your rank in Animal Handling to the result of your roll.
RANK 2: GRACE OF THE PEAFOUL
The Peacock is known for its awesome strut and magnificent plumage which it uses to both frighten off enemies and attract mates.
You must spend a Void Point to activate this ability. For every consecutive round in which you both move and speak, you gain a cumulative +1k0 to all intimidation and temptation rolls to a maximum of +5k0. While this ability is active intimidation and temptation do not count as low skills for you.
RANK 3: CALL OF THE GOLDEN PEACOCK
Once per session you may ‘recommend’ another samurai, with lower status than yours, for service in this most exclusive of positions, they immediately gain a number of status points equal to the difference in status ranks between you. However they also lose 1 full rank of Glory for every point of status they gain as the mere mention of their name in such circles causes others to think that they have fallen into disfavor. This cannot reduce their Glory below their Insight Rank.
NEW KATA : SUBLIME PEACOCK STYLE
# Ring/Mastery: Air 4
# Schools: Kakita Bushi, Mirumoto Bushi, Peacock Bushi, Seppun Guardsman, Firefly Bushi.
# Effect: You have mastered a really demonstrative kata to impress your opponents. When in the defense stance and wielding a melee samurai weapon, you can make an intimidation / awareness roll as a simple action with a TN equal to a target opponent’s highest ring x 5. While this kata is active, your TN is increased against this opponent by the difference as you totally impressed him.
NEW ADVANTAGE: GAZE OF THE COCOTTE [SOCIAL] (2 POINTS)
You have the uncanny ability to know who is more susceptible to the wiles of seduction just by looking at them. When engaged in any Social Contests you know instantly when your target has the Lechery Disadvantage. Peacock, Scorpion and geisha characters may purchase this Advantage for 1 point.
IMPORTANT NPC: (KUJAKU) TADATSUGU (CURRENT DAIMYO OF THE PEACOCK CLAN)
Tadatsugu is a man possessed. He is the last true descendent of the Kujaku family and is striving to restore his family and clan’s good name. When his clan lost favor in the Empire over a decade ago due to his father’s drunken transgressions against Toturi Tsudao, Tadatsugu gathered what remained of his clan and their followers and retreated into hiding in the western reaches of the Empire. Tadatsugu blames the machinations of the scheming Tanuki clan for what happened to his father and his clan while in their establishment, the House of the Blue Tanuki, and has spared no expense in slandering their “good” name to any who will listen. During the last few years he and select number of his finest men have been roaming the Empire in an attempt to restore the Peacock clan to good standing once again through heroic deeds. While many would dismiss the upstart and his fallen band, many among the Imperial families remember their bravery and did all they could to support and aide him. It was not until the conclusion of the Celestial Tournament that Tadatsugu and his elite peacock handlers presented the new Empress with the fabled golden peacocks.
AIR 5
EARTH 3
FIRE 4
WATER 3
VOID 4
-
-
-
-
-
Honor: 6.0
Status: 0 (7.5 when clan is restored)
Glory: 3.5
School/Rank: Peacock Bushi 5
Skills: Kenjutsu (Katana, Wakazashi) 7, Iaijutsu (Focus) 7, Defense 3, Etiquette 3, Perform (Song) 3, Temptation (Seduction) 7, Animal Handling (Peafowl) 7, Courtier (Gossip) 3, Horsemanship 5, Spears 3
Advantages:
# Allies (many among the Imperial Families)
# Dangerous Beauty
# Gaze of the Cocotte
# Great Destiny (Restore the Peacock Clan)
# Gentry (Hidden Peacock Grove)
# Paragon (Duty)
Disadvantages:
# Brash
# Driven (Restore the Peacock Clan)
# Sworn Enemy (Tanuki Clan)
Kata: Sublime Peacock Stance, Striking as Air, Striking as Fire, Striking as Void
The Tanuki Clan
First featured in Fealty and Freedom, the enigmatic Minor Clan has long been thought to be extinct, but uncorroborated reports about exceptionally awesome samurai have surfaced from time-to-time concerning the Minor Clan’s existence. Contrary to public belief however, the Tanuki Clan still thrive and remember bitterly that a sober Hantei ordered their destruction. Apparently, what’s neglected in the Imperial Histories is that the original Hantei Emperor who created the Tanuki Clan had become plastered drunk after a prolonged “sake ceremony” with the awesome, wayward Badger that had been visiting the Imperial Court. Unfortunately for the Tanuki, the Emperor’s grandson, and ultimate heir-apparent, had never forgotten the disgraceful display of his grandfather. He vowed to disband the disgraceful Tanuki Clan as soon as he became Emperor.
When the Clan was eventually dissolved years later by the Hantei’s grandson (his first edict as Emperor), the remnants of the Tanuki Clan dispersed and began to pass down their secret techniques from one master to a single apprentice. An apprentice would only attain the rank of Master if he could out-drink his master in an epic sake drinking binge. In the modern era, the Tanuki are still largely wanderers, but the current daimyo of the Tanuki family has recently finished construction of a new home for all the wandering Tanuki: the House of the Blue Tanuki. The only clan in Rokugan that seems to know something substantial about the Tanuki is the Peacock Clan. Nobody quite remembers quite when or even why, but the Tanuki and Peacock Clans appear to be bitter rivals. Some legends suggest a Tanuki samurai may have invited a Peacock samurai to one of their infamous “tea ceremonies.” Either way, the Tanuki and Peacock Clans are engaged in a silent, but unrelenting cold war.
Most Tanuki take seriously their profession as Rokugan’s premiere sake masters; however, some Tanuki find that life as a sake master is not quite to their liking and instead prefer the life of a drunken brawler. These Tanuki have invariably come to enjoy the wild company of ex-Mantis bushi and many Tanuki bushi train as Mantis Brawlers (see pg. 165-167, Great Clans). Mechanically this requires a Tanuki Bushi to buy a 2pt Obligation to a ronin sensei.
NEW BASIC SCHOOL: TANUKI SAKE MASTER [BUSHI/MONK]
# Benefit: +1 Void
# Skills: Athletics, Defense, Jiujutsu, Meditation (Void Recovery), Staves (Bo), Tea Ceremony (Sake), any one High or Merchant Skill
# Honor: 2.5
# Outfit: Straw Hat, Bo Staff, Sake Flask, Promissory Note, Robes, Traveling Pack, Daisho, and 2 Koku
# Special: Mechanically this School is treated on page 231 in the L5R 4th Core rule book as a Brotherhood Monk School.
# Technique: Just One More Drink – Whenever your character becomes intoxicated by sake, you may double the mechanical effects of spending a Void Point (if applicable). This ability can be used a number of times per session equal to your School Rank. Also, your character can perform the Tea Ceremony with sake. If your character is intoxicated while performing the tea ceremony, participants regain an extra Void Point.
You also begin the game knowing two Kiho. You must meet all prerequisites in order to use these Kiho. You may purchase additional Kiho normally as per the rules for a Brotherhood of Shinsei monk. You may also perform Martial Kiho (including Atemi), while using a Bo Staff.
NEW ALTERNATE PATH: BLUE TANUKI’S BRAND AMBASSADOR [COURTIER]
# Technique Rank: 2 – 4
# Replaces: Any Tanuki school rank from 2 to 4 of your choice. (Ronin Sake lovers have been known to swear fealty into the Tanuki clan. Those may access this Technique provided that they find a suitable teacher who is sober enough to teach them.)
# Requirements: Craft: Brewing 3, Temptation 3
# Technique: One More for the Road – You may use the Temptation skill to entice someone else into entering a drinking contest. While doing so, Temptation is not considered a Low Skill for you. This is a contested roll of your Awareness / Temptation against their Awareness / Etiquette (Courtesy). By spending an Void point, you may immediately roll the same against another bystander, who will join the drinking contest as well, to a maximum number of participants equal to your school rank +1 (not including yourself). All participants who fail to resist MUST have as many drinks as you do, or a number of drinks equal to your Void Rank, whichever is higher. Those who beat your contested roll may chose to decline, but if there are witnesses, they lose 2 points of Glory.
Needless to say that if this happens in your establishment, the victims need to pay for their drinks (business is business). Failing to do so may incur an Obligation to you, at the GM’s discretion.
NEW KIHO: THE GURU’S THOUSAND FIRES
# Ring/Mastery: Fire 5
# Type: Spiritual
Taught to the Tanuki Clan since their transportation to the colonies by ‘Yogi Gurus’ (under the direction of Sainka Guru ‘Dhalsim’), this kiho allows a Tanuki samurai to turn his most reliable companion, sake, into a most potent weapon. To activate this kiho, you must spend either a Void Point and then drink some sake as Simple Action. For a number of rounds equal to your Stamina Rank, you are considered to be mechanically benefiting from the Breath of the Fire Dragon spell (see pg. 183, 4ED Core rule book).
NEW ADVANTAGE: ABLE DRINKER [PHYSICAL] (1 POINTS)
You can really put the liquor away. This could be due to naturally high constitution, or maybe just a lot of experience. Add 2k1 to the total of Earth Rolls to resist inebriation. Tanuki, Crab and Mantis characters add a 3k1 to the total of Earth Rolls to resist inebriation.
IMPORTANT NPC: KINCHO THE SIXTH (CURRENT DAIMYO OF THE TANUKI CLAN)
Kincho is a man of refined tastes and considers himself a true expert on sake. After visiting many sake houses across the entirety of Rokugan with his father, Kincho the Fifth, Kincho has come to the escapable conclusion that Rokugan samurai are missing out on something truly sublime. Most samurai only ever get to enjoy the regional blends of sake and miss out on some of life’s most truly excellent brews. To remedy this, he has gathered up many of his Tanuki vassals to open-up a new sake-house, the House of the Blue Tanuki. The House of the Blue Tanuki offers up some of the strangest and strongest sake available in Rokugan and, as a result, has gained sort of an infamous reputation amongst proper samurai (no doubt due to machinations from the Peacock Clan). However, rumors persist that some of the finest sake masters of the different clans, ranging from the Crab, Unicorn, and Dragon, have made pilgrimages to the establishment. If this is true, Kincho is tight-lipped about it, but the strange gaijin juices and “fire” brews are evidence that the House of the Blue Tanuki offers a most comprehensive, albeit strange, assortment of sake.
AIR 3
EARTH 3
FIRE 4
WATER 3
VOID 5
-
STAMINA 6
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-
-
Honor: 2.7
Status: 7.5 (Most samurai assume 1)
Glory: 3.5
Infamy: 5
School/Rank: Tanuki Sake Master 5
Skills: Athletics 3, Defense 2, Craft: Brewing (Sake) 7, Commerce 5, Etiquette (Conversation) 4, Intimidation 4, Jiujutsu 3, Kenjutsu 2, Lore: Sake (Various) 10, Medicine (Antidotes, Wound Treatment) 4, Meditation (Void Recovery) 4, Sincerity 3, Staves (Bo) 5, Tea Ceremony (Sake) 6
Advantages:
# Allies (Many)
# Bland
# Forbidden Knowledge (Sake Brews)
# Gentry (Sake House)
# Hero of the People
# Social Position (Tanuki Clan Champion)
Disadvantages:
# Compulsion (Brew the Best Sake) 4
# Dark Secret (Tanuki Clan Champion)
# Infamous
# Sworn Enemy (Peacock Clan)
Kiho: Chi Protection, Cleansing Spirit, Harmony of the Mind, The Guru’s Thosand Fires, Root the Mountain, Slap the Wave, To the Last Breath, Spin the Kharmic Wheel, Unbalance the Mind, Waves in All Things
