“We are the children of the Yamatsumi, and we will build a prosperous and bold new Yamaken Han free from the superstitious and fearful past.”
- Excerpt from a speech by Kitaishi no Akihiro, governor of the Yamaken province.
Ancient History
Centuries ago, two clans set out together from the imperial center to make a new life in the Yonhosu
Valley; the Kitaishi clan and the Yamaken clan.
The Kitaishi clan claimed to be the descen-dants of the eight yamatsumi (mountain kami) created with the death of Kagutsuchi. The Yamaken did not claim any divine ancestry, but had been highly involved with the imperial Office of Deities for count-less generations. Both clans saw the burgeoning society of the Yonhosu Valley as lacking in spiritual leadership, and saw the opportunity to bring enlight-ened guidance to the new settlements there.
Soon after they arrived in the Yonhosu Valley, however, both clans encountered great animosity from the settlers. The Toukai and other clans saw themselves as the rightful inhabitants of the valley, and were already seeing their land divided up into different Han. They saw the Kitaishi, with their divine blood, and the Yamaken, with their strong connection to the imperial government, as interlopers come to take the land and riches that the Toukai had fought so hard for. Almost immediately, the two clans were relegated to the western edge of the Yonhosu Valley where the deepest and darkest of the Kitsunemori lay. Despite agreements not to intrude on kitsune territory, the Toukai sent the Kitaishi and Yamaken blindly into the Kitsunemori with the tools they would need to survive.
The kitsune, enraged by the human incursion, used their magics to befuddle and confuse the two clans.
The clans were frightened and all but defenseless against the kitsune, but one courageous woman among the Yamaken found the will to approach their kitsune assailants. Yamaken no Maya went to the kitsune, begging them to end their magical assault on the clans. Many of the foxes frightened her with terrifying illusions and tricks, but she remained resolute to serve her clan. She asked the kitsune to grant her people a small portion of the forest, and in return both clans would make offerings to the kitsune twice every year at the harvest. Moved by her daring and dedication to family, the kitsune Osusuki and Akomachi agreed to her request and a unique bond was forged between humans and kitsune from that point forward.
The Yamaken were granted land along the Ibitsu-Kawa (Crooked River) and on the shores of the Shimo-Mizuumi (Lower Lake), while the Kitaishi clan were given the land surrounding the San-Hosoi-Shushi (Three Slender Fingers). On the banks of the Ibitsu-Kawa, the humans erected a great shrine to
Inari, god of rice, nourishment and patron to both humans and kitsune. There, humans could worship Inari and share in her divine auspices. The people of Yamaken were quick to adopt Inari as their patron kami, and many villages erected shrines to individual kitsune whom they worshipped as local kami.
For many centuries, the Yamaken and the Kitaishi farmed and lived in harmony with the kitsune, pro-viding the twice-annual harvest boon to the foxes and occasionally petitioning them for additional land as the clans grew in size. Shrines were erected throughout the Yamaken and Kitaishi territories, as well as in the Kitsunemori itself, honoring the great pantheon of Shinto kami including the kitsune.
Eventually the Kitaishi clan wished to have their lands recognized as a separate Han from the Toukai and the Akaki. Most of the Yamaken clan were content to live under Toukai authority and enjoy the great physical and spiritual bounty of the Yonhosu Valley. But some among the Yamaken did not relish the thought of living under Kitaishi authority and so petitioned the imperial government to recognize their lands as a Han as well. Much political fighting ensued, and both the Toukai and Akaki interfered whenever possible to prevent the creation of two additional Han in the valley. For decades the battle over provincial recognition dragged on, until finally the Toukai and Akaki proposed a compromise. The Yamaken were obviously the more docile and agree-able of the clans, and both the Toukai and Akaki saw that a Han under Yamaken leadership would be much more pliable and easily manipulated. So, it was agreed to allow the Yamaken and Kitaishi the Yamaken Han, which would be governed by the Yamaken with representation of the Kitaishi among the new Hans many local officials. The Kitaishi were not satisfied with the compromise, but had no choice but to agree to the terms.
Recent History
The Kitaishi still hold a grudge against the Yamaken for the compromise struck centuries early that established the Han. The kokushi (provincial governor) of Yamaken is currently Kitaishi no Akihiro, a man who used his considerable wealth and clout to maneuver himself into the governor-ship. Akihiro has a new vision for the Yamaken Han, and is attempting to unravel centuries of tradition.
He is encouraging new public works throughout the Han, improvements to aqueducts, new roads,
Shrine to Inari
(see map on following page.)The shrine dedicated to Inari in Yamaken along the Ibitsu-Kawa is an architectural masterpiece, wrought of human ingenuity and divine magic. The shrine is surrounded by a four foot tall stone fence called a tamagaki. The fence effectively separates the sacred grounds of the shrine known as keidai from the profane area outside the temple. While the short fence provides little physical obstacle, it is heavily warded against evil outsiders, evil spirits and the like (Repulsion effect, Will save DC 30 to avoid). The walkway leading into the temple is lined with numerous torii, two-story tall spirit gates also similarly warded against incursion by evil. Standing guard just inside the shrine at the end of its wooden walkway are two stone temple guard-ians, representations of the first kitsune to serve Inari;
Osusuki and Akomachi. Inside the shrine itself stands the kaguraden, a hall for the sacred dance and music of kagura; the temizuya, a font and basin for ritual purification of the hands and mouth; the haiden, the hall of worship where offerings are made and rituals performed; and the honden, which houses the shintai (sacred objects that Inari inhabits). All of the shrine grounds are covered in spectacular gardens of sand, stone, flowers and tiny streams fed by underground springs.
When lay people visit the shrine, they must first cleanse their hands and mouth then approach the haiden where they clap their hands loudly and ring a bell to announce their arrival to Inari. The visitor then puts their palms together in front of their chin and recites a short prayer, followed by sliding an offering into a slatted wooden box. Lay worshippers are rarely allowed into the haiden or honden, but each year an annual festival is held where the doors to the haiden and honden are opened to allow Inari the opportu-nity to mingle amongst her worshippers. During the festival, kagura (ritual dance and music) performances are held in honor of Inari and other local kami. The kagura is performed to pacify, console and entertain the kami in attendance. The miko of the shrine have special duties during the festival, and are the dancers in the kagura. Inari and the other kami in attendance are invisible to the worshippers, but the dancing miko may channel the kami and provide the deities with a mortal shell to inhabit during the festivities. Being a conduit for a kami during the festival is a great honor.
The Shrine to Inari in Yamaken is a PR 9 shrine.
new government buildings, and the like. Akihiro has not sought permission from their kitsune neighbors however, and for the first time in memory relations with the spirit foxes is deteriorating. Akihiro preaches of a shift away from superstitions of the past, towards a future based on logic and reason. Yamaken officials and monks are desperately trying to avert disaster, working diligently to smooth over tensions when they arise and preventing Akihiro’s projects where they can. The largest myobu pack in Yamaken led by Gin-Kegawa ( Silver Fur), and the Shinto monks of Inari and other kami under the leadership of Yamaken no Kinnojo, are working separately to convince the people of the Yamaken Han to stand in opposition to Akihiro’s plans. The two groups have met with limited success however, as the populace is torn between their traditional loyalties and the prospect of true progress in the Han.
In Yamaken, the social hierarchy is firmly in place, but respect abounds for all levels of society. The aristocracy sees the value and importance of the common folk, without whom there would be no food. The peasantry respects all social levels above them for the order and security they provide. The rising merchant class respects the aristocracy for their benevolent religious guidance and the samurai class respects all levels of society as part of the great order of the universe. Peasants in Yamaken enjoy an unprecedented amount of respect and can even own land, if only a modest patch of earth.
Shinto is the predominant religion of Yamaken, though Buddhism is greatly honored and even practiced by many. Shrines to almost any imaginable kami can be found in Yamaken, and almost every village has a shrine to a local kami at its heart. Religion, ritual, worship and belief are at the core of daily life in Yakaken. The people of Yamaken have the most regular exposure to supernatural creatures and thus are the most tolerant and respectful of the forest denizens. Yamaken also boasts the most shrines dedicated to kitsune of all the Han in the Yonhosu Valley, and they enjoy special favor from the spirit foxes.
Merchants in Yamaken trade mostly in foodstuffs and grain. Logging is expressly forbidden, and trees are felled only with permission of the kitsune. Timber for building is precious, and very expensive in Yamaken, so most of the common folk build their homes of mud brick and bamboo.
There is a strong presence of shinobi in Yamaken, though most of the population is completely unaware. The Kitsu clan is an extended shinobi family with a long tradition of contact with the myobu kitsune, and some claim that the clan may even be descended from a spirit fox. The Kitsu clan offers their services for free to the Shrine of Inari and regularly engage in sabotage of Akihiro’s new pubic works. In stark contrast to the Yabun-Tsume in Toukai, the Kitsu clan live together in a single village in Yamaken near the Shimo-Mizuumi.
Every Kitsu shinobi knows every other intimately, and trusts their fellows implicitly. A spirit of tradition and cooperation pervades the Kitsu clan, though they must still operate in secret. Their village is a collection of farmsteads set in concentric circles radiating out from a central hill on top of which a group of humble buildings and shrines stand. A casual observer would notice nothing out of the ordinary in the village, and only strenuous investigation would reveal any evidence of the shinobi. The Kitsu clan is currently headed by the acting leader, Kitsu no Emiko, a gifted shinobi with some kitsune blood running through her veins. While woefully under-prepared to lead the Kitsu clan, Emiko is the daughter of the former clan head who was savagely murdered only weeks ago.
Squabbling among the elders of the clan is holding up the selection of a successor, and so Emiko is the pro-visional leader for the time being. Emiko, meanwhile, has become obsessed with tracking down her father’s killer and exacting revenge.
In the Yamaken Han, the yakuza have a few small chapters mostly concerned with the smuggling of lumber. Most government officials overlook the opera-tions of these yakuza, as they desperately need the wood for building but wish not to upset their kitsune neighbors by felling trees. Some new yakuza gangs have made inroads into Yamaken of late, dealing in more nefarious goods and offering pleasures previ-ously available only in Toukai.