Rokugan Local Governance:
Courtiers without a Court
The role of the bushi as described by the Mandate of Heaven is to serve as Protection against Enemies. This is task is fulfilled most frequently, of course, on the battlefields of Rokugan. But it also is fulfilled through service on the Great Wall of the Kaiu, in scouts and patrols against bandits, pirates, or lawless ronin, and as yojimbo and duelists in the court protecting both the honor and the lives of those who serve the kami.
The role of shugenja as described by the Mandate of Heaven is to serve as Defense against the spirits of other Realms. The labor of shugenja extends from fighting unkind spirits from other spirit realms, pleasing and keeping the Fortunes, spirits of the dead, and kami appeased through prayer and offering, using ceremonies and rituals to draw the blessings of the kami upon the people and fields of Rokugan, and using their special gifts to bring the blessings of the kami to the people of Ningen-do.
The role of courtiers according to the Mandate of Heaven is to bring prosperity to the land. But this job as used in the Role-Playing Game is less clear-cut than either Bushi or Shugenja. While many scenes are written describing the activity of courtiers within a Daimyo's hall, much less is written about the role of courtiers in the towns and villages of Rokugan. But courtiers may make up half or more of the population of samurai in a clan, and it is important to understand what these courtiers actually do.
A list of Courtly Roles and their respective statuses
Note: When the term courtier is used here, it refers to all samurai who are not combat-capable bushi or shugenja. They may have received training in the clan's courtier school, they may have trained in a different school that injury or circumstance have made them unable to pursue further, or they may have received a general, broad skill-based education that serves them best in their current role,
Courtiers in Families
For most of Rokugan, it is considered ideal if a bushi is married to a courtier. This provides each village with the protection of a bushi during autumn, winter, and spring, and the diplomatic and bookkeeping skills, and the skills of a courtier throughout the year, unless they are called away during winter to attend to the needs of Winter Court.
Courtiers in samurai families assist in many ways. They control the bookkeeping, taxes, and trades. They manage the finances and correspondences. Many pursue arts are crafts to generate extra income for the family. They also, unless the family is wealthy enough to maintain servants, handle much of the chores, child-raising, gardening, and cooking for the family.
In most of Rokugan, it is more common that a woman fulfill this vital role in the family. However, among the Matsu, Moshi, and Utaku families, men far more frequently have this position.
Courtiers in Villages
If a village only has a single sonchou samurai family with a courtier, then during the summer months while the bushi is away, the family will use an ashigaru or ji-samurai for the defense of the village. When the bushi returns, they can provide further training and leadership for the ashigaru.
Even if the sonchou family does not have a courtier, a larger village may have additional courtiers assigned in order to fulfill these vital roles. This would be particularly true if large public works projects were being completed in the area. During the three seasons of the year when the bushi are back from summer campaigning, these are also tasks they contribute to, though they will also do patrols, breaking up fights, and challenging bandits or strangers.
The following tasks are the responsibility of a courtier working with a village or group of villages:
Courtiers in Towns
Once a village has grown to be a major hub worthy of defense, more courtiers, along with other samurai, gather to fill other duties for their lords. In a town, these non-bushi step into a great many roles associated with serving the most elite samurai of the clan.
These additional duties can include:
Courtiers in Times of War
Of course, when war comes to a clan, it is the bushi that take the lead in all things, and the courtiers must step back. However, the expertise of courtiers does provide a skill set that is put to new uses. During wartime, courtiers often must become logisticians, mastering the transportation of supplies from one place to another. They are responsible for keeping the essential affairs of the Empire running, and making certain that the armies have what they need even while the villages are suffering with a loss of manpower as their ashigaru are conscripted for the front lines. Supplies and people are moved from areas of danger to areas where they can continue to be productive and keep the clan running. When towns are captured, the courtiers within are unable to do these duties, and a whole region falls apart. The war is on in earnest.
The role of the bushi as described by the Mandate of Heaven is to serve as Protection against Enemies. This is task is fulfilled most frequently, of course, on the battlefields of Rokugan. But it also is fulfilled through service on the Great Wall of the Kaiu, in scouts and patrols against bandits, pirates, or lawless ronin, and as yojimbo and duelists in the court protecting both the honor and the lives of those who serve the kami.
The role of shugenja as described by the Mandate of Heaven is to serve as Defense against the spirits of other Realms. The labor of shugenja extends from fighting unkind spirits from other spirit realms, pleasing and keeping the Fortunes, spirits of the dead, and kami appeased through prayer and offering, using ceremonies and rituals to draw the blessings of the kami upon the people and fields of Rokugan, and using their special gifts to bring the blessings of the kami to the people of Ningen-do.
The role of courtiers according to the Mandate of Heaven is to bring prosperity to the land. But this job as used in the Role-Playing Game is less clear-cut than either Bushi or Shugenja. While many scenes are written describing the activity of courtiers within a Daimyo's hall, much less is written about the role of courtiers in the towns and villages of Rokugan. But courtiers may make up half or more of the population of samurai in a clan, and it is important to understand what these courtiers actually do.
A list of Courtly Roles and their respective statuses
Note: When the term courtier is used here, it refers to all samurai who are not combat-capable bushi or shugenja. They may have received training in the clan's courtier school, they may have trained in a different school that injury or circumstance have made them unable to pursue further, or they may have received a general, broad skill-based education that serves them best in their current role,
Courtiers in Families
For most of Rokugan, it is considered ideal if a bushi is married to a courtier. This provides each village with the protection of a bushi during autumn, winter, and spring, and the diplomatic and bookkeeping skills, and the skills of a courtier throughout the year, unless they are called away during winter to attend to the needs of Winter Court.
Courtiers in samurai families assist in many ways. They control the bookkeeping, taxes, and trades. They manage the finances and correspondences. Many pursue arts are crafts to generate extra income for the family. They also, unless the family is wealthy enough to maintain servants, handle much of the chores, child-raising, gardening, and cooking for the family.
In most of Rokugan, it is more common that a woman fulfill this vital role in the family. However, among the Matsu, Moshi, and Utaku families, men far more frequently have this position.
Courtiers in Villages
If a village only has a single sonchou samurai family with a courtier, then during the summer months while the bushi is away, the family will use an ashigaru or ji-samurai for the defense of the village. When the bushi returns, they can provide further training and leadership for the ashigaru.
Even if the sonchou family does not have a courtier, a larger village may have additional courtiers assigned in order to fulfill these vital roles. This would be particularly true if large public works projects were being completed in the area. During the three seasons of the year when the bushi are back from summer campaigning, these are also tasks they contribute to, though they will also do patrols, breaking up fights, and challenging bandits or strangers.
The following tasks are the responsibility of a courtier working with a village or group of villages:
- Trade
- Dispute resolution
- Negotiation between villages over shared resources
- Negotiation with the local daimyo over clan resources
- Entertaining visiting nobility, from within the clan and outside the clan
- Directing the use of limited resources
- Recording and maintaining tax records, seeing that the taxes are collected and stored, guarded, and delivered.
- Designing and implementing land improvements such as irrigation and flood control systems.
- Judging and enforcing discipline on lawbreakers and ruffians.
- Disseminating, often by painstaking copying, edicts from the daimyo to be passed to surrounding villages.
- Directing the creation of processed goods such as silk or sake to be traded to bring further prosperity to the village, including bringing in and measuring supplies, hours of labor, quality of production, and so on, and maintaining all the records associated with this production.
- Directing ashigaru and managing conscription when the bushi have been called up.
- Insuring the roads, walls, and floodworks are properly maintained.
Courtiers in Towns
Once a village has grown to be a major hub worthy of defense, more courtiers, along with other samurai, gather to fill other duties for their lords. In a town, these non-bushi step into a great many roles associated with serving the most elite samurai of the clan.
These additional duties can include:
- Working as secretaries, assistants, and servants to the most high-ranked samurai of the clan.
- Collecting and recording information from the villages around and preparing reports.
- Managing the transportation of taxes and goods throughout a region.
- Acting as a representative of the lord for important social events in the surrounding region, such as for funerals or births.
- Making sure that essential services such as the collection of night soil or the removal of trash is completed to keep the town in proper order.
- Collecting docking and transport taxes.
- Pursuing arts and crafts or managing heimin working on such activities in the economic hub.
- Working with their counterparts in the Imperial Bureaucracy ministries to confirm that all is being completed to the Emperor's liking.
- Settling disputes between merchants and emissaries of different clans.
Courtiers in Times of War
Of course, when war comes to a clan, it is the bushi that take the lead in all things, and the courtiers must step back. However, the expertise of courtiers does provide a skill set that is put to new uses. During wartime, courtiers often must become logisticians, mastering the transportation of supplies from one place to another. They are responsible for keeping the essential affairs of the Empire running, and making certain that the armies have what they need even while the villages are suffering with a loss of manpower as their ashigaru are conscripted for the front lines. Supplies and people are moved from areas of danger to areas where they can continue to be productive and keep the clan running. When towns are captured, the courtiers within are unable to do these duties, and a whole region falls apart. The war is on in earnest.
