The HiraMori and Hiramichi Vassal Families
The Hiramori Vassal Family
The Hiramori family share a history of service alongside the HIramichi family that goes back six hundred years to a little-publicized period in family annals: the Foxfire War. In 520 IC, Daidoji Hira, youngest brother of daimyo Daidoji Kamei, began to act erratically. Whether it was the dead mouse left before the Lion envoy’s quarters, the scholding he gave a visiting Kakita for testing sword blades on live criminals, or the time he had to be removed from the village market in a wheelbarrow, Hira finally exhausted Kamei’s patience. The daimyo ordered his brother to commit seppuku. Hira obediently nodded, put on the white garments of death, retired to his quarters, and in the morning was gone, along with forty-four bushi from the Shiro Daidoji guard. On his tatami mat lay a piece of paper with the message: “You did not set a date for my death, brother. Seek me in the Uebe Marshes if you wish to hasten it.”
Incensed at this effrontery, Kamei mobilized a small army and sailed down the coast to the Uebe Marshes, the huge tract of overgrown wetland between Mura Sabishii Toshi and the Golden Sun Plain. Kamei’s vendetta lasted for months on end. N the unfamiliar terrain, his troops were impaled on filth-smeared bamboo stakes and lured into bottomless quicksand. Kamei faced unorthodox tactics that made his own Daidoji methods seem traditional by comparison.
Finally, the Kamei abandoned his futile feud, dubbed the “Foxfire War” from the luminous marsh gases. Kamei retired to Shiro Daidoji and found the castle in uproar. Hira’s body had appeared in his former quarters, leathery and swamp-hardened, belly gashed with the three cuts of seppuku. Arranged around him was a model depicting the most treacherous ambush points in the Marshes in the same scale as those in the Daidoji library, a detailed map of the marshes with extensive commentary, and a slip of paper with the message: “Do not let the food and drink of peace make the belly of the Daidoji grow fat. Seek my son in the marshes.”
Before retiring to the life of a monk to contemplate his brother’s tragic madness, Kamei passed the message on ti his daughter and heir, Kasako. Though Hira’s actions had eventually brought him great dishonor, Kamei and Kasako agreed that they had learned much in hunting Hira through the rough terrain.
With renewed zeal, Kasako hunted Hira’s son, Daidoji Yasuhira, back into the wilderness. Yasuhira proved equally elusive, and by this time had attracted Scorpion and Mantis ronin to his guerrilla band. Kasako had learned from her father’s mistakes and within three years had brought her cousin to bay. When Yasuhira was finally captured, he was with only four of his guards and surrounded by new woodland models and maps and the instruction: “My brother Shigehira and my men spit at you from the Wall above the Ocean.” Kasako executed the lunatic Yasuhira on the spot and set out to bring his rebellious brother to justice.
Predictably, that mountainous region at the southern extremity of Crane territory became the stage for another period of rough-terrain conflict, continued by Kasako’s younger brother Hanzo, and ended by a yari duel between the two commanders on a cliff path. Hanzo won, tripping Shigehira into a spectacular plunge causing the death of his mad kin. On Shigehara’s death, the Foxfire Wars were finally concluded and both sides came together to forget the madness that had consumed Hira’s line and act as a single family in all things once again.
The Daidoji daimyo, Kasako’s sister Kasami, was a practical woman and realized the value of such training despite the tragedy. She gathered the troops that had helped her defeat Hira’s followers, proclaiming them the Hiramori family, vassals to the Daidoji. The lessons Hira had taught his family in the wild lands of the Crane provinces would go on to strengthen the clan. The family was named the “Forest Hira”, an ironic joke at the traitorous Hira’s expense.
The Hiramori family is known for trap-laying and ambush strategies, especiallies within the woodlands and wetlands. They are reclusive and speak in a strange backwoods accent, and disappear without warning. It is not unknown for the Hiramori to cultivate repulsive quirks, muttering to themselves in the Ratling language or keeping a poisonous snake as a pet. Wiser Daidoji wonder if the Hiramori have inherited some measure of their namesake’s madness, and take care never to underestimate a Hiramori’s resolve. Their combat rejects armor and specializes in stakes and spears. Seldom without an avenue of retreat, they are as ferocious when cornered as any Hida berserker.
The Hiramichi Vassal Family
Before his men learned to live off the land effectively, the exiled Hira was forced to rely on illegal sources for supplies of food and war material. Descending into the black market, Hira’s third son, Michihira, found unscrupulous ronin traders who were willing to finance the other side. As Michihira’s brothers met their fates, he began to wonder if he was rite to follow his father’s mad path. He began to use his underground connections to ferret information regarding his brothers’ troop movements to the Daidoji daimyo, and when Shigehira finally died, Michihira was pardoned for his involvement in the uprsing.
When Kasami created the Hiramori family, Michihira made one last voyage to visit all his contacts. Each of them received a curious gift from his hands – a bamboo cage filled with porcelain songbirds. He then visited Kasami and asked to be admitted to the Hiramori, explaining his achievements and presenting her with a sealed list of his underworld allies. He He offered her a deal: amnesty for the smuggler’s crimes in return for their promise t o use their services to help the Daidoji leadership. Kasami was impressed, but did not want to compromise the Hiramori in such shady dealings. She chartered Michihira with his own family, inverting his hame to Hiramichi, or “Hira of the paths.”
To the smugglers, Hiramichi merely sent a message: “Has the caged bird not sung yet? Then you must be a loyal retainer.” They took this blackmail as intended and swore allegiance to Hiramichi. Most were samurai wishing to return to the Daidoji’s good graces. Quite a few were Mantis wishing to enter a Major Clan. To this day, the Hiramichi have indispensable connections with the Mantis isles.
The Hiramichi see themselves not as profiteers, but as practioners of a military technique. Michihira left behind writings comparing the economic arena to a battlefield and likewise outlining the value of economic pressure in warfare. These writings also differed from the philosophies of Yasuki and Mantis merchants in that Hiramichi at least recognized the contradiction between bushido and trade and sought actively to resolve it. Tax evasion, contraband arms, denial of supplies, bribery of soldiers and generals: all were explained as strategies of war, and all such tactics are reserved for themost extreme times of need in conflict. The Hiramichi choose to make themselves distinctive from the honorless traders of the Crabe and Mantis by applying principles of honor in a uniquely Daidoji fassion. To be sure, the vassals are tradesmen above all else, and do not stoop to underhanded or shady dealings unless it could benefit the Crane as a whole in desperate situations. Hiramichi who do not follow the path of honor are chastised as any other samurai, and mor than one would-be underworld king has been exiled from the vassal family.
The Hiramori family share a history of service alongside the HIramichi family that goes back six hundred years to a little-publicized period in family annals: the Foxfire War. In 520 IC, Daidoji Hira, youngest brother of daimyo Daidoji Kamei, began to act erratically. Whether it was the dead mouse left before the Lion envoy’s quarters, the scholding he gave a visiting Kakita for testing sword blades on live criminals, or the time he had to be removed from the village market in a wheelbarrow, Hira finally exhausted Kamei’s patience. The daimyo ordered his brother to commit seppuku. Hira obediently nodded, put on the white garments of death, retired to his quarters, and in the morning was gone, along with forty-four bushi from the Shiro Daidoji guard. On his tatami mat lay a piece of paper with the message: “You did not set a date for my death, brother. Seek me in the Uebe Marshes if you wish to hasten it.”
Incensed at this effrontery, Kamei mobilized a small army and sailed down the coast to the Uebe Marshes, the huge tract of overgrown wetland between Mura Sabishii Toshi and the Golden Sun Plain. Kamei’s vendetta lasted for months on end. N the unfamiliar terrain, his troops were impaled on filth-smeared bamboo stakes and lured into bottomless quicksand. Kamei faced unorthodox tactics that made his own Daidoji methods seem traditional by comparison.
Finally, the Kamei abandoned his futile feud, dubbed the “Foxfire War” from the luminous marsh gases. Kamei retired to Shiro Daidoji and found the castle in uproar. Hira’s body had appeared in his former quarters, leathery and swamp-hardened, belly gashed with the three cuts of seppuku. Arranged around him was a model depicting the most treacherous ambush points in the Marshes in the same scale as those in the Daidoji library, a detailed map of the marshes with extensive commentary, and a slip of paper with the message: “Do not let the food and drink of peace make the belly of the Daidoji grow fat. Seek my son in the marshes.”
Before retiring to the life of a monk to contemplate his brother’s tragic madness, Kamei passed the message on ti his daughter and heir, Kasako. Though Hira’s actions had eventually brought him great dishonor, Kamei and Kasako agreed that they had learned much in hunting Hira through the rough terrain.
With renewed zeal, Kasako hunted Hira’s son, Daidoji Yasuhira, back into the wilderness. Yasuhira proved equally elusive, and by this time had attracted Scorpion and Mantis ronin to his guerrilla band. Kasako had learned from her father’s mistakes and within three years had brought her cousin to bay. When Yasuhira was finally captured, he was with only four of his guards and surrounded by new woodland models and maps and the instruction: “My brother Shigehira and my men spit at you from the Wall above the Ocean.” Kasako executed the lunatic Yasuhira on the spot and set out to bring his rebellious brother to justice.
Predictably, that mountainous region at the southern extremity of Crane territory became the stage for another period of rough-terrain conflict, continued by Kasako’s younger brother Hanzo, and ended by a yari duel between the two commanders on a cliff path. Hanzo won, tripping Shigehira into a spectacular plunge causing the death of his mad kin. On Shigehara’s death, the Foxfire Wars were finally concluded and both sides came together to forget the madness that had consumed Hira’s line and act as a single family in all things once again.
The Daidoji daimyo, Kasako’s sister Kasami, was a practical woman and realized the value of such training despite the tragedy. She gathered the troops that had helped her defeat Hira’s followers, proclaiming them the Hiramori family, vassals to the Daidoji. The lessons Hira had taught his family in the wild lands of the Crane provinces would go on to strengthen the clan. The family was named the “Forest Hira”, an ironic joke at the traitorous Hira’s expense.
The Hiramori family is known for trap-laying and ambush strategies, especiallies within the woodlands and wetlands. They are reclusive and speak in a strange backwoods accent, and disappear without warning. It is not unknown for the Hiramori to cultivate repulsive quirks, muttering to themselves in the Ratling language or keeping a poisonous snake as a pet. Wiser Daidoji wonder if the Hiramori have inherited some measure of their namesake’s madness, and take care never to underestimate a Hiramori’s resolve. Their combat rejects armor and specializes in stakes and spears. Seldom without an avenue of retreat, they are as ferocious when cornered as any Hida berserker.
The Hiramichi Vassal Family
Before his men learned to live off the land effectively, the exiled Hira was forced to rely on illegal sources for supplies of food and war material. Descending into the black market, Hira’s third son, Michihira, found unscrupulous ronin traders who were willing to finance the other side. As Michihira’s brothers met their fates, he began to wonder if he was rite to follow his father’s mad path. He began to use his underground connections to ferret information regarding his brothers’ troop movements to the Daidoji daimyo, and when Shigehira finally died, Michihira was pardoned for his involvement in the uprsing.
When Kasami created the Hiramori family, Michihira made one last voyage to visit all his contacts. Each of them received a curious gift from his hands – a bamboo cage filled with porcelain songbirds. He then visited Kasami and asked to be admitted to the Hiramori, explaining his achievements and presenting her with a sealed list of his underworld allies. He He offered her a deal: amnesty for the smuggler’s crimes in return for their promise t o use their services to help the Daidoji leadership. Kasami was impressed, but did not want to compromise the Hiramori in such shady dealings. She chartered Michihira with his own family, inverting his hame to Hiramichi, or “Hira of the paths.”
To the smugglers, Hiramichi merely sent a message: “Has the caged bird not sung yet? Then you must be a loyal retainer.” They took this blackmail as intended and swore allegiance to Hiramichi. Most were samurai wishing to return to the Daidoji’s good graces. Quite a few were Mantis wishing to enter a Major Clan. To this day, the Hiramichi have indispensable connections with the Mantis isles.
The Hiramichi see themselves not as profiteers, but as practioners of a military technique. Michihira left behind writings comparing the economic arena to a battlefield and likewise outlining the value of economic pressure in warfare. These writings also differed from the philosophies of Yasuki and Mantis merchants in that Hiramichi at least recognized the contradiction between bushido and trade and sought actively to resolve it. Tax evasion, contraband arms, denial of supplies, bribery of soldiers and generals: all were explained as strategies of war, and all such tactics are reserved for themost extreme times of need in conflict. The Hiramichi choose to make themselves distinctive from the honorless traders of the Crabe and Mantis by applying principles of honor in a uniquely Daidoji fassion. To be sure, the vassals are tradesmen above all else, and do not stoop to underhanded or shady dealings unless it could benefit the Crane as a whole in desperate situations. Hiramichi who do not follow the path of honor are chastised as any other samurai, and mor than one would-be underworld king has been exiled from the vassal family.
