Rokugan Local Governance:
Variations: The Phoenix Clan
Phoenix Clan Governance
- Families: Phoenix families often to live in larger homes, with married adult siblings living in the same family homestead with their children as the grandparents and the main heir's family. This central homestead allows the family to oversee a more wide-spread group of small hamlets and villages.
- Families: Phoenix soldiers are only called up briefly during the summer, instead patrolling their lands and performing other duties. However, the whole family may be called on to move should a bushi be called to serve as a yojimbo to a shugenja in a different location.
- Families: Phoenix shugenja's families tend to cluster around libraries and institutions of learning, though the shugenja themselves may be called away from these central locations to spread the blessings of the Fortunes throughout the land.
- Families: Phoenix children are examined at birth for signs of the gifts of the shugenja. Usually, if a child is born a shugenja they are taken away from their family for training by the time they are five years old, and watched carefully before then.
- Families: Most shugenja have little to do with the raising of their own children, leaving it to a non-shugenja spouse or Komori nursemaids. Bushi and courtiers are much more involved.
- Families: The Phoenix have marriages arranged usually by the age of eight. The marriage is a glorious and sacred affair, and the Phoenix ceremony sets the standard for the whole empire.
- Families: Phoenix marriages are heavily reliant on omens and prophecies, and much divination occurs before a marriage is approved. For this reason, the Phoenix are generally understanding when a marriage arrangement is broken for these reasons, and a gift is made in recompense to make up for the loss when this occurs. On the other hand, if the shugenja can become convinced that the fortunes truly bless a young couple in love, they may approve a love match to please Hotei and Benten, the fortunes of Contentment and Love.
- Families: The small forces of active Phoenix bushi not serving as yojimbo are called up during the summer to wage battle against the Yobanjin barbarians to the north. Fortunately the chill and mountain passes mean that barbarian incursions during the winter months are rare.
- Villages: Shugenja sonchou are extremely rare. Instead, lower-ranked shugenja are given the duty of wandering through the land dispensing advice and blessings across a larger region.
- Villages: Monks are welcomed in Phoenix villages, lingering to teach the wisdom of the Tao, sometimes for many years. Although their advice is not as prized as the guidance of the shugenja, they give to even normal village heimin an insight into spiritual matters beyond those of many clans.
- Villages: Villages in Phoenix lands tend to be reclusive and wary of outsiders. They appeal often for the guidance of the shugenja on difficult matters, and non-shugenja sonchou are often insufficient to reassure them.
- Villages: Villagers are particularly reverent of the shrines and kami, and out of self-preservation will respond with great hostility to those who do not show proper respect.
- Towns: Phoenix towns rarely bare the burden of attack, and tend to be places of peace and commerce.
