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 Post subject: The Crane Clan
PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 2:01 pm 
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For the Crane, the fall of Gozoku in 435 meant the execution of their Champion, Doji Raigu. With his fall, a whole set of ideas related to Crane position in the Empire collapsed. Not only those originating from Raigu himself, the author of "Relations Between Ruler and Subject", a prolific critic of unbridled Imperial autocracy and a proponent of subjecting the Empire to a unified set of norms and laws that the Emperor should abide by on his end in how he treats his vassals. Much more was lost. The trust between the lines of Hantei and Doji to follow the same vision of the Empire that had made the latter a de-facto fourth Imperial Family for most of the time of the early Empire. The leverage it had given the Crane in negotiating alliances with each and any, and in claiming positions in Imperial institutions. Their very legitimacy to be called the Left Hand. There was a major rollback of Crane influence on all fronts, the Lion and to a lesser extent the Dragon were forcefully removing Crane influence from each and every sphere of influence. No former privileges and prerogatives the Crane had enjoyed could be take for granted in the new era. Large swaths of Crane territory were occupied by Lion and Dragon troops, deliberately or unwittingly distorting the Crane economy. The turf was back for cut and grab. When Doji Usan won the Emerald Championship after Raigu had 'vacated' it, he didn't last a year in the seat. Whatever stories could be told about Yugozohime's fond appreciation of Usan's personal qualities that led him to be made her Imperial Consort, he was replaced by none other than vengeful Matsu Mochihime who purged the Emerald Office from Gozoku influences, exuding special zeal in removing the Crane from it. The Left Hand was crippled.

Doji Kakumei, who was allowed to succeed his executed father as the Lord of the Crane, was not liked by Yugozohime. He was not a particularly amicable or graceful person, and considered untrustworthy (some considered him cursed by Benten herself), half-tainted with the influences of the Triumvirate as he had been groomed by Raigu to succeed him. On those grounds his rule was challenged by his younger brother Sekidera, much more Crane-line in mien and manner, who was fine with being used as a pocket candidate to replace Kakumei, a tool to control and discipline his elder brother by the Otomo and the Ikoma. In the first year of his reign, Kakumei all too often was finding himself in 'damned if he did, damned if he didn't' situations. During the preparations for the winter court in Kyuden Ikoma he threw almost all of his Clan's assets to restore a modicum of normal treatment for the Crane in the Empire, most imminently to secure the withdrawal of Lion troops from Crane lands without territorial concessions. While Crane diplomats returned for Oshogatsu of 437 with just that, with a little help of Usan, the sole Crane to have the Empress' ear, Kakumei was still blamed for bankrupting the Clan of assets he thought would have been taken from it by the Lion anyway. Deligitimised, ridiculed, distrusted, and contested by his own, he was hardening by the day, developing a penchant for realpolitik. His conclusion was that for the Crane to survive and return to their rightful place in the Empire, they need to have the power to do so. He became unsentimental, amoral even, and many in his own Clan would consider his methods ruthless and uncompassionate. But others, especially the Daidoji, appreciated a harsh man for the hard times who was not afraid or otherwise reluctant to get things done. And among the Daidoji, there was a group very fond of him. He felt more at home at Kosaten Shiro than in the Palaces of the Crane, and he often prayed at the shrine standing atop the ruins of Shiro Giji.

Henceforth, when the gaijin came in 440, he saw them for what they were to his Clan: both a threat and an opportunity. Since Cornejo seemed to be having strong Mantis leanings, Kakumei's Daidoji confidantes were asked to engage Garen Hawthorne and his men in various discussions; Ikoma Genmuro was not the only one to assess strengths and weaknesses of the foreigners. It mostly looked like Crane interests were civilian in nature, and their talks with the gaijin leaning toward economic matters beyond the facade of acculturation. In fact, Kakumei would soon adopt economic policies that emphasised merchant fleet expansion as a way to rebound from the bottom of empty coffers, treating all skilled heimin in Crane ports as indentured labour. This started a spat with Gusai Mori who demanded compensation. Being rebuked, he began raiding Crane shipping lanes. Kakumei demanded an immediate halt. Being rebuked having a query whether the Crane were willing to pay protection fees as a reply, he ordered Mantis warehouses in Crane ports seized and burned, asking if the Gusai are willing to pay protection fees now. The conflict got atrocious quickly and informed many further political choices, extending beyond the White Stag. The Mantis joined the Crab and the Scorpion in an informal alliance, and when Kakumei humiliated Suzume Mitsuru and snatched the Emperor's Blessing from the Sparrow it was Mori who extended the hand to the Suzume, beginning the opium epopeia.

At the height of the row with the Mantis in 441 Sekidera stepped out with a sharp critique of his brother (though someone else may have been whispering the words of it into his ear), pointing out that the least they needed is to be in open conflict on all flanks with no allies to support them. For that, he had significant backing. To prevent fracturing of the Clan, Kakumei seemingly relented and pledged that his policies would yield results within a year, or he would abdicate. What happened next was nothing short of miraculous for someone who had had no insider's knowledge, or for someone who didn't believe that some other Fortunes than Benten actually favoured Kakumei. When a prominent Lion warlord Akodo Tsetsu invaded the Osari Plains he had planned to carve off from the Crane way back before the mandated withdrawal in 437, his force was massacred practically to the man (one man, Ikoma Yuri, was allowed to live to tell the tale) in a cul-de-sac orchestrated by the Daidoji. The Lion later claimed that hellish tactics were used to defeat their troops, and once the White Stag demonstrated what that hell had actually been and charges against the Crane for using poluvora on the battlefield were raised, this was not how it was seen inside the Clan. The news of a complete victory against the Lion swept like wildfire, aligning the Clan behind Kakumei. The Champion rode the wave, both figuratively and factually, assembling Crane vessels and fitting them for combat as he expected that by the end of 2-year term of getting to know each other mandated by Yugozohime something in relations with the gaijin would have to give. Even the Asahina, who have been deeply troubled by Kakumei's coercive methods and questionable spirituality, joined his side in the improvised fleet. With the help of their magic and thanks to Kakumei's determination and battle charisma not only a victory in the Battle of the Raging Seas was delivered, but the Mantis were not allowed to take sole credit for it. 442 was the year of Crane military victories. If the Battle on the Osari Plains restored Crane dignity, self-confidence and faith in their Champion, the Battle of the Raging Seas restored their legitimacy. Yugozohime never really came to like Kakumei, but after he had proved his loyalty and mettle in a moment of reckoning she no longer questioned him. Sekidera found his coterie inside the Crane Clan diminishing almost overnight.

Kakumei was probably wrong to shove his triumph down Sekidera's throat, but gloating was his weakness, earning him unnecessary enemies. It made the younger brother so resentful that when his Ikoma friends approached him with a proposal, he didn't refuse. The game he decided to play was for the Emerald Championship in the wake of Mochihime's death. Kakumei wanted the position for himself to continue Crane restoration to the centre of Imperial politics but his idiosyncrasies made it difficult for Yugozohime to think of him as her champion. The Lion knew this, and Zaruko decided to trust the call of her Ikoma advisors, being able to position herself as the one putting Imperial interests before particular ones. During the winter court of 443 Kakumei was shamed by Otomo Hokusai when the Chancellor announced that Sekidera will take part in the Test as a compromise candidate with Lion backing, and implicitly also an Imperial one as an Otomo bride was offered to him to strengthen his gravitas. Kakumei had to pick his poison and ultimately decided to swallow his pride and reneged on competing, also because he might have been a marginally worse swordsman than Sekidera. Their estrangement was not easy to overcome, however, and it was Sekidera now who rejected Kakumei's overtures. Still, all the gambits between the Crane and the Lion might have been upended by a surprise entrant, Shiba Murayasu, a humble yet excellent duellist whose performance throughout the tourney in 444 earned him the favour of many, including (or in particular) that of the young princess Retsuhime. When he faced Sekidera in the final match, there was a near-consensus in the audience that he would be the next Emerald Champion, to the chagrin or anger of all those involved in putting the Crane in office. And in those tense moments, Murayasu conceded inferiority, his reasons staying his own. Though it was easy to imagine what they might have been, with his family still stigmatised and the lands of the Phoenix occupied and preyed on, the ashes of the City of Remembrance not fully settled. Sekidera was the new Emerald Champion, but Murayasu ended as Retsuhime's tutor. There were rumours that the eldest princess refused to eat as long as her mother would not send her Kakita iaijutsu teacher away and let her be taught by Murayasu, and eventually had her way.

At first, Sekidera didn't exceed low expectations many Crane had about him. His claims of impartiality and securing Imperial interests through his position were seen as pitiful ways to conceal the fact that he was serving Lion interests, so behind closed doors he was mostly branded as either a traitor or a useful idiot. Although Kakumei didn't publicly speak against his brother, his daimyo and advisers knew he regarded him with resentment and disdain. This particularly picked up when Lion invaded the Osari Plains in 445 and Sekidera stood aside, doing nothing to soften the blow. At the same time, however, all other Clans took well what the Crane condemned as he held few prejudices that would bar their samurai from seeking positions in the Emerald Office and the Imperial Legions. After Mochihime's purges there were many vacancies and the network of Emerald law enforcers was frayed all across the Empire. Many Clans hoped that they could sway Sekidera to favour them in filling the posts. However, he made a habit of being conveniently elsewhere or endlessly stalling responses to suggestions and queries whenever someone tried to leverage him, the Lion and the Crane included, while introducing the practice of annual written examinations for the Emerald hopefuls in a week prior to Hashira Houritsu. The Conference of Jurists itself was being organised in a different place every year, often on short notice, making preparations for it hectic but also leaving little time for politicking. His bureaucratic method, perhaps advised by his Otomo wife, perplexed many who were used to a heavily politicised Emerald Office, but with the passage of years the Empire got used to. There was predictability in his passive, evolutionary, low-key execution of the Office many grew to appreciate. He made no revolution in the Lion-dominated Imperial Legions but during his over-two-decades tenure as the Emerald Champion many non-Lion gradually managed to reach the ranks of taisa and shireikan in them. By this he also earned some room for manoeuvre beyond political divisions of the day. When the Yobanjin invaded in 462 a Crab-dominated Legion commanded by Hida Iemon did Sekidera's bidding in deploying it far away from home despite hostile relations between the Crab and the Crane.

While Sekidera transcended some of his particularities, Kakumei gradually succumbed to his. His 'Crane First' policies and focus on internal capacity-building in almost all spheres, agriculture, craftsmanship, infrastructure, commerce and military, were earning him support at home, but his confrontational, often cutthroat tactics vis-a-vis his neighbours were dampening gains. He sought no ways to overcome feuds with the Lion or economic conflicts with the Crab and the Mantis, but fought them tooth and nail without end. He was getting away with it also because the Scorpion were usually choosing to keep low diplomatic profile and did not wade into the vacuum 'assertive' Crane policies were potentially leaving. It was probably his approach that gave stark rise of the Tortoise to the role of the Empire's middleman as robust Crane output needed intermediaries to be merchandised elsewhere in the Empire, and the Muhaki had both the clout, the knowledge and the skill to go where merchants under Daidoji patronage could not. Whether Kakumei knew this included markets as foreign as Merenae, Sheel, Tarkhanate or Medinaat al-Salaam may never be answered, but other Crane would surely be surprised learning that in many places across the world Crane silks, accessories, porcelain, teas and artwork became in vogue from 450s onward.

Kakumei's reluctance to advance Crane interests in conciliatory, future-orientated ways gave rise to other forms of accruing favours as courtiers and artisans had to prove to their superiors that their trips and court presence were bringing substantial and relatively immediate gains for the Clan. Doji and Kakita performers, artisans and craftsmen were supposed to think as merchant patrons now, looking for ways to bring back tangibles for offering their services and creations outside of the Clan, with notable exception of Imperial Families where old rules applied. The Tortoise, of course, benefitted in situations in which coin was good enough. The Asahina found it hardest to adapt to it due to the deeper spirituality permeating their creations, hence for a time it were their works which started to dominate in the field of high art, exposing the young family to greater publicity. That elevated expectations in the increasingly affluent Empire, and the preferences was inching toward the sumptuous and away from simple elegance. It was the search for a steady supply of gold and gems that made the paths of family daimyo Asahina Anzai and Agasha Kyoso cross even if it soon stopped to be about trade. Their love could have been a good opportunity to enact a deeper relationship between both Clans but it was sabotaged from within as not compatible with Crane interests and turned devastating and awry in ways few Asahina want to speak about. The most notable example of the trend in art of the 460s and 470s was the young Asahina Kamatari's creation of The Council, a deeply impractical yet monumentally beautiful sculpture made of a rare block of pure jade. The Crab found it deeply offensive to use this amount of jade for artwork, but it was offered as a gift to Empress Retsuhime herself, saving the Asahina from direct Crab recriminations but perpetuating hostility.

Kakumei's era was transformational in many ways but it also brought the Crane Clan no peace and left it frayed in many ways. The apotheosis of self-interest diminished Lady Doji's more humble lessons of compassion and good deeds, of feeling the world rather than exploiting it. While the Clan as a whole was in many ways well-managed and effective, the traditional Crane ethics were wilting in the process, and two generations raised in a brutal world of constant rivalry with everyone around bred as much anxiety as it brought efficaciousness. As Kakumei was getting old and increasingly enfeebled by age, he was refusing to retire, delaying a much needed compensatory change in leadership. The main reason for it was that he knew his legacy would be discontinued. He had lost his only son on Matsu Zaruko's blade back in 445 and as his later efforts to produce a legitimate heir failed he ultimately struck a deal with Sekidera to let his eldest inherit Kyuden Doji, what to an extent mended their relations. But then, the Champion was not too happy with how his niece Kogyoku was shaping up and how she was refusing his uncle's grooming, raised in a more principled way where traditional Crane values and modes of operation were prevalent. He saw more hope in her younger brother Shioden but his nephew despised Kakumei on more personal grounds, not least because he considered the old man disgusting in his ardence to ungracefully age in public rather than retire to the monastery.

The waiting game was over in 469 when Kakumei died from cardiac arrest, working. Sekidera entered inkyo right after, leaving his children to decide the fate of the Crane in times to come. As Kogyoku became the Crane Champion, Shioden deftly secured succeeding his father in the Emerald Office, peerless in the Sacred Art. The siblings were generally in agreement that it was time to restore normalcy the way they imagined it had been in golden times of Nio, Sasageru or Hatsuo, against the fact that the world had changed and the Crane had changed with it. Pre-eminence in courts, arts and culture, alliances, special relations with the Throne, reducing dependence on the Minor Clans, especially the Tortoise and all the other wishful things were lumped together on agenda. But reality was not kind to them, and they had many trials by fire before them that would make them escapist or bitter. Kogyoku wanted to be Retsuhime's best friend but the age difference was an obstacle she didn't know how to overcome. Her daimyo and vassals adapted to the pretentious discourse of Craneness she proselytised but were performing their duties mostly the way they had got used to doing them under Kakumei. Of them, the seasoned Kakita daimyo Koresada was putting most confidence and support in the young Championess as he recognised her intentions as noble and tried to mould them into policy. But Kogyoku got quickly disenchanted with opposition while concurrently dealing with personal problems. Rumours had it that she had miscarried several times, blaming the stress and the refusal of the Crane machinery to adjust to her wishes, before her only son Tanaka was finally born. As grooming (read: pampering) her only boy soon became her obsession and she invested in him all her hopes for rejuvenation of the Crane Clan, Koresada and Daidoji Kamei took over the daily affairs, trying to deal concurrently with flaws in the fabric of the Clan left behind by Kakumei's single-mindedness. They both found Asahina Kamatari a mostly unhelpful dreamer, captured by his strange premonitions and artistic cravings. At the very least, the Doji were again focusing on accumulating political capital and seeking alliances while the Kakita were reclaiming the arts and trends, with the star of Kakita Wayozu shining the brightest among them.

Shioden's hopes to excel as the Emerald Champion over the passivity of his father were soon quashed. His early statements signalling pro-Crane politicisation of the Office led to the effective withdrawal of Lion and Crab support, and with the second Yobanjin crisis descending on him in 472 not only did he have too few Legions answering his call to organise the counteroffensive but he also saw the Right Hand marching on its own and had Akodo Toru demanding to be invested with the powers of the Shogun, effectively pulling the rug from under his feet. When Retsuhime granted the Lion their wishes, Shioden's world collapsed. But unlike his sister he managed to emerge from gloom, choosing the long political battle to reclaim the effective control of the Legions that would take him a decade, becoming a hardened if vindictive political player. He sought support where it could be found rather than where it was elegant to find it. He moved past the Gozoku taboos and committed to the quid pro quo with the Phoenix and the Scorpion, and finally also the Dragon. His efforts to compel the Minor Clans into unconditional support largely backfired, however, either because of their reluctance to cross the Lion for some or offend Crab allies for others, or just because of refusal to be pulled into the squabbles at this level. It may have been a political miscalculation on Muhaki Genjiko's part not to accommodate the Emerald Champion at that time that only strengthened his resentment of the Tortoise and the Minor Clans in general because in the end he emerged victorious from the row with Toru after he had swayed the Dragon to his side with a tremendous And still, the moment his Office was nominally whole again was when the Veiled Emperor cut him down to size with some help of Ikoma-run census that made him reach to the Crane coffers to pay for his lack of capacity to levy raised Imperial taxes. At a point when he was already heavily indebted to various factions for helping him restore his nominal power.

His campaign against opium producers and retailers seemed to be a good way forward. In one fell swoop he was reasserting his credentials as the chief Imperial law enforcer, punishing a number of Minor Clans involved in it, potentially making the Crab more willing to accommodate him, endearing the Lion, showing strength to his own base among the Crane... He had successes in closing many Tortoise chirping dens in the capitol area and in Crane lends as well as shutting off the Yasuki western routes. His threat to withdraw the Legion from the vicinity of still unwalled Ryoko Owari got him hefty Scorpion concessions. But when he tried to sever the Sparrow Trail by striking in 496 at what looked according to the intelligence he had very much like one of its important nodes - Kitsune Mori - it certainly didn't work as planned, and the military blunder was as monumental as it was far-reaching. The foxpox epidemic spread like wildfire across Crane provinces and reached the Imperial Palace, almost depriving the Veiled Emperor of his eldest heir. While coverup was decent, Shioden was never called out on responsibility as the connection between invading the quarantined forest and the spread of the disease was tenuous, and his otherwise brilliant lieutenant Daidoji Tsukuro would get the whole blame attributed to him in the end, the aging Emerald Champion has yet to fully recover and prove that his tenure has not been a wasted mandate.

And yet, his failings don't seem half as calamitous for the larger Crane profile when compared to what has occurred ever since his nephew Tanaka ascended to lead the Clan. Kogyoku's health got allegedly affected by the plague and she entered inkyo as soon as her son came of age in 498, becoming probably the youngest Champions in Crane history. The manboy's less than stellar reputation within the Clan made the occurrence one that filled some Crane with dread, though most assumed that as with Kogyoku the elder statesmen - Kamei and Koresada - would more or less secure business as usual while grooming Tanaka out of his various vices and follies. Alas, Kamei has already been very tired with both the amount of burdens placed on the Daidoji in military, commerce, intelligence and plethora of other things as well as with containing his overly ambitious mother Rokahime and overly belligerent brother Hira. Koresada, on the other hand, had his shot at making a better man out of Tanaka as his sensei, and failed, maybe because of Kogyoku's many interventions in his grooming process. Tanaka's promiscuous indiscretions, braggery, vindictiveness, disrespectfulness and an unchecked sense of personal grandeur combined with a rather fragile ego could be hidden from public view for a time but the Clan was up for a cruel awakening when Koresada committed his defiant seppuku before him in summer 499, leading to dissent among the Kakita. While putting well-respected Wayozu at the helm of the family was not a bad move, it turned out to be an abuse of her loyalty as what continued was spiting Koresada's remains by relegating them to a humble kofun in the middle of nowhere and cleansing of Koresada's supporters. Wayozu has been caught in an impossible situation of letting Tanaka have his way in fracturing her family or defying him like Koresada. In this moment of crisis, many Crane have started to look to Shioden as a lesser of two evils.

All the turmoil notwithstanding, this is all happening to a strong, resilient Clan, that has reconstructed much of its former political clout and has selectively used progressive notions to build a robust, diversified and incredibly shockproof economy as well as an innovative military that can pose a challenge to both the Lion and the Crab in the kind of warfare neither of them is fully prepared to face. After years of efforts a more substantial alliance with the Dragon has grown increasingly plausible, while the long-standing adversarial Three Pincers Alliance is fraying, with both the Scorpion and the Mantis tacitly seeking rapprochement with their pivotal neighbour. The Phoenix Clan remains a Crane client in many aspects, not worthy to be elevated to an allied status for all the complications it would bring. The relations with the heirs are a bit of a zero-sum game, and while Tanaka has managed to enter a rather public spat with Jama, he has also forged closer ties with Hohiro who already has a Doji bride and an heir, and the younger scion nevertheless keeps a predominantly Crane retinue. The question remains: can this be unmade by one questionable leader?



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