The Mantis had the comfort of largely staying away from Gozoku's machinations, though they did exploit the perceived weakness of Hantei Kusada in their own way. While Gusai paid with death for his stunt in 428, he nevertheless left a heritage of a family name for his son Mori. And for him, that was not something to squander, even though the bar for daring ambition his father had set was pegged high, he did manage to be even greater a man even though the winds were blowing both for and against his sails during the time to come.
The Mantis were the first to spot the gaijin fleets approaching Rokugan, and the first to capitalise on it. They were crucial in establishing their initial contact with Yugozohime's Court and were well-positioned to be the primary agent of new era of cross-oceanic relations. They were learning quickly from both Thranish and Merenaese, and when the push came to shove in 442, Mori made them be on the right side of history. Alas, Agasha Kasuga and Hantei Muhaki happened, and with them - the emergence and rise of the Tortoise. Mori could not efficiently oppose the Empress' own uncle, try as he might. No angst or resentment toward the Tortoise would do him any good as long as Muhaki lived, for Retsuhime shared her mother's fondness of her Tortoise creation. With the Thranish gone and the Merenaese monopolised, it seemed the golden opportunity had sailed past.
Mori was not a man to put all eggs in one basket, but he was a man to put two and two together. His early secret conversations with Teodoro Cornejo about the incoming war between Merenae and their Moto allies with some foreign kingdom known as the Sheel over the eastward Spice Route alongside some inferences about the Moto travels he could recreate from accounts of both Cornejo and Hawthorne made him realise as one of the first in Rokugan that their world is in fact round. And the practical consequence of this was that somewhere to the south, beyond the dreaded Sea of Shadows, there may be a westward maritime passage to the fabled Ivory Kingdoms Cornejo had spun many stories about.
Unbeknownst to anyone but his several faithful captains and their crews who took part, Mori did send a voyage of exploration south, and after several months one ship was back, reporting discovery of a rather expansive archipelago to the south inhabited by people resembling a bit those Cornejo described. The Mantis called it the Coral Islands, and the ship did indeed brought a load of coral. The others returned a year after, and not all of them, but they had indeed found a sea route to the eastern coasts of the strange land ruled by the Maharaja. They didn't bring as much specie and gems as Mori would have liked, but they brought crops, their seeds and men knowing how to cultivate them. Mori himself didn't have a crops planter in him but he had people who were keen to try and he had some other ideas having been briefed on properties of some of the crops. In 443, when the Tortoise emerged, he himself took the route to see it all with his very own eyes and make an assessment.
Upon return, he invited Suzume Mitsuru to the Isles and together they initiated the opium planting scheme, which proved to be a resounding if politically bumpy success in years to come. He tried other crops, especially cotton and spices on the Isles themselves, with mixed success. But enough of yield and variety to make the barest of appearances that whatever the Mantis are bringing to the market might be coming not from mysterious foreign source but the Isles themselves. Into the second half of the Fifth Century the Mantis started to build bigger, more seaworthy junks, able to carry bulk cargo, mostly commodities: coral, rare timbers, cotton, spices, exotic foodstuffs, whale meat, among others. That also increased their own thirst for Rokugani exports, and so neither Mori nor his son Hirado were too active in political games of Retsuhime's reign, for the sole purpose of not antagonising potential trading partners. They did cherish their arrangement with the Scorpion and the Crab for the same reason, for it has never committed them firmly to take action against the Crane or to keep the pesky Tortoise from getting too many friends.
For many things the Mantis have been bringing initially there wasn't much demand for. But has picked up eventually, like for spicier spices or the reinvigorating drink they call coffee. It's an acquired taste, but there are those who enjoy it. The Mantis assault on traditional Rokugani cuisine has been broader, and in fact quite successful. It has diversified over the century, and not in the direction of more meat, but greater variety in fruits, vegetables, condiments and spices. But if one believes that the Mantis have just tuned into food merchants, they would make the Mantis happy. Because those Crane or Tortoise vessels disappearing in high seas is certainly not of their doing, but some accursed pirates.
Gusai Ryoshida became Champion soon before Retsuhime's passing. It is said that his sense of entitlement and great destiny are immense, following in the footsteps of his forebears and trying to make them even larger. That he is the son of Renhime, the Empress' sister married off to Gusai Hirado, only amplifies that. He heads and affluent Clan, the one that has made itself indispensable for the Rokugani economy by fostering its dependence on imported goods. Soon after taking power he declared some of the Isles off-limits to outsiders. Those who visit them these days usually take note of an increasing number of darker-skinned, gaijin-looking people there, some of them carrying curved blades at their hips in the open, presenting themselves with dignity atypical for heimin even though the Mantis claim they're just that. The what for and the where from remains something the Gusai don't set their tongue loose about.
_________________ Head GM ✿ Floating Lotus ✿ Gunslinger ✿ Merciful ✿ Experienced 2
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