Isawa family
From L5r: Legend of the Five Rings
| Isawa family
| |
|---|---|
| Clan: | Phoenix Clan |
| Founded: | Pre-calendar |
| Daimyo: | Council of Five |
The Isawa family was founded by a shugenja named Isawa. Isawa was a great scholar and sorcerer before the Kami fell to the earth. When Shiba came to him to ask for his help, Isawa refused without a pledge from Shiba to protect his family. In response, the Kami Shiba knelt before Isawa and gave him that promise.
Currently, the Isawa use this promise to retain control of the affairs of the Phoenix clan. The Shiba family controls the armies, but even this is done under the direction of the Isawa. There are those among the Shiba who would argue that the Kami did not promise subservience, but these are greatly ignored by the Isawa. There are those in Rokugan who would argue, especially after the near-destruction of the clan during the Clan War, that the Shiba need to do a better job of protecting the Isawa from themselves, but these people generally make sure that the Phoenix do not hear their comments.
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[edit] The Isawa Mon
The mon of the Isawa consists of the five elemental symbols in a star pattern, arranged, clockwise from the top, Void, Water, Air, Fire, Earth. What would be circles around the elemental symbols swirl into a spiral in the center of the mon. The mon symbolizes that Isawa's belief that all things in nature are truly part of each other.
The mon is worn by all Isawa and by all graduates of the Isawa schools. In addition, shugenja from all clans often spend some time studying with the Isawa after their gempukku. Many of these shugenja choose to wear the Isawa mon as well, as a mark of pride. The Isawa mon is, behind the Emperor's mon, perhaps the most recognizable in the empire.[1]
[edit] Life in the Isawa family
[edit] The Isawa Shugenja
Originally, only a very select few were chosen by the Isawa to become shugenja. Once every ten years, the Isawa would hold a great festival, and the children of the clan would be tested. The Council of Five would test the children, and the ones who showed the most promise were accepted as apprentices -- one student for each Master. The number of students never outnumbered the number of Masters.
All training at this time was done orally, so no written records of the festival or the tests exist today. Later descriptions of them describe the process as a long, grueling process, possibly designed to kill those who had the pride to attend but lacked the skill to master the art.
With the War Against Fu Leng, this all changed. The Isawa, as part of the Phoenix Clan, were required to lend aid to the war effort. Isawa sent his siblings to tutor the other Clans, and also sent healers and other magic users into combat.[2]
Because of this need, the number of shugenja taught by the Isawa has risen since before the war. Today, nearly all Isawa are taught the ways of the kami, and their training begins before they can even walk.
[edit] The Protectors of Magic
The Isawa see themselves as the protectors of all that is arcane within Rokugan. They hunt for maho. They search for unknown nemuranai and other artifacts. They seek knowledge thought lost to time. They attempt to learn all that is to be known about magic, from all of the clans. Isawa students are not uncommon in the schools of the empire, studying under the sensei of other clans.
There are those that claim that the Isawa suppress knowledge and harbor vile sorceries. Some claim that their libraries contain works on maho, oni summoning and other black arts. The Isawa vehemently deny this, claiming that the works they have on these subjects is scholarly, not practical, and that they destroy evil sorcery whenever it is found.[3]
[edit] The Isawa peasantry
Most of the heimin of the Isawa are fishers living along the coastline near Kyuden Isawa. Peasant villages line the Isawa coastline, where the heimin fish for the tuna and herring that live in the cold northern waters. These fishing villages are frequented by ocean-bound merchants, who sail up the coast to peddle their wares to the Phoenix. These merchants are quite welcome in the lands of the Phoenix. The Clan is more secluded than most, and such interactions are a large source of news and material from the rest of Rokugan.[4]
[edit] Holdings
The provinces of the Isawa family consist of the center of the lands of the Phoenix Clan. The largest of their holdings is Kyuden Isawa and its great library. The other castles of the Isawa are patterned after Kyuden Isawa. They all have magical defenses similar to Isawa castle and also hold libraries, though these libraries consist mainly of copies of material in the library at Kyuden Isawa. Most Isawa try in their lifetimes to study at each of the Isawa castles. They believe that the change of surroundings can increase one's perspective.[5]
[edit] Isawa Daimyo
Since the founding of the Phoenix Clan the Isawa family have been ruled by the Council of Five, in essence five daimyo working together in leading the family and Clan.
