Hiramori family

The Hiramori family were vassals to the Daidoji family. They were formed after the end of the Foxfire War.

Origins
For two generations the Daidoji Daimyo Daidoji Kamei and his children fought against his younger brother Daidoji Hira and his children. Hira and his followers fought against the Daidoji in the Uebe Marshes, using guerrilla tactics to outmanouvered their enemies for years. Hira's line was consumed, and two daimyo had been died during the war. Daidoji Kasako, Kamei's daughter, was the current daimyo. She was a practical woman who realized the value of such training despite the tragedy and gathered the troops that had helped her defeat Hira's followers, proclaimed as the Hiramori vassal family. The family was named the "Forest Hira," an ironic joke at the traitorous Hira's expense. Their ancestral home were the places where the Foxfire War was fought, the Akagi Forest and the marshes.

Duties
The Hiramori family developed trap-laying and ambush strategies, keeping secret methods adapted to the most difficult ground in case anyone cared to follow their retreat. In war, the Hiramori were most valuable when Crane territory was deeply overrun.

Bizarre
Hiramori bushi were reclusive, and cultivated repulsive quirks. They spoke in a strange backwoods accent and used to disappear without warning. The Hiramori hand-to-hand combat technique rejected armor and specialized in various lengths of improvised stakes and spears. Many Hiramori trained at the Harrier school, and a few of the more deadly Harriers ventured forth to learn the ways of the Hiramori.

History
The Hiramori operated against the Lion from the Akagi woodlands before and during the Clan War. When Yoritomo retreated through Crane lands during the War Against the Shadow, Hiramori Kedamono's band attacked his rear lines from the marshes.