Battue family

The Battue family is a vassal family in service to the Iuchi family of the Unicorn Clan. Their duty is to research Khadi magic to ensure that it never corrupts the Unicorn and to hunt down any tsukai in the Unicorn lands.

Founding
The Battue were founded in the ninth century after three Iuchi shugenja in service to Iuchi Nagol realized that he and the rest of their order were being corrupted by Maho. The shugenja tricked their brethren and killed them one at a time. They came for Nagol lastly, knowing that he could not be tricked and would need to be confronted by all three directly in order to be overwhelmed.

The shugenja were successful and took proof of Nagol's treachery to the Iuchi daimyo. The leaders of the family were furious with the treachery and discussed what would be done. They decided that the three shugenja would be demoted in status, but also given the Battue vassal name. The shugenja then returned to the Forest of the Dreamers where they had previously lived and began their duty.

Structure and Holdings
The Battue are not ruled by a single daimyo, but rather a triad of shugenja known as the Kelet, or spirit guard. This arrangement is to ensure that none among them will ever corrupt the family. As part of this arrangement the Kelet members live far from each other, at the edges of their territory. The current members of the Kelet are Battue Iyemi, Battue Matsumoto and Battue Shijan. Each of the Kelet has between five and ten students studying under them at any time.

Their are only two major structures in the Battue lands, the Tower of the Kelet and the Library of Nagol. The Tower of the Kelet is used for rituals, research and court. The Library of Nagol is used to research and house the family's knowledge of gaijin magic. There was once an entire section devoted to Iuchiban, but the scrolls located their disappeared shortly after the death of Toturi I, indicating that their may again be corruption in the family.

There are also several small guard houses located between the Kelet estates. These are guarded by Moto Adja, who constantly shifts his men's patrols in order to emulate the standard nomadic Unicorn way of life.

The villagers of the Battue are all craftsmen and do not grow their own food because of their proximity to the Maho-infested Forest of Dreamers.