World of L5R

The Empire of Rokugan
Rokugan is the focus of the Legend of the Five Rings setting. It is a land of magic and samurai, where deadly battles are fought in fields with the sword and in courts with the spoken word.

Burning Sands
The Burning Sands lie to the north and west of Rokugan. These lands consist mostly of vast stretches of desert where nomads roam the land and bitter wars are fought over the smallest reservoirs of water.

Ivory Kingdoms
The Ivory Kingdoms lie far to the south of Rokugan, past the Shadowlands. Little is known of these islands and their inhabitants to the general populace of Rokugan, although secretly (and illegally) the Mantis Clan has been carrying on trade with this nation for some time.

Shadowlands
The Shadowlands border Rokugan to the south and south-west. While not a nation, per se, this is a vile land where the very air can be poison and foul, unholy creatures are summoned forth by dark powers to wage a never-ending battle against all life in Rokugan.

Denizens
In the world of Rokugan, there are many different and extraordinary creatures roaming the lands, and humans are not the only beings to have developed a civilization.

Humans
The great majority of the populations of Rokugan and other lands are human. Humans almost exclusively make up the population of the clans, great and minor, as well as the other groups within Rokugan. The number of non-human members of Rokugan's clans throughout history can probably be counted on one's fingers.

Kenku
The kenku are an ancient race resembling very large humanoid crows. Kenku are legendary swordsmen and are, at least in legend, responsible for training some of the most famous Rokugani swordsmen in history. Seeing a kenku is rare, and getting one to take on a student is nearly impossible. These creatures have removed themselves from Rokugan almost entirely.

Naga
The naga are an ancient race of creatures who appear half-human, half-serpent. Long before the rise of Rokugan, the Naga had a vast and vibrant civilization. At some point in pre-history, however, the entire race of Naga entered a deep sleep, where they remained for nearly 100,000 years. They awakened briefly during the Second Day of Thunder, but after a few short years of involvement in Rokugani affairs, they once again returned to their slumber.

Nezumi
The nezumi, or "ratlings", are a race of large, intelligent rats. They currently live in squalor, barely better than animals, although they claim to have once had an extensive, advanced society. Unfortunately, this civilization was entirely within what has become the Shadowlands, and was presumably destroyed when the dark Kami Fu Leng fell to the earth.

Zokujin
The zokujin, or "copper goblins", are small creatures with wiry hair and heads vaguely resembling those of frogs. They have extraordinary natural tunneling abilities -- being that they eat rock for nourishment, this is little surprise. Because of this, they are often used -- involuntarily more often than not -- by the clans of Rokugan in their various mines. Zokujin live to be centuries old, and an experienced zokujin shaman will have power in the area of Earth magic that is impossible for human shugenja.