Shiro was the Rokugani word for those castles [1] housing the families of daimyō of regional or greater importance. [2]
Purpose[]
The samurai caste built castles from which to protect and control their lands. They were first and foremost military strongholds, but they also served as centers of government, administration, diplomacy, and civilization. Feudal governance in Rokugan was centered on castles, which served both as the symbolic seats of power for lords and as the administrative centers for those lords' rule of their lands. [3] The builder of a castle chose its location based on its strategic value, commonly overlooking important trade routes or rivers or defend vital resources. Sometimes they were built in hostile territory, in order to subdue an uprising, to legitimize a claim on the land, or to otherwise exert control over the unruly area. [4]
Castle's Court Chamber[]
A castle's court chamber always displayed the banners of the lord's family and clan on the wall above the dais; if the lord had a personal mon, it might be displayed as well. When guests of rank were present at the castle, their banners were hung in the court directly across the chamber from the lord's banners. [5]
Architecture[]
The earliest castles were fortified houses, simple hilltop forts that relied upon the terrain for defense. Innovators gradually improved these structures by surrounding the central keep, called the tenshukaku, with palisades, then with solid walls, then with towers. All castles derived from the Imperial Palace, constructed under the tutelage of the Kami according to the principles of the Celestial Heavens: [4] sloped tiles that topped walls and covered roofs; the vertical, pagoda-like structure of towers and keeps; the plaster-smooth, lightly sloped outer walls-were found in nearly all castles of Rokugan. Because the main keep of Hantei's palace was ten stories high, no other Rokugani keep had more than nine stories. [6] Castles and their associated fortifications were among the few structures in Rokugan that made extensive use of stone in their construction, particularly in the foundations and the outer walls. Wood was often used for the upper levels and interior structure. [7]
Types and Typical Elements[]
Castles built in the mountains are called yamajiro, those atop hills are hirayamajiro, and those on open ground (the most common type) were called hirajiro. The heart of any castle was the keep (tenshukaku), the entire complex was surrounded and defended by the outer walls (maru), which were usually reinforced with towers (yagura), boasting barracks, dōjō, guest housing, courtyard, gardens, stables, escape tunnels and shrines. Where possible, a keep would have a well in its basement, or a cistern if no well was available, to help occupants withstand a siege. Those who had moat (mizuki), typically placed it either outside the main exterior wall or between two layers of walls as part of the complex's multilayered defense. It was common for a castle to coexist with an adjacent town (jokamichi). [8] Castle buildings were built atop the ishigaki, the massive stone platforms that served as foundations. [4]
Rokugani Castles[]
Castles in other Spirit Realms[]
| Tōshigoku Castle | "Keep of Ten Thousand Bones" |
| Fortress of Fu Leng | "Fu Leng's Fortress" |
References
- ↑ The Price of War, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ Courts of Stone, p. 16
- ↑ Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, pp. 21-22
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Courts of Stone, p. 8
- ↑ Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 24
- ↑ Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 23
- ↑ Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 32
- ↑ Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 32-38
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