Kaiu Kabe (TCG)

Massing against the Wall

Kaiu Kabe, also known as the Carpenter Wall, or more commonly the Kaiu Wall, was built in the southern border of Rokugan by the Crab Clan. The Empire's largest edifice extended from the Sea of the Sun Goddess in the east to the Plains above Evil, near the southern margin of the Shinomen Forest in the west. The Defenders of the Emerald Empire spent their lives upon the Wall, standing vigilant to defend Rokugan against the next attack from the Shadowlands, in their eternal battle against the forces of Jigoku. The Wall was the greatest responsibilities of the Kaiu family, whose name it bore; the Kaiu constantly repaired and improved it.

Burden of the Crab

Original Wall

After the Seven Thunders repelled Fu Leng's dark army from Rokugan, the first Emperor Hantei commanded to build a wall to protect the Empire from the evils of the Shadowlands. Hida and his followers created the “First Wall,” a belt of fortifications—watchtowers, palisades, and bulwarks—designed to block attacks from the forces of Fu Leng. These loose fortifications predated the continuous stone wall which would be known as the Kaiu Wall. The Crab used slate-grey blocks fitted together to make a structure of thirty feet thick and a hundred feet tall.

New Wall

Kaiu Wall

The actual wall was built in the year 716 at the site where the forces of a powerful oni known as the Maw had pushed back the Crab's line of defenses. The Shadowlands forces even managed to breach the old Wall. Kuni Osaku was instrumental in its construction, as she raised a wall of water so the Wall could be built. Seizing the opportunity, the Crab Champion, Hida Banuken, ordered the Crab to begin construction of durable defensive work along the river's eastern bank. For seventy-three days the Crab labored feverishly, while Osaku maintained her invocation. On the seventy-fourth day, Osaku's strength finally failed, and she died. As the flood receded, the Maw drove its army forward, only to slam headlong into a mighty wall, the core of what would become the vast Kaiu Kabe.

Improvements

Over the coming months and years, the Kaiu Kabe was extended along the Seigo River, later known as the River of the Last Stand. A series of stone watchtowers were constructed; these were then connected by curtain walls, which were reinforced in turn by more towers and strongpoints. Barely twenty years after the Battle of the Cresting Wave, the Kaiu Kabe became a contiguous, fortified belt extending along most of the Empire's southern border.

Return of the Unicorn

In the year 815 the Clan of the Wind return was greeted as a barbarian invasion, and they were forced to break through the defenses mounted by the Crab and Lion clans. Their hordes entered Rokugan through the Shadowlands, punching a hole through Crab defenses and making their way past the Kaiu Wall into the heart of the Empire itself, crossing near Razor of the Dawn Castle, during the Battle of Burning Shadows.

Breached by a Shadowlands Assault

In 1123 after a string of failed battles along the Kaiu Wall, parts of the Wall were itself ravaged to the point of collapse. The hordes of Akuma no Oni broke through the Kaiu Wall and overrun the Crab defenses, marching northwest, to the Shinomen Forest. Only a third of the Crab's mustering forces were intact.

Architecture

Kaiu Wall

The Wall had remained the greatest accomplishment in Rokugani engineering ever since. One hundred feet tall and running the entire length of the border between Rokugan and the Shadowlands, it was always garrisoned by thousands of Crab samurai and ashigaru. It was set just north of the River of the Last Stand, which run in parallel with it along its entire length, all the way to the sea. The Shrine to Lord Hida was integrated into the southern section of the wall.

Passage Through

The Wall had twelve great watchtowers at intervals along its length, with large doors that could be opened to allow warriors to rally into the Shadowlands. Passage over the border also occurred through tunnels bored under the Wall and the river. The Crab had filled these tunnels with traps and false ends to confuse the creatures of the Shadowlands. The southeasternmost of these wass designated the First Tower; they were then successively numbered to the Twelfth Tower, which overlooked the Plains above Evil to the far northwest. Interspersed along the Wall between the Kaiu Towers were a multitude of smaller watchtowers, such as the Watchtower of Deadly Claws or the Watchtower of Iron Duty. Watchtowers were officially designated based on the Tower to their south and east. The curtain walls that connected the watchtowers and the Kaiu Towers were imposing structures, from fifty to one hundred feet tall, up to twenty feet thick and extending deep into the bedrock.

Supply Lines and Defensive Weapons

Many cities and villages were situated only a small distance north of the Wall, to provide the Crab armies with the extensive support they needed. Siege weapons such as ballistae and catapults could be found atop the Wall, where the walkway was large enough for entire units of samurai to pass by one another. Every single watchtower built along the Wall had two ballistae and two catapults, supposed to be centered. Elaborate systems of tunnels were constructed to allow passage under the Wall's defenses. Sophisticated systems of warning and communications were maintained along the Wall, and between the Wall and the forces stationed behind it, including fleet-footed messengers; acoustic methods like signal arrows, drums, and horns; and visual methods such as signal fires and smoke arrows. Using encoded signals, even complex messages could be passed quickly across long distances.

“Swords will break and spears will shatter, but our courage shall never falter.” -Motto of the Third Tower Patrol

References

This Crab Clan related article is a stub. That means that it has been started, but is incomplete. You can help by adding to the information here.