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Toshi Ranbo
Toshi Ranbo wo Shien Shite Reigisaho, also known as Violence Behind Courtliness City. The settlement had been a focal point of Lion Clan-Crane Clan conflict for centuries, and grew impressively to match its importance. Its very name was the result of these ongoing clashes, which spurred numerous diplomatic gatherings to settle disagreements and sign peace treaties. [1] The northernmost Lion city, [2] its ownership was contested by the Crane Clan. [3]
Early Centuries[]
Founding[]
An accident of the Empire's early history granted the Crane Clan control of the Kintani, the Golden Valley, an isolated but valuable holding near the Imperial City. In the fifth century, the Lion Clan built a castle of only four stories called Kita No Yosa (Northern Fortress) to keep an eye on the nearby Crane. Toshi Ranbo was built around that modest castle. Rule of the castle was granted to a new vassal family, the Goseki, who fought the Crane many times over the next half millennium. [1]
Contested Holding[]
Toshi ranbo was located in a key strategic position between four Great Clans and surrounded on all sides by fertile farmland. It sat on the northern border of Lion lands along the Drowned Merchant River, a major trade route in northern Rokugan. The northwestern end of the Crane-held Golden Valley was also very close to Toshi Ranbo. The Dragon possessed the lands to the north and west of the city, while the Phoenix controled those to the north and east. [4] At the dawn of the seventh century the Crane made two major attacks (including capturing Toshi Ranbo for eight days, although the castle held out) and the Lion retaliated with an offensive of their own, which fell just short of capturing the Kintani outright. [1]
Rise and Fall of City Size[]
The castle town thrived enough to become city-sized and gained its famous name, but by the twelfth century, a new round of fighting caused it to shrink back down to a modest village with only a few hundred inhabitants. [5]
12th Century[]
Seized by the Crane[]
In the year 1118 [4] the small settlement fell to Tsume no Doji Retsu, the ruler of the Kintani and daimyō of the Crane Clan's Tsume vassal family. Seizing the castle in a daring surprise assault, he eradicated the Goseki family and claimed Toshi Ranbo for the Crane, a claim subsequently upheld due to the Crane Clan's dominance of the Imperial Court. The Daidoji family assumed control of the castle and improved the castle's defenses and added a set of gated walls around the village, ensuring control of the primary road through the province. [5]
Lion Counterattacks[]
Subsequent Lion campaigns to retake the holding were thwarted as much by Crane political maneuvering as by battlefield action; both sides escalated their commitments, culminating in a major battle in the year 1123. [5] The Crane Clan had bolstered their occupying forces to force a Lion army away from the contested grain-laden Osari Plains in the south. The Lion Clan Champion Akodo Arasou campaigned at the foot of the city for several weeks, waiting for the arrival of his older brother Akodo Toturi. Arasou attempted to storm the city's gate, falling under the arrows thrown by Doji Hotaru, the Crane Clan Champion, [2] The Unicorn presented a request to the Imperial Court for Toshi Ranbo be declared an Imperial holding, which would end the hostilities there. The petition was endorsed by the Scorpion Clan. [6]
The Specters of War[]
The city granted the Crane their greatest foothold in the north and losing it would leave them strategically open on their northern flank. General Daidoji Uji was appointed as the city governor, and it seemed that each of the Great Clans had an interest in Toshi Ranbo: [7]
- The Crab wanted to take advantage of the jade mine recently located nearby, which would go a long way toward replenishing their depleted supplies needed to fight the Shadowlands.
- The Dragon indicated an unspoken interest on the city. With the tensions between the Great Clans on the rise, the Dragon might want to eliminate any chance of a rival clan claiming a stronghold so close to their territory.
- The Lion still claimed Toshi Ranbo as part of their ancestral territory, and many among the Lion saw the city's reclamation as a means of honoring their fallen champion.
- The Phoenix wished to learn why restless spirits were haunting the battlefield, and have petitioned the Emperor for oversight of the city to give them the time they needed.
- The Scorpion viewed the city as the key to tipping power away from the Lion and the Crane though they would never openly claim anything except their hope to rule the city "on behalf of the Emperor."
- The Unicorn were inching dangerously close to war with the Lion, and they wanted to use the city against the Lion — to forge an alliance with the Crane and to establish a flanking base.
Scorpion Administration[]
Although this northern stronghold was far removed from traditional Scorpion lands, it was ultimately the Scorpion who bent the Emperor's ear and convinced him to grant them authority over the city. [8] Bayushi Yojiro was appointed as its Chief Magistrate, [9] but he released his position as chief magistrate of Toshi Ranbo when he was appointed as the new Scorpion Clan Champion, and the city remained an Imperial holding. [10]
Toshi Ranbo's Castle[]
The inner fortress complex consisted of a four-story keep with a modest assortment of support buildings: barracks, guesthouses, a small court chamber (added by the Crane), an ancestral shrine, and impressive shrines to Hachiman and Bishamon, the whole surrounded by a wall with two towers. A larger walled compound with its own gates and towers housed additional barracks, training grounds, dōjō, officers' quarters, and servants' quarters. [1] The eastern gate of Toshi Ranbo Castle was used to being barred shut against invaders. [11]
Known Stewards[]
External Links[]
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Violence Behind Courtliness City
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 38
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Price of War, by Mari Murdock
- ↑ Her Father's Daughter, by D. G. Laderoute
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fields of Victory, p. 44
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 39
- ↑ Court Games (The Chrysanthemum Throne fiction), by D. G. Laderoute
- ↑ The Specters of War, by Lisa Farrell
- ↑ By Imperial Decree (Toshi Ranbo Kotei Series result)
- ↑ A Call to Leadership, (Lion Clan letter)
- ↑ The Battle of Cherry Blossom Snow: Epilogue, by Robert Denton III and Marie Brennan with Katrina Ostrander
- ↑ Caged Birds, by Katrina Ostrander
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