KAIU WALL LORE BITZ

Fingers of jade are slivers of pure jade, roughly the size of one's finger. Jade protects against the caustic, infectious taint of the shadowlands. Shadowlands creatures have their invulnerability pierced by jade, and when in the Shadowlands a piece of Jade will protect you from passive infection.

The Gempukku ceremony marks the bridge between child and adult. It is important for all samurai: Hida samurai, in particular, are required to go out into the shadowlands and return with the head of a creature. Other families have different but similarly strict traditions.

The Crab is the southernmost clan of the Empire of Rokugan, and has multiple families. It is headed by the Hida, known for being brutish in disposition and fearsome in physique. The Hiruma serve as scouts and couriers, disgraced after their castle fell to the Shadowlands centuries ago. The Kuni study the Shadowlands and deploy magics, Jade and various secret techniques to subvert and destroy the foul creatures of that place. The Kaiu are the Empire's best engineers and architects, who built the Wall and its many, always-shifting defenses. The Yasuki, originally a Crane family, represent the Crab in merchantile and diplomatic interests through browbeating and trading favors. The Toritaka, originally the Sparrow Clan, joined the Crab after the fall of their own clan's holdings. They are tiny, but have a place within the Clan nonetheless.

Most Crab bushi (samurai) use heavy weaponry, from the tetsubo (a large iron or hardwood club with studs and spikes), the dai-tsuchi (a two-handed warhammer), the no-dachi (a 6-to-7 foot sword similar in shape to a katana), and the Ono (a two-handed battleaxe, in use almost exclusively by the crab). Their daisho, the pair of swords comprised of the katana and the wakizashi, is seldom used but still carried. Crab warriors are also trained in the use of yari (spears), naginata (pole-arms), bisento (thick-bladed, heavier versions of the naginata) and tanto (daggers).

Those that can talk to the Kami, the spirits of the elements (save for Void), are known as Shugenja. The Crab train their Shugenja with a preference for the element of Earth, and by extension they are adept at locking foes down with earthen shackles, molding defenses with spikes and smiting foes with pure jade.

The forces of the shadowlands are many and varied. The bulk of their forces consists of undead in various states of decay, bolstered by short, vicious, stupid creatures known as goblins (bakemono) and the hulking 10-foot brutes known as ogres. Augmenting their number are the Oni, terrible creatures from Jigoku, the realm of evil, with terrifying powers and, often, invulnerabilities to all but magic and jade. Perhaps even more fearsome are those samurai that have fallen to the darkness and walk the Shadowlands as Tainted, combining the foul gifts and blessings of Jigoku with the skill, cunning and determination of man.

The Crab, normally, are stationed on the wall for 4 days at a time and then get a 3 day leave. While on the Wall, they are in constant action: preparing, training, drilling, watching. Their downtime is often necessary due to the horrifying and mentally stressful conditions of combat against the forces of the Shadowlands: most Crab go to a bar or tavern and do not leave until it is time to return. However, during times of duress, they do not get any leave. They fight, day in, day out.

Soldiers are watched for any sign of quirky behavior, and they constantly stumble into each other with palmed pieces of Jade to see that their comrades are not Oni shapeshifters or bog hags in disguise. Paranoia is the order of the day. Vigilance is key.

The Crab have no patience for cowardice, and despite what the Empire may think, they brook no sign of sloth or irresponsibility, either. These things are dangerous and put everyone's life at risk on the Wall. Officers rarely have to punish such behavior: a man who sleeps through guard duty often finds himself cornered in an alleyway, after hours, by dozens of masked men with sticks and rocks.