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Clan-Ika-Crest

The waters between Kagejima and the islands of the Sun Empire are relatively short in truth, but they seem a vast gulf to sailors. Kagejima is large, shrouded by mists and darkness that do not vanish in the sun and breeze. The currents are strange, the waters harsh, and terrible creatures lurk beneath the restless waves. Once a ship breaks through the encircling veil of fog that cloaks the island, it finds the seas foaming and breaking against the Black Cliffs. Rising hundreds of feet out of the surf, these sheer walls overlook the wrecks of the Sun Empire’s failed invasions. The corpses of a thousand ships, so they say, lie strewn at the foot of these cliffs, their rotting timbers bleaching like the bones of long-dead leviathans. They are a warning to those that would think to again attempt to invade the O-Kage.

The shores twist, rise, and fall for hundreds of miles and are pock-marked with coves, inlets, and small waterways that shelter bustling fishing and trading villages. In the shadows of the dark cliffs, humble stilt towns and stout fishermen thrive on the schools of salmon, tuna, swordfish and more that surround the island. Nearer to the coastline, crabs and mussels of all descriptions come up in cages and lines or yield to the shovels of industrious villagers. The infamous uotoki clams and the giant, lethal delicacy known as iiko crabs live only here. The dangers of the waters are very real, and the creatures of the deep claim their due in ships and souls each year. But these sailors ply the water with little fear beyond the natural dangers of the sea, for they and their ancestors have long since made pacts and peace with the waters and their denizens. These are the lands and waters of the Ika clan.

The people of Kagejima are renowned for their insularism. In this land of isolation and paranoia, “friendly as an Ika” is a byword for being secretive, cryptic, and distrustful of outsiders. They have reason, of course. Their hold on their land is sometimes tenuous, and they have long been challenged for it by the other clans. Indeed, the Ijin often venture from their barren lands to raid Ika fishing villages. During exceptionally lean seasons, they have even been known to siege the Ika’s fortified port towns, leading to long and bitter conflicts that have been the source of much sorrow for both clans. The Sun Court’s agents were especially active here, attempting to secure landing sites or smuggle more spies, soldiers, and black market goods into Kagejima .

The Ika’s foes are not restricted to only those upon the land and shore. Many horrors of the sea strike unwary fishing boats, while the largest creatures of the deep are able to swallow larger vessels whole. The most insidious terrors touch the land here wearing human guise, wreaking terror from within for days or weeks until the clan is able to hunt it down.

For all these dangers, though, the Ika are warm, supportive, and fearsomely protective, once their trust is earned. Stories of shipwrecked sailors, even from foreign lands, washing up on Ika beaches and eventually becoming part of the clan appear over and over in song and on stage. The famous, Seven Flower Bouquet, a poem cycle that recounts the story of a kami who took a human life for love of an Ika fisherman’s daughter, is almost eight centuries old and still performed all across the island.

The clan is peculiar, however. Though they sail nearly all the coasts of Kagejima for fishing, trade, and transport, they mix little and reluctantly with the locals they encounter. The clan rarely ventures beyond its borders in any official way except for its representatives to the Moon Court and the Moonlight Tournament. The Ika seem content with their own families and lands, and they rarely take a hand in the island’s larger society. Kagejima politics and power struggles seem to interest them little. The other clans would happily ignore them, save that the Ika do occasionally intervene. Why they do so, when, in what way, and on which issues seem to conform to arcane criteria known only to the clan heads; some combination of the movement of the stars and the sea, perhaps. The Road of Flowers War a century ago was their last major intervention. (Though many accuse them of involvement in the Seven Nights of Iron, there remains no proof.)

Stranger still, the Ika take their name from the squid-like incarnation of the water element. They revere this kami with a near-fanatical devotion that disturbs the other clans. The Ika maintain that this is the natural order, and indeed, that this reverence both draws from their ancient détente with the sea, and maintains that peace. The others only shake their heads and keep their distance.

The ire of the Ika is like the sea, unpredictable, destructive, and often quick to rise and quick to blow over. Their warriors are renowned throughout Kagejima for their ability to remain serene and still before bursting into violence.

The clan also has a reputation for brewing the most delicious, flavorful, and powerful sake on the island. Many shinobi, including a large number outside of the Ika, claim that these powerful drinks make them better fighters.

True or not, Ika sake is a common accompaniment to many confrontations, especially during the Moonlight Tournament.

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