Dragon Clan

The Dragon Clan is one of the Great Clans in Legend of the Five Rings. And they are a truly mysterious bunch.

Alright, there's more to it than that. Descendants of Togashi, the most enigmatic and introspective of the Kami, the Dragons live high up in their mountainous lands where they contemplate Enlightenment, philosophy, and the mysterious dictates of their daimyo, the Kami himself assuming mortal identities. Their insular and contemplative culture has led to the Dragons becoming exceptionally unconventional by Rokugani standards; Duty and Loyalty to the Empire is still paramount, but they are free to pursue it as they see fit, making them the closest thing to non-conformists in Rokugan. Clans like the Unicorn, Crab, and Mantis might fly in the face of tradition with their own cultures, but it's the Dragon who actively study and question how and why things are done instead of simply leaning on different traditions.

When they do venture out into Rokugan, their methods and purposes remain mysterious to most who encounter them. Their best warriors master an unorthodox two-sword style, while their magistrates and courtiers rely on deduction and evidence over sentiment and testimony. And of course, their iconic monks tend to be armed with martial arts and mystic tattoos. And even when they go so far as to join an actual battle between armies, the other participants seldom understand why they did it. All of this is done in the service of their greater Duty: to watch the Empire, study it, and if necessary, intervene to make sure it doesn't fall into stagnation and ruin by challenging the traditions of thought and action.

Most commonly according to a (ahem) Great Plan from their Reptilian Overlord. No relation to the other green fire-breathing reptile faction from Games Workshop.

History

From the very beginning, Togashi was an enigmatic and insightful Kami. He deliberately exposed Fu Leng's hiding spot to his sister Shinjo and their mad father Onnotangu, knowing it was their destiny to be consumed by him, and that it had to be done in order for destiny to proceed as intended. While probably the most bruh moment from him for his siblings at the time, such enigmatic devotion to what must come to pass would be the hallmark of Togashi and his followers.

Shinsei And Enlightenment

Togashi didn't participate in the tournament his siblings held to decide who'd be the Big E, knowing the outcome, as well as Akodo's future importance to Hantei's safety. Unlike his siblings, he had little interest in guiding and ruling over these new mortals. What he did find intriguing were the words of Shinsei, the Little Teacher.

The wisdom of Shinsei left a huge impression on Togashi, who was always the most thoughtful and mysterious of his family; only his brother Shiba could claim to be as dedicated to the monk's words. When he received his lesson from Shinsei, Togashi chose to isolate himself in the mountains and meditate until he fully understood Shinsei's wisdom.

Unfortunately, while still a demigod far beyond mortals, it turns out that the Kami were more vulnerable to starving to death. For ten days he denied the food and water his followers offered, nearly dying in the process until Shinsei arrived and glibly taught him: If he wouldn't move until he understood his teachings, neither would Shinsei. This helped Togashi realize that if Shinsei denied himself here, he would deny others his wisdom regardless of whether he starved to death or not. And in that same vein, Togashi was denying his followers his guidance and protection.

This was Togashi's turning point, and helped to temper his philosophical desire for Enlightenment with the sense of duty and responsibility that was shared by the others in the Empire. Togashi and his followers Mirumoto and Agasha then began to build their homes in the mountains, and their followers grew in number. At least from the few willing and able to brave the trials of the mountains.

Watching The Empire

Hantei tasked Togashi with watching the Emerald Empire so that "the truth of history shall be known", a task which seems vague compared to the more concrete duties of his siblings. The Lions were warriors, the Cranes diplomats, the Crabs guardians, the Phoenixes scholars, and the Scorpions spies. Even the Unicorns were outriders. So what would the task of watching mean when the Empire seemed set to defend against threats both internal and external?

But as we mentioned earlier, this watchfulness was tied to the nature of the Dragon and the Empire: assigning the most introspective Clan to observe an incredibly rigid society, serving as an outside element to keep it in check. While never explicitly stated in such terms, Togashi and his followers were uniquely predisposed to this task. Their seclusion kept them separated from the sweeping culture of Rokugan, allowing them to study the words of Shinsei and the nature of the Elements, while Togashi would chronicle the history of Rokugan in an archive even his own Clan rarely saw. This developed a strong culture of critical thinking and independent thought, further guided by the mysterious insights and prophetic foresight of Togashi himself.

Given their near-impenetrable mountain lands, the Dragons might very well have shut themselves away in philosophical contemplation for all eternity. But true to their role, they still upheld their Duty. So even though they are one of the most isolationist Great Clans, the Dragons still make sure to organize themselves and set terms for how they interact with their cousins. Their standards may be cryptic to anyone outside of their Clan, but even so, many of the Dragon families still send representatives out into the world.

Though the Dragon Clan's presence in the Empire's affairs is a rarity, their effect tends to linger. The Great Clans may not know what to think about the Dragon, but they cannot deny that they get them thinking. And while most samurai stubbornly cling to tradition and reject the Dragons' ideas, every now and then you will find one whose life is profoundly changed. From warriors learning of their unconventionally pragmatic fighting styles, to courtiers wondering about the nature of justice when Kitsuki insight succeeds where testimony fails.

Families

Due to their isolation and introspection, Dragons are highly individualistic and highly unorthodox. Their family organization is no different; their founding family is more of a spiritual leader than a political one (as well as being more of a monastic order than a continuous bloodline), and their military and spiritual families do a fair bit of cross-training to produce philosophical bushi and tactical shugenja. However, while they may appear disparate and more focused on their respective interests, the Dragon Clan families remain united in their shared allegiance and common duty, allowing each family to do what they do best while coming together when needed.

Togashi Family

Less a family and more a monastic order, the ise zumi (tattooed monks) follow Togashi. Not a descendant, not a follower, the actual Kami himself under a public alias, whose blood forms the basis of their mystical tattoos. They don't produce dynastic lines, and instead recruit new monks from worthy seekers who brave the mountains deep in the heart of Dragon lands to seek out their fortress-like monasteries that seem to change appearance and location with each account. Only those truly prepared to cast off their old selves and humbly begin anew succeed, whether through mystical shenanigans or the watchful intervention of the monks.

From there, the aspirants shed their old names and begin a new life within the Togashi Order. They are taught the ways of spiritual contemplation and being cryptic as all hell while wielding martial arts (particularly Kaze-Do, the main unarmed style in Rokugan originally meant to help peasants defend themselves from tyrannical samurai) and tattoos which give you supernatural powers. These powers can be subtle (like resistance to weather or needing less sleep), flashy (like fire-breathing and flight), or even downright magical (by tampering with fundamental forces like probability, Honor, or life and death). The Big D Togashi himself is technically the ultimate authority in the Clan, but is more or less focused on matters of capital-E Enlightenment and the Empire's future, rarely directly involving himself in mortal affairs unless absolutely necessary.

Mirumoto Family

While Togashi is the Clan leader in theory, it's the Mirumoto who are the effective heads of the Dragon Clan, representing and leading them in their rare dealings with Rokugan beyond their mountains. They are also the Clan's security, organizing all of their defences so that they can conduct their studies and contemplations in peace. Their founder, Mirumoto, was a brilliant swordsman and blunt bully who pretty much talked shit to anyone who dared question his 'dishonorable' style, and he passed on his teachings to his adopted son, Mirumoto Hojatsu. While Mirumoto would give his life as the Dragon Thunder, it was Hojatsu who properly codified their dual-wielding technique into their own martial treatise: Niten.

Mirumoto are most famous for their niten style, widely regarded as second only to Kakita's iaijutsu. But unlike most of Rokugan's highly formalized fighting techniques, niten is no-nonsense and practical, focusing on the most efficient ways to exploit two weapons for constant offence or impenetrable defence. It's got actual kenjutsu applications if a fight goes beyond 1v1 or the first blow, but its pragmatic use of two blades is viewed with disdain as a 'coward's technique' by iaijutsu purists who insist a single sword and strike are all you truly need. Their biggest rivals are the Kakita, but this relationship ranges from thinly-veiled contempt to sincere respect from samurai to samurai.

Besides their notoriety as duelists, the Mirumoto are also responsible for the security of the Dragon Clan's holdings. As such, their duties and culture make them more worldly and organized, as well as among the best practitioners of guerrilla warfare in the Empire. Of course, the Mirumoto are 'worldly' in the same way the Kitsuki are 'worldly': They regularly deal with the world in areas and terms other Clans can somewhat understand, but they still bring an utterly unorthodox set of skills and attitudes to the mix. But at least with the Mirumoto, the duty of being the Clan's face and speakers means they have to at least maintain some relatability to their cousins in order to continue protecting Dragon interests, so they spend less time on contemplating philosophy and more time on applying it.

Agasha Family

The shugenja family of the Dragon Clan are descendants of Agasha, Togashi's other disciple, and one of the first shugenja to intuit that there was a connection between Shinsei's teachings and the worship of the Seven Fortunes, grasping the interconnectedness of existence (such as the Five Elements being separate but united) which is a common path to Enlightenment. Following in her footsteps, these mystics are dedicated historians, scholars, and alchemists, and they have a love of learning that views the natural world as a puzzle by Lord Moon and Lady Sun to be solved. Metaplot changes would lead them to join the Phoenix in protest of the Dragon leader Mirumoto Hitomi sticking some Lying Darkness on her hand and growing even more unstable, so the "alchemical shugenja" family is sometimes known as the Tamori (those who stayed in the Dragon Clan) depending on the edition even though it's one of the iconic techniques of the Dragons.

From Agasha's teachings and riddles, the Agasha would develop their connection to the elements and kami through alchemy. While they can cast like other shugenja in the Empire with scrolls and prayers, their unique trick is essentially crafting easy-to-handle potions and manipulating matter using their connection to magic. It's not just "clap your hands and believe it happens", though; contrary to their trademark mysticism (though the Dragons would say because of it), the Agasha have impressive stores of scientific knowledge. By knowing the properties of the ingredients of their potions or the materials they handle (with an almost mad scientist-like curiosity of "What would happen if I touched/sniffed/licked it and then burned/mixed/diluted it?"), they can achieve such effects like magical smoke, burning liquid, or making hardened steel as soft as fabric with a touch. Incidentally, they were the first to perfect the art of working steel thanks to this knowledge and kept it a tightly guarded secret until the info was leaked.

Kitsuki Family

The youngest family of the Dragon Clan, these courtiers originated from the Agasha. Their founder, Agasha Kitsuki, was gifted at studying details but not metaphysics and the supernatural. Ostracized by the truly mysterious bunch for not being mysterious enough due to his focus on the mundane physical world, he honed his powers of observation and mental recall for not just physical details but psychological tics in people and proved its worth. First by solving the murder of his sensei which he was framed for as a student, then by preventing the assassination of the Mirumoto daimyo in his career as a karo (advisor to the daimyo). That was the achievement which led to the founding of the Kitsuki family, and they generally maintain a friendly material-versus-mystical rivalry with the Agasha, each treating the other like a sibling.

Like the Mirumoto, the Kitsuki serve as the Dragon's public face, and their studies of law make them well-suited to presenting the esoteric philosophies of their Clan in a coherent policy. While trained in politics and manners as courtiers, Kitsuki truly shine as magistrates. The Kitsuki method, as mentioned, basically trains each student to be Samurai Sherlock Holmes, which is a more accurate description than one would think: in addition to their amazing powers of deduction and analysis, Kitsuki possess an impressive breadth of knowledge in things that might be involved in investigations such as poisons, weapons, and even physiology through autopsy. Many are also trained in bartitsuiaijutsu to defend themselves at court or, more likely, enact justice on the guilty directly.

This worldliness often makes the Kitsuki the least cryptic and most approachable of the Dragons...though even then, they are still regarded as oddballs at court by most of the other Clans. Kitsuki tend to only put in the bare minimum of effort to fit in, and hardly practice the feints and favors exchanged by other courtiers to build alliances and foil enemies. Instead, they prefer to get shit done, using their powers of observation to pierce through the veils of deception, uncovering a wealth of information to either leverage at the perfect moment or conduct their dealings safely. They may not always be able to outright call out a deception or bring evidence into a case...but they CAN let the perp think they've got them fooled, or follow the evidence to someone who can be persuaded to give testimony about the truth.

Culture & Role

As mentioned above, the Dragon Clan was given the vague duty to watch the Empire and separately record its true history, with the implication that all of their studies and contemplations are part of this responsibility. One more concrete way of looking at this is that they were meant to be an unknown quantity to the Empire, outside observers who will challenge and shake the status quo when it is necessary; while change comes at a glacial pace in Rokugan, the Dragon Clan subtly works to challenge the very foundations of the Emerald Empire's civilization simply by doing things their own way and letting their thoughts and actions be seen by everyone. They usually act only when they must, or when Togashi commands them that something absolutely must be done.

True to the philosophical natures of their founders, the Dragon Clan's personal culture revolves around studies of the spiritual and metaphysical: most of them rigorously examine and live by the Tao of Shinsei, study the elements, and speculate on how their findings relate to the material world, then pursue those lines of thought according to their temperaments (usually either isolation or application). However, while it might be tempting to say that their contemplations are more like personal hobbies than actual duties (a common view among Clans who question how spending centuries on a mountain helps them "watch" the Empire), their studies play a vital role: they hone them to think critically, deeply, and laterally. It doesn't hurt that the world of L5R does in fact bind so many different parts of reality together (the most prominent being the elements themselves), meaning the Dragons are objectively on to something.

In their day-to-day life, the Dragon Clan is an unorthodox and seemingly contradictory mix. They value independent thought and questioning the status quo, whether through critical thinking or philosophical musings, yet are also strictly devoted to their duties and traditions. The average encounter with a Dragon tends to be with either an inscrutably serene riddle-spouting sage or a samurai who has a knack for wrongfooting you in the things you took for granted as 'normal'. Either way, though, they will more often than not be someone with an unconventional worldview who is much sharper than expected. And while they're just as vulnerable to the conventions of samurai drama, they also have the mental framework to give tradition the finger if it offends their own sense of morals. Incidentally, this gives them a fairly harmonious relationship with their peasantry: the samurai defend the peasants and are more likely to treat them fairly in defiance of convention, so the peasants loyally serve them with the small stuff so that their masters are free to continue with their contemplations.

That being said, it's not like they're all caricatures of mystic sage contrarian stereotypes. The Dragon Clan can still feel and live like everyone else (having experienced such concepts as love, family, pride, and vengeance throughout their history), and in fact take great care to assign their most relatable samurai to diplomatic duties, even if they still seem incredibly unconventional to most of the other Clans. They also aren't completely isolationist; while many are content to sit in their mountains and contemplate the universe's mysteries, others believe that to grasp Enlightenment, they must go out and face the world. And it should be noted that while they may play loose and easy with the customs and views of other Clans, they can be just as stubborn and pedantic with their own ways like their cousins, such as the initial condescension the first Kitsuki faced or their own martial pride in niten.

Tactics

The Dragon Clan army is of average size and seldom seen in full-on wars; most conflicts with them are confined to either the courts or minor skirmishes, making the times they show up for a scrap that isn't territorial defence stand out in everyone's memories. Even then, while they acquit themselves well, the question that sticks out even more is "But why, though?" because their motives are seldom clear. And because their lands don't produce much food, they can seldom afford to supply an offensive force of their own.

The military tactics of the Dragons are mostly applied in the context of defence; because they seldom invade other Clans, most of their battles involve an aggressor marching their army into Dragon lands. They soon learn why that's a classic blunder on the level of invading Russia in winter. See, the Dragons are already expert pathfinders and survivalists who are able to nimbly navigate the thickly forested and steep mountain terrain they call home. Their martial and magical skills are admirable and make them a fierce and versatile combined-arms force beyond their lands, even earning a reputation as fighters above more scholarly Clans, but their true specialty lies in exploiting these talents to lethal effect against any would-be conquerors when they fight on the mountains.

Invaders have to contend with the mountain forests of Dragon lands slowing their movements to a crawl and making them easy pickings for the locals. In fact, the climb up is so dangerous that it's no exaggeration to say that the terrain does half their work for them: soldiers fall to their deaths, get separated from their units, lose track of supply convoys, die of exposure to rough weather, or worse. Meanwhile, spread throughout the forests, the Dragons wait for the right time to strike, whether by cutting off and eliminating enemy squads piecemeal in ambushes or luring them into bottlenecks to limit how much force they can project. They may be specialized for their own lands, but the unorthodox mindset and skills of the Dragons serve them well as experts in terrain and guerrilla warfare that would make the Catachan Jungle Fighters proud.

Bushido & Religion

From their founder Togashi to their very culture, the Dragon Clan stands out as one of the most mystical and devout of the Great Clans. Shinsei's teachings are the dominant school of thought throughout Dragon lands (though it must be noted that the Togashi family are still Dragon samurai, separate from the actual Brotherhood of Shinsei while maintaining their own monastic traditions), and their contemplations of the elements and magic have led them to possess a good amount of respect for the Kami, which in turn produces better than average shugenja. The philosophical and individualistic culture of the Clan as a whole lends itself well to the mindset of Shinseism, which promotes thinking past the mundane and into the metaphysical with a certain galaxy brain frame of mind that doesn't get stuck in tradition. As such, Dragon Lands host and send out a large number of monks and teachers representing the Tao of Shinsei throughout both their own lands and the Empire.

Their level of knowledge and piety is comparable to the Phoenix Clan, the Empire's magic and religion specialists, but they differ greatly in how they express their devotion: the Phoenixes behave like more conventional believers with open reverence and plentiful festivals and traditions, while the Dragons are more reserved and individualistic. Given their culture and lands, they aren't given to ostentatious displays, nor in rigidly devoting themselves to even their most cherished beliefs; Enlightenment is a process, not some bit of knowledge you can record in a scroll and apply equally to everyone, and everyone must find their own way to it.

As for the guiding principles of Bushido, the Dragon Clan has a diverse range of views among its families, but they are all seen as unorthodox by mainstream adherents. More monastic or mystical families like the Togashi and Agasha are neutral on the subject as they prefer to follow their own schools of thought, while the more worldly Mirumoto and Kitsuki respect it as a guide for self-improvement on the road to Enlightenment. However, even the most overtly devoted Dragon only gives Bushido so much reverence; they accept that they're useful guidelines but it's still up to them how best to do their duties or interact with others, weirding out traditionalists who can't process when they pragmatically use stealth or treat peasants with respect bordering on equality.

Clan Relationships

The common stereotype of Dragon Clan relations is this: everyone else is confused as hell and doesn't know what to think, while the Dragons remain distantly observant with no strong feelings (but quite a few pointed insights) on their cousins. However, there's a little more to it than that: The Dragon Clan certainly isn't the only unorthodox Clan out there, but it IS the one usually viewed with more confusion than contempt. That's because they're so isolated that hardly anybody gets to see their way of life, and they're so reserved that they don't go around flouting social norms as blatantly as their other fellow "rebels". Thus, few outsiders truly comprehend just how unorthodox the Dragons are, or interact with them long enough to figure out how they should feel.

This deliberate isolationism doesn't win the Dragon Clan many friends, but on the other hand, neither does it earn them foes (and given the sheer amount of grudges and vendettas that make up L5R's samurai drama, to be largely considered "confusingly neutral" is quite a feat). The Dragons, for their part, never actively look for a quarrel, and simply accept that their cousins in the Empire think and live differently from them but are still family, each with a purpose and a destiny. They remain steadfastly part of Rokugan, and are always watching and studying others, but keep those insights to themselves. Sometimes a little too well.

However, there is one exception to the whole "enigmatic watcher" schtick: the rice trade. Because Dragon lands are so isolated and utterly unsuited for farmland, they heavily depend on trade with the other Great Clans for their food, and are more apt to feel gratitude over generous deals and resentment over jacked up prices or embargoes. As Togashi himself found out, you most certainly can't unravel the universe's mysteries on an empty stomach.

The Crab Clan: Situated all the way in the south, the Crab Clan usually doesn't have any major beef with the Dragon Clan. They're certainly confused by their philosophical natures (though they aren't incapable of thinking about similar matters), but because the Dragons don't interfere with the Crabs, there's seldom any reason for bad blood. The Crabs just put up the same gruff "Either help us or stay out of our way, we have a REAL war to fight" attitude they give everyone else and leave each other to their business. In fact, if anything, there's often space for more common ground: Crab samurai are more likely to appreciate the unique skills of the Dragons without crying foul about tradition, Dragons can often see past their hard and stubborn exterior, and they share the same challenge of heavily depending on trade with other Clans for food. "Often" is not "always", though, given that a major vendetta in the game's plot was future daimyo Mirumoto Hitomi's massive hate-boner for Hida Yakamo when he killed her brother in a duel.

The Crane Clan: The Crane Clan and the Dragon Clan don't have any active enmities between them. However, their many differences do make having any meaningful dialogue extremely difficult. Cranes live for diplomacy, social interaction, and tradition, which are all neatly contrasted by the Dragons' culture of isolation and unorthodox thinking; in essence, it's a case of a really social extrovert failing to comprehend why a self-sufficient introvert won't come to their Gossip Girl watch party. However, because the Dragons are less obviously crude than the Crab and nowhere near as violent as the Lion, the Crane Clan at least cuts them some slack and even tries to understand them whenever they cross paths at a court (comparable to a much less reciprocated version of their relations with the Unicorn), though they do feel rather disgruntled when all their social feints and manipulations seem to have no effect on the Dragons, who either go "Yes, and?" or counter with an unexpectedly devastating comeback. However, there are two important exceptions to the Dragons' aloofness: firstly, the rice trade with the Crane and their bountiful lands is always relevant to the Dragons (and they're never fans of when the Cranes jack up the price or rub it in their faces), and secondly, the rivalry between the Mirumoto and the Kakita over who has the best dueling style.

The Lion Clan: The Dragon Clan, like most, takes great care to avoid offending the Lion Clan. Certainly, because of their isolated and insightful nature, they are more likely to recognize the Lion Clan's role as the Empire's military and deterrent to internal conflict compared to, say, the Lion's neighbors who've suffered invasions from them and are less inclined to be so generous. However, since the Lion Clan are professional soldiers and die-hard Bushido traditionalists who believe in going out into the world and getting shit done, they look down on the monastic lives of the Dragons who prefer to keep to themselves and think (usually wrongly about tradition). They also inherited Akodo's disdain for the teachings of Shinsei which permeate Dragon culture. It doesn't help that their key battles, rather than being glorious battles to be fondly remembered, were essentially giant embarrassments for the Lions (though they'd swear to Tengoku that they weren't). First by losing the majority of their troops to terrain alone, and later when a Lion samurai's vendetta over his Phoenix fiance eloping with a Dragon (which would lead to the Dragonfly Clan being founded) had degenerated to the point that even with legal backing for his claim, the other Clans had heard of the debacle and concluded that the samurai in question was That Guy, and not in the "proud warrior" way the Lions are fine with, just an arrogant and petty ass who made a fool of himself. The Lions seldom waste their troops invading the Dragons, but they are most definitely not big fans of them.

The Mantis Clan: The Mantis share the mainstream opinion that the Dragons are weird as hell and they don't know what to make of them due to their social and geographical isolation, neither despising them nor liking them. However, as a non-traditional Clan, they don't share the contempt more traditional samurai feel towards their eccentricities, and appreciate any Great Clan that doesn't look down on them for being "new" or "unorthodox" or "capitalists". As for the Dragon Clan, while their everyday policies are aloof and distant like with everyone, there is a certain level of appreciation for the Mantis Clan's scrappy ways. Partly because they, too, do things differently and shake up the status quo, and partly because the Dragon Clan possessed insight into the Mantis Clan's future importance.

The Phoenix Clan: The Phoenix Clan does share a lot of spirituality and studiousness with the Dragons, but see and live life very differently. They are just as confused by their isolation as everyone else, and their helpless fascination with mystical secrets makes them extremely curious about what the Dragons have hidden away in their lands. However, Phoenix arrogance over being the bestest magic experts ever aside, there's something close to respect between them. Besides the Dragonfly Clan being founded from a Dragon and a Phoenix, the Dragons respect how the Phoenixes most closely resemble them in the search for knowledge. The Phoenixes look outwards in their studies of the Elements (while closely guarding what they find), while the Dragons look inwards for Enlightenment, a dichotomy which meshes with their realizations on life's connections. Basically, if the Crane Clan is the social butterfly who wants to drag the Dragon Clan to all their parties, the Phoenix Clan is the fellow nerd who can't understand why they haven't gotten into their favorite fandoms and lore to start arguing with strangers on the internet.

The Scorpion Clan: The Scorpions and Dragons have a relationship which seems obviously vague. The Emperor's Underhand certainly view the Dragons with heavy suspicion: they don't bow to peer pressure, they isolate themselves, and they have a knack for seeing through deception, which boils down to an attitude of "How can we trust those we can't manipulate?", while the Dragons recognize the Scorpions' role and how their more obvious trappings are smokescreens for more discreet ploys. But the truth is more complex, boiling down to ancient history: When the Scorpion Clan Champion's daughter infiltrated Dragon lands, she ended up falling in love with the daimyo and learned he was Togashi. She returned to her father and reported this, revealed she was carrying his child, and returned to the Dragons. This closely-guarded secret is passed to each Scorpion Clan Champion, and each time they meet Togashi, he tells them the same thing: the only Dragon secrets they know are those they allow them to learn. Between the subversion of a family agent and the unwelcome news that the masters of secrets were only permitted to uncover these findings, this gives the Scorpions aware of this history a big case of butthurt for the Dragons. And yet, this enigmatic connection has also led to the Dragons actively aiding the Scorpions in battle (an absolutely rare event in all senses), to the confusion of the majority of them who don't know why. Though given how small their armies are, the Scorpions can't exactly decline aid of any kind.

The Unicorn Clan: Despite sharing borders, the Unicorn Clan doesn't know what to make of their enigmatic neighbors simply because the Dragons have not directly involved themselves one way or the other; they don't wage war, they don't lend aid, they don't even judge their new culture. They just sit on the mountains and watch, which runs counter to the Unicorn ideology of always moving forward and making decisions. However, as another non-conformist Great Clan, there's also at least some sympathy and respect: each does not condemn the other for being different, and is likely to appreciate unique talents in any shape. And given the many different forms of judgement or hatred the Unicorns face for their gaijin ways, utter neutrality is worth more than one would think, even if it's not as good as positive friendship. As for the Dragons, while they don't act on it, there's a real possibility that they might be among the most accepting of who the Unicorns have become, given their Kami's insight and their own philosophies. Where most see the Unicorns' new traditions and ways as an unfortunate foreign contamination from their time abroad, it's possible that the Dragons might understand that the followers of Shinjo grew exactly the way they needed to become the Great Clan they were destined to be. If nothing else, they also serve as a force for change within the Empire.

See Also

• The Dragon Emperor: The OTHER reptilian demigod guiding his civilization along a cryptic path from behind the scenes.
• Lizardmen: The OTHER reptilian faction acting on the cryptic plans of their gods.
• Eldar: A much more dickish faction of ambiguous agents of prophecy.