Editing Crab Clan (section)

==Culture & Role==
The Crab Clan has one all-important duty: to stand against the Shadowlands and keep the Empire safe from it. 

Every Crab family, even those whose duties are diplomatic, lives with the reality of the unending war their fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters fight. And so they train their warriors to fight oni, their shugenja to hunt down the Taint and ''maho'', and their courtiers to negotiate supplies and trade deals to keep their armies fed and armed. That's how important and all-encompassing this job is to the Crab's culture and demeanor. And of course, the reaction of the other Clans to this duty colors a great deal more of their personality.
Since knowledge of the Shadowlands is considered "impolite" and disgusting, the average Rokugani noble remains woefully uninformed about it other than what facets occasionally overlap with average life, such as concerns and taboos about the Taint, ''maho'', and touching dead flesh. Effectively, this means that most people northwards into the Empire are either blissfully unaware about the horrors in the south, squeamish about discussing it, or haughtily dismissive of it as mere fairy tales and boasting, not unlike the average Game of Thrones noble's reactions to the White Walkers. Thus, Clans steeped in tradition and societal rules view the Crabs with disdain and condescension...though even then, Crabs are acknowledged as living under the rules they flout, unlike the Unicorns who sometimes experience greater hostility over their altogether different culture.

With such unhelpful responses to their requests for more resources, it's no wonder most Crabs tend to be rude, surly and demanding; given the war they fight, most are of the opinion that it's so serious that their cousins should be giving them ALL the manpower and supplies they need (and to be frank, they're not wrong). In some cases, that disdain becomes physical, as the Crab are viewed as the Clan most likely to say "screw it" and bash someone's face in, protective layers of etiquette and protocol be damned. Though to be fair, they can be just as unreasonable; many Crabs are so embittered by this situation that even if social rules relaxed about discussing the Shadowlands, they'd still stubbornly assume their cousins aren't ever going to listen to them. A common refrain from Crabs to others is something along the lines of "You wouldn't last a day on the Wall where we fight REAL monsters!" They are, after all, still samurai filled with stubborn pride.

On the job, the Crab Clan is absolutely focused on their Duty and facing it with Courage. They are the first wall of armor and muscle standing between the enemy and their allies (including off the Wall), and are among the most honest and courageous warriors of the Empire. Off duty, they have a reputation for letting loose and partying hard, enjoying a number of low worldly pleasures like drinking and gambling which run counter to the image of self-control and sophistication most samurai prefer to project. They drink, swear, brawl, and rut about like there's no tomorrow, and in many cases, that might very well be true. As such, few Crabs truly get into art and culture, with most seeing things like flower arrangement, origami, haiku, and paintings as "pretty, but absolutely worthless against a zombie made from your brother's corpse or an oni twice your size who rips heavy armor apart like it's rice paper".

However, despite being looked down upon as mannerless brutes with explosive tempers, Crabs can actually be surprisingly pragmatic and levelheaded, especially when compared to other adherents of Bushido. This is because their job is so lethal that they can't afford to waste lives and resources, whether on doomed campaigns to avenge Shadowland losses, or the various conflicts that explode among their northward cousins. They have their pride and hate the dishonors they've suffered, of course, but Crab Duty is stronger than all of that.
But beneath that prickly, hardened outer shell, it's important to note that Crabs are just as human as everyone else, albeit affected by their grim lot in life. They're just as prone to introspection about how to make their lives worth living, and Crab philosophy which prizes strength has a level of depth outsiders find surprising, given that it goes beyond "CRAB STRONGEST ONE THERE IS" and into a great deal of responsibility, self-awareness and outward appreciation. They do cherish what they protect, and familial bonds are of the utmost importance to them. Every Crab wants a large family (because the Wall needs troops, as hard as it is to prepare your children for that horrific war), and they might be one of the few Clans to actively encourage (or at least approve of) romantic marriages, seeing as they're more likely to produce more children.

===Tactics===
As the very wall which protects the Emerald Empire from the Shadowlands, it's no surprise that the Crab Clan has a strong military culture that is influenced by their demanding duty. They field the second largest army in Rokugan at around 300,000 troops, but three quarters of that number are stationed along the Kaiu Wall. Most of the Crab military is dedicated to holding the line or launching counteroffensives into the Shadowlands, with those stationed within the Empire mostly defending their territory instead of waging wars.

War against the remorseless horrors of the Shadowlands has massively shaped Crab tactics. Because the tides of monstrosities never truly end, only wax and wane with the seasons, the Crab Clan has become the Empire's foremost experts on defensive warfare and fortifications. Their most obvious assets are their durable troops who are among the toughest baseline soldiers of the Empire, and siege engineers who can set up a fortified position at a moment's notice that only gets tougher to crack the more time they have to prepare it. However, they're more than just big walls of meat, steel, and stone. Knowing they cannot simply wait for Fu Leng's hordes to come to them, Crabs make sure to pair their defenses with a thorough support network: scouts provide thorough information of enemy movements, courtiers and smugglers keep them well-supplied, and shugenja and scholars address and dissect mystical threats. And of course, everyone is trained in countermeasures to deal with the Taint, from simple disinfection procedures to using jade fingers for security.

These fundamental strategies and advantages are also put to good use whenever the Crab enter disputes with the other Great Clans. The game plan largely remains the same: Knowing they lack mobility and numbers, Crab leaders will carefully scout out the battle ahead, fortify key positions, and methodically crush enemies between the shell of their defenses and the claws of their units. It's common knowledge among the Empire's fighters that while storming a fortified position is foolish, doing so against one held by the Crab is ''suicidal''. However, against their cousins, there's one major difference: the Crabs hold back. Their traps, war machines, and tactics go from "completely dismember and incinerate" to "injure and take them out of the fight" if they can afford it...though there's hardly anything gentle about a Crab fort's ballistae and catapults ripping into conventional troops like a bolter round through a grot.

===Bushido & Religion===
Like their Unicorn allies, the Crab Clan has views on Rokugan's primary cultural forces which are uniquely shaped by their experiences and seen as uncouth by the rest of society.

On the whole, the Crab are neither especially devout nor particularly irreverent. Culturally, they worship and honor their ancestors like everyone else, take care to respect the Kami, and are in fact acutely aware of the spiritual side of life given that their duty pits them against said spiritual forces in their most corrupted form. In terms of Bushido, the Tao of Shinsei, and the worship of the Fortunes, Crabs tend to view things in pragmatic, practical terms: How is this relevant to the present, and how can it benefit the Crab's struggle? So like the Unicorn Clan, they usually end up picking and choosing the parts which work for them: values like Courage, Duty, and Honesty are viewed with greater esteem, while ones like Courtesy and Sincerity are viewed as face-saving time-wasters. Naturally, to the disgust and butthurt of more traditional Clans.

Similarly, the Crab's approach to Enlightenment and the gods is framed in practical terms. The Brotherhood of Shinsei dedicates itself to introspection and Enlightenment from the world; the Crab focus their philosophy and self-reflection exploring the spiritual side of practical strengths. The Phoenix dive into Fortune-worship in a mix of religious fervor and elemental minmaxing trying to grasp the secrets of the universe; the Crab mostly focus on how to not piss off the Kami and which ones to call upon to deal with their Tainted foes. There is a great deal of thought behind both paths, but it is always viewed in terms of how it can help the Clan NOW. 

This mindset also extends to the Rokugani convention of retirement; much like the Lions and Unicorns, Crabs seldom retire to monasteries in their twilight years because they believe they should still be getting shit done. Warriors with lost limbs become cautionary tales, while veterans whose age has caught up to them become senseis...though in truth, even maimed or old Crabs are still dangerous enough to fight in the front lines.