Editing Crane Clan (section)

==Families==
Crane families are known for their close cooperation, and their form of unity tends to be more harmonious than that of the other Clans. They believe that each family should be deferred to as the expert of its specialization, and all should work towards the Clan's greater goals. A situation that is, ironically, pretty similar to what the ''brutish'', ''uncultured'' Crabs do, except with a council of equals instead of a bunch of specialists and one executive head. ''Unofficially'', of course, the Doji hold the most influence because they have active ambitions, but even they will defer to other families for their areas of expertise and cooperate.

===Doji Family===
Rokugan's premier politicians, the darlings of the court and the Emperor's favorites. Doji are those descendants of Doji and Kakita who chose to take on their mother's name, male or female, and follow the path of the courtier (though like any samurai, they can then devote themselves to other schools depending on ability and duty). Doji traditionally hold high positions at court and there has almost always been one serving as the Emperor's Advisor, while many are often requested to serve as arbitrators and diplomats between two Clans. While they may put on airs of being cultured and peaceful, the Doji are, in fact, entirely aware that the realm of politics can be utterly cutthroat and pragmatic.

Whether facing the meticulous scheming of the Scorpion or the hair-trigger tempers of the more unpredictable martial families, Doji have to know how to take care of themselves what with having targets painted on them. To achieve this, they use their exceptional affinity with twisting their enemies in knots of etiquette, obligations and alliances so that the Crane still maintain their honorable reputation. They are masters of all the steps of the social song and dance (which they invented) in order to make themselves look good or humiliate their opponents socially, and have the weighty duty of trading favors and alliances among the Clans in order to promote the most peaceful and prosperous solution possible. As the Emperor's advisors, their stockpile of political capital is vast and effective, whether from implied, symbolic gestures or bountiful treaties and betrothals.

===Kakita Family===
Where those who followed Doji's path took her name, their children who chose their father's path became the Kakita. Kakita are known for two things: art and ''iaijutsu''. Kakita, Hantei's first Emerald Champion, developed the art of the quickdraw into THE defining dueling style in Rokugan using the ethos that a single, perfect strike could bring things to a swift and tidy end. With its philosophical bent and meditative focus emphasizing the unity of mind, body, skill, and soul, it took over Rokugan's social scene like wildfire, further popularized by his text on swordplay titled "''The Sword''". They are most commonly seen at courts as the protectors of the Doji, there to uphold their honor in a duel or to quickly strike down anyone brash enough to attack directly.

While any Clan may produce its own expert duelists, the Kakita have a considerable advantage as THE ''iaijutsu'' specialists and creators, with their own Kakita Academy and family culture being very conducive to producing the ideal ''iai'' mindset. But his family are also more than just duelists. Kakita are perfectionists who devote themselves to their craft, whether it is dueling, art, or politics. In everything they do, they seek to reach the greatest heights of mastery as an expression of art and culture.

===Daidoji Family===
Descendants of Doji and Kakita's youngest child, and the manliest of the bunch. He went into the Shadowlands to find his sister, the Crane Thunder, and returned with her sword, as well as white hair and a nasty throat wound. In honor of his heroism, he was given the name Daidoji, meaning "protector of Doji", and many Crane would dye their hair white in his honor. Yes, the white-haired bishounen/bishoujo tradition comes from the Crane Clan's very own dirty tricks squad.

On the surface, the Daidoji are stern and composed guardians of Crane lands; where the others fight in the courts or in duels, they actually do honest-to-goodness fighting, and are tough enough to take all comers (to the surprise of anyone expecting a soft Crane to crumple like origami). But dig below that surface and you'll find that they'll do almost anything to win and protect their Clan: ambushes, traps, sneak attacks, explosives made from BLASPHEMOUS ''gaijin'' pepper, the Daidoji are masters of turning any potential battlefield into a devastating trap, using tactics that even more belligerent and/or pragmatic Clans find horrifying and dishonorable. 
And all of this is supported by another scandalously un-samurai skill of theirs: they are experts of trade and commerce, which is already supposed to be below a samurai's notice, and smuggling, which is below even that. But as a result, the Daidoji are able to supplement and protect the vast wealth of the Crane, keeping both their economic weapons and their actual weapons well-stocked. An economic role which the Crane, ironically, condemned their former members the Yasuki for doing.

===Asahina Family===
In a family of artisans and diplomats, the Asahina are the most peaceful and artistic, being outright pacifists who use their shugenja teachings to create wondrous beauty and helpful support items instead of crushing their foes with the elements. Their founder was a Phoenix shugenja out for revenge for Phoenix casualties after the Crane intervened to stop a war, but turned over a new leaf after a lone samurai-ko showed him how far he'd fallen. 

Asahina are the most deeply committed to avoiding warfare and taking lives unless they absolutely have to defend themselves, so they might get overlooked if you're looking for a more explosive brand of magic. Instead, they mastered ''tsangusuri'': the creation of limited-use magical items, amulets, and fetishes (not that kind) through drawing out the innate spiritual properties of its materials and form, whether it's blessed blades or statues which assist in healing or promoting bountiful harvests. Their delight in coming up with ingenious, inventive creations is tempered by a desire to create practical effects which can [[This Guy|help everyday people]]. However, there's also a more grimdark application of this spiritual magic: ''meisho'', which controls the spirit of a person as opposed to an item. The art of ''meisho'' is a closely-guarded secret known only to the Asahina, entrusted only to their most elite shugenja. They typically avoid using it to control people and apply its fundamentals to instead create the most powerful magical items, to the point that sometimes the item's spirit becomes fully sentient...but for the most part, these are dismissed as rumors. As well as the rumors that the walls of their temples might have more spirit in them than is healthy.