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Be sure to visit the Unicorn Dance page, just click
the dancing mon.
People
This section gives an overview of the population of the clan, as well as some background on the clans families and most prominent figures.
Overview
Given that Rokugan's population total nears 30 million and that the Unicorn Clan is likely the second smallest clan (the Dragon Clan probably being smallest), the Unicorn Provinces probably boast about 2 million inhabitants of which there are approximately 300 thousand samurai (about 240 thousand bushi, 20 thousand shugenjas, and 40 thousand "others"). That also establishes the Unicorn Clan may have the highest proportion of the population within the samurai caste (about 1/6, and again the Dragons probably outdo the Unicorns here). Practically every descendant of the Unicorn wanderers is a samurai.
The remainder of the population comprises of about 1.6 million heimin and 30 thousand hinin. The hinin population is considerably less proportionally in comparison to the other clans as handling dead animals as a profession (tanners, trappers, etc.) is not considered dishonourable among the Unicorns (after all, the Unicorn cavalry uses saddles made of leather). Almost all heimin and hinin living in the Unicorn Provinces are descended of Rokuganis originally from Crane, Lion, and Scorpion heimin who migrated to the newly protected land of the northwest.
Despite its small population, the Unicorn Clan maintains the third largest standing army in Rokugan and by far the largest cavalry. Every soldier has a mount, but the infantry often dismounts once in position. All of the Unicorn's bushi officially serve with the army. Around five thousand shugenjas officially serve in the army making it one of the largest military shugenja contingents in the empire (the Phoenix army definitely has the most shugenjas, but their distaste of warfare renders them unofficial members). The remainder of the army comprises of ashigaru.
A large portion of samurai families choose to continue living a nomadic lifestyle, but more have become civilized since the return.
Families
Each of the Unicorn Families have a special place and
function in the clan. Click for a description of each of
the families and their mons.
Personalities
The personalities are broken up into section by profession. Click the name of the personality to read their card stats, and to learn about their lives and great deeds. Since the RPG is set in an earlier time frame than the CCG, some of the events described will not have occurred yet in the RPG. As a rule of thumb, any general information about a characters childhood or personality is applicable to both the RPG and the CCG, and any parts that say "recent events" are applicable to the RPG only. I appologize to any RPG players about this. The information here is taken from the Way of the Unicorn sourcebook, flavor text from cards, and official stories, so it is all official. If you have questions about my sources for a particular piece of information, or if you disagree with my interpretation, please email me.
The Shinjo Cavalry
The largest family of the Unicorn Clan, the Shinjo
provide the greatest supply of bushi cavalry to the
Unicorn Army. They are the core of all engagements and
are the most versatile of our forces.
- Shinjo Yokatsu
- Shinjo Yasoma
- Shinjo Yasamura
- Shinjo Hanari
- Otaku Kojiro
- Shinjo Morito
- Shinjo Rojin
- Shinjo Shono
- Shinjo Goshi
- Shinjo Sadato
- Shinjo Tsuburo
- Shinjo Sanetama
The Moto Cavalry
The Moto are finally starting to rebuild there familiy
after their former daimyo, Moto Tsume, led the much of
the family into the Shadowlands. The Moto are brave
warriors. The job of the Moto cavalry is to break the
enemy lines so that the Shinjo and Otaku armies can get
through to finish the job. Also, the patrol the edge of
the unicorn lands as our first line of defense. They are
the first to go into battle, and fight with no fear of
dying.
The Battle Maidens
The Shinjo are versatile, but the Battle Maidens are
the mistresses of the charge. War horses, those of the
highest quality, propel the furious charges of the shiotome
to incredible speeds as they pound against the front line
of the enemy. The Battle Maidens form the center of every
army they grace with their presence, even those of other
allied clans, the magical luminescent halo that surrounds
their charges able to rally the most broken of units.
Only through their power, skill, and courage have we
weathered some of our most desperate battles.
The Unicorn Footsoldiers
I assure you our reputation for abundant cavalry
stands as our footsoldiers are few. They are, after all,
essential to most any army needing to occupy territory
and mop up the mess the cavalry makes of the enemy.
The Shugenja
No other clan fields these valuable individuals in any
abundance. The mounted shugenjas fly into the midst of
battle where magic may be most urgently needed, whereas
the infantry shugenja stay back behind the lines, using
there magic in defense, healing, and sometimes indirectly
in the battle.
The Magistrates and Merchants
The Unicorn are currently serving the Emperor by
policing all of Rokugan. To perform this task
successfully, our magistrates are needed to act as
embasadors to the Imperial Court and to the other clans.
Since the Unicorn are generally regarded as outcasts,
this can be quite difficult, but after centuries of
wandering foreign lands, the Unicorn have become
expeirienced at dealing with different cultures. Also,
there are many merchants within the clan that are
responsable for trade between our clan and others. We
trade diamonds from our mines, and wares from the burning
sands to bring in food for the clan, since here is not
much farmland.
Thanks to Ide Ryoso who did much of the
work on this section.
