Overview
Unlike the martial meritocracy of
Ogygia or the monetary rulership of
Ithara, rule over Azuma's human government is a hereditary matter.
Satomi Shogunate - Seta, Seiryu
The Satomi shogunate currently rules Seiryu. Their government is fairly relaxed, as there are not as many dangerous yokai in the region compared to others and it is relatively easy to obtain daily needs from the surrounding land. The Satomi shogunate is very willing to share its resources with other regions, and as a result they get along easily with the other shogunates. As a result of the lack of risk, the Satomi shogunate does not place many resources in defense and military training, and smaller towns and villages are often left less defended than the main cities, which are fortified with sturdy walls and guards. This disparity is also reflected in the opinions of the ruling class, who frequently fail to recognize the needs of the lower classes and those outside of the city’s walls. If a settlement is not ruled by a daimyo, it often must rely on mercenary aid for defense, and the ruling class then considers the issue resolved. While the Satomi shogunate gets along well with other governments of Azuma, the other shogunates consider the Satomi clan to be the weakest by far.
The Imagawa shogunate currently rules Suzaku. Life in Suzaku is more harsh than Seiryu thanks to the harsher temperatures, large concentration of destructive, fire-based yokai, and its proximity to
Jigoku and the
oni, and the Imagawa clan has responded with a focus on military preparation. Of particular note, the Imagawa shogunate is credited with the invention of firearms and their military receives exclusive training with rifles. With the help of the kitsune Konohana, the Imagawa shogunate has enlisted the direct aid of a tengu, Daisen, who acts as the shogun’s personal guard and the trainer for his elite soldiers, named the Daisen Crows in his honor. While the daimyo of Suzaku do not enjoy such exclusive handling, the Imagawa clan’s military focus cascades down to their towns: most towns in Suzaku are comparatively fortified like the capital, Ohachi. This military focus has resulted in paranoia as well; the Imagawa shogunate is polite but mistrustful of the other clans and is constantly concerned with the possibility of sedition from within, and they refuse to provide firearm training to non-military or other clans. Suzaku has a strong tourism economy thanks to the prevalence of natural hot springs in the region, though Imagawa also uses these as information-gathering points with the aid of shinobi.
The Amago shogunate currently rules Byakko. While the Satomi shogunate is considered weak through compliance, the Amago shogunate’s weakness is in how thinly stretched its resources are locally. The most significant resource Byakko has is its mining industry and skilled metallurgy, and the majority of the Amago clan’s resources are spent on defending its mining operations from the tsuchigumo and other yokai and maintaining trade routes against damage and mountain erosion. Due to the challenges of traversing the jagged, mountainous landscape, communication between the different daimyos is often difficult, and many smaller towns outside of the main trade routes are forced to fend for themselves. If these smaller towns do not have an active mining operation or smithy nearby, then they will often turn to alternative means to defend and sustain themselves, such as the Akai clan on
Mount Ooe and the builders of the
Fukuro Shrine. Fortunately, Byakko is considered an extremely important resource for Azuma due to its almost magically renewing mineral deposits, and the Imagawa clan of Suzaku in particular is a close ally of the Amago shogunate.
The Nanbu shogunate currently rules Genbu. While Genbu is easily the harshest settled region in Azuma, its residents have spent years focusing on tempering the region’s dangers and adapting to its risks. The daimyo of Genbu are all in constant communication with one another, and regulations on travel, fishing, and burial are heavily enforced to the point of being ingrained into their culture. While the other people of Azuma show a constant respect to the spirits of the earth around them and their dead, the people of Genbu take these incredibly seriously: searches are carried out to retrieve the bodies of any dead and give them a proper burial, and all burial mounds are capped by a terracotta haniwa figure to allow the spirit to interact peacefully with the living world if needed; the tides and ocean yokai are carefully monitored, and a portion of all catches are returned to the water as thanks; life in Genbu is harsh enough, and any maligned entities could spell the doom of any settlement. Due to this overwhelming caution, the Nanbu shogunate has walled off the entirety of Genbu from the rest of Azuma on land, with gates placed on specific monitored trade routes to verify who comes and goes from the region at all times. During times of high risk, the Nanbu shogunate shuts these gates and bans travel to or from Genbu for all who are not locals to Genbu, to ensure that the region’s precarious safety is not tipped by the careless. Thanks to its strong rice and fishing industry, and its knowledge of crafting weapons and armor from bone and hide, Genbu is extremely self-sufficient and can endure these travel bans with minimal economic discomfort. This does give the Nanbu shogunate the perception of being overly isolationist and stuck-up, however, and their relations with the other clans are shaky as a result.
