Iname
The Spiders
Clan Status: Minor
Totem Kami: Officially: The Spider; in truth, The Tsuchigumo (Spider Yōkai)
Colours: Twilight colours; dark blues, purples, greys, beiges and blacks; old-fashioned, rural styles
First Kannushi: Iname Shiki
Vassal Clans: None; former vassals of the Sokenzan; some diplomacy with the reclusive Nikata and Birch Elves
Reputation: Inscrutable, quiet, odd, poetic, spiritual, unfashionable; musty, old-fashioned towns with too many spiders around
Preferred classes: Ninja, ranger, wizard, samurai, witch (forest, swamp, cave)
Imagery: Iname Fashion & Scenery Image Gallery (External)
A quiet and spiritual people, the Iname are a remote but Commonwealth-cooperative clan who reside in the swamps and bamboo forests on the far Corewestern reaches of the Heartlands, west of the the Nikata and coastward of the reclusive Rakuyōsei islanders.
The Iname are a minor clan, independent since their defection from the Sokenzan over a century ago. As distrust of the Commonwealth fades amongst the youngsters, more Iname travel and study abroad. In particular, they have gained a reputation for their art and poetry: highly decorated veilwebs are growing popular in Pan-Maraian art circles and their dark, aesthetic-but-spiritually-instructive poetry has admirers in the topmost echelons of Maraian nobility.
Like their northern neighbours the Nikata, the Iname have a more positive relationship with the reclusive Rakuyōsei Birch Elves, engaging in cautious diplomacy & trade with the odd eladrin tribes. They do this despite political admonishment from the powerful Oronaga, former enemies of the Birch Elves and the main reason they are now pariahs to the Commonwealth.
Ninja, also called Duskwalkers, are common within the Iname warrior caste, learning and borrowing the secrets of O-Inai to fight back the shadows in more effective ways.Totem Kami
The Totem Kami of the Iname is the tsuchigumo or spider yōkai, a type of animalistic fae who have adapted to the Waking side of the Veil. Unlike most mischevious and amoral fae, tsuchigumo are relatively benevolent insofar as they enjoy trapping and killing other yōkai in the Waking world, which only benefits the local humans as fae are rarely up to any good. This makes the Iname one of three clans who secretly have a fae as a Totem: the Shan's is a tengu (cousins of the vilderavn; the claim it's the great raven) and the Izuka's is the nekomata (they claim it's the jungle nightstalker). All three keep this hidden as fae are (often quite rightly) distrusted in the Commonwealth.
Spider webs (partly made of Veilstuff) can catch not just other fae, but also malicious yūrei & kami, and home-made webs, called veilwebs, are ritually hung over Iname doorways and beds. Real spiders and their webs are tolerated without exception, leaving Iname townships with a worn and fusty feel.Geography
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