Morō
The Wolves
Morō Nikaido, Chief Kannushi of the clan.
Clan Status: Minor
Totem Kami: The Wolf
Colours: Greys and whites prominent, darker grey highlights; simple and rustic fashions, animal furs common
First Kannushi: Morō Nikaido
Vassal Clans: None
Reputation: Hardy, rustic, superstitious, quiet, inscrutable, attentive, intimidating, unfashionable
Preferred classes: Ranger, samurai, greyguard (Kagemitsu, Moruha O-Hime), paladin (Amaterasu O-Mikami, Reiza O-Mikami), monk, druid
Imagery: Morō Fashion & Scenery Image Gallery (External)
Traditional Morō households under a bright red sunset sky.
Illus. Koichi Sakamoto (1920)
Hardy and fierce like their patron animal, the Morō are ostensibly vassals to the the Matsunagayama, but their rigid and uncompromising attitudes leave them in chilly relations with ally and rival alike. They don’t appear to care.
Similar to the Iname in the Heartlands to the west, they are a rural and superstitious people, paying close attention to the language of their surroundings and obsessed with defending themselves against the ravaging yūrei and yōkai of O-Inai. But unlike the Iname, they have no interest in borrowing or compromising with Duskscape forces, and train the most ruthless akumakonzetsu, or hunter-exorcists, per capita aside from the O-Nao-En-Zan. These priest-warriors are a unique sight, wearing baskets over their head to eliminate their individuality (a defense against the manipulations of enchanting spirits) and playing haunting music on their bamboo flutes (said to be able to entrance or manipulate them), combining these methods with a swift sword hand and occult magic similar to that of witches (the akumakonzetsu reject this comparison).
Matchingly, the wolf, who is the chosen body of their Totem Kami, are thought to be excellent hunters of umbral monsters, sensitive to weakenings in the Veil and utilizing their haunting howls in the same way the akumakonzetsu use music. (Ironically, despite their distrust of the Iname, this is also true of spiders, whose webs are said to be made partly of Veilstuff and able to catch marauding ghosts).
Similarly, the Morō show even chillier relations with clans reputed to have stronger connections to the yūrei and yōkai, who beget children more often feyblooded or elemental. This includes the arakh, whom they believe are racially oni-blooded (in actual fact, arakh show no strong tendency towards tiefling or demon-blooded births, though they are more often born as sylphs, or wind-blooded). That said, the Wolves are oddly apathetic about the Shan and Matsunagayama's "cold war" with the Skylander arakh tribes.
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