Zazen

The Meadowlarks

A Zazen courtier.

The second of the great "bread basket" clans alongside the Okara, the Zazen oversee an agriculturally rich strip of land where the western Heartlands give way to the Lowlands. Their marshes also host the last known, near-extinct population of Moonfey Silkworm (larvae of the Moonfey Moth) in Marai, weaving the unusually fine threads into clothes of the highest quality. Most nobles in the Petal Cities are connected to a personal Meadowlark tailor/clothier.

Clan Status: Major, though waning

Totem Kami: The Meadowlark

Colours: Black and gold; simple but elegant designs with intricate patterns that have become the standard “business casual” wear for Maraian nobility

First Kannushi: Zazen Ushiwaka

Vassal Clans: Kinu (Falcon), Nanao (Hedgehog), Mizuno (Moonfey Moth)

Reputation: Affable, peaceable, skilled archers and clothiers, slightly hedonistic, fond of music and cuisine

Preferred classes: Courtier, samurai, cleric (Amaterasu O-Mikami, Inari O-Mikami, Aum), bard, rogue

---

Imagery: Zazen Fashion & Scenery Image Gallery (External)

A Zazen samurai, wearing a combination of traditional woven
armour and modern printted fabric.

Residents of the badlands and riverlands west of the Heartlands and east of the the Emerald Expanse, the Zazen have experienced a slow erosion of territory to the Izuka over the centuries, flanked by their well-guarded, Voidward forests and the Sunken Expanse Coreward. Despite this they are considered a good-humored and approachable people, well-liked by all. Though they're skilled archers and shrewdly use their peaty marshes to their advantage in defence of their territory, the Meadowlarks lean more toward artistic and diplomatic pursuits than martial ones. Zazen lands are also famed for their quaint, sometimes kilometres-long bridges crossing the wettest of the swampy lowlands.

Zazen Silk

Most important to the Zazen is that they still encompass the territory of the Moonfey Silkworm—still the finest source of silk in the Commonwealth—and are therefore still the most sought-after clothiers. The intricate patterns and careful craftsmanship of Zazen fine clothing fetches an even higher price with the Khayyamites to the far west. Though shrewd and sensible, the Zazen lack the ambition to sit the Plain Pillow and have made no historical moves toward rulership of the Commonwealth.

A traditional woodblock print of a Zazen river.

Industry

Zazen crop health remains strong even as their territory shrinks, and are considered the western breadbasket to the Okara’s east; the "gateway" to the Lowlands just as the Great Elk are to the Highlands. The Meadowlarks breed the widest variety of barleys with the most esteemed vintages of barley wine in both Quadrants, and their taverns are popular not only for the cuisine but for the the infectious Lowlander folk music. They have an odd way of speaking that lends itself to comedy, which Zazen bards and rakugo entertainers take full advantage of.

Zazen cucumbers, regarded by Maraian nobility as a culmination of subtle yet effervescent flavours, fetch high prices abroad. It is said that the rivers are populated by the elusive, cucumber-loving kappa, but the creatures are dismissed by many academics as mythological. Other crops tolerant of their wetter region include rice, sugarcane, taro, fox grapes, asparagus and various spinaches.

Geography

The Commonwealth of Marai

Open full size

Including the Skylands to the east and the Kula'wongai to the Voidwest. Map covers Waking Materia's Lower Alpha and Upper Beta Quadrants.