House of Ryokudan
Name: @House of Ryokudan (緑壇の家)
Description:
The @House of Ryokudan is less a clan and more a creed carved into mountain stone. Residing in the solemn highlands of @Shugosei-no-Kuni – The Sacred North , this ancestral house guards the sacred paths and hidden temples of the north. Their presence is austere, their purpose spiritual: to preserve balance, enforce sacred law, and protect the soul of Kakureta through tradition, silence, and steel.
Composed of monastic lords, warrior-priests, and spiritual arbiters, Ryokudan is the final word where secular law fails. They do not govern—they observe. When balance is threatened, they descend like mist from the cliffs: clean, cold, and unquestionable.
Symbol: A circle of mountain pine enclosing an upright sword.
Leadership:
Ryokudan Yume – Matriarch of the @House of Ryokudan and spiritual head of @Tsukihana-dera – The Temple of the Moon’s Blossom . A warrior turned keeper of memory, she is as feared for her silence as others are for steel.
Initiation Rites:
Silence of the Cliff – three days fasting and observing the valley in stillness.
Path of Ash – walking barefoot the incense trail to ancestral shrines.
Bell of Memory – ringing the ancestral bell after perfect kata in temple rain.
Sword-Seal Ritual – binding one's blade to one's word through rite and vow.
Values & Tenets:
Law without spirit is vanity.
One cannot lead if they cannot still their own heart.
A sword drawn without prayer is defilement.
Let the mountain speak through you.
Recruitment:
The House does not recruit. It reveals. Children with spiritual sight, warriors with ancestral devotion, and orphans rescued from sacred grounds are brought into quiet tutelage. Each Ryokudan must master both the blade and the breath.
Operations:
Their reach is quiet and sacred. They intervene in spiritual crises, ancestral desecration, and breaches of sacred custom. They maintain pilgrim paths, uphold ancestral judgment, and oversee duels of moral reckoning.
Reputation:
Feared for their incorruptibility and revered for their devotion, the House of Ryokudan is often the final resort in times of spiritual unrest. To see one descend a shrine path is to know judgment walks with them.
Known Rivals or Threats:
@Kakureta’s Imperialists , whose politics offend sacred law.
@Painted Fang , for aesthetic blasphemy in spiritual domains.
Those who defile shrine grounds or exploit ancestor rites.
Whispers Say:
"They bow only to the dead."
"Their blades sing prayers before blood."
"One Ryokudan once silenced a rebellion with a single verse."
"They do not speak until the mountain allows it."
"To be judged by them is to be seen whole—and found wanting."