Kage-mura

Kage-mura, the Unseen

In the whispers between shoji screens and the shadows of sakura groves, Kage-mura weaves its silent web. This clandestine network of spies, assassins, and manipulators operates not through brute force but through subtlety, secrets, and schemes. Its members are an eclectic tapestry: sly nekomata who vanish into alleyways, mischievous tanuki skilled in transformation and trickery, serpentine hebi with venom both literal and metaphorical, and yūrei bound by grievances who slip unseen through walls. Their existence is known, their reach uncertain, their loyalty to none but themselves.

Legends claim Kage-mura was founded by Hanzō, the kami of resourcefulness and secrets, who blessed them with eternal cunning. True or not, the group embodies Hanzō’s domain: they thrive on knowledge others would kill to possess. Secrets of daimyō councils, scrolls of forbidden spells, scandals hidden beneath noble roofs—all are currency in their shadow markets. They rarely act directly, preferring manipulation: one rumor placed at the right ear, one forged letter, one disappearance at midnight.

To the Shogunate, they are pests—yet invaluable. Some daimyō secretly employ Kage-mura spies to undermine rivals, while officials condemn them publicly. To the Council of Harmony, they are both threat and potential ally, able to silence dissent before it erupts into bloodshed. No faction truly controls them, and perhaps none ever will.

Members wear no colors, no insignia, save for the silent calling cards left after their more brazen deeds: origami animals folded with inhuman precision, found beside corpses or missing scrolls. Their greatest power lies in ambiguity: no one ever truly knows how deep their influence runs.

They are Yamato’s unseen hand. To live under their gaze is to walk a path where every word may be heard, every secret uncovered. Some call them a shadow clan. Others, the soul of Yamato’s paranoia.