Domain Update: Rokushima Taiyou

[hidajiremi]

As part of my current work to revise Ravenloft for an upcoming campaign I'm running, I decided to revisit Rokushima, one of my favorite domains with one of my least favorite darklords. Haki Shinpi (besides having his name in the wrong damned order) is an impotent ghost whose existence is completely irrelevant to any adventures a GM might want to run in the domain. While adventures shouldn't require a darklord's presence, they also shouldn't completely ignore it either. A darklord should be a presence that warps the domain around himself, making everything about him even if indirectly. My revised Rokushima makes it a more rounded Japanese-inspired domain, directly referencing things like kaidan ghost stories and making Shinpi into more of a "demonic Oda Nobunaga" type, which has more of a Japanese resonance to it.

I also spell the domain "Rokushima Taiyou," since long-O sounds are Romanized as "ou" in Hepburn transliteration.

Edit: Based on the translation of the domain's name, its kanji should look like 六島 太陽 or more likely 六島の太陽 (i.e., "Rokushima no Taiyou").

***

Rokushima Taiyou


Rokushima Taiyou, meaning “the six islands of the sun,” would seem to be misnamed on two counts. The domain consists of four large islands in the midst of a poisonous, roiling ocean, surrounding an immense freshwater sea. The cloud cover, heavy mists, and dense fog rolling off the island’s many mountains make sunny days a rarity as well. Still, the eldest natives of the islands can remember a time when the name rang true—when there were six islands instead of four, and when the sun shone brightly every day.

The remaining islands are large and verdant along the coasts facing the Great Mirror Lake that they surround. The central portions of each island are dangerous mountains, a few of which are volcanic, before reaching the outer edges of the island ring, which face toward the Poison Sea. The Great Mirror Lake is fed by clear mountain springs and frequent rain, its waters cascading down jagged slopes of coral and rock into the venomous depths of the Poison Sea. Only the westernmost inlet to the Great Mirror Lake is navigable, making it difficult for ships from beyond the Mists to safely make their way to the larger freshwater port cities. Most simply dock at one of the small islands lying beyond the straits, the only place where merchants from all four islands can come to do business anymore.

The Rokuma are slight in stature but blessed with trim builds and elegant grace. Their skin tone ranges from creamy white to ruddy brown, and both hair and eye color tend toward dark tones, particularly black. Men and women alike grow their hair long; women wear theirs in elaborate fashion, held together with wooden pins, while men tend to keep theirs in neat tails or knots. Both genders wear wide-sleeved robes belted at the waist with a sash, worn over long shirts or shifts, but men also include loose trousers or wrapped leggings while women’s robes nearly trail the ground. Wooden sandals or soft slippers complete the native look, with the addition of broad straw hats on the few days the sun shines or the many days it rains.

Homes in Rokushima are almost inevitably made of wood, with sliding doors made of thin paper on wooden frames. The elite of the land, the noble warriors and their lords, build mighty stone castles and palaces with multiple tiers and high walls. Serene shrines dot the islands in places of natural beauty; whether humble of magnificent, these shrines are typically marked by uniquely shaped gates known as torii, thought to be passages between the human and spirit worlds.

The local weather is a study in extremes. Even with the sun rarely seen, summers tend to be oppressive, hot, and muggy, with frequent storms. Autumn is a time of rampaging typhoons that can last for days on end, often damaging homes or even sweeping away entire unlucky villages with mudslides. Winters are brutally cold, burying the entire domain under snow that does not abate for weeks at a time. The one time of the year that the Rokuma look forward to is spring, which is all too short but very pleasant, a time when the islands are covered in the pale blossoms of flowering trees.

The Rokuma are a people who place great emphasis on the importance of family and knowing one’s place. Because of the Rokuma philosophy that family is more important than self, family names are given before personal names (so a man named “Akemi Ichigo” is Ichigo of the family Akemi). In theory, being a farmer or craftsman is just as worthy as being a warrior or ruler, as long as one does one’s best in that position. In practice, the warrior elite of the nation do as they please while at least publicly trying to seem compassionate and generous to those lesser than themselves.

Though the rulers of the four remaining islands are brothers, no love is lost between them. They constantly skirmish with one another over outlying regions of their lands, though it has been a generation since they battled one another in earnest. The death of two of their brothers, followed by the destruction of their islands in horrific earthquakes and tsunamis, has made them more cautious about direct confrontations. Each of them considers himself the only true ruler of all Rokushima Taiyou, with his brothers as mere pretenders. The nation was once united under their father, a powerful and ruthless general, but they began to squabble over his empire almost before his body was cold. Though they publicly pretend to honor his memory and the ways of their ancestors, each is as cold, ruthless, and underhanded as he was, using the very concept of honor to motivate their people while holding it in no regard.


Tropes

Rokushima Taiyou is a direct analogue to historical Japan, particularly the Japan of the Warring States Period before the unification of the country by Tokugawa. It can just as easily replicate any major period of Japanese history, however, from the classical Heian Era to the unified but still violent Edo Period. Rokushima is a place to tell samurai stories (or jidaigeki in Japanese), but more importantly it is a place for traditional kaidan-style Japanese horror tales.

While kaidan can mean nearly any horror tale in its broadest usage, it more specifically refers to old-fashioned “scary stories” that call back to historical Japanese folk tales. Stories of the kaidan type typically include eerie happenings, ghosts, omens, and elements of vengeance. These stories also often include water as a ghostly element, due to traditional Japanese cultural links between water and the underworld. Horror in Rokushima follows these general patterns; for good reference material, check out some modern or classic Japanese horror films or manga, such as Ringu, Ju-On, or the works of Junji Ito.


Themes

• The Code of the Warrior: Life in Rokushima is structured around rule by a warrior-noble caste known as samurai. Their complicated system of honor, glory, and obedience is known as bushido, the “warrior’s way.” Whether a warrior actually believes in it or not, his public actions are judged based on his adherence to its precepts. The strict demands of the code often come into conflict with the desires of the heart or the realities of life, which in turns generates situations of drama, tragedy, sorrow, and horror. It also leads to many warriors confronting the basic hypocrisy of their code when obedience conflicts with compassion, both important virtues to the samurai.

• The Spirit World: The people of Rokushima believe in a vast pantheon of spirits, gods, and demons, all of whom are thought to be observing mortals out of interest, curiosity, or mere boredom. Appeasing these spirits and avoiding their ire forms a good portion of the average person’s daily life. Ignoring the demands of the spirits can lead to being cursed, or even being stolen away by a particularly angered being. In Rokushima, the spirits are real—and humans ignore them at their peril.

• The Cycle of Karma: The concept of karma can be simplified to the idea that doing evil deeds inevitably comes back on their perpetrator. An evil person may escape punishment for a long time—even his whole life, perhaps—but the darkness in a human soul inevitably finds an outlet to bring retribution on that person. Someone who avoids mortal justice may find themselves trapped as a ghost, damned for all eternity to never know release from pain. Even those who struggle to avoid the punishment of destiny often find themselves building the circumstances for their own destruction without realizing it. Things run in cycles, and every beginning holds the seed of its own end. This also speaks to the idea of impermanence; the Rokuma believe that nothing lasts forever, and all old things must pass in time to make way for the new.


The Darklord

Shinpi Haki was a ruthless man who exploited his enemies’ weaknesses without a shred of honor, even as he publicly paid service to the warrior’s code. In his lifetime, he took six warring islands and united them into a single mighty nation, beholden only to the strength of arms that he could muster. Even after he became lord of Rokushima Taiyou, he spent many of his twilight years putting down peasant rebellions, destroying religions that he considered dangerous to the traditional Rokuma way of life, and purging people of non-Rokuma descent to rid the nation of “foreigners.” As he grew older, he pitted his six sons against one another to vie for his favor, believing that only conflict could make them strong enough to rule in his stead.

Lord Shinpi succeeded all too well at molding his sons into his own image. All of them grew into ruthless, honorless conquerors who turned on one another as soon as he died. Shinpi Haki did not pass on peacefully in death, however. His many evil deeds trapped him in the mortal world as a ghost, a powerless spirit destined to watch and observe as his heirs tore his nation to pieces over pride and vainglory. Lord Shinpi’s rage grew as he watched his sons squander everything he had spent a lifetime building.

In the end, his grudge grew too powerful for the spirit world to contain entirely. His evil began to draw demons, ghosts, and malicious spirits to him, feeding his darkness in a growing spiral of hate. Shinpi decided that all of his sons were equally worthless, and that the only person with the right to rule over Rokushima was himself. Armed with hatred beyond human reckoning, he haunted his sons’ dreams, pushing them to use ever more dishonorable methods in their battles. When hired assassins gave two of his sons cowards’ deaths, his blood connection to them allowed him to devour their souls and drag their islands down into the bleak spirit world he now inhabited.

Shinpi Haki now rules over two islands—a third of his former empire. While everyone believes these islands to have been utterly destroyed, the truth is that they and their people have merely been spirited away, doomed to live under Lord Shinpi’s tyrannical hand. Demons, ghosts, and monsters of all sorts fill the roles that noble samurai once filled, treating humans as little more than cattle and slaves. Lord Shinpi cares nothing for their suffering; he only wishes to rule, even if he rules over nothing more than a blasted, grey wasteland filled with corpses and monsters.

Lord Shinpi’s remaining four sons have turned into cautious men after the seeming destruction of their brothers’ lands. For now, he bides his time, filling their minds with dreams of conquest and glory in the hopes of pushing them into desperate acts. He knows that if they should die of peaceful means—such as passing away from old age—they will go just as peacefully into death and escape his clutches, so he tries every means available to him to ensure their violent, untimely ends. He has dispatched assassins against them, inspired their enemies to rise up, and even thinned the borders between the mortal and spirit worlds to allow monsters to rampage their lands. Despite his best efforts they remain alive, due to equal parts paranoia and martial strength. Every year makes Lord Shinpi a bit more desperate, a bit more likely to overreach and tip his hand. When that happens, no one knows exactly how his sons will respond. After all, how does one make war on the afterlife?

When he wants to close the domain’s borders, horrible typhoons rise up out of the Poison Sea, making it impossible for ships to survive unless they turn back for safe harbor. Using this ability distracts Lord Shinpi from his primary goals, however. While he is so distracted, his sons sleep peacefully and dream of the honor they once possessed—and of the better world they could build if they only put aside their old grudges. Shinpi fears what would happen if they were permitted to follow these noble impulses, so he never allows them more than a few nights of respite.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Interesting...! Very interesting.
Maybe put one or two sons with one foot on the road to redemption, just to add some tension to the whole situation; as that one son's land flourishes, his brothers grow envious and lust for conquest -- and Shinpi writhes with fury at the thought of one of his offspring escaping his wrath. Meanwhile, commoners start to look towards that one island as their way out of the drudgery imposed on them by the other daimyou.

[hidajiremi]

Interesting...! Very interesting.
Maybe put one or two sons with one foot on the road to redemption, just to add some tension to the whole situation; as that one son's land flourishes, his brothers grow envious and lust for conquest -- and Shinpi writhes with fury at the thought of one of his offspring escaping his wrath. Meanwhile, commoners start to look towards that one island as their way out of the drudgery imposed on them by the other daimyou.

That's something that's going into the more full-length writeup. This is sort of the "domain overview" you would get from a corebook. I'm planning on doing a full Rokushima Gazetteer at some point. =)

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Need any help?

[Zettaijin]

In my young pre-Japan life days, I wrote an extensive piece about the place. It isn't exactly very good or anything, but folks liked it.

Nowadays with over five years of living in Japan, and having absorbed manga, movies, and quite a bit of history about the place, I find that I couldn't really use much of my original work without a overhaul.

One thing I still like though is the sons being a representative of the various eras of Japan and the people who held some manner of power over the people and the land.

One should be a brutish warrior, the kind who raped and ravaged the women in Kuro Neko. The ones who were sent to slaughter the northern barbarians in the name of the emperor. Long before the refined warrior poet, these men ruled.

One should be more effete and interested in matters of love and art, much like the Heian nobles who were taken down by the very warrior class they had looked down upon for so long and also a hint of the warrior as artist ideal that would come later.

Another should be more religious, mixing revised State shinto with the (as per his own assessment) somewhat suspect Buddhist tenets (Japan never managed, even at the height of its nationalistic fervor, to get rid of Buddhism completely). A champion of traditions with an eye to the past and how to keep the masses from forgetting their roots.

Yet another should be more concerned with money and finances, showing a keen interest in trading with the outside world and using various means to reach his goals. He's the least warrior-like, perhaps more of a mercenary with the ideals of a merchant although he'll fight like a tiger if it means improving his financial status. I'm thinking pseudo-yakuza/corporate suit almost, using talk of warriors and codes as little more than a front and a tactic.

The fallen brothers were, in my original work, a weak magic user who would dabble in the dark arts while the other was a more balanced character who more closely resembled the ideal warrior.

I'm not sure if this is the portrayal I'd consider were I to rework my original.

[Nevermorrow]

I renamed Haki Shinpi "Hakura Shinpei.". His sons I renamed Shunji, Senzo, Masahiro and Hishugoro. These are all authentic Japanese names, as far as I know. Hopefully I didn't mess up and give any of them a stupid name. (If I did, please let me know.)

As to the DL himself, I gave him the ability to communicate with his sons through dreams--though only one of them has realized that he is where the dreams are coming from. The other sons usually dismiss those dreams as just dreams and pay them little mind. I also added the detail that the pull from the spirit world is slowly growing stronger and driving him mad. He feels the need to "cross over" but is determined to remain so as force his sons to cooperate and rebuild the shogunate to the glory it had under his own rule. The thing I worry about here is that this storyline may seem both too modern and western. I would love to make his storyline a bit more Japanese.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Then have Shinpi scheme to take one of his sons' body by weakening their spiritual resistance through attacks on their dreams.
As a proud general, he will be convinced that he alone is capable of fixing the mess his boys have made of his empire, and anyone who tries to argue against the will of the emperor is clearly an anarchist and a usurper.

[Zettaijin]

I renamed Haki Shinpi "Hakura Shinpei.". His sons I renamed Shunji, Senzo, Masahiro and Hishugoro. These are all authentic Japanese names, as far as I know. Hopefully I didn't mess up and give any of them a stupid name. (If I did, please let me know.)

As to the DL himself, I gave him the ability to communicate with his sons through dreams--though only one of them has realized that he is where the dreams are coming from. The other sons usually dismiss those dreams as just dreams and pay them little mind. I also added the detail that the pull from the spirit world is slowly growing stronger and driving him mad. He feels the need to "cross over" but is determined to remain so as force his sons to cooperate and rebuild the shogunate to the glory it had under his own rule. The thing I worry about here is that this storyline may seem both too modern and western. I would love to make his storyline a bit more Japanese.

Given the silly names found in other domains, what does it matter?

This said, while the names are Japanese, they are far too contemporary.

Masahiro may be a common name now, but is it fit for a medieval warrior or noble blood?

http://www.sengokudaimyo.com/miscellany/names.html

[The Lesser Evil]

Nice write up. I like how you tied Shinpi to the deaths of the two sons and the ironic punishment he got there. Another thing you might consider is that he divided up the land between his children to provoke a war and see which of his children was worth being his successor (intentionally expecting there to be a lot of fall out). Ryan Naylor's Children of the Night: Darklords (part of his adaptation of Ravenloft for Pathfinder) seems to imply this as it has the division of the islands between his sons as Shinpi's final act of evil before becoming a darklord.

Another trope/theme that I think is important is sincerity. Beyond speaking honestly, but behaving authentically to the causes you strive for, putting genuine purpose into what you do. Like the how the Western and Japanese potrayals of "tragic heroes" can differ. Whereas in the West the tragic hero often has some fatal vice as his character flaw, it seems like many Japanese heroes have had a flaw in that they fight all too sincerely for the lost cause. Knowing they are the nails that get hammered down, they sacrifice their lives because they are behaving in ways authentic to who they are and the causes they fight for. And after death, this can grant them great respect.

In a domain like Rokushima Taiyoo where hypocrisy is the norm, I believe sincerity would be seen as doubly exceptional.

[Zettaijin]

I can't say I recall seeing hypocrisy as morally dubious in my various introductions to Japanese literature and morality.

Further information on the political implications of ghost stories:

http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap0602/japan.htm

Also, I have a growing interest in horror manga, especially the older stuff by Maruo and Umezu. However, most of the stuff borders on EC Comics level ironic morality plays and/or gross out/weird out horror.

I'm reading a somewhat more recent effort by Junji Ito about a brother and sister who somehow cause people to melt down, starting with their brains which start liquefying and pour out of their orifices.

Amusing, but not quite suitable for the oh so serious "Ravenloft is GOTHIC!" crowd.

[Leliel]

Honestly, Shinpi is a pretty Japanese villain as is; he refuses to acknowledge his rule was ultimately a temporary thing, as are all things, and his inability to acknowledge that his time is gone has turned him into a demon in all but origin, eternally raging over a pointless and counter to karma ideal. His one virtue is authenticity over being a warlord, but even that's a flawed virtue at best (see why Nobunaga Oda is such a controversial figure; he set up the structure needed to end the eternal war of the Edo Jidai, but the way he did so was through deception, betrayal of a legitimate lord, complete and public irreverence to the idea of honor-man was quite the politician).

The real struggle would be his sons, because they should come off as tragic heroes who aren't entirely responsible for what they became. That's where authenticity is going to have to be examined, since they're the way their father made them, even-especially-their dishonorable behaviors.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Sometimes, the cause of cultural and social advancement calls for someone willing to be a jerk to everyone and everything standing in the way.

But what happens once the obstacles have been cleared is what shows the true measure of that person. Do they then devote themselves to that advancement, or do they pretend that all of their actions were justified, nay, ordained? Do they show regret for what they had to do and try to make the world a better place, or do they sit on top of the new pile and try to keep it that way?

That is what distinguishes someone willing to take one for the team from the guy who, deep down, really is a jerk to the whole world just to get what he wants.
I think we all know what Haki Shinpi turned out to be.
As for his boys...? At least one of them should be struggling to get out from under Daddy Jackass' shadow. Maybe they all are, in their own way. It'd be ironic and sad if each brother was honestly trying to do small things to escape from Shinpi's shadow, but believes the others are not and that they need to be on guard against them because "my brothers are my father's true sons".

[hidajiremi]

(see why Nobunaga Oda is such a controversial figure; he set up the structure needed to end the eternal war of the Edo Jidai, but the way he did so was through deception, betrayal of a legitimate lord, complete and public irreverence to the idea of honor-man was quite the politician).

My current version of Shinpi is entirely an homage to Oda Nobunaga, in the sort of "Hell King Nobunaga" version he gets in modern Japanese media. =)