The universe beyond the confines of the world of Rokugan is nothing like ancient samurai might have imagined.
It is at once vastly more horrible and unimaginably more wondrous than any mortal mind could ever have grasped without experiencing it firsthand. Centuries ago,
the discovery that other worlds existed beyond Rokugan caused enormous discord among the people of the Empire. The theological ramifications alone were almost enough
to cause a complete breakdown of society, and a brief but very intense schism erupted between the various religious viewpoints. This conflict, known as the War of the Tao might have raged on far longer than it did if not for the Emperor of that era. Unwilling or perhaps unable to quell the theological warfare taking place across the land,
the Emperor instead funded advances in magical theory
and technology that permitted the observation of these
distant other worlds. Although this project took nearly a decade to complete, a decade in which war threatened to rip the Empire into many smaller nations, the endeavor
was ultimately successful. The nearest planetary neighbor to Rokugan was observed clearly, and the most powerful
shugenja in the Empire collaborated on a ritual that allowed
them to make very rudimentary contact with the spirits of
that world. Their conclusion was that this hot and verdant
planet was closely tied to the Spirit Realm of Chikushudo,
a reflection of that realm in a manner not much different
from the most undeveloped regions of Rokugan such as
the Shinomen Mori. This observation allowed the various
theologies of Rokugan to accommodate the reality of other
worlds with their theological beliefs, and the reigning
theory that each alien planet is a manifestation of the
Spirit Realms in differing proportions persists to this day.
With this peace of mind (whether real or manufactured)
attained, the Empire returned to peace and the Great Clans
began looking outward in a policy of expansion that
continues to this day.
The vast interstellar expansion of the Empire of
Rokugan has been made possible by the development
of an extremely powerful magical ritual, first created
by the Phoenix Clan. Thousands of years ago, the rare
precursor of this spell was known to many as Walking the
Way, in which a single shugenja could create a tunnellike
conduit linking two physical locations and a traveler
could walk through it, ensuring they were in no danger
from environmental difficulties or enemy attacks during
this travel. The current spell that operates on the same
principle, known as Opening the Way, can require up to
one hundred shugenja to cast depending upon the size of
the vessel being affected. It opens a similar conduit, but
one of vast size that massive spacecraft can enter. This
spell allows for immeasurably vast distances to be covered
in short amounts of time, essentially giving the Rokugani
the ability to move their vessels at speeds faster than light.
The state-of-the-art spacecraft currently employed
by the fleets of the Great Clans is without question the
Katana-class battlecruiser. With its sleek lines and a shape reminiscent of the weapon whose name it bears, the Katana is present in the fleets of all clans, altho ugh the numbers fielded vary greatly due to the vast resources and manpower necessary to create and
maintain such craft. At the bare minimum, however, almost every family in each Great Clan maintains at least one of these magnificent ships as its flagship. (A few rare exceptions do occur, such as the Tsuruchi family.)
If the Katana is the grand example of spacecraft
prowess, it is only fitting that the Wakizashi-class light cruiser is the workhorse. Far and away the most numerous ship found in the fleets of Rokugan, the Wakizashi is
slightly less than half the size of a Katana but requires only a fraction of its crew. They are exceptionally efficient vessels, able to traverse known space much quicker than other comparable vessels, and easily modified to serve a
number of purposes. The Unicorn have several Wakizashi which serve as light carriers, for example, while the Crab reinforce them with additional armor and weapons to serve a heavier combat role than they normally fulfill in
other fleets.
Beyond these two models of cruiser, there is a great
variety of smaller ships that still generally fall under the category of cruiser. These vary widely in design and function, and many clans have their own particular ship
types unique to them. One of the most prevalent is the
Atakebune-class cruiser, a smaller ship utilized by the
Mantis Clan. The Atakebune are the smallest vessel that
can bear the name cruiser, and are remarkably swift
craft capable of operating both in space and also in
atmospheric conditions. In particular, the Atakebune excel
at aquatic operations, and it is not uncommon for large
numbers of them to travel through space together and
then descend into the oceans of a distant world to harvest
specific resources. At the other end of the frequency scale,
the Scorpion are rumored to have a light cruiser with
advanced stealth technology and unrivaled surveillance
abilities, although this may be just a rumor to explain
away the clan’s superior intelligence-gathering.
The majority of spacecraft that are too small to classify
as cruisers are simple transports, used to move goods
throughout the many star systems of the Empire. Most
are quite simple, little more than interstellar barges.
Small single-pilot combat craft also exist and are a vital
component of any fleet, and used to great effect during
large-scale battles. Much as with cruisers, a great variety
of these fighter-ships exist, with many unique models
employed by individual clans. The most common form
is the Tanto-class combat spacecraft, a ship used in one
design or another in every known fleet in the Empire.
These ships are unable to access faster-than-light travel
and are generally dependent upon larger ships to ferry
them through space to engagements. The sole known
exception to this are the slightly larger vessels used by
the Unicorn Clan. Nearly half again as large as a Tanto,
these ships – the Baraunghar class – employ both a pilot
and a single shugenja. The shugenja is able to use a
variant of Opening the Way to allow these ships to make
short faster-than-light jumps, which gives the Unicorn a
distinct advantage.
Carriers are the least numerous of large-scale spacecraft,
and most clans only employ a small number. Although
they vary in size, carriers are typically at least as large
as a cruiser, with the largest of them exceeding the scale
of Katana-class heavy battlecruisers. These vessels are the
Daikyu-class carriers, ships of such enormous size that
many clans choose not to employ them at all. The Tsuruchi
family of the Mantis Clan has one as their flagship in place
of a Katana, and the Phoenix and Crane are known to
utilize them as well. Each Daikyu is capable of fielding
several hundred Tanto-class ships or the equivalent.
Smaller variants of the Daikyu include the Yumi (the most
common class of carrier) and the much smaller Hankyu,
which can carry only a single squadron of fighters.
The void of space is an eerie place to the Rokugani,
despite that the Ishiken of the Phoenix Clan insist it is
distinct from the Void of the Five Elements. It is not
occupied by spacecraft alone. Rare indeed is an inhabited
world without at least one major orbital facility, and these
massive constructs often fulfill the roles once taken by
opulent ancestral estates or mighty war-fortresses. The
largest stations, able to accommodate multiple cruisers
simultaneously and with room for thousands of residents,
are often referred to as Kyuden in imitation of Rokugan’s
past. It is exceptionally rare for a system to have more
than one of these behemoths, and most systems have none
simply because the majority of settled star systems do
not see enough traffic to warrant such a massive facility.
Much more common are the Shiro, smaller stations which
can accommodate only a single cruiser at a time. The
Shiro is the standard space station, and only the most
lightly populated or tactically unimportant systems do
not have at least one. Finally, there are numerous smaller
stations which lack the capacity to dock a cruised, serving
as monitoring posts or orbital defense platforms; these go
by many different names, although Torid-e is the most
common.
11/06/2023 02:36:00 PM |
Category:
Empire of the Emerald Stars
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