Kuge

The Kuge consider themselves the head of government. Together with the emperor, whom they were related to, they made the great decisions on the fate of the Empire. They have dominated the trade routes and the diplomatic relations with distant places for years. Most of the larger cities were under the Kuge families rule also.

The Kuge clan claims that they are direct descendants of the Emperor and, while he was alive, they went with him around the Court in the Imperial City spending most of their time with court intrigues. They were served and maintained by the taxes payed by the Buke and the Sohei from rural areas. Thus, they got rich because of the labours of others.

After the Emperor's death, their excessive ambition and the arrogance due to their believing themselves superior prevented them from reaching an agreement. Step by step the trail of death and betrayal in the Imperial City forced them to trust nobody. They went back to their respective hometowns and to the lands they ruled from a distance to isolate and protect themselves from the intrigues of the rest of their caste. They built their own palaces at those rural redoubts, where they imitated life in court, and surrounded themselves with vassals who know how captivate them with their praises. There they lived, each of them believing themselves to be the chosen one to succeed to the golden throne.

The Kuge consider themselves to be honorable simply because they say divine blood flows through their veins and they are certain of they do not have to prove their honor. Thus, they will not hesitate to use the most dishonorable methods to reach their goals.

They are experts on intrigue and on the use of ninjas, who seek protection behind darkness to carry out their plans. Moreover, to obtain foreign weapons, they have started to to let Gaijin preachers in the islands, and these bring with them a strange religion based on sacrifice, and weapons from the distant Nishi.

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New Miniatures from Kuge