Is it common for the L5R clans to have territories far from their main land?

Question

In the introduction to the Naishou Province supplement, it is explained how a number of clans want to control the province.

The localization of the Province is intentionally not mentioned, but I would like to place it somewhere on the Rokugan map for a campaign.

However, I want it to make sense given the clans who want the control of the province. But I am not sure if it makes sense for, say, the Crab clan (who is located in the south of Rokugan) to try to acquire a province that would be in the north (just an example, I'm still not sure about where to put it).

Thus my question: Is it common for clans to own territories far from their main land? If it's rare, which clans would be likely to do that?

Answer 1

You'll have to excuse my L5R law being a bit rusty.

Is it common for clans to own territories far from their main land?

No, it pretty rare thoughout most of history. In general exceptions being only temporary, e.g. occupations during a war. The average clans has strong attachment to their ancient lands. (though arguments (wars) about which lands are of ancient rights are theirs and certainly common enough.)

My memory is also telling me the Mantis have Enclaves, but I can find nothing about it in the wiki.

Later in history we have The Colonies and New Rokugan. And I think all the clans took parts of that. So given circumstances I think all are willing, but that was a contentent sized landmass, so much value to be had. It is my impression the Mantis, the Unicorn and of-course the Spider (who were exiled there) took major parts in the Colonies.

If it's rare, which clans would be likely to do that?

The Mantis, the Unicorn and the Spider.

Assuming it is accessible from the sea, the Mantis would be up for it. In general the Mantis are a lot more game for adventurous action than other clans. Mantis travel very widely by sea, so communications is less unusual for them. Land which is not the land of other clans is expressly their responsibility. Which has seen things like the Mantis warring in the Ivory Kingdoms.

The Unicorn they have as a clan spent 800 years exploring the world. And with it picked up strange gaijin ways. They have the self-surficency to pull off seperate territory. Odds are there actually still exist small pockets of cutoff unicorn clans folk left behind thoughout the world.

The Spider Clan. Throughout history they have moved a lot. From the City of the Lost, to the Ruined City, to the Fingers of Bone, to excile in the colonies to one family breaking off and conqurying Rokugan. The Spider, if nothing else, have demonstrated the ability to build a new home. Even with literally every other clan out to get them.

Answer 2

It is not common to see a clan hold territory outside of its own region. When a territory is isolated, it's usually absorbed by whomever cut them off. Nothing comes to mind of any canonical instance where a clan has such disjointed lands.

That said, that's only canon. If you want your campaign to be based around the idea that a Shosuro with a cruel sense of humor gave the Crab a chunk of land on their northern border to watch them try and stretch themselves thin because the Unicorn have come to play. You could also say that the Dragon have set aside a territory for the Crab as a way to assist the Dragonfly in their day to day duties. The options are always there for the creative GM.

Answer 3

If you are Mantis, far away and disjointed is the default

The Mantis Homelands are islands located hundreds of miles from the coast. When they became a great clan and adopted the Wasp, Moshi and later the Kitsune, The new holdings were located hundreds of miles away from the islands and thus the Mantis homeland. However, those lands were the former small clan's ancestral holdings... or not so ancestral for the Wasp. The only thing that all holdings have in common is accessibility from the sea via the coast or large rivers.

The Unicorn reach into the Burning Sands

Many wares that come from beyond the burning sands come via Ide traders. It's possible that the Unicorn, through their Ide Emissaries, has holdings in or beyond the Burning Sands that they use as waystations for their caravans towards Medinaat al-Salaam. However, nobody would claim those are permanent holdings akin to the homelands or even part of the Empire.

Crane stretch from Toshi Ranbo along the coast to the south

Toshi Ranbo wo Shien Shite Reigisaho lies at the north edge of the Lion lands, bordering the river beyond which the Tonbo lands lay and Kintani Valley to the east. Most of the time it was owned either by Lion and connected to their lands, or by the Crane and connected to the Crane lands via their Tsune holdings in Kintani Valley. The road up to Toshi Ranbo was long though - while not truly an enclave, the town is further away from Kyuden Doji than the long axis through all of Lion Lands!

Similarly, the Crane own almost all of the coast of Rokugan south of Otosan Uchi. As a direct result, the southernmost family capital - Shinden Asahina - is hundreds of miles away from the clan capital - Kyuden Doji. To travel all of the Crane lands, you'd start the journey in the most northern tip in Kintani Valley or Toshi Ranbo, and travel via Kyuden Kakita and then along the coast to the most south-western tip in Friendly Traveller Village. This trip would be up to four times as long as any other similar trip across any other great clan lands but the Mantis - the other clans are mostly compact lands while the coast is very long stretched. So in effect, "far away from the capital" describes most of the Crane lands, especially the southern provinces controlled by the Asahina and some of the Daidoji holdings.

However, almost all of the Crane holdings are accessible without leaving Crane lands or coastal waters, but for the rare times that Toshi Ranbo was a Crane enclave for a short while.

Ryoko Owari Toshi

There was a time when the Crab marched north and took up everything along the river towards Ryoko Owari Toshi and held it for a while. Later the Lion came over the mountains and took it. Then the Unicorn took it for a while. However, the town is some hundred miles along roads and passes or rivers from EITHER of the three clan's provinces, which is part of the reason that the situation was untenable.