Kaito family

The Kaito family was a vassal family of the Isawa family. Disciples of the Void (Flyer) They were eventually elevated to full Phoenix family status in 1123. Outsiders, by Robert Denton III
== History ==
=== Founding ===
Near the dawn of the fifth century a demon appeared in the lands of the Phoenix Clan. This demon terrorized the northern mountain range bordering Rokugan, desecrating shrines and destroying villages, and threw the entire Garanto Province into disarray. Isawa Kaito, an archer and priestess of the Phoenix, with only her bow and the aid of the kami, confronted the demon on a tall mountaintop, slaying the demon with her arrow, and then gave her life to trap its spirit, freezing it deep in the bottom of a [[Well of the Ateru|well]. In honor of her sacrifice, her family was raised in status, becoming a vassal family of the Isawa family. 
=== True History of Kaito ===
The Kaito family were assimilated yobanjin of the Hyōketsu tribe. The tribe staged raids against the Isawa provinces, and they made extended campaigns after a visitor from the Imperial Court paid the Hyōketsu to run daring attacks throughout Isawa lands. Kaito no Momotsukihime, a priestess, was the lone disenter among the tribe's leaders, including her betrothed, Ateru, the Demon of Wyvern Pass. Eventually Kaito brokered a treaty with the Isawa, her tribe in exchange for a place among the Phoenix Clan. They became a vassal family, the Kaito, and were granted lands in the mountains of Garanto Province. Yobanjin valued freedom over all else, and many Hyōketsu refused to join the Phoenix. A civil war began among the Hyōketsu, and Kaito, who was an expert archer, killed her betrothed with the bow. Ateru's corpse fell deep into a well, and a shrine was built around it, Sanpuku Seidō. Eventually Ateru's spirit became restless, seeking the destruction of the Kaito. The Sword and the Spirits, by Robert Denton III
=== Schism ===
In the eighth century, the Kaito were wracked by a religious schism. The daimyō at the time declared that he, and those who would follow him, would leave to establish a new shrine for the family. Using the family's ancestral bow, Mikazuki, the daimyō fired an arrow straight up from Sanpuku Seidō. A strong wind caught the arrow and blew it away to the west, and where the arrow strcuk, it was constructed Lost Arrow Shrine and the beginnings of a new village nearby. A few months later it was found the shrine and village partly built, but no sign at all of the daimyō or of any of the Kaito who had accompanied him. Celestial Realms, p. 67
=== Elevation as a Great Clan Family ===
Until 1123, they were an obscure vassal family of the Isawa. This year a visit by the Phoenix Clan Champion, Shiba Tsukune, initiated a series of events that led to the Kaito being made a major family in the Phoenix. Celestial Realms, pp. 64-65
== Details ==
=== Holdings ===
The Kaito lived in secluded mountain monastery among the Northern Wall Mountains in the Garanto Province. Their holdings comprised their family estate, Cliffside Shrine, and scattered villages within the surrounding valley, the Kaito Valley. The Kaito Daimyō was also the high priest of the shrine. The monastery was little more than a cluster of towers which housed most of the Kaito samurai, having a small marketplace, a residence for the Daimyō's family and guests, and a cave complex that wove its way deep in the mountains. 
=== Mon ===
The Kaito family mon was derived from the Isawa crest, depicting a five-pointed star, symbolizing the five elements, and a circle at its centre, symbolising the well in which Kaito trapped the demon, as well as the moon, for which the Ancestral Bow of the Kaito, Mikazuki, was named. 
=== Duties ===
The Kaito had three duties, to train the clan's shrine-keepers, to preserve their founder's techniques, and to protect their ancestral shrine, Sanpuku Seidō. In 1123, the Kaito were entrusted with a new set duties: to investigate shrines, maintain the elemental order, and report to the Isawa about their findings on the matter of the elemental imbalance. 
=== Traditions ===
The Kaito kept ancient traditions which came from their Yobanjin origin, such as arrow divination, using arrows to invoke rain, venerating the bow, and utilizing the art of archery as a means to become more suitable vessels for the spirits. Their primary element was Water, with Air being their secondary element, both central to the Kaito's philosophy and outlook of life. 
=== Customs ===
To divine a Kaito child's path in life the kid had to grasp an arrow, referred to as a jinsei-no-ya, which their grandparent later released at a target to the southwest. Depending of how the arrow landed, the child's future prospects, their health, and what challenges they might face in life would be read. The arrow was given to the parents and kept at the family shrine until that child's shufuku, the Kaito's coming-of-age. 
== Appearance and Demeanor ==
The Kaito were rustic people, soft-featured, a far cry from the angular faces and pronounced cheekbones common to the Isawa, and bore their own rural dialect. The Sword and the Spirits, by Robert Denton III They often spent their whole lives in the mountains, cut off from the outside world, and they were regarded as charming but naïve. Repentance Does Not Come First, by Robert Denton III
== Politics ==
=== Kaito Daimyō ===
Kaito Daimyō were not chosen by bloodline, but selected by Mikazuki, a catalpa bow that once belonged to the family's founder, Isawa Kaito. The bow could only be strung by the true family Daimyō. 
Isawa Kaito (Founder)	Early Fifth century
Kaito Tsuruko 	c. 522
Kaito Nobukai 	? - 1123
Kaito Kosori 	1123 - Present
== See also ==
* Kaito family/Meta
Category:Vassal families (TCG)
Category:Phoenix Clan Leaders (TCG)
Daimyo Kaito
Category:Phoenix Clan (TCG) Families