When a defending character is sent home from a conflict that has resolved, instead of bowing that character, you may place an honor token on that character. 
A character with an honor token on it may not be declared as an Attacker.

I think this is a simple solution to prevent people from ganging up on others just because they're the "weak" player, since it costs resources to defend.

It basically allows you to say these certain characters are dedicated to defending your home, thus letting you potentially weather several attacks in a turn. (And with up to two potential attacks per opponent, that can be a lot of attacks you have to suffer.)