Just a thought - I'm not sure I know which way I'd rule if this comes up, and I figure I should check other people's views. We have a Kaito PC in my group at home, and I have a broad campaign plan in might which might well end up with them at court in Phoenix lands over the autumn and winter, so I'd rather get my ducks in a row before it ever raises its head.
'The Promise' is a covenant between the Shiba and Isawa families - basically dating back to Shiba no Kami kneeling to Isawa during the first war against Fu Leng.
The short version is that if an Isawa asks for something and invokes 'The Promise' the Isawa is supposed to say 'yes Isawa-san, no Isawa-san, three bags full Isawa-san' , regardless of how inconvenient it is and what their relative status.
See Repentance Does Not Come First for an in-story description.
- This is a pretty huge deal - with an Isawa PC, anyway - if you can locate a conveniently placed Shiba (or you're in phoenix lands where they're everywhere).
- Obviously refusing comes at a huge social cost - I would assume both honour (because it's a failure of....what? Duty and Righteousness?) and Glory (if it becomes known you refused). Not sure on the severity of the losses.
- It feels like using it should come at some sort of social cost too. Certainly repeatedly over-using it is wrong, as is using it for dishonourable ends, and would probably get the Isawa called on it by their lord but even using it once feels like something you should really not want to do if you can avoid it.
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How do vassal families tie into it? The Shiba have the Iga, Koganashi, Nasu, Sesai, and Sodona vassal families, whilst the Kaito are (at least at the start of the narrative) an Isawa vassal family.
- Could an Isawa invoke 'The Promise' to a Vassal Family samurai? The Sesai are descendants of a Shiba Samurai..... but then by that logic, the Iga descend from Ji-Samurai, so that argument wouldn't work.
- How about a Kaito? They're Isawa descendants, so could an Isawa no Kaito samurai invoke 'The Promise' to a Shiba Vassal Samurai? How about a Shiba themselves? What about once the Kaito are made a clan family in their own right?
I might cross-link this post in the LCG section...the authors sometimes pop up there.
Edited by Magnus Grendel