Since their founding, the Agasha family has always pushed the very edges of magical research. As technology has advanced, the Agasha’s need to push its very outer edges kept pace; the creation of any strange and wondrous new technology in Rokugan has almost always involved at least one Agasha shugenja. But there are limits to what Rokugani society will accept, and occasionally an Agasha will push well past them. 50 years ago, Agasha Mori pushed this boundary further than anyone before him. Mori was obsessed with curing his daughter’s illness, but refused to resort to maho, instead believing technology would be her salvation. To that end, he invented an entirely new field of science: robotics. He built what would become known as an “android,” convinced that if he could transfer her consciousness from her frail body to steel creation, she could be saved. Ultimately, she died, meaning he had failed…in a manner of speaking.
Shortly after her death, the robot came to life on its own, possessed by a curious air kami. When the Phoenix learned of Mori’s research, they were apoplectic, and it would have gone very badly for him – except the Emperor had heard of Mori’s creation and requested a demonstration. Mori obliged, and though the Emperor seemed impressed, cries of heresy from the Lion, Scorpion, and Phoenix likely would have resulted in Mori’s seppuku – if not for an unlikely intercession. The Dragon, traditionally the Radiant Emperor’s closest advisors, stepped in to declare that Mori’s creation was not heresy, but the will of the Tao itself. After all, if a kami had chosen to bind itself in this creation, could that be anything other than the will of the very heavens themselves? The Emperor agreed, and, over the strenuous objections of at least three Great Clans, gave Mori permission to found the Otter Clan and the family that bears his name.
Today, the Otter are probably the most divisive Minor Clan; the more traditionalist clans actively seek the destruction for heresy of their plains-and-stream-dotted homeworld of Riverweald, while the less traditionalist clans find their research fascinating. As for the Dragon, no one knows why they interceded; all the Togashi will say is “someday, they will be needed.”
Mori Family Bonus: +1 Intelligence