In the early days of space travel, no Rokugani clan traveled faster or farther than the Mantis. Constantly seeking to push the limits of Rokugani knowledge of the Emerald Stars, they sent as many explorers as they could in virtually every direction. One such explorer was Komori Azai, a young shugenja-ko fascinated by the possibilities of the infinite void. Azai quickly became known as Rokugan’s foremost expert on stellar phenomena, strange occurrences which could not be explained by currently-understood science. But her unorthodox methods and supposed disrespect for tradition did not sit well with the Emerald Empire’s existing scientific experts, as the Phoenix saw these new discoveries as their own purview. They became positively apoplectic, however, when they learned that exposure to the infinite void had granted Azai some unique abilities – specifically, the capacity for void magic, an exclusive province of the Phoenix since the founding of the Empire.
The Clan of Shiba attempted to use their court influence to press Azai into their service, where they could control her – but their old enemies the Mantis (not to mention Azai herself) didn’t take kindly to the Phoenix trying to heist one of their brightest minds. The ensuing War of the Void fought by the Mantis and Unicorn against the Phoenix and their Lion allies (setting the stage for the Mantis-Lion rivalry that persists to this day) was Rokugan’s first true interstellar conflict. The war became a stalemate, eventually leading to the Crane and Scorpion, in a rare show of unity, interceding to argue that while Komori Azai had abilities that looked like Void magic, she was fueling them using spells from other elements – meaning she wasn’t technically an ishiken-do. The Phoenix were forced to begrudgingly accept this explanation, but they couldn’t abide her continuing to remain within the ranks of their bitter enemies. The resulting compromise was the formation of the Azai family of the new Pangolin Clan, with the mandate to provide their services as experts in interstellar phenomena to all clans equally.
As a result, the Pangolin are, to this day, banned from allying or warring with any other clan, and are the only Minor Clan not a part of the Minor Clan Alliance. This suits the Pangolin just fine, as it keeps their services – based out of their desert homeworld they call the Scaled Sands – highly in demand and prevents any Great Clan from threatening their existence.
Azai Family Bonus: +1 Intelligence