In the latter days of the War of the Broken Sun, the secretive Spider Clan slunk into the darkness, retreating further and further into the Shadowlands, seemingly abandoning their goal of infiltrating and conquering the Emerald Empire. No effort was made to pursue them; with mass devastation reigning in Rokugan, the Empire was in no mood to go chasing down yet more enemies – and rumors insisted additional reasons stayed his hand. Whatever the case, the Spider were allowed to retreat so long as they stayed out of Rokugan…and for centuries, they kept their word. This was, however, no honor-bound promise, but a carefully-calculated tactic. When advanced agents of the Radiant Emperor finally came for the lost Spider centuries later during the Great Relocation, they found nothing – nothing, that is, other than evidence the Spider had already taken to the stars. It’s not clear where they went; the Emerald Empire’s expansion has thus far not uncovered a single planet playing host to Daigotsu’s brood (despite finding more than one Jigoku-aligned world). Whatever the case, one thing seems clear: Rokugan has not heard the last of the lost clan of Fu Leng.
Families: Daigotsu, Chuda, Kokujin, Goju, Susumu
Naval Philosophy: Spider naval philosophy is based far less on
destroying enemy ships than capturing them. The Spider look for any edge they can get, and converted souls
are far more valuable than killed ones (and if they won’t join the clan of Daigotsu, they can always be
tossed out an airlock later). To this end, their weapons are specifically designed to destroy a ship’s
components rather than the ship itself, rendering it helpless for boarding and capture. They also have
another trick up their sleeve: the Spider are the only ships that possess cloaking technology other than the
Scorpion (from whom they stole it). This combination makes them superb ambush predators, preferring to sneak
up on a target and disable them as quickly as possible.
Ship Bonus: Can cast maho spells using a Radiant Cannon.
Damage enemy components on rolls of 9 and 10.
New Family: Anjin
Kochako Family Bonus: +1 Reflexes
Most among the Thrane believe that those Thranish and Merenaean rebels who fled the planet in the wake of
the War of Remembrance died during their interstellar journey, just further casualties of the Emerald
Empire. Others believe they managed to establish their own colony somewhere, far from Rokugan’s greedy
hands, and live on in peace to this day. Neither of these theories are true. After they fled the planet, the
survivors were eventually approached by those that looked remarkably similar to them: the remnants of the
Dark Wave, still in service to the Spider Clan. The former Thrane offered sanctuary to the refugees in
exchange for fealty to their dark masters, but it was their other promise which sold the deal: the long-term
possibility of vengeance against those who had forced them from their homes. The new combined group was
re-christened the Anjin family, forming the bulk of the command structure of the Spider Clan’s burgeoning
interstellar fleet, now called the Dark Stars Armada. As the caretakers of the Spider fleet (many of whom
have been around since the merger due to the longevity granted by the Shadowlands taint), they eagerly await
the day they might have a chance to take their revenge against the Empire that wronged them. Though most
among them still possess Thranish names which they use amongst each other, all bear the family name “Anjin”
(literally “pilot”) amongst the rest of the Spider.