Oboro Clan

The Oboro Ninja Clan (朧一門; Oboro Clan) is an organization of ninja that has been observing and defending the world in secret since ancient times. They are the modern descendants of the ancient Rising Moon Clan.

History
As the Rising Moon Clan of Cike (刺客;Chinese shadow assassins), the forefathers of the Oboro ninja served in secret for thousands of years, operating in service of the Chinese Emperor of many a dynasty.

After the fall of the Tang Dynasty, the Rising Moon made their way to the mountains of Japan to avoid persecution and reprisals.

The Rising Moon Clan evolved the skills and techniques that have been passed down from ancient times, and gave birth to Oboro-Ryu ninjutsu. The school of the Oboro Ninja has been handed down to the nine families, combining superior warrior bloodlines breeding superhuman ninja lineages.

Ever since, the Oboro has continued to serve in secrecy to defend the nation of Japan and the world on a greater scale, waging war against nefarious elements that sought to profit from the chaos of conflict.

Ideology
"'風を変われば、雲も変わる. (When the winds change, the clouds change as well)'"Among the Oboro clan both the wisdom of the past and the progress of the future has it's place. Thus the clan itself is a strange, but harmonious mix of new and old where innovation is regarded with much the same reverence as tradition. While no less fervent in their pursuit of advancement than other clans, the Oboro focus on the health and happiness of ones mind and soul. Preferring to concentrate on matters more spiritual in nature.

The Oboro clan upholds, like their ancestors the importance of duty and service. That for ones life to truly have meaning, one must serve in some fashion be it service to ones clan, lord, country, religion, or simply an ideal. Honor is vital to the Oboro, though this rarely meshes well with the shinobi way of life.

The Oboro are a society that does what must be done no matter how violent, gruesome or dangerous the task to ensure their clan and their homes continued survival. Yet they are not a clan which follows blindly. Those whom they give their service to must be worthy, for the waste of service, theirs or another's, is one of the few ways to utterly assure the anger of an Oboro. Nothing is more honorable and pure to them than simple hard work.

Unlike most contemporary Japanese traditions, the Oboro clan are an adaptive and flexible tribe, preferring to flow around their obstacles finding new paths and ways. Rarely do they believe that there is ever a simple yes or no answer to a problem and they delight in thinking outside the box. They despise being hemmed in and for all they uphold service and duty they only hold those efforts willingly given as sacred.

The very acts of slavery or forced service, corruption and terrorism are detestable to them, and the clan is well known to be quite vicious in dealing with slavers and terrorists, often disposing of them in messy and public ways as a warning to others of their kind. They are also completely ruthless towards those who seek to profit from conflict and destruction, and show no mercy to those who prosper from ill-gotten gains, be they human or otherwise.

Hierarchy
The Oboro clan is ruled over by a Clan Head and a Council of Elders. It is made up of three castes dictated by profession rather than birth with only the main branch being determined by parentage or adoption. The Council is made up of nine seats with two seats held by a member of each caste with the Clan Head ruling as the tie breaker. Ones caste determines which seat on the Council they may run for and which seats they may vote for in determining whom holds them. Each Elder is elected to a term of three years and is restricted to being only able to serve two terms in order to encourage the flow of new ideas.

Age is not a restriction in holding a seat on the Council of Elders as anyone whom is the age of majority, 16 for civilians and either 16 or holding the rank of Force Lieutenant or higher for shinobi, may run for a seat. The position of Clan Head is traditionally hereditary with it being passed in the main branch from parent to the most suitable child either through blood or adoption determined by the Clan Head and Council.

The Clan Head serves as both military and spiritual leader and is called upon to make executive decision when time is of the essence. Adoption into the main branch is incredibly common as anyone whom displays the clan hereditary traits or superlative skills will typically be formally adopted in by one of it's members or be married in through arranged marriage. The Oboro clan castes are as follows; the Mochizuki-shu (望月衆 The Full Moon Group), the Mikazuki-shu (三日月 The Crescent Moon Group) and the Shingesshu (新月衆 The New Moon).

Mochizuki
The Mochizuki plays host to the Oboro clan's main branch. The caste itself is made up of shinobi, diplomats, administrators, miko's and priests. The foremost duty of the Mochizuki Caste is to ensure the safety and protection of the clan in both a physical and spiritual sense. It is this caste that owns and cares for the shrines and oversees the day to day running of the clan dealing with politics both from within and without it's borders. Their symbol is the Sankoumon (三光紋 The Three Lights).

Mikazuki
The Mikazuki is made up of merchants, doctors, farmers, teachers and skilled laborers making them through trade the lifeblood of the clan. It is this caste that runs the ports, produces it's ships and fine goods from spices to technology between the clan, the civilians and its allies, maintaining through their efforts social and economic stability. Their symbol is the Shuriken in the Double Crescent Moon and Clouds.

Shingetsu
This caste is perhaps the most infamous of the three castes and is made up of assassins, pirates, warriors, and unskilled laborers, and those wandering shinobi that have married or been adopted into the clan. All warriors that are not born into the clan, but join it begin and remain in this caste until they have learned the duty of service and have resided within the clan for five years. Once this has been completed they will either move to the Mochizuki caste in the case of shinobi or remain in the Shingetsu caste respectively. If the Mochizuki is the heart of the clan, then the Mikazuki is the blood, and the Shingetsu is the body. As such they have no emblem of their own, but wear the Obscured Moon, the crest of the Oboro Ninja, with pride.