From the Cover: In the northern lands of Tsurukoku, on the border of the Iwayama mountains and the Ashlands, the dai-bakemono live in mountain forts and hard iron castles. These mountain goblins are larger, huskier, and more aggressive than their smaller cousins who plague the bamboo forests, hills, and farms of the southern low lands. Historically, the dai-bakemono were a war-torn race, with warring fiefdoms and clans battling across the northern-most mountains. In recent centuries, though, the dai-bakemono have begun to ape their southern neighbors; the ascendancy of samurai culture and the rise to power of the daimyo have made a significant impression on the mountain goblins’ society. Dai-bakemono are tough humanoids with a martial spirit. An aggressive species, they respect strength and power, and naturally align themselves into groups and ranks. They are surprisingly adaptive; while they seem to lack a true understanding of bushido, they have adopted much of the discipline of the samurai with whom they frequently fight. As a result, the dai-bakemono have developed a sense of honor and duty; assassinations and backstabbing as a means of advancement have become rare, and their ranks are eerily well organized by competency. While the dai-bakemono have kept more-or-less to themselves in years past, with clan warfare dominating most of their time, their recent adoption of bushido (or at least their corrupted understanding thereof) has resulted in increased interest in the civilized portions of the Land of the Crane. Several powerful warlords have emerged, each claiming the title of daimyo, and there appears to be a rivalry for the title (or concept) of the dai-bakemono shogun.