The lands of the Crane are a testament to the beauty and geographic diversity found within the Emerald Empire. It is said that the heartlands of the Crane, the fertile farms that are the basis of their wealth, were offered by Hantei himself to his favorite sibling, Doji. Whether or not this is true, the Crane live in a wondrous land, ripe with life and possibility. Lady Doji developed much of the Empire’s tradition and culture, and her followers and children shared her vision of beauty. Samurai and heimin alike saw the bounty of the Crane lands and flooded in to swear fealty, and courtly civilization grew up swiftly, spreading from the ancient capital to the edges of the clan’s territory within just a few years. The wealth of Crane taxes helped build Hantei’s home itself; despite the vast amount of food, resources, and talented workers required for this effort, the Crane never seemed to lack for more. This bounty is a constant point of jealousy for the other clans, and enmity has festered over the centuries; the children of Doji are often called decadent and lazy by their rivals.
Crane lands are so extensive that nearly every landscape one can find in the Empire is seen within their provinces. Rolling hills lead up to ancient mountains, dividing the Crane provinces in half. Fertile plains, flowing rivers, lush forests, and wetlands teeming with life all extend inland from the single longest coastline in Rokugan. That coastline includes serene beaches, sheer cliffs, countless small islands, and many prosperous ports. Where other clans are defined by the singular nature of their domain, the Crane are a clan of diversity, born from the land itself.
If any single geographic feature could be said to define the Crane, it must be their coastline. The Crane control the coast of the Empire from Otosan Uchi all the way down to the Yasuki territory in the far south. Not even the island-bound Mantis possess as much oceanfront land as the Crane. North of the Spine of the World Mountains, the coast is mainly small beaches filled with pebbles – gray, purple, and black stones. These beaches blend seamlessly into the rolling hills and occasional low cliffs inland, and the lands here enjoy a temperate climate. The central Crane territory, around the Spine of the World Mountains, is far less hospitable. Jagged outcroppings, submerged reefs, and sheer walls of stone make it difficult to traverse the region by land or by sea. There are a few trails of safe water for skilled navigators, but the foolish and unlucky fill the ocean floor with their ships’ wreckage. A unique feature of this region is the juxtaposition of warm waters from the south and the cooler northern currents, which produce an abundance of unique fish species which can be found nowhere else. Southward, past the mountains, the white sand beaches of the southern Crane territories stretch for endless miles and often reach far inland. Marshes are common in the farthest south, and rainfall is abundant throughout the region; summers are humid, spring short but verdant, and the coast remains warm through most of the year.
Further inland, the fertile plains of the Crane boast fields more productive than any other clan. Rice, cotton, and wheat are supplemented by millet, rapeseed, silk, maize, and sorghum. Both above and below the mountainous divide which splits their territory, these farming regions are ubiquitous; although all of their territory is productive, the most fertile and profitable is a great plain in the north-central Crane provinces – made up of low hills and bountiful valleys, this region begins just northeast of the great Spine and spread across the heart of the Doji provinces. It is this great farming zone which is the key to Crane agricultural wealth, and as a result the heimin here are some of the best-treated in the Empire. In spring, an infinite array of flowers blossom in these fields, turning the ordinary farmland into an artist’s paradise, a riot of color and beauty. Nor is this farming bounty the only resource of these lands – streams and small rivers, lakes and ponds all provide an inexhaustible supply of fish, shrimp, water chestnuts, lotus seeds, and other resources.
Commerce in Crane lands developed out of the agricultural wealth and veritable overabundance the clan enjoys. Rare is the year that a Crane lord is unable to provide his master with higher taxes than expected – while also maintaining a surplus in his own domain. Thus, the Cran heimin are rarely discontent and their lands remain harmonious. The Crane use their surpluses for trade, exporting their agricultural wealth in exchange for the iron, jade, and other such resources they are unable to easily produce for themselves.
The borders of the Crane lands have been in flux since the earliest days of the clan. The frequent, at times near-constant, wars with the Lion has seen the central and northern Crane territorial borders ebb and flow, though the clan’s negotiators are often able to regain what is lost on the battlefield. Mercantile clashes with the Mantis place limits on Crane control of the sea. The most significant reshaping of borders is of course in the farthest south, where the “Yasuki break” of the fourth century shifts a significant amount of land to the Crab clan and gives rise to a heritage of frequent warfare. In later centuries there is seldom a time when some portion of the Crane-Crab border is not in contention.