Requires
- Arts:
Enables
- Arts:
Effects
- -20% cost for metsuke actions
Description
Enemies within the walls concern a wise daimyo as much as those at his gates. Most men live by an honest and strict code of loyalty and honour, yet there are always the false few who have no loyalty except to their own ambitions. To guard against such insidious falsehood it is best to employ metsuke: they can weed out rebels before treachery and rebellion blossom. This requires agents of great skill, able to piece together the truth of whispers, glances and hearsay and act decisively and correctly. Training such men to follow procedures rather than rely on gut instinct will increase their skills in rooting out trouble.
Law enforcement was somewhat erratic (to put it politely) during the Sengoku Jidai, but treachery had been a constant. The Tokugawa Shogunate used metsuke to investigate anyone below the rank of daimyo, seeking out, and nipping in the bud, any rebellion. The old ways of warlords and warfare could not be allowed to continue if the nation was ever to have peace. The surviving daimyos were allowed to keep their provinces, but could never tell if their own actions and those of their vassals were being monitored. Their families were kept close by the Shogun, as insurance for good behaviour.