(At Blood Sorcerer’s request I’ll help you with this Turr.)
Your character concept is suitable and could work; here is
some information on the Shugenja to help you out…
Shugenja utilize magic granted to them by elemental spirits
known as Kami, these powers must be earned by prayer and gifts. Each type of
Kami is an independent spirit with its own ineffable desires, emotions, and
opinions and may require different services in exchange for spells granted.
Air Kami: Air
Kami are the subtlest of all elemental spirits, and also the most diverse.
Their influence can be seen everywhere, from the faintest breeze to the
mightiest hurricane. Air spirits represent motion, intuition, and emotion. They
are mischievous and easily distracted, eagerly getting into everything. Air
kami enjoy replying to questions with more questions, and often obsess over
trivial details. Air spirits enjoy mysteries and do not need much encouragement
to aid a shugenja in search of the truth.
Any shugenja who is often embroiled in mystery and intrigue
will inevitably attract the attention of a few air spirits. Above all, in
seeking the aid of an air kami a shugenja must be careful not to appear
arrogant. Air spirits are confident in their own knowledge, and enjoy sharing
it with others. If a shugenja appears not to need their wisdom, they will not
help him. Keeping the attention of a mischievous air kami while still appearing
to need its continued assistance is a delicate balance that many shugenja find
difficult to maintain.
Favors: Like
water kami, air kami can be hard to please. Their requirements are extremely
exacting, yet subtle. The slightest variation in detail can greatly upset and
displease them. Air spirits are fond of music, especially complex arrangements
involving string and wind instruments. They are also impressed by shugenja who
can overcome conundrums via intuition alone. The Asahina have devised complex
puzzle boxes that, when solved, bring great amusement to the air kami.
Earth Kami: The kami
of earth embody not only the strength of the mountains, but also strength,
stability, and determination. Where fire spirits are impatient and arrogant,
earth spirits are patient to the point of fatalism. When posed a question, an
earth kami sometimes gives no answer at all because it feels that all answers
come naturally in time.
Earth kami take the longest view of all kami. As a result,
they tend not to have much interest in the relatively transient lives of
mortals. A shugenja seeking an earth kami to swiftly come to his aid may as
well ask a mountain to fly. On the other hand, once an earth kami decides to
aid a mortal, that decision could not be more final. One could not ask for a
more steadfast and loyal aide, though like all kami their actions can sometimes
be peculiar.
Favors: Earth
kami are pleased by the act of creation. Building a small shrine out of natural
stones is often sufficient. Other earth kami are simply pleased by shugenja who
perform strenuous labor. The end of the result of that labor may be is unimportant;
it is the act of creation through toil that pleases the earth kami.
Fire Kami: The
spirits of fire embody destruction, but are also spirits of insight. While they
are extraordinarily wise, they often speak too quickly for others to
understand. To make matters worse, they are extremely impatient, and can often
grow wrathful when their needs are not immediately comprehended. Between their
raw power and their surprising intelligence, fire kami are often extremely
arrogant. They are power hungry and often vengeful, striking out at anything
that tries to quench their flame.
Fire kami are extremely short-lived, flickering into and out
of existence with the ephemeral lifespan of a candle’s flame. Most fire kami
concern themselves with finding fuel and increasing their power; a shugenja who
feeds the ego as well as the hunger of these spirits will find a loyal
companion. Fire kami can be fickle, however, and quickly turn against a
shugenja who ceases to serve their purposes for even a moment.
Favors: These
kami seldom accept favors other than the consumption of an item by fire. Rare
or valuable items find more favor in their eyes; ofuda or other magical items
are especially suitable.
Void Kami: Though
void kami do exist, they are extraordinarily rare, and tend to be solitary.
They hover near extremely powerful nemurani and powerful ishiken. Places rich
in a balance of earth, fire, water, and air spirits may also feature a lone
void kami. Even more so than water kami, void kami defy stereotype and
definition. Each void kami is an individual, with its own unique personality.
Unlike other kami, void kami never die or change forms. They are eternal, and
do what they do for reasons known only to them.
Favors: There is
no standard favor preferred by void kami. Each individual kami has its own
preferences.
Water Kami: Water
kami are spirits of growth, change, and healing. They can be defined by their
very refusal to fit definition. A water spirit may be calm and peaceful one
moment, and then wrathful and destructive the next, seemingly for no reason.
Water spirits change for the sake of change itself, and find great joy in the
act of transformation.
One strangely consistent detail regarding water kami is
their unusual method of communication. Water kami communicate through images,
reflecting memories of the past in their own surfaces. Though they are very
emotional, they rarely display emotion in their communication with shugenja;
the water kami understand that their own moods are so mercurial that only by
communicating through facts and memories can a mortal hope to understand them.
A skilled shugenja can easily befriend a water kami; the challenge lies in
finding a way to maintain a friendship with such a moody and unpredictable
spirit.
Favors: Water
kami are notoriously difficult to please. They are fond of riddles; a riddle
with no answer, such as the sort found strewn throughout the Tao, often find
favor with the water spirits. Some water kami prefer the ritual cleansing of a
soiled object with pure water, or a simple prayer to a steam, river, or beach.
You will be dealing with Kami for your powers, as for a
Naginata… there is nothing that says that you can’t use it but most Shugenja
tend to leave the swordplay to the samurai. They tend to wear a Wakizashi as a
symbol of rank since the vast majority of Shugenja are of noble rank. It is
considered inappropriate for a Shugenja to wear armor.
Any questions?