There are quite a lot of non-humans creatures with human or near human intelligence that live in and around Rokugan. Encounters with them are not all that particularly rare in Rokugan, probably every samurai is going to encounter some of these mystical creatures at least once during their career while for certain clans-- encounters become a near regularity. This is a short and woefully incomplete list of the kinds that exist.

Ashalan
Ashalan are a mysterious people who come from the burning sands out west. They appear to be generally human, but with very odd features that are not known among the other human species. Often they have blue, often dark blue skin, and white tattoos along their bodies. There are stories of them having a third eye in the center of their forehead or large white wings on their back. Tales say that they predated the Kami by at least a thousand years and have since carved out a niche for themselves deep within the Burning Sands. Those who exist now are far from any sort of heavenly figures in their behavior-- they are known to be slavers and sorcerers. There are only scant rumors of them having appeared in Rokugan and, if it ever occurred, presumably they did not share a language. They due feature in tales brought by the Unicorn and Mantis into Rokugan.

Dokkaebi
Dokkabe appear to be tiny Oni, though by all accounts they are not children Oni but a separate race that were once the servants of their larger cousins. They are child size and come in a variety of colors like red, green, yellow or blue. They usually have curly hair, big eyes and one or two horns on their heads. They often sport short tusks. They are extremely primitive, usually wearing pelts and defending themselves with little more advanced than clubs. They live in the forests in Rokugan, particularly the Shinomen Forest, and can be very stealthy. They are not inherently malicious, but individuals motives can range as much as those of humans do. If approached in a friendly manner, they will generally respond in kind. They like to play games and will eat and drink virtually anything presented to them. The Dokkaebi who lived in the Shadowlands were transformed into the Bakamono there today.

Garuda
Garuda are a people with hawk-like heads and large wings wings on their backs. They can easily be mistaken for Kenku, although they have talons instead of normal human feet and they are usually brown or reddish brown with a more curved beak. The Garuda are not native to Rokugan, but they have made their way in through the ghostlands so they are spotted on occassion.

Kappa
Kappa are a turtle-like people who tend to be around the height of elementary school children but are considerably stouter, heavier and stronger. They live in and around the rivers and lakes of Rokugan, but generally try to stay out of sight of humans and are always moving. There are various tales of them sneaking into people's houses and drinking blood, but this doesn't seem to fit the behavior demonstrated by them at all. Still, the tales mean that there are many who attack them on sight. Outside of those tales, the Kappa are known to be generally friendly if approached. They can be quite dangerous though-- they like to wrestle and they can breath underwater and don't seem to understand that humans can't. Humans who tried interacting with Kappa on occasion have been drowned in what seem likely to have been accidents. The Kappa cannot speak any sort of human language and it is debatable just how intelligent they are. Presumably they are smarter than monkeys but fall well short of human intelligence. They are one of the few on this list who wear no form of human clothing.

Kenku
Kenku are crow-people that are in some way related to the Tengu, in fact many classify them as one and the same supposing Kenku are just a young or weaker Tengu. The Kenku look just like crow people, covered in black feathers from head to toe except for their long, straight beaks. They have black, beady eyes and large wings on their back. Some of them have shown the ability to communicate using human speech, but the majority of them do not. They can and do fight with swords though and are known to be particularly skillful with such blades. Kneku are most often found in and around the World Edge mountains, but occasionally in other mountains too.

Kitsu
Kitsu are a kind of Lion-people that once lived in the lands now occupied by the Lion Clan. The Kitsu family is named after them and lives in what was once their primary homeland. They went to war with the humans long ago and were nearly driven entirely extinct by it. Those few that still survive have been quite humbled by the experience. They are said to be guarded by the Lion Clan now and, as much as they are rarely seen at all, there are only rumors of them ever having been spotted outside Lion lands.

Koumori
Ancient bat-people who once lived in the Isles of Silk and Spice. It is said that the humans who lived there had encroached enough to nearly push them out completely before Kaimetsu ever moved to the islands with his samurai followers. The remaining Koumori are said to have a special relationship with the Mantis Clan, particularly the Unmei family who are also known as the "Koumori" themselves. Little is known about them beyond this, though they are rumored to have the ability to travel to other realms.

Kumiho
The Kumiho, also simple called "Kitsune" meaning Fox, are one of the most well known youkai types. In their natural form they are seen as foxes with multiple tales, most say the 9-tailed variety are the most powerful, however they are quite good at transforming into humans. They are incredibly clever and seem to have a natural air of aristocracy about them that causes them to be able to blend in all too perfectly with the samurai. One of the most common tales about them is them marrying samurai only to eventually be unmasked and run away, leaving any children behind. In practice though, Kumiho who infiltrate Rokugani society have been known to cause far more damage, destruction and death than simply leaving a spouse to take care of the children on their own. The Kumiho are believed to be primarily denizens of the Shinomen Forest, but in the process of infiltrating Rokugan society they are commonly encountered in and around the major cities.

Most encountered Kumiho are women, with maybe only one in every ten encountered being male-- however this could very well simply mean that the women are more skilled at infiltrating human society or that it is easier to blend in as a woman than a man. Regardless-- women who are seen as powerful but deceptive and manipulative are often called foxes and many embrace that image even if they are not really Kumiho. The Fox Minor Clan is said to have a particular affinity with this kind of youkai-- in fact, it is rumored that nearly a third of their clan are in reality just Kumiho in disguise.

Kumo
Uncreatively just called "Spiders", these spidery youkai have been known to kill and eat people before disguising themselves as the deceased in order to hunt for additional prey. They can spin garments from their own silk that match examples they see with surprising ease. They are doubtless one of the most directly sinister and lethal of the youkai, and one of the most disturbing to encounter.

Naga The Naga long, long ago carved out a niche for themselves in western Rokugan where the Ghostland and Shinomen forest now exist. In the era before humans began to arrive, they had a contentious relationship with the other denizens. Once the humans started arriving, the Naga by and large went into a deep slumber-- intending to simply sleep past the age of humanity so as to reemerge on the other side and have the world for themselves. The Naga still sleep within large, hidden temples in Rokugan which are constantly guarded by the handful of their kind who remain awake. Naga who either awakened early or are working to keep their temples hidden are encountered around the Shinomen Forest and Ghostlands, with many of those encountered turning deadly.

Nekomata
Nekomata are a kind of catpeople who are roughly the size of humans and try to mimic humans. However the Nekomata are no where near as good at it as the Kitsune and are very easy to spot when they do try to pass themselves off as human. For example, pretending to be human while still being entirely covered with fur and sporting cat ears is not uncommon. While being intelligent enough to be able to handle human speech and mannerisms, even being able to pick up common skills, they are notably lacking in common sense and can come across as fairly dim-witted or at least carefree and reckless. Nonetheless, they are primarily pretty harmless. There are also magical cats known as "bakeneko" which display all sorts of various magical powers that might range from being able to see briefly into the future to being able to turn giant to being able to spit fire, but for the most part bakeneko seem to have no greater than cat-like intelligence. Nekomata might just be one particular kind of bakeneko whose special magical ability is to turn into humans or if they are two entirely seperate things.

Nezumi
Nezumi are one of the most famous and well-liked of the nonhuman people of Rokugan. They do not seem to have any particularly mystical abilities, so they do not get grouped in with youkai. Still, their name just uncreatively enough is just "rat" and they are furry, rat-like creatures who are smaller than humans but generally of similar intelligence. While most do not speak human language, some have demonstrated the ability to do so-- though with strange speech patterns being quite common. The way Nezumi think about the world, particular as it relates to time, can cause quite a lot of confusion. But Nezumi are known to be brave and gallant-- and their immunity to the Shadowlands taint makes them useful allies of the Crab Clan. The Nezumi live both in the Shadowlands as well as in the Shinomen Forest-- with naturally various tribes spanning the Crab Clan lands in between.

Ningyo
The Ningyo are scaly fish-people who live in the oceans off the eastern coast of Rokugan. They have their own underwater civilization. They generally prefer to keep to themselves, but have been known to attack ships and coastal villages either for supplies or for revenge if they are either dumping trash or over-fishing. The Ningyo are often described as fairly nightmarish in appearance and it is basically impossible for sailors to emerge victorious if they are targeted by Ningyo at sea.

Oni
In their natural form, Oni can stand anywhere from 8' to 12' tall with large, powerful bodies and strength almost beyond human reasoning. They have skin that tends to be either bright red or bright blue most often as well as two horns upon their heads and mouths full of sharp teeth. Their hair tends to be black and curly and the males often have bushy beards. They often don't dress in much at all, often just loincloths made of the pelts of large animals and usually avoid using weapons more complicated than clubs. However Oni are able to alter their appearance to a great degree and many use this ability to take on human form, to different degrees of success. Their horns are the most difficult thing for them to make entirely disappear, though they might use different methods of getting rid of them.

Many Oni seem to be prone to berserker rages that cause them to destroy and kill everything around them, being a nearly unstoppable force when in this state. However exactly what triggers these rages can vary wildly from individual to individual. On the other side, there are tales of Oni who became so irrationally timid that a human child could scare them away. Oddly more, it has been suggested that the same individual can go through these different phases. The strength of Oni is admired by many samurai who might mimic their appearance with masks and such in an attempt to get into the same mindset and copy their strength.

Rakshasha
Rakshasha are a kind of youkai that seems to primarily live in lands west of Rokugan. They are tiger-people who can alter their appearance to appear more or less human. It is said that they are able to utilize powerful magic. Although they are immune to the affects of the Shadowlands or the taint of Jigoku, they are generally known to be quite malicious and cruel of their own accord.

Tanuki
Tanuki are generally just a common animal in Rokugan-- an animal that is similar to a dog or a fox, but with squatter bodies and markings similar to a raccoon. However certain members of this animal species have the ability to transform themselves into statues or pretty much any other inanimate object they have encountered. There have been tales of them trying to transform into humans, although they are not the least bit convincing unless perhaps they stay perfectly still and quiet. They are only known to have enough intelligence to perform simple mimicry of human habits and are not known to be able to perform any sort of speech that either humans nor other youkai can understand. It seems like they are only marginally more intelligent than the regular Tanuki, if that. They are common enough that many just assume that all Tanuki have the same mystical abilities.

Tengu
Tengu are a people with red skin, long noses and large black crow wings on their back. They can appear to be human and oddly enough generally take the appearance of shinseist monks when they do pose as simply humans. They are known to live in the World Edge mountains and seeing them leap from mountain to mountain is not a wholly uncommon sight. They are known to possess magical powers that allow them to change the wind or alter the parts of another person's body to become larger or smaller-- generally through the use of fans. They are also known to have quite good sword skills. Precisely how they are connected with the Kenku is unclear and no one who has ever asked got a straight answer. Most assume that the Tengu are older or more powerful Kenku as most Tengu do tend to appear to be old men with younger or women ones being fairly rare. The degree to which Tengu are hostile to humans is unclear-- but generally it is agreed that they at least like to cause some level of chaos.

Vanara
The Vanara are a people from the lands west of Rokugan who appear to be some sort of monkey youkai. However the Vanara are not known to have any overtly mystical abilities. There are tales that one king of their people was once the greatest warrior in the world who could defeat the greatest warriors of heaven and hell-- but most dismiss such tales as simply fanciful. For the most part the Vanara are one of the kind of youkai that Rokugan is least concerned about.

Zokujin
The Zokujin are child-sized reptillian creatures who live within the mountains claimed as Dragon Clan lands. They are an almost entirely subterranean people and rarely found on the surface. However their presence has always prevented the Dragon Clan from properly mining the resources they have in their mountains-- any time a mine is built, it is only a matter of time before the peasants sent to mine encounter the Zokujin and get overwhelmed and killed by them. Samurai sent to deal with them are often incapable of following the Zokujin down the narrow tunnels even if they could make sense of their labyrinths. Instead of fighting them, the Dragon Clan has attempted to trade with them instead in order to gain access to the precious metals, gems and other rare ingredients that lay within the mountains.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:43, Thu 25 Feb 2021.