What is a Kitsune!

Admin Posts : 4 Join date : 2013-06-14

Kitsune, in a really tiny tip-of-the-iceberg nutshell, are Japanese spirit foxes with magical abilities and multiple tails.

Now then. The following quote, from Nozaki's Kitsune, seems to be a good way to introduce the beasties by most folk, myself included:

'Kitsune is an animal supposed to be mysterious, fascinating, and mischievous. And he is believed to be very grateful for the kindness done to him, as seen in many tales, and is also affectionate as revealed in some dramas. He is enshrined as a god because of his supernatural power. He is endowed with the subtle art of metamorphosis, and he is able to bewitch men in the guise of a charming girl. An exceedingly interesting and entertaining beast Kitsune is.' (preface, page vii)

Kitsune are quite long-lived, and if not killed by an outside force, can manifest themselves in the physical realm for somewhere between 900-1000 years before returning to the spirit world.

We don't control how quickly your characters age and grow within the dream; you can do that at whatever pace you like. Kits should have only one tail, but you are allowed to age them to an adult under whatever timeline you want (whether this means your character becomes an adult at a year or at 100, it's up to you). We do require you to display your number of tails somewhere in your description!

They generally gain a tail for each (approximately) one hundred years lived, starting out with one as a kit and attaining their ninth sometime around the age of 900. Some legends say that they can earn tails in other manners, such as being awarded them for feats of bravery or by a benefactor or teacher, but we stick to the aging rule in this dream.

Kitsune require a connection with an element, in order to fuel themselves. Generally they try to stick around a place that has a bevy of whatever they are, but they do travel from place to place as well. The kitsune can drain the elemental energy of an area in order to feed and keep themselves healthy, and are also able to call on abilities associated with that element. The thing that is fed upon usually withers to some extent, depending on how much the kitsune drains away, or how powerful it is. More on elements and feeding will be discussed later! Your elemental type must also be displayed in your description.

A kitsune's abilities range fairly widely, from illusion to shapeshifting to actual magical prowess, and are covered more fully in the Abilities section. Do keep in mind that a kitsune grows much, much more powerful depending on its age, and in particular, the number of tails it has.

A guideline for this dream is that a two-tailed is twice as powerful as a one-tailed, a three-tailed is twice as powerful as a two-tailed, four-tailed twice as powerful as a three-tailed, and so on. (Powers of two, hooray!) Using their abilities drains their energy depending on what it is they're doing, and they generally have to feed in order to replenish what they lose.

» Other Kitsune Abilitys
» Kitsune Behavior and Ethics