Kitsune

Kitsune
Race
Pronunciation	Kit-su-nay
Archetype	Human
Nicknames	Fox People, Fox Servants, Fox Girls (Gender Specific)
Languages	Kusanji
Vampiric Conversion	Not Possible
Aetherial Affinity	Level 5 - Naturally Casts Magic
Roleplay Difficulty	Hard
Racial Traits
Aetheriality	Semi-Aetherial
Max Age	600 Years
Strengths	Incredible Agility, Superior Senses, Excellent Aether Control
Weaknesses	Hypersensitivity to Aether, Aether Reliant, Primal Desires
Height	5' to 6'6"
Weight	100 to 280 lbs
Eye Colors	Brown, Hazel, Blue, Green, Amber
Hair Colors	Black, Brown, Blond, Gray, White and Red
Skin Tones	Ranging from Pale to Brown
Average Physique	Slender to Muscular
Aetherial Limit	Class 2 Theta
Significant Demographics
While this doesn't mean your character has to come from one of these places, it's recommended they do. Shogunate of Senkyou

The Kitsune are best described as humans with the addition of several large tails, fox ears, and an extreme sensitivity to magic. As a semi-aetherial being, Kitsune are a particularly interesting race. They are characterized by their primal desires and unique culture. Very few in number, most people of Amestria will live their lives never seeing one of these magnificent beings.

Physical Characteristics

Kitsune are very similar to the humans that they were based upon, however their aetherial soul has caused various aspects of their physiology to reflect their aetherial nature. They have standard human skin, hair, and eye colors, but will also have up to nine tails, and fox ears instead of human ears that will be the same color as their hair. They also have slitted eyes, complete with fantastic night vision. They have a naturally athletic body, and their high metabolism makes it almost impossible for them to gain excessive weight. They also have exceptional agility, having faster reaction times and more precise reflexes then humans. Their ears are very sensitive to sound, allowing them to hear things at great distances or even underground. Some kitsune may sport whiskers like what a fox would have. They are extremely sensitive to aether, more so then any other race. This sensitivity comes from the unnatural nature of their half aetherial soul and human body. They can live up to 600 years of age, reaching full maturity around the same time as humans. Kitsune will retain their natural youth and beauty for most of their lives, only visually aging in the last 40 years of their life. Kitsune children don't have any tails until they reach twelve years old, after which they will get their first tail. They will get a tail every 60 years until they are 492 years old, receiving their ninth tail. A tail will grow in a matter of a day or two, it's growth being accelerated by their aetherial soul. Tails will go from 3 feet long in childhood to 6 feet long in adulthood. Kitsune require a constant intake of ambient aether to survive, their body requires food and water also but their aetherial soul requires aether to continue to exist. If a kitsune is starved of aether they will die. Kitsune are far more resistant to diseases then humans.

Fenekku

There is a variant of kitsune referred to as fenekku, they live in the Tierran Desert and have a very different appearance from normal kitsune. Fenekku have exclusively light tan colored hair and tails, and also sport exceptionally large ears. Their average height and size is also significantly less, only reaching a maximum of 4'6" tall. Fenekku will only ever have a single tail which grows up to 3 feet in adulthood. They also maintain a lean build, never going above athletic. They are highly adapted towards living in the desert and can live on minimal amounts of water.

Mental Characteristics

Despite their similarity to humans physically, kitsune are very different mentally. They alternate between their human and aetherial beast natures. As they were created from aether beasts, one side of them lacks empathy and has very strong primal desires. The other side comes from their human based body and has empathy and compassion. They constantly flip between the two sides, and it is a constant and unending cycle. As a general rule, they will have more control over their primal desires as they obtain more tails. Kitsune are naturally flighty, being very easily frightened and prone to hiding or running from things they are scared of. Just like the aetherial foxes they were created from, they are very clever and have a gift for deception. They are also partial to being playful, creative and in some cases flirtatious. Most kitsune do not like being around large groups of people and prefer to be in close knit social groups or alone.

Primal Desires

The most prominent aspect of a kitsune are their primal desires, which are a major part of their personality and character. Primal desires come and go much like emotions, however while the desire is present the kitsune will feel a strong urge to fulfill it. These urges are more controllable as the kitsune gets more tails, but can be very overpowering in the early years of a kitsune's life. The following list contains the most common desires and their associated behavior. As a general rule of thumb for primal desires, they are animalistic in nature and are associated with a sub-sentient creature's need to survive.

Primal Desires: (All desires fade after a few hours or a day)

• Flight - The kitsune will feel a strong desire to flee, usually from the rest of society or an object of fear. Commonly results in ending up far away from any other people.
• Playful - The kitsune will feel a strong desire to play with another, perhaps even forcibly.
• Wanting - The kitsune will be compelled to take or grasp a specific object and not relinquish possession of it.
• Hoarding - The kitsune will be compelled to amass a collection of a particular thing (likely food), and will be very aggressive towards anyone who wants to take from the collection or even get near it.
• Aggression - The kitsune will feel a strong desire to either fight or avoid the object of aggression, depending on their personality they may want to fight physically or verbally, or simply display cold behavior.
• Dominance - The kitsune will have a strong desire to assert superiority over others they deem inferior. This may include anything from competitive behavior to all out brawls.
• Procreation - The kitsune will experience a strong desire to procreate with another individual. This does not involve any shared feelings and is purely primal lust.
• Safety - The kitsune will be compelled to hide in an area or space they consider safe and will refuse to leave.
• Hunting - The kitsune will have a strong desire to stalk a lesser animal and kill it if given the opportunity.
• Protection - The kitsune will have a strong desire to protect someone close to them or someone in need, and will be very aggressive towards anyone who threatens the safety of the protected individual.

History

Ancient History

The kitsune were created during the Exodian Empire's golden era. The exodians were known for their mastery of magic and machines, and fused aetherial foxes from the forest with a body of flesh using Humanity as a template. This resulted in a being that was of both worlds, and of neither at the same time. The kitsune proved valuable to the exodians, with superior physical senses and hypersensitivity to aether. They were used to detect spells and anomalies that could not be detected by human mages, as well as serve as servants and assassins for various members of the exodian aristocracy. After the collapse of the Exodian Empire, the kitsune were no longer bonded in servitude and migrated to regions within the Senkyou Forest. These migrants would go on to form numerous primitive clans, whom for the most part barely tolerated each other's presence.

The number of kitsune would greatly multiply for the next couple centuries, and as numbers increased, tensions sparked between the clans. These primitive clans would go on to wage wars against each other, with superior clans forcing fealty from lesser clans. After this brief period of war, surviving clans coalesced into villages where the head of the strongest clan was elected as a kakenage. A kakenage had full military control over their village, but usually delegated civilian matters to subordinates. During this time period, human migrants started to pour in from the fallout of Exodia. These migrants integrated into the already existing kitsune villages, greatly bolstering numbers and causing each village to create smaller towns within it's sphere of influence.

The kakenage of most villages decided to delegate civilian matters to a feudal lord at this point, while still retaining all military power to themselves. The power associated with being a kakenage was frequently desired by individuals of lesser clans within the villages, leading them to challenge the kakenage of their village for the title. In some cases it could even be siblings of the kakenage who desired the position and thus challenged them. The second generation of kakenage would cause people to question various kakenage's ability to rule, and thus many adopted a council of elders approach towards electing a new kakenage. This ended the period of instability within villages, with all constituent clans now firmly vested in their elected kakenage. As power and prosperity increased within the kitsune villages, the shadow of war would rise over Senkyou Forest.

The Clan Wars

What had originally started as a conflict between neighboring kitsune villages, turned into an all out war involving every village. The larger villages used their military advantage to annex smaller villages, overthrowing any rival kakenage and installing a governor in their place. This war would eventually become known as the clan wars, the most important era in kitsune history. Villages originally consisted of a mixed military force of both kitsune and humans whom used swords, spears, and bows. The kitsune's superior agility and senses rendered human soldiers obsolete, leaving only kitsune to take on military positions. Humanity became the civilian backbone of most villages, producing war supplies for the kitsune soldiers. The elite among these soldiers were referred to as samurai, masters of many weapon types but predominantly favoring the sword. The war between villages would start to evolve as kitsune soldiers started to explore the possibilities of magic.

The kitsune's superior agility, senses, and aetherial manipulation would give birth to unorthodox combat strategies which favored agility and subterfuge to overwhelm opponents. These strategies proved to be successful, and evolved into entire combat styles. Practitioners of these unorthodox combat styles were called kitsuja, and in addition to their acrobatic and weapons skills possessed two key forms of magic called kisugu and gensugu. Kitsuja were so successful in dominating the battlefield that kitsune villages stopped producing regular troops and instead opened war academies to exclusively train kitsuja. And thus the kitsune villages would become known as kitsuja villages. Battles during this emergent period were accompanied by spectacular feats of acrobatics, deadly kisugu attacks, and clever veils of gensugu deception.

The bloodshed between kitsuja villages increased as their kitsuja warriors perfected the combat styles that had been developed in the past few decades, leading to a large reduction in the overall kitsune population. Constant battles had resulted in a greatly reduced number of kitsune warriors, ultimately forcing kitsuja villages to let humans into their war academies to learn the kitsuja arts. Humanity was long considered to be inferior to the kitsune in traditional combat, but this changed once humans learned the perfected techniques handed down to them by the kitsune. Humanity lacked the agility and senses of the kitsune, but proved to be superior in casting kisugu. It did not take long for human kitsuja to develop kisugu techniques that were significantly more powerful then anything that the kitsune could conceive of. The resulting destruction killed off most of the remaining kitsune and also caused massive human casualties as well.

By the late clan wars era, the number of kitsune dropped to a mere fraction of their former numbers. Most kakenage and kitsuja were human at this point, having replaced their fallen kitsune comrades. The war between villages had reached an unprecedented level of destruction, and the remaining kitsuja villages were beginning to get desperate for a resolution to the war. This resolution would come from a prodigal kakenage of the Temarai kitsuja village. Through tight alliances and selective conquest, he was able to bring about the final days of the war. There was a point by which he was able to get all the remaining kakenage and their respective villages to sign a peace agreement and finally end the war. Permanent peace was tentative at first, but after a decade it became apparent that no one within the Senkyou Forest wanted any more bloodshed for generations to come.

Feudal Servitude

The remaining kakenage assembled in Temarai village to discuss how they would preserve the peace that they have achieved. It was decided that the villages would all unify under a single elected council which would decide on and pass laws that affected all the villages equally. todo implement shogun, daimyos, and kitsune servitude

A kakenage from the Temarai Clan presiding over a kitsuja village where present day Temarai is located, would bring about the end of the clan wars. Through strategic alliances and outright conquest, he was able to eliminate all the remaining hostile kitsuja villages and achieve peace. At this point there were very few kitsune remaining, and the human populace believed that the kitsune were responsible for the beginning of the clan wars along with it's escalation. In order to eliminate the possibility of a future clan war, the remaining kakenage held a council and agreed to force all remaining kitsune into servitude and to never be allowed a station of authority. There was rebellion among the kitsune survivors and many kitsune were killed to preserve the delicate balance the remaining kakenage had achieved. The remaining kitsune would become servants, and another rebellion was never attempted due to there being so few kitsune left. A long era of peace existed between the remaining kakenage and their villages, of which had elevated the Temarai kakenage to become the head of the alliance.

Over time the state of the alliance changed and the Temarai Clan appointed a new supreme ruler known as a shogun to rule over all the villages as head of the Temarai Feudal States, and the position of kakenage was abolished. Every major village was ruled by a daimyo, a great lord who was a vassal of the shogun. The clan that the daimyo belongs to is labeled as a noble clan, and future heirs of these clans would become daimyo to replace the previous generation. The era of kitsuja faded away and all the kisugu, gensugu, and unique fighting styles which had been developed were banned to prevent another clan war, and would be forgotten in time. Conflict would arise between the noble clans often, and was settled by wars which had been permitted by the shogun. Armies of these villages consisted of normal weapons such as spears, bows, and swords, however there were elite warriors among these armies known as samurai. Surprisingly the armor used from this point to present day is similar to the armor used in the kitsuja era. The remaining kitsune had become servants and assassins for the noble clans that ruled over the remaining villages.

Over time, memories of the clan wars along with why the kitsune were cast into servitude were forgotten. The history of the clan wars was relegated to dusty unused scrolls, and the kitsune had become servants by tradition rather then by law. Many kitsune left the Temarai Feudal States to seek out a life free of servitude. On rare occasion, a noble clan member would intermarry with a kitsune servant which served to elevate some kitsune to nobility status. However the cultural responsibilities of these kitsune nobles prevents them from liberating the rest of their race from servitude and instead are forced to live a life of nobility with all the social responsibilities it demands.

Interbreeding

Human

A human and kitsune pairing results in children each having a 50% chance to be pure-blooded kitsune, otherwise they will be a pure-blooded human. If the child is a kitsune, then their children will always be kitsune if the other parent is a kitsune. If the child is a human, their children have a 75% chance to be kitsune if the other parent is kitsune. However if both the child and other parent are human, then their children will have a 25% chance each to be kitsune, with each dual human pairing after this halving the chance of a kitsune child. If a kitsune is born to a ninth generation dual human pairing after the initial half pairing, then the child will obtain a tail every 2 years after getting their first tail resulting in all nine tails at age 28 (very rare only happened once). This child would also likely succumb to insanity by receiving too much power at a young age. After the ninth generation of dual human pairings, it is no longer possible to spontaneously have a kitsune child.

Assorted Info

• While Exodia created kitsune in volume, they also created a small number of semi-aetherials based on other creatures during their diabolical experimentation.