Gumiho

The Gumiho are Jiuweihu that are primarily from Gojosen. They are known for having a bad reputation compared to other groups of jiuweihu especially by native groups of other species in the area.

History

Gumiho are thought to descend from Huli Jing that travelled to the Gojosen peninsula during the warring period in the Jianghu kingdom.  
Unfortunately, fearful natives shunned them, erroneously believed these newcomers were malevolent than other fox henge. The majority hauflin population believed that humanity is a preferable state as part of the karmic ladder with which souls migrate according to spiritual merit, humans are at the summit. Adding that to persecutions, gumiho that were unable to avoid human civilization had to risk maintaining a hauflin form in order to survive.

For the Gumiho themselves, their view on the matter is different. Many gumiho believe their reputation among Gojosen hauflins is due to the deplorable conditions of the occupation period. Then tales of truly vile jiuweihu like court seductresses Daji and Tamamo-no-Mae spread to Gojosen making the henge come under even more scrutiny and female gumiho are labelled as literal man-eaters for centuries after. These jiuweihu arrived to find a once plentiful land ravaged by war and an oppressive ruler that was blaming misfortune on "foreign" creatures and blamed the gumiho as demonic Wakoku foxes that feasted on their kind. Thus gumiho had to either become absolute masters of humanoid forms with none knowing of their true identity in civilizations or live out in the wilderness to form their own communities for centuries. At the same time due to their poor outlook and treatment, it wasn't hard to find gumiho who gave in to their reputation and would be actively cause misfortune or drain energy out of spite/revenge for their ill treatment.
With the advent of the United Sapient Species, foreign officials came to see the nature of the gumiho. It is only with the last century that Gojosen has reversed its forced segregation of gumiho from the populace despite the fact that many have already have decent relations with the non human population of the region. The tension between older generations of gumiho and hauflins will likely not disappear but the hope is that as generations go on, they will decrease or at the very least they can be treated like their relatives in other Yaojing regions.

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

The main cultural distinction is their use of the fox bead called the 'yeowoo guseul' which is said to capable of storing knowledge. This was used by Gumiho incognito to identify each other and share information discreetly. They also have a secondary function of being a focus for a gumiho to draw in energy and were often used by those in self defense or for those who actively looked to drain others.

Common Myths and Legends

Gojosen folklore painted the Gumiho as evil man-eaters who needed to consume the hearts or livers of hauflins in order to increase their power. It is thought that this sentiment might be because the idea at the time that the foxes originated from the rival state of Wakoku who fought over the territory between Jianghu. During the occupation, it is thought that the corpses of recently dead hauflins and homins were feasted upon by wandering gumiho, particularly for their hearts and livers to accumulate power. Though it is noted that folklore does have some inconsistencies such as the fact that ancient tales of the gumiho indicate they could sometimes be helpful to humans. Or that it's believed that with great will a gumiho can ascend from its monster state to become permanently hauflin and shedding its evil disposition. The methods on the latter are also inconsistent as multitude of ways this can happen are said to be that the gumiho must refrain from killing and eating humans for 1,000 days or over a period of 100 days, the gumiho must not show its true form to a human, take no human or animal lives, and help anyone that needs aid or risk losing any chance of becoming human and will be a demon for 1,000 years or the gumiho must consume the livers of 1,000 men over 1,000 years.

Encompassed species

• Jiuweihu