Kitsune

Tales of the Kitsune, mysterious Fox spirits of the deep wood, go back for untold generations. Divine messengers, fickle tricksters, ravenous demons, in every tale they are beings of great power, masters of illusion and deceit. The older a Kitsune grows the more tails it gains, each tail a marker of substantial and strange power. They are also shapeshifters, ethereal spirits equally at home in the skins of ferocious animals or captivating mortals. Many mortals unknowingly carry the blood of ancient Kitsune ancestors, mingling the supernatural power of the fox spirit with mortal flesh. Whether it is the interweaving of ancient bloodlines, a fluke of birth or the intervention of some outside force, occasionally near full blooded Kitsune will be born to mortal parents. These cuckoo children have the appearance of a normal member of their parent's race but mature rapidly, exhibiting uncanny intelligence when their peers are barely walking. Kitsune children begin to speak early and show a fascination for intricate and complex speech, with a great fondness for puzzles, riddles and word games. A few years later they grow their first tail and begin exhibiting minor acts of supernatural power. A kitsune raised among kitsune tends to grow easily into his/her power, suppressing and releasing their power or changing their form or appearance at will. But kitsune born into the confusing and turbulent upbringing of another species often struggle to master their powers. While all Kitsune occasionally slip up and reveal their fox natures when experiencing strong emotion, these mortal raised kitsune are especially prone. Kitsune rarely have organized communities. Few even maintain family units, even leaving half-blooded children to be raised by a bewildered and unprepared mortal parent. Though all are called Kitsune, they range in nature and power from the semi-divine Nine-Tailed Fox spirits all the way down to near mortals with only the barest hint of unusual magical power. Yet Kitsune power is remarkably fickle and impartial, allowing even these thinly blooded Kitsune to attain the near divine power of a nine-tales fox spirit through age and experience.