Kitsune

Kitsune are extremely intelligent, powerful, and at times mischievous, foxlike shape-shifters. They are skilled to transform into exact likenesses of individual people, often times appearing in the guise of beautiful humans. On more than one occasion, this has resulted in a marriage unwittingly. Some kitsune even spend most of their lives in human form, adopting human names and customs, taking human jobs, and even raising families. When startled, or drunk, or careless, a patch of their magical disguise can fail—the kitsune’s true nature may be revealed by a tail, a swatch of fur, fangs, or some other vulpine feature.
Kitsune guile extends beyond their clothing. Though more present times their kind are more welcomed in Kumandra, centuries of persecution by humans have made kitsune secretive and deceptive, unwilling to risk those they don’t trust with the truth of their heritage. Kitsune are apprehensive about allowing even close friends of foreign races to learn even their most closely-guarded secrets and tend to value family and their communities over all else. Kitsune are often fiercely loyal of the friends they do make, however, valuing them more than any treasure.

Basic Information

Growth Rate & Stages

Though their aging to adulthood appears similar to humans, a kitsune's true coming of age begins at one hundred years and their aging slows down significantly. As they begin gaining age and power, new tails will spontaneously appear.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Kitsunes are Omnivorous and will eat whatever common or popular cuisine that is known in Kumandra. Such examples would be fish, fruit, beef or pork, and vegetables. Though some rumors state a kitsune's favorite food is white peaches that are grown in the region.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

A kitsune has a given name, a family name, and a clan or community name. Given names are usually Sylvan words for natural phenomenon that remind the kitsune’s parents of their child, but traditionally a kitsune isn’t named until they’ve survived their first month of life in a festival called a manyue. A kitsune’s family name often reflects some mark of pride for one of the kitsune’s ancestors, such as the descendants of a skilled runner having the family name Swiftpaw. Clan names are traditional and often descriptive of the group, going back several generations or longer.

Common Dress Code

They like to wear clothing that closely resembles human garb save for small, unnoticeable alterations that allow the garment to be worn both in their human form and their true form.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Kitsune take great pride in the fact that their culture is one that lives and breathes by way of song, story, and art. Kitsune possess a rich oral history that shadows humanity’s own, often offering their race’s perspective on the events that shaped and defined humanity. In many ways, human history and kitsune history are one and the same, and human societies often adopt kitsune song and stories by accident without anyone, most kitsune included, realizing that the author wasn’t human.

Lifespan

900

Average Height

Between 5' - 6'

Average Weight

120lb

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Kitsune fur ranges from orange-red to orange, fulvous to brown, and gray to dark gray. Rare kitsune are born with snow-white fur are considered blessed by their people’s goddess, while those with pitch-black fur are thought as being cursed by malevolent forces. They have vibrantly colored eyes running the gamut of the rainbow that sparkle like gemstones.

Geographic Distribution

• Kumandra

Stats

Ability Score: +2 Dexterity, +1 Charisma
Size: Medium.
Speed: 30 feet.
Darkvision: You can see dim light within 60 feet of you as bright light and in darkness as if it was in dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.
Agile: You gain proficiency in Acrobatics.
Kitsune Magic: You learn the cantrips; Dancing Lights and Minor Illusion. Charisma is the spellcasting ability for these spells.
Natural weapons: In your natural form you have a bite attack that does 1d4 damage.
Languages: Kitsunes can speak Common, Kumandran, and Sylvan.