Kitsune are vulpine shapeshifters known for their love of both trickery and art.
Kitsune possess two forms: that of an attractive humanoid of slender build with salient eyes, and their true form of an anthropomorphic fox. In their shifted forms, kitsune tend toward quickness and lithe beauty. In their true forms, they are covered with a downy coat of auburn fur, although more exotic coloration is possible, including silver, black, white, or fennec. No matter which form they take, however, their eyes never change.
They make wonderful bards, outstanding thieves, adept rangers and druids, and surprisingly competent oracles, though their innately magical nature draws them towards occupations that allow them to manipulate the weave with their own special brand of whimsy. Kitsune are inherently adept with magic, and this has lead to them boasting that they are the chosen of Kismet, but when pressed it will soon become apparent that they are more familiar with sorcerous means rather than the study of a mage; they are flighty by nature and this means that their attention spans can deviate from the absolute concentration desired for such things as magecraft. If a kitsune is devoted to a project however, they will inevitably become the foremost in their field; their longevity allows them to learn and adapt to situations with greater ease than many of the other longer lived races.
Avid tricksters, it is of course not uncommon for a kitsune to find themselves so embroiled in their machinations that before they know it, they've pacted themselves to an outsider entity, from which their very nature precludes them from going back on their word. In such cases, the kitsune will seek to exploit their pacted bond, almost as much as their patrons seek from them, and in these cases, dangerous though it is, some kitsune have either vanished from the prime or have been seen to wield great and ancient power.
Kitsune are not fey themselves, but fey adjacent. Born on the prime, yet with the magic of the fey, their mystery is attributed to their homeland within the Wildlands, where conflicting tales suggest that they are either exiled fey, whimsical nature spirits given form, evil beasts akin to lycanthropes, or beings created from the dreams of the senzokuan themselves. Whatever the truth, there is no denying that the kitsune will admit to all of these things as the mood strikes them, and there will be no conclusive answer until the gods or the fey courts care to speak on it.
Society
The arts, particularly riddles and storytelling, bring great delight to the kitsune, and they take pleasure in all forms of competition, especially the telling of stories interwoven with tall tales and falsehoods.
Kitsune seemingly have no concept of personal repercussions. Consequences are never factored into their behaviors, with any suggestion of a negative outcome completely brushed off. They delight in mischief and trickery, oftentimes even surprising themselves when their hapless victim ends up maimed or socially exiled. When a kitsune fabricates a chimera by stitching together three animals for a joke, they are inevitably shocked, if not flat out dejected that their victims don't find it a hilarious prank, but a horrific act perpetrated by only the most depraved soul. This can then spiral into an on-going vortex of more and more abominable “gags” until the kitsune is directly asked to stop, or they are run off.
However, they also prize loyalty among their friends. If their word is given, they will not break it for any reason. Likewise, if you gain the love of a kitsune, they will love you forever more. Sometimes, this will go as far as to bear a child and live out a completely artificial life. At others, they are content to act as bodyguards and thralls. But beware, if they ever become aware that they have been betrayed, a kitsune is an enemy that you will never wish to have. Their vitriol is as formidable as their loyalty, and if engendered, the victim may find themselves with a cunning opponent who will make the rest of their lives a living nightmare.
Kitsune are carnivorous by nature; a predator race, they must subsist off of meat, and this may be the largest argument some scholars have postulated for them to not be fey, but anthropomorphized corporeal spirits. They prize the heart the most, but the reason for this is more esoteric than most would credit the kitsune: they believe that the experience of a creature comes from the heart, including all of creativity, knowledge, wit, and charm. By consuming the heart, they gain their victim's understanding of the world, bringing them one step closer to a mythical awakening of the spirit.
Many legends detail how kitsune will also kidnap and eat babies; there is some truth to this, as there are fewer creatures more innocent than a baby. That then suggests to the dark hearted kitsune that a baby's heart is good “soul food”, granting them insight and a deeper spiritualism. Some, however, will attribute the tales of kidnapping to a kitsune's irrepressible fey-like sensibilities. Children are enjoyable company and do not have the convictions and deterministic social views that adults do. But kitsune, like the true fey, have no true concept of time. Thus, a kitsune taking a babe away to play can see the mortals searching, losing hope, and then being suspicious when that same child, now grown and foreign, returns to them having been raised by nothing but kitsune.
At their core, the kitsune are deeply spiritual beings with a deep-seeded need for self improvement. They believe that they are of the fey, but exiled and stripped of any ability to travel the transcient paths between the prime and the Feywild (which they name “The True World”).
Though no kitsune can explain why, there is a cultural knowledge inherent from birth that should they reach one thousand years of age, they will transform, their spirit and mind awakened. How exactly they should achieve this is impossible to know; the kitsune are as mercurial in their spiritualism as they are in their behaviors, but be it via divine providence, race memory, or even half-remembered legends, they know that to become awakened and to once more travel to the Feywild and back with impunity, they must first grow nine tails and learn exactly what it is to be kitsune. This includes cultivating the spiritual knowledge of their own souls, gaining the ability to forge that aspect of themselves into what they name a “soul pearl”. They believe that foxfire upon one's fur is the way to tell that one is close to any of these revelations and will go to great lengths if they should see personal growth to share it.
The kitsune, in spite of everything, are most often friends to the natural world. If allowed, they can inevitably be found reveling with the fey, using their shapeshifting ability to enliven an orgy, enhancing the telling of a grand tale, or putting on a performance of such unbelievable whimsy that it leaves little validation in the truth of the matter. They also have an inexplicable love for foxes, though it's quite possible that they see the lesser vulpines as partners in their conspiring.
There are only two exception to this love for nature. Kitsune see themselves as protectors and guardians. True or not, there are many recorded instances of fox urine repelling rats. When rats assault the rice fields of the Wildlands, a fox is never far away, repelling the vermin and preserving the crop. This is likely through means other than altruism, as the kitsune like to promote their own stories of heroism, even abstractly in this manner. This hate for rats extends to the ratkin, who kitsune view as bigger vermin who endanger their friends and loved ones. The second of these exceptions is dogs. Long known to be the companions of humans, many kitsune tales tell of a human and their canine companions hunting the kitsune for their ears and tails. Others suggest that the dog, the villain in all cases, drives them away from their homes, even if the kitsune was there first and was beloved by the human owner of the domocile. As the kitsune tell it, dogs can sense them for what they are and are suspicious. They are not evil, but their bestial minds cannot see that the kitsune is the protector and, in the dog's jealousy, they think they are the only ones worthy to protect the kitsune's human. This is utterly unacceptable to the kitsune, making them wary of any canine, be it werewolves, druidic wolves, or even canine beastkin. In some cases, this can rise to the point where the kitsune will either remove their humanoid disguise as a challenge the “dog”, or flee in terror lest the dog reveal them for what they are. In either case, the kitsune claim they have never done anything to earn such enmity from those beasts.
On the whole, they deal well with elves and Feywild races, with an odd exclusion of the courts of Day and Night. In regards to all other races, their trickster reputation taints or sours any relations. Many kitsune, particularly those who dwell in mixed-race societies, have no choice but to hide their true natures and pose as similar humanoids in public. If not, many races will attempt to exile the kitsune or take their tails, which many believe hold strong magical properties. The kitsune do not do themselves any favors in regards to these rumors, also claiming that their sense of smell can identify magic, their ears can detect lies, and their silvered tongues can be used to beguile who ever the wielder wishes. Likely because of this, and their own staggering propensity for tall tales, the kitsune are hunted to near extinction outside of their homes in the Wildlands, and have had to settle in exclusively remote villages deep within the verdant forests. However, this only adds to their mystery, pocketed away amid the ambient magic and wild spirits.
History
Kitsune origin is a mystery. They have never shared where they come from, and it is rumored that even they are not exactly certain on the matter. Perhaps they are fey, perhaps they are only related in proximity, or perhaps they are the embodiment of nature spirits. All that is known for certain is that all kitsune call the Wildlands home.
There are some stories told, threads woven throughout kitsune culture that include these common themes:
- The night and day court could never exist together. They were at odds in all things, but they needed agents that could traverse the prime and be their voice outside the Feywild.
- The kitsune were tricked into exile from the courts and given the task to live outside both. This subterfuge led to many being angered, and losing access to the “True World”, the Feywild. Others embraced this new role as the eyes and ears of their chosen court.
- They were originally given the ability to create pockets of magic, to imbue the land with a taste of the Feywild, but always bore the risk of humans hunting them for their tails to gain such power. Many scholars posit that these pockets from the first kitsune in the Wildlands, if true, are what inspired the very land to come to life with ambient magic.
- It is said the very addition of a tail is a gift from the courts, though the rules on how and why a kitsune earns the new tail, and therefore more power, is as mercurial as the courts themselves.
- Kitsune believe when they earn their ninth tail, the courts will welcome them back and they can live in safety and joy in the homeland they were exiled from.