Koifolk

The Koifolk are a lagomorph mutant population that lives in and around a large river in the East. About half of the population has a complex mutation that gives them scales, fins, fish tails, and gills. The rest of the population lacks this mutation, but many of them have oddly bright red fur, earning the nickname "red lagos" from outsiders.

## Members

Kohaku is the current leader of the koifolk.

Hanako is the oldest koifolk at over 200 years old, and is respected as a wise elder.

## Mutation

Mutated koifolk tend to have scales, fins, tails, and gills, in addition to patterns that resemble koi fish. They have the physiology of fish and cannot survive out of the water. Their scales have to stay wet and they can only breathe effectively with their gills, although they can breathe above water for a short while. Koifolk can be born with this mutation present or gain it later in life; those born with it have large tails instead of legs, while those who mutated later grow a fish tail where their rabbit tail used to be.

Those who have not mutated often have red fur and live in a village beside the river. Mutated koifolk can occasionally have children that are not mutated, and land-dwelling koifolk are susceptible to mutating later in life. Both aquatic and land-dwelling koifolk have the capacity to live for over 100 years, although aquatic ones tend to live longer.

## Culture

Although the population is divided between land- and water-dwellers, they are a tightly-knit community because families are often made up of both. The red lagos are great swimmers and many have trained themselves to hold their breaths for a long time so that they can visit their underwater friends.

Goods from the Koifolk village are closely tied to the river that they live around. They make tools and jewelry out of shells and build structures from smooth river stones. The aquatic koifolk tend to beds of aquatic plants on the riverbed that they harvest for food.

Koifolk are often named after real koi colorations. They have a concept similar to last names, which are only carried from mother to daughter. For example, a koifolk woman named Tetsu Magoi may have a daughter named Doro Magoi, but any sons would not have the last name "Magoi" at all. These naming rules are commonplace but not at universal.

## History

Kohaku and his wife Aka Bekko worked together as the leaders of the koifolk and were loved and respected. They had one child, but it was born without the fish mutation and had to be raised on land apart from its aquatic parents. Still, the two loved them and visited them on the shore whenever they could.

At one point, the land village was attacked by a large mysterious creature and the lagos there were all but wiped out. Nobody knows exactly what happened to its inhabitants, and the ordeal is somewhat of a mystery to those who were hidden underwater. All the aquatic koifolk know is that half of their family has disappeared, and those who wander too close to shore may go missing as well. Kohaku and Aka Bekko knew the risks, but continued to swim to shore looking for answers and hoping to see their missing child again. These attempts would come to an end when the creature returned and caught Aka Bekko as well. Kohaku, overcome with grief, gave up his search and retreated to the depths of the river, silently vowing to never return to the surface. The rest of the aquatic koifolk gradually followed his lead and remained in the river where they were alone, but safe.

Meanwhile, outsiders also wonder about the fate of the koifolk and their once-prosperous village. Rumors spread in nearby areas about a beast that still lurks in the remains of the land village. Even surviving red lagos who were not at the village during its downfall are too afraid to return. Over just a few years, the village fell into obscurity and almost myth.