Kitsune

The Kitsune are a race of fox like people native to the world of Terra'su, one of the many worlds in the Amaterasu system.

## History

The Kitsune, originally, were a species created by the Kami, Inari, to serve as messengers to spread word of their abilities to the populace of the world. Her creation of them involved elevating the species to levels they'd never known prior, basically a magic induced evolution. Eventually, Inari became a kami of even greater wisdom and power due to the worship that grew for her, and as a gift, she evolved the foxes who helped her even further than she had before, creating the first true kitsune.

Kitsune thrived and lived alongside humans and Tsukumogami for millennia, until the Jupiter Empire attacked and conquered Terra'su, causing many Kitsune to have to either run away from their homes or go underground, however the search for them by the Jupiter Empire seems to be relentless, their magical properties being deemed indispensable to figure out and study.

In the Shining Light Era (Earth year 2017-???) Some kitsune immigrants and other Terra'su natives had migrated and integrated into Earth culture in ancient times, making up the back-bone of the magic community in Asia and some parts of Europe, being known as a type of "Yokai" in Japan and being known as "Fae" in Europe. Additionally, a nearly identical race of kitsune appear to be native to the savage lands of Mo'Galile, though they appear to lack the merging capabilities that the Terra'su natives posess.

## Biology

Due to their semi-spiritual nature and the gifts given to them by Inari, the kitsune are a diverse race with many different appearances, behavioral patterns, and magical capabilities. While a kitsune's form is very much dependent on their mental perception of themselves, thanks to their shapeshifting capabilities, for *true* kitsune, the Kitsune Shin and Unmei ni Kitsune "breeds" they seem to always have three shapes that are considered "natural" to them at any point, those forms being:

* **"Fox Person" form**- a kitsune in this state has a human like appearance but also has the ears and tails of her less than human forms. This form was developed as a way to more easily relate to and connect with the humans they shared their planet with, making the initial spread of Inari worship much more easy. An example of a kitsune in this form can be seen in the species infobox above.
* **Feral** **Form-** This form resembles a normal earth fox, as well as the species kitsune evolved from, with fur color resembling the kitsune's hair. The only way this form can be seen as any different from other foxes is the fact the fox can talk, and the tails from behind, true kitsune not being able to hide any of their tails until their 9th
* **True Form-** Best described as an "Anthro fox", this is the true appearance of a kitsune, a bipedal fox with some humanoid features. This is a form only available to the "true" kitsune breeds. It doesn't always share the same fur color with the "Fox person" and Feral forms, but that tends to be common. Despite the moniker of "True form" and this indeed being the ***most*** natural state for a true kitsune, it too can change with a kitsune's view of themself.

### Breeds

#### Shin Kitsune/Kitsune Shin and Unmei Ni Kitsune

###### Differences between these two breeds

Shin Kitsune and Unmei Ni Kitsune are two breeds of fox that are almost indistinguishable from one another. The main difference, in reality, is their origin, while Shin Kitsune are kitsune who're born as kitsune, Unmei Ni Kitsune are kitsune who were transformed from another species and had a compatible mind, body, and soul with the magical energy introduced into their bodies, in kitsune culture these people are viewed as "Destined Kitsune" as it's believed that these people, no matter what world they were from, were predestined to become kitsune from the beginning. Unmei Ni Kitsune, biologically, are identical to kitsune hybrids with their fox-traits maxed.

###### Traits exhibited by both

Members of these breeds have naturally bushy and fluffy tails and their hair seems to have a very quick regeneration rate, likely associated with their shapeshifting abilities. These breeds of kitsune have a near constant very low glow that comes from their eyes, not normally noticeable unless in a darkened area. It's notable that these breeds also have an odd trait where their iris colors will change when associated with a certain state of mind; interestingly what this state of mind, and the color change, seems to be unique from one kitsune to the next; an example of this being while one kitsune's eyes may shift to a red hue when aroused, another's may shift to blue when excited or curious. They also have a very high ability to use magic.

### Reproduction

While the obvious Male Kitsune+ Female Kitsune= Baby kitsune is still clearly in effect, then comes in the messy business of Kitsune+other species relations. Unless it is during a kitsune's mating cycle, it's likely that, at least in their initial youth and raising, a kitsune hybrid will likely not exhibit outward traits of their fox parent, though it's common for these hybridizations to gain some sort of magical and or psychic abilities not present in the parents. A kitsune hybrid can slowly attain more fox like attributes as they grow, especially if exposed to magic, and this does in fact commonly occur in puberty and occasionally later in life, however, heavy suppression of magic and psychic potential via drugs and other spells and enchantments can prevent the fox like traits from manifesting, though this can ultimately backfire given a lapse in those sorts of treatments can cause a kitsune hybrid's fox traits to completely overwhelm and even over-write the traits of their non-fox genes.

#### Transformation into a kitsune

For another species to be transformed into a kitsune it requires a rather large *mana transfer.*  A mana transfer is when one being transfers their magical energy into another via various means, while for many species this isn't a conscious decision, for the kitsune it is. The size of the mana transfer into another being to convert them into a kitsune is approximately nine tail stores of kitsunebi. However as kitsunebi regenerates in nearly just a day and doesn't entirely fade from a body until three days, this means any kitsune can achieve this with a persistent amount of transfer, daily if need be. Now for kitsune there are two primary types of mana transfer, either the rather rare and elusive "Spiritual discharge" or transferring it using one's bodily fluids as a medium. However this transformation method rarely works, unless a person's mind and soul align with what would otherwise be found in a kitsune.

### Magic

Due to their magical nature, Kitsune have a functionally limitless life span, and with such a life span they have plenty of time to learn new things, gain wisdom, and in general become more knowledgeable.  With every 100 years worth of knowledge they gain, their body's Kitsunebi, the kitsune equivalent to Mana, increases, to contain this, a kitsune's body grows a tail to serve as a vessel to contain the Kitsunebi, once a kitsune reaches nine tails, the ninth seems to cause their original to connect to a pocket dimension where their mana is stored and drawn from, this allows nine tailed kitsune to hide the rest of their tails.

Using certain magic techniques, a kitsune can actually feed off the sexual energy and life force of another being, however, depending on the intensity of the feeding, this causes the majority of their kitsunebi reserves to be expelled into their partner, leaving the kitsune unconscious and vulnerable to retaliation.

#### Elemental Magics

Although Pyromancy is the most common school of magic among Kitsunes, a kitsune can specialize in 13 different kinds of "elemental magic".

Those being:

* Fire- Standard pyromancy
* Earth - Primarily seismomancy, the control over the vibrations in the ground
* Mountain- Terramancy, control over forming and manipulating structure made from natural minerals
* Wind- Aeromancy, control over air pressure
* Thunder- Electromancy
* Forest- Herbamancy and communication with non-sentient animals
* Ocean- Tide control and control over ocean creatures.
* River- Aquamancy and control over water pressure and currents
* Spirit- ability to communicate with the spirit realm and manipulate its forces
* Sound- Manipulation of vibrations through the air, or "Sonics" also known as "Sonimancy"
* Time- Chronomancy
* Void- Manipulation of the energies and forces beyond the universe
* Celestial- manipulation of the universe's own energies in its most raw form.

Few can actually master the latter two magics, even if they can learn some spells from them.

#### "Merger" Magics, Gestalting and Assimilation

Kitsune over the years have developed several methods of gaining the upper-hand in terms of survival and adaptability through out the years, due very much to their favor in the eyes of Inari and Amaterasu, one of these gifts was when they'd developed the ability to absorb and adapt traits of other animals.

##### Assimilation

One such method is much less commonly accepted in modern kitsune society; Assimilation,by which the kitsune absorbs another being into themselves to gain traits of the absorbed creature. For example if a kitsune were to absorb an electric eel they'd gain bio-electrical capabilities. This assimilation is achieved via shifting their original tail into a sort of maw that the creature being absorbed would be put into, the creature is thusly broken down into its base components and adapted into the kitsune's own body composition. This form of "Merger" is often discouraged because of its potential use on other sapient entities. Unlike other methods of fusion and merger, assimilation simply adds on to the kitsune's abilities, as opposed to a multiplier effect. Overuse of this method of merger can become addictive and the kitsune will likely exhibit much more predatory traits in their outward physical appearance, such as forked tongues, more animal-like pupils, and much more pronounced canine teeth along with other sharpened teeth, although it should be noted that not all kitsune who exhibit these features are "Assimilation Addicts".

##### Gestalting

Gestalting is when a kitsune and another being fully merge together, the other being's mass, if applicable, condensing into the kitsune. From an outsider's perspective, it appears if the partner of the dominant fusee is converted into energy before flowing into them. This merger results in the fused being having power of the fusee's multiplied by one another and exhibiting skills of both beings while only having the outward appearance of the dominant fusee, the given the shapeshifting nature of kitsune, the merger can sometimes result in a new appearance all together for the merged fox. Merged kitsune frequently gain new tails as the result of the fused being having the knowledge of both the dominant fusee and the submitting one. Both minds remain present within the fused kitsune, but the decisions they make outwardly appear to be of a combined mindset. The fused being has a single soul composed of the two fusees. Gestalting is considered deeply intimate and personal, as it's a permanent merger of the two beings, it's often reserved for extremely close couples or partners.

After an initial gestalting, the new merged fox has to wait a minimum of six months before being able to *safely* perform another Gestalting, otherwise they can exhibit insanity and intense mental backlash due to the minds already present not yet being acclimated to being a single creature, the same results can occur if someone attempts to force a gestalting.

The only limits on who and what can be gestalted appear to be that at least one of the fusees must be a kitsune, however in the case of mechanical life, it's often that the mind and soul are the only things that will carry over, as the abilities present in the cybermatter are unable to be transferred into an organic body via this method.

### Aphrodisiacs

Chocolate and the resinous glaze found in some candies (such as Reese's Pieces and skittles) seems to cause an intense aphrodisiac effect in the species. This aphrodisiac effect becomes amplified with the more of these foods that they consume, and while under the influence they have a craving to consume more. To a certain degree this effect can extend to their partners via kiss or sexual contact. perhaps the effect is caused by some unknown element in their saliva or bodily fluids in general, but testing has proved inconclusive.

## Culture

Overall, kitsune culture seems to resemble that of a sort of odd cultural mix between feudal japan, modern Japan, and the present day western world. Kitsune tend to mate for life with a partner of their choosing, very commonly outside of their own species, but if the partner chooses not to extend their longevity, it is possible for a kitsune to move on, with time. Kitsune tend to be monoamorous for the most part, while not a rule, it's common, that being said they don't tend to look down on polyamorous members of their kind either.

Sexuality is very open, and in fact, Inari developed "F magic" to allow her daughter, Catori, whom preferred females, to have children with her mate.

### Kami

Kami, of the shinto pantheon, are the gods worshipped not just by the kitsune, but by everyone in the amaterasu system. However, Kitsune, and Moon Rabbits, have a uniqueness in that it's possible to become a kami before dying.

For Kitsune, if you've gained enough faith and belief in you and performed many deeds throughout life and have 9 tails, you gain a tenth, representing the same sort of divinity that Inari and Amaterasu, when taking on Kitsune incarnations, display, this can also be achieved with a massive accumulation of knowledge. Alternatively, if you've died doing something legendary or saving someone, it's not uncommon for you to revive as a kami, but in that case you remain a spirit for at least a decade before gaining the ability to corporeally manifest.

### Nogitsune

a term usually used to describe "Ruffians", criminals, and pranksters in kitsune culture. These are the Kitsune normally known in culture as infamous tricksters. Ironically, the first Inarison, the family better known for Myobu, is a nogitsune of the most notorious history.

Kitsune who attempt to force gestalting or absorb other people with their tail without justifiable cause are considered Nogitsune.

### Morals and "Judgement"

While most Kitsune think on a spectrum beyond the concepts of things such as "Good and Evil" (working on a balance of those), they do however have strict sets of moral codes, when a kitsune sees someone clearly breaking what they consider "Moral", they'll do everything in their power to put a stop to this, even if it's themselves.

When a kitsune sees a weakness in someone they consider a friend, they will do all they can to help them cope with it, however if the weakness is seen in someone they consider an enemy they'll exploit it to no end.
Despite their focus on other people's weaknesses, Kitsune can be stubborn and usually not ask for help, or feel guilty about doing so.