Tabinoko

Name: Unknown, Tabinoko

Gender: Male

Age: 478

Occupation: Traveler, sake brewer/alchemist

Height: 6'2

Appearance:



Personality:

Like any fox worth their pelt, Tabinoko is quite crafty. He’s ever in search of new knowledge to incorporate into his repertoire, assimilating anything, be it skill or information, that he feels may one day be useful. He loves being able to exert his mental prowess with clever inventions or wringing favors from those who seek him out for answers to their questions.

More than anything he enjoys the feeling of being wanted. The former shrine fox who, had he completed his training without error, would have been revered by the mortals paying their respects to the shrine foxes. That he’s missed out on his chance and had a few centuries worth of his ego being battered, he greatly appreciates those who value him in spite of the dishonor his lack of name brings him within the yokai community.

Generally speaking, Tabinoko is a rather unassuming character. He doesn’t normally go out of his way to be malevolent but he is an equal opportunist and will exploit an opening should he see one regardless of how poorly it would reflect on him for taking advantage. He outwardly projects himself to be a scrupulous individual with questionable morals and a temper easily flared when insulted.

History:

Tabinoko is not a name so much as a title; it’s characters in his native dialect being those that read (旅)“journey; to wander” and (子) “child”. Child on a Journey. And what a journey he is on… One that has spanned nearly three hundred years and has born very little fruit for his labors. His name – his TRUE name – has been stripped from his memory but the events leading up to it have never faded. Each day reminding him of his shame.

At one point in his long life he was an aspiring young fox learning the way of Inari-sama’s messengers. He was quite proficient in spiritual magic and the art of spiritual sealing. Among his peers he was no prodigy but his skill was enviable and a bright future surely awaited the ambitious young mind.

However with prestige comes arrogance, doubly so for the juvenile foxes who enjoyed flaunting their prowess to anyone who’d humor their antics. Pranks, be they harmless or malevolent, were a key pastime for all; not a day went by without some denizen complaining about their mischief. Tabinoko – who’d lived his life under a different name at that point – was no exception to the rule of mischievous yokai to plague the countryside. Unfortunately he was much more prone to taking risks than his peers.

One evening he visited a tea house. Dressed in fine robes, ears and tail masked from the eyes of humans, he took great pleasure in watching their reactions. He was handsome and very aware of the affect his appearance had on mortals and relished their attention, even if he’d never let one grace his bed. Instead he was content to bask in their envy and admiration, listening with half an ear to their seemingly mindless chatter and drink their brew. That is until he found a small group of them gambling away their coin.

There was simply no way to resist the lure of money. Foxes, even if they had little use for currency in their own factions, were greedy, covetous little beasts. Amassing their wealth, while not as common for Inari, wasn’t exactly a rare trait. The half-grown fox yokai fell into the crowd with a grin; he’d rob them blind!

Four rounds later and he’d done precisely as he’d planned. Palming a generous collection of ryo that he was eagerly adding to his bag when a new member joined the now vacant gambling table. It was a woman – which was a rare thing to see ( a gambling female) – and a human at that. He dismissed her immediately. He’d raked in enough and wasted more time here than he should already, it was time to return to the temple, he’d thought before she dropped a bag of coin on the table that was bigger than the one he was counting. Needless to say he was enticed with ease.

The ensuing loss was devastating. Despite his tricks the woman seemed to get every card she needed, trouncing him with insulting efficiency that rankled his pride. He’d lost to a female! He wouldn’t stand for it! He demanded a rematch but she declined, much like he had, as she counted out her winnings. Not to let this stand he persisted and was immediately refused.

Tabinoko never let it go. His pride wouldn’t allow him to forget the smear of his defeat and so he followed the stranger and harassed her for a rematch. Pranks and increased yokai presence dogged her steps but she always managed to avoid the worst of her stalker’s attempts to make her miserable until at last he cornered her in her home, dispelling the illusion that hid his true features and made her an offer.

“I demand you play again. This time if I win I get all that you took from me three-fold – for wasting my time. If you win I’ll give you my name.”

She accepted. And he lost.

The game had gone forever but her victory was brutal and full of cunning. No matter his tactics or distractions or tricks he’d been thoroughly demolished. Horror filled him as the woman awaited her payment and Tabinoko, crippled in the wake of his decision, left her home stripped of his name.

The significance may be lost to many in the modern age but the name of every individual holds an inherent bit of magic, a very crucial one despite how small and common it is. To hold one’s name is to exert a certain amount of power over them, but in the case of those with strong magical talent or who come into the claim of someone’s name, it can be used to subjugate another into their service until their debt is repaid. The one whose name is taken cannot refuse a command and must perform any task given until their name is returned to them.

With no name, Tabinoko had fled back to the temple only to be turned away, disgraced for having lost something so precious to a mortal. His excommunication from Inari’s service left him emotionally crushed. He now had no home. No family would accept a nameless fool. He returned, albeit with great reluctance, to the woman, bereft of anywhere else to go or anything else to do and was outraged to discover she was a witch. A witch who had cheated in order to win!

While it was certainly hypocritical of him to rage as he did (considering he had cheated too) Tabinoko was beyond furious. He was in service to this fiendish mortal until the day she died or until she returned his name and he couldn’t kill her or he’d risk losing his name forever. So… he served. Every inane task, chore or errand he did (with plenty of complaints) and in times where his services weren’t needed he wandered. She renamed him Tabinoko in order to call him to her and he sneered at the implication it left.

She died somewhere in her sixtieth year. He’d thought his name would return automatically. That’s what was supposed to happen. But she’d been much crueler, or much craftier than he’d ever imagined. She’d amassed much power since their meeting and had used that magic to fuel a reincarnation cycle amongst her descendants, of which she’d born three lines. Her soul would be recycled into her progeny or her progeny’s progeny until none of her blood remained. He had, no matter how unwillingly, become a guardian fox, forced to follow the soul through the centuries whenever and wherever it happened to be born.

In the time since her initial death he’d met the once witch twice more and the magic of his taken name kept him bound. One instance the witch had become a man; a samurai in service to a lord who lost his life on the battlefield. The next they were a woman who learned medicine and aided others. However the last 130 years their soul has been absent. Tabinoko hasn’t felt the tug in his body nor has he been summoned to them or felt their existence. He could only hope that this meant his name would return but, alas, it’s remained lost.

With nothing more to do he took up residence in the mountains around Hisakawa, occasionally aiding the overconfident travelers attempting to scale the mountain pass back to where they belong – usually for a price. Beyond that he’s made himself a small store that doubles as his home. The immediately visible portion of his business is the makings of alcohol and rice wine, but to those who know him better he is an accomplished alchemist.



Name of Species: fox yokai

Baseline Dimension: His true form is that of a large quadruped standing roughly around five feet at the shoulder when not cloaked to be smaller.
Baseline Appearance: He wields four tails, one earned for each century of life, and is completely covered in moon-washed fur. In his animal form he has two vivid red streaks that curl over either side of his face.

Culture/Origin of Species: The Fox Yokai, also known as a Kitsune, is a mythical beast with many mysterious powers. They are generally crafty and deceptive individuals that enjoy a good prank or guise. Most Kitsune enjoy the culture and climate of Hisakawa and live solitary, not in large groups like some yokai. Many are stereotyped to be thieves and untrustworthy due to their inherent nature.

Traits:
• Kitsunebi | Fox Yokai can manifest a unique blaze of fire known as Kitsunebi, or "fox fire". The color of Kitsunebi varies from fox to fox and often reflects the nature of their soul or personality. The Kitsunebi has either hot or cold properties and can assist the fox in use of illusions.
• Shapeshifting | Kitsune are adept at the art of disguise, and as such can freely shapeshift into almost any form they wish.
• Illusions | Along with shapeshifting, Kitsune can utilize various small visual and audible illusions to aid in their trickery. These illusions are harmless and cannot be physically touched.
• Kitsunetsuki Being a wicked species at their roots, all foxes have the ability to possess individuals through a process known as Kitsunetsuki.
• Kyuubi | Over the course of its lifetime, generally many millennia should one survive long enough, a fox will grow to have a total of nine tails. These tails can potentially be used as weapons or be prehensile should a kitsune manipulate them as such. The tails typically can resize.
• Fūin-jutsu (封印術) | The art of sealing techniques taught in spiritual retreats, temples and to those aspiring to become one of Inari's messengers. Shrine foxes in particular learn to imbue slips of paper with their spiritual energy or yokai to create tangible effects that can activate separately from themselves. The sealing arts can be utilized in the construction of magical barriers, explosions, stasis protection or the subjugation of souls or individuals for short periods of time. Generally the spirit tags can only function for as long as energy is being pumped into them by their user.

Flaws:

• Kitsune cannot sustain shapeshifting for long, and many times when in human form, are unable to fully disguise their tails, ears, claws, or fangs.
• Kitsunetsuki can sometimes be ineffective as features of the fox's physical form, such as tails, ears, claws, and the like can manifest.
• Though keen, cunning, and swift, foxes are generally more fragile than most magical creatures. As such, most do not live long enough to see their ninth tail.