Continued from last issue, this is the Fox Clan information for the Legend of the Five Rings roleplaying game.

The Unicorn

"No one loves the mother more than the child who has been taken from her."

As suddenly as they had left, Shinjo's clan returned. They rode great towering beasts and screamed of blood and vengeance as they charged through the Shadowlands and the Crab lines, and toward the heart of the Emerald Empire. The first daimyo of the Unicorn invited the Fox to rejoin their clan and become one once again with the Ki-Rin, but the Fox Clan refused. They had been too long independent to bow their head to another, no matter what blood ties bound them.

When the Unicorn returned to the Empire, the six clans were in chaos. Some clans shouted that the Unicorn were truly the children of Shinjo and should regain all of their rights and properties. Other clans argue that these warriors were impostors a d had no claim to Shinjo's legacy. S e of these turned to the Fox, offering to sup- port the Fox if the Fox would turn against the newcomers and cut down those who would sully their ancient ancestor's name.

The Fox did not join in the argument.

They remained in the lands given to them by the Emperor and did not attempt to rejoin their "former clan." They had walked the forests alone for too long to now journey behind another. Kitsune Hanru said, "Follow your own path. To walk behind another is to do nothing more than to become captured in another's pitfalls. We know our weaknesses and our strenghts. For nearly a thousand years, we have walked alone. I see no reason to change that path."

The Unicorn and the Fox maintain amiable relations, and indeed, the only people with free access to kitsune libraries, besides the Emperor and kitsune themselves, are the Unicorn.

The Unicorn have never pressured their "little siblings" to return and seem proud to claim relations with the Fox. In their eyes, the Fox have served Shinjo well, and the Unicorn have great respect for the minor clan. Still, even the Uncorn do not truly consider them equals.

The Kitsune Myth

Popular Rokugani legends of "spirit-foxes" known as kitsune call them everything from demons to Kami, attributing to them bad fortune, magical spells and abilities, and calling them seducers and maho-users.

These scornful words spring from Rokugani culture's genuine fascination with a creature that does not warrant attention. The moment you look for the kitsune, the kitsune is gone. On the day you decide to stop looking, you may see one out of the corner of your eye. Only the Fox Clan has any innate understanding of the gentle wood spirits, and their that clan's tie to kitsune runs deep--deeper than blood.

To understand the truth behind kitsune--both the creatures and clan that bears their name--requires a samurai to take an extended stay in the woods of the Fox Clan, learn their traditions and secrets. Then, if the samurai proves truly dedicated, and truly understands the nature of these most elusive spirits, he or she may catch a brief glimpse of a woman with fox-red hair and amber eyes before she slips back into the woods, lost to all but spirits. The spirits come and go as they please; no mortal controls them. To demand that Fox Clan members show you a kitsune only makes them laugh.

Kitsune, according to legend, are mysterious, clever, wise, and mischievous. They are pranksters with a good sense of humor, and they are creatures of kindness and loyalty. Tales say that if you show kindness to a kitsune, the spirit follows you, hoping to one day return the kindness. A popular myth speaks of a woodsman who set a trap to catch a wolf that was stealing his oxen. He captured a fox instead. Having a kind heart, he bandaged its wounds and set it free.

Days later, when he had forgotten his act of kindness, the wolf came to steal his oxen once more. The wolf cornered the poor woodsman and was about to eat him alive, when a valiant fox leapt from the bushes and knocked the wolf to the side, allowing the hunter to spear the beast with his small knife.

Kitsune possess the magic of illusions and misdirection, which helps them to hide in the thick woods and to deceive those who seek them. According to some legends, the kitsune feed on the living spirits of mortals in order to fuel their magic. The Fox Clan refutes this myth, and it is considered the height of bad form to mention it within hearing of a Fox samurai. Several noted duels have been fought over the subject. Kitsune are said to change forms into whatever they please, either male or female, and to appear exceedingly beautiful in mortal form. Few tales tell of kitsune who permanently give up their fox-form to live among Rokugani samurai; the kitsune love their woodland and their freedom too much remain in one form for long.

Ancient tribes of Rokugan spoke of a battle that occurred between the kitsune and the tiger-spirits, a race of half-beasts now unknown in Rokugan. According to the tale, the kitsune tricked the tigers into leaving Rokugan forever. Scholars, particularly those Isawa who have studied the tale, say that it is apocryphal. They believe that the story describes the separation of Rokugan from the Ivory Kingdoms to the distant south, and that these mythical "tiger-spirits" were most likely a primitive tribe that journeyed south before the time of the kami and the creation of the Shadowlands.

Fox Culture

"Fall down seven times; stand up eight."

Modern Fox culture is still very simple, a legacy of their previous duties. They maintain an excellent library, keeping all records of imperial courts and mandates. Although the kitsune do not track the political and courtly affairs of the Empire as do the Seppun, the kitsune library is renowned for its legal and historical information. They intended it to be their legacy to Shinjo, when she returned: details of all of the decisions made by the Emperors and of the lineage and legacy of the clans' champions, their children, and their extended families. When a clan or noble family finds itself without an heir, the Empire turns its eyes to the Fox, for they maintain the lineages in exacting detail that goes as far back as the first war with the Shadowlands. The only clan whose records the kitsune do not have is the Unicorn.

No records were kept by the Ki-Rin, and though the Fox have repeatedly attempted to piece together the lineages of the Ide, Iuchi, Otaku, and Shinjo, they have gleaned only the briefest of details.

Despite the difficulties that sprang up at the beginning of their interactions with the Fox, the Unicorn repeatedly show that their nature is honorable, and they bring nothing but friendship and allegiance to those who stayed behind. In fact, many of the Unicorn refer to the Fox Clan samurai as their kin, a tribute to their shared lineage.

Hunting with a Fox

The Fox are a peaceful people prone to study rather than to war, but their natural inclination toward trickery and deceit does not bring them much honor in the Emperor's court. Although they connect deeply with the spirits, particularly those of forest and field, great gatherings politely shun them. This trend is even more pronounced since the return of the Unicorn Clan. Recently, whispers have circulated that the Fox shouldn't be a clan at all; they have outlived their usefulness as "Shinjo's voice" and should now rejoin the true children of the Ki-Rin, or become ronin and give their land to the Scorpion or the Crane.

The children of the kitsune are wily, and they know the politics of deception and trickery, much to the chagrin of the Great Clans. No political ploy levied against them succeeds, no word reaches the Emperor's ears but that they introduce a counter-rumor to invalidate it. Although the Fox do not often match wits against the Great Clans, they are more than willing to risk their lives to protect their clan and the forest that surrounds it.

From their earliest years, children of the Fox Clan learn the paths and dangers of the outdoors, play in the fields and woods, and use the thousands of plants that grow in Rokugan. Hardly a province in the Empire does not wish for a permanent Fox Clan resident as midwife, herbalist and healer. The know the myths and the medicinal properties of each woodland thing, from their first steps they learn the secret paths of the animals.

They have an almost uncanny ability to track and hunt, and they are most at home when alone in a forest, no matter where that forest lies in the Empire.

Even when another clan invites them to spend a season in its court (or when the court invites them to the fabled Otosan Uchi itself), Fox are rarely They spend their days in healing crafts and hunting, acting as guides in provinces they know and learning ways of the land in unfamiliar areas.

The Fox are in an unusual position: of all of the Minor Clans, they alone have a Kami in their lineage. Moreover, a spirit creature adopted them, and blood runs in their veins; thus, their nature is twofold. They are not truly the children of Shinjo, but neither are they born of ronin stock nor granted their position through the Emperor's generosity. They are not a Great Clan, but they have represented Shinjo for over seven hundred years--a renown not shed easily, even this long after the Unicorn's return.

Fox Art

The Fox are not renowned for their art, although they are dedicated to its pursuit. Rather than conform to the interests of the imperial court in paintings and great statues, Fox Clan samurai find no greater beauty than that in the Empire's wild places. They travel in groups to visit such beautiful locations as Ki-Rin's shrine and the shores of Shinden Asahina. The Fox believe that to remove something from its origin (such as plucking a flower or transplanting a tree) decreases its beauty. They value trees that grow in strange and gnarled patterns, and often leave offerings to the beauty of such a place. A visitor will find no ikebana arrangements in Kyuden Kitsune--only small, flowering plants that grow freely over the palace's outer walls.

A visiting Phoenix once remarked upon the overgrown and strangely wooded beauty of the Fox lands, and it is precisely that response the gardeners of the Fox wish to evoke. If a tree wishes to lean, they allow it to lean, tidying only the weeds and young growths that cluster around its base. Because of this quirk, the imperial court does not receive Fox Clan art very well. The Fox bring twisted wooden staves worn to a polish by the wind and the tide and covered in natural pearls plucked from oysters in the Crane bay. The courtiers of Otosan Uchi ignore or forget their handiwork and their reason for it. The call it "informal" and "rough," without regard for the hundreds of waves that wore the wood into its current state.

Kitsune Magic

The kitsune have a unique relationship with the spirits of the forest and of wild places, an affinity reflected in their study of magic. Although they do not rank among the more powerful shugenja in the Empire, they are the most attuned to the wilderness and the most practiced in deception and trickery. A Fox Shugenja knows to use enemies' weaknesses against them. Fox magic may not be among the most respected in the Empire, but it can be one of the most effective, if used with imagination and subtlety. The kitsune have another advantage over their more "book-learned" cousins. Well-versed in the land, the plants, and the plants' medicinal properties, they can cure common illnesses and diseases. Woodland spirits are less likely refuse them, and are most adept at casting spells outdoors.

Fox bushi are less common, although they do exist. Shugenja of the clan can defend themselves in battle, as each learns to use at least one weapon. The kitsune feel that it is important to have the ability to maintain safety without magical aides.

Fox Land

Kitsune Mori, the forest of the Fox, lies between high hills and twisted valleys, and grows in a thick tangle over many Ii of land, up and down between the plains of the Scorpion and the Crane. The forest spreads across the edge of the Ronin Plains and covers the lower hills where the Wasp keep their palace above the Lake of Silent Dreams. It is a verdant place filled with animals and rich vegetation, and the greenwood smell of the trees stays in your clothes for days. Though the ground is fertile, the Fox Clan does not promote agriculture and quickly takes arms against any who raise an axe toward the older trees.

Fox lands cover the entirety of the Kakusu province, and they hide their palace well behind li after li of thick forest. All travelers know the legends of forest spirits, and rarely does a visiting samurai camp anywhere but on the road itself To venture deeper into the forest may mean giving oneself over to the trickery of a passing kitsune spirit, something most samurai seek to avoid at great cost.

The kitsune spirits are not the only small Kami that inhabit the woodland. Unlike its greater cousin, Shinomen Forest, Kitsune Mori is a place of idyllic beauty and wide groves. No trace of foul enchantment taints its magnificent autumn leaves; the kitsune permit no sign of taint within the realm of the forest. The kitsune quickly discover the traveler who approaches their homeland with Taint in his or her heart and, just as quickly, turn the traveler's road around and twist the path, to prevent their disturbance and any further trespass.

Tall trees and vine-crusted groves thickly cover the hills and valleys that wind through the forest. Unlike in the Shinomen, however, there are no signs of Naga inhabitation or shrines. The valleys of Kitsune Mori have several areas of caves-clefts in the hillsides and deep incisions into the earth. Some say that a hidden labyrinth of passages connects all areas of the Kitsune Mori, and that the Fox use these passages to ensure their safe (and rapid) travel through the area without disturbing spirits or the forest itself.

Living with Spirits

The Fox insist that kitsune are nothing more than magical spirits of nature who choose to inhabit their forested lands and the mountains to the north. They do not serve the Fox Clan, nor does the Fox Clan owe them any obligation other than friendship. Although many of the heimin leave offerings outside their own villages to appease the kitsune, the Fox Clan does not worship these spirits, but only reveres them. Kitsune, as it is said to be with all spirits, are immortal, and they pass some of that tremendous lifespan to their descendants, the Fox. Where a person of the Empire proper can expect to live no more than a 100 years at the most ancient, some Fox are documented to have died at the ripe old age of 250. Such occurrences are unusual, but when they do happen, the Fox keep rumors from forming. Still, many samurai come to Fox lands seeking mystical "waters of life" that keep the Fox young healthy for such a long time and them to live beyond the time normal human.

There are numerous shrines in the woods of the Fox, some hidden from the Empire's main paths and roads. Some are over seven hundred years old, built by the first Fox samurai just after Shinjo left Rokugan. Images of white foxes often grace such shrines, carved into freestanding torii arches and placed within small caves that dot the Fox Clan's mountainous northern provinces.

The Fox Clan holds some of the shrines so sacred that the shrines also contain Shinto shrines to honor Fox ancestors, as well as the white itsune carvings. The name for fox-carvings is "myobu" (also a name for ladies of courtly rank and royal lineage), and they are considered luck. Often, women of the Fox Clan who have discovered that they soon bear children travel to the cave-shrines and spend the night alone, hoping to gain the kitsune's blessing for their children.

One popular tale of the kitsune shrines concerns their affection for priests of Inari, the lesser Fortune of rice. Once, long ago, a traveling kitsune couple sought shelter in the temple of the Seven Fortunes. The two cowered beneath the eaves of temple, but the monks would not let them inside. Though the rain was cold and the female was obviously pregnant with a litter of young, the temple's keepers hurried the foxes away with the brush of a stiff broom.

Nearby, in his small hut, a mikokami monk of Inari opened his door. "Come inside," he called to the foxes, "though my hut is small, my fire will warm you. Though my food is poor, there is rice that you may eat and the fair lady may rest herself upon my humble blanket. In gratitude, the two kitsune bowed their heads to the ground before the humble monk and swore ten oaths to Inari, to protect and defend her temples. Also for this reason, foxes do not eat rice, in remembrance of the monk whose food they took when they were in need. Since that day, small white fox statues could be found at the temples of Inari. Temples to Inari are popular in the small villages of the Fox Clan.

Notable Fox Battles

The Fox have been involved in numerous battles during their time in the Empire. Though they try to stay out of disputes, their location (directly between the Crab, Crane, and Scorpion) prevents them from maintaining a completely peaceful border.

The Fox and the Crane

The battle known as the Night of a Hundred Deaths is one of the most recent in the Empire's history, having occurred only thirty years ago. Despite Crane diplomacy, war threatened the feuding Fox and Hare. Finally, :a group of Kakita samurai led by the then-young Toshimoko met with the gathered troops of the two clans on the border. After much persuasion and open threats, the Fox and Hare agreed to turn their backs on war and seek a diplomatic solution. But it was not to be.

Late that night, a group of assassins apparently hired by the Hare slaughtered a hundred of the sleeping Fox Clan dignitaries. The Fox daimyo, Kitsune Oshirin, declared war upon the Hare, and the two clans met in battle the next morning. The Crane, feeling that the Fox Clan were in the right, sided with them against the Hare, and the battle ended swiftly. Rather than expressing gratitude, Oshirin proclaimed hatred toward the Crane, saying that it was their intervention that had held off the war and caused the death of his wife. He challenged Toshimoko, to a duel, was cut down, and died on the field near his wife's pyre.

By command of the Emperor, a Crane must act as advisor to both daimyos in a hostile situation, and the Crane can challenge, in the Emperor's name, any decision the daimyos make. This has only happened twice in the thirty years since the Night of a Hundred Deaths, both times when the Hare Clan threatened again to invade Fox lands. Both times, the Kitsune smiled in secret triumph, as they used their wiles and cleverness in new ways to destroy the Hare's credibility and reputation in the Empire. There has been at least the one unexpected casualty of that war, however, and the price of the Hare's downfall has been high.

Long ago, Kakita Toshimoko courted Kitsune Ryoden, the daughter of the Fox Clan daimyo. He fell in love with her and asked permission to marry of her father, Kitsune Oshirin. But Oshirin refused. During the Night of a Hundred Deaths, Toshimoko, led the small army of Kakita assigned to defend the Fox lands. He did not succeed, and a hundred Fox samurai died in their beds from his negligence. After the battle, the Fox daimyo challenged Toshimoko, to the duel, claiming that it was the Crane's unwanted love for his daughter that blurred his vision to the truth about the Hare's wickedness. He claimed that if Toshimoko had been serious about his love for Ryoden, he would have sided with the Fox from the beginning rather than seek a diplomatic solution to the war.

Toshimoko, already one of the finest duelists in Rokugan, was forced to accept the duel and killed the man in a single stroke.

Kitsune Ryoden fled the site in tears at the death of her father. Her brother, Kitsune Gohei, accepted his father's position with sorrow. Ryoden spent her time in the gardens of the Fox, refusing all visitors and swearing vengeance for her father's needless death. At last, on the day her brother's first child (the babe who would one day become Kitsune Ryosei) was born, Ryoden took her father's armor and sword and set off to the north to seek the wisdom of the Dragon Clan. For many years, she remained among the Mirumoto and the Togashi, learning the skill of weapons and trying to appease her hunger for revenge with Dragon wisdom. She never returned to the forests of the Fox Clan, and when news of her death at the hands of Kakita Toshimoko came to Gohei's court the clan mourned for a treasured daughter who had been lost to the sacrifices of honor.

The Triple Alliance

Three years ago, the armies of Bayushi Tomaru invaded the Suzurne Hills, seeking an easy route to the rich Daidoji merchant ports of the coast. Tomaru was a harsh man given to slaughtering peasants and pillaging the land to fuel his war efforts. After his invasion of the Sparrow, he would certainly begin expanding north, taking the lands of the Sparrow's neighbors, the Fox and the Wasp. Ryosei, who had recently inherited the position of Fox Clan daimyo, from her ailing father, did not wish to see Scorpion boots crush the verdant forest.

When Tsuruchi, the Wasp daimyo, approached her, she paid careful attention to his words. As the Scorpion charged against the Sparrow in the Suzume hills, the Scorpion found their forces assailed by arrows from the sky. When spells of deception lifted, they revealed a command of Fox shugenja. Tomaru was handily defeated, his troops routed and chased by the spirits of the field.

The Sparrow were nearly as surprised as the Scorpion. After the battle ended, the Wasp daimyo, proposed an alliance between the three clans, to prevent the Scorpion or the Crane from attacking one another on the lands and routes in the three clans' territory. The other two clans agreed with little deliberation and thus began the first major alliance forged between minor clans in Empire's history. The site of the tremendous battle was named Mittsu Otoko Rengo Heigen (Three Alliance Plain) in honor of the day.

Skills and Techniques

Kitsune Family
Benefit: +1 Willpower
Kitsune Shugenja School
Benefit: +1 Intelligence
Skills: Hunting, Herbalism, Calligraphy, Kenjutsu, Meditation, Defense, any one Bugei skill
Beginning Honor: 1, plus 8 boxes
Beginning Spells: Sense, Commune, and Summon, plus 3 Earth, 2 Air, and 1 Water

Kitsune Taboos: 1-point Flaw; may be taken by Fox Clan members only, up to 3 times

Kitsune, as with other spirits who spend a great deal of time among the people of the Empire, have been "sullied" by the proximity to mortals. To keep themselves distant and avoid losing spiritual powers, the kitsune who interact with the Fox Clan have adopted spiritual taboos that guide their behaviour and mannerisms. Even the more human members of the Fox Clan have adopted many of these, respecting their spiritual guides and making it more likely that a visiting kitsune would not be noiced among them. Not all Fox samurai accept a taboo, but those who do follow it faithfully all of their lives.

It is said that the Fox who accept the burden of taboos are especially beloved by the kitsune, and if they abide by it faithfully, the kitsune will care for them well if they ever find themselves in great need. A samurai may take any of these taboos:

• The kitsune are creatures of the land and of the wood. The samurai may not harm a commoner nor allow the woodland to be defiled or destroyed without cause. The samurai must care for the needs of the common heimin, and, in exchange, they will warmly greet and care for the samurai when he or she visits a village.
• The kitsune are creatures of deceit and mischief. The samurai who chooses this taboo may never tell the complete truth and must cover his or her words with a veneer of falsehood. This is a dangerous taboo to accept and the samurai must be doubly careful not to mislead his or her lord while adhering to the bonds of the taboo.
• For a spirit to become involved in the affairs of mortals, it must be invited to take action. This taboo requires the samurai to never directly affect a battle or any other major scenario without first having been asked to interfere. The samurai cannot enter houses unless invited to do so by name and cannot offer aid unless first asked for it.
• The samurai cannot eat rice but must make do with the natural berries and foods of the forest, supplemented by a diet of fish and chicken. In this way, the samurai becomes attuned to the woods and the forest, rather than to agriculture and the ways of humankind, and remembers the kitsune oath to Inari, the lesser Fortune of rice.
• Solitude is abhorrent to many kitsune, who live for affection, dedicated attention, and mischief If the samurai accepts this taboo, he or she must always share the company of at least two other individuals--even when sleeping.
• As with many spirits, kitsune become ill if unable to keep their promises and follow their word of honour. A samurai who accepts this taboo commits seppuku rather than break a promise (even one given in haste), and when someone else breaks a promise the samurai rapidly becomes deadly enemies with that person.

Kitsune Behavior

Rogukan's kitsune spirits are tricksters--good-natured but eager to play pranks and teach lessons. They are not evil, nor are they truly good. They are neutral entities with little understanding of human ways. Some few leave their spiritual self behind and join mortal society, giving up their powers for the space of a moon, a year, or a hundred years in order to interact with the Emerald Empire.

Kitsune put up with nearly anything to learn valuable skills or to understand new ideas. They like to teach as well; a samurai who fulfills a kitsune's wish to learn had best be prepared to learn some harsh lessons as well.

The most ancient legends of tribes speak of how some tribes feared and hunted the kitsune, while others worshipped them. It is said that the kitsune inhabited the land long before the Kami came, and that the first Hantei sought their wisdom when he wished to ease his sister, Shinjo, of a great burden. Legends tell of kitsune guarding samurai for favors and of kitsune stealing samurai's lovers. In some legnds, kitsune aid the peasantry, while in others, they steal food from lowly travellers. They are most likely guilty of all of these things, but they do not speak of them.

The Lady

Myth describes the Lady of the kitsune, Akomachi, as a ten-tailed fox spirit or a magnificent woman with silver hair and hands as flawles as snow. Both visions are correct, according to most Fox samurai. The Fox worship her as a secondary image of Bentem, Fortune of beauty. In all of the Empire's myths, she is a creature capable of granting wishes and stealing hearts forever, even from those who only glimpse her face once. She is said to be the mother of the kitsune race, the patron of the Fox Clan, and (because of that) another image of Shinjo, the Kami of the original Ki-Rin.

Night of the Hundred Deaths

Three decades ago, a rivalry emerged between the Hare and Fox Clans, leading to a series of armed confrontations. The Fox claim that the rivalry began when a Hare scout fired upon an unarmed party of Fox shugenja. The Hare deny this.

The small war stalled when Kakita Toshimoko arrived to arbitrate. Unfortunately, before the discussion could begin, a hundred Fox diplomats were murdered. The Fox Clan immediately declared war on the Hare. A small but brutal war erupted and was cut short by the intervention of the Emperor, who forced a Crane advisor upon the two clans, with veto power over all of Clans' actions. Though the clans chafed at the brusque treatment, the bloodshed ended.

The cause of the war was simple for the Fox to ascertain: The Hare used blood-magic and wished to cover their tainted lies with the blood of the Fox Clan. A Fox emissary, sent to the Hare before the war began, returned with tales of secret chambers within the Hare palace, where the Hare used rituals to the Dark One using their daimyo's blood. Aware that the kitsune's ancient sword held a dark secret, Kitsune Oshirin, the Fox daimyo reported that an agent of the Hare Clan was trying to overthrow the Fox in order to capture their ancestral sword adn planned to free the scroll that lay hidden in the weapon's hilt. This could not be allowed, no matter how many must die to prevent it. If the Crane learned why the maho-using Hare attacked the Fox, however, they would certainly claim the sword themselves. They would reveal the secret and the scroll would surely fall into the hands of those who would break its seal and use it for evil.

Now, after much work and guile on their part, the Fox have eradicated their enemy. The Hare Clan is no more and the sword still lies hidden within the forests of the Fox.

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