Kudagitsune
Michael MacWolff
Cryptologic Name: Yokai kudagitsune
Planar Origin: Materia
Habitat: Mountains and forested regions
Diet: Carnivorous
Appearance & Morphology
Kudagitsune, also known as pipe foxes, are a species of yokai which resemble a fox with a limbless, serpentine body. These creatures’ fur color and head shape mirror a variety of nonmagical foxes. The most common variant of kudagitsune resemble the red fox, with arctic and fennec foxes being the next most prevalent. Kudagitsune are small, measuring between 9 and 12 in. (22-30 cm) when fully grown.
Behavior & Magical Abilities
The kudagitsune is an intelligent and voracious hunter, using both its speed and cunning to hunt prey. While it most commonly hunts small rodents, insects, and amphibians, they will on occasion use their magical abilities to take down larger prey. The kudagitsune’s magic allows it to possess and control the minds of other animals, hijacking both the senses as well as control of the creature’s body. In the wild, they will use this ability to possess the bodies of larger hunters such that they can down larger prey. The kudagitsune are not entirely parasitic, as they will feed with their host prior to disengaging, such that the host predator also reaps some benefit from the kill.
Kudagitsune are known to be kept as familiars or animal companions by some mages, particularly in the Japanese islands where these creatures are most abundant. They can be trained to use their abilities on specific targets and can even learn to imitate human speech and behavior patterns.
Field Notes
Given how much of the planet is now inhabited by humans, there is now a reasonably large population of these creatures who’ve adapted to urban environments. Urban kudagitsune have been known to possess humans, directing their hosts to hide food in various places for the creatures to consume later.
Because of the nature of these creatures’ abilities, the keeping of kudagitsune, even for research purposes, is closely monitored by magical law enforcement. Furthermore, the use of their possession abilities against an unknowing victim is a punishable offense.
OOC Corner
The kudagitsune (管狐, クダ狐) is a creature from Japanese folklore.