Fox Spirit

From Ditjes&Datjes

Fox Spirit Symbol

The Fox Spirit is the guardian spirit of the Fox Tribe. Its shamans teach the 9 virtues of the Fox, and that upholding them leads to a good and productive life. Each of the virtues of the fox is represented by an aspect of the Fox, as described below.

Aspects of the Fox

The Fox Tribe has a saying: "The greatest trick Fox ever pulled, was convincing everyone he's a trickster". While the trickster is indeed associated with the greatest of its aspects, the other aspects can only be ignored on one's own expense, and each aspect is of import to Fox as a whole.

Courage: Wolf

• The virtue of Courage is embodied by the one-tailed Wolf. Wolf teaches that courage is meaningless without the pack, and should always be applied in service to the group. It is considered the least of the virtues, but required nonetheless. Without the courage to execute its plans, Fox' creativeness goes to naught.
• Wolf tests its challengers to display their cold hearted courage by assaulting them, using frighteningly effective pack tactics for maximum attrition. Showing dominance over the pack is generally considered courageous as well, and usually yields good results
• The Wolf portion of Fox is currently living and travels with Talks with Foxes, fulfilling the role of her spirit companion. Although this was not a voluntary servitude, Wolf still seemed reluctant to leave foxes when required to do so.
• Feat: Tail of Courage [fox]

  Prerequisites: Immortal or Kitsune, Worshipper of the Fox Spirit

  Benefit: You gain a feat bonus to saving throws against fear effects equal to the number of Fox feats you've got. In addition, you gain a +2 feat bonus to initiative checks.

  Special: See Fox Feats sidebar

Mercy: Panther

• The virtue of Mercy is embodied by a two-tailed Panther, although it usually manifests as two one-tailed panthers. This is also an often misunderstood virtue; Panther teaches that Mercy is not always the same as Compassion.
• Panther challenges it's visitors to show mercy to their adversaries. Usually, this means keeping them alive if the one being tested would rather see them dead, and vice versa. When the Posse was being tested, Panther was non-existing due to being eaten by the Ashen God. He corrupted the challenge by trapping the room, forcing the posse to show mercy at their own physical expense.
• Panther was eaten by the Ashen God and is therefore currently non-existing (neither dead nor alive).
• Feat: Tail of Mercy [fox]

  Prerequisites: 21st level, Immortal or Kitsune, Follower of the Fox Spirit

  Benefit: You gain the cleric's Healer's Mercy power, but don't need to spend (or even have) any channel divinity uses. The maximum number of creatures that can benefit from this power equals the number of Fox feats you've got.

  Special: See Fox Feats sidebar

Remembrance: Owl

• The virtue of Remembrance is embodied by an owl with a three feathered tail. This aspect also embodies all ancestor spirits, and Fox-shamans usually place unknown spirits under this aspect. Some higher placed shamans have named this as reason why remembrance is a lower virtue of Fox and why it does not have the same prominent position as in most tribes. Novice shamans often claim remembrance is a natural enemy of the Trickster aspect, as it prevents repetition of tricks, and that it shouldn't be an aspect of Fox. Elders always reply with the enigmatic "Creativity loaths Quiescence", failing any student that does not understand.
• Visitors of Owl are requested to tell the ancestors of the most defining moment in their life, heed the advice from the ancestor and leave, in the assurance of tails well told. When the Posse visited the Caves of the Ancestors, the challenge was corrupted by the Ashen God, who prevented the spirits of the ancestors to advice the Posse, simultaneously turning their physical remains into undead, which attacked the Posse.
• Owl was eaten by the the Ashen God and is therefore currently non-existing (neither dead nor alive).
• Feat: Tail of Remembrance [fox]

  Prerequisites: 21st level, Immortal or Kitsune, Follower of the Fox Spirit

  Benefit: Gain the deva's memory of a thousand lifetimes power. If the result of the bonus die is higher than the number of Fox feats you've got, use that number instead. If you already have memory of a thousand lifetimes and the bonus die results in less than the number of Fox feats you've got, the power is not expended if the overall roll fails.

  Special: See Fox Feats sidebar

Justice: Rattlesnake

• A rattlesnake with four rattles embodies the Justice aspect of Fox. Rattlesnake teaches that Justice is blind; it only looks where one's been and how one's acted. Justice is both required and treacherous, easily abused by the unjust.
• Justice forces it's visitors to stand trial for their misdeeds. If they fail to name any crime or fail to accept the court's verdict, the door visitor will not be able to leave. When the Posse visited justice, justice was dead, so the verdicts were somewhat random and none of them actually fitted the crime.
• Rattlesnake is currently dead. It was given to Talks with Foxes by Laele as a reward for her help.
• Feat: Tail of Justice [fox]

  Prerequisites: Immortal or Kitsune, Follower of the Fox Spirit

  Benefit: As per the Remember Mother Tongue feat

  Special: See the Fox Feats sidebar

Service: Horse

• A five tailed Horse embodies service. Everything loses meaning if it is not done in service of something, albeit good or evil. Horse therefore teaches that without the support of service, no rider can ever achieve completeness of spirit, and all is lost.
• Horse tests it's challengers by giving them 'unimportant' tasks, which are only unimportant in the 'bigger picture', but are usually the most important of all. Cooking, minding the children and feeding the livestock are examples of such tasks. Thus it teaches that all tasks are worth doing, even if they seem demeaning or of little import. The challengers will succeed at nothing if they can not take care of the basics.
• Horse is currently alive, and travels with Talks with Foxes since she succeeded in the Horse's challenge in the Caves of the Ancestors.
• Feat: Tail of Service [fox]

  Prerequisites: 11st level, Immortal or Kitsune, Follower of the Fox Spirit

  Benefit: When an ally makes an attack granted by you to attack an enemy adjacent to you, your beast- or spirit companion, that ally gains a +1 bonus to the attack roll.

  Special: See Fox Feats sidebar

Innocence: Hare

• Six tailed Hare embodies innocence. A hare can eat all of the carrots in the farmer's fields, but still will not be blamed for the ensuing problems, since the farmer should have protected his field better. Hare teaches that no defense is better than not being guilty, and --more importantly-- that revealing another's faults tends to shift the blame from the actual perpetrator. Since this last lesson conflicts with the virtue of cunning, Hare and Coyote are frequently at odds.
• Hare asks it's visitors to take care of the innocent, more precisely babies. Take care of their needs to eat and clean them up. This is usually an easy challenge, but when the Posse took the challenge, Hare was dead, having been killed by them. Hare was clearly out for revenge, since all babies were transformed into floating mummies. They were hungry for vengeance and they oozed purple goo which also took on a life of it's own.
• Hare is currently dead. He is in the care if Talks with Foxes, who bought him from Saldoran Gorst. When she did so, hare was still alive, but in a cunning play from Coyote, he convinced foxes and althaea to use Hare as a sacrifice in a ritual designed to reinsert althaea's soul into her body. During this ritual, Hare died.
• Feat: Tail of Innocence [fox]

  Prerequisites: 11st level, Immortal or Kitsune, Follower of the Fox Spirit

  Benefit: Whenever you spend an action point to take an extra action that is not an attack, all allies within 5 squares gain temporary hit points equal to 1d8 + the number of Fox feats you've got.

  Special: See Fox Feats sidebar

Compassion: Bear

• Also associated with Humility and similar virtues, Compassion is embodied by a seven tailed Bear.
• Bear was eaten by the Ashen God and is therefore currently non-existing (neither dead nor alive).
• Feat: Tail of Compassion [fox]

  Prerequisites: 11st level, Immortal or Kitsune, Follower of the Fox Spirit

  Benefit: You gain the Tail of Compassion encounter power

  Special: See Fox Feats sidebar

Cunning: Coyote

• The virtue of Cunning is embodied by the eight-tailed Coyote. It is often seen as a selfish (some would say, treacherous) aspect of the Fox.
• Challengers are presented with 5 questions, at least 3 of which need to be answered correctly, lest the sphinx eats them. When the Posse took the challenge, the sphinx was not hungry and the riddles deceptively simple, begging the question: why does Coyote want Talks with Foxes to become the great chieftain so badly?

• Coyote is currently very much alive. It resides in a crystal held by Talks with Foxes, after having been used to resurrect Althaea. Through Althaea, it used a hare spirit fetch to annoy Foxes, and thus managed to have Foxes use the living Hare as a sacrificial focus to reinsert Althaea's spirit into her body. This freed Coyote from the bondage of the physical, while simultaneously killing Hare, the largest of Coyote's rivals.
• Feat: Tail of Cunning [fox]

  Prerequisites: 11st level, Immortal or Kitsune, Follower of the Fox Spirit

  Benefit: You gain the Cunning Fox Shape at will power.

  Special: See Fox Feats sidebar

Creativity: Fox

• The virtue of Creativity is embodied by the nine-tailed Fox, and is often considered the only aspect of the Fox by outsiders. This aspect is also called the Trickster.
• Fox is currently alive, but it's whereabouts are unknown.
• Feat: Tail of Creativity [fox]

  Prerequisites: 21st level, Immortal or Kitsune, Follower of the Fox Spirit, 8 other Fox feats, Tail of Cunning

  Benefit: You can use your Cunning Fox Shape ability to take the form of any Small or Medium humanoid that is not undead. When you do so, your clothing, armor, weapons, and possessions do not meld into your new form, but change to fit it instead. You remain able to use weapon- and implement-based powers, as well as weapon and implement powers and properties. You can assume the form of a unique individual whom you have seen. Other creatures may attempt an Insight check opposed by your Bluff check in order to penetrate your disguise; you gain a +10 bonus to this Bluff check.

  Special: See Fox Feats sidebar

The Tenth Aspect

The Primordial Fox Spirit

Some followers of Fox claim its aspects do not end at nine, but includes even more. Flexibility is often claimed as the tenth, but its link to Chaos means most consider this heresy.