Tales of the Tails: The Life

Many have been asking about our tails. What is the purpose? What is the relevancy? Why d they exist at all?

To be very curt, the 'Century Marks' denote the power, a balance of age, wisdom, simply time spent existing, and balance of power.

"Our tails are our life..." one master taught me. This is proven true. For each century of age, we do gain a tail, welcomed or not. This is to balance the need for power as we age as Yokai. The older we are, the more power we need. Thus, the many tails of ages.

The weight of the tails? They aren't very heavy. They also have muscles and actually add to the counterbalancing effects of multiple tails. Though, the thought of this can seem challenging, it is often a boon to have so many tails. Some are semi-prehensile. Some are not. Sorry for the pun, but are we 'grasping the ideas' here?

Some are even 'sentient'. Not as normal humans think of 'sentient, but 'knowing', acting curious and exploratory of their environments. They do not 'speak', as per say speaking in intelligent conversation, but do convey thoughts. Each tail can grow something of a 'miniature brain', located in the base of the tail as our physical forms develop over time, which tends to appear as a large mass of nerves in the bone of the pelvis and spinal conjunction during the longer periods of physical manifestation. Being that it's attached to our spinal cords, they 'see' what we do. They know some of what we know. However, they can seem childish in their primitive states, prone to 'emotional outbursts'. This is also part of where a Kemono Youkai gains their 'ideas for pranks and tricks' from. To be honest, those with sentient tails often are the more 'tricky of the kind', as their seeming wisdom for pranks, tricks and illusions end to be on the more 'captivatingly cunning' side.

The purpose of all tails, though, is to store the massive amounts of energy needed for living, spells and sheer power. Often, a 'full kitsune' seems to 'glow'. This is often because of the amount of ephemera, or spiritual energy and sustenance they contain inside themselves and their tails. The energy is 'spun' around the tails, in the fur and the kitsune's spirit and physical manifestations themselves. It's too complicated to explain how that works in a mere post. Some things, there are just not words for. some things have to be experienced, rather than talked about. However, the general idea should be represented by now.

Get one physically cut off, and the energy which that single tail has stored is gone. However, the tail -can- be 'grown back' or 'reformed'. After all, our bodies -are- only illusions, physical manifestations constructed to physically house our ethereal spirits. However, elemental ephemera is still bound to elemental law. That's the will of the gods, to speak bluntly.

In our society, because of the sentience, a known application has turned into something of a community tradition. This is: Grooming.

Personal grooming can take hours of care. However, as is known, this has been turned into a time of community and teaching. Elders have the youngest care for their tails, teaching the youngest how to care for their own tails. Only the eldest of our kind have the patients to teach the youngest. In socializing, the care and attention others give to each other in the grooming of each other can show care and consideration to another, and shows how much you care about another fox. This can even be used for pre-set marriages (not common now) to let conjoined couples get to know each other. This is also used in political relations and even manipulation. To be ultimately blunt, though, grooming is a bond of trust, as one kitsune will not so easily turn their tails on another.

As a rule, the Century Marks, our tails as kitsune, are only gained by the majority of us through time. However, all rules are made to be broken. Tails can be 'earned', though this is much more personal, as it can be done through good acts, or very evil ones. This is more of a 'divine' act, and -does- require a major intervention or action of some kind. for good or ill. This, though, is tough enough.

An Elder can even grant a younger kitsune one of it's tails. Though, the removal of the tail from the elder is a very pain-staking process, it is exactly why this is a very challenging thing to do. However, the Elder would gladly suffer the removal of the tail to be given to the younger kitsune who's truly earned it, such as, the evasion of an epic disaster happening to the entire 'Elemental Breed Branch'. Such as saving the Water kitsune from an epic oil disaster.

The trading of tails is rare to happen, but has been known to happen. Just don't expect to be given tails just because you are.

And... it IS known for dark apprentices of magicks to lust after a kitsune's tails, as these sorcerers and dark alchemists often use the magick of our tails for their own nefarious purposes, but let me make this clear: If you are found hunting after a kitsune's tails, and are caught doing it... you -WILL- be hunted back.

That includes me. The last person who hunted my tails over a century ago found that lusting after a kitsune's tails does not pay well for monetary profit. However, it does earn the proprietary right to inhabit a new piece of land... which tends to be four feet wide, eight feet long, and six feet under.

Consider that a 'grave' warning to any whom lust after a kitsune's tails. Inari warns against such an action. We uphold the other end of that warning unheeded: Consequence.

Even for me, my own tails, though I'm only a little over 500 years old, number in the next 'prime number' as to the number of centuries I've lived as a kitsune. Does it make me more powerful? Yes. Does it make me wiser? No. However, I wouldn't do to be without my wonderful tails.

*strokes his tails lovingly.*