Mikoto and Miyuki Kurokawa, by Moira
One of the things I've been wanting to talk about for some time is the Kurokawa kitsune den -- or as we call it internally, Floof Haus. It's been in development for almost as long as Kiyoko herself, the first edition being created by good old Ted himself years back when the design document was first released to the writers, then revamped by me when I took over the kitsune from him some time down the line. As things have shaken out, each major writer on the team is claiming their own fiefdoms in the lore and in-game -- Gardeford with the marefolk village and centaur tribes, Wsan with Khor'Minos, and so forth. Although I was at first interested in an aarakocra-expy race (which were totally not Chozo) and the harpies, life throws you a curve ball sometimes. As it turned out, the not-Chozo didn't pan out after 200,000 words of companion, and I junked that and got handed the floofs instead.
Now after so many years, the Frostwood is almost upon us in a matter of mere months, and the content I've got pent-up is almost ready to be unleashed upon you all. Some of what I've planned has been discussed earlier in this thread; most of it still sticks, but like what you've seen with the entire cutting of the Taoth path, others fall away as my narrative adapts to the game as it changes.
In the coming weeks leading up to this, I'd like to talk about the locations and characters that are involved here, hopefully drum up a little hype and explain my thoughts and reasonings behind the decisions I made in designing the foxes.
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The Kurokawa kitsune den is a location in the northwestern Frostwood, smack dab in the level 5 area. You won't be able to enter it at first, although it's likely that a couple of generic kitsune encounters will be released first. The dungeon is tuned for level 5, and given what I've plotted out for it, will be extremely hard in the vein of UrtaQuest; a complete boss rush with no retreat or resting in between. As such, it probably won't actually hit until level 5 is released, although there are mitigating circumstances -- you can still continue the narrative even if you lose by having the amulet of transference/union on you when you enter via a quest triggered by Lady Evergreen. Once the dungeon is completed, the interior layout will change, you'll be able to enter and leave freely through either the front entrance or the
torii gate which also serves as a warpstone; I'd like to also add a fun option to travel directly to Kiyoko's home from there.
What I'm hoping to achieve with this location is something akin to Korg'ii Hold in TiTs: a hub full of fun and interesting characters that also serves interesting mechanical functions. To date, I have seven interactable characters and three supporting characters lined up; these include characters from the two other authors who've shown interest in dabbling with kitsune characters. Hopefully they'll have good enough personalities, story arcs and scenes to keep you lot coming back.
More importantly, you'll be able to do two important things at the shrine in the heart of the tree, if you wish: one, sell your soul to the Trickster god, and two,
finally free Kiyoko from the Astral Plane. I don't expect the latter to come for some time after its release because I'll have to retool the kitsune shrine in the Old Forest as her home and for all your children, as well as make all her scenes work outside of the astral plane, but when it does come this is where you'll be doing it from. Remember that in order to free Kiyoko,
Kinu must have been born, which means that you'll have to impregnate her at least once and receive the amulet of union. Once Kiyoko is freed, the amulet is gone forever, and Kinu's adult stats and choices are set into stone as she leaves childhood behind and becomes a young woman.
One thing to note about this project in general, if you haven't noticed it already from the codex, is that the kitsune are deliberately weeb -- a deliberately heavily romanticised version of actual Japanese culture and history that borrows interesting things from several eras. Inasmuch as Khor'Minos borrows from Imperial Rome, Orcs borrow from Vikings and the marefolk borrow from Mongolians, I'm borrowing from the host culture and not aiming to stick 100% true to actual historical facts. The kitsune still have to stay framed within the world of Savarra and the basic premises set out for them -- for example, being a largely matriarchal society save for the Imperial Family already causes several major diversions from actual historical Japanese culture, not to mention the numerous knock-on effects. The general goal I'm aiming for is akin to the Blossoms are Falling supplement for Burning Wheel -- a historically and culturally inspired fun romp that while maintaining some flavour and bilingual bonus, is still accessible to the vast majority of western audiences.
In either case, I aim to have fun writing, and I hope you have fun playing through the content, too.
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Characters: Miko and Mai
Mikoto (美琴) and Miyuki (美雪)
Miko and Mai are the third incarnation of, and spiritual successors to the vulpine characters of Savin's; he's been kind enough to let me write for them in the third game. Fraternal twin sisters, they're a rarity amongst kitsune in that they both count as the firstborn daughters in the direct Kurokawa matrilineal line, and hence are both poised to succeed their great-great-grandmother as opposed to the position traditionally going to the eldest daughter. Komari's looking to retire sometime in the next twenty or thirty years, and has sent for her great-great granddaughters to train as priestesses and prepare them for taking her place as Shrine Mother. Technically, the sisters are competing for the position on their merits, but at this point it's readily clear that it wouldn't make much difference; neither Miko nor Mai make decisions without the other knowing anyway, and with Miko being a borderline nymphomaniac, Mai's chain-smoking habit is a small vice in comparison.
The twins can usually be found together, but it's not like they're joined at the hip or anything; of note is the fact that Miko and Mai sleep in the same bed and have done so since they were kits. They speak Kansai-Ben, which means I'm going to have to make them sound like southern hicks, aren't I? Their personalities certainly match the stereotypes evoked.
I won't deny that part of the reason these two exist is to scratch my shrine maiden itch, and that's where you can expect to find them, tending to the day-to-day business of caring for the shrine to Keros in the heart of the den. Miko is diurnal while Mai is nocturnal and their lives intersect at dawn and dusk; they'll provide slightly different services for the player depending on who's currently tending to the shrine.
