Kinu
| Kinu | |
|---|---|
 Kinu's child bust, by DCLzexon. | |
| Creator | The Observer |
| Information | |
| Full name | Kinu Ōtomo (大友 絹) |
| Species | Kitsune |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation |
Child Prodigy Future Den Mother |
| Family | Kiyoko |
| Relatives |
Aya Tatsumi Asagiri Kasumi other numerous siblings. |
| Religion | Kerosite |
| Nationality | The Old Country. |
| Kinu (Kitsune Hime) | |
|---|---|
 Kinu's kitsune hime bust, by DCLzexon. | |
| Information | |
| Occupation |
Future Den Mother Administrative Genius |
| Spouse | Nakano (fiancé) |
| Relatives |
Komari (grandmother-in-law) Miko and Mai (cousins-in-law) |
| Kinu (Young Inari) | |
|---|---|
 Kinu's young inari bust, by Alder. | |
| Information | |
| Occupation |
Future Den Mother Agricultural Wonder |
| Spouse | Hitoshi (fiancé) |
| Relatives |
Komari (grandmother-in-law) Miko and Mai (cousins-in-law) |
"Noon is the most awful time of day," your daughter declares.
This ought to be good. You're all ears.
"Mm-hm. My tummy gets growly and rumbly, then I feel tired and don't want to do anything but wait for lunch. But then after I've eaten, I feel all nice and full, and don't want to do anything but nap in the sun."
Kinu is the first of the named floof children that Kiyoko spawns for the Champion, being the firstborn daughter. She appears after Kiyoko's first child has been born, in a little scene where she plays go with both her parents, and afterwards can be found at the hillside crossroads each time the Champion enters the astral plane.
Champions can interact with her once per visit, after which she becomes unavailable until the next time they enter the astral plane.
Once Kinu is freed along with her mother and any siblings she may have, she will have the following schedule as an adult:
Inari: 0700-1200 Kiyoko's home, fields. 1200-1700 Kurokawa kitsune den, western fields.
Hime: 0700-1200 Kiyoko's home, her chambers. 1200-1700 Kurokawa kitsune den, Matron's quarters.
She may still only be interacted with once per day, and will disappear afterwards. Interacting with her during the morning will mean she will not be there in the afternoon.
Appearance
Child
You crouch down so you're at eye level with Kinu, and give your fluffy daughter a look-over. She's clothed in much the same way as her mother is — the same foreign yet rather traditional light dress, a yukata, was it? Unlike Kiyoko, who goes for the more graceful, flowing look, Kinu's skirts are much shorter, ending at just below her knees. For a little fox who plays in dirt and climbs trees on a regular basis, this looks to be just about right.
Her clothes are in shades of white and blue to go with her silvery-white hair and fur, and a purple anklet's been looped about her ankle, complete with a small bell. You get the feeling that there's some significance to it — it certainly isn't a bell proper, as there's no clapper within to make it ring; perhaps you should ask Kiyoko about that sometime. Long sleeves and thick hems seem to be her thing, and like her mother, the lot is bound at her waist with a large purple sash, tied into a bow about her back. Looped about Kinu's neck is a collar with yet another bell on it, made from the same material as her anklet; she really likes these things, doesn't she?
When it comes to height, Kinu definitely takes after her mother in that regard. It's not correct to think of her as small — the little kitsune is more fun-sized in that regard, and is determined to prove it with a presence as big as her physical form is small. Besides, Kinu's only roughly seven or eight summers of age, she's got a lot growing left to do. In the meantime, maybe her petite stature will mean that she won't be raiding the peach grove with ease.
Like all of her kind, Kinu has large, fluffy fox ears that sit atop her head, little tufts of fur sprouting haphazardly from within them; this is accompanied by a set of three tails that emerge from just above the waist of her skirts. For someone as young as her to have three is quite promising, and it can't be denied that Kinu is her mother's star pupil, either. Otherwise, though, your daughter appears almost perfectly human, if with a somewhat vulpine cast to her nose, chin, and slitted blue eyes.
"I know I'm very pretty, Papa. Mama tells me that she comes from a line who takes good care of themselves and are exceedingly beautiful, even by kitsune standards. Is that why you chose to be with her?"
Well, you didn't exactly choose to be with her — you happening across Kiyoko was a bit of a surprise, if anything else. But it was a pleasant surprise, no doubt.
Kinu beams, the little kitsune's face lighting up. "One way or another, I'm very glad to have been born."
Oh, of course. You give Kinu's fur a little ruffle, and then stand back up. All in all, for all the smarts she might have, she's a cute, excitable little thing all right.
Hime
Without warning, your fox-daughter's ears swivel in your direction, and she freezes as she sniffs the air. It's only then that Kinu slowly relaxes and turns to greet you, standing and giving you a bow.
"Good morning, Father. To what do I owe the honour of your visit?"
Time and age have changed what was once a tiny fox-child into an elegant and refined young woman, perfectly balanced on the cusp of adulthood. Kinu was short as a child, and even though she's grown, that hasn't changed very much. At four feet and seven inches, your daughter still isn't going to be picking peaches off the bough without a ladder; kitsune aren't the tallest people to begin with, and even by their standards Kinu is below what might be considered average for a kitsune woman. The difference between then and now, though, is that your daughter now wouldn't even dream of doing such a thing; she knows the whys and wherefores and conducts herself appropriately.
What she lacks in height, though, your daughter has made up by growing out. The fullness of her figure is only accentuated by her fine, silken clothing; save for the long sleeves draped over her arms, the smooth fabric hugs her body and flaunts much of her femininity, aggressively declaring her womanhood to all. One might imagine Kinu would catch cold wearing this sort of thing in the Marches, but hey, Cait wears even less and is fine by all regards. You're not sure of the specifics of kitsune fashion, but even you can tell that it's meant to be classy[pc.bg courtesan noblescion minstrel|| despite your simple upbringing]; there's a timeless quality about Kinu's clothes that suggest the outfit of white, blue and purple will never fall out of fashion. Even the fine leaf-print pattern just oozes elegance in spades, managing to find beauty in simplicity.
A sash of deep purple about her waist ties Kinu's kimono together, threaded with exquisite gold patterning as it hugs her body and completes the picture of dignified grandeur fit for a fox-princess. Your daughter clearly takes after her mother so much, not just in personality but in appearance, too, enough for the resemblance to be striking. Kinu's face is slender and foxy, another piece of her inheritance; her eyes are still ice-blue with white pupils and set above a small nose and thin lips. While your daughter mostly relies on her natural charms to get the job done, you notice she's judiciously applied a small amount of makeup in her mother's style — not as much, naturally, but still enough to greatly accentuate what's there. After all, it's not how much you use, it's about how it's used.
She's allowed her hair to flow freely all the way to the bases of her five tails, each strand spilling out in the silvery-white stream as the perfumed scent of her mother's trademark herbal oil rises from it. Her tails are even more carefully groomed than her hair is, each one sleek and fine as opposed to her mother's fluffiness. By her right ankle, you spy the same bell anklet that she's worn since she was a kit — the strap's been retooled several times to accommodate her as she's grown, but the bell is still the exact same one she's been wearing ever since you first met her. Its twin hangs about her neck from a dark blue choker, a plain clapperless brass bell; together, these are the only explicit adornments she wears in her daily life. As with her childhood, Kinu wears no shoes; perhaps it's unseemingly for a young lady like her to go about barefoot, but this apparently is the one place she'll break with accepted etiquette with regards to dress.
"It feels very nice to be appreciated, does it not?" Kinu says. "Flattery is a surprisingly useful tool, especially when one expects it the least. One must be careful, of course, lest it gets to one's head."
Ah, gods, she noticed you staring. Maybe you should move this onward before it becomes even more awkward…
Inari
"Oh, hey! Sheesh, Dad, you oughtn't have walked all the way out here. if I'd known you were coming I'd have wrapped up early and come to meet you; as it is, I'm just about done, anyway."
Kinu picks up her bundle of freshly-cut grass and heads with you down the path to the storage shed, where she sets down her burden and dusts off her hands.
"Now I'm free. You wanted me for something, Dad?"
Time and age have changed what was once a tiny fox-child into an energetic young woman, perfectly balanced on the cusp of adulthood. Kinu was short as a child, and even though she's grown, that hasn't changed very much. At four feet and seven inches, your daughter still isn't going to be picking peaches off the bough without a ladder; kitsune aren't the tallest people to begin with, and even by their standards Kinu is below what might be considered average for a kitsune woman. The difference between then and now, though, is that your daughter now possesses the wherewithal to bring over a ladder by herself.
What she lacks in height, though, your daughter has made up by growing out. Even though her kimono is loose and flowing, giving her room to move, the fullness of her body still pushes outwards against the flaxen fabric, refusing to be contained without putting up a fight. Her sleeves and skirts are long to keep out the cold, too; it's a very practical design. Kinu's favoured colours are still white, blue and purple, and she wears them on her clothes in a simple leaf-print pattern reminiscent of her childhood clothing. A simple sash of deep purple about her waist ties her kimono together, the coarse cloth functional yet complementary to the rest of her getup. If anyone could make work clothing worn for manual labour look good, it's your daughter. The collar of her kimono has been fluffed up with luxuriant silvery-white fur to keep out the cold, the exact same colour as her hair and fur; if nothing else, it gives her a very warm appearance.
Kinu still does up some of her silvery-white hair in a blue-ribboned braid, but there's simply too much of it for but one of them to ever hope to control. The rest falls all over the place from under the headcloth she wears — from the sides of her face in bangs, over her brow and temples in a fringe, and all the way down her back to the bases of her five tails. Her large fox ears are usually turned downwards by her headcloth, although they still occasionally twitch from side to side of their own accord. Your daughter's face is slender and foxy, her features reminiscent of her mother's; her eyes are still ice-blue with white pupils and set above thin lips and a small nose.
As with all kitsune, Kinu keeps her five silvery-white tails in excellent form. Even though she doesn't use her mother's scented her oils any more, it's still clear that the dirt and debris of the fields is brushed out thoroughly at dawn and dusk. She may be a working girl, but that's no reason to let one's fur run ragged. By her right ankle, you spy the same bell anklet that she's worn since she was a kit — the strap's been retooled several times to accommodate her as she's grown, but the bell is still the exact same one she's been wearing ever since you first met her. Its twin hangs about her neck from a dark blue choker, a plain clapperless brass bell; together, these are the only adornments she wears in her daily life. As with her childhood, Kinu wears no shoes; she goes barefoot through the fields and everywhere else she goes. How she still manages to avoid having the soles of her feet harden or worse, step onto something untoward in her daily work — well, that's a true mystery of one's time.
"Eh, are you done staring at me, Dad?" Kinu says, wincing and sticking out her tongue at you. "This is really awkward…"
You're sorry. Even after all this time… it's a little much to take in.
History/Personality/Information of Note
Since all of Kiyoko's named floof children are intended to reflect some aspect or other of the Champion, Kinu represents the Champion's ability to learn things at a frightful rate — she seems to instinctively grasp any idea or concept she comes across, mastering skills in the blink of an eye. Where Kiyoko has had a very, very long time in captivity on the astral plane to learn what she has, Kinu simply absorbs information at the same breakneck speed the Champion exhibits.
That being said, she's still an eight-year-old child, with the desires and maturity of such; while Kiyoko's generally calm temperament has some hold over her daughter, it's tenuous at times. Raw intelligence doesn't necessarily mean that one makes good decisions — in fact, it can very easily mean that Kinu simply rationalises away her bad choices and childish desires, making things far worse than if she were Garret-level dumb.
In short, astronomical int, single-digit wis.
It's important to note that as Kiyoko's firstborn daughter, Kinu has the potential to be a den mother herself, and will mention as much in her dialogue; her existence is also one of the prerequisites for getting Kiyoko out of the orb.
Interactions
- Talk
- Herself
- Mother
- Siblings
- General
- Education
- Pet
- Pet Ears
- Pet Tails
- Pet Tummy
- Pet Face
- Play
- Forest
- Board Game
- Story
- Mother
- Gift
Mechanics
Important note: This content is partially or completely unimplemented and may change prior to being put in-game.
How you raise your very own fox daughter has important implications as to how she eventually turns out as a young woman. The PC's actions, coupled with how the player has Kinu react to various situations and events, will mould her personality when she eventually leaves the astral plane.
Kinu has a personality score which starts at 1. Actions and decisions made by the player in having the PC interact with Kinu, or directing her actions in events where the player steps into her shoes, can change it positively or negatively, or leave it unaffected. Decisions may not always be immediately apparent in their effects. Upon leaving the orb as a young woman, her final personality score is checked; a negative score will mean Kinu takes on the Kitsune Hime personality; zero or above means she takes on the Young Inari personality.
In addition to determining her personality, players may also choose to influence Kinu's choice of favoured weapon; she will either take to the naginata or hankyu depending on the player's choices in the A Lady's Armaments scene. If the event for some reason has not triggered, she will default to the naginata.
The final effects of your care (or not) on Kinu are summed up thusly:
| Attribute | Kitsune Hime | Young Inari |
|---|---|---|
| Portrait | ||
| Independence | Obeys her mother, subscribes to many of her beliefs and attitudes without question. | Resentful relationship with her mother. Comes to similar conclusions as Kiyoko does, but through her own lines of reasoning. |
| Sociability | Gregarious. Willing to cooperate with others and not too prideful to ask for help when she truly needs it. Emphatic and easily able to intuit others' thoughts and emotions. | Painfully lonely. Strong wilfulness and determination to achieve her opinion results in her being dismissive of others' viewpoints. Prefers the company of the crops of the field to most people. |
| Music | Plays koto. | Plays shakuhachi. |
| Stat Bonuses | Bonuses to cunning, presence and agility. | Bonuses to strength, toughness and willpower. |
| Magic | Arcane magic emphasising control and mastery. | Agriculture-based magic emphasising reciprocity. |
| Aesthetics | Follows her mother's dress style, projects the persona of a man-eating vixen. Openly and aggressively flirtatious. Assertive and confident. | Puffy furred jacket and long skirts. Projects a country girl persona. Lies in ambush to ensnare the unwary with her innocent exterior. Deceptively meek, becomes assertive when an opening presents itself. |
| Consort Choice | Brings home a samurai prettyboy bishie (Nakano). Kiyoko approves, Mum-in-Law Komari doesn't. | Brings home a thick-bodied salt-of-the-earth reliable guy (Hitoshi). Mum-in-law Komari approves, Kiyoko doesn't. |
| Recharge Ability 1 | Leech | Bark Skin |
| Resting Personality | Phlegmatic and reserved. Unfailingly polite. Affectionate and filled with love for living things. | Energetic and bubbly. Relaxed. Moralistic. |
| Weapon | Naginata | Hankyu |
|---|---|---|
| Stat Bonuses | Strength and Toughness | Cunning and Agility |
| Recharge Ability 2 | Cleave | Triple Threat |
Event Summaries
| Event | Personality Aspect Tested | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| The Prodigy (Two Parts) | Relationship with Mother |
|
| Flowers for Kiyoko | Elegance versus simple beauty, conformation to social expectations versus independent expression. |
|
| Floof Problems | Dealing with stress, obedience versus independence. |
|
| Food Thief | Morality versus mercy. |
|
| I'm so Bloody Pretty | Provocative maneating versus subtle beauty. |
|
| Math | Independence versus cooperation with others. |
|
| Romance Matters | Outlook on love and romance. |
|
| Contagious Happiness | Being socially acceptable versus honest expression of one's feelings. |
|
| Decoration | Mischievousness, attitude towards gussying up. |
|
| The Birds | Obedience to Mother, honesty versus compassion. |
|
| Sweet Potato | Immediate, certain gratification versus delayed, uncertain payoff. |
|
| The Scarf | Obedience to Mother, sentimentality, managing being in authority. |
|
| Beauty Advice | Managing being in authority, reaction to criticism. |
|
Quests
Trivia
- Kinu's name means "silk".
- Only kitsune high nobility -- I.E, being descended from the head or main branch families of the twelve Divine Clans -- can be born with white hair and fur. In Japanese mythology, Zenko foxes who serve Inari are often depicted as possessed of white fur.
Art
