Fox

General Description

Foxes are a group of small wild dogs (some in Heaven argue they ought be classified as ‘canines’). They generally have bushy tails, triangular faces, and large pointed ears.

Theology

The god of foxes is Orenaar, serving within the Friends-of-Humanity Conclave. Orenaar has a reputation amongst the inhabitants of Heaven as a dilettante whose dedication to his work is questionable, but an excellent lover… those seeking a salacious tale to whisper at more raunchy gatherings often default to the well-known story of Venus, Orenaar, Burning Feather, and the borrowed tools of Lytek...

Cultural Significance

The place of foxes within the cultures of Creation tends towards two camps, one negative and one positive. Regardless, their pelts tend to be sought out by furriers for their quality, several breeds having excellent texture and colouration.

Shogunate / Blessed Isle

During the Shogunate Era, particularly on the Blessed Isle, foxes were highly regarded: Mochinari, god of Rice, manifests as a woman with nine foxtails (an affectation perhaps related to her sometimes-lover Orenaar). The fox was thus a symbol of her cult, highly popular amongst both peasant farmers working rice paddies, and daimyo needing bountiful harvests across their domains to feed their warring armies. Though there are few wild foxes in the rural Isle, they continue to be seen positively by peasants, as they devour pests such as rodents, birds, and insects which feed on grain supplies. The Realm’s urban population has maintained this positive outlook, for the Silken Fox has adapted well to urban life, for it moves amongst buildings and alleys feasting upon the innumerable Rats which plague the Realm’s city dwellers.

Lap Foxes

Many years ago, from RY510 to RY600, a trend swept the Scarlet Dynasty, seeing the adoption of ‘lap foxes’ as the finest form of lapdog. When this came to an end, a number of Dynastic households and breeding farms released lap foxes into the streets and countryside, bolstering the dwindling population of wild foxes. At the same time, fox-fur bedclothes became briefly de rigueur for several subsequent decades.

Scavenger Lands

However, foxes are viewed as pests in other regions, and even on the Isle by those whose Chicken coops are plagued by fox raids. This is particularly intense in the River Province, where both states and peasant bands take measures to kill off foxes before they can raid farms for livestock birds or rabbits. A number of stories amongst the common folk (thought, some say, to originate amongst the cults of Maizemasa and Mistress Madali) speak of Demonic or Anathemaic foxes which take the shapes of beautiful women to seduce their targets before stealing life and riches, causing further fox-killing to defend against such wiles.

Due to the presence of fox imagery amongst the equipment and markings of troops deployed by the Scarlet Empress against Lookshy (itself due to inheriting histories and supplies from Shogunal forces originating on the Isle), and due to the negative associations common between the fox and the Empress (they are both malicious, both thieves, both seductive for evil ends, both red), many in Lookshy and elsewhere in the Scavenger Lands attempt to hunt and kill foxes wherever opportunity presents.

Fox Hunt

In Great Forks, this tendency has developed into a tradition amongst wealthy gods and mortals, who will engage in organized fox hunts. A large pack of Foxhounds is unleashed to track and flush out foxes, after which hunters riding on horseback join the pursuit until the quarry is either lost or torn asunder by the dogs as the hunters toast their victory with fine wines. Often, as a dismissive joke towards the Immaculate Order, the gods of Great Forks term these activities ‘Wyld Hunts’.

In recent decades, some scions of the Scarlet Dynasty, particularly from House Cynis, have held hunting parties in a similar vein… leaving the hunting to the dogs allows the guests more time for conversation and indulgence. Traditionalists, however, decry this as betraying the point of the hunt as an expression of the martial skill and vigour which the Realm’s ruling class is duty-bound to maintain.

Immaculate

The view of foxes within the Immaculate Order is a contentious one, due to their long associations with Rice cults on the Blessed Isle… while all agree that worshipping foxes or associated spirits, or making iconic representations, is inappropriate outside proper Immaculate guidance, some feel that the positive attitudes of peasants towards the creatures are natural, just as the role of foxes devouring rice-eating rodents is natural, and not in of themselves objectionable. Others consider such an attitude to be the foundation of heresy, requiring sermon and other efforts to stamp out, with the usefulness of foxes not a natural thing but an intrusion of a wild creature into human life in order to extort undue worship. The Immaculate Texts provide no direct statement on the subject, but both sides can call on significant indirect backing for their positions. While individual monks vary widely across Creation, if this matter is of concern to them at all, it is generally true that the temples of the central Isle are most permissive, while those of the East are less tolerant. As of RY768, the Mouth of Peace has not deigned the matter to require direct intervention.

Fox Breeds

Silken Fox

Origin: Blessed Isle, River Province, Northeastern Threshold
Features: Small size, red or auburn fur, bushy tail, triangular face with whiskers
Description:.Silken Foxes are small wild dogs (though the largest of the foxes) originating in the Scavenger Lands and Blessed Isle. Their diet consists of insects, eggs, small rodents, and often scavenged urban refuse, as well as domestic poultry and young livestock. The silken fox adapts well to the urban environment, and is a common presence in the cities of the Blessed Isle, though in the Scavenger Lands it is far more likely to be killed as a pest.
The pelt of the Silken Fox is considered of good quality and silky texture, well sought by furriers. Farms exist to keep Silken Foxes as livestock for pelt harvesting, so that quantity and quality can be controlled and coarseness kept from soiling the fur.

Snow Fox

Origin: Northern Threshold
Features: Small size, thick white fur, bushy tail, triangular face with black nose and whiskers, resistant to cold.
Description:.Snow Foxes are small wild dogs originating in the Northern Threshold, in the harsh terrain stretching out from the coasts of the White Sea. Their diet consists of fish, eggs, small rodents, carrion, and seal pups, supplemented occasionally by berries or seaweed. They dwell in pairs, in complex underground dens, and are known for curling their bodies to conceal their black noses with white fur as they lie in wait upon the snowy ground.
The Snow Fox has a fashionable pelt, rendered even more valuable for its uncommon availability. Northern aristocrats and Dynastic Air-aspects both consider snow fox fur particularly suitable.

Shieldbreaking Fox

Origin: Western Threshold
Features: Small size, coarse brown-gray fur with tips to legs, tail, and ears black to dark blue, triangular face with black nose.
Description:.Shieldbreaking Foxes are small wild dogs native to several islands of the Western Threshold. Their diet consists of crustaceans, turtles, tortoises, fish, birds, eggs, rodents, insects, and the carcasses of large sea creatures washed up on shore. Their name comes from their particular love of eating crabs and turtles, prey for which the foxes have devised specialized methods to break through thick shells with their teeth and claws.
The Shieldbreaking Fox has a coarse pelt, regarded poorly by furriers, though in the West where fur-bearing animals are less common than elsewhere it still sees some use.

Fennec

Origin: Southern Threshold
Features: Very small size, fluffy sand-coloured fur, very large ears, triangular face with black nose and whiskers, resistant to heat, require minimal water, excellent hearing.
Description:.Fennecs are very small wild dogs native to the deserts of the Southern Threshold. Their diet consists of birds, eggs, rodents, and insects. Fennecs are in turn prey for Southern raptors and owls... other predators such as humans and Jackals have great difficulty catching the fennec due to its speed and small size.
A number of Southern cultures value Fennecs for their fur, which is soft and can be stitched together to form sumptuous bedclothes… the City Delzahn court in Chiaroscuro and the wealthy tribal leaders in Harborhead form lucrative markets for such products. Amongst the scions of the Scarlet Dynasty, the Fennec is less popular for its fur than for its fashionable place on a lap: even with the trend of lap-foxes long passed, a number of Dynasts still keep such creatures as pets.

Ashen Fox

Origin: Eastern and Northern forests.
Features: Small size, short legs, coarse ash-grey fur with touches of roan, silver, and green, hooked claws, excellent climber, triangular face with black nose and whiskers.
Description:.Ashen Foxes are small wild dogs native to the forests of the Northern and Eastern Threshold, particularly favouring Coniferous forests. Alone amongst foxes, they are climbers of trees, able to scale trunks and travel along branches, jumping between them to remain in the canopy as they search for food or avoid predators. They are omnivores whose diet consists of birds, eggs, rodents, and insects, as well as significant amounts of fruit, leaves, and roots, and in the absence of prey have been known to subsist on an entirely herbivorous diet. Ashen foxes are in turn prey for creatures such as other dogs (particularly Coyotl and Forest Wolves), whom they avoid by climbing. On exposed branches they are vulnerable to large birds of prey such as Great Owls.
While their fur is sometimes used by locals, it is not considered to be of high quality. They have not produced many examples of san- or ata-beasts amongst the Haltans.

Silver Fox

Origin: Blessed Isle, Cherak, Whitewall
Features: Small size, silver fur with blue-black around the neck and tip of tail, bushy tail, triangular face with whiskers
Description:.Silver Foxes are small domesticated dogs. They are thought to have been bred from Silken Fox stock in times long past, as they are unknown in the wild, but today are bred true.
The pelt of the Silver Fox is considered of excellent quality, with a soft and very silky texture. In the lands of the North, particularly between the coasts of the White and Inner Seas, the black-and-silver fur of silver foxes has long been regarded as a trapping of nobility, used by aristocrats and the high priests of cults. This tradition has spread, taken up by some merchant-princes of The Guild to show their wealth during trade negotiations, or by some scions of the Scarlet Dynasty, where the fashion was introduced by the cadet Dynasts of House Ferem. The major farms and furrier companies for production of silver fox garments are found in Whitewall and the lands around Cherak, as well as on the Blessed Isle.

Golden Fox

Origin: Whitewall
Features: Small size, golden fur, bushy tail, triangular face with whiskers
Description:.Golden Foxes are small, very rare wild dogs found occasionally in the lands around Whitewall. They are thought to have been bred from Silken Fox stock in the First Age, when their fur was used to create the cloaks of the Unconquered Sun’s priesthood in the North.
Today, the foxes are occasionally caught, and it is believed a few must eke out lives in the wild, but no one has been able to secure them in sufficient quantity to create the gleaming cloaks of old.