Soul Merger

Monsterpedia

Kyuubi

Monster Level - III

Soul Type - Composite

Intelligence - Humanoid

Strength - Weak-Strong

Magic - Strong

Rarity - Rare

Also known as 'nine tailed foxes' these monsters natural form is a dog sized silver fox with multiple tails. Despite the name few actually have nine tails, with the average one encountered having four or five. The number of tails indicates the power of the individual, making them one of the few monsters that can actually increase in power over time. However, they keep their tails twined together when not in combat making it hard to count them and determine how dangerous any particular kyuubi is. A full nine tailed kyuubi is much stronger than a human even in fox form.

However their real threat is their magic. Kyuubi start with minor magical powers and gain more skill with each tail, meaning a pack can throw a barrage of firebolts that fill a labyrinth corridor. They're especially skilled at illusions and love using them to every advantage. Even if only one fifth of the attacks are real, picking out the true dangers among the illusions is hard. The preferred method of dealing with Kyuubi is area attacks. It doesn't matter which targets are real if you hit them all.

Finally the most well known kyuubi power is their ability to take humanoid form. Any kyuubi with six or more tails can shift to a human figure with fox ears and a tail. Strangely they can't hide those features, even with their illusion powers, so they have to use violence, lies, or other tricks to get close to human targets. Kyuubi using this tactic to infiltrate human settlements have shown more restraint than normal monsters, leading to some speculation they might be fey. But in the end they always revert to violence.

Kyuubi are very popular among monster tamers, who prize their ability to use magic, high intelligence, and the power to swap between a form with opposable thumbs and one that doesn't creep other people out.

Merge

Common Name : Foxperson

Benefits : Minor Illusion skills

Weaknesses : Looks just like a kyuubi in humanoid form

Merging with a kyuubi gives the person skill with minor illusions. They can summon foxfire, make copies of objects, or even go invisible. Those few people with the merge say increased training can improve those skills to even greater heights, though at some point a magical focus core becomes needed to handle all the details.

However the merge also gives the person silver hair, fox ears, and nine tails. Which means they look exactly like a kyuubi imposter. And they can't hide those traits with the illusion powers they received. This obviously can easily lead to trouble and conflict with people who don't know the person well. As such this merge is incredibly unpopular anywhere kyuubi are frequently found.

Some people might think being mistaken for a monster invading the city regularly isn't a huge downside. Those people obviously don't hang around delvers, whose usual response is to shoot first and loot the corpse before even starting to ask questions. This merge is best only considered by those living in smaller communities where they'll be well known.