I, last week,
discussed the three most significant kitsune clans (Inari, Zenko, and Shinto)
in my novel series, Diaries of Darkwana.
If you never read
the post, “Kitsunes of Darkwana,” you ought to do so now. I’ll wait.
Back? Great.
I would like,
today, to discuss three of the lesser (but important) clans in my series.
Shklaf Clan
Insignia: A Broken
Length of Chain
Mascot: Eagle
Headquarters:
Nomadic
Location: Usually
in or around the Mountains of Northern Darkwana
The Shklaf Clan
spent many generations as slaves to the tengu (see: “The Creatures of
Darkwana”). These kitsunes slept in cages at night and worked all day with
their wrists manacled together.
They, in secret,
created and mastered a martial art that took advantage of their shackled wrists
(yes, such a martial art actually exists for this reason).
The Shklaf fought
for and won their freedom via this fighting style.
We meet, in book
four of my series (Duelists of Darkwana),
Bagheera, whom the Shklaf sent to Inari House as a new recruit.
Inari House, as
mentioned earlier, accepts recruits from all over Darkwana, provided that those
recruits pass the dangerous entrance exams.
Bagheera’s
backstory (the events that take place prior
to her arrival in the novel series) shall serve as part of next week’s topic.
Kiko Clan
Insignia: A
Shattered Skull
Mascot: A
Vulture’s Skeleton
Headquarters: The
Plank, a Beached Aircraft Carrier
Location: A
Pebbled Beach
Most everyone in
Darkwana frowns upon the Kiko Clan, whose members, upon birth, hold no rights
until the day they challenge and kill, in unarmed combat, at least one of their
parents or legal guardians.
The more family a
member of this clan kills in combat, the more rights that member enjoys.
Tenko arrived in Duelists as a new recruit for the Inari
Clan. I will, next week, discuss her backstory prior to her arrival at Inari
House.
Yama-bito Clan
Insignia: Heart
Mascot:
Hummingbird
Headquarters:
Labyrinth City, a Collection of Underground Tunnels and Rooms Made from Buried
School Buses and Warehouses.
Location: Beneath
Emerald Ocean
A virus
(transmittable only through sex, birth, contact with large amounts of contaminated blood,
or a kiss) spread across Darkwana centuries ago. It proved fatal within seconds of infection, though its victims
felt euphoria rather than pain.
The virus required
a mutation to survive, given that it would otherwise kill off all of its available
hosts. It redesigned itself so that it would not harm (only live and moderately
multiply within) members of the Yama-bito Clan.
Every member of
that clan, as a result, grew infected and passed the illness (as well as the
ability to coexist with it) onto their children.
The Yama-bito clan
afterwards became a land of mercy. With a kiss (or perhaps something more
intimate) a member can quickly ease the suffering of a terminally ill person.
They also make for
dangerous opponents, given their poisonous blood.
Minerva arrives at Inari House
from the Yama-bito clan in book five (Deceivers
of Darkwana).
I will, next week, discuss the
promised backstories of Bagheera, Tenko, and Minerva.
I’ll begin, in the weeks that
follow, to discuss all the characters in book one (Daughters of Darkwana).
See you then, and,
as always, thanks for reading!
(Thanks for reading.
You might notice below that I changed the schedule for my blogs. I will,
because of the number of projects on my plate, only produce a short story for
this blog on Mondays. Fiction Formula will switch from Fridays to Thursdays. I apologize
for any inconvenience, though I . . . doubt this will rock anyone's existence.
Thanks again!)
I
publish my blogs as follows:
Tuesdays:
A look at the politics of the entertainment world at EntertainmentMicroscope.blogspot.com.
Wednesdays:
An inside look at my novels (such as Daughters of Darkwana, which you can now find on Kindle) at Darkwana.blogspot.com
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