Excerpt from the manuscript of Sun, fifth verse. In veneration of the memory of the earth and sky, the divine wrought the spirits from its breath and the spark of their life from the harshest sunlight, such that never would the summer be forgotten. From the skies they touched the snowy hills, and into the perfect of order they bled chaos, good and malicious both. Their form was that of beasts and their trickery that of the soul, their purpose resolute and fleeting in their whim even- (the manuscript goes on to describe the relationship between the various kami of stone and wind, as befitting of the Sun Shrine's scripture.)
Though several other scriptures refute the nature of fox-spirits, and even their benevolence, the Sun Shrine's scripture were adopted by imperial mandate several thousand years prior, and have since been mostly accepted by the newer shrines and general populace. Scriptures from the manuscript of black mountains, seventeenth verse- the trickster spirits ever prey on the flock of man, as do their mortal kin the flock of beasts- refute the holy nature of the fox and regard them mainly as malicious tricksters and thieves. This belief is prominent around the holdings of the Shrine, but has influenced the perception of the fox throughout history in the empire at large.
Similarly to the disagreement in characterization, the histories of several shrines, most notably the Ocean Moon Shrine and Blood Ocean Shrine, refute their origins as creations of the second generation kami, rather stating: from the blood of the earth spawned demons, the russet trickster spirits and the ocean-crawlers… with trickster spirits generally acknowledged to be the foxes. I postulate that these particular scriptures are a combination of the Black Mountain Shrine's beliefs, which evidence points to being even more long-standing than those of the Sun Shrine's combined with the belief that the fox-spirits cannot be higher on the hierarchy of divinity than their patron kami of the ocean.
Public perception of the spirits are a strange mix of the Sun Shrine's veneration and the Black Mountain Shrine's scriptures of malicious intent, combined with generations of folk tales and isolation. Superstition often has foxes, divine or mortal, in a strange 'do not touch' zone, making them the most aloof, and therefore perceived as the most powerful, of the spirits. Even so, the individual response varies from region to region. Around the southern haunts of the Ocean Moon and Blood Ocean Shrines foxes are often subject to deadly attacks should they be sighted, while elsewhere in the empire foxes are most typically left alone with a wide berth…
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(Several more paragraphs went on to describe regional variations in the public perception of the fox, from the icy tips of the north where nothing dared to grow, to the subtropical islands far to the south of the mainland.)
…the legend of the magistrate's fox is a well known folk tale that adequately describes the veneration of the fox-spirits. Excerpt from The Flower of Winter, scribed sometime roughly a thousand years prior. The magistrate, in avarice, sought the most beautiful of things, and in finding the fox demanded that it must join him at court or be banished forever. The fox refused, and in his wrath brought ruin and treachery onto the magistrate, rewarding the enemies of those who dared to chain him with the treasures of the magistrate's palace, and with its many tails slaying those who sought to muzzle the voice of the divine. Several other prominent scholars…
A sound whispered through the quiet library, the soft brush of feet on cold stone prompting Kitsune to gently paw the pages aside. As fascinating as the history was here- naturally too, she hadn't had a hand in this at all- there actually weren't anything other than mortal foxes in this universe. In fact, she was essentially a mortal fox in this universe, for all the power she'd been able to manifest.
It wouldn't do to draw suspicion.
Kensho found her there, late at night, far past when anyone should have been out to the library. Bleary eyes refused to focus, at first- then, her mind refused to believe. "What are you doing here?" She was become less fearful, more exasperated by now. The fox, of course, merely rolled over with the dopiest look it could manage, purely and totally innocent. Of course.
Someone had left out the book she'd come searching for, so without the fox actually doing anything she merely nodded it good night and grabbed the tome, dragging it off to her cold, cold room.
The fox blinked, when the darkness returned in full and the sound faded to nothing more than the remnant of echoes and the silence of a shrine at night. Then it hit her with all the weight of a particularly long sigh- the bastard took her book! Truly, a fox couldn't have nice things…