Bestiary

Anyone looking to pierce the Gauntlet in the Ryukyu Islands deals with the kijimuna. Sometimes, people even talk to the leaf-clad imps on purpose. The little maniacs love twisting reality, making Umbral trespassers on the islands rare. Often mistaken for kids with huge, red, bushy manes, kijimuna will ruin your day if they sense aggression or decide that someone broke a promise to them. Or if they have nothing better to do. Look — just don’t fuck with them, okay?

On the plus side, kijimuna talk straight. If they say they’re going to do something, they’ll do it, no matter how wildly impossible it sounds. Trust and fear their words. Some fishermen have made good fortunes for themselves by partnering up with a kijimuna. Some fishermen have also had everything they owned march into the sea for not holding up their end of their deal. This doesn’t mean that kijimuna are honorable; they just have no tolerance for bullshit. Their expansive definition of “bullshit” includes not giving them sweets. The kijimuna will get their hands on your candy, so you might as well share deliberately. At least then their pranks will be funny for you, too.

Most of their pranks aren’t very complicated, but their skill at manipulating reality means that they don’t need to play the con game to disrupt life for others. For example, an unattended fire may just walk away. Strings of unlit lanterns are usually a good sign that kijimuna are nearby and screwing with people. For that matter, most things going missing in the Okinawan Prefecture can be blamed on a bored kijimuna. They usually steal sweets, but will absolutely take money if they feel like it. If they ever figure out the internet, world banking might get the wind knocked out it.

If that hasn’t put you off chatting with the short critters, you’ll find communication with them challenging. Most don’t speak Japanese, let alone any European languages. Instead, they rely on a pidgin of Ryukyuan and their native language to speak with humans. Distantly related to Ryukyuan and Japanese, Kijimunan would be relatively straightforward to learn if the kijimuna could sit still long enough to teach anyone. Translation spells can prove useful, although kijimuna might just take such a spell as an excuse to talk in riddles and puns.

While dealing with kijimuna usually results in headaches, kijimuna generally care about the well-being of people. After all, if all the humans died, who would the kijimuna screw with? Anyone willing to take a joke will have a great time hanging out with them. Nailing one of them with a great practical joke might win you a lifelong friend. Or a hell of a beating. Look, they’re a rowdy bunch, but they’re not actually assholes.

And, it’s a good thing, too. Their proficiency with bending reality and probability makes them insanely valuable to anyone who wants to pierce the Gauntlet in the Okinawan Prefecture. It also makes them an immediate obstacle for anyone (or anything) trying to cross over from the Umbra. If you’re tracking an Umbral critter, you’d do well to search the banyan trees for kijimuna and ask for help.

Attributes: Strength 1, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2, Charisma 3, Manipulation 5, Appearance 3, Perception 2, Intelligence 3, Wits 5

Abilities: Alertness 2, Athletics 2, Awareness 4, Empathy 2, Enigmas 3, Expression 3, Investigation 5, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 4 (Practical Jokes), Stealth 4, Survival 4

Willpower: 7

Health Levels: OK, OK, ‒1, ‒2, ‒5, Incapacitated

Armor Rating: 0 (two soak dice, total)

Powers/Advantages: Aww! (2 pts.); Blending; Cause Insanity (10 pts.); Earthbond; Elemental Touch (10 pts.); Spirit Travel (8 pts.); Spirit-Vision; Tides of Fortune