The Origin of the Scarlet Vixen

(WARNING: HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD)

THE LAIKO INU CONFLICT:

Relations between the Torinians, the Atomatan Elves, and the Laiko Inus have been complex and tumultuous. The three way conflict shifted heavily in favor of the Elves when they were able to enlist both the sphinxes (enemies of the Torinian humans and harpies) and the reindeerataurs (predators of the inus). The Torinians and the Laiko Inus failed to become allies due to the Laiko’s disdain for the way they believed Torinians abused the land they lived on. The Laiko’s occupied the richest area of land on the island (the Arimas Piinu foothills on the western side of Rainbow Hills) that abounded with the minerals that the elves coveted and the crystals that the Torinians depended on. They refused to allow either party to “rape” their land. 

The Torinians were forced to face the combined forces of the sphinxes and elves without the aid of the Laiko Inus; and the Inus faced the elves and the reindeerataurs without the help of the Torinians. As long as the sphinxes and the Torinians were at each other’s throats, the Inus were able to hold their position, riding their mighty Giant Taurogryphs into battle. That animosity between the Torinians and sphinxes nearly came to an end when the Torinian queen and harpy Ourana tried to negotiate peace with Seneb-Nakht, the leader of the Nakht Pride which pursued Ourana to Iracal Island from the Akaptor Desert. If the Torinians and sphinxes put their differences aside, the Inus would find all their enemies united against them.

The conditions of peace would have also included giving the elves of the Atomata valley, allies of the sphinxes, protection against predation by the harpies of Torin. The Laiko Inus had previously enjoyed the buffer zone created by the elves being situated between them and Torin. If the harpies of Torin were no longer allowed to eat the elves, the inus were going to be the harpies’ next choice of food. For the Laikos, their existence seemed to hang in the balance.

UTALLE:

The Laikos believed in a powerful spiritual entity that inhabited all of nature that they called Utalle. Whether the nature deity actually existed or not is unimportant, all that matters is that something answered their prayers when they cried out to Utalle for help. Like the “white storms” that engulfs the land once a year, a powerful tempest fell upon Iracal Island, followed by the appearance of an inu-like giantess with “eyes like Utalle”. The giantess comforted the Laikos in their time of trouble, before she promptly began afflicting their enemies. 

CADMEIA’S BETRAYAL:

The Torinian people were eager to end the war with the sphinxes after over a century of conflict, yet they found themselves frustrated at every turn by sabotage from the mysterious and powerful being Utalle, who the Torinians came to know as the Scarlet Vixen. The sphinxes were already suspicious of the “bird people” and the harpies from Torin, and it was hard to convince them that the inus were responsible for the attacks from the Scarlet Vixen. One of the legionnaires took it upon herself to investigate the Vixen; her name was Cadmeia. Unlike everyone around her, Cadmeia had not written the Vixen off as a perpetual enemy needing to be destroyed. No, she believed that the Vixen was behaving more like a mother who simply wanted to protect her children. Having recently had a child herself, Cadmeia felt a connection with the fox giantess. She sought an opportunity to speak with the Vixen so that they might find a peaceful resolution to their strife. However, Cadmeia was instructed by her superior officer, Phoebus Taiyo, that she was by no means to attempt a meeting with the Vixen. 

Phoebus began to believe that Cadmeia was a liability, and he had her stationed as a vigiles and a guard in the city, removing her position in the battlefield. While, as a mother, Cadmeia appreciated that she had a safer job, she was frustrated by the worsening situation outside the city walls that was threatening the future of her home. As she feared, Utalle succeeded in causing peace talks to fall apart, and fighting resumed. During one particular clash between the Torinians and the sphinxes on the north side of the island, the Vixen appeared and fought to push the legion and the harpies back, causing them to lose ground to the sphinxes. With word spreading in the city that the Vixen had appeared again, the headstrong woman donned her armor and infiltrated the ranks on the battlefield. Cadmeia seized her opportunity to meet the Vixen; she threw down her weapons to approach the giantess. For the Torinian legion, the timing couldn’t be worse! Utalle was in the sights of four ballistae but Cadmeia purposely stood in the line of fire. The sphinxes capitalized on the disorder and wreaked havoc on the Torinians, destroying three of the ballistas. Cadmeia pleaded with Utalle to leave the battle and meet with her to dialogue. 

Realizing who it was standing before the Vixen, Phoebus Taiyo declared the Torinian woman to be a traitor, and he ordered the last operating ballista to fire on both Cadmeia and Utalle. The Vixen was distracted by Cadmeia’s pleas and didn't see the energy bolt coming from the ballista until it was too late. She was wounded but not nearly as much as she would've been if Cadmeia hadn't blocked the earlier attempts to fire on her with multiple ballistae. When Utalle regained her wits, she saw that Cadmeia had been grievously wounded. Utalle became enraged and charged the ballista, knocking all four men off of it and destroying the weapon. She then grabbed hold of Taiyo and swallowed him whole and alive in front of the remaining panicked legionnaires who all retreated from the battle ground. Even the most stubborn of the harpies realized that this engagement with the sphinxes was a lost cause and they too fled.

Utalle returned to the body of Cadmeia, realizing she only had seconds left to give the woman a second chance at life, and she absorbed the Torinian’s consciousness into herself. When Cadmeia opened her eyes, she no longer recognized herself. She had become the Scarlet Vixen. Utalle allowed Cadmeia’s consciousness to be dominant in the body so that she could live, but Utalle remained present to help guide the Torinian woman through the difficult period of adjustment ahead. Cadmeia had to learn how to move in the Vixen’s gigantic body. She had to learn what to eat and how to eat it. She had to learn how to fight again. And she had to deal with the heartbreak of losing her family. Utalle charged Cadmeia with protecting the Laiko Inus in her stead. Eventually, Utalle went silent, seemingly leaving Cadmeia alone in the body.

(Read the current character bio HERE.)