Qilin

The Qilin, or Kirin, is a rumored to be mythological creature that is believed to have once existed on the island of Yuriba, with evidence of it reappearing within recent history.

Description

Traditionally, the qilin is often called a 'asian unicorn', a creature that shares traits between a horse, lion and dragon. A four legged beast with a horse-like head and mane, lion-like tail, and draconic scales and horn; the qilin has cloven hooves, tufts of hair on the end of the tail and above the hooves, and is often depicted as the size of an average horse. It's most distinguishing feature would be the horn, often backwards arching, sometimes more a pair of antlers than a single horn, though sometimes the single horn is forked as if an antler.

Yuriban Mythology

The qilin in local lore is a revered creature for it’s protection of the 'pure' and it's punishment of the 'wicked', there only being a single qilin ever noted in the lore; a beast of mostly white coloration on it's body, it was said to have a mane which would shift colors with the seasons, green in the spring, orange-red for the summer, yellow in the fall and white-blue in the winter. It possessed a single backwards curving iridescent colored horn, which appeared sharp and daunting, but safe with the backwards curve. It's focus on punishing the wicked had gained it some association with Kaika, but there seems to be little link beyond the shared love of justice.

During the early Ancient Era the qilin was viewed as a benevolent creature that would be called upon to purify food and water sources that had somehow become fouled, either by seepage from the volcano or some other blight. Should a young native be suffering from an illness that would not respond to native healing methods, a last resort would often be for the youth to take a pilgrimage to an area where the qilin was last seen in the hopes of it offering it's aid, traveling to the site near the base of Engetsu-san where it's home was rumored to be. The few accounts where a youth claimed to have been cured are all marked in a similar way in that the young woman never actually saw the qilin, it seeming to have come to assist them when they were asleep.

Occasionally it would be reported as seen by new immigrants to the island, the natives considering this quite a fortune sign of a 'blessing' to the new visitors, who would then often be treated more quickly with a friendly disposition than before.

During the Lily Civilization

The initial actions of the Lily Civilization were nothing to cause the qilin alarm, it living in harmony with the people as it always had. It was once the Lilians began to turn from the Ladies and focus upon Inishie that things changed. Peaceful by nature, the qilin could, and did, become fierce when the pure were threatened in it’s quest to punish the wicked, it viewing the Lilians actions as something most vile. Formidable in it’s quest to protect, the qilin was quite the combatant, evidence of it having taken down Lilian hunting parties of up to ten in size with an occasional survivor to spread the tale, as if the creature left the single survivor as an attempted warning to the rest of the Lilians. Few accounts exist in Underhill of what happened during this period, other than record that the Lilians began to hunt the qilin in earnest.

Decay

Unfortunately for the Lilians, the qilin proved to be an immortal creature, and despite record of many battles against it, they were unable to dispose of it. Their focus instead turned to trying to find the qilin's home and weaken it, aiming to desecrate it's place of safety to the point that the beast would be too weak to continue to fight and protect the island. What exactly happened, and how they finally managed to do so, is not recorded in public record, all that is noted is that the qilin disappeared from the island roughly five hundred years before the Lily Civilizations fall.

While the native records do not speak of what happened to the qilin, it was widely believed that the wards which shielded off large parts of the island after Inishie-san's last massive eruption also shielded off the qilin from the island, both for it’s protection, and for the protection of those who may encounter it. No one knew what state it would be in after it’s battles with the Lilians, and they believe that The Lady was protecting both the islanders and the qilin by closing it away.

Purify

It wasn’t until the Expansion Era that rumor of it's reappearance began to surface. A few, rare bottles of the Qilinnyanniichuan water began to appear, and even a few sightings of the creature itself were reported; however it was not the beautiful, benevolent creature of lore.

Weary and tainted by it's battle with the Lilians, whenever the qilin was seen it was a vision of sadness and pain, the creature coated in blood and gore with weapons lodged in it's form. It seemed unable to see anyone as anything but a threat, but it's weakened state made it easy to avoid or even chase away. The Sentry Ella had made it a personal mission to keep track of the creature so that it would not harm any of the islanders, and to try to track it back to it’s home, her intention to try to heal and purify the animal once again.

With the aid of the High Priestess breisleach and the temple maiden Kinuko, the qilin's source was found, and it was finally able to feel The Lady's touch again, the magic of the goddess helping to begin the purification and healing process for the creature and it's spring.

The Spring

While rather quiet about the events surrounding the purification, Ella has stated that the spring is once again accessible, but refuses to say where it is. What she will state is that one needs to be 'pure' to approach it, but does not elaborate further on what 'pure' means. Rumor hints that one needs to be in their natural state, but what even that means is under debate.