Spirit: Kikuro

Bizarre little spirits of exchange, kikuro defy the categorization of the sages.  Some claim the wee beasties to be an odd sort of fey; others argue that the tiny traders must surely be some exotic form of undead shade.  The kikuro, silent as they are, answer neither query and will immediately fade from sight should they ever be asked about their nature or origins.  Kikuro are small skeletons of oddly silvery bone, combining aspects of housecat, mouse and monkey.  A kikuro may be encountered completely bare of ornamentation, wreathed in withered greenery or scraps of rags, decked out in a king’s ransom of tiny jewels — the creatures are impossible to predict.  The only constant is the bag woven from multicoloured hair which is ever clutched in the small spirit’s bony hands, promptly held up in silent offering to any who approach.  The bag appears empty, no matter what is placed in or drawn from it.

Any item the size of a dagger or smaller may be placed in, or drawn from, a kikuro’s bag.  If an item is given to the spirit and then an item is drawn from the bag, the new item may be virtually anything — relative value is 50% equivalent, 25% greater, 25% lesser.

If an item is drawn from the bag and no offering is made in return — or if the kikuro is attacked, or its bag is taken from it — the spirit immediately turns black and fades out of existence, blightcursing its assailant.  Typical curses are blindness, the withering of a limb, a debilitating disease, or a wound that will not heal.  Kikuro blightcurses require a second spirit to consent to sending the victim on a redemption quest of some sort … which also means working out a means of communication with the mute spirit.  Cursing is temporarily avoided if an attack killed the kikuro outright, but the next spirit encountered will then blightcurse the guilty party.

Kikuro take double damage from cold iron weaponry.