Kitsune-tsuki

Kitsune-tsuki were tragic, dangerous figures, the ghost of a kitsune that died in anguish far, far from its native forest. Most often they were foxwives who had met with bad ends.

Madness
Driven mad by anguish and homesickness, these ghosts were doomed to wander Ningen-do until they could return to Chikushudo. To do so they should possess a living host and force that host to return them to Chikushudo, but only if they later relinquished their cintrol. The kitsune-tsuki could not see this and clinged to their hosts, never willingly releasing its host. Only living human women were possessed, who was effectively transformed into a kitsune, with all the shapechanging and magical abilities of a fox spirit.

Appearance
They were invisible unless they chose not to be. When they chose to show themselves, they appeared as a vaporous, insubstantial fox with wild, unkempt fur and eyes that glowed blazing red, but they could also appear in their customary human shape.