Mina

Mina's existence is special.

She has no father, only a mother, Miho, who spent the millennia before Mina's birth as the Divine Maiden and never married.

Miho's last obligation to the God of Fate was to give birth to the next Divine Maiden, so she used all of the power she'd accumulated over her long life to produce the miracle that is Mina.

Just as Mina's birth was fated, her destiny lay set before her.

Mina's childhood at the Shrine of Nine Fates was marked by loneliness. Her mother was an excellent Divine Maiden, wholly devoted to her duty, at the cost of neglecting to show her only child some much-needed love. Mina only saw her mother during lessons, and she pined for affection from the woman who lived under the same roof but seemed worlds away.

In her desperation, Mina grew reckless. At just four years old, she purged an evil spirit all by herself, but instead of her mother's validation, she received a slap across the cheek for diving into danger. Her recklessness wasn't for nothing, though; after seeing the heartbreak on her child's face, Miho felt conflicted and confused for the first time, discovering love for her child that she hadn't previously felt.

Miho gradually came to accept that she'd been suppressing her emotions for the sake of her duty, and she began to open up to her daughter one small step at a time. A thousand years of stiffness gave rise to many awkward moments, but even the smallest gestures would put the biggest smile on Mina's face. Mina grew to idolize her mother and basked in her attention.

To Mina's surprise, though, her mother gave her yet another gift not even a year later, a younger sister named Narae. However, this meant that her mother had expended all of her energy and was not long for the world. As her end neared, Mina treasured the short time she spent with her mother, and she resolved to live up to the tremendous destiny she'd inherited.

Miho the Kumiho had faithfully served as the God of Fate's Divine Maiden for a thousand years. After devoting herself to her position for that long, she was set to ascend into the realm of the divine at the end of her duty, unless something extraordinary were to happen. The love she felt for her daughter Mina was that extraordinary thing.

While the rule of fate was that divine maidens were to only leave one successor, for the first time in her life Miho felt the need to defy fate so that her daughter would have family even after she passed. While she could have spent another hundred years with her daughter, Miho didn't want Mina to be alone in the many years after that. Though Miho's closest confidants protested her decision, her resolve was firm.

She turned against the fate she'd followed her entire life and expended all of her remaining life force to produce her second daughter, Narae... And, although they had only a few short years together, Mina carries her mother's love with her even now.

The Divine Maiden of Fate connects the many tribes and structures of power in the Far East. She presides over various religious rituals and ceremonies and also advises leaders in matters both large and small, the word of an oracle from the God of Fate is understood as absolute.

The Divine Maiden is also able to call upon powers based on her number of tails and can manifest a unique weapon. While her mother's divine weapon was a trident, Mina has yet to manifest her own, which serves as a source of many of her worries.

The Council of Empyrean Fangs is a gathering of representatives and spiritual leaders from across the Far East, and it is often referred to as the gathering of Divine Beasts.

Since each beastkin tribe has their own leaders and power structures, the Council acts as a semi-official forum for handing intertribal business like mediating disputes or planning shared ceremonies.

Sangun, the Divine Beast representing the White Tigers, served on the Council of Empyrean Fangs alongside Miho, and together, they protected the Baek-Ah region. After Miho's death orphaned her 10-year-old successor, Sangun stepped in to become the fledgling divine maiden's guardian and mentor.

Some ten years later, he still patiently watches over the young Mina and does his best to ease her worries about not living up to her mother's legacy.