Ninetails Dominion

The Ninetails Dominion (ナインテイル自治領) is a nation in Elder Tale and one of the five territories of Yamato. The Adventurer City in this area is Nakasu.

The area that it controls is approximately Kyushu and part of Yamaguchi Prefecture in real-life Japan. This area is rich with fertile fields and ancient magical ruins.

History
Of Yamato's five territories, the Ninetails Dominion is the only one comprised of several autonomous regions ruled by merchant families. Originally, the Duchy of Ninetails was dispatched by the Westelande Imperial Dynasty to govern the region for them. However, the First World Fraction resulted in the fall of the Westelande Dynasty and the Duchy of Ninetails. Following this, nine major mercantile houses claiming descendancy from the Duchy of Ninetails each took a region in the Ninetails Dominion under their control as a resolution to a long and bitter war. The Holy Empire Westelande, one of the families claiming legitimacy from the Westelande Imperial Dynasy, maintains a strong influence in this area.

Rundelhous Code was born here and his family is the military governor of the northern Ninetails Dominion. However, between the corruption he witnessed and the later destruction of his home he eventually left Ninetails and traveled to the Eastal League of Free Cities, aspiring to become more like the Adventurers.

After the Catastrophe
After the Catastrophe, both Nakasu and the northern regions of the Ninetails Dominion came under the control of Plant Hwyaden and Westelande, and many Adventurers in Nakasu decided to move to Minami. However, several pockets of resistance exist despite the heavy surveillance, feigning obedience while planning to betray the massive guild. At one point, there was a group known as the Nakasu Defense Front, but its numbers have dwindled due to Plant Hwyaden's efforts to hunt them down.

It is possible that Tetora's original guild, Light Indigo, was based in Nakasu.

The Nine Mercantile Houses
After the fall of the original Duchy of Ninetails, nine major mercantile houses each claimed legitimacy to the vacant position. After a long and bloody war, the conflict was eventually resolved by each house claiming a region of Ninetails as their own. The nine houses are separated into two groups: the Northern Five Houses (Quartz, Liefturk, Welfoa, Larend, and Ryūzo) and the Southern Four Houses (Carfagna, Ito, Ōsumi, Oiduon).

Plant Hwyaden and Westelande's swift take-over of Nakasu has led to the collapse of the Northern Five Houses, which have either collapsed or have been taken over as vassal states. Although the Southern Four Houses are on guard as a result and have yet to be conquered, Westelande's efforts have ensured that the houses are in disarray and cannot muster a united front against them.

The Nine Mountain Miko
Ninetails' Nine Mountain Miko (九山巫女) is an autonomous religious organization under the Nine Mercantile Houses. Under the Duchy of Ninetails, the organization oversaw religious services in the region, but it disappeared after the duchy's collapse. The Nine Mercantile Houses later revived it as part of a publicity stunt, and it eventually became the current Nine Mountain Miko it is today.

As a part of the Duchy, the miko wore a standardized uniform, but now they are personalized with each House's color and cultural background. When the Duchy collapsed, much of its knowledge was scattered and lost, so as each House picked up the pieces of what remained, their interpretations evolved into their own unique cultures.

Because of the political nature behind the group's resurrection, they aren't a purely religious organization and hold vastly different roles in each region. For example, in Ito, the Miko are highly involved in agriculture, giving advice about farming practices and holding the Five Grains ceremony. Meanwhile, in Larend, the Miko are an intelligence bureau under the guise of a religious organization.

In Elder Tale, all this lore was added in a major update expanding on the Ninetails Dominion. The nine representative miko for each region were developed into full quest-giving and heroine NPCs, designed by F.O.E. as if they were an idol group, designed and illustrated by prolific freelance artists and voiced by popular voice actresses. Although there was a vocal minority who decried this, claiming that "This isn't Elder Tale," the move struck a chord with the developers' target audience and the miko were widely popular.