The Shrine War Update

Have some updates on my new work in progress:

1. The working title has been changed from Kitsune vs. Inugami to The Shrine War.
2. I posted a very rough cut of the opening scene, but because the emphasis is to be on the Kitsune and Inugami, I have opted for a new opening with the Kitsune having a war council at their shrine and preparing to receive an emissary from the Inugami.
3.  In the story, Kitsune are anthropomorphic foxes and the Inugami are anthropomorphic dogs (nice foxies vs. bad doggies). In the story, they can trick the human mind to perceive them as fully human, but it's not true transformation. If they were to extend their hand to you, visually you would see a human hand, but to your sense of touch you would feel the fur. In the illusion they project, they have no tails, but if they were to suddenly turn around, you could get whacked by a tail you could not see. And as Ane, the head shrine maiden, has nine tails, you could find yourself on the floor without a clue as to how you ended up there.
4. Trying to find a picture of an anthropomorphic Kitsune and Inugami shrine maidens for reference is almost impossible. Either they appear way too human (basically human girls with fox ears and tails) or the picture is not historical. I did find one for the Kitsune. The artist's name is Koggg (that is not a typo) and his art account is here. Anyway, this is a great representation of my Kitsune shrine maidens without the human illusion in place: 

1. As for the Inugami, it took me the better part of two hours, but I found one that captures the spirit of what I'm trying to communicate. I did not want werewolves but anthropomorphic dogs, ones that are committed to the Black Arts and the destruction of all Kitsune and Imari, the kami the Kitsune follow. The artist of the piece below calls him/herself YUS-TS:

One of the delightful challenges of writing fantasy is finding the best way to communicate the exotic to the reader. Without the use of visual aids, I need to find the right combination of words, written simply and succinctly, so that what you visually see above, you can see in your mind's eye just by using the written word alone.

We shall see if I am up to the challenge.