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Handmaidens
Handmaidens
Japanese name 鎮女
Romaji name Chinme
Other names Pacifiers
Age Varies (around 5-9)
Hair color Black
Eye color Pale, possibly brown
Occupation Attendants for the Tattooed Priestess, shrine maidens
Cause of death Impalement (Amane, Minamo, and Shigure)

Unknown, possibly suicide (Hisame)

Encountered in Throughout the Kuze Shrine
Family Varies
Appearances Fatal Frame III: The Tormented
Voice actor (Jp) N/A
Voice actor (Eng) N/A


The Handmaidens (鎮女), also known as the Pacifiers, are young female spirits in Fatal Frame III: The Tormented.

Handmaidens in traditional Japanese culture are young attendants to a given shrine priestess and help give emotional and physical support. This is especially vital to the tattooed maidens the Pacifiers serve, as the 'piercing of the soul' is both emotionally and physically demanding.

Handmaidens were taken from the Kuze family or adopted into the Kuze family from the surrounding areas. The family head herself would give the handmaidens a thorough education. There are always four handmaidens, representing the four cardinal directions, and they should be between 5 to 9 years old. In the Japanese version, they are called 'Pacifiers' as they pacify the priestess during her trials.

Appearance[]

Each maiden wears the traditional dress of a priestess: white and red with a tassel hanging from their obis. Their hairstyles differ as well as carrying hammers and stakes in each hand.

Handmaidensbio

Pre-Ritual[]

Pre-Ritual, the handmaidens received their education, and assist the temple with chores and the priestess with her preparations.

The handmaidens were responsible for carrying out small rituals to appease and sooth the souls of past tattooed maidens and some of the mourning. These included symbolically impaling kushimi dolls dyed in soul ink to represent pain and enshrining them in the four Doll Altars, as well as singing the lullaby to keep past sacrificed maidens asleep.

The exact details of most the handmaiden's duties and various rituals are unknown. For example, little is known about what was carved on the walls in the Enclosed Room.

Main Ritual[]

Impalementritual

The handmaidens held a vital role during the Impalement Ritual, where the handmaidens would stake the priestess' hands and feet to the earth while singing their lullaby and speaking prayers over her. They used sacred stakes made of stone to pin the priestess in order to keep her from 'wandering'  during her eternal sleep, all of this taking place in the Chamber of Thorns. The Master of Ceremony would be in charge of the ritual.

Post-Ritual[]

After the impaling of a tattooed maiden, the handmaidens would continue to carry out the small rituals to appease and sooth the souls of the tattooed maidens, and most likely be assigned to the next tattooed priestess, supposing they were still of an appropriate age and hadn't aged out of being a handmaiden.

The Final Impalement[]

AmanesDeath

In a last ditch effort to appease the Rift, the head of the family's chosen head of the handmaidens would sacrifice her fellow handmaidens by impalement and in the end, die herself. It is not stated how it happens, just that she would 'go to sleep forever' by herself. This was also the punishment for handmaidens that broke the family code (i.e Amane Kuze).

It is unknown if the Final Impalement is an established ritual, carried out by past groups of handmaidens, or if this truly was a desperate attempt to stem the spread of the Rift.

Known Handmaidens[]

There are only four handmaidens mentioned by name in the game, but refers to many having lived before them to carry out the same rituals. The four mentioned are:

  • Hisame Kuze - The oldest of the handmaidens and their leader. She was brought from another village to the manor and is the most dutiful of the four handmaidens, strictly following the head of the Kuze family's orders.
  • Minamo Kuze - She was brought from another village to the manor and displays a psychotic behavior, writing in her diary about how excited she is to impale a priestess and even laughs with Hisame after Amane's impalement.
  • Shigure Kuze - She was brought from another village to the manor and is Amane's closest friend. Since Amane's mother, Kyouka, was confined in her room, Shigure was set to take care of her. Unlike the other two handmaidens, Shigure felt guilt and remorse after impaling Amane.
  • Amane Kuze - She was the only handmaiden who was born as a Kuze family member, being the daughter of Kyouka and an outsider, thus being the granddaughter of the family head, Yashuu. Amane was the first of the four to be chosen as a handmaiden and was set to take care of the current Tattooed Priestess, Reika. When she broke the family's code by bringing an outsider to the shrine, her own grandmother ordered the other three handmaidens to impale her as a form of punishment.

Fate[]

  • Amane Kuze - Impaled by the other three handmaidens for helping an outsider get inside the shrine.
  • Minamo Kuze - Impaled by Hisame in the Final Impalement in an effort to appease the Rift.
  • Shigure Kuze - Also Impaled by Hisame in the Final Impalement in an effort to appease the Rift. Shigure was impaled right after Minamo.
  • Hisame Kuze - Was the last survivor during the Unleashing, until she finally met her fate and died.

After aging out of their role, handmaidens were allowed to leave and continue their lives as they wished. However, if one is a true member of the Kuze family, they continue training to possibly become the next Kuze family head or perhaps an Engraver.

Gallery[]

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