Vulkarisu

The sprawling forests of Castrovel are home to numerous species of sapient life besides elves, insectile formians, and telepathic lashuntas. Among the most easily overlooked are vulkarisu. Vulkarisu look like common squoxes, resembling a cross between a squirrel and a fox, but are usually twice as tall as the familiar tiny critters. The shades of their coats range from red-orange to deep brown, often with splotches of white fur along the front of their torso. Those from colder climates annually grow snow-white winter coats, while those from warmer climates typically have larger sets of ears and smaller frames.

Vulkarisu culture emphasizes familial bonds and communal living, viewing their species as custodians of nature. To say that they live simple lives belies their technology and culture. Vulkarisu and kitsune view each other as distant relatives, each descended from one of the Nine Bright Grains that serve the Lady of Foxes, Daikitsu. But unlike kitsune, whom Daikitsu gifted with her mastery over shapes, vulkarisu received the faintest understandings of truespeech from their goddess, allowing them to commune effortlessly with animals and other sapient species. A heretical group of vulkarisu who've rejected Daikitsu instead serve the demon lord of imprisonment, Shivaska, bound by a dark bargain they made with Shivaska's squox herald, Skew.

While vulkarisu usually den in city-burrows throughout Castrovel, many have left their traditional haunts and taken advantage of Drift travel, which Triune revealed to them with etchings on their burrow walls. Vulkarisu have established notable burrows in many Lashunta cities and in Absalom Station's Jatembe Park, where Starfinders often recruit them for their services as living translators when setting out into the Vast.