Vaeshari

Origins

“Vae” = elegant force, “shari” = flickering flame or path

The Vaeshari are an ancient caste of fox spirits born in the secluded reaches of the spirit realms, once isolated in their homeland of misted groves and twilight glades. There, magic hummed through every leaf and stone, shaping them into highly attuned magical beings from birth. Unlike mere shapeshifters, the  Vaeshari are not creatures of mimicry but of transformation earned; their mastery of human form comes only after decades of study, observation, and growth.

Each Vaeshari begins life as a spectral fox, glowing faintly with the fire of the world beyond the veil. As they mature and learn, they earn the right to take on human guise; not as a disguise, but as an expression of their evolution and a means to walk among mortal civilizations unnoticed.

Role in the World

The Vaeshari are travelers and lorekeepers, sages, and watchers. They have journeyed far from their homeland, embedding themselves into cultures across the world. Often taking roles as advisors, wise men and women, hermits, monks, court mystics, healers, and storytellers, they are drawn to centers of thought,  and transformation. In many cultures they are revered, or feared, as divine messengers or cursed spirits, depending on the tales left in their wake.

Sometimes they guide kings; other times they vanish into the woods, leaving behind only tales. Legends of the nine-tailed fox, forest guardians, or strange wise wanderers are often fragments of Vaeshari lives mistaken as myth.

Magic and Tails

All Vaeshari possess magic as innate as breath. Their power flows through their tails; each one a vessel of memory, experience, and accumulated strength. For every hundred years lived, a Vaeshari earns another tail, growing in both magical might and spiritual wisdom. The fabled ninth tail is exceedingly rare and these Inashi, at this time, often retreat from the world to guard hidden spirit realms or forgotten truths.

• 1–2 Tails: Youthful, mischievous, capable of simple illusions, minor spirit manipulation, or healing.

• 3–5 Tails: Adepts capable of advanced glamours, elemental influence, and spiritual bindings.

• 6–8 Tails: Master-level beings; they can walk between veils.

9 Tails: Myth-wrought ancients whose steps warp fate and whose voice may silence spirits.

Vaeshari Bloodlines Among Mortals

Among the many abilities the Vaeshari possess, none are more delicately powerful, or dangerously intimate, than their talent for assuming a perfect human form. This transformation is not mere illusion; it is a living, breathing vessel crafted from spirit and will, indistinguishable from true flesh. The most gifted of Vaeshari may wear their human guise for decades without faltering, their heartbeat, scent, and touch all flawlessly human.

Over the centuries, some Vaeshari; driven by curiosity, love, duty, or fate, have formed deep bonds with mortal companions, choosing to dwell among them not as watchers, but as kin. Though exceedingly rare, it is said that such unions may result in offspring, beings touched by both spirit and mortal essence. These children, known in whispered circles as the Foxborn, may inherit fragments of their Vaeshari parent’s magic; heightened intuition, dream-sight, or, in very rare cases, the latent spark of tail-born power.

Most of these bloodlines fade into obscurity within a few generations, their spiritual traits diluted by time and blood. But legends persist of true generational Vaeshari, families where the gift persists; a tail stirring to life in a grandchild’s dream, or a hidden talent for illusion blooming suddenly in adulthood. These lineages are carefully watched by elder Vaeshari, who consider them both a miracle and potential threat, for uncontrolled power born outside the sacred places may draw unwanted attention from those who fear or hunt spirit-blooded kin.

Vaeshari bloodlines are never taken lightly. Among their kind, to sire or bear children with mortals is considered a sacred choice; an echo that will ripple through the Veil for centuries. When such families are discovered, they are often offered guidance, protection, or silent observation, depending on the nature of the child and the will of the parent.

Some entire noble houses or priestly orders across cultures owe their strange insight or long-forgotten talents to an ancient Vaeshari ancestor who once walked in mortal skin, smiled at a passing soul, and stayed.

Tails Given and Tails Taken

For the Vaeshari, each tail is far more than a mark of age or power; it is a living vessel of memory, essence, and identity. To gain a tail is to embody a century of mastery, discipline, and growth. But though tails are earned through patience and wisdom, they may also be lost; willingly or otherwise.

Tails of Sacrifice

In moments of dire need or great purpose, a Vaeshari may choose to sacrifice one of their tails, severing the magical essence bound within to perform an act of profound magic. This act is called the Foxfire Offering, and it is not done lightly. The tail is unmade; its energy unleashed in a single, powerful working capable of bending fate, purging corruption, healing deathly wounds, or collapsing spirit realms.

The cost is permanent. A sacrificed tail does not regrow, and the Vaeshari loses not only magical potency, but part of their identity; memories dim, affinities weaken, and their lifespan may shorten. Among their kind, those who have performed the Foxfire Offering are honored as Soulgivers and treated with great reverence. These are often the wisest among the Vaeshari; those who understand that true power lies not in what is kept, but what is given away.

The Forbidden Path

Yet not all Vaeshari walk in light. Some, driven by pride, fear, or ambition, turn to the darker art of tail-forcing, a forbidden rite known as the Black Blooming. This cruel magic seeks to simulate the growth of a new tail without the passage of time, by stealing energy from other beings, consuming cursed relics, or binding themselves to corrupt pacts.

These artificially grown tails are unstable, brimming with chaotic energy that often frays the Vaeshari’s mind or corrodes their spirit. While they may grant great power in the short term, such power fractures the soul, leading to a descent into madness or transformation into a Vaekai; twisted fox spirits driven by hunger, shame, or delusion.

Among the Vaeshari, the Black Blooming is a mark of deep disgrace. Those suspected of practicing it are shunned, hunted, or mourned as lost. Ancient rites exist to purify or sever a corrupted tail, but few ever return unchanged from that path.

In this, the Vaeshari embody the dual nature of magic itself; a gift to be earned, a sacrifice to be offered, and a temptation to be resisted. The path to nine tails is one of wisdom and restraint; for those who cheat the journey, the price is steep and the echoes eternal.

Weakness: Aconite

Despite their power, the Vaeshari have a lethal vulnerability: Aconite, also called Wolfsbane. Exposure to the plant in any form, smoke, tea, tincture, or even touch, disrupts their connection to magic. Prolonged contact can sever their ability to shift forms or access their tail-bound power entirely. Many keep charms of obsidian or foxbone to shield against intentional poisoning, and the plant is strictly forbidden within their sacred grounds.

Customs and Hierarchy

The Vaeshari follow an internal code of balance and wisdom. Age is revered above all, and those with more tails are shown deference. However, pride is frowned upon; vanity invites corruption, and corrupted fox spirits risk losing themselves to madness becoming dangerous beings hunted by their kin.

Cultural Footprints

Across the world, the fox spirit takes many forms; each a reflection of the land that remembers them.

In Japan, they are revered as Kitsune; divine messengers and spirit guardians, some of whom choose to live among their kin beneath torii gates and temple eaves.

In China, they are the Huli Jing; masters of illusion and inner alchemy, at once venerated as celestial sages and feared as soul-stealing seductresses who whisper through palace walls and dreaming minds.

In Vietnam, they are known as Hồ Ly Tinh; spirits of guile and grace, capable of both blessing and ruin. Like their Chinese kin, they dwell in stories as both immortal sages and beautiful deceivers.

In Korea, they are the Gumiho; nine-tailed foxes who often appear as beautiful women with hidden hungers. In older stories they devour human hearts, but newer legends tell of those who long to become truly human—redeemed through love, restraint, or sacrifice.

In Ireland, old tales speak of flame-eyed foxes that appeared to druids in times of blood and storm, guiding blades and fate alike with eerie silence.

In Scandinavia, they are said to be spirit-guides who walked across the moonlit fjords, leading the dead to rest and the lost to purpose.

In Africa, desert lore speaks of fox-like spirits—small, swift, and wise—who appear beneath the stars to guide, to warn, or to vanish just before danger strikes. Among the Berber and Tuareg, they are guardians of the unseen paths that stretch across the sands.

In the Americas, myths tell of foxes who spoke to medicine men, teaching them how to walk in two worlds, the seen and the unseen, with paws in both shadow and light.

Although it is more common that Vaeshari that hail from Asia, like the Kitsune and Huli Jing, have the ability to grow multiple tails. While this is not common in Vaeshari in other cultures, it is not impossible to see this magical manifestation occur in Vaeshari due to their natural ability to connect with the pure magical essence of the Earth.