“I am a Virelai, Kasslûar. Though you may have heard otherwise, we do not have dual sexes and thus cannot be girls.” 

“No, it just means you have no men.”

-Kasslûar and Ekow's first encounter with each other

The Virelai were naturalistic nymphs and a member of The 44 Peoples. Virelai were parthropods, exhibiting traits of both reptiles and arthropods. Their chitinous skin varied in a wide array of colors, with not-functional elytra wings wrapping round their legs, likely a vestigial remnant from before the Virelai gained sentience. Instead of hibernating or migrating, Virelai would form winter coats of thick, hair-like filaments across their bodies and their chitin would become lighter in color. They also had long antennas which are used for amplified vicarious speech-transference, also known as mindchords, which is an audio-less telepathic form of communication. Humans perceived these voices as feminine, although Virelai identified themselves as genderless. Virelai had no mouths, but a set of barbed probuscus used to drain the blood of prey animals, as they are sanguivorous. 

The Virelai were native to the mysterious and often treacherous Farwei Wilds, the exact population never fully determined beyond Confederation maps. Groups of Virelai hives, also called clans, were spread across the Farwei and its borders. When Virelai mature, they either already have fertilized eggs inside them or they do not, giving them the title of ‘maker’ or ‘nurse’ respectively. The eggs take one trisolar to hatch, at which point the larval Virelai will eat their way out of their maker and feast on the body as their first meal. The nurses will then collectively rear the children and break them out of their feral and cannibalistic state. 

Virelai were considered passive and friendly creatures, open to trade and visitors but very rarely left their hive due to their highly tight knit community. A byproduct of their mindchord abilities was that some unsaid thoughts or feelings can be detected by a Virelai. This means that Virelai are able to detect lies and ulterior motives, but also information such as names of individuals who only say “Hello.” This makes the Virelai, in combination with their vampiric nature, rather unsettling to humans despite their calm demeanor. 

Average height: 1.6 meters

Average weight: 95 kg

Average lifespan: 9 trisolars (Maker) - 15 trisolars (Nurse)