Kumiho

The Kumiho, Huli Jing, known in Aurlûnoren as the Nanren (Southern Peoples) or simply known as the fox people are a race that inhabits the southern parts of the Aurlûnor Velande. The Kumiho had a state known as the Hampo Culture, which was a Queendom that was divided into many clans, worshipping animist beliefs, before the arrival of the Celestialkin, in which they were subjugated, and later enslaved by the Elves, forcing them to convert to Twin Dragon and adopting cultural practices. It was one of Aurlûnor's first attempts at Cultural Assimilation, and they would use this on the Kumiho to dramatically change their lifestyle. Accounts describe them as a "Barbaric people who eat the flesh of men and women they come across despite their beautiful appearances", and usually painted them as psychopathic and evil, justifying their enslavement. However, mixed actual accounts described them as more docile, and only ate the flesh of dead humanoids, mostly their livers, as they see it as a spirit rejuvenator. Some even omitting that they were even cannibals, and that was made up as propaganda to make them justified to be enslaved.

Following years of assimilating, the Kumiho would drop the practice of cannibalism, and would become more akin to Celestialkin, often mimicking their speech patterns and culture. They would start to view others who are not Celestialkin as "Inferior" and "Barbaric", often reminiscing their past as their "barbaric past". Written records about them, became more ingraned in their social life, that they were "civilized" by the time the Kingdom of Almador fell, and declared their new Queendom. When they were integrated into the Aurlûnor Velande, they were made full citizens, as they were of the Twin Dragon faith, and had customs and culture akin to them, despite not looking Elven.

Appearance
The Kumiho can shapeshift into a fox, which, prior to Almadorian Conquest, was seen as their true natural form. Nowadays, most Kumiho appear in a more humanoid form, which they use to trade with others. They have fox ears, and tails ranging from one to up to nine. Nine-tails are usually the highest caste in the society, acting as rulers or governors. On extremely rare occasions, a Kumiho can have ten tails, which is seen as sacred in their culture, and can usually land themselves quickly in a high end government or military position if they so choose. It's not known how Kumihos are born with a tail, but it's usually rarer when the number goes up, with one to three tails being more common, while four to seven are uncommon, and eight to nine are rare, with them being in most cases, genetic from another eight or nine tail, though this is usually not always the case. Sometimes, they will appear to have Elven ears underneath their hair, but only those who live in the northern areas. In their native home, they do not show them.

Kumihos have red hair, the same as any other fox, some being more saturated than others. Their eyes are commonly green, with some being born with brown and amber eyes.

Kumihos used to dress in more triablistic looking uniforms, usually exposing parts of their bodies, as they usually felt more comfortable that way, due to their fox form. But nowadays, they seem to be far more conservative, much like their Elven counterparts, usually donning a hambok, or a hanfu depending on the condition, and would see the lack of clothes as barbaric. They usually prefer to wear cotton as it is grown a lot around their land, but will wear silk or velvet depending on their social standings.