Hulsa

These stout fey resemble metallic golems with their animated armor plates that emit bright, kaleidoscopic light. A typical hulsa stands about 5 feet tall and weights 300 pounds, though a few outliers tower more than 7 feet in height. Hulsa heads bear few features and virtually no expressions, offering only a few lines to suggest eyes or mouths. Instead, most expression comes from the collection of metallic ornaments that hover symmetrically behind their shoulders like decorative wings, their colors and orientation conveying hints of the hulsa’s mood. These ornaments emit luminous rays, sheets, and contrails when the fey fly but don’t move like traditional wings.
Rather than representing terrestrial environments like forests and oceans, hulsas connect to specific stars. In many ways, this connection is symbolic, such as how hulsas often speak of directions in relation to their star rather than by magnetic poles. Hulsas from proximate stars consider each other kin, occasionally convening as “constellations” to socialize or combat mutual threats. Likewise, those fey tied to stars of a similar type (such as white dwarves and red giants) acknowledge each other as peers. Hulsas who lack such connections largely leave each other alone or, rarely, form distant rivalries founded in some esoteric disagreement about one of the universe’s underlying mechanics. These relationships can last eons, for hulsas appear ageless and claim to be as old as their respective stars. There are no known instances of hulsas expiring when their stars die, yet those whose stars have extinguished or exploded are never seen again.
A hulsa’s actions seem unpredictable and erratic to most; the fey travels at random, pausing for days or even years at a time without warning. Only two things seem consistent with their behavior. First, a hulsa demands that they and the forces they represent be treated with respect. Any insult, either direct or dismissive, marks the perpetrator for retribution. The severity of this retribution is always measured by their level of affront rather than by any objective standard, ranging from causing minor annoyance to outright destruction of the offender’s corporeal form. When a hulsa doesn’t believe they can easily mete out justice, they wait, reserving their vengeance for as long as necessary. Legends speak of hulsas who took centuries to build alliances and train an offender’s enemies simply to see an insult avenged. If the original offender dies before the hulsa exacts vengeance, the fey seeks out whoever else they can hold accountable, ranging from the original offender’s heirs to societies that trained the offender. The hulsa even matter-of-factly explains why it punishes these other parties and rarely allows for other ways to seek atonement.
The second consistent aspect of hulsa behavior is education. They love teaching others about the universe’s physical phenomena. Students who approach a hulsa respectfully can inquire about the life cycle of stars, the nature of the fey realm’s influence on the universe, or how an individual can access cosmic power, though these lessons come on the hulsa’s terms. A hulsa might refuse to teach anything but the basics, require an obscure form of compensation for their efforts, or deny secrets to anyone unwilling to commit to a decades-long apprenticeship to absorb the lessons with the proper depth. Several Kasatha-led monasteries maintain that a legendary hulsa taught their founders the solarian arts.
Although most hulsas contently travel alone, individual hulsas might seek out companions with whom they can experience cosmic phenomena. A few of these fey even find senior roles on starships that explore the Vast, trading their expertise for the opportunity to cruise around the cosmos with like-minded company