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Erethi(Porcupine)
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* - Poisonous needles
Creation Lore:
The People of the Porcupine are descended from the first child Lillith gave birth to, the child watched and cared for by the porcupine. They alone, of the three children raised by animals, know the most of their true creation. However, they do not have any lore pertaining to how it was that they took on aspects of their “foster parents.” The most enlightened of the Erethi believe that at some point, either an angel, a spirit, a demon, or even god (a god maybe?) fused the original child, or one of it’s prominent descendents, with a porcupine; thereby giving it aspects of both it’s natures.
History:
During the revolutionary war in America, many Erethi were called upon to defend their homes. They did this by decimating British troops. The battles of Lexington and concord were fought by humans, but the mysterious first shot at the Lexington green, was fired by an Erethi who had had too much of the British. This Erethi was named Annabelle Fischer. It is unknown as to why she actually fired the shot, all that is known however, is that she had grown fond of the Lexington green. (it is rumored that she liked the taste of it)
Few Erethi have grown famous courtesy of violence, most Erethi develop their fame amongst their brethren from more mundane, and more important matters. One of the more famous Erethi is known as George Graham. In 1721, he developed an improvement to the ancient clocks. His work enabled clocks to lose only a single second over a day, by varying the length of the pendulum. True, he is known among humans, or at least ancient humans, but Erethi honor his memory.
These two are the most notable of the Erethi, at least to an extent where their actions have affected the lives of the humans. Many Erethi fell prey to the Nazi’s. It is not known publicly, but The Nazi scientists performed countless experiments upon innumerable Erethi children during the height of their reign. It is fortunate that German Erethi rescued as many of these poor pitiful creatures as they could. The few escapees that do not know of their Erethi Heritage are extremely dangerous. They are a very real danger to Zoanthrope, Human, and Vampire.
A very ancient Erethi was known, at least known among Erethi, as the creator of the Viking Runes. While these runes have little if any power when a human handles them, they have immense power when wielded by a learned Erethi. Few Erethi earn the rune “Rad” for it marks them as one of their people’s warriors. These warriors move about their brethren assisting them in their battles, either physically or verbally or however they are needed. These Erethi protect their brethren against all foes, as is their charge.
How they act:
The people of the Porcupine are generally loners by nature. While they do interact with others on occasion, they rarely form long lasting bonds with others. There are however a few sects of Erethi that form loose bands that live together or at least very close by.
While their animal brethren are not much for meat of any sort, Erethi are omnivorous, but prefer to follow a closer to vegetarian diet. Though it has happened, purely carnivorous Erethi are so rare as to be almost 1 in a hundred thousand. These creatures are rumored, at least among more civilized Erethi, to be possessed by demons. The powers these beings have, along with their legendary temper may explain this.
The Erethi are by no means pacifists. They may seem so, but when angered, they are a force to be reckoned with. They have the protection of a porcupine with the speed of a human, at least in their humanoid forms.
Erethi age extremely slowly. While they age slowly, they grow into their adult form extremely quickly, appearing to be an adult by the age of 10, despite their extremely long lifespan. They have few problems reproducing, having long ago learned various ways to avoid “quilling” their partner. They reach breeding age by the age of 15. Their quills grow in at the age of 2, and they become suitable for defense at the age of 4. Erethi can breed with either human or porcupine, but prefer to keep their line reasonably pure. This does not mean that any Erethi will do, they check back at least 6 generations to make sure as to not purify their strain too much. Erethi children are kept separate from human children for the obvious reason that they grow to full adulthood by the age of 10, this could cause serious problems for the child and parents for an obvious reason. The oldest recorded Erethi lived to about 1000 years of age; of course, she never left her burrow for the last 300 years. (Great great great great great grandchildren have their uses)
The majority of Erethi hold these simple prejudices against their brethren.
Panter - The felines are viewed as being too weak to handle their affairs. The Erethi believe them to have grown inbred, almost as much as the Canid have.
Lillith’s brood- The Erethi sadly have all but forgotten their non-therianthropic brethren. They do not know much about them, but they know that someday, they and the rest of Lillith’s brood will one-day reunite and become family once more.
Canid- the Erethi dislike the Canid. For several reasons the Erethi will never trust a Canid any further than they could throw an elephant. Their apparent inbred nature, because the Canid have forgotten their past, and prey on the Erethi as they would a rabbit; are all reasons for the Erethi to distrust them.
Weaknesses:
The Erethi are an untrusting lot. It takes many years for an Erethi to grow to trust anybody/anything that is not one of their own. Even if one Erethi might trust a Panter, a separate Erethi would not trust that Panter, until many years of trust have been built up.
The Erethi are not capable of appearing totally human. In their human guise, their hair is “studded” with quills. They also have quills on their forearms, their shoulder blades and upper back, along with the backs of their thighs and calves. (Yes, even the females have hairy backs.. sorta)
Erethi, have a very strong allergy to a certain type of spice. Red Peppers give Erethi either a large viscous rash even if touched only a moment by any form of one. If ingested or injected (the juices, or a tea) Erethi either grow extremely ill to the point of going into a coma (lasting 3 weeks on average) or die. If inhaled Erethi suffer the same effects as if they inhaled mustard gas, which can of course lead to death.
They also have an equivalent allergy to Soy, and soy byproducts. Woe to the Erethi that turns Vegan in a human city.
Abilities: (to access the higher-powered runes, an Erethi must learn the previous runes)
(1)
Scent of wonder-
this ability allows an Erethi to smell what a particular being is. This is considered to be a basic skill. While its usage is common, it is thought to be disgraceful when used upon a fellow Erethi. All beings have a particular scent. Erethi have a scent resembling subdued pine needles, Pantera have a scent resembling catnip, Canid smell like wet dog hair, and humans smell like cinnamon. The Vampires do not carry a scent discernable by this ability, thus Erethi mark them by a lack of scent. (This ability can be used by the “Pravus Erethizontidae” or evil Erethi…to those that do not differentiate the true meaning)
Runes of Power (1)-
this ability is gained once an Erethi has learned the art of crafting Rune words. The power of these words increases as an Erethi grows more powerful and instills more energy into them. At the very basic level of this ability, an Erethi is only able to make simple words that assist them in very minor ways.
Rune of Watchfulness: this rune allows it’s creator to remain awake for an extended period of time, however once it’s power has been used up, the creator loses nearly all of it’s strength, for that many days; leaving it almost helpless to protect it’s self.
Quick like a Bunny- this ability allows an Erethi to double his/her speed when running. It does not affect combat or other situations, only flat out running.
(2)
No Scent-
Many Erethi learn to mask their scent. This power enables them to escape wolves and other predators that have mastered the knowledge of how to hunt porcupines. Their scent while undetectable to natural creatures, can be picked up by any power that picks up “supernatural scents.”
Loose the Quill- after many years of practice, an Erethi learns how to ‘throw’ their quills. This effectively gives them an edge over their Canid and Pantera brethren…at least when no guns are around at the time.
Runes of Power (2) This is a more advance application of the Runes of Power.
Rune of Terror: The application of this rune is rather strait forward. The recipient of this rune is overcome with a severe phobia with the first person and/or creature it sees (other than rune creator) All beings of the same type is treated as the first. The power of this rune lasts from a day to a week, depending on the power of the rune creator. The creator can divest more energy into the rune to make it permanent, but there is a major sacrifice that the creator must make (not determined as of yet)
Rune of Sadness: The use of this rune is frowned upon by civilized Erethi as the recipient of this rune contracts overwhelming sadness and depression. Suicide has often been the result of this Rune sadly. However, the rune maker ages 10 years with the creating of this rune, without all the perks that come with age, and all of the drawbacks.
(3)
Acupuncture-
in the Far East Erethi came across a marvelous form of medicine. Acupuncture has since then been one of the Erethi’s favored forms of healing. This ability draws on wisdom of the ancient medicine men of china, to heal even the worst injuries. This skill can, with time, heal grievous injuries, nerve damage, broken bones, and other such things. Also, with advanced knowledge a master of Acupuncture, can heal poisoning, including the bite of a sea snake…provided he or she is previously prepared to perform his/her work.
Runes of Power (3)
no new runes, just increased power
Barbs- Erethi in general do not have barbed quills, this makes for removal of their quills quite easy, however, a few have the supernatural ability of giving their quills barbs. This causes the quills to inflict more pain when they are removed, AND if the quills are left in, they slowly dig their way deeper. (Like foxtails)
(4)
Runes of Power (4)
this is the ultimate level of runic words that an Erethi is capable of implementing
Rune of War: This rune, once given, marks the recipient as a warrior among Erethi. This increases the Erethi’s strength and endurance, but also causes the Erethi to grow fanatical about protecting its brethren. There is no gender bias, Female, male… and Erethi is an Erethi, and if anything, the females are scarier than the males because of the human culture’s insistence that females are weaker than males. This IS permanent, once accepted; the rune recipient is forever more a warrior. Also called ‘Rad’ in memory of the original name for the rune.
Rune of Love: This rune causes the same effect as the urban legend of ‘love potion #9’ abiet with permanence. Only once, can an Erethi Construct this rune, once a century.
Rune of Hate: This Rune fills the receiver with complete and total hatred targeted at a being of the creator’s choice. This rune lasts only 5 minutes, but a lot can happen in 5 minutes. This rune does not overwhelm true emotion however, until an Erethi has spent nearly its whole life studying runes of power.
l Weapons/Abilities
Quills - extremely poisonous. Near Death on contact.
Supernatural Weapons/Abilities
Strong Human and Darkling Empathy