Echidnites (5e Race)

Echidnites

“	I understand why would someone try to get us for hunting jobs: we are pretty good. Why would someone try to hunt us after the job is done is greedy, but still motivated. But why would someone keep trying after half of their hunters got their eyes and their skin ripped to shreds only by getting close to us is only pure insanity	”
—Attributed to Redspine, The barbaric, said before the sentence of the Judgement of Gildebrad

Acording to their legends, 5000 years ago, a strange malignant creature of unknown origin came into being. It only spoke one word, which was long forgotten. It was never seen, only heard. It spent its life harming animals or creatures until it got bored. The original echidnites, its offspring, were no better. The modern echidnite is still the same being in the inside: Modernized by the contact to other races into leaving their usual solitude, finding purpose in their love for nature and thinking their survival is still priority. This race of "domesticated" warriors still have this motto emblazoned into their hearts: Only live through pain.

Physical Description

Suit of armor said to have been made with the skin of Redspine the Barbaric, after getting executed. Notice the modifications done to the mask to make it "like a complete suit of armor". Property of The Menil Organization

These egg laying humanoids live off mainly insects and small prey, enjoying the thrill of the hunt. Their mostly human face gives away the illusion even before it is formed: With the exception of the face and the genitalia they are covered from their snout to the short tail with coarse hair and spines, varying in size from fractions of an inch as a newborn to a foot and a half in some of their biggest members, sometimes as thick as 2 inches. Their small eyes, usually black or gray, combines with their skin tones, usually black or brown in color; although red, green, white and orange with stripes have been reported. Rare occurrences of an albino with pink eyes and white spines exist, although they rarely survive. Their ears are unseen as they are covered with spines and deep in the sides of their muscled head.

Echidnites have an elongated snout that serves as both mouth and nose. Although it is not as common as it used to be, the snout can be used to communicate with other echidnites nonverbally via a kiss. One use it has is that this snout is extremely sensible to particles in the air, being able to literally smell their prey, their rivals or other echidnites about 1 mile around. They have relatively small jaws, tongues about 2 feet long and very soft teeth, making their speaking of Common and other languages more difficult. They prefer to feed by tearing open soft logs and ant hills and using their long sticky tongue to feed, but ripping the flesh of their prey and cooking them is not beyond them.

History

Although the original echidnites were pretty brutal, this race members were hunted and subject to abuses and slavery treats that would render their race near extinct. They scrounged to live and survived only meagerly. Others took advantage of their weak states and abused them. They were laughingstocks which no one cared for. Humans were particularly cruel to them and the echidna cried bitter tears as their young starved and elderly prayed in futility.

Their hurt and pain was not for naught. Through their suffering, these animals' offspring reached a moment they call "the awakening", acquiring greater intelligence. They were born small, indistinguishable from the normal litter. As they matured however, they came to be bipedal, and stood above the quadrupedal echidnite. They retained the animal's traits of spines and snout and tail, but they were taller and notably able in body and mind, beyond any echidnite. These were the first echidnites, born 5000 years ago. It is rumored the first born spoke a single word of immense portent for their entire race. No one recorded and no one remembers. The echidna and echidnites are quick to guard this knowledge.

After about a thousand years, the liberation war began. Although smaller in numbers, they tended to be stronger and had learned to use their natural abilities to trap humanoids, giving to them pain and massacring them in ways so impressive and terrorizing that Edrevu the Old, wrote: They were born of their parent races sorrow and so seek reparations. But one of them equidnites has enough pain inside them that not even the misery caused to a legion can quench the thirst to pain that is stored in one of their spikes. Dismemberments, being sent to their cities after getting every inch of their skin ripped away, getting their armors embedded into their bodies by heat, getting covered in honey to attract ants and then getting licked until their skin gave away and getting stitched into one another in gruesome ways have all been described, amongst others, but not every historian believe in most of these.

One of the most spectacular memories historians use to dismiss this is the judgement to Redspine, where said echidnite was accused of killing "for no reason" 59 hunters after the human (some texts say half-elf, others a Dwarf) that hired him to hunt a particularly difficult to hunt deer with a beautiful set of antlers. After the deed was done, the hirer tried to murder him to not pay the price Redspine had asked for the trophy: 83 golden ribs (A golden rib = a gold piece at the time). Redspine killed all the mercenaries, collected one rib from each and made a trap out of them, which he used to kill the human whose name was lost, cut his head and sew the deer's head to the body. He then opened the torso with his hands, ripped his heart out, put the head inside the hole, and nailed to the head a board with a inscription that said "You can keep both the horns and the ribs". He then reported to the guards and ate the heart in front of them, raw. Although some consider it a brutal tale to give them a worse name, others consider it the masterpiece that describes echidnites: Effective and brutal, but fair and intelligent at the same time.

After their independence, some echidnites kept in contact with other races, while some other founded villages and dynasties in the valleys. Since then, many venture to higher societies of humanoids and show off their intellect and strength, which people would be quick to criticize. Historically, echidnites have often used violence as their main weapon in their campaigns. This is because they not only embody sorrow, but also resentment from the echidna towards the rest of the world. As if they haven't learned, they often would bully and malign other medium sized creatures they deemed enemies of the echidna, as well as pick on small creatures out of spite and simply because they can. Despite their best efforts, echidnites have only succeeded in bringing a bit of justice to the echidna. They remain in struggle for this goal to this day.

Society

Echidnites prefer temperate climates, and will hide in caves or rock crevices if the weather is too in-climate. They make their homes in forests or woodlands, preferring a quiet, sheltered life from other races. They like to hide themselves when others approach, even using burrows of other animals to hide. Echidnites love water and prefer to bathe twice a day. They are capable swimmers.

Their small communities tend to be, if not purely nomadic, at least semi-nomadic. They are pretty small with at most 20 members. They are very vocal in their circles where they train and devise new tactics against possible enemy targets. They do not have a leader and social structures are based on the hunting prowess or in the creations to help the community. Outside their communities, they are very hostile and distrusting, unless they had been born into a multiracial community, where they tend to be reclusive, but functioning members, preferring always jobs like guards, hunters or butchers: anything that can give them some quench to their violence.

Echidnite Names

Echidnite names tend to be given at birth, although they can change it as they reach adulthood, sometimes getting a nickname. Most of them prefer to use a name that refers to pain or spines. An alternative process is to name by the colors of their furs.

Male: Spike, Deaththorny, Whitey, Blackthorn, Burnskin, Clawbleed

Female: Snowy, Brownie, Barbspine, Spikette, Stripeflesh, Softcry

Echidnites Traits

A race of powerful echidnas.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength, Constitution and Wisdom scores each increase by 1.
Age. Echidnites mature at 3 years and live from 45 to 50 years.
Alignment. Echidnites do not follow laws easily, so tend to be chaotic or move towards that alignment as they age, even if born in multiracial cultures. Although they tend to be neutral, they are always closer to evil than to good.
Size. Though echidnites are larger than the usual echidna and can stand tall, they remain relatively small in stature and never really grow taller than 4 feet. Your size is Small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet. You have a swim speed of 20 feet.
Spine Ball. As an action, you can curl yourself into a tight ball and protrude your spines to protect you. While you are curled up, your armor class is 12 + your Constitution modifier. You cannot use this trait if you are wearing medium or heavy armor. Creatures that attack you you are curled up take piercing damage equal to your proficiency bonus. Additionally, while curled up, your movement speed reduces to 0 and cannot increase. You also cannot perform any actions except to get out of your curled state with a bonus action, and you are considered prone and blind.
Knowing Hiders. You are proficient in the Stealth skill.
Extreme senses. You can perceive your surroundings without relying on sight within a specific radius. You have advantage in Wisdom (Survival and Nature) checks that rely in smell or touch. You have a blindsight range of 60 feet, but are blind beyond this radius.
Languages. You can speak, read and write Common.

Random Height and Weight

Base Height	Height Modifier*	Base Weight	Weight Modifier**
3′ 2''	+2d4	40 lb.	× (1d4) lb.
*Height = base height + height modifier **Weight = base weight + (height modifier × weight modifier)

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