Biography

birth/family: Erinac
was born into the Sandhog tribe south of Salamandastron. His parents
were the Dunehog chieftain Trambo and his lovely Goodwife Duna.
Erinac had three sisters – Felma, Timara, and Brenn – and
two brothers: Dinor and Aldan. Erinac was not the firstborn, but an
old hogwife named Agrol said that Erinac would be a special child and
bring pride and joy to his parents, so he was given an old hedgehog
name and it was planned that he would take over from Trambo when he
was old enough. Aldan, the firstborn, was disappointed at this but
not resentful.

species: hedgehog

gender: masculine

physical appearance:
Erinac is of a typical hedgehog build: short and stocky, though his
spikes make him look somewhat taller. Erinac’s spikes are a
sharp cinnamon brown, but the upper half of each spike, the more
visible part, is a creamy white. His fur, where it is visible on his
face, undercoat, and arms, is a softer cinnamon brown. His eyes are
dark and beady. In battle, Erinac may stick three gull feathers
amidst his head-spikes, or at a feast he may place a few red ribbons.

birth name:
Erinaceus

temperament:
Erinac is a typical hedgehog: cheerful, hearty, hardy, and, above
all, rustic. However, he is somewhat quiet and calm for his species;
Erinac has a warrior’s spirit, still, and has no qualms over
fighting and killing vermin. Being a warrior, he has a strong code of
morals but believes vermin are inherently evil and must be slain,
though he will not kill them in cold blood. He has the strong, rustic
accent common of hedgehogs and is usually quite happy. Besides all
this, though, Erinac is a wanderer born, and suffers from the
wander-lust always.

background:
Erinac was chosen as the one who would take over from his father
Trambo as chieftain of the Sandhogs, but both because of his deep
wanderer’s spirit and caution lest hostility break out between
him and his brother Aldan, the firstborn, Erinac left the Sandhogs
unknown to all but his family when he was old enough. With the
Sandhogs, he had learned the use of the staff, the bow, the sling,
and the club, all of which would come in handy throughout his
dangerous life. In the beginning, he did some quick traveling in
Mossflower, visiting Salamandastron briefly and then Redwall Abbey.
But the easy, prosperous life of the Redwallers did not appeal to the
rustic Erinac, and the life of a Long Patrol hare was too strict for
his liking; he preferred the otters’ way of life. Soon, though,
Erinac grew tired of living with the otters, too, for he wanted more
than anything to wander and roam. So he traveled north and wandered
all over the Northlands, seeing many strange things and becoming more
and more used to life as a wanderer. Finally, Erinac arrived at Fort
Ruddler, a welcome shelter after passing so many vermin armies and
strongholds. Ruddler was under attack by a huge army of vermin from
many forts and strongholds. Fortunately, he avoided the bulk of the
army and after impressing himself on Field Marshall Teltoli as a
strong warrior by single-handedly defeating ten weasels and revealing
that he was a good friend of the slain Major General Aspen and had
once saved his life, Erinac was made emergency commander of Platoon 2
and Major General. Also fortunately, Tynan, a friend of Aspen’s,
had just promised Aspen command of Platoon 3 after he left, so Erinac
would soon be in command of both platoons. When word reached the
Sandhog tribe of his success, they promptly sent their
congratulations along with a bow and quiver, sling and pouch, club,
and shield, valuable weapons, for wood could only be obtained from a
small inlet, hidden by canyons, which seemed to attract driftwood.

clothing:
Erinac’s main garment is a short, simple tunic of rusty green
cloth. This is belted at the waist by a broad, multi-colored, woven
belt of blue, green, and yellow. Since his spikes must poke through
the backs of both pieces of clothing, they are filled with holes, and
the belt is woven of cloth and not made of tough leather. When it is
cold, Erinac wears a tattered, gray cloak, which does not have as
many holes because he does not wear it as close to his skin. The
cloak is buttoned at his throat by two bone buttons, painted brown
but slightly weathered so that a few specks of white are visible.

equipment:
Erinac has a staff which he brings almost everywhere. It is a little
bit taller than him, but easy to carry, and though hard and strong,
it is light. The staff is made of cherry wood, and is a dark ruddy
brown. Erinac’s staff can be used for fighting but his main
weapons are his club and sling. The club is a simple, slightly
curved, oaken affair; it broadens out toward the end, and has leather
cord wrapped around the handle to provide better grip. His sling is
just as simple, made of leather with a leather pouch tied to his belt
holding several round, smooth stones. Erinac’s bow is kept
unstrung in the quiver when not in use. The bow itself is a short bow
made of dead ash wood, with a hemp string which is kept in his belt
pouch when not in use. The quiver is made of scraps of leather
stitched together roughly but efficiently, and has a leather strap so
he can wear the quiver just behind his right shoulder. Erinac’s
arrows are made of oak and are short like the bow, with fire-hardened
tips and gull feather flights. Besides his weapons, Erinac has a
small leather bag with a leather strap, hanging from his left
shoulder against his hip. This holds his food supplies: a few scraps
of whatever he can find and a large, round, clay flask with a narrow
neck and cork, holding usually water, but wine, ale, or cordial
instead whenever he can get it, unless, of course, he is in an area
where water is hard to find; then it would be useless and only make
him thirstier. Erinac’s belt pouch is a round, leather affair
with a button like those on his cloak. It holds a pine wood
flint-and-tinder box, a few healing herbs, and a small knife with a
stone blade and pine wood handle, and is tied to his belt with
leather thongs which go through a loop on the back of the pouch.
Erinac’s only armor besides his spikes is a round, leather
shield with an oaken frame, painted sandy white with dark gray spots
to match the desert where he used to live. The shield, and also the
end of his club handle and both ends of his bow are decorated with
small seashells, tied on loosely with thread.

skills: Erinac,
like the rest of the Sandhog tribe, was raised as a warrior, and so
was trained from late childhood to use the club and shield and from
early childhood to use the bow and sling. On his travels, he taught
himself to use the staff and also received some instruction from the
Redwallers when he visited. His skills with the sling and bow were
updated by both the hares of the Long Patrol and Skipper’s
otter crew in Mossflower in turn, but none could rival his skill with
a club save a badger. The Sandhogs used their slings and clubs and
shields for combat with vermin, but their short bows were used for
hunting and fighting seagulls. The slings were used mainly as
supporting missile weapons with a little bit of emergency paw-to-paw
combat when necessary, and the clubs were used simply for brute
force. Shields were used in combination with the clubs, but were not
as effective against metal weapons, which the Sandhogs had none of.
They never used their stone-bladed knives for combat, but rather for
everyday tasks like preparing food.

title/nickname:
Erinaceus Sandhog; Erinac