The merchants from the boat were fast, but Yeshuah was faster. He had not lived for so long on his own without being as swift as the wind over the plains, outpacing bird and antelope alike on his finest days, so he had no fear of the rivermen. His exposed fur ruffled as he sprinted, the faint stripes on his sides bending and rippling like wind-tousled grass while his plait of black hair thumped rhythmically against his back. The shouts of the traders he robbed were growing fainter with every footfall. Yeshuah couldn’t help but laugh at his good fortune as he fled.
A parcel of expensive spices and vials of scented oils nestled snugly in his satchel, wrapped in stolen silks. It was an incredible bounty; he reckoned he would eat well for weeks once he found a buyer or two, with plenty left over for good clothing and the occasional woman for a night. Perhaps I can even buy my sword back, he thought to himself. I feel naked without a proper blade at my side. There had been guards, but Yeshuah was a very light-footed man, and while his claws were sharp his little skinning knife was sharper. He had left no one behind in the storehouse, and by the time others had raised the alarm he was well away from the docks.
Though the night was lit by little more than a sliver of moon, Yeshuah cut through the grassland as confidently as he might during the day. He could make out the distant fires of plainsmen along the horizon. I can’t risk selling here, not where they might trade with the sailor-men. They might be too damn loyal. I’ll need to go further inland before I can find a place to be rid of these without being rid of my head as well. He breathed deeply, taking in the scents of the grasses, the wildflowers, the nighttime dew…and something else, something familiar and quite unnerving, given the circumstances.
Horse! he thought, panicking. I didn’t see any horses when I was at the docks! Where did they get it? He dove through a patch of thistles, rolled when he hit the ground, and lay still. The rider drew nearer, and while he had suspected it from their lack of a proper torch, his stomach still twisted when he saw the one on the horse’s back was another menhit. A pennant with a star emblazoned on it fluttered from his spear while his mount’s barding was decorated with symbols of the city-state of Salvation. The rider’s eyes narrowed as he searched his surroundings. Yeshuah’s fur stood on end despite himself.
Dammit! A zealot, and all the way out here, no less! He swallowed hard and reached for his knife as the man on the horse drew ever closer. Things are about to get very interesting…
Singular: menhit
Plural: menhit
Pronunciation: men-hit, IPA: /'mɛn.hɪt/
Avg. Height: 170cm/5'7"
Avg. Weight: 55kg
A menhit (Metatheris venator) is a fur-covered biped with claws and a tail. Their anatomy is bestial, their features taking a strong leonine cast, though some menhit also express traits not traditionally considered feline (such as two-toed feet or bifurcated tails). They were created by the relurim as soldiers, and boast strength and agility above the average because of it in addition to natural armor around their vital organs; they tire quickly, however, making longer fights problematic. Menhit are not mindless animals and most highly resent being compared to them.
Members of this species have wedge-shaped heads and are prone to long, lean builds. They generally have very little body fat. A menhit's finger claws are slightly retractable but are always at least partially extended, which occasionally interferes with detailed motor skills. The claws on a menhit's toes and dewclaws cannot be retracted. Their bodies are aerodynamic, their tightly-packed muscles and flexible spines built for maintaining high speeds. It is possible for a menhit to comfortably run on all fours due to their unusually long arms, though most avoid doing so. A menhit's tail is usually slightly shorter than one of their arms and is not prehensile.
A menhit's eyes are proportionately large for his or her face, with round pupils; their eyes tend towards reds and yellows with the occasional blue, and are normally lined with cheetah-like "tearmarks" reaching from the eyes to the corners of the mouth. Menhit facial features are roughly humanoid with a childlike or sylvan cast, tending towards knife-blade noses, high cheekbones, and pointy, tufted chins. They possess head hair and eyebrows distinct in both color and texture from their fur, and while the men of the species usually cannot grow true facial hair, their fur can be groomed into an approximation of a beard or mustache. Menhit do not have whiskers.
Their ears are long, pointed, and black with lighter-colored insides; they can move and rotate them independently and often subconsciously include ear movements into their body language. A menhit also possesses small, subtly-defined earlobes. Menhit lips tend to be on the thin side (some are even entirely black, like an animal's), though this does not affect their speech to a noticeable degree. They do not have cleft palates or muzzles. A menhit's teeth include molars, incisors, and sharpened canines, which allow them to eat a wider variety of foods than a hunting beast might; though elongated, their canines are usually not visible when their mouths are closed.
Their fur comes in various pale earth tones, mainly desaturated shades of gray, yellow, and tan, and is naturally short. A menhit is prone to subtle color points, such as faint stripes or spots; many have notably lighter or darker markings on their faces, chests, and extremities, as well, especially the tip of the tail. It is not unusual for a menhit to have patches of fur displaying merle, brindle, or grizzled colorations. Their hair can be either lighter or darker than their fur, but is most commonly some shade of brown, black, or red. A menhit's hair grows slower than a human's does and rarely passes the mid-back.
A menhit is carnivorous and requires plenty of meat to eat to remain healthy, though they can digest both raw and cooked food. They cannot properly process vegetable matter; consuming such causes them no intestinal distress, and they occasionally do so for the purpose of chewing medicinal herbs or enjoying sweet fruits, but a menhit gains no nourishment from such things.
Menhit are incredibly fast over land, more than making up for their poor swimming ability, and can cross large distances before they inevitably tire. Their natural armoring takes the form of unusually dense bone mass; while this normally is invisible to the casual observer, some menhit end up with exposed bone plating, osseous spikes, or similar anomalies, which can give them an extraordinarily alien appearance.
Most of the world's menhit live somewhere in Rekkuris, particularly the city of Salvation. Some venture to Liidhaga with the intent of becoming traders, while outcasts and their families are more likely to make their way to Ydra to start anew.
