Porchin
The Porchin are a people known for their fearless nature. This is in great part due to their natural defences. They are unique among races that use fat to their benefit, while others use it for insulation, these stout people use it for defence. The Porchin's torso, limbs, and neck have a rubbery and multi-layered coating of fat that acts like a suit of armor. With this feature, their keratin hooves and spines down the thinner skinned back, these people are like walking and talking fortresses. Yet, despite these strengths their greatest weakness comes from their own body. The upper tusks of a Porchin will continuously grow and coil inwards. If these hard teeth are unkempt it will press, then pierce, into their brain, slowly killing them. This is often what causes a person who can potentially live hundreds of years to live less than 50. As in isolation the tusks are incredibly difficult to trim without accidentally extracting them completely creating a wound that will never truly heal and eventually lead to deadly infections.
Because of this it is rare to see lone Porchin. Together they have been known to travel wherever they please, crossing fields of thorns un-pricked, scaling mountains without suffering the frost, and even entering warring lands without fearing the combatants within. The Porchin have survived as prey in lands where the most powerful predators live, holding their own against the Panthera, Kretzoi, and even the Aurea. But despite this ancient fight for survival they hold no ill will towards these groups. Adversary does not create warriors out of the Porchin, instead it creates hosts. Legends tell of starving carnivorous people, too weak to bite, being nursed back to life by pastoral Porchin who seek only to enlighten their guests and teach them better ways to live. The greatest aspiration in their culture is not to live comfortably, but to happily thrive. They look to cultivate the tastiest food, weave the most comfortable fabrics, and perfect the arts of comedy, song, and dance. One of the largest Porchin sects, the Erral, live among other people to do just that. A Porchin sect is much like a clan, where in a time of need they may call upon each other's allegiance. But in these cities the Erral will contact members of the sect to simply gain more insight into where the best services in the city are or pool resources to purchase resources that can be shared. These people tend to prefer a pastoral life, travelling as a herd with the seasons to care for their livestock and harvest cultivated wild plants with the seasons.
The largest sect are the Ra'abur, many members of this group see the actions of the Erral as heretical. Historically Yayu has been the god worshipped by the Porchin. As the spirit of freedom she represents all who walk the land without restriction, she is said to be the very wind that keeps each bird aloft, and the breeze that carries pollen from shore to shore. The Erral see the very idea of a settlement to be insulting, a common mantra among them is: "To posses land is to smother her, so to travel is to breathe." Therefore the very act of creating a permanent structure is seen as an insult. Because of these views that are seen as extreme by other beasts, the Ra'abur feel scorn towards both those who do not believe, and those who are friendly with non-believers, especially the Erral. But, what they all share in common is their love for animals. The Porchin may be the first people to domesticate another species, as their earliest oral stories include animals like raptors, meukes, and beetles with each serving their own purpose in their culture. As omnivores it's common that these animals are eaten when they slow due to age as otherwise they are kept as pack animals for Porchin tents and supplies. But they are also included in many ceremonies, a Porchin can only come of age when they have first grown tusks, but then proven that they can drive a pack animal. They also have a yearly festival where the animals are treated like kings and fed only the finest food while the rest who are gathered play music and games. As animal husbandry is so integral, even the Erral who love civilisation will still live outside of a settlement's walls so they can set up their tents as they please.
