Ecreekem


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Ecreekem

 

Pronounced Ek-ree-kem. Singular is Ecreek

 

Ecreekem -- creatures made of wood and clay. They originated in the Plains of Estereem, and resemble men except for the fact that they are covered in a crunchy layer of woodsplints that overlays their soft, succulent clay interior.

 

Biology

 

The wood, harvested by the Ecreekem themselves when reproducing (basically just building copies of themselves), is from the Fludwood Trees on the plains where they live, and is the only known use of its wood. The Ecreekem do not need to eat or expel waste. They need only to stay fairly wet to survive, although they do enjoy pantomiming the acts of cooking and eating. Either fashioned or called forth by Gespechio, they quickly multiplied and covered most of the plains they lived in during The Hierarchy period.

 

Known Culture

 

Culinary Practices

Ecreekem are great gourmands, despite their complete lack of a digestive system. Instead, they place the emphasis on the process of preparation, treating it almost as a form of interpretive dance. Ecreekem chefs fixed on the concept of tenderization early on and ran with it, inspired by an ancestral memory of the lusty ur-tenderizations of Meatfister. Culinary technique consists mainly of selection of proper bludgeoning tools and, of course, the actual technique of bludgeoning. Ecreekem chefs remain divided on whether live or dead "ingredients" are preferable.

 

Usages of Song

 

Ecreekem have suprisingly mellifluous singing voices, given their rough-hewn exterior. Ranging in tone from a reed pipe to a bassoon, Ecreekem choirs have been a fixture of many royal courts. Ecreekem chefs of the "Twitching" school often use songs to lure in their ingredients into the pot or onto the cutting block. Many of these songs and directions for their use as well as rules to keep them holy (as many of the songs have strong ties to Eckreekem spiritual ways and should not be simply hummed like a Dim Elven song) can be found in the little known Twitching school text, "Twitching Hour: The Twitcher and the Twitched. An Introduction."