Basic Statistics

Name: Coahoma (pronounced KO-ah-HO-mah)

Age: Unknown. By all rights he should be well over 80 years old, if witness accounts add up correctly, but does not appear to be more than 45. There has been speculation that he is perhaps something more than mortal.

Height: 7'5"

Eye Colour: Pale, icy blue.

Hair Colour: Blood red, with each hair tinted black at the very tip, no matter what its length.

Hair Style: Very long (past his tail in some spots), unusually thick, and perpetually tousled. He hacks chunks of it off at a time when it becomes cumbersome and therefore it appears to have scruffy "layers". The upper layers, closer to his neck and head, are especially bushy and somewhat brushed forward.

Race: Czenzi.

Fur Colour: Coahoma’s base coat is primarily a pale, silvery gray all over, fading to white along his chest and belly. He has dark crimson red "points" over the silver, somewhat reminiscent of a Siamese cat’s markings – ears, tail, all four lower limbs/paws, and a "mask" over his face. His cheek ruff, chin and lower jaw, and forehead remain mostly silver, and he has a small white streak under each eye, but not above. There is also a patch of red that goes from the back of his head to his mid-back, curving in front of his shoulders, passing under his arms, and creating a thin crescent-moon shape along his sides, ending with a single red spot. Another red patch on his rump reaches all the way to his tail but is broken up into a series of stripes going down each side, unequal in length, but symmetrical from his spine. Small bits of black adorn the tips of his ears, his tail, the bristles of fur between his shoulder blades, and a single stripe on each cheek that divides the red mask from the silver facial ruff.

Fur Style: Extremely thick and full due to his frigid northern climate of origin. It’s especially dense around his neck, shoulders, and chest, similar to a lion’s mane.

Tattoos/Distinguishing Features: Despite his violent lifestyle, he sports only a few permanent marks in the form of stitched-up scars – there is a long one running diagonally across his forehead, with a shorter one just above it, and a cluster of jagged scars on his inner right thigh. He also has a small couple of gnarls in his left earlobe. All his other markings are natural. As is characteristic of his race, his tail is short and stubby, like a bobcat’s. His nose is a dark reddish-black, like his pawpads. His forehead seems to be set in a constant frown.

Build: Extremely heavy, muscular, and powerful. He is robust and intimidating, carries huge shoulders and massive limbs, big paws, a barrel chest, and strong torso.

Speed: Over long distances, Coahoma is too heavy to be very productive speed-wise. However, he has uncanny stealth abilities and is lightning-fast in his movements once he is up-close to his intended target. Because of the high visibility of his vivid red markings in his snowy white surroundings of origin, he has had to learn to move very quickly, quietly, and with absolute precision in every step.

Strength: Incredible. He is driven by sheer bloodthirsty ferocity and is practically indomitable in combat, even against larger opponents. He seems to be fueled by pain rather than hindered by it – he can be injured, but never stays down.

Jewellery: Two piercings through the inner shell of each ear – the outer set are curved, claw-like spikes, and the inner set are rings. Both curve around the top part of his ear rather than the lobe. His left nostril sports a ring through it, and a chain connects this ring to his left ear piercing (the ring, not the spike) when he is in his bipedal/anthro form. He also carries at least twelve piercings (some heavy, some lighter) through his genitals – shaft, head, scrotum… anyplace where there’s room. His ear piercings correspond to possible training as a Czenzi Sentinel, his facial piercing is indicative of social rank (i.e. Jitendrah of a clan), and each genital piercing denotes a bride in his history. All jewellery items, apart from beads (which are usually a pale crystal blue), are made of silver.
Apart from his piercings, which remain constant, he changes his accessories frequently, as he is the Czenzi equivalent of "rich" thanks to decades’ worth of stolen plunder. He is typically seen with primitive, hunter-style decorations such as skulls, vertebrae, teeth, claws, or other bones, all strapped onto him in some manner or hanging from necklaces or belts. On the other hand, he loves polished metal and is often clad in thick cuffs, arm/ankle bands, elaborate rings on each middle finger, and a great deal of chains as well, mixed in with the bones and leather straps.

Outfit/Weapons: Coahoma is a savage warrior through-and-through and has access to a large arsenal of torturous weapons at any given time. He is proficient with anything from blades to crossbows to spears to arrows, but often simply decimates enemies with his own claws and teeth. His absolute favorite toy, however, is an enormous iron masse that weighs well over 200 pounds. The handle is made of solid metal (adorned with a sickle-like claw at the tip) and connects to a heavy four-foot chain, from which the crippling spiked sphere hangs. He wields it with terrific dexterity and can kill a circle of opponents with one well-aimed swing. It is fortunate for Czenzi society – and living creatures at large – that Coahoma is still fiercely "native" and has not learned anything of modern human weaponry like guns, tazers, or bombs, with which his destructive potential could be multiplied tenfold. He also wears bits of fur or tanned leather pelts, especially in colder climates, either around his shoulders or his waist, mostly to block the frigid wind.

Information: Coahoma’s entire existence is subject to rampant speculation and nothing has been proven to be 100% certain. There are essentially two camps of thought where his life and origins are concerned – those who believe he is mortal and those who don’t.

The "realist" camp would suggest that Coahoma was born in the deepest reaches of the Arctic, where Czenzi population is typically scarce, and only ventured south in his late teens or early twenties, which would explain why no one has ever seen him as a child. The complete absence of "witnesses" from that time period, including family, could mean they have all since passed on, or, more likely, that Coahoma himself murdered everyone in his bleakly isolated environment and only travelled south when he ran out of victims in his homeland. While some claim this does not fit the "timeframe" – i.e., there are witness accounts of Coahoma’s presence in the Arctic dating back approximately 30 to 40 years before he should have been born, according to how old he appears today – the realists have offered the possibility that these sightings may have been of Coahoma’s father, grandfather, or even an uncle if the family resemblance was strong enough.

Though nothing is known about his formative years, he does have telltale Sentinel piercings in his ears and it seems probable he underwent rigorous training as a sentry, guard, and warrior. However, some say the piercings – which all other Czenzi associate with spirituality and sacred tradition – are no indication of anything when it comes to Coahoma, for he is the sort of heathen blasphemer that would arrogantly pierce himself in defiance of the elders, religious officials, and proper ceremonies. This is also why many suspect he has had far more queens than his genital piercings would have one believe – while most Czenzi only marry once or twice throughout the course of their lives, Coahoma visibly boasts twelve marriages… and would probably boast many more if he were not limited by the number of pierceable areas the male organs can display. He infamously disdains the honor-bound tradition of piercing for every female he mates with, and moreover has no regard for the law that requires him to wed every sexual partner. This notion would be rather pointless anyway, as the greater majority of his sexual partners are not consenting ones. Overall, his relationships with females appear to be rather temporary and end badly for the lady.

Despite his rampant tomcatting, he does not have any known offspring. The rumors behind this aspect of his life are particularly appalling – some say he murders any female he might have impregnated, others claim he sometimes entertains the idea of having an heir but will quickly change his mind within the first few days of the child’s life and kill whatever litters he may have spawned. There are even whispers of him slaughtering his sons immediately after birth, in order to protect his dominant-male status, but allowing his daughters to live and using them for domestic or sexual purposes as they mature… though no female Czenzi has ever admitted to being kin to him. Some go a step further in believing that Coahoma has a taste for young flesh and has killed and eaten his own children, as he has done to several of his enemies in battle.

Even Coahoma’s later years -- in which his bloodspilling reputation was truly established -- are shrouded in mystery and conflicting accounts, because the individuals closest to him have a habit of disappearing or turning up dead. It is unclear whether the Habeni Fita Ke was a preexisting clan that he joined and took over, or whether he formed it on his own and has simply never been overthrown as Jitendrah. The large clan, however conceived, is now synonymous with his name and comprised of about 50 members (85% male) at any given time – mostly vicious, faithless beasts like their leader, with a few reluctant "prisoner" members as well (like the occasional female or cub seen in the company of his troops). They are extremely powerful in terms of brute force and hunting abilities, but are not a practical clan, as they lack the necessary implements to render them a truly functional and productive society, such as cohesive ranking and job repartition, rationing of resources, a sedentary lifestyle, clear-cut laws, and a balanced ratio of males and females. Coahoma is the clan and all others are merely "filler" until they have outlived their usefulness and are replaced by new recruits. He recycles his members on a fairly regular basis.

The realist camp insists that while Coahoma may indeed seem almost supernaturally powerful, especially when surrounded by his troops, he is merely a sick and deeply misguided individual and just as mortal as anyone else. They acknowledge him as a tremendous threat but believe he can – and should -- be killed. They are the most fervent advocates for the idea of forming a collective army between all Czenzi and opposing the Habeni Fita Ke directly, to rid their populace of Coahoma once and for all. However, the notion of war is upsetting to most Czenzi and this prospect has been stymied for years by ongoing debates.

By contrast, the "believers" are those who claim Coahoma is a mystical force of evil, perhaps even a vehicle for the dark god Tripzendâro himself. Some feel he is an ageless, otherworldly entity; others concede he may have been mortal at some point but is now something far beyond the norm. Some agree with the realists, in that he is a huge menace to Czenzi existence and must be destroyed, but others are so terrified of him that they feel there is no way to win a war against a demi-god and dare not make a stand. Others still – primarily elders and religious officials – believe he is a form of "divine discipline" sent by the gods to walk among the Czenzi and punish those who have lapsed in their faith or who harbor spiritual corruption, and therefore feel the best way to be rid of him is to lead pure and faithful lives. His existence is still a great source of contention among these opposing groups and many clans and packs have separated ranks over this.

Coahoma himself is not only a threat to the small remaining number of Czenzi in North America, but to just about anything in his path. He has stumbled across remote, tiny human villages in the course of his travels and easily massacred his way through, never leaving witnesses – but fortunately, he generally finds the species to be weak and uninteresting and avoids them unless they become a nuisance to him in some way. He also steers clear of larger human settlements and cities, as urban noise and the smell of pollution irritate him immensely. However, his decades of ravaging the land (not to mention human territorial expansion) are leaving him with less and less natural space in which to exercise his brutality. He is being driven ever closer to hubs of human population… and the powerful modern-day weapons and technology they hold that he has yet to discover.

Character Copyrights: Coahoma, the Czenzi species, and all related characters are © Renée "Ren" Atkinson 2005

Reference images:
See Gallery