Eros Ka'Rinah

Eros Ka'Rinah (Demons of Eros) were a contemporary group to the Allied Sovereign Nations. They consisted of genetically revived Lusari, a gelatinous species capable of shifting to appear as an ideal mate which they would then use to lure its victim to devour them alive. During the era of the Allied Sovereign Nations, there was an ongoing paranoia that almost anyone could be a Lusari. Their increase in number and difficulty to tell apart from the species they were imitating often lead to false accusations and witch hunts.

Characteristics

Thousands of years prior, even though the Sinister Hegemony and all of its members were all extinct, the Drallan Federal Monarchy had preserved the DNA of these species in an attempt to study them. With the fall of the DFM, roaming space pirates discovered the location of these DNA samples and took special interest in the Lusari. These pirates known as the nation of Sadur set up a base on the planet Nerisuc - the Lusari's original homeworld - and used cloning technology to recreate the Lusari as they were 5,000 years ago. Sadur eventually molded the Lusari into becoming assassins, increasing their intelligence and extending their lifespan to 25 years. These Lusari became known as the Eros Ka'Rinah.

Eros Ka'Rinah would receive no monetary reward as the meal itself was considered compensation. The body often contained valuable nutrients usually enough to heal any injuries they may have sustained in the assassination attempt.

Methods

The Eros Ka'Rinah, though they were assassins, were still considered to be slaves. They were often sold to nobles who wanted to either get rid of anyone suspected of cheating on them or to simply limit rival bloodlines - anything from firstborns to illegitimate children were possible targets. The Lusari would often disguise themselves in a way that allowed them to get close to a target taking a variety of roles from caretakers to prostitutes. They would carefully plan out their attacks, using their persuasion skills to lure the victim and entrance them. When the target was vulnerable, the Lusari would engulf and consume them through shapeshifting, digesting their body and absorbing any DNA they could for themselves to be used later for their own asexual reproduction. If the victim had any valuables on them, they would be regurgitated and confiscated by the Lusari’s owner to be either melted down or sold off.

Maintaining a disguised form immediately after consumption was extremely difficult due to the extra weight. As such, most Eros Ka'Rinah opted for turning back into their gelatinous form to slither away into air vents or pipes. If this was not possible, they would go back to their disguised form though a careful eye may noticed them to be slightly disfigured. Some crime lords occasionally told their assassins to deliberately leave behind bones or blood as a calling card of their work. This also was an advantage in that the Lusari would be able to get away much more quickly due to carrying less weight. If the goal was to make someone completely vanish rather than make their death apparent, the Lusari would need to consume the victim entirely.

Even the legendary crime lord and founder of the Allied Sovereign Nations, Sokeja Skaista was confirmed to have used at least one among her network of spies when she suspected a traitor in her ranks. However, when one of her own children was eaten by an Eros Ka’Rinah used by an enemy faction, she swore to never use them again, euthanizing all the Lusari she owned.

Extinction

When the sterility plague afflicted the Vaikan, their society collapsed resulting in many of their former masters abandoning the Lusari. Their short life spans coupled with the Vaikan species collectively reduced libido meant that their primary hunting method became effectively unviable. Their potential prey would not produce the necessary pheromones for them to mimic and attempts to attack on sight made them easily dispatchable.

Since then, there have been no attempts to resurrect the Lusari as the original preserved samples from the era of the DFM are no longer viable for cloning.