Erinaceus Quill

right|300pxErinaceus Quill, or simply Erin Quill is a descendant of Durry Quill in Invasion of Bugs.
==Biography==
===Invasion of Bugs===
He first came to the abbey as a baby when his house was raided by vermin, and chose to live there permanently after befriending Kav Furrel while his parents went back to living outside Redwall. 
He first appears with Myotis to tell Kav and Alzbeta Grang about Myotis' use of a Blowpipe. In the evening, he was watching Kav and his father Jala Furrel fishing in the pond and catch a big tench, which Erin had to help catch in a net, where Bairdon Bardwing happily accepts it for the upcoming feast. Afterward, Nomi shows up and brings them up the west wall to watch the sunset, but it was spoiled by Darovit making fun of Kav (and Erin). He was then seen in cavern-hole enjoying the feast until Wuya the Toxic shows up.
The next day, he and his friends were being taught to fight by Volkner Streamdog until Koor informs the guosim were in trouble. When Erin and his friends see the massacre Wuya had made, they were rather horrified, and after helping the surviving shrews to Redwall, started sulking in cavern-hole until Bairdon managed to cheer them up with tales of his own close-calls, and they went back to training, but it was interrupted again when all moles sensed digging going on beneath the abbey, and after Alzbeta theorized it was Wuya, began digging themselves and foiled the vermin. After that, Brother Esuom brings the teens to the attic, where Martin's armor and shield are kept, and Kav dons the latter. Wuya later returns, but Erin and his friends stayed in Redwall as reserves, only to find out they were tricked when Alzbeta reported vermin scaling the rear wall. He himself squared off with Spikehand the mantis, and the vermin were once again thwarted.
When night fell, Erin persuades Kav to join him in standing guard for the abbey, in the rain, though he also just wanted to feel the rain on his bare-chested body, believing that it made him attractive, and got Kav to copy him, then they arrive to a porch where the girls were and show off to them. The next day, Parus the Manipulator arrives with stolen plans from Wuya, but was caught in the act of looting by Myotis. Although Parus escaped the abbey, Erin suspects Wuya will kill her for treachery (and Wuya does try to kill Parus). When night arrived, he was training again until Bairdon ask Myotis to accompany him on a stakeout to Moledeep to find Wuya, and if lucky kill her. Unknown to all of them, Wuya had been alerted to their plan and used it on her traitorous subordinate Tubemouth, with Myotis believing that the assassin-bug was Wuya when she killed him. By morning, Wuya proves she tricked them by showing up with a Battering ram, and while that distracted the abbey, she tries to sneak around again. Erin had proposed setting the ram on fire due to its shields being made of wood, and it works, all the while Wuya was thwarted yet again. After that, Erin once more took up guard-duty and saw Darovit approaching from his post, who had been missing for two days.
Unbeknown to all, Darovit had joined Wuya and the next morning, not long before dawn, Darovit lets in the horde and all residents, including Erin, were taken prisoner. When Wuya and Kav engaged in battle, Darovit, filled with guilt, freed everyone else and Erin was among those who fought the horde in a battle. Erin took down several before confronting Dytiscus the great-diving beetle. He tries to kill her by knocking her into the pond, believing she'd down, only for her to reveal her species were aquatic in nature. After seeing her shell was resistant to all weapons, he aims for the front of her, and does so with his quills: the first blow sent her back, and the next made her keel over, exposing her unprotected neck, which Erin pierced with his trident, cutting her head off. He then went to watch Kav and Wuya, and witnessed the mole emerge victorious.
In the aftermath, Kav tries to get Darovit pardoned for his betrayal, and while Darovit was thankful to Kav, he refuses to return to Redwall, and Erin actually felt awful at seeing him banishing himself. Most likely, he continued to remain in the abbey, and at one point found love.
===Parus Rides Again===
Erin remains in the abbey, and has hooked up with a female hedgehog named Hedwig, and now they have a daughter named Jori Quill. They were spending time together on a wall when Botaurus the great bittern arrives, and little did he know, but the bird was a spy for their old enemy Parus the Manipulator. During the party that honored Kav's warrior status, he catches his daughter trying to climb onto the arena-stage and promptly plucks her off. Parus later attends in the guise of a circus, but this was a ruse to abduct Kav's daughter Freja Furrel, and was successful, kidnapping not just Freja, but Zonder Banksnout and Ganner Grang too. He was accidentally woken up by Nomi, and wakes up fully when he hears Jori cry, and was about to panic when they find Jori covered in blood, but realized it wasn't her own. The only one who could provide answers was Spinus the Eurasian siskin, and Erin realizes Freja, the teens, Telma Furrel and Vakama Foeseeker were missing. Tragically though, the adults were found dead by Koor, and after getting the bodies to Redwall, he was in a meeting, and too all's shock, Alzbeta claims to have found a feather that belongs to Parus. Erin was especially taken aback as he thought for sure Wuya would kill her, and when they question why Parus would take Freja and the two teenagers, Erin compares it to Slagar the Cruel's, and turns up the most right. He later bids farewell to his wife and sets of with Kav, Alzbeta, Myotis and the witness Spinus.
With Spinus' guidance, they track Parus' whereabouts to where Saint Ninian's stood, though by the time they got there, Parus was long gone. When Alzbeta smelled more slaves, Erin remarks Parus had suddenly switched careers. They get interrupted by Myotis discovering a fight a little ways back. Arriving, they find the hares Jaxxon Thistledown and Poove battling Fleshtooth and Halfear. Erin personally saves Jaxxon from Fleshtooth and kills the weasel, and after disposing of the slavers and doing introductions, the redwallers discover Jaxxon and Poove were also after Parus due to the great-tit having taken the former's daughter Kasper Thistledown and all seven decide to follow together. During the trek, they run into Reggie Swordmaid, Howard Axehound and Sasha Churchmouse who were looking for Reggie's twin brother Russell Swordmaid, leading the seven to believe Parus had kidnapped yet another woodlander, but it brings their number up to ten.
The next day, all ten pursuers set off after Parus and by luck run into the guosim. Log-a-log Raoul sends up to ten shrews to join the ten, one of them being Láilá Bigboat, bringing the party up to twenty. Later in the day, they arrive at a swamp, but none saw Parus watching from the air. She later springs a trap on them: sending an army of toads to get rid of them, but it gets worse when a Baryonyx, unintentionally provoked by Poove, joins the attack, eventually cornering all the rescuers except Howard in a dead-end cave, but Howard manages to lure the dinosaur away, and once they were clear, Howard claims to have seen all their loved-ones temporarily free, though Erin agrees with Myotis on the possibility their loved-ones weren't the only slaves. Continuing to trek through the swamp, they make the gruesome discovery of finding Whitebelly dead and headless, with Erin deducing him to be civilized. Leaving the carcass behind, they set up camp in a clearing for the night, though during the night, Myotis arrives with Freja's friends Zootoca, Gjord and Algot Muskar, and the party reluctantly take them along.
Two days later, they finally catch up to Parus' lackeys at Great Inland Lake, only to find them in the midst of an argument. After Sasha kills Brownarm, they learn that Parus ditched them and took the slaves alone to Marlfox Island. Howard immediately kills Spearbeak when she tried to attack, while the remaining three (Fuzzface, Botaurus and Xof Chopsnout) smartly surrender. They later take their prisoners with them to the island by swimming in the water, but a freshwater plesiosaur claims the vermin's lives, leaving them to come up with a new plan. Luckily they reach Marlfox Island, then break free all the slaves before finding their loved ones, but after reuniting with their intended targets, Brafilius catches them in a trap, and the woodlanders were immediately backed up by the freed slaves. During the battle that ensued, Erin chased Parus, but only Myotis could keep up with her. He did however see Parus meet her end at the hands of another Brancasaurus, officially handing the woodlanders their victory, but at the cost of Spinus' life. They later return to Redwall victorious, and happily reunites with Hedwig and Jori. Several days later, his friend Alzbeta and Poove wed.
==Appearance==
He wears only a yellow-hose and his weapon is a Trident.
==Personality==
As is common for hedgehogs in the Redwall-universe, Erinaceus was kind and brave. He seems to be a slight ladies' man as he enjoys standing in the rain shirtless in the hopes to look irresistibly handsome and will pose in the rain to attract girls (and is not above passing this trait on to Kav). He also hates to be called "spikey-hair", which Darovit does to annoy him.
==Trivia==
*Erinaceus' name is derived from the genus name for the European hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus.
==Gallery==
Category:Hedgehogs
Category:Invasion of Bugs Characters
Category:Heroes
Category:Males
Category:Parus Rides Again characters