Teru Tribe

The Teru Tribe (テル族, teruzoku^?, lit. "Teru Race"), also known as Necrofamilies (妖家, youke^?, lit. "Calamity Families") by the people of Sol Cluster, are a group of half-dragon people, which have a tail and horns on their head, and they have an average life span of roughly 200 years. They also protected the land of Sol Ciel from the Viruses with the Apostles of Elemia at the end of the Second Era. They were held responsible for the Grathnode Inferia incident after they broke their neutrality agreement near the end of the Sol Ciel-Sol Cluster war and take upon themselves to prevent people from traversing the Tower following the Covenant of Elemia.

There are 12 families, each with their own familiars and spells. From what is it currently known, each one of the Teru families are actually halfbloods from a Human and a different "non-Human" creature. However, none of the twelve creatures that gave birth to the current 12 Teru families are known at the moment.

History of the Teru, and Current Lifestyle

Although the knowledge of their origin is long lost, the Teru are the descendants of a human scouting party that was sent from Ra Ciela, the very party that originally discovered Ar Ciel. To survive their journey, they merged with the Genom Terefunken, becoming the first of the Teru.

The Teru first appeared in the history of Ar Ciel a long time ago, in the region of Justine. A group of humans who had settled within the hallowed Forest of Shelanoir encountered some strange creatures from other world, and began living with them. Eventually, they bred together, which gave birth to the first Teru. The Teru them kept themselves mostly isolated from the rest of the world, living in harmony with the natural world, and protecting the sacred forest like the boy Ryugg, from their epic ZeeiFaLea myth, did. However, they many times had to fight against the humans who tried to destroy their forests for their own personal gains, which led to many wars with the neighboring nations of El Duel and El Daijyella.

Eventually, they built their first settlements, beginning with the Justine Village. Their construction efforts then culminated in the construction of their largest temple, called the Grand Temple of Em Pheyna, in which the universal truth for them was finally consolidated. It was during this time that the Teru developed their abilities to talk with other forms of life, and managed to make a bond with them, which developed into the act we know as "finding a familiar" in the current times.

After some time, they began dispersing throughout the regions of Ar Ciel, which was when they finally made contact with the nation of El Elemia, located at the other side of the sea, in the region of Sol Ciel.

There, they cooperated with the Humans for the development and creation of Ar tonelico. However, since Ar tonelico was also the cause for the world losing its land and sky, the Teru regretted it, and as if it were to keep the people from repeating these mistakes again, they decided to watch over the tower's resources so no one could be able to use them. While they do possess very advanced technology and knowledge, they unexpectedly live a primitive lifestyle. However, they also protect the facility that acts as a lifeline to this world: the Crescent Chronicle. However, they got much less strict about this and began opening to the Humans and Reyvateils again after Mir was finally defeated and redeemed.

In the setting of Ar tonelico II, Metafalss, they also had the role of helping with the design and construction of Infel Phira. They received the name of the People of Mio, given that they also had the role of supporting the Maiden of Mio, and resided in the Kanakana Pier. In the current times, the Teru population in Metafalss is rather low, with only a few pureblooded Terus still living, having jobs as Dive Shop clerks, and the other living ones are all halfbreeds between Terus, Humans, and Reyvateils.

On the other hand, in the region of Sol Cluster, setting of Knell of Ar Ciel, the Terus were hunted down like animals because of being the responsibles behind the Grathnode Inferia and the repeated Antibody invasions, and due to this, they were exterminated almost completely in a war decades prior to the game's start. Sol Cluster used to have the largest Teru population in Ar Ciel, due to having the Teru region of Justine as neighbor, and due to this extermination, the already scarce Teru population got reduced only to the few ones that still remained in Sol Ciel and Metafalss.

The 12 Teru Families

Family	Necrofamily Name	Characteristic Second Name	Characteristic Familiar	Unique Power
Munoph	Ayatane	Pel	(None)	Clairvoyance
Plune	Gu	Nene	Gnome	Translation (transportation)
Nino	Homuragi	Ray	Owl	Listening to Voices (from the Heavens)
Zeppen	Urokai	Plue	Cat	Transformation
Jemina	Ryuuhi	Ross	Falcon	Teleportation
Sarra	(None)	Ma	Lilim	Superpower (explosions)
Ougus	(None)	Zak	Banshee	Rain Prayer (Ability to change the weather)
Alca	Hoshiwata	De	Flying Dragon	Wish Fulfillment
Oca	(None)	Lu	Pixie	Puppet Manipulation
Noraph	(None)	Sora	Cropocle	Telepathy
Deenel	(None)	Vee	Dryad	Growth Acceleration
Purarura	(None)	Low	Doppelganger	Reincarnation

Note: The Necrofamily Name is only applied to the Families whose members participated in the Sol Ciel-Sol Cluster war, and were involved in the Grathnode Inferia.

Relationship Between the Teru and their Familiars

The Terus can live approximately 200 years, and they are divided into 12 schools, depending on the form of the abilities they can use. When they reach the age for their coming of age ceremony, they are are sent out to search for a little fairy, and they cannot return to their home until them. The kind of fairy they need to find differs depending on the school to which they belong. When the fairy recognizes the Teru as worthy of him/her, he/she becomes his/her lifelong partner, and from that time onwards, it will be called his/her Familiar. Furthermore, the Teru are able to use powers that are even stronger than the ones the Moon Chanter could use. Because of the exchange of [Magic] and [Science] between the Humans and Terus it was that their civilizations could progress and evolve, and the realization of Ar tonelico is also related to these exchanges.

Notable Teru Tribe Members

Jack Hamilton (true name: Harmonica De Pameli), Flute Ross Loria, Lyra Ross Ritel, Tastiella De Lu, Adagio Low Vitis, Andante Plue Vitis, Amarie Gelade, Lakra (true name: Sonia Ray Lacua), Chester Lu Whinoah, Ayatane Kureha Kirinami, Ayatane Michitaka Kirinami.