Tengu

Revision as of 06:05, 16 January 2014

Anatomy:

Birdmen warriors.

Birdpeople, also known as Birdfolk, are bipedal monsters with bird-like characteristics including feathers, beaks, talons, hard-but-light bones, scaled bird-like hands and feet and excellent vision. Birdmen are typically very lanky and somewhat tall. Birdwomen have a more diverse sizing, ranging from very short and stocky to very tall and slight. Birdpeople come in thousands of different color combinations and feather types. Naturally strong, bird people have high jumping and climbing capability due to their light bones. While able to leap and bound for great distances they cannot actually fly. Birdpeople are only able to have three hatchlings due to their low survival rate. When Birdpeople are born they have feathers as gray as the land itself. It is said that feather color come from personality and upbringing. When they arrive at adolescence their feathers become very vibrant and bright. As Birdpeople become older their feathers become darker and deeper in color. During summer months Birdpeople begin the mating process. During this time the male's feathers to molt and reveal red colored feathers. While all Birdmen have red feathers during mating, the shades, complimentary feather colors, and feather patterns vary greatly, each one unique to that birdman. Birdpeople live on a diet of grains and meats and jealously guard over their caches ever vigilant for thieves.

Personality:

Ever since the fall of Okah Birdpeople have been constantly at war, be it physically, politically, or mentally. However, despite their tendencies towards war, bird people are outwardly jubilant, silly, and sometimes ditzy. This is a social mechanism that allows no one to know their true motives, without disrupting social progress or political matters. Because death is so common in the Isle of Wind and Bone, Birdpeople often laugh it off as a joke, even if, internally, they are plotting vengeance. Birdpeople are narcissistic, self-hating racists. They are fairly neutral to most races, however, Birdpeople hold a special place of hatred in their hearts for other Birdpeople of different tribes. This stems from the constant warring between the tribes. Because other races do not have feathers, Bird people pity and patronize them. For a Birdperson, life without feathers or color is nothing less than a living hell. However, due to many monsters' colored skin or fur they are often more easily accepted by birdfolk. Since they lack color Birdpeople strongly dislike pinkies. Pinkies somewhat resemble hideous, featherless Birdpeople and are generally considered an abomination.

Lore:

Birdpeople live on a mysteriously remote island to the far west known as the Isle of Wind and Bone. It is there where nearly all Birdpeople live and die, few ever venturing from the isle. Socially, Birdpeople are seemingly kind, however, deep down every one of them contains the capacity for mindshattering violence. When insulted, Birdpeople will always retaliate with violence.

Their society is built as caste system based on the hatchling's order of birth. The firstborn hatchlings are destined to be high-class, often becoming leaders or great champions of battle. First born are also known as the Wind-bearers for it is believed that those born first hold within them the potential knowledge of everything past, present, and future. Second born are known as the Earth-bearers. The second born are often farmers, merchants, and shopkeepers. The Third born are called Bone-bearers. The third child is a living tool, often living with hundreds of other Bone-bearers in labor flocks. They make up the bulk of the labor force. Bone-bearers are seen as expendable yet valuable since they are the only once fit for hard labor in the mines and mills. Although the system is unchanging, the Birdpeople believe it is possible to change one's caste status by killing the sibling of a higher caste. It is believed that when one sibling is killed by another, their destiny is absorbed. This is why Birdpeople are instinctively fratricidal.

There is another caste in Birdfolk society, the little known and scarcely mentioned Fourth. The Fourth are Birdfolk children who have grown up parentless and alone. Their feathers never change color from the original gray and they spend their lives wandering the wastes picking a living from the barren rock. They are, for the most part, shunned completely from greater society however there are whispers of the Fourth forming a nomadic tribe out on the wastes.

The Isle of Wind and Bone:

80% of the isle is bleak, gray, and windy. The shoreline is a rocky steppe that eventually levels out into a wide plateau. The bleak landscape is devoid of color. This is why Birdpeople meticulously groom their feathers to make them shine and lend some color to the world. The climate of the Isle is between 20-65 degrees Fahrenheit depending on the season. The central part of the isle is the most fertile area and is also where most of the bird people reside.However, out in the flats there live scattered tribes of Birdpeople. These tribes are very mysterious and little is known about them.

The Isle of Wind and Bone as mapped by Sigurd Amundson.

The Isle of Wind and Bone is made mostly of volcanic rocks. The wide flats are former lava flows. Although all these volcanoes are now dormant. Generations ago, the Isle was not as it is now. Where there is nothing but gray wastes, there once were tall trees and wide grasslands. Large terrestrial birds roamed the lands while the great birds ruled the skies. Now only a few examples still thrive including the predatory terror raptors, the majestic and godlike grand eagles, and the herbivorous varieties the Birdpeople still hunt for food.

During this age there were actually two species of birdfolk: those bound to the ground and those who ruled the sky. These Sky Rulers were far smaller then their kin and were gifted with nimble hands made for tinkering and inventing. They lived in the trees in intricate homes and had a diet based on fruits and insects. Eventually though, the earth-bound Birdpeople began to cut down the trees for lumber and fuel. The Sky Rulers grew angry with their kin. Through a series of events lost to time they began a bloody war which tipped into the favor of those below due to their greater size, strenght, and population.

The war came to its climax and bloody conclusion on the Day of Night. The armies were gathering when the Isle began to shake and suddenly a great column of smoke rose from the mountain top and ash fell like rain across the Isle. Great fires spread across the grassland and through the forests. But still the armies clashed. A song is sung about this last flight of the Sky Rulers, it has been translated by Sigurd Amundson below:

During the day of night The winged brood took to the skies Wings bent in their last flight To battle went calling war cries Ash fell, they fell, bodies wrent. Battle songs shrill, blood they spilled. Until the last each died. Bodies crumpled, broken, 'neath the skies.

After the war's conclusion the remaining Birdpeople had a chance to rebuild. They lived in a age of relative peace for some time. After all those years the land grew tired. The hills were over-farmed and the land was stripped of trees. Wood and lumber have become the most valuable commodity on the Isle. The constant struggle for resources has led the Birdfolk tribes to more wars and in-fighting increasing their already deep distrust for their own kind.

Okah

The Isle

In the early age of the birdfolk their small island was known as Okah, or "mother". Okah was their protector and their provider. In return, the birdfolk protected and revered Okah's beauty living peacefully along side her. In these days the ancient birdfolk had the ability of flight and knew no bounds. The tribes lived peacefully alongside each other and there was no caste system. All her children were equal in the eyes of Okah. However, as time went on a birdman by the name of Pel Sharpbeak grew ambitious. He believed that birdfolk were capable much more than simple existence scratching a living from rocks. Pel was a dreamer, and believed that the world could be shaped to the desires of birdman and birdwoman alike. Pel took a simple obsidian axe and felled one of Okah's mightiest trees, and built a grand hall for himself. Fueled by creativity he began to manipulate the land as he saw fit, marring Okah. When others saw what he had done many were outraged they exiled Pel, banishing him from the forests to the wastes. However, Pel's actions had caught the attention of four other birdmen. They joined him on the edge and soon they founded a separate society, a new tribe. Others soon followed in suit intrigued by a new form of life. No longer bound by the constraints of their religion.

The new tribe began to hunger for resources that were scarce on the wastes and began to encrouch onto the more fertile lands desecrating sacred groves and chopping down trees. When the forest tribe (also known as the protectors of Okah) caught wind of Pels actions, they ordered them to cease their actions immediately. Pel responded by slaughtering the messengers and hoisting their bodies onto spears made from the very trees they were defending. Pel's response of blood against diplomacy encouraged his tribe to become more warlike. They began to conquer and enslave smaller villages in order to support themselves. They thrived and were known as War Wings. As they conquered the War Wings recruited more warriors. Soon he fielded a true army, the first of its kind on the Isle.

Realizing that there was no other alternative, the Birdfolk of the forest chose to wage open war on Pel and his heretic tribe. Trails of fire and smoke traced the bloody route of their engagements. The earth began to quake and the great Bald Peak began to smoke. Okah was clearly enraged by Pel's actions.

Pel's victories drove the Army of Okah north onto High Feather Point. Alas they met for their final battle just South of Bald Peak and west of Hawkbeak Bay. During the climax of the battle the earth quaked with great violence. Late in the afternoon Pel's tribe gained the upper hand and the protectors of Okah retreated towards the Eries covered by the emerging darkness. Pel pursued his enemies relentlessly ignoring the protests of Okah. Finally, as the last rays of sunlight faded, the snow-capped peak cracked belching fire and smoke. A great wave of heated ash poured forth from the mountain and seeped across the Shells and the Wastes. Fires spread across the forests that burned for weeks. Ash fell from the sky blanketing the land and choking the rivers. Even the sea itself turned gray.

Pel and many of his followers survived the eruption but found life to be very difficult after the war. Food was scarce and that passed through the fires unscathed was the deep bowl valley in the center of the island. They attacked this stronghold but the brave defenders repelled their advances. Eventually Pel and his people returned to the Flats and took to hunting and fishing for food. In time they were able to farm and thrive. Even the trees began to grow back but these were often mistreated and cut down for fuel and tools. Eventually they became the many tribes of the Birdfolk, colonizing the rest of the Isle although their wings grew weak and diminutive and so they lost the ability to fly. Meanwhile the defenders of the forests became the Broad Wings and continue to defend their homeland to this day.

Birdfolk Tribes

Talons The Talons are a tribe who focus primarily on hunting. They are skilled in the uses of leather slings and can kill with a well placed stone to the temple. No prey item is safe from the terrestrial birds to those in the skies. They reside mostly on the Flats and have some cities on Cape Talon. They are reclusive creatures. They like to make flutes from the hallow bones of their prey. In the dark nights you can hear their music carried by the wind over the hills.

Hawkbeaks Hawkbeaks live in coastal dwellings along the eastern coast of the Isle. They have one major mecca in the jaws of Hawkbeak Bay. The only major building is a stone gladiator pit where young Hawkbeaks test their skills of war. From a young age they are taught how to fight using spear and knife. Once they reach manhood, Wind-Bearers of this tribe are given a hatchling terror raptor to raise. Once the raptor reaches adulthood itself it becomes a terrifying mount which Hawkbeaks ride into battle.

Divers Divers are generally peaceful and skittish tribe. They keep to the southern coasts and inlets. Divers are the most skilled fisherman. They practice incredible patience sometimes standing along the shore, in waist deep water, or atop a rock watching the waters carefully choosing their moment to dive in and catch their pray. Some use spears but most enjoy the thrill of catching the fish in their beak.

Water Riders Otherwise known as the Shells. These outcast Birdpeople live on the Shell islands on the west side of the Isle. They once built incredible ships that could fly across the waters and would raid the Bright Feathers and Eagle's Sons for food and valuables. As wood is now in short supply, they are "shells of themselves" scratching a living off rocks. They are still the finest swimmers of all the tribes.

Bright Feathers' As their name implies, these Birdpeople have the grandest plumage. Even though well endowed at birth, they still feel the need to highlight their superior grooming with fine gems which they mine from the Eyrie Mountains. They can be found living in cave dwellings all throughout those mountains although they are most common on High Feather Point. Naturally, due to this material wealth and life style, the Bright Feather's are thought to be rather snobbish and pretentious (although this may just be a stereotype).

Broad Wings The last tribe closely resemble the Sky Rulers of the ages past. Just like them, Broad Wings are slightly of smaller stature and have a knack for invention. They are flightless like the other tribes but they lightest of them can glide gracefully from tree to tree. Broad Wings build their homes in the last trees of the Isle which they guard with their lives. They make the strongest weapons and construct devilish traps. Broad Wings are also very fast and nimble, able to outmaneuver most opponents. They worship the large eagles that live in the Valley of Bones (the place where they leave their dead to rot and decay - it is a holy place for all the Birdpeople to dispose of the dead and is so a honored place of peace).

List of Known Birdpeople

Cyrano

Birdpeople trivia:

-When one Birdperson defeats another in battle it is a common ritual to skin and wear their pelt to show their strength.

-Because of their love of their own feathers, a common punishment for breaking the law is to remove a number of feathers from the criminal based on the severity of the crime.

-Birdpeople take great stock in sweets, meats, feathers, and dead birdpeople. So much that they will go to war to obtain them.

-In addition to feathers, bones are a highly valuable commodity in Birdfolk society. Value is based on shape, size, and hardness.

-All Birdpeople have a two part name. Their first name is a given name by their parents and their second name is a physical attribute unique to them. Some second name examples include: Long-Beak, Strong-Song, Loud-Screech etc.

-When aroused, Birdpeople's legs turn red.

-Birdpeople's feces makes a fine pancake batter.

-Birdmen's beaks are a known aphrodisiac. If a beak is ground into a fine powder and consumed with tea or another liquid, it stimulates sexual prowess for hours on end. If the powder is consumed in a greater concentration (like inhaling) it can cause explosive results in the genitalia of the consumer (i.e. detachment in a rocket-like manner). Alternatively, a Birdwomen's beak is a equally powerful laxative when consumed in a similar way. Again, if consumed improperly, the results are explosive causing complete intestinal ejection. The Birdpeople are hunted and prized for their beaks.

-Because of constant danger Birdpeople have become more and more hostile, often preemptively attacking and raiding others for both safety and sheer joy.

-When preparing for battle birdpeople will often envison the enemy as giant cuts of meat(A.K.A Pinkies) or other birdpeople in order to have maximum killing mentality.

-Birdpeople have many reasons for killing pinkies, but the biggest one is because its fun. Other reasons include flavor, texture, revenge, and arousal.