Avir
Avir are bird hybrid creatures with humanoid bodies and bird features.
Avir may also assign an additional 2 points across the following abilities: Athletics, History, Medicine, Perform, Survival, and Unarmed.
Due to their love of flying and their history of indentured servitude, many avir have a deep-rooted, culturally-induced fear of restraint or confinement. Avir with this phobia must pass a Wisdom + Courage save (difficulty 5) whenever they are prevented from moving, or are terrified into inaction. For some avir this phobia extends not only to physical impediment, but also to inability to fly or manifests as claustrophobia as well.
Whilst all avir have digits ending in talons, some have been fortunate enough to inherit strong enough talons that they serve as natural weapons. These avir have unarmed strikes that deal a base 1d4 slashing damage.
Creation
Attribute & Skill Ranks
Avir are agile, perceptive people that learn what they can about the world through first hand experience. As such, avir gain +1 Dexterity and a further +1 Perception or Wisdom at character creation.Avir may also assign an additional 2 points across the following abilities: Athletics, History, Medicine, Perform, Survival, and Unarmed.
Details
Weaknesses & Resistances
Whilst less infamous for it than cornixes, some avir suffer from a chronic sense of Kleptomania, whereby they must pass a Wisdom + Meditate save (difficulty 5) to avoid stealing anything that looks particularly beautiful or shiny. Some avir have a particular type of treasure they covet, whilst others will take anything that looks remotely pretty.Due to their love of flying and their history of indentured servitude, many avir have a deep-rooted, culturally-induced fear of restraint or confinement. Avir with this phobia must pass a Wisdom + Courage save (difficulty 5) whenever they are prevented from moving, or are terrified into inaction. For some avir this phobia extends not only to physical impediment, but also to inability to fly or manifests as claustrophobia as well.
Traits, Spells, & Special Abilities
As with most avian humanoids, avir have wings and the ability to fly whilst unencumbered.Whilst all avir have digits ending in talons, some have been fortunate enough to inherit strong enough talons that they serve as natural weapons. These avir have unarmed strikes that deal a base 1d4 slashing damage.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Avir are covered in feathers that can take on a variety of colours. This species exhibits sexual dimorphism, whereby the males have more colourful feathers of red, orange, and yellow hues, whilst females have plainer plumages of greys and browns. The specific plumage and beak morphologies of an avir are often indicative of their flock, as these features tend to exhibit high degrees of inter-flock variation.
Avir have long, slender legs that bear little-to-no plumage. The digits on their hands and feet end in impressive talons that are ill-designed for long periods of movement along the ground.
Avir have long, slender legs that bear little-to-no plumage. The digits on their hands and feet end in impressive talons that are ill-designed for long periods of movement along the ground.
Genetics and Reproduction
Avir lay eggs which they will tend to until they hatch. For many avir this is one of the only worthwhile reasons one might willingly leave the sky.
Growth Rate & Stages
Avir are very precocious. Very few take even a year of development to learn to fly, and they reach maturity between the ages of 3 and 6.
Ecology and Habitats
Avir tend to reside in mountaintop or woodland treehouses, known as roosts. The ideal place for avir to settle is as a treetop community of roosts situated in a mountain forest where the open sky can be seen all around.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Avir lay claim to large swathes of territories, often anywhere within a day's flight that they can see from their roosts. This has led to more than a few historical border conflicts with other species, and in fact even within their own flocks.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Avir tend to follow strict social castes. It is an uncouth occurrence for one of high social standing to stood to mingling with another from a lower caste. Allocation into these castes follow a few rough rules, including beauty, age, and displays of strength or ferocity. Movement between castes is almost always possible through duels and challenges.
A leader will often seek the counsel of a celestial druid, whose role it is to read the weather and advise on the best course of action for the flock.
A leader will often seek the counsel of a celestial druid, whose role it is to read the weather and advise on the best course of action for the flock.
Civilization and Culture
Major Organizations
Avir are often nomadic, or at the very least migratory. They often take up roles that facilitate travel, such as scouts or explorers.
Beauty Ideals
Cleanliness is a key feature of avir beauty standards, particularly with regards to one's plumage. Avir will strive to keep their feathers looking clean and of good quality in the hopes of being seen as beautiful.
Gender Ideals
Avir are typically patriarchal. The ideal male is one that is seen to rule the flock, keeping order through shows of strength and beauty whilst protecting them as a stalwart and perceptive sentinel. The ideal male is epitomised as one that demonstrates their right to rule fiercely, stands as a proud and beautiful reminder to his lessers, but puts the needs of the weaker and needier before himself, often leaving his own needs until last.
The ideal female is not necessarily epitomised by beauty, as aesthetics are often seen to be a man's game. Rather, the ideal female is considered to be a woman of nurture; a literal mother hen.
The ideal female is not necessarily epitomised by beauty, as aesthetics are often seen to be a man's game. Rather, the ideal female is considered to be a woman of nurture; a literal mother hen.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Avir speak a language that many other sapient species colloquially refer to as "Bird Call". The language is formally called Passerine, consisting of a complex array of whistles, chirps, and chucks. However, Avir are capable of speaking other languages, and in fact many are fluent in Dratoran, but their dialects are still often punctuated with some of the characteristic Passerine sounds.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Avir are often considered to be masters of the skies among sapient, humanoid races. Their constitution for extended periods of flight and manoeuvrability whilst in the air makes them truly formidable whilst in flight. Incidentally, this is also the reason many were taken as exotic slaves in their early history.
Singing is a pillar of avir society. Avir often speak in a melodic tone, often accentuating their words with chucks and whistles for emphasis. To many other species these come across as verbal ticks, and the nuanced intricacies are often overlooked.
Avir are quite a private people. Their history, which is littered with instances of slavery, persecution, or just general hostility, have driven many flocks to hold fast to their ways and demonstrate an unwillingness to share them with outsiders. Consequently, many flocks relish in peaceful solitude from other species.
Singing is a pillar of avir society. Avir often speak in a melodic tone, often accentuating their words with chucks and whistles for emphasis. To many other species these come across as verbal ticks, and the nuanced intricacies are often overlooked.
Avir are quite a private people. Their history, which is littered with instances of slavery, persecution, or just general hostility, have driven many flocks to hold fast to their ways and demonstrate an unwillingness to share them with outsiders. Consequently, many flocks relish in peaceful solitude from other species.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Avir gather for group bathing sessions, typically after a long and arduous journey, to return themselves to a clean and pristine standard. These are communal events that often see entire flocks descending for at once.
History
Many avir entered new lands as pioneers, explorers that had travelled great distances to settle in new and exotic places. Others arrived as refugees, escaping slavery and destruction of their natural homes.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Avir have often come into conflict with dragonoids, with whom they occasionally have to share the sky. Typically xenophobic, the dragonoids are seldom willing to share their airspace amicably, and the territorial avir often find the feeling mutual. A similar sentiment is shared with gargoyles, which many avir flocks have come to adopt as cautionary tales and monsters of legend.
Avir hold air Numen in high regard, admiring their lack of attachment to one fixed feature like many of the other Numen, and will often seek to collaborate with such beings.
Avir hold air Numen in high regard, admiring their lack of attachment to one fixed feature like many of the other Numen, and will often seek to collaborate with such beings.
Lifespan
The average avir lives around 30 years.
Average Height
The average avir stands around 5'0" tall.
Average Weight
The average avir weighs 35-45kg.
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