Strix Owl

Strix owls are nocturnal and crepuscular hunters, flying close to the ground and hunting small mammals with their incredible hearing. They will dive to the ground to capture prey, their long and slender talons perfect for plucking up rodents from thick foliage, sand or snow! Broad wings also allow them to maneuver and turn swiftly. Hunting best in total darkness, they navigate and identify prey mostly by sound. Between asymetrical ears, a heart-shaped facial disk which draws in sound and powerful ears, they have one of the best senses of hearing in Emynea, before even utilizing their racial magic. Adding to their adaptions are specialized feathers which render their flight silent, gliding quietly in the darkness. These qualities have only been amplified by their kaithur!

Strix mainly hunt rodents like voles, gophers, shrews, mice and rats. Baby rabbits or hares, muskrats, bats, frogs, lizards, fish, spiders, birds and insects are also taken opportunistically. They prefer to hunt in open spaces such as grasslands and fields, set atop low perches. Other birds like Itri Raven have a tendency to mob and steal their kills so some owls modify the timing of their hunt to evade competition. Because of their high metabolic rate, they need to eat a considerable amount of food to survive, sometimes up to fourteen percent of its body weight in a day! For this reason, they kill more than they can eat and store food for when prey is scarce. This habit has led to farmers valuing them as ideal pest control!

Strix owls have a unique call rather than hooting as other owls do, a piercing and ear-splitting schreech which is unsettlingly long and drawn out. By contrast, males are more prone to shrill twitters, purring and chirruping. Yet when they feel threatened, Strix will flail onto their back and kick with sharp talons--its a poor choice to approach them in this state! Despite their skill as a hunter, they are not an apex predator. Other birds such as eagles, hawks and larger owls may still prey on them alongside much larger predators.

Strix owls are monogomous, mating for life and only forming new pairs if their partner dies. Despite this lifelong pairing, they prefer to roost in separate nests but still share their home range with each other. They only come together during breeding season, preferring a solitary lifestyle. Regularly cycling between several nests throughout their territory, they pick a single large nest for their brood. In the time leading up to breeding, the male pampers the female, feeding her and showing off with dramatic flight displays. Younger and newer pairings are especially prone to these displays as he tries to strengthen their relationship. Once she reaches an appropriate weight, he enacts a ritual presentation of food before they mate.

She lays around four eggs, nesting within hollow trees, abandoned buldings and cliffs. Her mate will continually provide her with food, even piling it next to her as she incubates the eggs. This takes around thirty days, the eggs hatching over the course of several weeks rather than all at once. Chicks will shuffle around the nest after a week, their mother shredding up food for them. Strix chicks are covered in a grey-white down which fails to cover them completely, appearing more and more naked as they grow bigger. They will not sprout quills until three weeks!

Their mother will leave the nest when the chicks reach four weeks old, nesting elsewhere but still returning to care for them. Fledgelings begin to leave the nest for the first time at six weeks old but continue to depend on their parents until they are thirteen weeks old, their mother teaching them how to find and catch prey. Strix owls are short lived, most dying witihin their first year of life while the rest only live 1-4 years. Despite these abysmal averages, they are fully capable of living for more than 25 years or more!

Owls in general have a complex place in Emynean culture and lore, considered a symbol for both Kanilwyr and Irkath. There is a stark contrast beween those who regard them highly and those who hate and fear them.

Sometimes seen as birds of evil omen, called by names such as demon owl, death owl or ghost owl. The Espanol believe these birds hate light, putting out lanterns in holy sites to leave them vulnerable to evil spirits. Their eerie call is considered an announcement of death, hearing them for several nights meaning someone will lose their life. It is believed to be an ideal familiar or beast companion for dark casters and evil mages, sent by their masters to kill their enemies or gather their blood. The Italiani as well associate them with death or illnes. They are attached to the unknown, Irkath, as they are beasts which appear in darkness, when humanity is helpless and blind. People hear their eerie call and feel death is iminent. The Arabiyy also view them as a bad omen, believing them evil spirits which carry away souls in the night or are the restless souls of the un-avenged. They are viewed as bad luck, announcers of death and desolation.

To the Quiris and Hellenes, these owls are assocated with Athena, goddess of wisdom and the Quiris alias for Kanilwyr. These owl are seen as a protector, accompaniying armies into war. It is believed they warn people of incoming disaster and deaths of important people. Bloodmages practicing true magic were once believed to transform into owls in order to collect the blood of victims for their magic but it was far more common for them to utilize owls as their minions in order to carry out these tasks. In Parsa, the Strix is a sacred animal associated with Lithmor and they are also well regarded by the Daoine as Irkath's messengers.