Qua'thal
Qua'thal means 'the ones that sing'
Big flying beasts that soar the skies. instilling a sense of wonder when they fly over in pods of 6-15 members.
While they fly they make pitch-like sounds and songs. One beast can sing simultaneously in both high and low frequencies in harmony.
They also squeak, beep, click and tick. They use this as a form of communication. Qua-thali take refuge high up in the mountains.
They are using the mountain peaks as their lookout to find prey, primarily megafauna. Using clever tactics they can take down prey much bigger than themselves such as Copperhorn. They avoid the habitat of the Drayi as qua'thali are highly sensitive to sounds. Though they take refuge in the mountains, they can easily fly great distances from one mountain range to another. Something they often do.
As qua'thali fly they leave behind a trail of thin [shimmering dust] that is highly nutritious for plants. (especially to the [.. flower .. ]). This led to the dwarves placing offerings in the form of food in the middle of their fields and food forests to entice the qua'thali to fly over them and fertilize the area. As qua'thali never stay in one place for more than a few years, as soon as they leave one nesting spot, the dwarves try to climb to their nesting peak and collect the earth and snow from up there that is packed with [shimmerdust].
Over time this built up a relationship where qua'thali don't attack the dwarves, and in turn for the food offerings, act as lookouts for them against predators. Using specific songs for specific predators. After a while, the dwarves learned to understand some of the meanings of the songs. Though, the songs are highly emotional, the dwarves often understand intuitively the rough meaning of the songs, even if they don't know what it means specifically.
One time during a particularly dire famine, the Lesi Dîn dwarves trapped one of the Qua'thal, hoping to harvest the fertilizing [shimmerdust]. Leading to a violent attack from the qua'thal, and many dwarves and qua'thali dying. To this day the Qua'thali still avoid the [Lesi forests] and the north-western parts of the Kiridûn mountains.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Qua'thal have 4 wings. Two large wings for flying, and two smaller wings. These smaller wings give them extra agility in the air, and extra stability while perched. Along the outer edge of these smaller wings is one special feather: one that is more like a sharpened knife than a feather. While flying they use these sharp edges to cut their prey, causing them to bleed out.
At the 'knuckle' of each wing is a small claw. These claws give the qua'thali extra stability when perching in or climbing steep mountainous regions. They can also lift their entire body off the ground while standing on their four wings, leaving their claws and jaws free for more delicate manipulation.
The tails of Qua'thali consist of a number of long, soft, curvy feathers that flow behind them gracefully.
Average Physique
Strong, furry and feathery beasts with 4 wings.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
White and grey fur and feathers. Their tail feathers are a mix of gold and blue.
Geographic Distribution
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