Falcon Oracles
Birds, particularly predatory ones, are an important aspects of the various religions and folklore practiced by the Humans of Adynía, in much the same way as serpents and bears for Elves and Dwarves, respectively. While eagles and hawks are most commonly featured in their mythologies and are often observed by priests for divination, the falcon oracles of Gedirkía, capital of the Sikíron Empire, are the most revered of such seers, who along with the Oracles of Terlataníanus fulfil a similar role as the Snake Oracles in elven cultures.
The oracle and his assistants live in up on Alkons Hill, where they have a permanent residence within the imperial palace, instead dedicating their lives to tend for and study the behaviour of the falcons that make their nests near a sacred spring on the palace grounds, and inform the royal family of any good or ill omens. They are expected to remain celibate and follow a strict diet of meat and eggs, and generally don't mingle much with the palace's residents.
While associated with Alkoníus, god of the sky who's usually depicted as a phoenix, falcon oracles are not solely picked from the aristocracy as other priests of the god, but instead are chosen based on a number of physical features, including an aquiline nose and large eyes, and thus come from a variety of different backgrounds. Despite their sometimes lowly origins, falcon oracles are the only people in the empire whom everyone, even the rulers of Sikíron, must bow to as they approach.
The oracle and his assistants live in up on Alkons Hill, where they have a permanent residence within the imperial palace, instead dedicating their lives to tend for and study the behaviour of the falcons that make their nests near a sacred spring on the palace grounds, and inform the royal family of any good or ill omens. They are expected to remain celibate and follow a strict diet of meat and eggs, and generally don't mingle much with the palace's residents.
While associated with Alkoníus, god of the sky who's usually depicted as a phoenix, falcon oracles are not solely picked from the aristocracy as other priests of the god, but instead are chosen based on a number of physical features, including an aquiline nose and large eyes, and thus come from a variety of different backgrounds. Despite their sometimes lowly origins, falcon oracles are the only people in the empire whom everyone, even the rulers of Sikíron, must bow to as they approach.
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