Crovae

A corvid-looking people that are dispersed throughout Belkora. They supposedly once had a large well of magical ability, but at some point, the magic left them, leaving them unable to perform true magic and stripping them of their once luxurious wings. This has led many to distrust crovae and treat them as natural theives. Similar to their, corvid cousins, crovae also have an innate ability to mimic sounds that they hear almost perfectly, although this tends to diminish over time.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Crovae are a bipedal folk that look similar to walking crovids, primarily crows and ravens. They largely look similar to humans, but their legs look like bird legs, with high ankles and long feet ending in talons. Their arms however look more human-like, only covered in feathers instead of hair. Also, unlike most kiried folk, crovae have little to no sexual dimorphism. At most, male crovae have larger beaks on average. Supposedly, crovae had wings long ago, but they have long since lost them, leave them with smooth backs. Additionally, crovae tend to have lighter bones that other kiried folk, although they are not as hollow or brittle as actual birds.

Genetics and Reproduction

Crovae will usually reproduce later in life, finding a monogamous mate to settle down with. When a couple reproduces, a female crovae will lay an egg that hatches after a few months, sometimes laying another egg within a few days. Once the crovae hatches, they are not self-sufficient, and require the aid of parents and possible siblings.

Growth Rate & Stages

While needing the help of their family when born, crovae grow much faster than many other kiried folk, becoming largely self sufficient by age five, when they hit their version of puberty, although they still usually stay with their families until their late teens or early twenties, when they are fully biologically mature. From there, crovae largely will stay the same until their deaths in their 60s to 80s.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Being omnivorous, crovae will eat almost anything, although they prefer meat and nuts. They will often hunt for small rodents available to them, generally avoiding larger game when the hunt. If desperate, crovae are known to scavenge through trash or eat insects, taking advantage of things that other people consider inedible.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Crovae are seen all over Belkora, especially on the mainland. The main places they are found are in Silrioch, Auronim, and Agrotia as the more temperate climate there is better for the avian people. They have no centralized homeland, unlike all other kiried folk throughout the land. Historians have several theories on where the crovae originated from, but there are none that are widely accepted by everyone.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Because they can mimic not just voices but sounds as well, crovae will often take on names that make use of this by being just a sound. Among non-crovae, they will usually go by a simple onomatopoeia of that noise, such as Crash or Whistle. This noise-name can be used among other crovae to indicate where they are from based on the sounds that are localized.

Major Organizations

To make up for how the world often treats them, the crovae have developed something called Kindness Flocks, or Kinfloes. These Kinfloes are small community groups that reach out and help crovae that need it, whether they live in the settlement or are just passing through. To function properly, the Kinfloes usually need to make sympathetic contacts within a settlement both to help get funds and find jobs that crovae can get with little trouble. The only major settlement to not have a Kinflo is Auronim, as the leaders crack down on them as "criminal groups."

Contrasting with Kinfloes, the other main group that takes in crovae are the Last Inheritors, a group of crovae mercenaries who are hunting for any clue as to where the old homeland was so they can find the lost treasure of the gods and regain their wings. They take any mercenary work offered to them to get the money to fund their expeditions to find the homeland. They are hostile to non-crovae and refuse to let any in their rank.

Beauty Ideals

When crovae talk about the attractive qualities in others of their kind, they will usually cite one of two things: their mimicry and their feathers. A crovid's skill in mimicking sounds and voices is often seen as an attractive feature, and is valued by many crovae. With feathers, the color and the sheen are often cited when describing a crovid's beauty, with dark feathers and a high sheen are generally seen as conventionally attractive.

Gender Ideals

Ancient crovae supposedly had no concept of gender beyond who could lay eggs and who couldn't. However, in the modern day, despite having little visible difference between sexes, crovae generally conform to the gender norms of wherever they live, although they do not always link gender and sex, reversing gender roles without considering the implications that other cultures have.

Courtship Ideals

When crovae try to court each other, they generally begin with a long period where they trade food items back and forth until they eventually decide to initiate a deeper relationship. To do this, the male will indicate his desire for this relationship by prostrating himself before the target of his courtship as he begins an ancient song. If the female reciprocates, she will finish the song as she dances towards the male, until the two are before each other and they seal the relationship with a kiss. Traditionally, this would be considered marriage, and among the Last Inheritors it still is. However, among the modern crovae, they will usually follow this ritual up with a marriage ceremony similar to the non-crovae around them to be considered "official."

Relationship Ideals

Crovae generally pair for life, being careful with their partner selection to account for this. The relationship itself is viewed as an equal partnership, where both partners perform whatever responsibility is necessary, with no gender divide between them. Even within other cultures, crovae rarely bother with a gender-based division of labor within a relationship. The main responsibility crovae have to their partner is to support them in any way they would hope to be supported in return. Because birth is more impersonal than among folk that have live birth, crovae also rarely treat the role of a mother or father as different, and both parents are expected to be a part of a child's life.

Common Taboos

Because crovae deal with hatred and suspicion from other peoples, the only real taboo among crovae is to betray a fellow crovid. If a Kinflo gets word that a crovid betrayed another, they will often suspend any support for the crovid in question.

History

According to the legends, crovae were once mythical messengers of the gods, flying on majestic wings across the world, carrying messages from all over. They eventually committed a great crime against the gods, stealing one of their sacred treasures and hiding it in their homeland. When no crovae chose to return the treasure, the gods stripped them of their magic and their wings, scattering them across Belkora.

From then on, it became the goal of all crovae to either find a way to circumvent their curse or to find the lost treasure to regain the favor of the gods. In the meantime, they have to try and find their way in the kingdoms of other people, who often view the crovae with mistrust, both because of their godly curse, and their association with crows and ravens.

Lifespan

70 years

Average Height

4-5 feet

Average Physique

Crovae tend to be a smaller stature, with low muscle mass. While sometimes a crovid can build up some amount of muscles, past a certain point, their lighter bones have a difficult time carrying the weight and they have joint issues.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Crovae generally have black feathers all over their body with dark legs and beak. However, there are known to be crovae with other feather colors, usually white body feathers, or even being fully ecru. Rarely, there are even known to be blue crovae with a black feathers around their eyes.