Strix Owl
Racial Magic
First Ability
Sonildaz's Ear
Able to hear any sound within a certain distance, regardless of volume or hindrances. With practice, they can control which sounds they can focus on or ignore. Used as their main sense when hunting, especially in total darkness.
Second Ability
Irkath or Kanilwyr's Vision
by Lee Stepp
Able to enter a meditative state, astral projecting into Irkath's Plane or Kanilwyr's Plane. They can peek through portals of the plane and can parse through knowledge and memories stored here. It can be difficult to maneuver Irkath's Plane, which is a web of cryptic and vague metaphors, while Kanilwyr's Plane is very well organized, like a library. Irkath does not give up his secrets freely, enjoying riddles, while Kanilwyr doesn't allow those perusing her collection to view memories of others without permision.
Azowyr's Movement
by Lee Stepp
Able to walk on, step on, swim through or move using dark enough shadows regardless of gravity or lack of physical surfaces. Shadows can act as a solid foothold for them. They can also breifly turn their body into shadow, travel along exiting shadows and reform elsewhere, even fitting through the tiniest of cracks. However, they can be killed by light in this state and are capable of being restrained using shadow magic, shadows solid to their touch.
Azowyr's Manipulation
Able to manipulate, reshape, intensify and control shadows present in their environment. Most used to intensify shadows and darken their environment amid a hunt or to escape. Ineffective during the day when shadows are scarce.
These are perhaps one of the most common species of owl in Eluziar and Alkelbulan, a small but effective hunter common to wide open spaces and small woodlands. Like most owls, they are nocturnal and prefer hunting in as dark an environment as possible thanks to their excellent hearing and silent flight. They especially enjoy hunting in the Tenebrous Chain for this reason but they easily adapt to almost any habitat. Strix owls are both held in high regard and seen as ill omens depending who you ask. They are most sought after as familiars for both their excellent perception and their ability to peek into either Irkath's Plane or Kanilwyr's Plane. Mages, especially bloodmages, choose them as their familiar or at least as a beast companion!
Basic Information
Anatomy
by Lee Stepp
Original Ancestor
Alba Barn Owl
Size
Wingspan: 2.5-3 ft (79-94 cm)
Weight: 8.8-17 oz (250-480 g)
Coloration
Genetics and Reproduction
by Lee Stepp
Strix owls are monogomous, mating for life and only forming new pairs if their partner dies. Despite this lifelong pairing, they usually roost in separate nests and share their home range with each other, coming together during breeding season. Possessing several nests throughout their territory, they will cycle through these but pick a single larger nest for breeding. In the time leading up to breeding, the male will often feed the female and show off with dramatic flight displays. Younger and newer pairings are especially prone to these, as he tries to strengthen their relationship. Once she reaches an appropriate weight he will enact a ritual presentation of food before they mate.
The female usually lays around four eggs, making their nest within hollow trees, old 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, 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. They will not sprout quills until three weeks.
Their mother will leave their nest when they are around four weeks old, nesting elsewhere but still caring for them. Fledgelings begin to leave the nest for the first time at six weeks 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 usuallly only live 1-4 years. Despite this, they are capable of living for more than 25 years or more!
Ecology and Habitats
by Lee Stepp
This is one of the most widely distributed owls in Emynea but this variant c alls northern Alkelbulan home. They can be found along the coasts and mountains of the Shamsi Desert and all across Sesli Plato, Kemet, Dawn Ahrayn, Arya, Flumen Pontem and Eluziar. While they can be found in nearly every kind of habitat, they prefer open woodland, heath and moores, most commonly found in the Tenebrous Chain in Eluziar, especially Lacuna Heath and Umbral Silva. Strix will roost in tree hollows, caves, wells, thick foliage and abandoned buildings during the day. They also enjoy open country such as farmlands, grasslands and light woodlands, usually staying below altitudes higher than 6,600 ft (2,000 m).
Dietary Needs and Habits
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 talins perfect for plucking up rodents from thick foliage, sand or snow! Their broad wings also allow them maneuver and turn swiftly. Hunting best in total darkness, they do so 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 racial magic, the Strix incredibly perceptive despite their dark habitats.
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, using low perches such as fences. 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 them. Because of their high metabolic rate, they need to eat a considerable amount of food to survive. They might eat up to fourteen percent of its body weight a day! For this reason, they tend to store excess food away when prey is scarce, valued highly by farmers as pest control.
Strix owls possess a piercing schreech, ear-splitting up close and unsettlingly long and drawn out. By contrast, males are more prone to shrill twitters during mating season, purring and chirruping. Yet when they feel threatened, they will flail onto their back and kick with sharp talons. 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.
Civilization and Culture
Culture and Cultural Heritage
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.
by Lee Stepp
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 Arya, this is a sacred animal associated with Lithmor. They are well regarded by the Daoine as Irkath's messengers.
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