Blackbirds
Blackbirds are exactly what they sound like - black birds. They are a hybrid of various corvid species of the ancient times, primarily crows, ravens and magpies. They are vicious and dark creatures that live mainly in the Graveyard of Wasteland, but can be found in a large area spanning from Haunted Forest to West T@Ö#Ä3.
Habitat
These birds are very adaptable to a large variety of environments - even the most inhospitable ones like Haunted Forest and Graveyard. Actually they are the most common here. They are one of the very rare - if not the only - animals to survive in these areas known for being more or less dead. The only other thing you will find here are things like dead trees and death flowers. And death in general. Some subspecies prefer to live near or in east T@Ö#Ä3 and in warmer parts of the year some may get as far as West T@Ö#Ä3, but are rare to find there.
They most commonly live in forests, parks and any place with a satisfying amount of trees. Or in Graveyard with all the black crosses. Here they live hidden among the branches, judging the passers by, and caw angrily at them. To them, scaring people is like the funniest shit ever, probably.
Appearance
They are black, everything about them is black. They have black feathers, black beaks, black talons, black eyes and black souls.
They usually don’t get near people, but when they do, people will notice that they are surprisingly big. Not crazy big, but they can easily grow up to 50cm in length from the tip of their beak to the end of their tail with the wingspan up to 150cm. They can get up to 2kg in weight.
Diet
These birds are pretty hardcore. They are believed to eat anything from small rocks, bones, metal scraps and even different trash. Well, living in these dead places they have to be willing to do and eat anything to survive. If you leave out anything like gold, coins or jewelry they might just steal and eat it so be careful. They will steal anything shiny, like spoons and forks, though they probably won’t eat those.
Other than that, they also likely feed on the dead flowers found around Graveyard and in different parts of Wasteland.
Behavior and lifestyle
These birds are more often than not seen alone, sitting on a nearby tree, menacingly. They tend to have their hideouts in forests where they secretly act really friendly and playful towards each other, but they would never let people see that. They very likely have a more elaborate and advanced society than they let people know.
In the mornings and evenings they like to caw loudly and menacingly to scare away people. They are believed to be one of the smartest animals of our world and have been seen making and using simple tools and aren’t afraid to use a knife if they get their talons on one. It’s stuff like that, that makes people absolutely terrified of them and blackbirds gladly take advantage of that. They don’t need people sticking their nose into their business.
But other than that they are really friendly and sociable birds. It has been reported that, when away from people’s eyes, they quite enjoy playing board games with each other. These are simple games consisting of a board scratched into dirt, and rocks used as game pieces. We should get some of these to join our BDSM army - a bird who knows how to use a knife and can beat you in chess, while looking all dark and menacing is exactly something we’d want in our army. Also a group of these is called a “murder” for a very good reason. Alas, they aren’t too interested in people’s problems and lives.
Besides being really smart, they are known to be pretty artsy as well, and make some pretty edgy art you may sometimes see hanging from the trees in haunted forest. Actually you probably won’t see it because just don’t go into that forest if you wanna continue being alive.
They are also very well known to steal stuff from people. They are particularly drawn to anything shiny. They will steal these things and either eat them if they’re small enough, or decorate their dwellings with them. They will also use many of the stolen items for practical purposes.
Though they are not very social with people, the edgy bat people living in Wasteland are at least trying to domesticate or befriend them with varying degrees of success.
The Legends
With blackbirds being so dark and mysterious, it’s no surprise people have come up with all sorts of stories and beliefs related to them.
Blackbirds are one of the scariest things to mole people, and some say that even death itself is afraid of them. The blackbirds living in haunted forests keep the death at bay, far beyond the Haunted Forest. This is the real reason for why people very rarely actually die in our world. While still utterly terrifying, this makes blackbirds at least seem more benevolent and friendly to moles, and it’s exactly stories like this that make people of Wasteland and East T@Ö#Ä3 feel a bit more at ease when they see these birds flying around their town.
But as much as these birds keep death at bay, they sometimes have to let death have its way as well. It is said that if you see a blackbird land on a windowsill of your home, someone in that home will surely die within the next three days. It’s unknown what the exact statistics are, but if a blackbird finds himself near your home, that increases your chance of getting into a knife fight with him, which can only end badly for you. If you want to keep death away, your best chance is to feed the blackbird exactly two golden coins and hope he’ll keep you safe from inevitable doom.
Some people like to leave out some coins or trinkets for blackbirds either way though. They /will/ steal from you, so you may as well give them some things willingly. And who knows, maybe they will remember your kindness when it’s time to pick a person who will die next. Either that, or they’ll see you will give them stuff and start returning and pestering you more often.
Enjoy some Blackbird memes
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