Paper Birds

Paper birds are literally birds made out of paper. Origami cranes are made usually of white paper, but they come in other colors as well. They primarily live in Desert and on top of Cliffs of Ä+*4~, but are found all across the continent of Ä+*4~. There are two types in general: the white wild ones that only live in desert, and the patterned domesticated ones that can be found all across Ä+*4~ and Fairy Gardens.

Appearance

They are origami cranes and they look exactly like it as well. Their exact design may vary slightly, but they all look like traditional paper cranes - they have wings, head on a long neck and long tail, and there isn’t much else special about them. They are pretty small, with an average wingspan of 15cm, and the same length from head to tail. though their sizes may vary. Young ones, of course, are much smaller.

When it comes to colors, there are two main types of cranes: wild and domesticated. The wild ones are all exclusively white, but the domesticated ones may come in a wide variety of colors and patterns. There is also a difference when it comes to paper they’re made of. The wild ones are made of plain white paper, while the domesticated ones are made of better quality and more resilient papers.

Wild Paper Birds

Though both types of cranes look very similar, they vary greatly in other aspects. Wild paper birds are known to mainly live in Desert and on top of Cliffs, but they can be found in Wasteland of Ä+*4~ as well. Because they are made of more plain paper they are more fragile and especially not very well resilient when it comes to rain. Because of this, it’s no surprise they only live in the driest areas of the world.

They tend to live in large flocks as far away from people and other animals as possible and they don’t ever stray too far from their group. A single flock may contain anywhere from hundreds up to a thousand birds. Paper gets easily damaged or destroyed out in the elements so the birds come and go all the time. It’s better to have a lot of them and not worry much if one or 50 of them get destroyed or lost in wind or rain. Still though, they prefer to hide away from any unkind weather conditions.

Despite being fragile creatures they are pretty aggressive and territorial. If you happen to wander into their territory they won’t risk waiting to see what your intentions are, but are likely to viciously attack you. You might think paper birds aren’t too much of a threat, but a whole group of them is very capable of inflicting many unpleasant papercuts on you. Being paper birds they aren’t subject to many biological processes, such as hunger or reproduction. It is believed that they are directly made by Glitter God, who likes making origami as a hobby. Honestly, where else are they supposed to come from? They also don’t really eat anything, though they are pretty bloodthirsty. They can’t get sick or die from diseases or old age like real animals and creatures, but they can very easily get damaged and destroyed and it happens to them all the time.

Domesticated paper birds

Domesticated birds are a bit different from the wild ones. They are bigger and made of sturdier paper. People who keep them do not keep hundreds of them, because that would be insane. They might have a few dozen at most, but take better care of them so they don’t get damaged. They are also made out of fancier colorful and patterned papers, which makes it easier for their owner to tell them apart. Plus they’re just prettier, who wouldn’t like a prettier bird?

Every Glitter Temple keeps several of them on hand, but they are more common to own at home in more rural areas. These as well come directly from Glitter God as he is the only one who can give life to creatures, but it’s very possible that fairies themselves make these too. In any case, if you want your own domesticated paper bird, you can only get them at your local Glitter Temple. Or find someone who has a few extra to spare. It’s always good to have a few extra; though they are made of better paper they still can and do get damaged or destroyed, this is no joke!

Besides having to make sure they’re safe, they’re really easy to take care of. They don’t eat or poop and stuff, and the domesticated ones are a lot friendlier than wild ones. Papercuts are unavoidable in any case though.

Uses for paper birds

So you may have been asking yourself, what IS the point of these paper birds anyway? Well there’s one thing of Glitter God just enjoying making this for fun, but they can actually be useful. Birds made of paper are actually the most convenient way of sending out messages from places with no internet connection or established postal (or general) infrastructure. It’s not too hard to imagine someone could get stuck in Desert, Wasteland or on top of Cliffs in need of help and no way to call for it. Sure you have to battle the flock of paper birds and surely endure many papercuts, but at least you have a way to write a message on a bird and send it out for help. Since they are made personally by Glitter God, they may also be used for delivering messages from Him, directly to people.

Sending out messages is also the main reason why people keep domesticated paper birds in Ä+*4~. In rural areas and in Fairy Gardens in particular, it’s always convenient to just send out a paper bird instead of a letter. And because no one wants to have to battle a flock of hundreds of aggressive paper birds in the middle of the desert, every adventurer going to any sort of remote and risky place is well advised to take a few paper birds with them as well. They are just paper, they don’t take up any significant space or resources, you can easily just stuff one in your back pocket and when you get in trouble it’s right there so you can send it out and get some help. Maybe get a few, because as it has been said many times, they are fragile and may very well get ruined or lost before reaching their goal.

Of course, they also work as a nice decoration, very popular in many areas of Ä+*4~ where people can’t necessarily afford or be able to keep peacocks or have many plants or such. You plop one of these bad boys down on the desk and you don’t have to feed him or clean up after him, and if you need to you can send him out real quick with a message.

Paper world theory

Obviously, there is another elephant in the room to address. What exactly is with animals made of paper just casually living in our world? Well, weirder things have happened here, but if you’re a conspiracy theorist their existence can be quite interesting. Paper world theory will be better described [here], but in short, the theory says that our entire world (that is now to be confirmed digital simulation) used to be entirely made of paper. Drawings on paper, writings on paper and, you guessed it, animals and creatures made out of paper. There is a lot of residue to confirm this theory, depending on how willing you are to believe any of it, but paper birds in a digital simulation seem quite jarring.

Some say this is definite proof that the entire world was made out of paper once, and these birds are the one thing that remained paper, but others strongly suspect that this doesn’t really have anything to do with anything - if Glitter God decided to make some birds out of paper, what foolish mortal can stop him anyway?

Regardless of what you believe or how you want to explain the paper birds, they continue to exist as an interesting and unique species of our world, and a testament to just how much power Glitter God has to do and create whatever the hell he pleases and no one can stop him. A thought inspiring and terrifying at the same time, but also a whole other can of worms we won’t get into right now.

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Paper Birds in comic

BBOLJ - 2-XXI | MH-20

Lifespan

until they get too damaged or whatever

Average Weight

I dun nu like 1g? they're paper

Average Length

15cm

Geographic Distribution

• Cliffs of Å+*4~

Colors

Wild - white
Domesticated - different colors and patterns

Diet

Tehnically they don't eat, wild ones are bloodthirsty

Wild Paper Bird