Lanced Harbinger (lance-d had-bi-nger)

Threat Level: Very High

Basic Information

Anatomy

Lanced Harbingers are a terror bird that is described by having black feathers with patterns of red feathers placed around there. Their beaks also follow this formula. Their beaks are the most prominent part about them besides their coloration for thier beaks are designed to be used as a weapon for fighting. The angle of the beak ends at an extremely sharp end (this lends creedence to their name) and the sides of the beak have portions that jut out which can either be used as a blade bu swinging sideways or as a saw if they impale then pull back. Their legs are also powerful weapons since the Harbinger can kick and stomp, similar to a secretary bird.

For their size, they are also quite agile, this is due to their shorter ribcages and having a large gap between the ribs and hips helps it turn at sharp angles. This is a key to their success in their jungle habitat for they can easily traverse through the brush and trees. Having that gap and smaller rigcage also makes them quite flexible on the ground which also helps them with their combat abilities.

Ecology and Habitats

Exclusive to Jotunheims jungles, the Harbinger is adept at weaving through the dense foliage and towering trees. And as stated before, because of their anatomy, they are capable of rapid and sharp turns, even at a near full sprint.

Fiefs and Territories

At a young age, a Harbinger will seek out an unclaimed area as its own, or will attempt to usurp another Harbinger of theirs. As the Harbinger ages, it will attempt to expand its territory, also known as a "Fief" or a "Fiefdom", by defeating nearby Harbingers, and adding their territory to their own. This, of course, eventually leads to an area too large for the Harbinger to manage. Therefore, they will often abandon sections of their Fiefdom.

As for the Fiefs the Harbinger does keep, they will begin to boom with life in the form of small game, such as squirrels and other small creatures; and, for the most part, the Harbinger will tolerate and outright ignore their presence. Some believe that this is due to the fact that the birds view smaller creatures as not being worth the effort, and an "unworthy" challenge. A more recent theory presented by Skali however, suggests that they purposefully do this to attract larger predators, and therefore more "worthy" challenges. Whatever the case, any predator foolish enough to wander into a Harbingers Fief will soon find it very difficult to leave, as the Harbinger will go out of its way to "battle" the creature. If defeated, the Harbinger will simply consume the creature and move on.

But for those few who impress, the Harbinger has been known to take "trophies" from them, often in the form of horns, claws, teeth, or weapons in the case of adventurers. These "trophies" seem to serve as a key component within the Harbingers territory, as this is what it uses to mark said territory. Often hanging from trees, imbedded in rocks and other such things, or displayed on crude totems made from sticks. Additionally, the Harbinger will even build nests out of these trophies, sleeping in/raising their young in the culmination of their successes. And it's these very successes that females will use when determining a mate. Carefully examining the trophies displayed within the males Fiefdom carefully, judging the worth of his past kills. Should the female be impressed, then they will usually lto mate for life, joining their two territories to form a new Fiefdom.

Should she be unimpressed, however, then the female may not be so forgiving as to simply move on. The males take a great risk by allowing the female to wander his Fiefdom, as he is displaying not only his triumphs, but allowing the female to determine how strong he is. Which, in the case of an unimpressed female, may result in a battle commencing. Either due to her believing him weaker, and to take his Fiefdom; or because she has deemed him powerful, but unfit for mating.

One final benefit of these trophies, albeit an unintended one, is the attracting of adventurers and the like. This is because a Harbingers Fiefdom is a treasure trove of valuable parts, weapons, armor and treasure of the fallen, a temptation many find hard to resist. Unfortunately, these treasures are not so easily taken, as many Harbingers have learned that some adventurers, especially Giant Slayers, often have the best trophies, and put up the best fights.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Banquet for Harbingers

Carnivorous by nature, the Lanced Harbinger will often consume its enemies, rarely allowing any of the meat to go to waste. However, it has been noted that some Harbingers will choose to forgo eating those it has deemed as "worthy", but still ended up being defeated. Instead, it will choose take a "trophy", to later be displayed in a variety of ways. From being displayed on trees within its territory, to using the trophies to make a nest. As for those who did not impress, the Harbinger will rarely take a "trophy", and will instead eating its fill at its leisure.

When foes to battle becomes sparse, however, the Harbinger has been noted hunting smaller creatures from around their territories, such as squirrels and fish. Intrestingly, for squirrels and other tree climbing game, the Harbinger will deploy ambush like tactics. Using brush and trees to conceal itself, before striking. This is believed to be due to the fact that the Harbinger being incapable of chasing the game up trees, has decided that their "Code of Honor" does not apply.

Behaviour

Code of Honor

Hyper intelligent and hyper aggressive, the Lanced Harbinger is a very grim reminder of Jotunheims dangers and wonders. With many attributing the Harbinger as being more akin to a bloodthirsty knight rather then just a simple animal, due to its relentless onslaught of devastating attacks, and the joy they seem to exhibit in the heat of battle. Even applying a set of "rules" for themselves, formally known as their "Code of Honor".

Though this “Code of Honor” isn’t fully understood, and varies between individuals, this “honor system” acts as a set of rules of sorts, allowing or disallowing certain actions. Examples could include such things as:

• If a creature is defending a weaker creature, then the Harbinger will only kill the defending creature and spare the weaker one.
• If a creature "yields" mid combat (bowing the head, laying down, etc.), the Harbinger may stop all hostile actions.
• Should a creature become exhausted and unable to fight, the Harbinger may allow the creature to rest before continuing.
• The Harbinger may refuse to attack lone creatures, and will only permit itself to attack groups.

The one universal codes for all Harbingers, however, is a deep respect for those who best it. If beaten, and not killed, Harbingers will acknowledge the creature with respect, and allow it to have free reign of its territory.

The Harbinger will choose to live in isolation from other Harbingers, believed to be due to its hyper territorial nature, guarding their territory with a burning furiosity. As for mating, however, they may sometimes choose to mate for life, allowing the partner within their territory, and have even been documented adapting their “Codes”, which is further elaborated below) to include the others.

Age Old Enemies

While the Harbinger will strictly self enforce its Code of Honor, a single exception exists in the form of the Crestbill. So violent is the malice that a Harbinger holds for the Crestbill, that should it find signs of one nearby, it will cease all activities in favor of hunting it down. Intriguingly, should the Harbinger succeed in killing its foe, it will refuse to take a trophy from the Crestbill, nor will it feed on the remains. Instead, it may simply leave the corpse to rot where it is, or even continue its onslaught, even after death.

Most intriguingly, however, is the anecdotal evidence provided by the native Firbolg of the Harbinger guarding and chasing away any creature that may try and feed on the Crestbill. In their beliefs, this is due to the Harbingers refusal to allow the Crestbill to re-enter the cycle of life. Sadly, while widely accepted as true amongst the Firbolg, no evidence thus far can confirm nor deny this.

It’s largely unknown why or how this rivalry started, but it is theorized that with both being apex predators in their selected pockets of the Jungle and feeding on similar game, they instinctively recognize the other as a competitor for their resources. And so, due to Niche Overlapping, the two are simply in a constant struggle. But while sound, even this theory still struggles to hold water, as it fails to account for the seemingly fathomless hatred the two share for eachother. Intrestingly, both species seemed to have become specially adapted to counter the other. With the Harbinger having adapted an oil like coating on its feathers to combat the Crestbills glue like mucous, and a resistance to nearly all forms of toxins, countering the Crestbills venomous sting.

Codebreakers

Apart from Crestbill encounters, it was thought that all Harbingers followed their Codes of Honor strictly and dutifully. Now, however, that is known not to be the case. As there exists a subset of Lanced Harbingers who have decided, for some reason or another, to break their Codes of Honor. These Harbingers are known for being highly unpredictable, highly volatile (even for a Harbinger), highly dangerous, and highly rare. This is all due to the fact that, as stated, the Codebreakers do not follow any self established rules and limitations, choosing instead to simply kill for sport.

As for physical differences, a simple method has been devised. When observing a Harbinger, one should keep an eye out for how much “red” coloration on its body. This is due to the fact that the more red notches they possess, the more "honorable" they are by following their code. If you see a Harbinger that is mostly black, however, this is what has been termed as a "codebreaker", or in other words that they do not follow the any sets of Codes. Because of this, they are often made a target of other Harbingers. But most intriguingly, they become less inclined to attack Crestbills, and vice versa.

As for those who follow their Codes, they have been observed grooming much more frequently then their counterparts. This is thought of as them “cultivating” their red plumage, as a sign of pride for their strict adherence to their Code. They won’t only take better care of these red feathers, but even pluck the blacker feathers around it in the process, revealing an “undercoat” of red feathers. A Codebreaker, on the other hand, will systematically remove any red plumage that grows in on the top lair, and will take far less care of their plumage, often giving them a “raggedy” and “worn” look to them. This not only sets them apart from the others, but allows them to stalk and hide under the dark shadows of the canopies, an act no Lanced Harbinger would consider taking part in. To date, only 3 confirmed Codebreaker sightings have been reported by surviving witnesses. The have been respectavly named Ridder, Ond and Synder.

Additional Information

Domestication

Untamable

No attempts thus far have been attempted at domestication. Partially due to its naturally volatile and violent nature, but primarily due to the ongoing debate of the Harbingers level of sapience, due to its highly advanced and intricate behaviors. And so, it has been deemed by the Giant Slayers as not only highly dangerous, but possibly even immoral to attempt such an act.
With this being said, however, anecdotal evidence from native Firbolgs indicate that a handful of individuals had used the Harbingers as mounts for battle. Most of the individuals being folk hero's and arising from legends.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Jungles - The Twisting

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Birds of a Feather

Originally to be exclusively loners, with very little intermingling with other species, apart from battle, in the last 60 years a Skali researcher observed a truly outstanding phenomenon. He witnessed a group of Bellosaurs, now known as Bounding Blades , intermingling with a mated pair of Harbingers. As described in his entry on the previously mentioned Bellosaurs, he witnessed them battling one by one. And even more incredibly, after winning the Harbingers did not simply take a trophy and leave, but instead seemed to have takin a liking to them.

It appears that, due to their very similar personalities, the two species have formed a symbiotic bond with eachother. While it is still currently unknown what the Harbinger gains from this, the less experienced Bounding Blades are allowed to shad Harbinger. Watching how it fights, and mimicking these moves, learning and growing as it does so. And after further collaboration with the Skali branch of the Giant Slayers, it's been determined that the Bounding Blades that have chosen to follow the Harbinger are far more deadly then those who have not.

Most interestingly, the Harbingers go further then just allowing the Bellosaurs to watch them fight, but actively "teach" them. With the Harbinger forfeiting clear opportunities for battle, in favor of allowing these Bellosaurs to "test" what they've learned. This discovery, along with breaking past conceptions of Bellosaurs simply being "odd dinosaurs", but has sparked new debates over the intelligence of the Harbingers. More specifically, over the nature of their hatred for the Crestbill. As the Bellosaurs occupy a completely separate niche from the two, and yet those trained under a Harbinger have been found to have nearly the same level of hatred for the beasts.

An adult Lanced Harbinger, as described by a Skali researcher on their expedition for the Bounding Sabre.

Scientific Name

Rubrum Eques (Red Knight)

Origin/Ancestry

Terror Birds

Conservation Status

While not under official protection, the Giant Slayer corp. as deemed the taming of the Lanced Harbinger to have the potential of being inhumane, due to its extreme levels of intelligence.
Although this topic is still widely debated, and so has not been officially outlawed. Although, this is also partly due to the insanity of attempting such a thing, with such a dangerous creature.

Average Height

10ft

Average Weight

280lbs

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Black, Red and Gray