Roylit Harpies

The swamp forests and uplands surrounding the town of Arrowden are considered the densest woodland in Greymantle Marsh, especially once the local marshwood became a protected species. The area is rich in both resources and secrets, though seeking either out has always been an underestimated challenge. Many have fallen to the allure of the dark, eldritch forest and never returned. One of the most famous dangers lurking in the shadows are the Roylit harpies.

History

The Roylit harpies have always been a formidable and enigmatic force in the northern Greymantle forests, and are named after the famous naturalist and explorer who sought to become the leading expert on them, Temmender Roylit. His writings on this mysterious clan are still considered the premier text on the subject, but they are sadly about half as long as he had originally planned, as he was caught and dispatched by the clan during the course of his studies.
By all accounts, this clan seems to be the same one that had been harassing locals since before Arrowden was founded, and instead of the clan weakening as the crown-sanctioned town grew and began conquering the forests around it, the clan grew in strength right along with them. One of Scholar Roylit's theories about the harpy clan is that its proximity and competition with Arrowden had been a primary factor in shaping its raiding ways, and subsequently a reason for its success. Whatever the reason, the Roylit clan is one of Greymantle's most famous and long-lived bands of harpies.

Physical Traits

Compared to other recorded Greymantle clans, the Roylit harpies are knows for being especially small in stature and dark in coloration. Despite their size, they are not as slight and gracile as some others, instead possessing a surprising, wiry strength that makes it a dangerous proposition to face with even a lone individual of the clan.
Their skin ranges from gray to brown and is frequently very freckled, with their feathers being similarly dark and always possessing flecks or barring when not entirely black. There are no known sightings of any Roylit members appearing pale or possessing bright colors, though their eyes are occasionally found in pale and striking colors when not brown or black.
This dark coloration and compact size is ideally suited for deep-forest combat, especially in the twilight and nighttime hours. Whether their stealthy ways helped select for better camouflage or the other way around, they are now naturally suited for a life of prowling and ambushing.
An unverified observation is that their wings are relatively short and rounded in shape, with powerful primary feathers more suited to "scooping" air than for gliding and circling as many other harpies are. If this assertion is accurate, it would be a sensible one, as it would mean that the Roylit harpies are well-suited to quick lift-off straight from the ground, as well as for dexterously maneuvering between tree branches and dense foliage. It would also make them slow, and poor distance flyers. It seems that heading to open ground would be one's best bet to escape a Roylit harpy, but would be more or less doomed in the dark forests in which they prowl.
Roylit harpies are also known for having especially long and powerful talons on their feet, which they use along with brutal melee weapons to quickly defeat their targets. Upon swooping in on silent wings, they dig their talons into somewhere potentially fatal and latch on, following up with strikes from blades, clubs, or wicked-looking picks, (often one held in each hand,) if the target isn't taken out right away. If all goes according to plan, a target is hit and brought down in one swoop with four extremely deadly and simultaneous strikes.

Society and Culture

Between the rumors and stories circulating Arrowden, and Scholar Roylit's final documents, the clan's air of mystery is quite intentional. They pride themselves on their skills in stealth and guerilla warfare, and make good use of the supplies and trophies they raid from their sentient targets. As such, they are also some of the only harpies known to hit targets for the express purpose of looting their belongings, instead of that being a secondary perk to the primary goal of hunting. They are also some of the only harpies known to hit targets that are far more powerful than they are, including other settlements, as they do so stealthily and then abscond with raided supplies and small, easily killed targets.
There have even been a few incidents involving individual gangs of harpies kidnapping and ransoming individuals, which is an otherwise unheard of behavior.
In addition, Scholar Roylit's notes claim that he had been in sporadic contact with two Roylit harpies: one being a young, clanbound female, and the other being an experienced Moonwake harpy who had divulged their birthflock as being Roylit. One could take this claim at face value, perhaps even hoping through reading it that Roylit harpies can be effectively communicated and reasoned with, as it seems that he had even begun to trade with them. However, one could also take note of how many things the harpies each got out of the acquaintance, and the fact that one of the last notations in Scholar Roylit's notes had been that he'd been planning to meet the female harpy at a location deeper in the woods than the grove he'd been meeting her in previously, for an extended interview in exchange for . If one allows oneself to accept the fact that harpies are far more clever than conventional texts give them credit for, it wouldn't be difficult to imagine that the entire relationship had been a lure--much like the singing of typical harpy clans. One could even wonder if the dissemination of the Scholar's notes, hoping that others would read and thus become interested in the clan as well, had likewise been part of their plan.

Ideals and Motivations

Instead of the highest value being placed on hunters and warriors, those who are able to strike with stealth and skill, attack larger targets without getting caught or killed, and bring back the best trophies are the individuals who garner the most respect in the flock. As such, even Roylit sports and the games that juveniles play focus on these skills. This includes elaborate games resembling tag, hide-and-seek, and capture-the-flag, as well as dares involving vandalism and either touching or taking certain things in the possession of enemies.
In all activities, whether in regards to their interactions with other sentient beings or simply hunting wildlife, there is less luring and fewer ambush tactics, and more active raiding and bold, proactive attacks. While they do make use of their alluring abilities, they tend to more often aim for trickery, mimicking the sounds of panicked voices and children crying, than a purely enchanting song. There is also less focus on killing individuals as prey items, (though this is still common practice,) and more of a focus on raiding supplies and trophies.
When hunting and raiding, Roylit harpies follow the norm upheld by the rest of the species in wearing nearly nothing and relying on natural camouflage to keep them safe, though they do employ the skillful use of weaponry, (usually looted and subsequently altered to their own tastes,) and will wear pieces of armor of additional camouflage if it doesn't hinder their stealthy movements in any way.
When at home, the Roylit harpies actually dress up quite a bit. Often possessing a surplus of looted supplies, they have extra time to spend on leisure and artistic pursuits, and have ample material to work with. With how much contact they have with other cultures--albeit of the violent sort--there is no shortage of inspiration and new ideas that may not have been formed within a harpy-only vacuum. The pride they hold in trophies only enhances these impulses, and so Roylits often decorate themselves and their nests with found and crafted trophies.
The Roylit harpies are also more stealthy than most of their cousins in all ways, including in regard to their homes and territories. Instead of staunchly defended borders around conspicuous and beloved nests as most harpy clans have, and instead of roaming endlessly between said delineated territories as the rare nomadic clans do, the Roylit harpies have a large and loosely-defined territory in which the clan cycles through. They may even temporarily split into smaller family or friend groups, which is more independence than harpies tend to show. Their community is just as tightly-knit as that of any other clan, but these bonds stand up to a little bit of distance occasionally coming between them, with the matriarch still holding just as much respect and absolute power as she would in any other clan, and flock members remaining just as loyal to one another even when separated by time or distance. If anything, this gives them the impression of being even closer with one another and trusting in these bonds, as they allow them to be tested a little bit. The groups separate or roam, with some unknown knowledge or signal inevitably bringing them all back together again, under a flurry of reunification bonding.

Laws and Beliefs

If the harpies that Scholar Roylit had been in contact with could be believed, the Roylit harpies are a little less "religious" in their belief systems, less absolute reverence for the moon and the open sky, but the few taboos that they do have are adhered to with vehemence.
It seems that their ceremonies are either quite small and personal in scale, with each communicant holding individual rituals for only themselves or their immediate family, or large in scale but functioning more as a party than a formal observance.
Scholar Roylit had a few theories about this difference between this clan and others in Greymantle. The first was that whereas other harpy clans have stiff competition and clashes with other harpy clans and other large predators, the Roylits are more isolated and have a stronger grasp on their dominion over their territory. Their challengers are fewer, or at least don't come into as many direct clashes with them as harpies who live out in the open do, therefor, they don't feel the need to ply the universe as ferociously for good fortune and strength. Another theory is that due to the nature of life in the dense forests, with how different their methods of navigation are, there is less reliance and thus less fixation on the features of the open sky, moon included. The final theory is that because of their relative proximity to human settlements, especially a large and powerful entity like Arrowden, there is more of a need for stealth in everything, including large gatherings that would involve a lot of noise and activity. The truth of the matter likely lies somewhere in the middle, with all of these factors likely impacting the beliefs and rituals of the Roylit harpy in some amount.

Taboos

Unlike most harpy clans, who sometimes have various myths around certain species of birds but don't otherwise have strong feelings about them, Roylit harpies have layers of seemingly complicated opinions about the entirety of the bird kingdom. In harpy mythology, there is rarely much of a connection between their species and birdkind, as don't appreciate being as associated with each other as other societies tend to assume. Somewhere along the way, the Roylit harpies picked up a host of beliefs about their connections with birds, generally seeing them as manifestations of fallen harpy spirits, fears, and dreams. This leads to complicated sentiments around various bird species, and a complicated system of rules and taboos about them. Feathers and bones are an important part of various rituals, including the making and wearing of various talismens and accessories, but the quickest way for a harpy and their immediate family to become cursed is to negligently harvest or treat these components improperly. Each type of bird has its own set of myths, meaning, and taboos surrounding it. The owning of pet birds is a common practice in Roylit harpy society, but even those come with their own set of complicated rules and rituals.
A few examples of bird related rules and taboos in Roylit harpy society:
Pet birds must be bathed in warm cedar water in the nearest beam of sunlight to the harpy's nest every ten days during the spring, summer, and fall, and not allowed to bathe at all during the winter. The water for the baths should be allowed to sit out in a decorated bowl for a full day beforehand. All fallen feathers from a pet bird must either be given to someone as a gift or buried, never kept for oneself or given to a sibling or parent. Birds of any kind may only be killed by the three most respected hunters, and they each may only kill one bird every ten days. When harvesting feathers from killed birds, all white feathers harvested in spring, black feathers harvested in winter, and brown feathers harvested in spring or fall must be buried. All feathers gathered from the ground may be kept regardless of the time of year, but must be blessed by the matriarch before they can be used. If anyone, even children, are caught collecting feathers improperly, they must be punished by the matriarch and the improper feathers must be buried. One bone from every killed bird must be kept, cleaned, and used in a handicraft or put in a place of honor. No bones from birds found dead may be used for anything, and all remains must be buried. Once a year, all feathers and feather handicrafts must be danced around or worn while dancing during one of the longest night of the year. All feathers that have been collected or used in crafts and are ready to be retired must be dropped into a body of water.
Though pale Roylits aren't generally seen, there are taboos having to do with the care of eggs to avoid relatively pale babies, or babies with white markings, both of which are considered touched by frost and omens that invite bad luck. Mothers of children with white markings are considered poor mothers and are treated to some of the only flock-wide judgement there is. White markings are believed to result from poor egg care. Even when a white-marked mother passes white markings onto her children, she is considered to have inherited poor parenting from her own mother, instead of passing white markings down through blood. They are much stricter with whoever has the palest feathers in the flock, as she is considered to be the one to hold the burden of the bad omen, and is not allowed to have children while she is the palest one. Many harpies cursed with this burden carry it for their entire lives and never have children. When a new most-pale harpy is born, the previous palest is freed from her burden and is granted the right to have children. When the palest harpy in the flock dies, the next palest takes on the burden, and thus loses her right to have children.
figure out biggest threats and supersitions around them taboos while eggs so dont get pale or something, dont get cold or frost gets in certain age of harpies that shouldn't do, or something shouldnt do before first something things to not mimic not actually nailing the actual science but getting close or things that are so dangerous can't afford to mess up baseball taboos and superstitions

Etiquette and Social Norms

Related Locations

• Arrowden
• Greymantle Marsh