Lusterous Parrot
Few creatures are so sought after as is the lusterous parrot (lustro). These birds have feathers which have the luster and sheen of metal. Most of these birds will have two or three different colors, with four or one being rare. Greens, blues, reds, and purples are very common, with brass, copper, and gold being somewhat less common. True platinum and silver plumage is known, but somewhat rare.
Most of these birds will have at least one chromatic and one metallic color, with monochromatic being slightly more common than monometallic (mono-color lusterous parrots of either type being rare).
These birds are often sought as pets by the wealthy and powerful. While lusterous parrots can be bred in captivity, it is a difficult activity. No all metallic parrots have ever been known to have been successfully bred in captivity, nor have any monochromatic birds. Silver and true platinum is also very rare for birds not born in the wild.
When first hatched, lustros have dullish feathers, often in shades of grey. But within a few days, the feathers will begin to show signs of their color. These feathers will have colors not dissimilar to those of dragon wyrmlings's scales. Within a period of weeks, the plummage will take on the color of a young dragon's scales of the same color. The color becomes that of an adult dragon after the first molt (which commonly occurs 4-6 months after hatching), and that of an ancient after the second molt (at approximately a year). Afterwards, lusterous parrots generally molt once a year.
Contrary to popular opinion, lusterous parrot feathers are not actually metallic, nor do these birds eat precious metals. The normal diet of these birds is much as any other type of parrot: nuts, seeds, fruit, and other plant materials, although at least some lusterous parrots are reported to eat live dragonflies. Whether these reports are accurate or not is unknown, but many captive birds do not show any interest in them as a foodstuff.
Curious and gentle in general, lusterous parrots strongly dislike illusions of all kinds. They will shriek and scream when they detect an illusion, and will sometimes attack invisible creatures. They make a peculiar sound when they see creatures in the Ethereal Plane, and can be taught to respond in specific ways when they detect illusions, invisibility, and ethereal creatures.
Captive-born lusterous parrots are known to live for as much as a century, while wild-born specimens living in captivity rarely live beyond eighty years. Lus-raisers (those who breed and raise lusterous parrots) have no more than guesses as to why this is, but many speculate that captives have less stress during nesting, which leads to longer-lived parrots.
Lusterous parrots make loyal pets and companions so long at they are properly treated and cared for. They enjoy being petted and groomed, and form strong emotional attachment with their owners. They will fight only in self-defense, and prefer to live in places with high ceilings and places they can perch out-of-reach from predators. They also enjoy the company of other birds, so long as those birds are not predatory. Owners of well treated lustros rarely fear allowing their parrots outside. Many of these birds will happily spend several hours to all day out-of-doors, and return home in the evening. However, if a lusterous parrot is not properly treated, it will continually attempt to excape its captivity, even if the outside environment is less than ideal (lustros are aware of their own mortality, and only the most horrid of treatment would cause one of these birds to flee in an environment ill-suited to their survival).
Lusterous parrots are sometimes called dragon birds or dragon parrots, as their plummage shares some similarity with dragon scales. Although many lus-raisers try to discourage this practice, at least a few do not, and some actively encourage it. These rare individuals often point out that some lustros share similar characteristics with their dragon counterparts (monochromatics tend to be mean, monometallics are often seen as actively good, those with bronze plummage seem to enjoy coastal living).
Lustros appear to have a knack for draconic, and will often use "words" of draconic even if they have never been taught that language. They may often use these draconic words despite their owners attempts to teach another language. Most lusterous parrots seem to know (and will speak) the droconic words for "hidden", "disguise", and "ethereal" from an early age, and generally several others. If a lustrous parrot is taught (or merely hears) much draconic before their first molt, they may chose not to learn any other languages.
Lusterous Parrot
Small beast, unalignedSkills Deception +5
Senses Truesight 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Languages can speak words taught to it
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
Mimicry. The lusterous parrot can reproduce almost any sound it hears. A successful DC 15 Wisdom (Perception) check will allow a creature to tell the sound for what it truly is.
Immunity to Illusion. Lusterous parrots have advantage to any illusion spells cast upon them. Even if an illusion spell "succeeds", the effects are normally not what the caster intended. For example, if a Disguise Self were somehow cast on a lusterous parrot (perhaps to make it appear as a monometallic bird), it might instead appear to be on fire, have electric sparks surround it, or have smoke rise from it.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1 piercing damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) slashing damage.
Legends and stories abound of a form of find familiar spell that allows a voluntary lusterous parrot to be bound to a wizard as a familiar. Many of the stories conflict somewhat, but seem to agree that the familiar is a beast, and that it requires a willing, living parrot to be bound to the wizard. If the familiar is killed, it can not be restored as a typical familiar can. While at least a few wizards alive today (the Advisor of the University of Salamanca (School of Conjuration) purportedly has a gold and green lusterous parrot familiar) supposedly have lusterous parrots as familiars, none have shared the spell (or process) to make this possible, and few will comment on their familiars at all.
Colors
Lusterous parrots are born with their color pattern, which does not change throughout their lifetime (generally). The influence of magic may change a particular bird's colors, but such changes are exceedingly rare.
Percentage chance for colors
Eighty percent (1-8) of monocolor parrots are chromatic, with the remainder (9-0) being monometallic.
Colors
Chromatic
Rare chromatic
Metallic
Rare metallic
Forty percent of lusterous parrots have a raiseable crest. This crest often shares the dominant color of their wings, and generally contrasts with the head color.
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments