Harpies
I finally saw it, a small humanoid figure its owlish wings just holding in silhouetted against the tree. It was that old hag harpy that we had tried our damnedest to get rid of and her brood. While she had a human face, the wide eaglelike eyes, and the gore on her talons told us her true nature. Cree'ari. -Yorm, Chief of the Skullbrood Clan on the hunt for a ceremonial mushroom with Cori and Knoll for Ilgor to preform her Ceremony of Bhal.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Harpies are a Polymorphic species of avian humanoid creatures. Sharing many similarities to a various number of Raptors and Birds of Prey. They typically have large feathers shaped not dissimilar to an owl, in flight they are nearly silent. While the large (up to 25in) talons are strikingly like an Eagle, however slightly barbed near the end. This is thought to hook into prey when caught, disallowing them from escape.
They typically have permanently roused feathers on their head and neck, with a wide variation of colorations, ranging from dark blue to white. While their abdominal plumage is a mix of human-esqe skin on the chest, usually seen as ashen or very pale. It should be noted here that while they share a few human characteristics, they are not mammals. A strange ridge that serves as the keel to their pectoral muscle does protrude not unlike a human woman, though they certainly do not have the same structures involved. From a distance it can be mistaken.
Their legs and tail feathers are nearly identical in structure and form as Peregrine Falcons, extremely impact resisant bones in terms of compression. Meaning as the Harpy dives down on their prey the force directed into their leg in a longitudinal direction is well tolerated, but they do not have any type of shear resistance. Their legs and their skulls are the only solid bones it their bodies.
A single notable difference is observed for the species, a type of polymorphism that seems to not correlate to any observable advantage beyond a cosmetic. Typically, males tend to have actual arms, though females have been seen with them as well. Wing placement is also slightly adjusted for them, where they wings attach to the abdomen of the creature is tilted. Both still have their flight muscles attached correctly, and fitted to their sides where a human set of shoulder joints would be. In the case of those with actual arms, the structure is doubled in a compound nature, except that they have primate like arms where their fingers end in another set of talons.
Disturbingly, they have human faces, occasionally they have hooked beaks. Their teeth are needle like, built for tearing and swallowing piece of prey whole.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Harpies have an an auditory range similar to humanity, and a vocal range in the same vernacular. However, Harpies excel in terms of vision. A visual range far better than any high altitude predator, a 20:0.5 vision that is processed with an extreme degree of fidelity. They have been known to see objects as small as a basket up to thirty miles away.
Origin/Ancestry
Azu: The Raven
Geographic Distribution
Comments