The Horned Eagles of the Farside Mountains

The Horned Eagles of the Farside Mountains are by far the biggest and most impressive eagles of Alven. They can only be sighted in The Farside Mountains in the northeast of Alven. These mountain eagles are legendary for their savage beauty and hunting prowess. Many legends are attached to their sightings. They live in the remote valleys and heights at the center of the range, and few people have been in contact with them. Their huge shadows can be seen in the skies over the mountain range on a clear day.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Size and Plumage

The horned eagle is a massive bird, much bigger than the rest of the eagles of Alven. Its wingspan is well over 8 arms. In colour, the horned eagle is mostly white but will develop mottled brown feathers or even brown patches on his legs and heads as well as some upper feathers when reaching maturity. Juveniles are all white. Females have been found to have more brown on their feathers than males in general. Full maturity is reached usually after five years. Females and males are of the same size: gender does not seem to affect the appearance of the animal except in the area of the horns.

Horns

The horns are not truly horns but a complicated tower of feathers that might take extravagant forms on the head of the females. Not two eagles sport the same horns. They are all different in colour and schemes.

Talons and Wings

Their talons are of incredible size, well over 10 men's fists. It enables them to lift whole mountain deers and goats to their aeries. The shape of their wings when in full flight resembles the comma of the Old Language. This might be the reason why horned eagles are thought to be able to write in the sky, and their flight patterns are still, to these days, tracked and analyzed to decipher communications from the gods. The Seers of the Mountains will spend hours watching the skies for the eagles' sayings and omens.

Eyes

The horned eagles' eyes are said to be like huge dark stones rimmed by the sea. Very few men have had the opportunity to tell about their gaze as it is very likely the last thing they will see in this world.
In the Epic of Linwood of Clan Bearsden, the eponymous hero travels east to the Farside Mountains to retrieve the fabled Bag of the Lost that the eagle Clawbright, Chieftain of the Aeries had stolen from the Thane of the Clans of Alven. Clawbright wanted the bag for himself in order to feed his starving youngsters. The fabled Bag had the magical property to fill up again whenever it was empty. Clawbright knew about the bag - who had belonged to the god Leweyd before being given to men - because all horned eagles had been brought to Alven by the gods themselves and eagles were Leweyd's favourite birds. Linwood after a perilous journey through the mountains finally comes face to face with Clawbright and wins the Bag of the Lost back for the men of Alven in a battle of wits against the monstrous bird. Clawbright's gaze is described as being full of intelligence and knowing, and being able to understand the languages of men.

Genetics and Reproduction

Because the horns are so different between males and females, it has been accepted that they would play a role in mating rituals or rules of attraction between the birds. In spring, the males can be seen 'dancing' around the females in the sky in a very precise series of movements called 'the Round' by the mountain clans. Mating happens straight after moulting in spring when the new glistening plumage has grown. The female gestates for a few weeks before laying one egg (rarely two) in her chosen aerie. Couples are faithful for one season, but often change mates the next. Some eagles perform 'the Round' with one particular mate for years. It is thought that both parents are in charge of looking after the egg and the chick until they reach adulthood. Horned eagles have been known to live till very old age, maybe 40 years or more.

Growth Rate & Stages

Juveniles are born mostly featherless and rely on the warmth of their parents for the first few weeks. Within a few weeks, they develop a downy white set of feathers that they will keep until moulting the year after. They will need to reach their 5th or 6th year before developing their full plumage.
Youngsters will learn to fly gradually too: they will start with a series of short flights in their second year, and gradually take to the sky. Older siblings and other members of the aerie seem to help 'train' the young before they reach adulthood. A young eagle of fewer than 5 years is rarely seen by himself or herself in the skies.

Ecology and Habitats

The Farside Mountains are the ideal home for the birds. The game they hunt is plentiful during the warmer seasons of the year in the valleys and the steep slopes of the snowy peaks.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The horned eagles' favourite preys are the mountain goats that roam freely the crags and gullies of the mountain slopes. In winter, the goats retreat to the more sheltered forest floor of the valleys, and feeding is more difficult for the eagles at that time of the year. During the dark months of the year, they will then kill anything they can find on the snowy slopes: mountain hares, and other animals in their path. Clansmen have been known to be carried away screaming from the talons of eagles in the middle of winter if they venture too far up the mountain paths.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The eyesight of the horned eagles is legendary. They can track their potential prey from a great height before swooping for the kill. Their eyesight is so good that the ancient writings told eagles could see past The Eastern Seas to the The Godlands in the North, and look back to the mountains where they came from. The boiled eye of a horned eagle - although an extremely rare commodity - has been known to cure blindness in men.

Scientific Name

Birds over 3 arms in length

Origin/Ancestry

Birds of the God Lewyed

Conservation Status

Horned eagles are rare but not extinct. Their rarity is due to their niche habitat. They are rarely to be seen on the plains. They do not have known predators in their natural element, and horned eagles communities seemed to be thriving in the high valleys of the Farside Mountains as most of these places are usually inhospitable to men. The continuing popularity of the eagle feathers in fashion and ceremonial costumes have not disturbed the peace of these majestic birds. An intrepid collector of these beautiful and prized ornaments can collect them from the floor of The Frozen Forests when the birds shed a part of their feathers during their annual moult in spring.

Geographic Distribution

• The Farside Mountains