Aikyo

The Birdpersons of Ancient Egwain and a Dominant Race in First Age Materia

The Aikyo are a curious and sociable people, originating from ancient Egwain but with populations spanning much of the Greater Lotrimin Crux Region (GLCR). Aikyo are sometimes called Bird People or Birdpersons because of their slanted, elongated heads and long, beak-like noses. Despite the name, they do not bear feathers, wings or any other birdlike quality, and are likely a close relative of "standard" Meranthic elves like the eladrin or altnoréth: true Avianoids are rare in the GLCR.

Preferred classes of Aikyo include rogue, alchemist, wizard and bard.

Culture

Birdpersons have a reputation for bluntness and impertinence. They are literal-minded and not apt to lie, making them trusted advisors and diplomats, but this mindset also means they lack a sense of tact or privacy, and can sometimes come off as prying or accusatory. That said, they are far from stupid and learn foreign etiquette with no more difficulty than any other species.

Despite their associations with avians of the sky, the Aikyo are also talented gardeners, botanists and earthworkers; it is likely their early masteries in agriculture that granted the food security to develop the earliest pre-modern civilizations on Egwain.

The Aikyo began extraplanar colonization alongside the First Egwithian Empires and, having a generally adventurous disposition, would continue to radiate during the millennia before and after the Silence.

Notable Aikyo

While no Material Gods are known to be Aikyo, one of the greatest antediluvian archmages (and the second of Merlinkainen's three students) was the Birdperson abjurer Tekchinyulot Chi-Tosé of Locrian Hall. (The Wandering Wizard, who was himself Egwithian, may have had some amount of Aikyo blood.)

History

Early Egwithian texts hold the Aikyo originate from tropical landmasses on the far west end of the plane, where they developed a relatively advanced culture, in fact it's theorized by Black Sun archaeologists that they were the earliest to reach an Iron Age society on Egwain. This is possibly due to their talents in gardening and agriculture, which granted enough food security that some could focus on developing art and technology.

The Kelpeater Empire (Egwain)

They were the second-closest neighbours to the Ula'thau'la after the Ghent, and as such had little choice but to defend themselves against the first explosions of the great Kelpeater Empire. The Aikyo were also skilled sailors and furthermore clever innovators, adapting munitions and primal magicks for nautical defence against the Kelpeaters. This acuity sometimes earned individual Aikyo prestigious positions in Ula'thau'la society, though few Birdpersons tolerated the stark humourlessness of the warrior culture, and like the Ghent most Aikyo in the Kelpeater Empire were slaves or at least classless merchants. Regardless a significant number of Aikyo traveled with the Empire when it colonized the faraway plane of Waking Materia, having overstayed its welcome on Egwain.

The Kelpeater Diaspora (Materia)

Whether slave, merchant or other forms of expatriot, the Aikyo would grow in influence through Waking Materia's First Age—particularly as pirates and tradesmen during the interplanar Dye Wars—and even carve out some independence as the new, neo-Egwithian civilization reached maturity. However they are not known to have survived the Deluge and its ensuing chaos.

Banner art credit: Lucas Roussel (Left, Centre)