Phoenix

The phoenix is a massive bird with some degree of inherent psionic abilities. It's a major cultural symbol for Radan and was previously believed to be extinct. As the species has been rediscovered, it's become a symbol for the Radan resistance against the Emerald Legion occupiers.

History

Decades ago, the phoenix had habitats across the planet, and sub-species thrived in all climates as long there were mountains to nest in. Largely nocturnal, they rested within caves, overhangs, and other shielded areas during the day and hunted at night. They had no natural predators, and each sub-species adapted their diets to what was available, whether small mammals, fish, or tree-borne fruit.
For unknown reasons, the phoenix population began dying out around XXXX. Investigations began to determine cause, searching for clues in the phoenix's environments, nests, air quality, food, and more, to little success. Entire mountains were turned into protected sites if they had phoenixes living there, and only trained individuals were allowed in to provide carefully-curated meals.
When the Legion took over the planet in XXXX, they ended all conservation efforts. Many protected mountains remained restricted, some more heavily guarded than before, but no Radan could enter and no news of the birds within ever made it out. Phoenix sightings also slowly stopped, until none were reported. By XXXX, they were officially declared extinct.

However, in XXXX, two Radan infiltrated one of these guarded sites and found a phoenix alive but chained inside the mountainous caves. The Legion killed one of them to stop the knowledge from spreading, but the other escaped and fled the planet to avoid a similar death. When she returned in XXXX, it was with news of the truth and a resolution to free not just the phoenix, but the whole planet.

Significance

Every culture on Rada has a long history of revering the phoenix. It shows in art, poetry, architecture, music, and more. Much of this was digitized into a global archive for preservation, but this backfired when the Legion took over and began removing access to much of it. This removal began years, possibly decades, before the Legion officially took over, slowly convincing locals that what they thought was true was truly myth. Any who disagreed were eventually silenced, by force if needed.
It's now verified that the phoenix is inherently psionic, though to what extent and whether they can use recognizable psionic techniques is unknown. Many metapsions report the birds appear luminescent to them in ways they don't to non-metas. It's likely the Legion uses the phoenix somehow for their psionic experiments, and phoenix feathers have been used in psi-med to allegedly repair damaged caused by these experiments.

Information

Coloring

white or varying degrees of near-white

Patterning

solid

Wingspan

30-45 feet / 9-13 meters

Average Height

15-20 feet / 4.5-6 meters

Geographic Distribution

• Rada

Habitat

Mountainous regions

Resistance

With newly-gained off-world support, Radan anti-Legion forces have grown considerably. They've rallied behind the banner of the phoenix, seeing parallels with themselves: native creatures being exploited by authoritarian invaders, thought beaten until receiving new life.