Harpy
Harpies are perhaps the strangest of all the humanoid groups, since they only resemble humans in their faces and the upper part of their bodies, for the rest, they are completely unlike other humanoids like dwarves, elves and tieflings. Yet, the wisdom of the gods is manifested in their anatomy, their skill and their biology.
Harpies are also the only humanoids that lay eggs, these take nine months to hatch (the same length of time as a human's gestation period) during which harpies incubate eggs in the same way as birds, while their partners or other members of the family or tribe are responsible for bringing food to feed them.
There is a particularity regarding harpies, that, aside of their appearance and laying eggs, set them appart from the rest of the humanoids and that is the fact that harpies are monogender, that means they are all female, so if they are all female how they reproduce you may ask?, well for that they need other male humanoids in order to reproduce. In the past, during the Bronze age, harpies were famous for kidnapping male elves, tieflings and humans to interbreed with them. After the establishment of the Lotus Empire and their conversion to the Aydinid sect of the Elven religion, Harpies began to change their approach to choosing their partner to reproduce with. Since then harpies began to choose their partners, not randomly like in the past, but looking for love or sexual attraction.
It is customary for example that, for example in some Sun Elf villages the second born sons, when they reach a certain age are offered to the harpies "as a rite of passage into adulthood" and, if both fall in love and decide to live together, the lineage of the elf family won't be lost. In exchange harpies agree to provide food for that village for as long as they live or to help them if they need something; such as sending for a doctor, taking a sick person to the nearest village with a doctor, or carrying an urgent message somewhere.
They are also very familiar and social creatures, the most important thing for them is their family (their blood relatives and members of the tribe) as well as their partners. It is not unusual for an harpy to invite their lovers to live alongside them and their fellow members of the tribe. In fact this is very important for an harpy because their other humanoid husbands or partners could provide them not only with love but also with clothing (and most importantly, helping them get dressed, because harpies have no hands) and food (it is well known that the partners of the harpies are the ones that prepare the food that harpies provide).
Every person that comes to them in good faith is well received and treated. Overall as it has been said Harpies are very pacific creatures but there is an exception to this; Harpies tend to be hostile to groups such as the humans from the northern regions of Karia (who have persecuted them in the past), as well as dark elves, goblins, orcs and evil tieflings), sometimes attacking them viciously when they're in the open both at day or during night. Their favourite objective are returning bandit raids of some of these groups because if they carry treasures or jewels or precious objects, harpies are not only emininating a threat they're getting precious shiny jewels for free!.
How they do that without hands you would ask? well, the answer is they've two options, either their other humanoid partners write the poems down or they write them themselves using a brush and their feet. It is said that a style of elven calligraphic script was developed by the harpies to write down songs and poetry. In their free time they like to go to the nearest town or village to buy supplies for their camps and settlements but also things for themselves. They love everything shiny (perhaps something to do with their birdlike nature), and it is well known that the adore wearing silk robes which they wear during festivities.
When needed and they have to help one of the nations they belong to harpies in a war, harpies often play the role of scouts (thanks to their ability to fly and excellent eyesight) as well as archers using bows with their feet or using blowguns as well.
The important decisions of the tribe are made jointly in an Assembly. In this assembly, in principle only the harpies vote, although their humanoid partners have the right to attend and be heard and to express their opinion. Their humanoid husbands and partners are essential in their society, they are in charge of important tasks such as cooking, lighting the fire, dressing them or combing their hair (harpies are very flirtatious, and while they are on land they like to be well-groomed, and even for special occasions such as festivals and religious meals they usually put on makeup).
Harpy's partners are also usually in charge of raising their daughters once they can walk while their mothers go out hunting.
Due to this particular distribution Harpy culture has been influenced by two most influential cultures of the region, the Sun Elf culture to their West, and the Nari culture to the East.
Description
As the description above said, harpies are a weird type of humanoids. They have the upper body of a female humanoid (aside of their feathery winged arms) and their lower body of a bird. with scaly legs, clawed feet, and bird like clawed hands and bright feathery tails. Popular belief tended to represent these creatures with evil, grotesque faces, sometimes like old women, but the reality is quite the opposite, harpies in general have very gorgeous and gentle faces and never age. Harpies have an average lifespan similar to of around 150 years. When they are born little harpies have down just like baby birds, they only began to develop proper feathers when they reach the age 8 or 9 years old. Harpies also moult like birds, sheding and replacing their old, worn or damaged feathers with new ones. Harpies reach sexual maturity and adulthood about the same time as humans. Harpies have a much longer adult life than humans, ranging from approximately 17-18 years to 100 years. After that, harpies begin to lose agility and at the end of their lives they hardly fly anymore, with their families or other members of their tribe taking care of them. by Callyxtus
In these villages, during the Howazd festival and the Elven festival of the Winter Solstice, young harpies and their new partners enjoy a meal in the village where both elves and harpies (since they both follow the same religion) pray before eating and then enjoy dances, songs and other activities that take place during these dates.
This mixing with other humanoids has resulted in the harpy's own body changing or evolving slightly. In many tribes or groups of harpies, for example, the lower part of the body, which was completely bird-like, began to look more like the legs of human girls, except that from the knees down the legs are still bird-like.
by Callyxtus
Personality
by Callyxtus
Harpies are very curious creatures, they like to explore the world and their surroundings and they're fascinated by foreigners and their objects. Contrary to popular believe they are not evil by nature, in fact if you encounter an harpy and begin to talk to them the first thing you'd realize (and they will tell you as well) that all the stories about evil flying girls thirsty for blood are absolutely false, and are just fantasy.
Habits
Harpies love hunting , they usually hunt small mammals (like goats, deer, boar and dragon birds), harpies are taught by their mothers to fly and catch prey since a very young age, when they're around 6 or 7 years old. First they began catching "dummies" made by their parents, which sometimes they are on the ground and the harpy children have to dive to catch them (the strategy they follow while hunting) and sometimes their parents would throw them and they have to catch them in the air. They love baths too, and is not strange to watch them taking a bath in the natural hotsprings in the western Nari lands. This regular bathing help them take care of their plumage and eliminate any parasites they may have on their wings or on the part of their legs covered with feathers. Many harpies are still nomads, spending the winters in the southern regions and returning to the north during Summer. They always made their camps and settlements on the top of hills or mountains, where the weather is not harsh. Sometimes these settlements are surrounded by a wooden palisade or earth ramparts. When it is time to migrate these groups of nomadic harpies would pack up their belongings and fly together with their families to another place. If their children can fly they just follow them and they in turn will grab their partners with their strong claws and carry them with them (this is not suitable for people with vertigo, but don't worry, you are in good hands, or rather, claws). When they're in their camps or settlements, they take turns standing guard to avoid being attacked by monsters such as goblins or trolls. When it dawns one of the harpies goes around the tents or nests where they live singing a song to wake everybody up. Harpies are very competent singers and love to sing, it is said that the have the most beautiful female voice in all Karia, and that they're only matched by the Southern Elves of Teria in terms of beautiful singing. Another thing that harpies love to do, especially after their contacts with the Sun Elves and the Nari peoples is composing poetry and writing it.
by Callyxtus
Mythological origins
by Callyxtus
As with all humanoids and creatures in Yeia, Harpies have a mythical origin. According to Seris and Davidovian myths harpies are the daugthers of Mana and Alphias, the god of wind, so harpies are as beautiful as their mother and with the ability to fly like their father. And like their mother, who was reborn as a good goddess from a giant egg, so do the harpies, who lay and are born from eggs.
Oh yes, our divine mother comes from time to time to check on us and talk to us, you know, she likes to spend her time with us, her children, we offer her food, dances and songs, we always put our most beautiful dresses when she shows up!. And we worship her everyday!.Also according to these myths, one of the first tasks of Mana after becomming a good goddess was to visit the harpies to deliver them a prophecy: That one day the moment will come where they should worship the Sun as she finally did, but they should keep this hidden from the god of evil. And that, according to many was a prophecy about Lotus Empire and that explained their conversion to the Aynid sect of the Sun elf religion when they were annexed by that state more than a millenia ago.
Society
by Callyxtus
The center of the harpy society is the family and the tribe. These two elements are the basis of their organization (despite the fact that Harpies are de iure part of Unhellion, Iumela and the Nari kingdom of Ma'Jese and its predecessor the Lotus Empire respectively these tribes are de facto very autonomous). Harpy tribes resemble in a way the organization of a beehive, there are harpies who are in charge of getting food, there are others who are in charge of protecting the settlements and then there is the leader of the settlement, generally the oldest harpy, and therefore, supposedly the wisest. These tasks are rotated every week or every month so that each harpy in the tribe is not always doing the same tasks.
Geographical distribution
Harpies only live in the continent of Karia, especially in the Eastern Regions around the Eastern Chain north of Mount Mei Mei, although some are known to have visited the western continent of Teria. Their ancestral home were the easternmost mountains of the Chain of the Gods , but after the establishment of the Lotus Empire colonies of harpies were established in the area of the Kingdom of Iumela, where many of their descendants still live there and are a key part in the resistance against the Kingdom of the Dark Elves.Harpies distribution in the continent of Karia by Callyxtus
Religious beliefs
Most of the harpies follow the elven religion since the 9th century BP and played an important role in develop its misticist practises and are renowned for their piety. Aside of the Sun god, Unhel, they have special reverence for Mana who they not only consider as the goddess of adventure and their divine mother but also as the goddess of safe flight and family unity. Fire also plays an important part in their faith, they worship it in bronze or terracotta altars.We worship the fire because it reminds us of the warmth of home, the warmth of family, and the flames, which dance and move from one side to the other with total freedom in the wind, are a reflection of our own freedom.Harpy settlements don't have temples so they worship the gods in the open , or in caves if the weather is no suitable for worship. Harpies adopted from the Sun Elves a form of meditation that consists in dancing in circles singing religious hyms. This tradition, they say connects them to the gods and made them experience their love.
Aww these guys (well, gals) are very sweet! I'd love to spend time with them. Also, love the art <3
Thank you so much!! (also for the follow!) , they're indeed (unless you're a northern human or a monster) otherwise you'll love to be around them!