Difference between revisions of "Harpies"

Revision as of 12:39, 5 February 2008

A harpy about to catch an unfortunate explorer... Picture by Gamera1985 from his Deviantart gallery

Harpies are half women half bird creatures that have wings instead of arms and claws instead of feet. Some of them have feathers on parts of their body as well, though this varies a lot from one species to another. Felaryan harpies are usually about 80 feet tall but shorter races also exist.

Harpies are voracious and one of the top predators in the skies of Felarya. Preferring to fly over mountains and plains, they have excellent vision and hearing and can spot prey from extremely far away. They have been know to be a bit cruel towards their prey when hunting in group, often playing games with their food involving dropping and catching. Being without hands, harpies are extremely agile with their mouth and tongues. Unlike when in a group, a lone harpy is cautious. When confronted with a large group of humans, she will usually just swoop down over them with a wide open mouth, snatch one or two of them, and then fly off to find a quiet place to digest her meal.

Harpies from many different worlds are known for their bad tempers and their sarcastic and mocking retorts, and Felaryan harpies are no different. They are prone to anger and often quarrel amongst themselves. They despise sphinxes which they see as little more than a bunch of full-of-themselves and self-righteous morons, and have fought several wars with them.

A trio of harpies playing with their latest catch. Picture by RMSephy from his Deviantart gallery

Harpy language

Most harpies have a curious habit of punctuating their sentences with threats or insults. The curious part is that they normally don't mean it at all, it's just traditional for them to use insults, and it would seem odd or even impolite if they didn't. The only time they skip this custom is if they are in a hurry or if they have something very important to say.

For example, if a harpy wanted to say: "I wish to speak to your sister", she would add a threat, like: "Let me see your sister or face my wrath!" If the other harpy wanted to reply: "She's not here." then she might actually say: "Insolent fool! My sister has more important matters than speaking to the likes of you!"

Upon hearing that exchange you might conclude that the two harpies are on the verge of killing each other, but that's not the case at all. The tone of the sentence gives subtle information about its real meaning. Some harpies are known to use extremely sophisticated insults with almost all the real information being in the tone of the insult rather than the actual words. Needless to say this habit contributes a lot to their reputation as being very rude in the eyes of other races.

Demon Harpies

This species of harpy is blood red in color from head to claws, the stereotypical color of demons, hence their name. Demon harpies don't actually have any demon blood in them though, nor do they live in Hell. They can mostly be found in the Jungle of perils. They are easily the most dangerous species of harpies in Felarya, as they are extremely fast, much more agressive than the common harpy, and their feathers can become as hard as steel in seconds while remaining very light, making for a very efficient improvised shield. As if that wasn't enough, demon harpies are good spell-caster with a powerful magic focusing on curses and the temporary disabling of their target.

Rock Harpies

Rock harpies are mostly found in the Great rocky fields. They are quite similar to common harpies, except they are usually slightly larger, have beige-orange colored feathers, stronger claws and are well versed in wind magic. Their magic is what makes them especially scary; for example if a traveler tries to hide in a rocky crevice the rock harpy can just place her mouth over the opening and vacuum what is inside...

" Nice catch ! Keep it up or I'll skin you alive ! " Picture by Zephrania from her Deviantart gallery

Golden Harpies

This rare species of harpies possess shiny golden skin, golden or bronze feathers, blond hair, and astounding beauty that often matches a succubus's. They are usually very greedy and attracted to shiny things. The seasoned treasure hunter knows that if they catch a glimpse of a golden harpy, chances are high there is valuable treasure nearby.

Golden harpies are naturally fond of jewels and gems, and they love to wear bracelets, amulets, earrings, and other trinkets. They are vain and take great care of their body, literally spending hours washing their face, combing their hair, polishing their claws, and lustering their feathers, often drawing sarcasm from less meticulous species of harpies.

A human caught by a golden harpy has a small chance to escape if they can bribe the harpy, usually with shiny treasure of some short. There's only a small chance of success however, as golden harpies are cunning, mischievous, and firmly convinced that eating humans is healthy for them and good for their figure...

Banshees

Banshees are a far of the branch species of harpies. Unlike there birdlike cousins they are more related to bats, with long, pointy bat ears on top of their head, large webed bat wings, and feet with their toes bending the other way to allow them hanging upside down when sleeping in trees or caves. They are usually around 65-75 feet tall with a tan or dark brown skin and ears and wings of the same color. While they love the darkness of Evernight forest, banshees sometimes dwell outside of it, and some rare specimens have been seen as far as Ascarlin mountains.

Much like normal bats, banshees have poor eyesight and use a sort of sonar to help them find their way and locate prey in darkness. They constantly emit little click sounds that are known to dammage nearby electronic machinery. Their name come from their main weapon which is a powerful sonic wave that can be focused at a potential prey, paralizing it for a short amount of time, just long enough for the banshee to swoop down and grab them. The method is not unlike that of crystal mermaids, albeit less damaging for organisms, but much more devastating against electronics devices.

Banshees are very social creatures and few are known to live alone. All of them know each other another and they usually gather in large numbers in huge caves or giant trees. They don't possess the exact same way of speaking than other harpies, putting less insults and threats in their speech, and enhancing their reputations toward other races at least.

Credits goes to Moonlight-pendent for the idea and design of Banshees.