Harpies

Harpies are half-women half-bird creatures, with wings instead of arms and claws instead of feet. Many of them have feathers on various parts of their body as well, although this varies from one specimen to another. Felaryan harpies are usually giant, about 100 feet tall on average, but shorter races also exist. They are an all female species, mating with males from other races to reproduce. A harpy baby inherits a small amount of genetic material from her father, which goes into trait and features that don't alter her physiology as a member of her mother's species. Harpies are voracious and one of the top predators in the skies of Felarya. With their excellent vision and hearing, they can spot prey from extremely far away. They usually attack with a swift swoop, mouth wide open to snatch a prey on the ground. Being without hands, harpies are extremely agile with their mouth and tongue. They are known to play cruel games with their prey when hunting in groups, involving dropping and catching. 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 the curious habit of punctuating their sentences with threats and insults. They normally don't mean it at all though, 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 to deal with than speaking to the likes of you!"

Upon hearing that exchange, one might conclude that the two harpies are on the verge of killing each other, but that's not the case at all. The tone and construction 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. Aul Ne'kmu'm is a well know Harpiologist who dedicated years to decipher this language and its true meaning. Here are some of his observations.