Race: Quetzels

Crepuscular, originally from Mothar (South America). Uncommon. There are about 50,000 in Mothar, 2,000 in Theas (Australia), 1,000 in Larnach, and a few dozen in Inish (Madagascar). These are the priest-kings of Mothar, and any of the emmigrants are missionaries. They have above average magic and routinely manifest multiple talents. About 65% of quetzals have magic. Of those, about 10% have low power, 15% have below average, about 25% have average, 35% have above average, and 15% have high. Their racial field includes creation, divination, dream and vision magic, empathy, healing, illusion, light magic, telepathy, transformation, soul repair, and summoning. They have an exceptional knack for learning feather magic, and they are the best at it of all birds. They have a high percentage of demons, but they cannot take tattoos because quetzal skin is extremely delicate; their dense feathers protect them somewhat but they are still easy to injure.

Females stand 4 feet tall; males stand 5 feet tall. They are about halfway anthropomorphic, with tiny hands at the forward joints of their wings. They exhibit strong sexual dimorphism. Males are brilliant, metallic blue and green with a scarlet breast, prominent crest, and long resplendent tail feathers. Females are a duller green and brown. They can walk, but the males usually don't because their tail feathers would drag on the ground. Instead they prefer to rest on perches and be carried everywhere by servants. They cannot fly, but can glide. They have large eyes to see in their dimly lit jungle homes. For the comfort of their quetzal priesthood, Motharan cathedrals are also dimly lit by candles or skylights.

Quetzals are both intelligent and wise. They are priests, wizards, inventors, philosophers, and crazy mystics. (An unusual number of historic nutjobs have been quetzals.) Some are artists, musicians, dancers, or storytellers. They rarely take up any practical trade; those who lose or reject their status are most likely to become prostitutes or refugees. Disgraced quetzals are more often killed than banished, but those who are cast out have their tail, wing, and crest feathers plucked for shame. Pinioning was practiced historically but is considered barbaric today, as it was a hallmark of a deposed drug cartel.

Within Mothar, quetzals are highly respected. Outside, not so much. The people of Fasach (Africa) still tend to respect them because of the alliance against Theas (Australia). Elsewhere, most of the quetzals that people see are either annoying missionaries or complete crackpots. This does not help relations amongst the different hames.

The Anlainn religion encourages chimerae, especially those with wings whom they call celestials. It was founded by a celestial serpent, or quetzalcoatl, who wanted a place for all chimerae and the various races to live in harmony. Other Motharans consider this heresy and tend to kill the chimerae on sight. Most favored are quetzal-serpent (usually emerald tree boa) and quetzal-jaguar crossbreeds. The most famous mad prophet in history was the son of a quetzal-serpent father and a quetzal-jaguar mother; he had the body and head of a jaguar, the wings of a quetzal, and a serpentine tail ending in *a second fully functional head.* The madness was believed to derive from a mix of three different phyles, as well as having two heads and personalities sharing one body. So the prejudice against chimerae, while oppressive at best and barbaric at worst, is not wholly unfounded.