Avians

Avians are the least populous of the major species of Parvolon, having a much smaller population than other major species. Avians are anthropomorphic birdlike creatures, and are the only major species where all of its members have wings. While they have weaker arm strength than other species, their unparalleled movement abilities fundamentally change how their combat strategies and societies function.

## Abilities

*All Avian Characters have the following abilities:*

***Ability Score Modifiers.*** Avians are versatile and agile. They gain a *+2* bonus to any ability score.

***Speed.*** Avians are built to soar and are slower when walking. They have a land movement speed of 20 feet and flight speed of 50 feet. If you are wearing *heavy* *armor* or are in a room with a ceiling lower than 10 feet, you cannot attempt to fly. Flying generally gives you disadvantage on attempts to hide.

***Size.*** Avians are Medium creatures. They are shorter than the average human, with the majority around 5 feet tall. They are lighter than the average human for their size.

***Low-Light Vision.*** Avians have eyes that are more attuned to darkness than humans. With low-light vision, you can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of shadowy illumination. You retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.

***Natural Unarmed Strikes.*** Your beak and talons are natural weapons, which you can use to make an Unarmed Strike. If you hit with them, you deal slashing (Talons) or piercing (Beak) damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage common for an unarmed strike.

***Wings for Arms, and Arms for Legs.*** Where other species have arms, Avians have wings. You use your legs to wield your equipment; this does not affect your ability to use items.

***Armor Ergonomics.*** Because of your wings, your armor is constructed differently from other humanoids; you are never proficient with non-Avian armor.

*Additionally, all Avians have an environmental type, marking their homeland. Choose one of the types below:*

### Woodland

***Darkvision.*** Woodland Avians are even better than other Avians at seeing through darkness. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can not discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

***All-Around Vision.*** Woodland Avians can crane their head quickly in any direction and have heightened peripheral vision. You cannot be flanked.

### Dryland

***Silent Wings.*** Dryland Avians can fly while barely making a sound. You have proficiency in Stealth checks, and flying does not cause disadvantage when you attempt to hide.

***Keen Senses.*** Dryland Avians have eyes that are sensitive for long-range scanning. You have proficiency in Perception checks involving sight.

### Highland

***Bulky Wings.*** Highland Avians have stronger wings that can support weighty gear. You can fly while wearing *medium armor* or *heavy armor*, as long as you are not encumbered.

***Eagle’s Talons.*** Your Talons deal more damage. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 2d4 + your Strength modifier. Additionally, you have advantage on attempts to grapple a creature with your talons.

### Seaward

***Biggo Beak.*** Your bigger beak deals more damage. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 2d4 + your Strength modifier. This beak now has the *Finesse* and *Light* properties.

***Webby Feet.*** Seaward Avians can traverse land, sea, and sky. You gain a swim speed of 40 feet.

## Anatomy and Physiology

Avians anatomically resemble anthropomorphized birds - birdlike creatures in a humanoid shape.

The most interesting features of their build for gameplay are their armwings. Avians have long upper limbs that are near complete wings, but also possess some grip strength that allows them to be used as arms to a limited extent. On each wing they have three digits called handtalons, functioning like the index, middle, and ring fingers on a person. This gives them the ability to grasp objects, but without an opposable digit their hands are not particularly useful for fine-precision tools. Avians have under half the grip strength in their arms of the average person.

For most tool use, Avians take advantage of their highly adaptive legs. On each leg they possess an opposable talon, allowing fine motor control. Additionally, Avian legs can be contorted to angles that would tear human muscles, and Avians can support themselves with only a single leg.

## History

### Ancient Past

Avians as a species originate from the Thousand Spires, a region of the world with gigantic karsts extending hundreds of feet into the air, and immersed in a dense forest. This terrain has required many adaptations from all of its inhabitants; creatures without the ability to climb or fly here are at a disadvantage. On the other hand, the land's unique terrain has prevented most creatures on the outside from expanding into it, allowing the region to host a wide variety of unique animals without fear of predators. The Avians, having gained intelligence as a nonmammalian species, are perhaps the most unique of all species in the region.

Avians, unlike the other major species, do not have a history of coordinated expansion. While some have migrated into parts of the Desert (*the Drylands Avians*) and the Eastern Mountains (*the Highlands Avians*), the majority of their species still lives in the region they have always inhabited (*the Woodlands Avians*). This is partially because Avians greatly benefit from the uneven terrain of their home, which gives them a competitive advantage against creatures that would be much stronger than them on level ground. Avian nations in the Thousand Spires have generally failed to expand beyond the region -- with a few notable exceptions, including one nation that stretched all the way west to the Northern Mountains -- but have been defensive champions. Stories of foreign generals marching troops into the Thousand Spires carry the same connotations as the idea of trying to invade Russia in the winter.

### Culture and Society

Avian society has always been relatively decentralized and isolationist. The Thousand Spires, having some of the most uneven terrain in the world outside of actual mountain ranges, has never lent itself quite as well to centralized government with complex supply lines as others. Many Avian societies have usually been self-sufficient and feudal, with central authorities existing but having indirect and limited power over their subjects. Elective and proto-democratic political structures are not at all foreign to this region, as governments unaccountable to the public usually do not last.

Avian architecture and infrastructure, when feasible, is impressive. The ability to fly has given Avians a greater degree of freedom with city organization, with hollowed karsts functioning as a cross between cliff dwellings and skyscrapers. Avian cities are remarkably compact and near impossible to siege by non-Avian invaders, as their nonconformity to organization requirements of cities designed for flightless species makes standard military strategy near useless. This also comes with significant difficulties for non-Avian citizens of Avian cities. For these people, their homes have not been designed with them in mind, and because of this most non-Avians within Avian nations live on the frontier.

### Spiritual Avians and Pragmatic Avians

For most Avians living in the Karsts, spirituality is a much more significant part of their lives. Woodlands Avians, to an extent unlike most other societies, emphasize achieving total harmony with the world rather than the pursuit of materialistic goals. As such, most feudal states and bureaucratic institutions in the Karsts place faith leaders at the top, rather than high-ranking generals or a nobility. In both nonelectoral and elected positions since the Classical Period, the idea of a high ranking figure separate from a religious institution is uncommon; "nobility" in the sense of a group of powerful families passing their control down a bloodline is relatively rare in this region. The best example of this is one of the most powerful figures in modern Avian society, the *Kaveskiva*, the head monk of the Monastic League and most comparable to an Avian Pope. Much like the selection of the Pope, the Kaveskiva is selected by an election by other high-ranking monks, who themselves were appointed by the Kaveskiva directly or a representative of them. In the heart of the Karsts, major cities are often built around a spiritually significant site.

Avians living on the frontier and other Avian subtypes have a very different opinion about spirituality. Many living on the edges of Avian society are at least to some degree disillusioned with religion, often either voluntarily leaving to seek out worldly ambitions or being shunned out and exiled as a result of nonconformity. The *Karstwall*, as it sometimes referred to, has generally been inhabited with more pragmatic societies that have had to compete with outsiders for resources and security. Many of the karsts in this region have been transformed in elaborate and near impregnable fortresses, leading to smaller, independent states centered around a fortress that most generals do not attempt to take. Avians here have been a tough opponent for Evolvi civilizations trying to expand into the region, with the infamous *Feathered Marauders* of the Medieval Period pillaging Evolvi neighbors that get too close to their personal space.

These fortress cities and the monastery cities have had *interesting* relations throughout the duration of Avian history. Some fortress cities have been hired out by institutions like the Monastic League as personal protection from other fortress cities that are hellbent on the sacrilegious task of plundering temples. Frontier generals have also been the agents acting out the desires of, to put it lightly, *less righteous* holy figures. *The Fool's Crusade* is one instance of this, and was the result of a particularly bitter Kaveskiva inviting knights from a frontier state to help settle a religious schism at a few temples. This mission quickly got out of hand, turning into a full-on siege of the region. When the Kaveskiva asked the knights to leave and refused to pay them after the mess they made, the knights then turned on the Monastic League and launched a raid against the institution. This led to the death of the leader who declared the holy war in the first place, in a brutal display of cosmic justice for the persecution of a religious minority.