Harpies

Taloned Feet

Taloned Fingers

Sharp Teeth

- Fewer Feathers

- More Humanoid

Raptors:

- Wings Replace Arms

- More Feathers

- Less Humanoid, More Bird-like

## Anatomy

Harpies are typically smaller than average human beings, standing at either 5 feet or 6 feet tall at their tallest, depending on their subspecies. Harpies are nearly all female,  though male harpies do exist in small quantities in both subspecies. Features consistent in both subspecies are as follows; The presence of massive, feathered wings, taloned feet and fingers, sharp teeth for eating tough meat, and eyes like black pearls in their sockets. All of these will be present on your harpy, what matters next is which subspecies they come from. Feathers can come from any point on the rainbow, and often multiple colors are seen on one harpy, though this is not guaranteed.

## History/Culture

Long, long ago, religious beliefs were a very important issue, more so than they are even now. What you claimed to believe in was often more important than anything else about you, and deviation from the norm was grounds for persecution. It was due to this persecution that a small group of pagan worshipers found themselves on a boat, attempting to flee to a better world. Their beliefs in nature deities had them branded as a cult, their leader going by the alias Eliar Blackquill probably didn't help their public image.

The group called themselves The Harpers, a group fascinated by the natural world and the forces that shaped it. Unfortunately few others shared their love of the world, and forced the group from their homes, and put them on a boat with limited supplies, and no destination. Very few of them even knew how to pilot a boat, but their intuition at least helped them sail towards a small sandbar. They ground their boat in the sand, and with dwindling supplies, resigned themselves to their fate. Through their persecution, they continued to worship their druidic pantheon, and thus were rewarded. Their god of the winds took pity on the stranded believers, and in order to save his own worship, graced them with the ability to ride the winds. This power came with an altered physical form, but any life is better than disgraced starvation. Thus the Harpers became harpies, and escaped back to the mainland, where they took to roost in the heights of mountains to escape the hatred of those below them.

That was centuries ago, and now much of that history is forgotten. Religious scholars may remember the harpies’ pagan roots from study, but the common man is more than likely to believe that they are simply another type of creature like Triton, or Aracnia. Somewhat mythical in nature, but expected. They stick to their homes in the mountains unless they have a reason to traverse the world below. Raptors might go down to scavenge for food, or to meet people that have earned their favor in some way. Celestine might go down for any number of reasons from socializing, to trading goods, to searching for a new place to call home. Most harpies live together in one large, nest-like home in the mountains, but it isn’t unheard of to see harpies in distant ranges, far from their home after deciding to settle down elsewhere.

## Religion

The beliefs of the harpies are fairly straightforward, with 4 deities assigned to different natural aspects of the world. Anything believed to be related to that aspect is believed to have been created by/for the associated god

### **Espum** (Es-puhm)

The god of life. Anything living is within his domain, including humans and harpies, along with any other living creature one can fathom, including plants.

### **Gontha** (Gone-tha)

The goddess of stone. The solid world beneath our feet is Gontha’s domain, as well as any structures built from her bounty. To be inside a building is to be surrounded by Gontha’s essence.

### **Illmye** (pronounced Ilm-eye)

The god of the wind. Illmye controls the air around us, how it moves, and has influence over what creatures live in it. It is this god that gave the harpies their power of flight.

### **Fwahm** (pronounced Fwah-mm)

The goddess of destruction. Anything that seeks to destroy, or tear down, is Fwahms. Some harpies believe Fwahm to have collaborated with Espum when creating humans, but this is a niche belief among the species. Lightning, fierce winds, earthquakes, are all Fwahm’s tampering with the domains of other gods. Convenient that whenever one god acts with malice, Fwahm can always be blamed.