Impundulu

The impundulu or lightning bird, is a vampiric bird that originates within the Desert Kingdom and warmer climates. The impundulu's natural form is a human-sized bird with black and white plumage. Other times, they appear in the form of a rooster, or have peacock feathers, or even a red tail, beak, and legs. They also have the ability of shift into a humanoid form. Impundulu with the strongest gifts have the ability to manifest themselves as lightning.

This shapeshifting takes a great deal of energy and practice, and most impundulu learn the basic two: their natural human-sized bird form with black-and-white plumage, and their humanoid form.

They are infamous for their thirst for blood and pain, which it is known to take from birds, cattle, other animals, and rarely, humans. If the impundulu's attacks did not kill, it will often leave its victims with infertility, tuberculosis, and chronic pain. They sometimes abduct children from households or steal milk or eggs, which are delicacies to them.

The impundulu's body has many magical properties. Their feathers can be used (along with glowing fish and other ingredients) to create a potion that causes lightning to strike an enemy. The fat of an impundulu can be used in medicinal remedies, and its flesh can be used to discover thieves.

Occasionally, an impundulu will strike the earth as lightning, which is when it can be caught either by catching it at the moment it strikes or shortly after. Impundulu often live in underground caverns or in nomadic groups, wandering the desert and preferring to mainly avoid civilization.

Impundulu are very family-oriented but solitary creatures, preferring to keep to themselves in their tight-knit tribes and clans and caravans, and avoid outsiders. They're also isolationists, due to their weak immune systems and high risk of contagion and death if someone contracts an illness. Due to this, they are extremely hygienic and somewhat picky eaters. They have a very good sense of smell and an uncanny way to tell if food is bad or rotten or spoiled.

Outside people who live within the Desert Kingdom, impundulu aren't widely known about besides being occasionally mentioned in myths or legends. And even for the Desert dwellers, most people simply think they're bedtime stories and old wives' tales meant to frighten little children or caution caravans who are travelling through the deep desert.

Still, they're an important part of many cultures within the Desert's many tribes and people groups, and on certain holidays or festival dates, people will leave out offerings on their doorsteps for the impundulu such as bowls of milks or eggs or the blood of freshly slaughtered lamb, so that they'd not abduct the children of that household. Travellers also will sometimes murmur a prayer or leave offerings for the impundulu to leave their caravans or wagon trains alone, or to protect them them the terrors of the night while out in the lonely dunes at night.

Impundulu are seen as both watchful guardians who bring the rains and guard lonely caravans at night form hungry creatures in the desert or on the savannah, and monsters of bad luck and blood and death who will steal away your children or drain your cattle dry of blood or steal the eggs out from underneath your hens.

The impundulu aren't ruled by one singular leader, they're all their own separate tribes and clans who roam about their own territories and have an annual gathering at their most sacred site deep within the desert, beyond where any humans can survive. There, the leaders of the tribes and clans gather to discuss events, make new treaties, and celebrate together.

The impundulu are a matriarchal society, often going by the maternal relations and women being the leaders.

Impundulu, which being hostile and suspicious to outsiders, actually *are* very welcoming to orphaned children and believe strongly in adoption and found family. Often times, the children that they abduct from villages are raised within the clan or tribe as a member of the family, and used as a way to infiltrate or spy on humans.

Also, tribes and clans are led by the matriarch, usually the highest-ranking woman within the community.

## **ABILITIES**

Impundulu can shapeshift between their forms, bring rain or lighting or thunder, have extended lifespans, and are incredibly durable. They can survive being stabbed, and cannot drown or be poisoned. They have excellent eyesight and can see in the dark. A few rare abitlies that a few impundulu are born with is the ability to summon storms. These gifts, however, are extremely rare and if one has them, are quite difficult to master or use.

## **WEAKNESSES**

They are extremely susceptible to fire, even the slightest sparks are often enough to engulf the entire creature in flames. They hold a great fear of fire and treat it would a sort of reverent, almost fearful distaste. They cannot survive solely off animal blood or human blood, or just blood alone. They had a varied diet, and must find enough food, or risk starvation and malnutrition. They are also quite susceptible to cold temperatures, ice, and snow. Their immune systems are almost rather vulnerable to foreign diseases, due to how isolated they often are. Hence, they like to avoid crowded areas or heavily civilized places, where the chance of infection is much lower.

So it's mandatory for all impundulu to learn from a very early age how to keep tight control over their lightning abilities, for fear of a tragic accident happening. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for foolish young impundulu to be trying to wield their lightning abilities or practice with them along, a spark catching their hair or feathers, and them burning up to a crisp within seconds.

Out in the desert, where it's just an endless sea of dunes, they can summon lightning strikes and teach their young how to master their abilities without fear of starting a forest fire.

All impundulu actually have an instinctual pyrophobia, causing them to often get irrationally anxious and jittery around fire. In the worst cases, the impundulu with fly into a full-fledged, near-hysterical panic at the slightest spark of fire. Often times, impundulu will often suffer from what is called "fire hypnosis", where they are so paralyzed by their terror of the fire that they'll be locked in place, unable to move or flee the dancing flames, stuck staring in a terrified fascination at the flames.