Rocatrice

Male rocatrice pictured beside a 16hh horse.

The rocatrice is a creature straight from Hireath myth, a gigantic bird of prey that feasts on large animals. They have the beak and body type of an enormous eagle, but share the plumage and other features of hens and roosters. Stubby leathery wings and a thick scaly tail make the rocatrice a much more natural flier than a chicken, however. While they are capable of achieving extreme altitudes, the rocatrice is far from the speediest creature in the skies, so their diet consists almost entirely of land animals.

A rocatrice is capable of carrying sheep, goats, and other livestock in its talons with ease; while one could probably lift a grown horse under the right circumstances, it would probably only be able to drag them for a short distance.

Though a lone horse might make a tasty snack for a rocatrice, they are intelligent enough to know that picking on the armed civilizations of Hireath is deadly, and they tend to avoid populated areas and contact with equines. The high altitudes and plentiful nesting opportunities of mountainous regions appeal to rocatrices. They are most plentiful in the Barrier Mountains, the mountains surrounding Skeldr in Onea, and the volcanic region of Eithne, but have been known to occasionally stray into the forested regions of Sirith. There have been no recorded sightings of rocatrices in Sedo.

The rocatrice avoids equines instinctively, so any hope of domesticating one must be started at birth. A newly-hatched rocatrice imprints on the first creature to feed it, and this is an equine's best chance to tame one so that it can be made into a familiar. A rocatrice raised among equines will become socialized exclusively to them, and will consider itself one of them, viewing wild rocatrices as alien and unfamiliar. A rocatrice Uplifted into a familiar is highly intelligent but can still be difficult to manage; often, once they realize their strength, they can be single-minded and defiant. They also eat unbelievable amounts of meat, and due to their size can be a difficult companion to keep.

Yes, they are extremely cute fluffy chicks, and hatch out of eggs about the size of a barrel.

 Creation Rules

### The Rocatrice will always:

* Have an eagle beak, claws and body shape, with the plumage and comb of any existing chicken.
* Have a sleek lizard-like tail and matching webbed wings in green, brown, or the color of their beak or feet.
* Have naturally-colored animal parts.
* Represent the sexual dimorphism of the chicken they are based on. A female will have the plumage of a hen, and a male the plumage of a rooster.
* Be about the same adult size, regardless of sex or the type of bird they resemble.

### Rocatrices can:

* Have eyes of any color, as long as the pupil is black and shaped like an eagle's.
* Have feet a different color from the beak, so long as they are both naturally colored.
* Have any feather texture that exists in real chickens.

### Rocatrices can **not:**

* Have horns, ridges, spines, or any other "dragon" additions on its body. This includes the tail, which must remain smooth with a single point.

* Be ridden. A horse is too heavy, and would affect its balance too greatly. Its still a bird.
* Resemble peacocks, pheasants, quail, ducks, or any fowl that isn't a chicken. Chicken means chicken. Do not test me I stg