Aarakocra

From SneezyMUD Wiki

Aarakocra

Appearance

Known as 'birdmen' by other races, the aarakocra looks like a cross between a large bird of prey and a human. It stands about the same height as a human (5 to 6 feet) although is significantly lighter in weight (about 65 to 130 lbs). The aarakocra has winglike arms with working clawed hands much like a bat and foldable flaps of skin below its arms to hold flight muscles and feathers. Covering its body are feathers of various sizes, used for warmth and flight. An aarakocra plumage varies in color from gray to brown to black with a white or gray underbelly. Some aarakocra will also have ruddy red or blue feathers along their necks or faces. Aarakocra can wear or wield most human equipment with some minor modifications.

Physiology

Aarakocra bones are light and porous, which allows their sinewy bodies to be capable of nonmagical flight. Although rigid their bones lack strength, which makes them more susceptible to breakage and fracture than most other races. However aarakocra are extremely graceful, agile, and quick which usually allows them to avoid such damage. Their flight feathers are capable of sustaining them in the air indefinitely as they float along thermal updrafts. These feathers can get dirty easily however and therefore can impair later flights. Aarakocra often must preen their feathers well before flying in order to get sufficient lift. Known for their eerie unblinking gaze, aarakocra are acclaimed for their incredible eyesight and attention to detail. They are able to spot hidden objects, passages, and scan farther then even sharpsighted elves. Aarakocra have a bird physiology which allows them to require significantly less food than other races. However they do not dispose of their bodily waste the same way as most mammals would. Due to their grace and perception, aarakocra make excellent thieves. They also make great monks and other classes. Due to their lack of brawn, strength, and constitution, aarakocra who choose the path of warriors and deikhans are a rarity.

Society

Aarakocra like to nest high in the air, living in trees or along cliffsides in nooks or caves within the rock. They organize into flocks of twenty to fifty, although larger groups have been sighted. Hunting parties range in size from one to eight. Aarakocra usually mate for life, rearing one single egg from ovulation to hatching in a 14 month period. Although slightly smaller in size than males, females usually govern aarakocra society. Highly social creatures aarakocra like to gather together to communicate, sing, and preen each other on a daily basis. Privately they speak a language known as Avian, which differs greatly from common speech. Sometimes it can be difficult for non-avian speakers to understand an aarakocra speaking common. Aarakocra young grow to maturity relatively quickly and leave the nest around age ten to fifteen.

History

Little is known about the secretive aarakocra past. Once thought to have originated from the offspring of angels, many historians now believe the aarakocra ancestry is more mundane. Whatever their origins, aarakocra have always managed to be secretive, hidden, and isolated from other races. The first great leader of the aarakocra was the visionary chieftess Tukdawraw, who united seven separate aarakocra flocks into a single large colony. Since then they have built up their strength, expanding their colony in Aerie by making pacts with nearby Dragons. Aarakocra now are ruled by a male and female Chief and Chieftess, although their method of gaining governance is still unknown. They also live in and tend the largest tree in the known world.

Aarakocra have the following gameplay mechanics:

 Requires at least one level 50 character to create
 Starts in their own hometown, outside of Grimhaven
 Has enhanced stats; hobbit-like agility and highest perception
 Flight which requires frequent preening
 Enhanced search, vision, and scan range
 Low food requirements
 Low-density bones are more susceptible to breakage
 Difficulty speaking common
 Uses claw and peck barehand attacks