Avril

Appearing to be a cross between human and bird, the Avril population lies primarily in the Autumn Forest of the Nest, but those that are struck with wanderlust are quick to be recruited by various nations and guilds due to their natural ability to fly and partake in covert quests and assignments.

Lineagal Attributes

Physical attributes

Size

Medium, average height of 5 to 6 feet, and weight of 50 to 100 pounds (due to their bones being hollow). Avrils are a sexually dimorphic species, with males typically being smaller and more brightly colored than their female counterparts.

General Description

Avrils are a bipedal species descended from birds and, as such, are covered head to toe with feathers. Also differing from the other modern lineages is the characteristic that their arms are evolved wings with hands on the ends allowing for both the function of the hand and the ability to fly short distances while their legs taper down to bird talons. Feather colors vary widely from individual to individual, though a common tendency is for the males to be much more brightly colored than the females, who are usually a shade between brown and cream. Male feathers range in color from red to black, blue, orange, silver, purple, and gold; typically, each feather is made up of a single color, but multicolored feathers are not unheard of. The feathers on an Avril mimic that of a normal bird with a layer of down feathers covered in contour feathers while their wing-arms have flight feathers; Avril’s also have tails made up of long flight feathers. Unlike birds, an Avril has little control over the feathers on their bodies and must use their fingers to fluff or groom themselves – their head feathers, however, will stand on end or flatten depending on their mood. This species has eye colors as diverse as their feathers; any hue of the rainbow can be found around their pupils. Avrils have beaks or bills in place of an ordinary mouth and nose.

Lifespan

Avrils are considered to reach adulthood between the ages of 10 and 12 and typically live to their late 60s, though some have been known to reach nearly 100.

Unique Abilities

Because of their anatomy, which includes wings, tails, and hollow bones, Avril can fly for short distances. What’s more, their eyes are much better at seeing long distances, able to be see clearly for about double that of a human’s range.

Vision Type

Day-vision.

Genetics

Origins

The Avril evolved from birds in the Nest’s subcontinent of Aadel though after the materialization of the Autumn Forest they migrated towards the continent's center to establish a stable civilization around the mountain Ākāśa Pula.

Relation to Other Lineages

The Avril prefer to live amongst their own kind, finding many of the characteristics of the other modern lineages to be strange – especially concerning the extreme forms of materialism that many individuals exhibit. Male Avrils are only able to procreate with others of their species though male humans can sire children with a female Avril. Despite the limitations on procreation, some members of this species have been known to marry individuals of the other lineages.

Avrilli Culture

Name/Nicknames: Avril, Birdfolk, Birdkin (plural: Avrils; descriptive: Avrilli).

Language(s): Avrillian.

             

Individuals

Physical Adornment

Some individuals of this lineage have been known to bleach or dye their feathers different colors according to personal taste, however such adornments are not common.

Clothing

Lacking a need for clothing because their feathers provide them with modesty and shelter from the elements as well as the fact that such trimmings can hinder an individual’s ability to fly, most Avrils do not wear clothes. Those that do are often the warriors of the people who wear armor for protection or priests as they perform religious ceremonies. For the same reason the only jewelry that is warn are rings on their fingers or talons.  A common Avril will, however, often have straps of leather crisscrossing their chest to attach pouches and weapons to.

Given Names

An Avril’s personal name is usually given to them one year after their birth and it remains with them through life. Names often have no true meaning but instead mimic the cries and chips of avian species such as Chee, Bib, Kraw, Tcsk, Cocaw, Heeh and Chicka.                

Surnames

Avril families do not have surnames, but an Individual of this species often has the tendency to be able to trace another’s heritage by the feather patterns on their chests. Those that regularly interact with the other modern lineages, however, will usually adopt a surname for themselves that has something that ties in with birds such as Greatbeak, Featherflash, or Goldtalon.

Family

Structure

Avrils live in extended families where every living member of the lineage (usually three or four generations) resides together – when marrying, brides will move from their family’s nest to the nest of the husband.

Courtship and Marriage

In Avril society most marriages are arranged by the elders of the bride and groom’s families before an individual even hatches though the practice does not usually involve a direct arrangement but rather a specific gender of that clutch will marry the opposite sex of another family’s clutch hatching at relatively the same time. Marriages are performed to strengthen bonds in the community. Despite the formal prearranged marriages an individual can choose to marry another of the same gender from the other clutch or opt to not marry at all. If an individual chooses to wed or mate with a non-predetermined fiancée the family will not allow the couple to live within the extended family and they must create their own nest – despite this segregation the individual and their family usually retain close ties; this usually becomes the situation with individuals that choose to journey abroad or marry a person of a different lineage. Avrils are typically expected to marry within their own castes.

Pregnancy

When a female becomes pregnant, she will lay a clutch of 6-10 eggs three days after mating with her partner should they have become fertilized in the process. Females that were not fertilized will not lay any eggs. Eggs need to remain warm to hatch and as such are wrapped in blankets and placed near the nest’s fireplace, tended by the women and girls of the household until they hatch five months after being laid.   

Children

Avril come to age very quickly and are considered adults as soon as they can fly on their own, usually at about 10 years (though they cannot have children of their own until about the age 12). Because of their high mortality rate during the first year, children are named at a ceremony called Nāmakaraṇa Gardai in which all the surviving children of the clutch receive are initiated as members of society. Children are not given many tasks during their childhood apart from household chores and tending the gardens with their parents.

Elders

Avril elders are much revered by their families – it is taboo to raise one’s voice to an elder or intentionally or unintentionally mock them. Their knowledge is much revered by their families and they often act as moderators between not only the members of their family but also in disputes between two families. Elders are the family members that arrange marriages for the pending children.

Death and Burial

When an Avril dies their bodies are wrapped in fine silks held tightly in place by oil-soaked ropes. The corpse is then hung upside down in the crevices of a cliff; Ākāśa Pula easily provides countless locations for such a burial, however those that are tending a deceased Avril elsewhere in the world may have a harder time respecting this tradition if they intend to at all.

Society

Gender Structure

Avril society has a rigid gender structure where men are expected to hunt and fish, act as warriors, participate in politics, and partake in tradecrafts while women tend the garden and take care of the children and elders.  

Castes

Avril society is broken into three castes based vaguely on what kind of bird a family most resembles based on the structure of their beaks: Songs (most resembling song birds), Raptors (beaks resembling birds of prey), and Fowls (bill-like beaks). While these castes all live together in their communities it is looked down on for individuals of different castes to eat together or spend time together one on-one-on and is practically taboo to have sex with or marry another individual of a different caste. Should a clutch of eggs have parents of two different castes everyone becomes part of the caste that their beak most resembles and are expected to live with the new nest consisting of their parents or, in the case where the parents did not marry, live with corresponding family. Castes also have professions and trades that they cannot partake in – while the list is too long to list here some examples include water-based trades to be allocated to the Fowls, most combat professions (and trades making military gear) belong to the Raptors, and the arts are left to the Songs.

Religion

Most Avrils are extremely devout to their own ethnic religion and praise the deities of the Ulian Pantheon. Unsurprisingly, the pantheon consists of deities represented by different species of bird. Songbirds appear to make up the dominant gods and goddesses of the faith while birds of prey are viewed in a more negative light, representing harsher of negative aspects of life (these gods and goddesses are most commonly worshipped by the Raptor caste). In addition to the religion creating the basis of the caste system, its practices also emphasize gender-roles, meditation, and the reverence of elders. Furthermore, the mountain Ākāśa Pula is held in high esteem to the culture and as worshippers of the Ulian Pantheon gray or meditate they make a point to face in the direction of the mountain. The few Avrils living in the Unfounded are much more likely to have converted to Odredba to the Covenant of the Silver Blood than to retain their connection to the Ulian Pantheon.

Industry: The Avrils have little industry as the concepts of materialism, capitalism, and mercantilism are found to be rather strange and backwards. Most Avrils live in an independent, self-sufficient state and villages and cities grow to sate the need of companionship more than for economic opportunities.

Magic

Magic is mostly disregarded in Avril culture – those that can utilize magic do so to help themselves and others, otherwise the practice is shrugged off as unimportant.

Domestic Animals

Most Avrils have an intense dislike of cats and other felines.

Drugs

Avrils do not appear to use many mind-altering drugs as they often have no effects on the individuals. Individuals do however use alchemy potions as they will give the benefits.

Material Culture

Architecture

Avrils have a unique form of house well suited for their physical capabilities. Called Nests, Avril architecture are three to four story tall circular towers that are completely hollow except for a single room at the top which contains only a fireplace. The room is filled with cushions, blankets, and pillows and acts as the entire home for the family. The room has no ‘doors’ per say, but the round rooms have full length windows that are used as such and can be shuttered for protection from the elements or enemies. Built onto one side of the nest a pulley system used to lift and lower a platform utilized to bring up firewood and act as an elevator for juvenile Avrils and non-Avril visitors. The ground level of the tower is sometimes used as a barn, guest quarters, storage, or woodshed.

Art

The most common forms of Avril art are brightly colored murals created by woven feathers as well as hammered golden and silver reliefs. While classical sculptures and paintings are also created, they are less common.

Food

The bulk of Avril meals consist of grains, oats and fish; however they do also eat goat and chicken on special occasions. The only cooked food that an Avril will usually eat are breads and crackers – though they are consumed cold; meat is always eaten raw.

Literature/Written Language

the Avril lineage utilizes the written language of Prime Humans, though they write in their own language, phonetically spelling their words; because of this most Avril works are easiest read out-loud. Avril literature consists primarily of religious works, with numerous epics and stories regarding deities and heroes, even contemporary works utilize the ancient characters rather than creating new protagonists.

Music

To an individual, Avrils are drawn to all types of music and most of the population know how to use one or two instruments and practice singing in their own language as well as songs that mimic the calls and cries of regular birds.