Aarakocra

Sequestered in high mountains atop tall trees, the aarakocra, sometimes called birdfolk, evoke fear and wonder. Many aarakocra aren't even native to the material plane. They hail from a world beyond - from the boundless vistas of the Elemental Plane of Air. They are immigrants, refugees, scouts and explorers, their outposts functioning as footholds in a world both strange and alien.

Beak and Feather

While aarakocra are far too large to sustain proper flight, the lighter aarakocra can still glide and vault through the air. Standing upright, aarakocra might reach 5 feet tall, and they have long, narrow legs that taper to sharp talons.

Feathers cover their bodies. The plumage typically denotes the type of aarakocra. The stolid aarakocra are often duller in colour, usually brown, grey or white, while the dazzling aarakocra are brightly coloured, with feathers of red, orange or yellow. Their heads complete the avian appearance, being something like a parrot or eagle with distinct tribal variations.

Avian Mannerisms

The resemblance of aarakocra to birds isn't limited to physical features. Aarakocra display many of the same mannerisms of ordinary birds. They are dastidious about their plumage, frequently tending their feathers, cleaning and scratching away any tiny passengers they may have collected.

Many aarakocra punctuate their speech with chirps, sounds they use to convey emphasis and to shade meaning, much as a human might through facial expressions and gestures. An aarakocra might become frustrated with people who fail to pick up on the nuances; an aarakocra's threat might be taken as a jest and vice versa.

The idea of ownership baffles most aarakocra. After all, who owns the sky? Even when explained to them, the initially find the notion of ownership mystifying. As a result, aarakocra who have little interaction with other people might be a nuisance as they snatch livestock or plunder harvests for fruits and grains. Shiny, glittering objects catch their eyes. They find it hard not to pluck the treasure and bring it back to their settlement to beautify it. An aarakocra who spends years among other races can learn to inhibit these impulses.

Homelands

Most aarakocra live on the Elemental Plane of Air. Aarakocra can be drawn into the Material Plane, sometimes to pursue enemies or thwart their foes' designs there. Accident might also send a nest of aarakocra tumbling into a world on that plane. A few find their way to such a world through portals on their own plane and establish nests in high mountains or in the canopies of old forests.

Once tribes of aarakocra settle in an area, they share a hunting territory that extends across an area up to 100 miles on a side, with each tribe hunting in the lands nearest to their colony, ranging further should game become scarce.

Great Purpose

Aarakocra enjoy peace and solitude. Most of them have little intrest in dealing with other people. For this reason, it takes an exceptional circumstances for an aarakocra to leave their tribe and undertake the adventurer's life. Neither treasure nor glory is enough to lure them from their tribes; a dire threat to their people, a mission of vengeance, or a catastrophe typically lies at the heart of the aarakocra adventurer's chosen path.

Two other circmstances might call an aarakocra to adventure. First, aarakocra have historical ties to the Wind Dukes of Aqaa. Exceptional individuals honor that connection and might seek out the missing pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts, the remains of an artifact fashioned by the Wind Dukes long ago to defeat the Queen of Chaos' monsterous champion, Miska the Wolf-Spider. When plunged into Miska's body, the chaos in his blood sundered the rod and scattered its pieces across the multiverse. Recovering the pieces means gaining honor and esteem in the eyes of the vaati who forged it and could possibly restore a powerful weapon for defence against the agents of elemental evil.

Second, aarakocra are sworn foes of elemental earth, in paticular the gargoyles that serve Ogrémoch, the Prince of Earth. The Aarakocra word for gargoyle is loosely translated as “flying rock,” and battles between aarakocra and gargoyles have raged across the Elemental Planes of Earth and Air, occasionally spilling into a world on the Material Plane. Aarakocra on that plane might leave their colonies to lend aid to other humanoids committed to fighting earth cults and thwarting their efforts.