Firebirds (5e Creature)
Firebirds[edit]
Aquatic Urvogels[edit]
Penguin Raptors[edit]
Phoenixes[edit]
Raptorial Urvogels[edit]
As most understand it, birds stand out amongst the entirety of other breasts, being quite distinct from mammals and reptiles at least at first glance. A look through the fossil record however muddies the waters considerably: even a cursory glance through deep time shows that birds as understood today are only the latest in a long line of small, feathered dinosaur clades. Many of this clades like ichthyornitheans,[1] enantiornitheans,[2] and confuciusornithids[3] had species with teeth and wing claws- though these traits were not universal -but otherwise would not stand out from a lineup of modern birds. Further back, animals such as archaeopteryx, anchiornis, and microraptor would also likely be called birds at first glance. Only once you get to animals such as eudromaeosaurs does the distinction become clear, although even these animals may be mistaken for birds at a quick glance. This distinction does not exist in the minds of Kaimere's inhabitants: "bird" is best translated as "feathered creature" and is applied to true birds, enantiornitheans, cockatrices, megaraptorans, thescelosaurs,[4] elasmarians,[5] and even pterosaurs. In their minds, to draw a distinction between true birds and the rest of these animals, even if not taxonomically correct as thescelosaurs are far removed from birds and pterosaurs are not even dinosaurs, is as pedantic and nonsensical as referring only to songbirds as birds and referring to all other birds by more narrow clades.
One clade of birds unique to Kaimere and quite distinct as neither neornithine or enantiornithean, are the three clades of related birds primarily found in the temperate rainforests of Pakardia. They have long bony tails and most have snouts lined with teeth, but most are also volant and they have feet adapted for grasping. While it is part of the Known World now, this island subcontinent traces its origins back to the southern polar continent of Kaishel, being part of a now submerged continental plate connected to Kaishel as early as 40 million years ago. This is reflected in many of the indigenous fauna, though many of the large animals are from more recent harvests as many of the megafauna died out in the Dynastic Extinction. The three clades of firebirds known to science are as follows; Most common are the phoenixes, for whose bright, iridescent feathers firebirds get their name. These are beaked specialists of seeds, nuts, and berries, though the common phoenix is too large to be a specialist, and their spread of the seeds they eat is integral to the health of lowland forests; the high amounts of rain that is collected in the highlands of Pakardia has created several massive lakes which has led to a diving clade of firebirds, which live much like darters[6]; and most famous and important in Pakardiant culture are the raptorial urvogels.
These firebirds have fearsome grasping talons and all are volant except for adult Indrakai but most surprisingly, a pottant venom derived from specialized salivary glands. This comes from their origins on Kaishel: while the moorkutlot had not evolved yet, the xenosimian ancestors of it were the dominant arboreal predators and raptorial urvogel firebirds evolved venom due to this competition, allowing for swift yet silent kills. While such predators are extinct in Pakardia, these firebirds retained the venom, which is a potent tranquilizing agent, as it was still a useful tool to take down prey. Raptorial urvogels hunt by leaping on top of their prey, restraining them with their talons, and delivering swift bites of potent venom and serrated teeth, using the raptor prey restraint method that was used by dromaeosaurs but, ironically, is no longer employed by cockatrices. While raptorial urvogels are not capable of the precision strikes that cockatrices use, all four of the toes have claws held of the ground in resting position and used in grasping, creating a chokehold on their prey which can have a similar effect. While the common phoenix is the primary inspiration for the name "firebird", raptorial urvogels also play a hand in this: in addition to being important tricksters in Pakardiant folklore, they are also regarded as the stages of fire; Karakai is the spark; Indrakai is the flame; Tamakai is the ash; and Yakai is the shadow after the fire has passed.
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