The bird people of Garth

These slightly built men (or they may be a kind of elf, I am not sure) stand about four feet tall and have feathered wings, rather like those of a swan, with a wingspan of around twelve feet. They are not especially clever, in fact one well known scholar cracked the joke that they are ‘bird-brained’ and this has stuck as a fair description of their thinking faculties. They are, however, excellent flyers and make and use wooden tools quite capably.

The birdmen build their citadels upon the top of steep and inaccessible hills or mountains. These take the form of a tower, round at the base and tall and pointed, constructed out of mud mixed with straw or twigs and piled high (like some bird nests). There are many openings to the towers outside of which there are perches made of branches or small logs. Within there are chambers and nests with tunnels and bridges joining them all up in an amazing maze. Between the towers there are high walkways. The Garthanians (as the locals call these winged elves) spend most of their lives living in or near their nests within these large towers.

The Birdmen mostly eat fruit, nuts and grains and can be a real nuisance to human farmers who grow wheat or corn near one of their roosts. As a rule they have few possessions and wear light but warm clothing. They wear no armour and have no military organization. For personal weapons they prefer the flail or stave as well as ‘dropping’ stones. Birdmen do not approve of metal or stone and use these materials very rarely. They treat gold and silver with contempt.

The Bird people have a king and assisting him are his forty-nine ‘Princesses’ or consorts. They are not princesses in the normal sense of the word but are elected for life by the multitude to assist the king in all matters of government (as well as raising his broods).

They have no religion although some say they worship the trees, certainly they have a close rapport with all green things. Birdmen are often highly skilled in woodcarving, indeed, their money is made up of carved wooden tablets (which are conveniently light to carry when flying). Each different type of wood has a different value. It may appear to an outsider that these tablets could be easily forged but the workmanship is so intricate that only a fool would waste his time trying to do so for it would be cheaper to pay a skilled carver than to waste many hours trying.

For laws the Bird people have few written edicts, relying mostly on tradition. They have only two punishments for serious crimes. Banishment for stealing, abuse of property, violence against another birdman etc. And banishment with clipped wings for very serious crimes such as murder or treason. The latter is more cruel than death in their eyes for the criminal will never be able to fly again and is not even a person but just a wingless beast when so disabled. Birdmen who have lost the ability to fly are in fact at a grave disadvantage on the ground and rarely survive long outside their home territory.

They do not work the land or farm, except perhaps to plant rare and specific types of trees in their holy places or near their citadels. In this way they are similar to elves, indeed, they have an affinity to that group of races.

Cornelius Clifford, at the Sign of the Singing Duck