The Avilans

Introduction of the idea

Everything started with small talks with Lillica, sharing ideas of all sorts for meowls. And thanks to that I felt inspired enough to attempt at making my own creature. It's a very very longshot, I know, but at least I had 5 hours of fun designing it, might as well try and suggest it. Who knows, perhaps the me of an alternate universe succeeds. Without further ado, I present you the Avilans.

Characteristics

General Description

Avilan is the name given to a genus of birds. They are quadruped and wingless, carnivorous birds with sizes ranging from small as a house cat to large as a small horse.

Physiology

Their body shares similarities to that of felines, like a lean muscular body, tail and lax joints and ligaments, with distinctive avian characteristics, such as a beak, claws and feathers. Their fore feet have 3 fingers spreading forward and one backwards with sharp, pointy claws made for grabbing, while their hind feet has 1 large curved claw for stabbing and 2 shorter claws but stronger muscles made to apply force. Their bones structure is like that of a beehive, it is in a point between rigid like that of mammals and hollow like that of birds which makes them strong but light. Their movements resemble that of felines as well, when running they propel themselves mostly with the hind legs and assist with the fore legs. There is a difference in the anatomy of the Chromatic and Ghost avilans from the others in that their necks bones and muscles allow their heads to tilt and spin to the sides an incredible 180°, the function of this feature is still being debated.

Senses

They possess a superb color sight like other birds of prey do as well as thermal “vision”, which is actually perceived by small receptors inside their nose, that lets them distinguish their prey as a source of heat and, if close enough, pinpoint where the large arteries are; while this feature makes them the most accurate stalkers it also represents a weakness since greater sources of heat like fires and torches might blind them temporarily until they focus on their normal sight.

Life Cycle

Avilans, like any other bird, lay eggs. There are several ways for an avilan to attract a mate, known ones are displays of strength, the design of their nest, the color pattern of their feathers and singing. They live in pairs and spend their entire life with just one partner; were their partner to die, they'd "mourn" for up to 3 years rejecting other potential partners before attempting to find a new one. Females lay between 3 and 5 eggs at a single time in late winter and after hatching the young stay with their mother for one more winter before moving out to live for their own. The time to hatch from their eggs, maximum lifespan and weight of avilans may vary on each individual but it generally depends on their size.

Small species (Chromatic) weight between 2 and 8 kg, they hatch from their egg after 3 weeks and live up to 15 years in the wild.

Medium species (Ghost, Moon) weight between 25 and 90 kg, they hatch from their egg after 5 weeks and live up to 20 years in the wild.

Large species (King) weight between 75 and 190 kg, they hatch from their egg after 7 weeks and live up to 30 years in the wild.

Behavior

They are solitary although a small group of avilans from the same family may travel and hunt together occasionally. They become very territorial after the female laid eggs. They like keeping themselves clean, particularly their feathers as they are their main tool for many things in their daily lives as such they like taking baths frequently to groom themselves and clean them up from dirt, blood, vegetation or insects. Many of them are mistaken for nocturnal or diurnal but in truth they are cathemeral, they perform their activities at random intervals throughout the day. They are opportunistic stalk-and-ambush predators, that make use of their feather color patterns for camouflage and their agility to bring down their prey. They use their strong legs to push themselves forward and attack with their fore feet open and extended towards their prey, to stab and get a grip on it while using their scissor-like beak to tear larger chunks of flesh. They usually target large arteries to create profuse bleeding wounds, after that they disengage from the fight and wait nearby until it bleeds to death. Once dead, they drag it to a more comfortable place to eat it in peace.

Known Species

Chromatic Avilan

The most common and smallest species of avilans, their size is usually comparable to that of a house cat and perhaps a little larger than that. They can be found in most regions as well. They are very curious and tend to be attracted by shiny things. Their feathers have the widest arrange of color patterns and they have the particular ability of changing their color at will, one day the same wild avilan could be red and black but the next day it might be green and blue, they commonly have no more than 3 colors in their patterns. It is rare to find one with more and even rarer to find with just one. Studies confirm their use of this ability for camouflage, display of emotions and signs, as well as to attract a mate. (Based on great horned owls, lyre birds, house cats and lynxes)

Interactions: Taming Chromatic Avilans could be considered an expensive service due to their wild nature, but once tamed they become popular pets in some aspects of mann's society that include the role of a house cat; for nobility, for example, due to their ability to match their feather's colors with that of the fanciest dresses.

Assessment: Tame or Avoid.

Ghost Avilan

Unlike other avilans, these ones are fully nocturnal and don’t rely much on their feather patterns but excel at stalking instead. They have pale yellow feathers and a skull-like white face with large black eyes that look like empty sockets. What’s more terrifying than their looks is how silent and clever they are, you will never hear them coming and it seems as if they knew you were trying to find them to avoid your line of sight. They can be encountered in many kind of forests, cold regions and tall grasslands. Although they are predators they tread carefully, and even civil, when encountering other creatures, understanding if the subject is a friend, foe or prey; it is noted that when a ghost avilan is giving thought about something it would tilt its head to the sides, the more it tilts the more it contemplates. This behavior and other observations demonstrate that their intelligence is way higher compared to other avilans and creatures as some specimens seemed to be able to understand the workings of simple mechanisms and even mann's language without much difficulty. (Based on barn owls, crows and cougars)

Interactions: One wouldn't use the term "taming" when it is about ghost avilans, while they still use their natural instincts as they are still wild creatures, their developed brains give them a degree of intelligence that can only be called sentience, so rather than taming it would be more like forging a friendship. A well kept relationship of this kind turns the ghost avilan into one of the most loyal and interesting companions in the land. Quite popular with scholars since they make good company and are capable of understanding complex things when properly taught.

Assessment: Approach with caution.

Moon Avilans

These avilans can be found in 2 varieties, new moon and full moon. The new moon avilan has pitch black feathers for camouflage in the deep darkness of the forests, where the light is blocked by the thick canopies. They can climb on trees and walk on thick branches that can support their weight. The full moon avilans are instead, pure white for camouflage in snowy regions. Curiously enough, the 2 varieties are from the very same creature and this can be clearly noticed in regions where there is snow only in winter. The black feathers turn white progressively the closer the are form the first snowfall of winter and back to black after it ends. There are 3 informal stages recognized by people, each one named after the lunar stages which are gibbous, half and crescent; it usually starts from a spot on their forehead that quickly spreads through their spine then to the rest of their body, being the feet and the tip of the tail the last parts to turn into the other color. Sometimes though, the color changing process happens on all feathers simultaneously, making them look like black with white spots or white with black spots. There is also a very rare, and very dangerous, mutation that temporarily turn them crimson red, as if a white one was bathed in fresh blood referred to as Blood Moon; this mutation makes the individual go into a berserk murder frenzy making them hunt relentlessly for prey, for some reason they do ignore other moon avilans. This event has been recorded only 5 times and it still unknown why that happens or what triggers it, the duration however is known to last for a few hours up to few days but less than a week and may happen to any moon avilan anywhere. Some scary theories suggest that all moon avilans may be subject to this transformation but the triggering event only happens in the ones with the genetic predisposition for it, and that whoever discovers it would be able to control their power. (Based on hawks, ptarmigans and black panthers)

Interactions: There have been many attempts at taming moon avilans but only very few succeeded. They are considered exotic due to the purity in the color of their feathers. They still are predators, however, and may serve as formidable hunting companions if lucky enough to tame one.

Assessment: Avoid.

King Avilan

The largest of the avilans, they sport a feathery crest that goes all along its head and back, and has a peculiarly colorful variety of feathers that includes black, orange, red, green and blue in many combinations, that includes black, orange, red, green and blue in many combinations. There are theories on the use they give to those colors, just like the chromatic avilan they'd use it for camouflage, adapting to the wild flora around them and to attract a partner. Their size gives reason to their strength as they are powerful enough to tear through forged iron as if it was cloth. There have been sightings of them deep inside tropical primeval forests, which makes studying them something risky and difficult. (Based on eagles, cacatuas, parrots and tigers)

Interactions: King Avilans are difficult to find since they stay deep in their territories, and even when found the person would be only seen as prey and they don't stop chasing their prey once they locked their senses on them.

Assessment: Extreme threat - Avoid in all circumstances.

Emperor Avilan

This monstrous avilan, many times larger than the king avilan, looks like it came straight out of scary folktales but its existence was confirmed after finding an abnormally huge avilan-looking skeleton inside a cave. It is not known however if there are still more of them alive or if it is extinct as there are way too many unexplored places they could be hiding in. Some scholars thought that this was just an abnormally large king avilan specimen but the theory was refuted after comparing their bone structures. (Based on terrorbirds and american lions)

Thanks for reading!