Hello and welcome to the world of Feliave. This website is a comprehensive lore and character guide.
Feliave
Feliave are a species of griffin that inhabit the world of Wyrmfell.
Their name derives from felidae(cats) and aves(birds).
However feliave themselves are technically completely an avian species with their cat-like features being purely a convergent trait.The main subspecies of Feliave are : wetlands, grasslands, mountain and jungle.These various subspecies are easy to tell apart as their bird and cat-like traits mimic that of animals adapted to the environments they inhabit.
For example; grassland feliave commonly share appearances with eagles, lions and cheetahs, whilst wetland feliave look similar to cranes, fishing cats, cormorants and even otters.Images below show examples of the various subspecies.
Firebyrds
Firebyrds are small bird-like creatures that produce magic energy naturally.
Despite their bird like appearence they are actually soft bodied, warm blooded insects.
Firebyrds have a unique life cycle.
After hatching they are immediatley able to care for themselves but lack fire sacs and wings.
This stage is called the hopper stage During this time they rely on powerful back legs to spring away from predators.After a year their wings grow in and powerful fire sacs on their tail start to develop, their fire sacs dont fully grow in untill 2 years of age, leaving them still unable to fly.
However their internal tempratures and ability to produce fire deters most would be predators at this point.At around 2 and a half they are fully developed with powerful magic that aids in their flight ability, unlike birds they have denser bones and arent light enough to fly with wings alone.
Domestic Firebyrds
Domestic Firebyrds were once widely kept and highly valued.
Feliave would have entire roosts dedicated to the rearing and selling of firebyrds.The healing properties of their tears could prevent the spread of the blood curse that infects all feliave, allowing the use of magic without risk of aggravating the curse to take hold faster.They were kept by knights during the later stages of the war and in modern times scouting parties would be required to have atleast 1 firebyrd with them.However due to various factors tbe domestic firebyrd is now a rare oddity.
Tail docking
Domestic firebyrds commonly would have their tails docked, a practice that removed the fire sacs right before they finish developing, stopping the firebyrd from being able to fly or develop into their final life stage.Tail docking was useful in keeping firebyrds managable, unable to fly meant they were easier to keep on hand for their tears and the docked tail fire sacs could be sold and used in healing salves.Firebyrds also would regrow these sacs up to 5 times in a lifetime making harvesting them profitable.Docked firebyrds were also safer to have around as their final lifestage is large and highly combustable, useless for travelling Feliave and daily use as a healer.However docked firebyrds also live shorter lifespans reaching 30 years rather than 100.
Interestingly a firebyrd would naturally enter their final lifestage at 20 years of age, so docked byrds swould live an extra 10 years past this cycle before perishing.Sadly after many years captive firebyrds began to be born without fire sacs at all and with each generation they would become weaker and suffer various defects and health problems.Domestic firebyrds are now rare and highly sought after, wild populations are considered extinct.
Ruin wolves
Ruin wolves came about after the great dragon war and are believed to be the result of magic leaching into the surronding environments from years of war and overuse.Ruin wolves are sentient statues that were once common outside many Feliave establishments of great importance.They appear as stone guardians with faces carved to resemble fierce beasts and bodies with traits similar to Feliave.
After the destruction of many feliave cities the statues that remained mostly intact seem to have gained a life of their own.Many feliave scholars believe the statues themselves are not sentient but it is instead the moss that has grown upon them over the years, now imbued with residual magic from the atmosphere.Ruin wolves are bulky and slow.
They do not need to eat but gain energy from the sun, they will repair themselves when damaged by using whatever they can find in the rubble of feliave buildings
this trait is where the name ruin wolf comes from as they are largely found in the depths of ruins looking for spare parts.
Hareswifts
Hareswifts are small agile creatures that live in rock and tree crevices. They can glide using the wings atop their heads and are excellent climbers.Most hareswifts have become very elusive thanks to the infected Feliave that roam the landscape, making staying in the open very dangerous.Hareswifts live in large colonies and have various roles assinged to them from nightwatch to storyteller.The latter of which is highly important, assinged to educating and entertaining kits while the rest of the colony gather food.Hareswifts are natural herbivores preffering nuts and berries, though insects and grubs are reared in the dens as a winter food source.