Skyfowl

People want to kill skyfowl because skyfowl are assholes. They don’t need a spell to make people hate them.

Mordecai^[1]

Skyfowl are one of the six basic starter species the Syndicate uses to seed Dungeon Crawler World candidate planets, and a common Dungeon NPC race.^[2]

Description

A proud people, most skyfowl crawlers choose to keep their race during class selection and are unable to resist fighting in the Ninth Floor Faction Wars; as a result, skyfowl seasons are known to end in ninth floor slaughter and tenth floor deals. Skyfowl are a common race among Dungeon NPCs.^[3]

Skyfowl tend to be xenophobic toward races without wings, but will act indignant when called out for their behavior.^[1]

A diverse people, skyfowl may be secular or religious. Clerics have clipped wings and are only able to fly short distances.^[4]

Appearance

The average male skyfowl stands at approximately 5' 6" (168 cm) tall. Eagle-headed humanoids, they do not have independent arms; instead, their large wings - which fold "angel-like" on their backs - have small finger bones protruding from the center joint. They use the large black talons on their feet as hands.^[5]

As skyfowl age, their feathers start to turn gray and their beaks begin to crack.^[6]

“He’s not here, okay?” Miss Quill said, frantically piling the toys in the corner. She picked one up with her talon and frantically rubbed non-existent dirt off it with her wing. “Look what you’ve done, look what you’ve done." ^[6]

Gallery

Subraces

Over City Skyfowl

The Skyfowl of the Third Floor are largely secular and particularly prejudiced against flightless creatures. The ruling class of the Over City, their scattered settlements are lead by Magistrates and have no unifying government. They only hire flightless creatures for low-level administrative and clerk jobs. In the settlement that Carl and Donut visit, the administrative building is lined with paintings of eagles fighting elves. ^[6]

Centurion Skyfowl

Mordecai was born a Centurion skyfowl. Centurion are golden, with darker feathers, larger wingspans, and larger talons than Rock Edge skyfowl.^[7]

Rock Edge Skyfowl

A mob and NPC race on the Fifth Floor, Rock Edge Skyfowl are light brown and beige with sharp black talons. ^[7]

Skyfowl of the White Cliffs

Skyfowl crawlers on a long ago season of Dungeon Crawler World. Exceptionally proud, they respond to insults with violence.^[8]

Dungeon Lore

In the volcano level mythology, skyfowl were the rulers of the entire Third Floor Over City before the Cataclysm. Magistrates reported to regional governors, who reported to the royal chancellor, who reported to a king in Larracos.^[6]

The city elves are a "batshit crazy, doomsday cult of banished elves" who traveled from the Sixth Floor Hunting Grounds to the Over City, joined the uniformed 201st Security Group Militia, and swore to protect the skyfowl from flightless creatures and the Oak Fell. They believe that one of Scolopendra's nine-tier attacks was a spell that made earthbound creatures want to kill the skyfowl, and that protecting skyfowl will ensure their places in heaven when the goddess Apito, the Oak Mother, ends the world.^[9] The cult bases their beliefs on three separate stories, which boil down to:

• Apito said that for anyone to go to heaven, her angels must stay free and alive.
• Apito referred to the skyfowl "bless-ed."
• Apito said only the angels are "blessed," and if violence against her angels is not stopped, she will destroy all worlds.

Trivia

• Rather than seats, skyfowl sit on perches.^[6]
• Various shops in the Over City sell magical silk robes that allow skyfowl to stay aloft indefinitely.^[6]

References