Harpy

Harpies - one of the close relatives of Humans. They are mostly humanoid in shape but contain several main variants - one with no wings, with wings and those whos arms are replaced with wing-like appendages with claws that may function as fingers. They are intelligent and prideful creatures with a strong sense of individuality and exploration and often have a hard time staying in one place.

""''Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you.

And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure.''""

- - Stephen King

Overview
A beautiful species that can be found in almost any Kingdom. They are an exotic type and the women are often perused by other species because of their gentle and loving traits. They're often feathered and slim and their bodies are very light and built for agility, stamina and flight.

Not all of them come with wings though - and there are a variety of Flightless Harpies who have no wings at all, but own the presence of other bird-like traits such as feathers on various parts of their bodies, talons and claws. All Harpies will have some sort of avian trait.

Those with wings also come with three variants as well. One owns the ability to summon feathered wings. Do note that while they might have entirely human appearances, their biology differs from a humans slightly and follow the Harpies culture the way they are raised. They also own the compulsions and biological traits as well. These Wingless Harpies can unsummon and summon their wings as they please, and allows them to blend into their surroundings easily.

Their Harpy shift may also extend to things like claws and talons and may otherwise appear human.

For Winged Harpies, there are two types. The first type is like the Wingless Harpies, who have wings on their backs. However, they cannot shift or unsummon those wings and are permanently on their bodies, alongside with talons and claws.

The other type has wings in place of arms instead and instead of hands, may own claws for holding objects. Some people may refer to this type of Harpy as Feathered Wyverns, since the way their arms are positioned often reflect the shape of a Wyverns. This specific type may be able to fly, but those with shorter wings (that are lesser than 6.7 meters) may not be able to fly.

This breed usually cannot fly as well as their Winged and Wingless siblings can, often exhausting themselves too quickly to be able to fly for long.

Personality Traits
Harpies are very maternal creatures and are extremely devoted to their offspring. While not naturally territorial, when they own children or while their partners are pregnant, they will become extremely protective and aggressive if someone displays harm towards their partners. While they might not stoop to killing the second someone looks at them wrong, they can be defensive and snarky and more prone to overreact and become angry.

Outside of that, they are loving and gentle creatures. They're noted as a kind species and get along with most others. Harpies are considered a sign of good luck and becoming true friends with one is said to bless you with good fortune as well since the depart so often. A prized species, ones that many admire for their beauty and freedom, as well as their melodious voices.

Due to their soft nature, they do not often take up jobs that are too stressful or require risking their lives or fighting. Many will take occupations geared around taking care of, or raising others - such as bakers, chefs, personal helpers, caretakers and home workers who take care of young and the house. All orphanages will always have at least one Harpy working there, and it's not uncommon to find that the orphanage was created by a Harpy itself.

While they're extremely committed to their children and all young, it is very difficult to see them acting the same way with everything else.

Harpies leave the nest at a very young age - often when they're 10 years old - and will explore the world and often times never return to their parents. They're exploration, curious creatures with a huge heart for adventure and discovering places. They strive to leave their mark on the world and love the attention of others. They often have hundreds of friends and remember none of their faces because they never stay in one place long enough to remember it. They move on from almost everything at an alarming rate - death of people, friends, places, sentimental and bonds. They're very easy for them to forget and remove and rarely do they ever consider anyone their friends, though they might enjoy their company.

However, if a person can connect and bond with them properly to truly be their friend, the Harpy and be considered a platonic partner for life. Often times, Harpies breed with each other and their species is mostly pure and rarely do they mingle with others due to how difficult it is to actually earn a Harpy's company. It's easier for Harpies to bond with each other since they may travel often together.

They're very protective of their personal spaces though value their privacy deeply.

Biology and Diet
Harpies, while they may appear to resemble much like humans, have some notable differences. Aside from physical traits such as their wings, talons, claws and beaks, their diet and body structure is also different.

Harpies are often shorter than humans, and the tallest go up to around 5'6ft (170m). Their bones are hollow and extremely light and easy to break and their hormones are quite different too. Males produce less testosterone and more of the hormones usually found in the female of other species. During specific time frames, like when they have newborn children or a partner is pregnant, both sexes will produce more testosterone than usual and become more aggressive.

When it comes to wings, those who do have the capacity to fly own huge wings that span up to 6.7 meters in length for each wing. They are huge, light and strong and require a lot of energy to keep them in the air. Those with shorter wings, like those with wings for arms that don't have this length usually won't be able to fly at all.

Their diet extends to mostly fish, fruits and they're omnivorous. Harpies are known as scavengers, and while they may all have their favorites, they will usually aim to eat whatever's available, which includes insects as well, and they have a strong culture around insect farming and producing and frying larvae or locusts and whatever edible insects are available. They have hundreds of dishes revolving around insects and are usually favored among their species.

Dating
Harpies are ready to breed once they reach 20 years of age, but often never breed at that age. They will often put and push back dating or romantic life until they're thirty years old or more, which can be undesirable for humans and other species, which is another key reason as to why they mostly breed with themselves.

They see marriage as being tied down and restricted, so they will often try to live a very fulfilling life until then. They may choose to settle down earlier - especially if they're dating people who also move around often, like other Harpies, or pirates and so on, but most will make the conscious choice once they are satisfied with their lives and start craving a more stagnate lifestyle.

Children, however, are very valued concepts for the whole species. They adore the idea of raising kids and anyone who has opposing views are blasphemous and shocking. The feel their lives are more complete around children and are always happiest spending time with their young. As such, many will actually adopt one or two children before they settle down for marriage. While that may deter other species - a Harpy may seek out and idealise partners who already have young as it proves they will be a good parent and partner to have children with. Courting for Harpies do not take a long time. Unlike humans who may court for years, Harpies often pick out their partners very quickly and can become infatuated and in love within months and marry right after.

When a Harpy wants to have a partner, they will become heavily obsessed with decoration. They will make their bodies flashy, bright and beautiful, with expensive silks and clothes, as well as jewelry and painted symbols. They will also decorate their homes and nests with things they love and want or think their partner will love as well. Females will often choose the male, since they will be bearing a child and must be able to choose a good parent for their kids.

Males will also decorate their own homes and nests and themselves too - but the females will choose. Gay or bisexual male Harpies may also choose and approach a partner. Harpies have a higher chance of being accepted if they already have children. Unless the males are gay or want a male partner, they will never go out and ask another person to be their partner, which makes it difficult for them to breed with other species where its expected of males to propose or pursue the female.

When two Harpies have accepted each other, they will begin to court for a few months, traveling together, discussing life plans like housing, ideal number of children, likes and dislikes and so on. Their relationships move extremely fast and after six months, if everything has gone well, the male will propose the idea of lifelong commitment. This is significant for their culture since it is generally asking of the female or partner thinks of them as the perfect father of their children. In Lesbian relationships, either one may ask.

Harpies usually do not have ceremonies unless they've bred with another species, and will often either settle into one of their nests or find a new house together entirely. They will isolate themselves socially and activity wise for a month, spending time together decorating and giving each other affection and preparing for children. Once they're done, they will begin having sexual elements in their relationship. Harpies do not have sex throughout courting, but may have sex after twenty while exploring the world.

Children
As mentioned time and time again, having children is one of a Harpy's greatest sources of joy and fulfillment. Many often only ever produce one or two biological children in their lifetimes, and will take in dozens of other youth. They are an orphanages best friends, and they often take care of more than twelve children in their lifetime. They don't feel too stressed out with youth and are often the most loving parents one can have. They don't mind if their youth don't leave them, but will often press them to leave the nest once they reach adulthood for their species since they want them to explore the world.

For the early part of their life, Harpy children stay glued to their parents, following them everywhere and demanding care and affection. Harpy infants are extremely needy and clingy and never give their parents a moments break, and even when they sleep they demand to be close to them for warmth. They're always hungry and energetic and often try to move around as much as they can. Leaving them alone for too long (more than five hours a day on average) can cause the young a great deal of stress and doing so for too long can cause their commitment issues to worsen and their social bonds with their parents to become irreparable.

Many Harpy parents will isolate themselves during this period to focus entirely on their young. Thankfully, once they reach six months old, they will have grown out of this habit and the parents can relax. They will still cling to them, but they're more relaxed with being left alone. Harpies grow much faster than humans so at this stage, they've already achieved toddler status and can start learning how to walk and communicate. Their brains develop quickly, and by one, they would have already owned a decent vocabulary in their first language. Harpies will learn an average of four languages at youth, and pick up even more during their travels when they reach adulthood. If both parents are Harpies, they will teach them up to eight languages at young, but most are only ever capable of learning a few, since they have to be taught other things like flight. Those with wings will begin learning how to fly when they're five years old, but they will only fly with their parents after. They do not leave the clingy and affectionate state until they're ten years of age.

Aside from their rapid growth and linguistic skills, they are much like human children, but will often mimic their parents a lot more closely than humans will. Once a Harpy leaves the nest, they will almost often never come back. Seeing a child leave home is a Harpy's greatest achievements, knowing that they have raised a living creature well enough for them to be comfortable and healthy to leave and explore the world.

Freedom and Maternal drive
Aside from their surprising diet, Harpies have a strong connection to their idea of freedom. They value freedom extremely and often times aren't very cooperative in authority. They travel place to place and often resist restrictions that might prevent them from leaving or going where they want. Many Harpies will disregard cautious and rules and they very strongly defend their right to speak and do whatever someone may wish to do so long as it doesn't hurt anyone - though some Harpies may have more radical morals in these terms.

They are strong voiced and rarely ever back down, and can often be found participating to protest if it steps upon something they believe in. They make horrible debaters rarely change their mind.

Other than that, they also have a strong maternal sense and deeply value the idea of having children. Any Harpy with different ideals will often be extremely frustrated with other Harpies - and other species as well - because they will constantly insist that bearing or raising children is life's greatest reward. These Harpies will often be shunned from other Harpies and can almost never find partners of their own species because this drive is so strong that some may become aggressive if its discussed on.

Clothes
In terms of clothing, Harpy clothes are a little specialized - especially for those who have wings on their backs. They often share many similar designs with Angels and other winged species, with buttons and straps and slits on the back of their clothes for where their wings would come. And for those who have the option of summoning and dismissing them - they will often wear a vest or coat over the shirt to take off when they need or want to bring out their wings.

Feathers as Gifts
Lastly, they may also give people gifts - usually trinkets and curious things they've collected throughout their travels. To receive one is to know that you've gained the friendship and interest of a Harpy. Some, however, may actually give you a prized feather - usually one they favour, from parts like their wings, or elsewhere.

Receiving one is said to bless you with good luck and health, and it is often exchanged as a way to apologized for a wrongdoing, or to offer lifelong friendship and loyalty. They can also be given when a Harpy is about to propose traveling together - which can be both platonic or romantic.