Difference between revisions of "Aviar"

=== Nature of Abilities ===

Juvenile birds can gain magical powers, or "talents", by consuming special worms that live on the island of [[Patji (island)|Patji]]. Aviar from the various islands of the [[Pantheon]] migrate to Patji to gain their talent. The worms infest fruit that falls from [[Patji's Finger]] trees that grow next to [[Patji's Eye]]; the birds then consume the worms when they eat the fruit. Birds that are not native to the Pantheon usually do not develop these unique powers. However, [[Sixth of the Dusk (character)|Sixth of the Dusk]] raised a non-native bird on the isles, [[Sak]], and found that she also developed a unique talent.{{book ref|sixth}}

|The Aviar are special. Everyone knows the separate breeds and what they do. Why assume that a fish would learn to breathe air, if raised on land? Why assume a non-Aviar would become one if raised on Patji...

|Vathi, after learning of Sak's talent{{book ref|sotd}}

}}

The abilities of the Aviar stem from a symbiosis with the worms that they eat. The worms are [[Investiture|Invested]]; once eaten, the worms grant the birds access to certain magical powers depending on their species.{{book ref|sixth}} The Aviar can then serve as an intermediary to allow humans to use or benefit from their powers.{{wob ref|12621}}

 

On First of the Sun, Aviar had always been exported from the Pantheon exclusively by trappers. Mercantile companies long desired to find a way to set up operations on the islands so they could raise Aviar and sell them. However, trappers refused to help them, and commercial expeditions to the islands failed due to [[deepwalker]]s and other dangerous animals. Aviar therefore remained relatively rare in the homeisles and the mainland, since trappers could only provide a limited supply. After the arrival of the mysterious [[Ones Above]], companies quickly developed new technologies such as warships with marine propulsion. This emboldened the Northern Interests Trading Company to undertake the [[Patji expedition]].{{book ref|sixth}}

|We can’t fight them. They’ll find an excuse, they’ll seize the Aviar. It makes perfect sense. The Aviar use the worms. We use the Aviar. The Ones Above use us. It’s inevitable, isn’t it?

}}

During the expedition, a scientist and explorer employed by the company named [[Vathi]] befriended a trapper named [[Sixth of the Dusk]] and learned several facts about the islands and Aviar that were previously unknown to the general public. Notably, Dusk told her about the fruit of [[Patji's Finger]]s that gave Aviar their powers; Vathi was able to deduce that [[Sak]] became a new type of Aviar despite her origins in the mainland. She was shocked by these revelations, which contradicted centuries of assumptions by the Eelakin people.{{book ref|sixth}}

 

== Notable Aviar ==

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*[[Gereh]]'s Aviar