#Harpy Artisan

[fr-familiar-bracket]

[cecils-dragons]

Gave Lir legs solely on the idea of his height compared to Leon, and yep, it’s good. Leon is a short little guy but of god it’s amplified by Lir’s extreme height in this form. Like Akore, he’s extremely tall even in their leg form, he is smaller, but that’s because of his age, Lir might also get taller then Akore due to the fact that salt water merpeople are larger then freshwater.(Lir is a young adult saltwater and Akore is a full fledged adult freshwater)

Oh, the ability to be thrown like a paper airplane. Launch your boyfriend!

[msb-lair]

Familiars 1071-1080

[twsted-kinks]

Because I overthink here is a map for the TWST Monster AU

Click read more for a description of each place and who lives there.

The Town of Holyisle: A human town with a monastery run by the abbot, Rollo. The population of the village is fully human and monsters are seen as enemies that should be shunned.

Yuu's Home: Home of the witch, Yuu, and their cat-like imp familiar, Grim. They often make potions for the Riverside Village and the town of Holyisle.

Riverside Village: A farming village that's the home of both monsters and humans. The Lord of the Village is the centaur, Riddle, whose servants include Trey, the minotaur, as his personal cook, Cater, the slime, as his financial advisor, and Che'nya, a catfolk menace who refuses to leave. There are also two newer servants, Deuce, the rabbitfolk, and Ace, the satyr. Another notable figure is the local historian, the human Trein.

Shoreside Reef: A town just off the coast filled fully with merfolk. The head of the village is Azul, an octopus merfolk who also engages heavily with trade on the island and has established a number of businesses on land. His closest confidants are Jade and Floyd, twin eel merfolk who do the dirty work for Azul.

Haunted Cave: A mysterious cave guarded by a small automaton named Ortho who is meant to protect the cave from outsiders, but he mostly just spends time with the resident ghost who is also his brother, Idia.

The City of Pomme: A large city with a population that's mostly monsters. The Lord of the City is the demons, Vil, who is also a popular actor in his theater company. His personal assistant is Rook, a troll and hunter, who was a fan of his performances. The new up and coming star is the fairy Epel who has been taken under Vil's wing. Another popular actor is the angel Neige who is the lead actor in a rival theater company. Another notable figure is the seamster and fasion designer, Crewel.

Duskfall Savanna: A fully monster city with a majority of the population being beastfolk. The lord of the city is Leona, a lionfolk, who doesn't really like his position. His personal servant is the hyenafolk, Ruggie. The gardener for Leona's estate is a wolfolk named Jack. Another notable figure is Vargas, a manticore, who is known for causing chaos from time to time.

Scalding Oasis: A desert city known for its many monster artisans and high quality goods. The Lord of the City is the harpy, Kalim, who is always accompanied by his servant, the naga Jamil. Another notable person is the ghoul, Sam, who runs the most expansive market in the entire oasis.

The Dragon's Domain: A territory ruled by the dragon, Malleus, who lives in his own personal tower. The others who live in his territory include the vampire batfolk, Lilia, the lizardfolk, Sebek, and the centaur, Silver who help care for the territory and act and confidants of Malleus.

Old Ruins: Not much is known about the old ruins other than it acts as a home for a dark feathered harpy.

[mythaura-blog]

Development Update - September 2023

Hello hello everyone, Miyazaki here with another development update!

This month we cover:

Mutations

Kobolds

Weekend Traveler design

Beast Design Contest winners

Ko-fi Quarterly Rewards concepts

All that and more under the cut!

Mutations

On very rare occasions, a Beast may be born with a striking visual abonormality. These are Mutations.

Mutations are obtained primarily through breeding two Beasts together. Mutations are not passed down to offspring, meaning that parents who have Mutations are not any more likely to pass it down to their offspring than parents without Mutations. There will be methods available to increase the likelihood of a Beast being born with a Mutation.

Mutations will layer on top of all base colors and specials. They do not recolor. There will be methods to remove a Beast's Mutation, if the player does not want it on their Beast. A Beast can only ever have one Mutation at any given time.

There will be a difficult end-game method of adding Mutations to preexisting Beasts, but breeding will provide a higher odds.

Mythaura will launch with 3 Mutations, the first of which is Piebald.

Piebald

Piebaldism is a genetic mutation that has a pattern of unpigmented white spots on a pigmented background of hair, feathers, or scales. The Beast's skin under the white background is not pigmented.

Piebald is now live in the Beast Creator for you to experiment with.

Quarter 2 (2023) Ko-fi Concepts

It’s the first day of Quarter 2 (2023), which means we’ve got new Quarterly Rewards for Sponsors to vote on on our Ko-fi page!

Which concepts would you like to see made into official site items? Sponsors of Bronze level or higher have a vote in deciding. Please check out the Companion post and the Glamour post on Ko-fi to cast your vote for the winning concepts!

Votes must be posted by October 29, 2023 at 11:59pm PDT in order to be considered.

All Quarter 1 (2023) Rewards are now listed in our Ko-fi Shop for individual purchase for all Sponsor levels at $5 USD flat rate per unit. As a reminder, please remember that no more than 3 units of any given item can be purchased. If you purchase more than 3 units of any given item, your entire purchase will be refunded and you will need to place your order again, this time with no more than 3 units of any given item.

Hopefully in the future Ko-fi will offer the functionality to limit purchases per user, but for the time being we will be reviewing orders manually and reaching out to those who disregard these instructions.

Quarter 1 (2023) Companion: Filigree Moth

Quarter 1 (2023) Glamour: Twilight Dreamscape

Quarter 1 (2023) Solid Gold Glamour: Peryton

Kobolds

Kobolds are a non-playable species. They will show up around Mythaura as shopkeepers and other NPCs, along with other sapient species like Harpies, Fauns, and Vitterfolk.

They are masters of magical spatial manipulation—they are itinerant by nature and insatiably curious collectors, so they developed the means to distort space to carry large amounts of items in a small space. These satchels are highly sought-after items for adventurers. While many of these satchels are created purely for function and are minimalist in design, some Kobold artisans specialize in making beautiful, exquisitely detailed bags. These are often sold for exorbitant prices. (Buyers beware that there is a thriving market for fraudulent satchels, especially in the larger cities!)

Kobolds showcase a wide variety of physical traits, often influenced by where they were born. Although their ancestral home is the desert of the Sun Path, Kobolds have long since spread to all corners Mythaura. Their design takes inspiration from alligators, lizards, jackals, and coati.

Weekend Traveler

We originally mentioned the Weekend Traveler in the June 2023 update. This Kobold will bring their rare, luxury wares into town every Friday through Sunday to sell to the player—so be sure to save up your gold and shards for their weekly visits!

Beast Design Contest Winners

Thank you for all the great submissions to the Beast Design Contest! You all never cease to impress us with your creativity. For the September 2023 Beast Creator Contest we’ve got our three winners: Hidranea, Zillychu, and Despot!

Our three winners will each have the rewards automatically applied to their accounts, and these three beasts will be featured on the homepage for Quarter 2 (October through December).

Keep an eye out for our next Beast Creator Contest–we’ll be gathering entries in December to display on our site for Quarter 3 (January through March).

Reminder: Custom Color Contest

As a reminder: to celebrate the cooperative nature of the color wheel that we're making with you, we're opening a Custom Color Contest. We want to offer the opportunity for you to make a permanent impact on Mythaura's color wheel!

This contest is free to enter, and only has the following parameters:

Only one entry allowed

Fill out Google Form by Saturday, November 25, 2023 at 11:59pm PST

We've included a PSD file for you to use, if you'd like!

The dev team will reach out to the winner on December 1 to begin the color design process. Winner will have until December 22, 2023 to complete their color design.

Winner will also receive 3x copies of the Empemeral Ink that matches their color's base hue (Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green, or Violet).

We're so excited to see what you come up with!!

Mythaura v0.23

Laid the groundwork for in-game encounters with functioning decision engine with basic weighting for behaviors.

Added base threads and posts functionality for forums.

Implemented an index for the forum index.

Added the ability to create a thread in the forum.

Prevented non-staff members from posting in the staff category of the forum.

Added enhanced guest user functionality.

Refactored the demo battle to use guest users.

Refactored various map generation functions for guest users.

Created and implemented guest sessions & encounters in the wild area.

Refactored walkable tiles in the wild area and added support for sound effects.

Various schema and database updates.

Added a loading screen to the CMS and related endpoint.

Added parallax backgrounds and refactored existing code.

Added mutations to creator dropdown.

Fixed issue with button widths in battle demo.

Began behind-the-scenes implementation of production layout.

Thank You!

Thanks for sticking through to the end of the post, we always look forward to sharing our month's work with all of you--thank you for taking the time to read. We'll see you around the Discord!

[lemongrass--tea]

chat i got ✨freaky✨ and made a new au

uhm tw: violence and angst and some suggestive content nothing toooo bad just very melodramatic

Fae connor x fae hunter elliott👁️👁️

this is super long so ill break it up under the cut

dragging this in the house and dropping it off like a kitti bringing u a dead rat

Intro:

Setting: modernish fantasy. Big cauldron full of SOME modern tech mixed with fae, magic and medieval tropes

In this universe Connor is born a fae to a human duke. This is seen as a bad omen, but his mother pleads for him to be kept, appealing to the duke’s compassion as he’s only a newborn, and the way he lays peacefully with his twin sister is surely a good sign. It would be a shame to break the two apart so soon, give him some time. They were born with connors baby tail, covered in little stringy starts of feathers wrapped loosely around cara’s abdomen, neither cried after birth.

Unfortunately for Connor, as his claws and fangs grew in, the estate grows more uneasy, while he is gentle natured and well meaning, his magic and energy makes him a bit too rough for human standards, not that his sister cares. Cara finds his antics amusing, the two finding ways to tease the staff around the estate or go on short excursions to the woods just outside the city gates. They end up constructing a crude fort out in the woods, made of felled logs and clay.

By the time the twins are 13, the duchess falls pregnant with their youngest sister, Khipz. The duke grows more restless of Connor's presence, especially with servants and residents spreading rumors of a generational curse and expressing fear of the now 6 foot and still rapidly growing creature they had to call ‘lord’. The duke fears for his newborns safety and public opinion, so he demands that Connor leaves the city. Now he’s 13 and terrified because his father threatened to have him executed if he wasn’t gone by morning, so he gathers what little he can carry in one of his satchels, and leaves while cara is asleep. He ends up staying in the same fort they’d built, bolstering up the walls with stones he finds lying around, then just collapses in there to mull over the fact that he's on his own now and having to process that it wasnt just his imagination like cara would reassure him, people did fear him. He is a monster.

Side note, Cara throws a FIT over this the next morning when she finds out that connor got sent away. She has a hunch to where he ran off to so she goes off to the little fort to find him there sulking and hungry. She sneaks him food from the estate as often as she’s able, and as khipz gets older starts bringing her along as well, so the siblings still remain close despite connor being in exile.

Over time, Connor gets to a point where he’s surviving decently on his own. He has no intentions to meddle with the city, and to a degree fears the people there, especially with growing hostility towards the fae. He watches as hunting troops are sent out frequently to clear the woods of local beasts, mostly due to the duke’s ever growing fears and guilt. He moves around mostly in his fully beast form, staying in a local cave as a den, since its provides him more hidden shelter than the fort that he’d upgraded over the years to be a homely cottage stocked with more pleasurable items, like artisan wines and cheeses that he trades meat and fish for in the markets.  Whenever he makes his trips into the city gates, he takes on his human form, the only indication of his fae nature being small markings where his horns and wings would sprout, which are mostly inconspicuous and can be explained away as simple scars.

Elliott is a fae hunter, one of the most skilled and reliable in the field. He gets commissioned for a very particular quest by the duke: eradicating the harpy from the woods, having overheard where the beast has struck up its den from cara and khipz’s rendezvous. He has concerns that if left to his devices, Connor may one day seek revenge out of resentment for him and the city in general.  

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Meeting and getting together:

Elliott makes his way into the woods, without a hunting party because he prefers to work alone, he has better control of the situation so he says, particularly with more unruly beasts when he isn't also concerned with the wellbeing of other hunters and dogs. For this trip he arms himself with a trusty longsword and a light spear.

Connor can sense him approaching the den, but makes no moves to aggress. He’s had a few hunters come after his bounty, but he would send them retreating swiftly enough with minimal injury, usually he could scare them long enough to force them into a corner and either fly off or damage their weapons.

Elliott arrives at the mouth of the cave, spear drawn and poised to strike. He’s slain harpies before, a well aimed stab to the heart made quick work of the creatures. The beast locks eyes with him, creeping closer slowly, like a cat careful not to frighten its prey. As it sits up fully, just about to open its maw, elliott lets his spear fly with quick precision, lodging itself directly into his heart. Beads of golden blood seep around the shaft of the weapon as the beast cries out in pain, his hackles immediately raising. Elliotts eyes widen, something is off. Usually a harpy would be felled within a few moments of impact, incapacitated at the very least. But this one..his tail lashes and fangs bare from the birdlike maw. He watches in horror as the creature pulls the spear from his chest with a deep snarl as if it was a mere splinter, the steel shaft snapping in its claws. Its eyes stayed fixed on elliott as the wound gushes over the gravel beneath its talons. It charges him, wings flared and casting a shadow over the armored man. It bows its head, pointing the blunt front edges of its horns for his chest. Elliott swiftly dodges to the side, drawing his sword and in a swift motion with a sickening crunch, severs the lower portion of its arm. The cut is far from clean, and the beast hisses and kicks his taloned leg up, swiping across the right side of elliott’s face. The rest of the encounter is a blur. He feels the warmth of the mixture of blood coating his skin, the metallic pang of it on his tongue. By the time he comes down from the adrenaline high, the beast is gone, nothing but bloodsoaked feathers, and the chunk of severed flesh left behind. 

The encounter leaves elliott blinded and scarred on his right side, which he now covers with his bangs and makeup. During his recovery he meets a man at the docks, he immediately notices his right arm, or what's left of it, wrapped in a slightly bloodied leather sleeve, crudely stitched and pinned together and secured around his torso. He seemed to be struggling with a fishing net, trying to draw the apparatus, heavy with his catch from the water, holding a section in his teeth, another in his left hand with a fishing knife sticking out at a precarious angle, likely to shiv a clumsy passerby if he hadn't been alone at sunrise on a secluded section of the coast. He was balancing on one foot trying to nudge a loop of netting free from the corner of the pier, growling as he watched more fish wriggle free and back into the water. 

“Do you need help?”

The man bristles as he catches sight of elliott, he turns his attention back to his task, successfully freeing the net and tugging a bit more of it onto the pier. He responds with a muffled “no.”

Elliott watches him struggle for a few minutes more, his brow furrows as the net gets caught again, and the man trips, his sandal getting stuck between the slabs of the pier. Elliott catches him before he could hit his head, and rights him up, helping to unhook the tangled net and fully get it onto the deck. 

The man huffs. “I would have gotten it eventually.”

…yea right. Elliott simply hums, not wanting to upset the man by arguing over the truth of that statement. “Thank you i guess…but im not some broken bird. I can see you staring.”

Elliott flushes at that, realizing that he had let his eyes linger at the wrappings on his stump. “Apologies…i was just wondering why you were working out here alone when that looks..fresh to say the least.” 

He shrugs, “a mans gotta eat though.”

[im sick of writing dialogue lmao pretend they exchange names and elliott shows him the wounds on his eye. Elliott explains it was a hunting accident, not clarifying what kind of hunting and connor explains his to be from a car accident] (side note, think like model t looking cars, not super modern, closer to carriage shape i just think theyre neat lmao )

As the weeks go by, Elliott sees how connor struggles with alot of his daily routine as he is adapting to only having one arm. The stubborn man refuses to accept help unless he’s at his wits end. He cant help but let his mind wander to the harpy he’d hunted during his “accident���. Assuming it hadn’t died from the wounds, it would certainly be having a difficult time adjusting, especially out in the wild. A shred of guilt plagued him when he looked at the events in hindsight. In truth the beast never attacked him until he launched his spear. It almost felt cruel, alot of his hunts went that way. Ambushing an unsuspecting fae or beast and ending its life before it had the chance to react….

When elliott recovered fully from his wound, he elected to retire his blades. That shred of guilt gnawed in the back of his mind, he wasnt sure that he could follow through with the implications of his actions, besides he technically had accumulated enough wealth over the years to support an early retirement, not to mention the residuals from his injury sweetened the pot. 

The two make a habit of meeting at sunrise at the dock, eventually their meetings spread to the local tavern. After a few months, the two of them are alone on the pier where they met, mildly tipsy, and they share a kiss. Connor, loosened up by the wine in his system plus his trust in elliott, sprouts a few feathers and the markings where his horns would sprout form little nubs. Elliott doesnt connect the dots exactly, but upon hesitantly stroking the feathers on his back and shoulders, connor shares that he is a fae, but he has to promise not to tell anyone or he’ll be forced to bite him (all in good joking fun). 

Elliott felt worse about his previous occupation than ever. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conflict:

After a few months more of being together casually, Elliott expresses concerns for connor being out  in the woods alone. He’d visited the cottage he called home on the outskirts of the city, but between his disability and the lingering threat of both more dangerous fae and the fae hunters that frequent those woods, he doesnt feel that its safe for him to be out there in that glorified shack (at this point still unaware of his bigger den or his true identity). Elliott invites him to stay with him in the city. His home is in a less populated area, and he had more than enough resources for the both of them. It took a few instances of convincing, since connor was known to be stubborn and independent but eventually he relents. The men begin moving some of connor’s items over. It didnt require much of a trip. Most of his clothes fit into a satchel and the rest was just his collections of wines and various trinkets.

Fast forward to that night. They fuck real nasty. 

After the railing, connors all cock drunk and in the back of his mind is all like fuck. I love this man…so he decides to show elliott his full fae form

AND THEN IT ALL GOES TO SHIT

Once connor shifts, elliot realizes oh fuck- i shouldve known. Of COURSE the fae man, who is missing an arm, and lived in the same woods where he’d been on that hunt IS THE SAME FAE HE TRIED TO KILL. He’s just in shock, staring, gripping the blankets and internally freaking out.

Connor whimpers a bit, thinking maybe it was too much he is really big after all, and the fangs and eyes and talons dont particularly help, so he shifts back to his more in between form. “I-its still me…its ok right?” “connor im so sorry- i should have-” elliott can barely get the sentence out fully without choking on his words. Connor’s totally confused, until elliott finally tells him that it was him that took his arm. He wasnt just a hunter. He was the same hunter that stabbed him in his den and lobbed off his arm. 

Connors whole perception of him shatters, he trusted elliott with more than he’s ever given any person ever, even moreso than his sisters. He just was balls deep in his puss 5 minutes ago for gods sake WHAT DO YOU MEEEEAN YOURE THE BITCH THAT CUT OFF MY ARM.

Hes pissed, naturally, both of them are crying, in tears, elliott from remorse, connor from anger. Connor is convinced now that he must have known this whole time and just felt like he was a charity case, like he was righting some moral folly where he gives up his sword and “fixes” the man he broke down while under the control of his hirer.

Connor storms out, nearly broke the door off the hinge, didnt even put his pants back on, babe just flies right out in creature mode, hes used to being naykee in the woods anyway. BUT this causes him to get spotted by a certain duke WHO WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT THE HARPY WAS DEAD. 

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Making up:

A few weeks pass and both connor and elliott are emotionally in tatters. Connors holed up in his den sulking and elliotts holed up in his house sulking, but when he DOES go out to the tavern for a drink and some food to cool his brain. He hears a party of hunters talking about a group that recently went out to the den of the harpy, which freaks elliott out because theyre talking about finally killing the thing, aka CONNOR, and they already left. The way this man BOOKS IT out the tavern and rummages through his attic looking for his sword and armor, its just a bit tight on him, having gained a little weight in his more domestic time now that he was technically retired.

He runs as fast as his legs could take him out to the woods, he bangs on connors cottage door, praying to every god that maybe he’s there instead of the den, safe and sound, he can still be pissed, just dont be in danger. The piercing caw off in the distance tells him otherwise so hes back to navigating through the trees, hoping to get there in time before he gets hurt. 

He finds the hunting squad  trying to restrain connor, who was clawing and lashing against ropes and hooks digging into his flesh.

Elliott practically blacked out in that moment, all he knew is he charged straight into the fray, swinging with far less grace than he usually held.

Once the fighting died down, elliott rushed to connors side, ignoring the blood pooling at the back of his head from being thrown against the cave wall a few too many times. New wounds around his eyes marred his face, he could hardly see what he was doing between a likely concussion and all the injuries. Once the ropes were loosened, connor fawned over him, his tail anxiously flicking side to side.

“Elliott what the fuck are you doing here, you could have gotten killed- there were like 6 of them”

Elliotts practically bleeding out in his arms “i wasnt going to let them kill you.”

“This wasnt your fight, why would you throw yourself in harms way for me of all people”

“Because i love you. Is that so difficult to believe?”

Connor falls silent at that, before shifting his attention back to the blood pooling on his hand under elliotts head. He shushes him and flies him back to the cottage rummaging through dusty vials and bottles of herbs and brews.

He ends up having to snip elliotts hair to access the wound properly, much to the dismay of the poor man, who sobbed and screamed like that was killing him more than his concussion and lacerations. Connor applies the medicines and channels some of his magic through the wound, causing the bleeding to stop at least.

Elliotts vision cleared up and he sniffed, mourning the loss of his precious locks.

“Never do that again you foolish man.” Connor shifts to his halfway form, gently pressing their foreheads together.

“I would do it again and regret none of it.”

Of course it still takes time to repair the trust in their relationship, but connor is willing to open the door to him again, seeing that he quite literally risked his life to come to his aid.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

extra headcannons:

Elliott gets an insecurity regarding his scars especially while his hair is short after being cut. Connor constantly touches his face, traces his scars and when his hair grows back, encourages him to not hide behind it. He braids his hair and weaves his own feathers in it.

Elliotts eye injuries leave him severely visually impaired so connor forms a habit of making vocalizations whenever he’s moving in the house, mostly coos and trills.

Elliott takes up writing in his retirement he deserves it

more to be added as i think them up lmao

themb

ran out of steam before i could color anything but there will be more soon cuz im OBSESSED

Frothing at the mouth and running in circles over them

also thank you to @magnificenttragedysandwich for being the icon that u are and greatly contributing to the plot and whipping my thoughts into a usable shape ur so slay 💖💖

[tuxedo-floracat]

All 1/19/2023 Update Item Text Changes

for anyone curious about all the item description changes, here they all are! format is:

Item Name

Original Description

Updated Descrption

and all changes to the text are italicized!

List under the readmore ⬇

Eye of Talona

These deceitful harpies claim to be defectors of Talona, striking out to forge alliances with dragonkind. Little do many know that they are actually her most talented spies.

These deceitful harpies claim to be representatives of Talona, striking out to forge alliances with dragonkind. Little do many know that they are actually talented spies seeking to benefit from conflict.

Dragonfish

Named by beastclans for its greedy appetite and 'stupid face'.

Named by beastclans for its greedy appetite.

Shining Feather Cluster

These brilliant blue and green harpy feathers are often affixed to various pieces of beastclan weaponry to symbolize unity.

These brilliant blue and green harpy feathers are often affixed to various pieces of weaponry to symbolize unity.

Condor’s Breastplate

It was once uncommon for harpies to wear armor, but recent run-ins with dragonkind have seen them prepare for the worst.

It was once uncommon for harpies to wear armor, but trade with centaur herds facilitated by longneck brokers has enabled them access to bronze armor.

Historical Text

A long, storied history of the rise of the beastclans is scrawled on this parchment, written from the perspective of a serthis too young to fight.

A long, storied history of the rise of the Serthis is scrawled on this parchment, written from the perspective of a Serthis too young to fight.

Simple Raptorik Sash

A simple waist sash emblazoned with the united Beastclan sigil. The fabric is rough and primitive.

A simple waist sash emblazoned with the united Beastclan sigil. The fabric is worn from years of use.

Crystalcourt Ambassador

Of those that are granted audience with the Crystalcourt elite, the centaurs are especially lucky. Beastclans cavorting with affluent dragonic society is almost unheard of. (Rockbreaker's Ceremony 2018 Holiday Item

Of those that are granted audience with the Crystalcourt elite, the centaurs are among the few artisans from outside Earth's sway. (Rockbreaker's Ceremony 2018 Holiday Item)

Harpy Ancestor

An ancient ancestor to harpy-kind that has never known the breath of dragons.

An ancient ancestor to harpy-kind that has never known the sight of dragons.

Greenwing Razorclaw

This warrior's uncanny ability to mimic draconic speech allows it to repeat the battle cries of its foes.

This warrior's uncanny ability to mimic the speech of other species allows it to repeat the battle cries of its foes.

Stonewatch Prince

Males are a rarity among harpies, and are forbidden from taking up a warrior's mask.

Males are a rarity among harpies, and it is unusual to see one take up the warrior's mask.

Windcarve Fugitive

Some harpies prefer solitude to participation in the hierarchy of their warrior society.

Some harpies prefer solitude to the cacophony of the cities of large harpy flocks.

Masked Harpy

Harpies build their nests in many of the same locations where dragons make their lairs. Territory is highly contested.

Harpies build their nests in many of the same locations where dragons make their lairs.

Mesacliff Royal/Noble

Harpy royalty is based less on who establishes the most valuable treasures, and more about established families.

Harpy nobility is based less on who establishes the most valuable treasures, and more about established families.

Stormcloud Harpy

Willing to make the best of a bad situation, these Southern Icefield refugees use their spelled snow to cool the ground where they keep their homes.

Willing to make the best of a bad situation, these Southern Icefield immigrants use their spelled snow to cool the ground where they keep their homes.

Tengu

Tengu will attempt to confuse and lead the unwary dragon astray.

Tengu will attempt to confuse and lead the unwary traveler astray.

White Squirrel

This species of squirrel spends its life on the ground, perhaps because it can't jump.

This species of squirrel spends its life on the ground.

Antlers (all 3 are identical)

Nice rack, but they probably aren't natural.

An impressive set of antlers, but they probably aren't natural.

[leodanbrock]

there were too many to post in a read more under the post, so here's all the credits for my hyperdrama criterion posters set - fonts list & photoshoot sources included

photoshoot sources: - neverender, dear alan, explorer, afterimage: julia & vincent from their instagram & featured in mixmag - moonlight rendezvous: photo by andré chémétoff (alt) - one night/all night, incognito: boby for liberation - mannequin love, the end: joel barhammond for billboard - generator: benoît peverelli for télérama - saturnine: jessica pons for nyt - muscle memory: justice rockyrama issue, scanned by @/lesreptiles! - harpy dream: australian financial review textures/overlays - paper texture master folder - i don't remember who compiled this unfortunately but i've been using it for ages! - saturnine bg - pikisuperstar on freepik - additional textures & layers from @/colour-source - everything else handmade by me! inspo - 'one night/all night' inspired by the band static dress & their advertisement for rouge carpet disaster - @/spikes-jonze's franz ferdinand criterion edits - @/hidekomoon's paramovies fonts list - criterion: gotham - neverender: heavitas, kiona - generator: semplicitia, ting tong - afterimage: modernline, balgon serif - one night/all night: gotham, AXIS - dear alan: the artisan, modernline - incognito: century schoolbook, feeling passionate - mannequin love: romance, losta masta - midnight rendezvous: cezanne, betty noir - explorer: kiona, powerlord - muscle memory: minecraft, arcade - harpy dream: aesthetic, ting tong - saturnine: losta masta, cezanne - the end: lemon milk, tondu

special thanks to eva and lydia for their support & feedback during the entire editing process :) and of course justice community for all your support <3 x

[harpyartisan]

terrified to see the harpy artisan when it gets thrown up on the familiar polls because that means I gotta go against this pretty blue bastard:

[blue-hamble]

(tw: mentions of injuries)

Grandloves thought he had put all the Mistral Jamboree gifts away when he heard a crash next door. From his father’s room. 

The guardian’s stomach dropped. Lofticries--their clan’s patriarch--could have fallen out of bed. The fae seldom moved around on his own due to his blindness and weakened state. Did he hurt himself? Grand hurried to his father’s room, making sure to knock first.

“Everything ok in there, Pa? It’s Grand. I’m coming in.”

Grand opened the door and found his father seated cross-legged on the floor. He surveyed the scene quickly: thick red blanket to keep old aches and scars warm--check. Bandages over the fae’s right eye, freshly changed--check. Arms and feet glowing with runes--check. Didn’t look like anything unusual.

Lofticries smiled toward the sound of his son’s voice. He had lost most of his voice before Grandloves was born, and so he preferred signing. His fingers gestured a greeting--stained with paint.

Paint? A dish lay in a puddle of water not too far from Lofticries’ folded legs.

“Have...have you been painting, Pa?”

The fae nodded carefully, pulling his blanket close. He turned and picked up a nearby small earthenware piece. His hands were trembling as he lifted it towards the guardian, as if holding something holy.

Grandloves stared.

Lofticries had painted one of the Mistral Jamboree bowls--a humble vessel shaped like a spiral--in a most beautiful array of colors. By some magic or artistry that ignored blindness, the fae had painted a rainbow. The spiral even had a splotch of white on his chest, like the Windsinger’s favorite corgis. 

Grandloves had never seen his father--once a prolific painter--work. If the clan’s stories still held true, this was the first thing Lofticries had painted since his injuries were inflicted.

It happened not long before Grandloves was hatched. His brother, Zaza, was barely grown when they had escaped. Clan Cloud Brush, in many ways, was still healing from the attack that had driven them away from the cliffs of their old home. Only Lofticries and a select few elders knew what the whole story was, and chose to rebuild and hide first. 

Grandloves still didn’t know everything. Only that few survived, even fewer chose to stay. And Lofticries the painter never painted again.

Until now.

Looking at the brightly colored bowl in his father’s hands, Grandloves could only think of miracles.

“It’s beautiful, Pa,” Grand whispered, voice pitchy. He couldn’t help but gather Lofticries in his arms with a sob--his father was always small, and stronger than anyone else. He heard a raspy chuckle rumble from his father’s scarred throat. Thin arms, glowing with healing runes, wrapped around his neck.

Later, there would be ruckus and celebration when the bowl is presented to the clan, and to the harpy artisans that shared their wares. There will be tears of joy, and exclamations. But for now there was quiet, and a father and son, and a colorful little bowl, and something deep and painful knitting itself closed.

[peacevine]

harpy artisan // 2150300

Creating the pottery is fine and all, but the real artistry is in the painting!

[fr-familiar-bracket]

[cecils-dragons]

Finally a colored piece after a bit, thank you Leon for the inspo <3 little artist man.

[msb-lair]

Dragon: Mirella - Coatl Undertide XXY Female

(Undertide scroll applied on 2023-01-10) (Giraffe scroll applied on 2023-01-10) (Hex scroll applied on 2023-01-11) (Ghost scroll applied on 2023-01-11)

Purchased For: 15 gems Hatched On: 2022-11-23 ID: 82249160

Parentage: Luz/Evaris Flight: Earth

Primary: Sable Flaunt Basic Giraffe Secondary: Sable Flair Basic Hex Tertiary: Sanddollar Firefly Basic Ghost Eyes: Common

Comments: Finally got around to doing one of my favourite things with new species that include the ghost gene - putting together a pair of fossil dragons. After looking over my existing pairs, I decided I had more than enough pairs with their tertiary in the maize-moon range, and decided to go with my other preference for them, a range of pale yellows.

Apparel:

Accent: Plagued by Visions

Familiar: Harpy Artisan

Progeny Testing: 

[Test] Mireti

Broods:

Clutched with Mireti on 2023-01-11, 2 eggs [Clutch]

Nested with Mireti on 2023-04-20, 1 egg [Clutch]

Mated with Mireti on 2023-08-12, 3 eggs [Clutch]

Bred with Mireti on 2023-11-13, 2 eggs [Clutch]

Crossed with Mireti on 2024-03-02, 3 eggs [Clutch]

Joined with Mireti on 2024-05-13, 3 eggs [Clutch]

Matched with Mireti on 2024-08-04, 1 egg [Clutch]

Paired with Mireti on 2024-10-03, 2 eggs [Clutch]

[kaerinio]

as a means of getting some of the prominent slaving families to turn over information about the sons of the harpy, dany demands a gold and a blood tax. the gold tax is, of course, monetary, while the blood tax requires each family send a boy and a girl to serve at court as pages and cupbearers. she notes that such positions are highly coveted in Westerosi court structures, which is true. while it isn't fully specified in the text which boys and girls should be brought to her court, i would say that dany would demand heirs ( the oldest boy and the oldest girl ). not only does this apply external pressure onto the families to give up information ( delivered in the form of the fear that comes from knowing that the scions of these families are in the dragon's lair ), but there is a definite underlying motive on dany's part.

ultimately, dany institutes the blood tax to not only strike fear into the hearts of her enemies, but to also be a force of good in the lives of the children. she wants to transform meereen, doing away with the highly oppressive nature and culture of slavery, and by hosting the children of its most prominent families in her court, where many freedmen serve, where freedmen interact with daenerys on a regular basis, where daenerys hosts artisanal markets that prominently feature freedmen, she hopes to directly impact the future of meereen! she wants to disrupt their worldview.

additionally, daenerys is aware that these are children! frightened children, at that. while she attempted to hold a stern face, it only took one look at their tear-filled eyes, and she completely melted and went to comfort them. she remembers what it was like to be a frightened child, alone, in a terrifying situation. skahaz wishes that she would be harsher, but that is not in her nature when it comes to children, and she feels that, at least in this, guiding with a gentle hand will be much more effective for inspiring change. the relationship she has with the children is, of course, maternal. she cares for them, plays games with them, tells them stories, takes meals with them, and we see that the children love her dearly!

[steak-n-popotoes]

FFxivWrite '23 - 11

L’kozu wrapped themself in the snore of their saw through lumber. The materials were top quality, the necessary preparation was finished, all that remained was measuring, sawing, sanding, assembly. Beatin would be jealous of this one. Another mark, another cut. Form and function began to flow forth from the Twelveswoods’ bounty.

Soon it would be... a coffer.

Hopefully it won’t run afoul of an overzealous adventurer after all this artistry, L’kozu thought as they reached for a wind shard. Angry rustling hissed through the air from across the room.

L'kozu turned to glare openly at the wicker basket which served as Gale's gaol. She glared back from within, but halted her attempt to gnaw the basket apart when she realized she was being watched. If the little harpy thought she was going to garner sympathy after the last time, she was sorely mistaken.

"You know I can hear what you're up to, even all the way over there."

They turned their attention to Beef, who was examining different bottles of wood stain and glancing back at a half-constructed lyre.

"No no, stain and varnish are actually quite distinct from one another, Beef." Kozu rose from their workbench and extended a hand, which Beef placed the bottle into. They fished around on the shelf for a more suitable substance, settling on one which had been liberated from Haukke Manor. "Here we are."

Beef accepted the bottle graciously while L'kozu turned to inspect the Lyre itself.

"You see, a stain soaks through the wood, while varnish forms a protective layer from water and the like." They studied the form of the instrument's hollow body. "What's more, using a stain or the incorrect varnish can affect the instrument's sound, as it changes the wood's structure in subtle ways. But I won't bore you with the details."

Beef nodded along. Kozu knew well enough by now that if they had lost his interest it would be rather obvious.

Kozu placed the instrument on the table. "You've done quite well in capturing the general shape. Shall we finish the finer details?"

As Kozu gathered their more delicate carving tools, Beef took a seat in a high-backed chair that was awaiting shipment. As soon as the artisan took a wind crystal in hand, however, Gale began loudly tearing at the basket once more.

Kozu tilted a strained, but composed smile at Beef, one usually reserved for demanding customers. "Are you sure there's nothing you could do to quiet her down?"

Beef thought for a few moments, then mustered his concentration and affixed Gale with a stern look.

"Bad."

Gale stopped for a second, her mouth still clamped down on the wicker, and her feathers lowered slightly.

She then went back to gnawing with the same fury as before.

"Well, it was worth a try." L'kozu stood and snatched a heavy woolen blanket from a stack of finished products as they approached Gale's basket. "Time for a new approach."

Gale hissed in defiance at Kozu's approach and began sticking her talons through the wicker in an attempt to grab at any errant fingers.

"Oh no, not this time. See if I ever try to remove the basket without gloves again," Kozu taunted, "Once bitten, twice shy, after all." As they splayed the blanket out over the basket, Gale immediately became quiet.

"Strange. Didn't expect that to work. She's never slept before."

When Kozu turned to walk back to Beef, they saw that he was slouched in the chair, having apparently fallen asleep himself despite being full of energy moments prior.

"Hm. That's novel."

All this time and they were still learning about Beef's condition. Perhaps they would report this development to Eryna and Urianger.