A Harpy in flight.
A harpy is a maligned humanoid creature with an avian lower body and a pair of wings. It subdues its prey by its ability to magically sing, inducing a trance in those that hear, drawing them closer, and then tormenting them.
A harpy combines the body, legs, and wings of a vulture with the torso, arms, and head of a humanoid. Its wicked talons and preffered club make it a formidable threat in combat, and its eyes reflect the absolute evil of its soul.
Harpies have the appearance of female humanoids with grotesque, avian features. The hands and feet of a harpy end in long, sharp talons. Most harpies are unclean creatures, who have no regard for their appearance. They tend to wear little or no clothing, so as to not restrict their flying mobility, and what little they do wear usually consists of baubles and tokens stolen from the corpses of those whom they have slain.
The feather coloration of a harpies varies based on the various regions of Noth that they are native to. Rumors even abound of immensely beautiful harpies found in strange lands, which boast the colorful plumage of parrots or other birds of paradise, although similar rumors speak of an even more bestial and evil version of the known harpy exists.
Harpies do not wear clothing, but will adorn themselves with jewelry or trinkets from their victims. They will always take at least one possession from a victim back to their lair as a symbol of their kill, but are otherwise uninterested in treasure or wealth. They are not particularly intelligent creatures, and are prone to cowardice in the face of superior power. They communicate with a language of shrieking and cackling, an even cruder version of Black Asil, which dramatically contrasts when compared to the beauty of their magical singing.
Harpies use primitive weapons; usually bone or wooden clubs, but they can also bite and rake with their claws. They have no preference over their victims, and enjoy the killing and torture of any creature. They are almost exclusively carnivorous, but if meat is unavailable, they will resort to eating vegetation. Their preferred food is fresh human or humanoid meat. The lifespan of a harpy typically ranges anywhere between twenty-five and fifty years old.
Harpies are spiteful, hate-filled beings that will attack anything that they take offense to. This can include beautiful things, living creatures, or inanimate objects. The savage mind of a harpy is often fraught with insanity and psychosis.
Harpies make homes in groups of six or more individuals within marshlands or in caves near shorelines which are preferably near well-traveled routes, if possible. An entire tribe (known as a "scream"), although very rare, can be as large as two hundred. Harpies venture out to hunt, and their victims are often brought back to the lair to be killed and eaten. There is no social structure to harpy life, besides one based on fear of a god figure, and there are constant quarrels as a result, sometimes resulting in a fight to the death. If a death should indeed occur, harpies are quite content to eat their own kind.
There is no physical difference between male and female harpies. The males possess breasts just like the females do, leading to the misconception that male harpies do not exist. Females are able to lay as many as twenty eggs at will from the age of two, but only around three of those will successfully hatch, and any deformed young are killed by a parent. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that when old age weakens a harpy, it is similarly killed by its kin. It is unclear whether harpies look after their young or not, but if they do, it consists of nothing more than feeding their young, similar to birds.
It is not unknown for harpies to cooperate with other evil humanoids if it serves their interests.
Harpies take shiny baubles, valuable objects, and other trophies from their victims, sometimes fighting with each other for the right to claim the choicest prizes. When no valuable objects can be found, a harpy takes hair, bones, or body parts to line its nest.
In the campaign[]
- The party was captured by a small scream of harpies.
- The scream appeared to be somewhat religious, keeping grotesque decorations, symbolism, and an unidentifiable statue paired with a sacrificial spear.
- A blue-colored, more musculared variant of the species seemed to lead them.
- They fought with talons and clubs, and the blue one also used a thunderous magic of sorts.
- As soon as a number of them died, including the blue one, the rest disappeared or fled.