The races of Hush Blossom
•E•I•T•I•L•
OVERVIEW
Very tall and angular, the Eitil appear in two ethnicities: the fully-feathered Foirfe, and the partially-feathered Aingeal. With slender limbs, they are genderless, and their most defining features are their wings. Wings can come in a range of sizes, colours, styles, and number – from two to a maximum of eight. The major wings grow from their upper back, whilst the smallest sprout from their hips. Their ears also appear as tiny wings. The plumage of both ethnicities can be a vast array of colours, often reflecting pre-existing bird genus, such as a violet-headed hummingbird, a mandarin duck, or even the common raven.
The Foirfe are covered entirely in feathers, with only their faces, hands, and feet exposed.
The Aingeal have far less plumage, with feathers sporadically dotting their skin.
Foirfe skin tones are white to very pale pink, and sometimes a very pale grey. Aingeal possess a wider range, from pale pink to a dark brown.
Hair – and even their eyelashes and eyebrows – are also made-up of feathers, and will be the same colour as their wings. Eye colours are unlimited, and can appear in many shades and gradients. Fifteen percent of Eitil also possess bird tails.
Unlike birds, the Eitil do not have sexual dimorphisms.
HOMELAND & CULTURE
The Eitil call the ethereal land of Spéire their birthplace. It is a country covered in a combination of numerous mountain ranges, deep-set valleys, and glowing cloud forests. The Eitil do not build their homes on the land, but rather amongst the clusters of rocks that float in the sky. It seems that a powerful magic is what keeps these rocks afloat without any apparent forms of propulsion. Their capital is Amhráin, an ancient and intricate city of spires built upon one of the largest rocks by their ancestors, where the Eitil have added glittering debris and shards of coloured glass to float alongside to capture sunlight in dazzling arrays.
The Eitil have an aristocratic-monarch society, where wealth, status, and lineage is highly valued. The population is ruled by a royal family, whilst all others strive to reach the status of the upper class. This family has been in rulership for several centuries, with power continued on as dynastic wealth.
The Eitil are descended from an ancient and extinct race known as the Amhránaí. Colossal bird-like creatures, they were said to be almost godlike in power, able to control and shift the currents of weather, time, and life itself. The Eitil have a faith built around these apparent ancestors, with certain Amhránaí said to be connected to attributes such as the elements, fate, and emotion. The Eitil believe that the Amhránaí live on in spirit form, and many quest for a particular strain of magic that is said to bring the Amhránaí back to their physical origins and rightful place as the leaders of the world.
Some particularly supremacist Eitil class the Foirfe ethnicity as superior, due to appearing far more bird-like – and thus more like the Amhránaí – than the Aingeal, who are seen as lower-class citizens due to their minimal plumage, and thus must not be direct descendants. The more wings and feathers an Eitil has, the closer to "royalty" they are seen. Royalty and the wealthy elite wear masks or jewellery shaped like a bird's beak to give themselves a more avian appearance in an attempt to appear ever closer to the Amhránaí.
The Eitil are currently in an era of tenuous truce with the O Dân and the O Iâ after several wars spanning several decades, started over the supposed assassination of a royal. The races' hatred of one another has further prevented any attempts at creating potential peace or revealing evidence.
Ethnicity:
AINGEAL
Ethnicity:
FOIRFE
POWERS & ABILITIES
Due to their mighty wings, the Eitil are able to fly. Endurance and speed is dependent upon the individual and training, but all are capable of crossing vast distances. Some are better suited to aerial acrobatics, whilst others possess great strength when flying through storms.
Despite being rather tall, the Eitil are incredibly light due to their lightweight bones, and this enables their ease of flight.
The Eitil are also known for their incredible singing, with some particularly powerful Eitil mages weaving magic into their voices to create deadly attacks. They can vocalise all known vocal pitches, along with some unknown and heard only by Eitil, and are capable of impressive mimicry.
Much like birds, the Eitil can also see colours that range into the ultraviolet.
NAMES
Eitil names follow the Irish language – especially names that haven’t been anglicized. They do not use surnames, but have an epithet that features the place name of cities or regions they inhabit.
Traditional Names: Rúadhán, Mealla, Cairell, Ailbhe
Traditional Place Names: of Ferthain, of Amhráin, of Gelach, of Sioc
RACE SHEET
