Ruhk
Like most avians, Rukh are born from eggs. For the first year of their lives, they are completely dependent on their parents, as they do not have any feathers to protect them from the elements, nor can their eyes open. It is not until after this first year do these creatures start resembling birds at all. Once fully grown, these massive birds are a force to be reckoned with.
Aging
0-4: Hatchling
5-10: Fledgeling
10-30: Adolescent
30-50: Young adult
50-150: Adult
150+: Elder
Average Lifespan: 2,000 years, though some have been recorded to live for centuries longer.
Diet
They are a solely meat eating race. They eat whatever they can take down, although they tend to stay away from sentient races except for one, dragons. They tend to think of dragons as competition and will take them down if they are able to, though most of the Rukh species find most dragons to be too much trouble and will avoid them. Instead, they prefer to go after the younger and weaker of the species. The only two Rukh varieties that actively seek out dragons to eat are the Hava Rukhs, who have adapted to keep up with dragons and actually outspeed the spry wyverns, and the Torden Rukhs, whose shear strength can crush the mighty western’s strong scaled armor.
Credit goes to Psychoticmist for writing, Achera for writing the history, and Achera for editing.
Appearance
The average Rukh has the wingspan of around 50 feet and a body equal to it, though depending on the species the size can vary immensely. At the size order, Torden Rukh’s are the largest, followed by Vatra, Askull, Lurra and Hava. Hava Rukh’s rarely get to be over 40 feet in wingspan as they are built more for speed than for strength. Children of mixed types of Ruhks will exhibit colorations and characteristics from both sides.
Askull: They resemble owls and favor white or blue colors.
Hava: Hava ruhk resemble Falcons/hawks, and favor lighter colors like light a light blue, whites and lighter greys in colors.
Lurra: Lurra ruhk resemble Terror Birds such as Gastornis, Titanis, Kelenken etc. They are commonly earthy with tones of blacks, greys, or browns.They are a smaller breed, built more for running than for flying.
Torden: Torden ruhk resemble Eagles and are typically grey, black, or yellow.
Vatra: Vatra ruhk resemble hawks, and are typically red, orange, or yellow. However, they have been known to exhibit flecks of blue.
Abilities
Physical
Rukh are massive creatures. They have the strength and power expected from a creates as large as a dragon. Their beaks and talons are all sharp and strong enough to bend steel while the weakest ruhk is strong enough to carry away an elephant. In spite of their size, they are incredibly fast; capable of outpacing a dragon. They are more maneuverable as well. Males sport a long spur on the back of their feet to help with fighting at close range.The males also tend to have elaborate and colorful head plumage, though that is not always evident.
Askull: They are capable of seeing the heat let out by individuals, hunting them in the frigid tundras of the north. They can see well enough to hunt in the dark, and can fly silently. They typically hunt using ambush tactics, appearing from nowhere to quickly take down their prey, then disappearing again; much like gorilla warfare.
Hava: The fastest of the species, these ruhk are known to be the most maneuverable. Their affinity for speed is paired with a weakness in endurance and they can take less punishment than their sibling species. This forces them to rely on their speed for blinding strikes. Their tactics include swooping in and out before their target can fight back.
Lurra: Lurra are incapable of flight. However, they are very fast sprinters, capable of matching the speed of other ruhk while flying. In addition, they are the sturdiest of the ruhk, able to take an immense amount of damage. Their strength is focused in their talons, and a kick can shatter stone.
Torden: They are average in the flight skills, though Tordens are the slowest individuals, but they make up for their speed in power. They are the strongest of the species, being the ones who are built specifically to take down the larger, more powerful western dragons.
Vatra: Vatra Ruhks are built to soar and glide. Not the fastest in the air, they make up for it by being able to stay aloft for longer than any other species. They often can simply outlast their prey, chasing them down until the prey is too tired to run, before they pick them off.
Magical
Each species of Ruhk can manipulate their own element to a degree, either by breathing it like a dragon or by flapping their wings. Ruhk are also highly resistant to their own element, though not immune. They are only immune to the element they themselves have created as it is seen as part of their own bodies. Each species of ruhk also has an ability linked to their element:
Askull: Askull ruhk can summon blizzards. The strength is similar to how it is with the Tordens.
Hava: Hava ruhk can summon whirlwinds by beating their wings. It could be as simple as a tornado to nearly hurricane-like storms.
Lurra: Lurra ruhk can shake the ground by stomping. The stronger the ruhk, the more likely they are able to cause earthquakes and sandstorms.
Torden: Torden ruhk can summon storms in their wakes. The strength of the storm is dependant of the strength of the ruhk.
Vatra: Vatra ruhk can regain energy by absorbing heat from flames, though not those creating by themselves.
History
The Ruhks are believed to be the creation of Haliea, Goddess of the sun and moon, and Zarkos, God of air. The two had realized that they were the respective god/goddess of some portion of the sky and in turn, ruled the skies together. The two gods were amused by the very thought they they alone had ruled this domain. So, the two decided to create a memento to remind everyone of their combined powers. Together, the two created a creature that was a bird in appearance but had miraculous powers. It’s wingspan is said to have been over 65ft and stood taller than even most of the life in Antarsia. Haliea, so pleased with the creation, decided to create a few more with Zarkos. She took elements of the time of day from the sun high in the sky to dusk to nightfall. Each of these took on characteristics depending on what she used to infuse them with should it have been a ray of sunlight to the soil on the ground. The final creations were smaller than the original Ruhk, but they varied immensely from one another. This in turn lead to what we know as the Askull, Hava, Lurra, Torden, and Vatra Ruhks.