Itarii

Sequestered in high mountains atop tall trees, the itarii are reclusive avian humanoids devoted to their homelands and their tribes. They defend their precious communities with broad wingspans and razor talons.

Itarii value ferocity, vengeance, and devotion above all else. Their dark, formidable wingspans and long history of taking revenge for their fallen family members have painted them as winged devils in the eyes of neighboring human populations. In contradiction to their misunderstood nature, itarii boast a spiritual, artistic, and compassionate culture that is rarely seen outside of their roosts.

As itarii populations begin to resurge and spread beyond the mountainous region known as the Devil’s Perch, their tribes now speckle the landscape of Cheliax and surrounding nations. Soaring over mountains, forests, and beaches, itarii are always brought home by the deep connections they share with their kinfolk. If you want a character who is loyal yet enigmatic, fierce yet artistic, and who yearns to soar above the world, you should play a itarii.

Beak and feather

From below, itarii look much like large birds. Only when they descend to roost on a branch or walk across the ground does their humanoid appearance reveal itself. Itarii have long, narrow legs that taper to sharp talons.

Feathers cover their bodies. Their plumage typically denotes membership in a tribe. Males are brightly colored, with feathers of red, orange, or yellow. Females have more subdued colors, usually brown or gray. Their heads complete the avian appearance, being something like a parrot or eagle with distinct tribal variations.

Sky wardens

Once airborne, an itarii leaves the sky with reluctance. On their native plane, they can fly for days or months, landing only to lay their eggs and feed their young before launching themselves back into the air. Those that make it to a world in the Material Plane find it a strange place. They sometimes forget or ignore vertical distances.

Avian mannerisms

The resemblance of itarii to birds isn’t limited to physical features. Itarii display many of the same mannerisms as ordinary birds. They are fastidious about their plumage, frequently tending their feathers, cleaning and scratching away any tiny passengers they might have picked up. When they deign to descend from the sky, they often do so near pools where they can catch fish and bathe themselves.

Many itarii punctuate their speech with chirps, sounds they use to convey emphasis and to shade meaning, much as a human might through facial expressions and gestures. An itarii might become frustrated with people who fail to pick up on the nuances; an itarii’s threat might be taken as a jest and vice versa.

The idea of ownership baffles most itarii. After all, who owns the sky? Even when explained to them, they initially find the notion of ownership mystifying. As a result, itarii who have little interaction with other people might be a nuisance as they drop from the sky to snatch livestock or plunder harvests for fruits and grains. Shiny, glittering objects catch their eyes.

They find it hard not to pluck the treasure and bring it back to their settlement to beautify it. An itarii who spends years among other races can learn to inhibit these impulses.

Confinement terrifies the itarii. To be grounded, trapped underground, or imprisoned by the cold, unyielding earth is a torment few itarii can withstand. Even when perched on a high branch or at rest in their mountaintop homes, they appear alert, with eyes moving and bodies ready to take flight.

Homelands

Most itarii live on the Elemental Plane of Air. Itarii can be drawn into the Material Plane, sometimes to pursue enemies or thwart their foes’ designs there. Accident might also send a nest of itarii tumbling into a world on that plane. A few find their way to such a world through portals on their own plane and establish nests in high mountains or in the canopies of old forests.

Once tribes of itarii settle in an area, they share a hunting territory that extends across an area up to 150 kilometers on a side, with each tribe hunting in the lands nearest to their colony, ranging farther should game become scarce.

A typical colony consists of one large, open-roofed nest made of woven vines. The eldest acts as leader with the support of a shaman.

Great purpose

Itarii enjoy peace and solitude. Most of them have little interest in dealing with other peoples and less interest in spending time on the ground. For this reason, it takes an exceptional circumstance for an itarii to leave his or her tribe and undertake the adventurer’s life. Neither treasure nor glory is enough to lure them from their tribes; a dire threat to their people, a mission of vengeance, or a catastrophe typically lies at the heart of the itarii adventurer’s chosen path.

Two other circumstances might call an itarii to adventure. First, itarii have historical ties to the Wind Dukes of Aaqa. Exceptional individuals honor that connection and might seek out the missing pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts, the remains of an artifact fashioned by the Wind Dukes long ago to defeat the Queen of Chaos’s monstrous champion, Miska the Wolf-Spider.

When plunged into Miska’s body, the chaos in his blood sundered the rod and scattered its pieces across the multiverse. Recovering the pieces means gaining honor and esteem in the eyes of the vaati who forged it and could possibly restore a powerful weapon for defense against the agents of elemental evil.

Second, itarii are sworn foes of elemental earth, in particular the gargoyles that serve Ogrémoch, the Prince of Earth. The Itarii word for gargoyle is loosely translated as “flying rock,” and battles between itarii and gargoyles have raged across the Elemental Planes of Earth and Air, occasionally spilling into a world on the Material Plane. Itarii on that plane might leave their colonies to lend aid to other humanoids committed to fighting earth cults and thwarting their efforts.

Itarii names

As with much of their speech, itarii names include clicks, trills, and whistles to the point that other peoples have a difficult time pronouncing them. Typically, a name has two to four syllables with the sounds acting as connectors. When interacting with other species, itarii may use nicknames gained from people they meet or shortened forms of their full names.

An itarii of either gender may have one of these short names: Aera, Aial, Aur, Deekek, Errk, Heehk, Ikki, Kleeck, Oorr, Ouss, Quaf, Quierk, Salleek, Urreek, or Zeed.

Other names

Some other species refer to itarii by other names.

• Birdfolk is a term that itarii aren’t fond of. It would be akin to calling a human apefolk.