Difference between revisions of "Corovid"
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The bird is the most common scavenger to appear during Sebiestor funereal rites, when significant tribesmen were offered to the elements and often devoured by these birds. The Corovid is traditionally considered to be an animal that can traverse the material and immaterial worlds with ease. They seemingly appear from nowhere and frequently disappear into the heavy mists that hang over the snow-covered steppes and plateaus. | The bird is the most common scavenger to appear during Sebiestor funereal rites, when significant tribesmen were offered to the elements and often devoured by these birds. The Corovid is traditionally considered to be an animal that can traverse the material and immaterial worlds with ease. They seemingly appear from nowhere and frequently disappear into the heavy mists that hang over the snow-covered steppes and plateaus. | ||
| − | + | {{quotebox|text=The battlefield was littered with them. It seemed that every man had one of the dark birds attending to him like a thief picks through the clothing of a felled mark. Here, though, the Corovid were stealing from rent flesh... <BR> | |
...Seeing his brother’s face being torn off in strips, Marasis cried out, at which point all of the Corovid stopped their grisly work and looked at us at once. They paused, as if watching for the vapours of our next trembling breath. Eventually they must have decided we were still for this world and with a great noise of flapping wings and cawing ascended into the mists above, at which point there was silence. We searched the skies and distant trees as we went to our fallen, but as we retrieved belongings, weapons and symbols, not a shadow was seen.” | ...Seeing his brother’s face being torn off in strips, Marasis cried out, at which point all of the Corovid stopped their grisly work and looked at us at once. They paused, as if watching for the vapours of our next trembling breath. Eventually they must have decided we were still for this world and with a great noise of flapping wings and cawing ascended into the mists above, at which point there was silence. We searched the skies and distant trees as we went to our fallen, but as we retrieved belongings, weapons and symbols, not a shadow was seen.” | ||
| − | + | |sign=''The Trials of Mechay'', Sebiestor Archives}} | |
==Corovid’s Segin== | ==Corovid’s Segin== | ||
Latest revision as of 09:44, 13 June 2015
The Corovid is a large primarily all-black avian widely distributed on the steppes of Matar’s arctic region, Mikramurka, and the northern continent of Houdea. It is renowned for its intelligence as well as its significance in Sebiestor culture.
Appearance
The Corovid is typically around 71 centimetres (2’4” feet) in height and usually has a wingspan of approximately 152 centimetres (5 feet). Appearing heavier due to its tendency to ruffle feathers, it actually averages only 1.5 kgs (3.5 pounds) in mass. When at rest it appears stocky as it draws up its feathers to capture its own body heat, primarily around the neck and shoulders. Otherwise they remain smooth black birds with a strong beak that is curved slightly at the end. While the Corovid doesn’t possess teeth, it has a serration in the middle of its beak that looks like three small fangs on either side. Corovid also have a well-developed pollex, which looks like a small black spur in the middle of the wing, which they use to latch onto carcasses, trees and even ice.
Communication
The Corovid can communicate in a limited vocabulary of sounds and it is this trait that has been attributed to its ability to survive in the open tundra, where sources of food may be few and far between. Experienced Sebiestor hunters have stories of being able to recognize the sounds that these birds make when they’re communicating with each other, particularly those that indicate that they have found a source of food. Intelligent enough to be domesticated, some hunting parties would take a Corovid that they had painted and train it to circle back when it had discovered something to eat. These animals could also be taught to give a signal when it heard other Corovid communicating this information. After hearing about potential sources of food from other Corovid the resultant cry was not always a welcome sound, since if the wild Corovid responded in the affirmative then stuck close it meant that the food was the hunting party themselves.
In Minmatar Culture
The Corovid is particularly significant to the Sebiestor Tribe, who often shared large expanses of the frozen steppes of Mikramurka with few other forms of life but the scavenging bird. These birds were often seen accompanying hunting parties and came to symbolize the eventuality of death and the inescapable nature of fate. Hunters would generally consider them a positive omen if they appeared early in the journey, and negative if they appeared late.
The bird is the most common scavenger to appear during Sebiestor funereal rites, when significant tribesmen were offered to the elements and often devoured by these birds. The Corovid is traditionally considered to be an animal that can traverse the material and immaterial worlds with ease. They seemingly appear from nowhere and frequently disappear into the heavy mists that hang over the snow-covered steppes and plateaus.
Corovid’s Segin
The tattoo known as Corovid’s Segin is a derivation of With Adamant Authority that arose amongst the Sebiestor soon after the Vherokior spread the practice of the voluval among the tribe. It has links with markings that already existed among the Sebiestor that depicted the large black carrion bird of the northern continents. The tattoo is distinguished primarily by the bird’s head in the centre of the forehead and the animal’s spurious pollex, which are exaggerated over the eyebrows. The voluval appears frequently outside the tribe in the current day, but is still of particular significance to the Sebiestor when it appears within their own clans.