Al Karak Elam

General Information

Winged folk closely resemble humans in appearance (albeit with half-elven builds), although their body structure includes a pair of large, white, feathered wings sprouting from their shoulder blades. As a rule, al karak elam have above average physical and mental attributes when compared to humans.

The tales of angels and devas told be some legends may have arisen from the widespread use of winged folk as messengers and ambassadors (dressed in the white robes of peace). Although today they rarely involve themselves in the affairs of other races, for a time the al karak elam were ruled by a High King who dealt a great deal with humans and elves. This history, in fact, has had a profound impact upon the culture of the winged folk.

Winged folk typically dress in simple tunics or robes when near their homes. When they hunt, war or make journeys they will wear leather armor and carry shields. The weapons winged folk normally use are bows, javelins, daggers, spears, swords, axes, bolas, nets and ropes.

Winged folk may carry up to half their maximum encumbrance in flight with a corresponding slowing of movement (12" is their minimum flight speed to keep aloft without the aid of thermals). In an emergency, an al karak elam may carry his maximum encumbrance airborne for one or two rounds. In general, the winged folks find flying as effortless as humans find walking, needling only occasional rests to keep soaring all day.

Winged folk may speak the language of eagles, hawks, falcons, owls, hippogriffs, griffons and/or pegasai. They all speak their own language and many speak both Elvish and the Common tongue. When aloft, al karak elam can see for great distances like an eagle and they have night vision equal to an owl's.

Winged folk may be clerics, druids, archers, fighters, mages or illusionists plus certain combinations of two of those classes. Multi-class combinations include: archer/mage, archer/illusionist, archer/cleric, fighter/mage, fighter/illusionist, fighter/cleric, mage/cleric, illusionist/cleric, druid/mage and druid/illusionist. Al karak elam level limits are detailed below:

Al karak elam have their own pantheon of deities, which includes Ukko (the Sky Father), Phaulkon (son of Ukko and Lord of Mountains), Aerdrie Faenir (Lady of the Winds)...

Winged folk are friendly toward elves, tolerant of hobbits and gnomes (whom they call "diggers"), cautious of dwarves, respectful of centaurs, and curious but wary of humans. They dislike orcs, goblins, kobolds and their kin. Al karak elam greatly dislike naamar (who have been known to take wings as trophies!) and hate lizard men and gargoyles. Both the later prey on al karak elam, the former find the winged folk extremely tasty while the later actually threaten al karak elam villages.

Winged folk do like the underground or the sea and it is extremely unlikely that any will be encountered in such places (this means no dungeon exploring!). Winged folk forced to stay in these environments or are imprisoned must save vs death once a day or go insane. Mania, homicidal mania, suicidal mania, hebephrenia and catatonia are the forms of insanity to which the al karak elam are particularly suseptible.

Al karak elam are very rare, only now being seen in the realms of humans after many long centuries of absense. The winged folk make their homes only in forests and mountains. They build tree houses in the tallest trees in the forests while in the mountains they construct aeries on cliff faces. Due to the power of the winged folks illusionists, their homes are often disguised with many permanent phantasms. Al karak elam homes are always open and airy affaris, in many cases only the floors and roofs are permanent with the walls being simply tent cloth which is used only in inclement weather.

Winged folk have a loose-knit social and political structure which stressed individual freedom. The family is the basic social unit, and groups of families are gather in clans which own allegiances to a tribe. Tribal holdings may be extensive, but most tribe members will choose to live in the tribal village itself, which offers the protection of numbers. All the tribes form the winged folk nation, which is ruled by a king. The king is chosen by the tribal chieftans from one of their number and the king rules for life. Tribal chieftans are in turn chosen for life by clan leaders.

Female winged folk have a great voice in their clans and often hold the office of clan matriarch because they excel in clerical abilities. There are many male clerics, but the majority are female and the males do not ignore their wisdom.

Males and females are generally considered equals, with each performing certain gender-tasks for the community. Males are typically fighters and hunters while females are clerics and artisans. Both sexes deal with magic. Females who wish to fight or males who wish to serve the gods are not scorned; they are simply rare.

Few laws exist among the winged folk, and the few laws there are can be boiled down to one principle: all al karak elam are siblings and to bring harm to one is to bring harm to all. There are very few winged folk who would intentionally bring harm to another of their kind -- those few are exiled and branded as soon as they are found out. Word spreads and there is usually no chance of redemption for the outcast. Should such an individual continue to do harm, he is hunted down and killed by member of his former clan.

Winged folk have a simple economy. They tend to be hunters and gathers, as they do not care to till or dig the earth. Many times they will locate thier homes near groves of fruit-bearing trees to make the gather easier. Females are the main artisans, and their carving of wood, ivory and gemstones provide the bulk of the communities wealth. Al karak elam are also adept at spinning and weaving natural fibers. Elves usually act as intermediaries for the winged folk in matters of trade, bartering carvings and furs for weapons, tools and utensils that the winged folk do not care to make. Wiged folk do value other types of wealth, but mostly for its trading value. Gold is heavy and there are many parables about greedy al karak elam falling to their doom.

Game Statistics

Lizard men character classes and life spans:

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