God Hawks

"It should be noted that the commonly accepted weight, upwards of five hundred pounds, is simply an estimation formed with the square-cube law... due to the difficulty of persuading an eight-foot-tall predatory bird that sees mortals as a convenient food source to get on a scale... How a God Hawk could possibly fly with such mass is unknown.

—Ta Iotes Hawksight, in her paper Problems of Physics in Titanic Physiology

God Hawks are immense birds of prey native to the Sea of Air. They are classed as Titans due to their size and ancient origins.

God Hawks, despite predating mortals, bear a great resemblance to smaller hawks. Their feathers range from gold to golden brown, and their eyes are yellow. Their beaks are dark grey and sharp enough to tear through the hide of a Wyvern, as are their claws.

Due to the size and predatory nature of a God Hawk, islands hosting them are fervently avoided by both mortals and other large creatures of the Sea of Air. Unfortunately, God Hawks can cover a large territory on their hunts, so it is considered that no part of the Sea of Air is truly safe from them, save for House Pluma's headquarters, which is fiercely defended.

The only places God Hawks are capable of nesting are the branches of the most ancient trees in the Sea of Air, as their size and weight would overwhelm a lesser tree. Because of this, God Hawks are very territorial, and violent territorial conflicts between individual birds and mated pairs are common as they fight for proper housing.

God Hawks are seen as a symbol of regal power due to their effortless grace despite their size. Their territorial claims are thought to also have fed into the symbolism. The emblem of House Pluma sports a God Hawk upon it, and many noble families call back to its imagery in their family crests.

According to legend, God Hawks have the capability to control the weather and produce storms. However, no conclusive evidence has been provided to support this theory, and it is currently thought that the myth simply originated from the strong winds produced by the Hawks' wings when taking off.

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

A mated pair of God Hawks will lay one to two eggs at a time in mid-spring. Typically, a mated pair will wait two to three years between incubations. The eggs take roughly forty days to hatch.

Growth Rate & Stages

God Hawks mate for life and are fiercely loyal to their mates and unhatched chicks. Both parents spend a significant portion of time watching over their eggs while the other hunts—due to their size, they cannot sit directly on top of the eggs, so they will sit with the eggs on either side of them, covered by their wings.

Once the eggs hatch, the parents will slowly separate themselves from their chicks over the course of a year, as the chicks gradually build up strength and grow their adult feathers. By the end of the year, the chicks will be fully able to fly and to accompany the parents when hunting, and it is at this point the relationship between the fledgelings and the parents changes.

At the end of the first hunt with the full family, the fledgelings will follow their parents back to the nest, expecting to return home as normal. However, upon reaching the nest, the parents will turn on the fledgelings and physically bar them from reentering the nest. If the fledgelings persist, more force is used, and occasionally full-fledged territorial disputes can result, sometimes ending in the death of a fledgeling. Eventually, the fledgelings will give up and seek shelter elsewhere.

Dietary Needs and Habits

God Hawks are considered obligate carnivores and top predators. A mated pair working together can easily take down a Wyvern, and even mortals have difficulty defending against a hunting God Hawk. Incidentally, mortals are the smallest prey a God Hawk would consider worthwhile—their size necessitates that they consume over a hundred pounds of food each day.

Lifespan

45 years

Average Height

8–10 ft.

Average Weight

500–1000 lbs. (estimated)

Geographic Distribution

• Sea of Air