Talona

Ta-Lo-Nah

Many primitive human cultures believed the gods came from the sky. The people of The Aerie knew the gods came from beyond the sky; after all, they dwelled in the sky and never saw the star-gods. Still, they knew they had the gods’ favor because they could fly.
Long ago, the legends say, the star-gods came. They went among the people who walked upon the Earth and found those worthy, with the fierceness and pride of raptors in their hearts, and granted them the gift of wings. But the ground-bound were fearful and jealous of the winged-ones. They hurled curses and stones alike at them, driving them out, driving them away.
So the Avians took to the sky and flew far and wide, searching for a place away from the ground-bound, a place they could call their own. They founded the Aerie high in the mountains of a distant land, warmed by volcanic springs, and there they built a civilization, where those who hated and feared them would never find them—or so they thought.
Ta-Lo-Nah was marked by the star-gods from birth. She was gifted with powerful claws and the keen instincts of a hunter, but also with swiftness and the ability to speak with and command the feathered creatures of the skies. She grew up tall and strong, a fierce and powerful hunter and warrior, but with a terrible temper when her ire was roused.
Not long after Ta-Lo-Nah reached adulthood, a sickness came to the Aerie, and the healers could not find a cure. Many believed it was a curse from the star-gods, a sign of their displeasure, but Ta-Lo-Nah believed otherwise. She discovered it was the work of groundlings, who fouled the air with their great chimneys. When she told them to stop, they refused, so she destroyed their foul machines and warned this “Grant Conglomerates” clan for the last time.
Naturally, Grant Conglomerates wasn’t going to stop their international refining operations because of some freak. When “Talona” returned as she said she would, they laid a trap and captured the bird-woman, shipping her off to the head offices in Freedom City for interrogation and examination by the bio-medics division.
Talona escaped confinement in Freedom City and found herself in a strange and terrible place, filled with more groundlings than she had ever seen, the air thick with their stench, the sky walled off by their towers. In her rage, she called to the fliers among the towers and in the scattered trees, and they answered her. Lady Liberty III fought Talona and was finally able to calm the avian warrior enough to learn her tale. She promised to investigate Grant Conglomerates’ involvement, and helped Talona return to her home, having earned the avian’s grudging respect.
What Talona found when she returned to the Aerie was devastation: her people were gone, and new cairns dotted the burial grounds. She realized the plague had destroyed them while she was in captivity, and she went mad with rage. Talona returned to Freedom City with an army of raptors to declare war on the groundlings. Again, Lady Liberty confronted and overcame her. Learning of her terrible tale, she and her allies discovered the avians were not wiped out—they had merely moved to hidden caves to try and escape the plague. The Freedom League negotiated pollution controls for the region near the Aerie and formulated medical treatment to assist the avians. A somewhat mollified Talona returned to her people.
Since her return, Talona has received word of Black Vulture, who is apparently an avian from a "lost" tribe in The Atlas Mountains. If she can confirm his origins, she plans to bring him and his followers back to the Aerie to ensure the survival of her people. Talona is disgusted by the rumors of Black Vulture’s cannibalism, but she’s certain those tales are just lies spread by the ground-bound who fear and mistrust the avians.

Physical Description

Special abilities

Talona is something of a mutant throwback among avians: she can fly much faster than most of her kind and her claws are superhumanly sharp and powerful. Moreover, she has the ability to psychically communicate with and control birds of all kinds, particularly raptors. The downside of her birthright is a tendency towards stress atavism: an almost bestial temper and bloodlust, reverting Talona to a savage stage where it is difficult to reason with or control her. Even her own people tread carefully where the proud warrior-woman is concerned, regarding Talona as their champion, but also uncertain about her abilities as a spokesperson, much less a diplomat.

Mental characteristics

Intellectual Characteristics

Talona is fierce and direct in everything she does. She is proud of her people and her homeland and will stop at nothing to protect them. She gives in to anger readily, which has gotten her into trouble in the past, but it also gives her strength. Her unpredictability makes her both a staunch ally and a dangerous foe.