The Luminous Aviary

A Guide to Birds of Fantasy

by Will Uhl
 Table of Contents

Your fantasy world 1

Afara’s Marionette Bird 2
Rusty Hawk-owl 3
Monk Crow 4
Resonant Cock-of-the-rock 6
Prismatic Tanager 7
Gold-bellied Woodpecker 8
Jesterbird10
Green-billed Eider 11
Credits12

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Your fantasy world

T he fictional birds within the Luminous Aviary are written to fit in

conventional fantasy settings, where magic abounds, people live
among vibrant natural landscapes, and adventurers delve into ancient
ruins. Storytellers and worldbuilders can use this book to flesh out set-
tings and provide narrative hooks. Here are a few ways to use the birds
within the Luminous Aviary:

1: Birds as Assistants
Animals do not exist for the benefit of humanity, but coexistence has a
number of benefits. Consider how each bird’s talents could help your
characters — not as tools, but as living, independent beings.
• Do they find a magical “potion” made by a monk’s crow? (Pg 4)
• Do they overhear roosting jesterbirds squawking secrets? (Pg 10)
• Could a prismatic tanager’s feathers help convey emotion? (Pg 7)

2: Birds as Culture
Environments shape the societies within them. Consider how each
bird’s traits and cultural meanings would influence the way histories
and institutions develop.
• How would treasure-seekers honor the rusty hawk-owl? (Pg 3)
• Do the villagers revere or resent gold-bellied woodpeckers? (Pg 8)
• How does the green-billed eider color coastal town life? (Pg 11)

3: Birds as Inhabitants
Whether it’s a city, forest, or abandoned ruin, birds can play a part
in making a location feel like more than a simple backdrop. Consider
how each bird can make locations feel alive and interconnected.
• How do psychics coexist with resonant cock-of-the-rocks? (Pg 6)
• How does a flock of Afara’s marionette bird affect a bazaar? (Pg 2)
• What odd spells do the city’s wild jesterbirds like to use? (Pg 10)

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Afara’s Marionette Bird
Size (cm) 33
Tropical climates and areas
Habitat
with latent magical resonance
A warbling call that oscillates
Voice
between high and low pitches

C enturies ago, the first of these birds were created by an estranged

witch named Afara. Xe regularly fed birds outside xir house, and
had earned enough trust that they would even eat out of xir hand. One
day, when Afara was feeding the birds, xe produced a magic needle
and thread. One by one, xe held the birds and wove the threads into
their feathers. None of them flinched. Once xe was done, xe smiled,
and the birds all turned to look at Afara. In their dozen voices, xe heard
them think “Thank you.” As the legend goes, the birds were happy to
help xem with errands and chores — in exchange for seed and shelter.

Since then, the birds have passed their magical abilities to their young
and spread far and wide. Their power’s extent is unknown; the wires
seem to attune to any nearby magic, making them highly adaptable.
Most reports of their magic are attempts to steal food from street shops.

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Rusty Hawk-owl
Size (cm) 39
Habitat Cold, forested climates.
Voice Calls for mates with a withering trill.

A bird of prey with an intense stare

and a ruddy coat. Much like
the barn owl and barn swallow,
the rusty hawk-owl has adapted
to artificial structures. It lives
among abandoned, ruined
buildings —  dim areas rife
with vermin. Its dark vision
is exceptional even for owls;
if the ruins are cavernous enough
to allow flight, the rusty hawk-owl
can effectively hunt with almost
no ambient light.

It shares many common traits with other owls. Its feathers allow it to
fly silently. Its muscular neck is able to rotate past two-thirds of the
way around. Its ear holes are asymmetrical, making it easier for it to
process prey’s location in three dimensions. However, the rusty hawk-
owl seems to be unique in how it uses its hearing: when in unfamiliar
ground, rusty hawk-owls have been recorded hooting to evaluate the a
ruin’s depth before entering.

Some cultures associate rusty hawk-owls with downfall and collapse.

Seeing a rusty hawk-owl perching upon their their castle’s minarets,
monarch Luka III purportedly collapsed in tears, thinking it a sign of
their reign’s end. Conversely, many spelunkers and treasure-seekers
consider them good luck. The phrase “O alasa sama waso sona loje,”
(literally “hunt like a rusty hawk-owl”) is a traditional saying among
such professions, invoking the raptor’s skill in navigating dangerous
architecture and returning with a favorable bounty.
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Monk Crow
Size (cm) 18
Habitat Woodlands and farmlands, especially around rivers
Voice A sharp “ca;” occasionally an excited “ca-ha-ha”

A larger bird with a black coat that gleams bright blue in the light.
Its beak is both large enough to hold several berries at once, and
gentle enough to carry them back to its bowl-shaped nest unharmed. It
is a gregarious bird, flocking in large groups and preferring to live near
at least a dozen of its own.

Like other members of the Corvidae family, the Monk Crow is highly
intelligent. During mating season, both sexes gather berries and small
fruits beside their nests (often in a second, smaller nest). Then, by jab-
bing and tearing the collection, they mix it all into a juicy mash. Once
the mash is ready, they call for other Monk Crows to come and sample
it, hoping to impress and secure one or more mates.

The results vary wildly depending on their surroundings. Named af-

ter the historic tradition of beer-brewing monks, Monk Crows seem to
prioritize fermented berries. (Several farming communities have sight-
ed Monk Crows drunkenly stumbling and flying into obstacles.)

Occasionally, Monk Crows inadvertently combine ingredients in such

a way that replicates a magical potion. While the effects are typically
weaker or less stable, a fairy tale about Monk Crows tells of one that
accidentally brewed a flawless Potion of Enlightenment. After calling
the rest of its flock over to sample its mash, the entire colony acquired
a blessing of cosmic wisdom. Before they could enjoy looking at the
world through new eyes for long, they realized the effects were fleet-
ing. They toiled to replicate it and preserve it, that they might all retain
their newfound enlightement. As they did so, they plucked the seeds
to plant more. The fairy tale ends by suggesting the colony may exist
today, and to treat birds with respect — lest they end up smarter than
you expect.

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Resonant Cock-of-the-rock
Size (cm) 30
Tropical climates. Migrates to high
Habitat
altitudes during stormy seasons.
Asserts territory with guttural
Voice
cackling and swooping growls.

V ibrant and proud. Primarily identified by its fuschia feathers

and vertical crest. Its crest refracts and amplifies psychic waves.
During mating season, males use their crest to bend light and noise
around their mate to dazzle them. When two males excite each other
(either through courting or disputing territory), their amplified psychic
refractions can induce migranes up to 100 meters away. Both sexes use
their crests to amplify calls of distress.

It nests in tree cavities that it decorates with fallen feathers — mostly

its own. Several cultures indigenous to tropical regions associate the
resonant cock-of-the-rock’s feathers with intelligence, fortune, and/or
clarity of thought. Using them as decorations or charms is common.

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Prismatic Tanager
Size (cm) 23
Habitat Crystal forests and aethereal planes
Voice Errant, melodious chirping

S mall and energetic. Eats berries and insects (mainly fireflies). Mul-
tiple families nest together, living in large hollows and crevices.

In any other habitat, the prismatic tanager would be easy to spot due
to its vibrant, color-shifting feathers. However, its feathers effectively
camouflage it due to the vivid colorscapes it inhabits. It can even adjust
the glossiness of its feathers to better hide among reflective materials.

The prismatic tanager’s color-changing feathers also help them com-

municate. They attract suitors by pairing their song with bright flashes
of color. They aggressively strobe to intimidate attackers (or unwel-
come suitors). And, when roosting, they match colors with their nest-
mates. In fact, the latent color-changing magic in their feathers is du-
rable enough that, for up to a few weeks after falling, feathers can shift
hue to reflect the mood of whoever holds them.

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Gold-bellied Woodpecker
Size (cm) 31
Habitat Damp, thick forests
Voice A brief “ai-ee”

A gile, angular, and easily identified due to its eponymous golden

chest. Females are slightly larger with predominantly off-white
facial feathers, unlike the all-brown facial feathers that males wear.
Juveniles have mottled chest feathers.

Gold-bellied woodpeckers live among a variety of boreal (and adja-

cent) environments. Judging by their distribution, their preferences
are clear: first, dense clusters of tall trees to avoid predators. Second,
damp, aged wood to make boring for prey easy. And third, a thick layer
of mist, likely to provide a degree of cover from predators.

Consequentially, the gold-bellied woodpecker is seen as an uncom-

mon, enigmatic, and occasionally magical bird. Their penchant for
foggy, dense forests renders them invisible to most travellers beyond a
sparkling flash of gold in the mist. Finding one of their feathers is said
to be a sign of wealth and prosperity, purportedly due to the feather’s
role in a rumored alchemical recipe for turning pig iron to gold.

Their most notable and grim association, however, is with the dead.
The exact relation varies from culture to culture; some view the
gold-bellied woodpecker as a psychopomp for deceased youth, guiding
them to the afterlife with the drumming of their beak. Others view it
in a less charitable light: as a harbinger of the undead. On dark days
where fog smothers the forest, the sound of their hammering beaks is
said to echo and twist, resonating with the bones of bodies denied their
funerary rites. As the story goes, they rise out of the ditches and gulleys
they were left in, bones itching with the drumming, and lash out at
anyone they can find in the vain pursuit of relief.

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Jesterbird
Size (cm) 22
Humid forests and woodlands,
Habitat
especially fae domains
Voice An intense, rising squawk

A member of the tyrant flycatcher family, it

springs from the forest’s cover to catch in-
sects in its beak. It uses its colorful
crest to attract mates and intimidate
or baffle predators. Though it
lacks the mockingbird’s memo-
ry, it’s able to learn and replicate
complex sounds and phrases —
notably including simple magical
incantations. The precision and consistency
with which it can recite learned phrases ensures
its spells exhibit only minor deviations.

Due to its ornate coloration and basic spellcasting ability, the jester-
bird is a popular gift to nobility across many societies. However, like
the rest of the flycatcher family, it is not especially friendly. Jesterbirds
are highly social, but only among their own. When kept as pets, they
tend to escape after a week or two. (One notable rumor, later con-
firmed, told of a wizard whose jesterbird used their own polymorph
spell against them, turning the wizard into a butterfly. The bird then
devoured the wizard and escaped.)

The rise in popularity of the jesterbird as a deceptive present has had

several effects. “Jesterbird” has become a popular euphemism, mostly
for gifts, meaning “something that falsely appears valuable.” It is used
primarily among thieves’ guilds and other groups familiar with the
grift. In cities where the grift is most common, escaped jesterbirds can
sometimes be seen flying about the city at night, dazzling the sky with
spells learned from their former owners.

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Green-billed Eider
Size (cm) 63
Habitat Arctic regions and cold coastal areas
Voice A deep, lilting “aw-ooh”

A large, long-bodied bird that lines its nest with its own down.
The females have larger bodies and white undersides, unlike the
brown underbellies males have. They live in colonies ranging from
dozens to thousands of members. The green-billed eider has accumu-
lated a diverse set of cultural associations and folklore, including:

• Some consider migrating green-billed eider messengers of Oe, the

god of rolling clouds. The largest colonies reportedly resemble
clouds billowing through the sky. Those seeking Oe’s favor are told
to keep the coastline clear of threats for thirteen days.
• Some coastal townspeople have nicknamed it the “grandmother
bird” due to its voice, which resembles a cooing elderly woman. A
few have popularized gifting green jewelry to elderly citizens as
tokens of respect, representing to the bird’s distinctive beak.
• In some areas, a children’s game called “eider wife” involves trying
to sneak up to a green-billed eider and giving it a kiss. In other
areas, the game involves presenting various things to an eider in
hopes of producing the happiest “aw-ooh.”
• Some cities in arctic migratory areas pass the long days by playing
music for the nesting colonies. The largest cities have enormous
concerts that draw in crowds of tourists and migrating eider alike.
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Credits
Original avian artists:
Page ii Joseph Wolf
Page 2 Jacques Barraband
Cover, Page 3, 11 Magnus, Wilhelm, and Ferdinand von Wright
Page 5 John James Audubon
Page 6 Charles Dessalines D’ Orbigny
Page 7 John Gerrard Keulemans
Page 9 John Gould

The language Toki Pona (page 3) by Sonja Lang

Layout assistance by Francita Soto: byfrancita.com

Special thanks to Cog The Cat, Dungeon, Morgan Rhyne, and Stacy
Otto for especially generous support.

For more, visit merrymancergames.com

Find other worldbuilders and stay in touch at the Merry Mancer
Games Discord server: discord.gg/KfhWxpe
Support games like this at patreon.com/willuhl

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