The Efos are Avion People, they have the same general stature as a human but they are covered in feathers, they have the head of a bird of prey and their arms are wings with hands. Their home cities are typically built atop and spanning across multiple mesas and buttes at the time, hindering any unwelcome visitors from getting to them, or if somehow an unwelcome visitor got in their mobility would be severely limited.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Efos are humanoids with the head of an eagle, arms like wings with hands at the end, and talons for feet.

Genetics and Reproduction

They hatch from eggs the size of a typical human baby without their feathers and grow from there developing different plumage as they get older.

Ecology and Habitats

The Efos typically build their cities atop and spanning across several mesas and buttes. They look for places that have several mesas and buttes relatively close together so that they can place buildings on the various pillars. They can easily travel between the different pillars since flying is their main form of travel and this helps keep their cities safe from invaders as there are typically very few ways to get to the tops of the cities if you aren’t able to fly.

The Efos also sometimes coat the ground at the very base of the mesas and buttes with dark materials to attract the heat of the sun and cause updrafts along the edges of the high-rise platforms. This makes flying between the structures even easier.

When looking to establish a city they also keep an eye out for large lakes and rivers in the area as their preferred source of food is fish.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The Efos are omnivores the main source of their diet is fish, however, they also eat berries, nuts, and other meats. Their powerful beaks are able to crack hard shells and tear through the meat but they don’t do well with foods that would require a lot of chewing.

Behavior

For those Efos who take up a life of combat, they tend to stick to more ranged combat whether that be through the use of thrown weapons or magical spells. Their ability to fly is so crucial to their way of life that they typically don’t want to engage in close-quarters battle risking the loss of a wing. As well since they are one of the few sentient species of MagusTerra who can fly it gives them a distinct advantage in combat to be at a distance from their opponents. Furthermore, the Efos spellcasters have developed a specific kind of spell casting called Cyclone Casting that incorporates the natural cadence of flapping wings into the spell casting resulting in very frequent but generally less powerful charged attacks. This allows the Efos to stay in flight while fighting. The non-spellcasters have developed a similar form of fighting where they tend to avoid using bows and opt for items such as throwing weapons that they can dispense quickly while flapping their wings to stay aloft.

Civilization and Culture

Common Dress Code

The Efos wear clothing like any other humanoid, the only slight changes are that they often wear foot wraps that protect the inside of their taloned feet but don’t affect their dexterity. As well they almost exclusively wear sleeveless shirts to enable them to use their wings.

Along with their normal clothes they often wear tightly strapped backpacks that don’t interfere with their flying and stay in place to prevent extra strain when they change direction in flight. This allows them to securely carry a few goods when they travel.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

The Efos have a long-standing tradition of tribal dances where they all gather together some chanting while others dance. The dancers typically form a circle around a fire or some centerpiece and hop, spin, and burst into the air floating down on their wings circling ‘round as they go. Surrounding them are the chanters and singers, the chanters keep the tempo with deep encompassing chants and the singers tell a tacit story with their melody. When the Efos sing they modulate their voices with various coos and whistles such that they sound like a choir of woodwind instruments.

Inter-species Relations and Assumptions

The Efos typically get along fairly well with other species, though they are protective of their cities and rarely let outsiders in. However, there are a few outsiders who have shown their respect to the Efos people and displayed they understand the Efos way of life and have been granted access to the Efos cities. On these rare occasions, the outsiders are given enchanted gliders made by the Efos people. The gliders allow them to sore high into the air to get into the Efos cities, and at that point, the outsider is trained by the Efos people on how to spot the updrafts and use them to navigate the city effectively.

Merfolk

Despite the Efos generally getting along fine with most species they do have a general distaste for the MerFolk