Homebrew DIRDS Species Details

Only just discovered a few decades ago, Dirds are large bird-like creatures with large, thick furred feet/talons, and the head of a dog. This creatures are known for their strange and bizarre appearance as well as their level of intelligence.

They are quiet, peaceful, isolated homebodies that, oddly enough, love to explore the vast Forgotten Realms. Their Homes quickly growing and their culture widely expanding in a world both strange and alien.

Barks and Feathers

From below, Dirds look much like large birds. Only when they descend to roost on a branch or walk across the ground does their unusual appearance reveal itself. Standing upright, Dirds might reach from four and a half feet to over 5 feet tall, and they have husky, thick-coated legs that taper to sharp talons.

Feathers cover their bodies from the neck down. Their plumage typically denotes membership in a tribe(with a tribe or group of Dirds being known as a Plumage). Males are boldly colored, with feathers of hundreds of natural shades of colors and patterns. Females have more subdued, majestic colors; but still having a similar color palette to their males. Their heads complete their Dirdan appearance, being the appearance of just about any known dog breed, with distinct tribal variations.

Spruce & Pine Wardens

Nowhere are Dirds more comfortable than in their thick, cozey woodlands. They can spend hours in the tree tops or in their borrows, and some even tend to live on ground level for many months on end. In battle, they prove dynamic and acrobatic fliers, moving with remarkable speed and grace, diving to lash and snap their K9's at their opponents with their mighty jaws or talons before turning and flying away.

Once airborne, Dirds leave the sky with reluctance. On their native plane, they can fly for hours or days, landing only to birth and feed their young before launching themselves back into the air after they've grown up. Those that make it to a world in the Material Plane find it a strange place. All except these feathered canine Avians.

Avian Canine Mannerisms

The resemblance of Dirds to birds isn’t limited to physical features. Dirds display many of the same mannerisms as ordinary birds. They are fastidious about their plumage, frequently tending their feathers, cleaning and scratching away any tiny passengers they might have picked up(Yes, Dirds get ticks and flees). When they deign to descend from the sky, they often do so near pools where they can catch small wildlife prey, and bathe themselves.

Many Dirds punctuate their speech with rough, canine italics, sounding as such they use to convey emphasis and to shade meaning, much as a human might through facial expressions and gestures. Dirds might become frustrated with people who fail to pick up on the nuances; a Dird's threat might be taken as a jest and vice versa.

They find it hard not to pluck a stranger's treasures and bring it back to their settlement to culturize it. A Dird who spends years among other races can learn to inhibit these impulses. But it is surely not common seeing these avian canine amongst outside races for long periods of time.

Confinement terrifies the Dirdans. To be grounded, trapped underground, or imprisoned by the cold, unyielding earth is a torment few Dirds can withstand. Even when perched on a high branch or at rest in their tree-rooted homes, they appear alert, with eyes moving and bodies ready to take flight.

Homelands

Most Dirds can be found making home in the wild woodlands of the large island; Chult, just beside the Shinning Sea. They commonly make large, human sized borrows;canopies of moss and vines hanging over the entrance(s) of their cozy home.

Once Plumages of Dirds settle in an area, they share a hunting territory that extends across an area up to 165 miles on a side, with each tribe hunting in the lands nearest to their plumage, ranging farther should game become scarce.

A typical plumage borrow consists of one large, open-roofed nest made of woven vines. The eldest and largest Dirds acts as leader with the support of a shaman. 

DIRDS IN THE FORGOTTEN REALMS

Never well established in Faerûn, Dirds have only four major colonies: on the Moonsae Isles, within the forests of Chult, the woods of Velen on the mainland coast, and in the woodlands between the forest of Muranndin and Small Teeth Mounts.

The largest Plumage; established on the Island of Chult, closest to the Samarach valley, were ever a secretive and guarded community of Dirdan folk, only spotted during their flights over the ports of the island, and the small towns within the body of land. Hunters Of The Chult was an island hunting guild set out to hunt down as many Dirds as they could store. They would toss and launch Bolas at any they found, trapping them, and slautering them for their beautiful feathers, pelt, and hide. Very many survived the guild's purging of their kind, but they still survived. These Dirds and their descendants have sworn vengeance against the members and descendents of the guild and may be seen scouring the coast of Chult, Velen, and Moonsae Isles for signs of their foes.

Unknown and Strong

Dirds enjoy peace and solitude. Most of them have little interest in dealing with other peoples and less interest in spending time on the grounds that other races sway. For this reason, it takes an exceptional circumstance for an Dirdan to leave his or her tribe and undertake the adventurer’s life. Neither treasure nor glory is enough to lure them from their plumage; a dire threat to their people, a mission of vengeance, or a catastrophe typically lies at the heart of the Dirdan adventurer’s chosen path.

Dirdan Names

As with much of their speech, Dird names include barks, groots, as well as soft, slurred vowels thattmake their names that widely define them in many ways, and sound beautiful when pronouncing them. Typically, a name has two to three syllables with the sounds acting as connectors. When interacting with other races, Dirds may use nicknames gained from people they meet or shortened forms of their full names.

A Dird of either gender may have one of these short names: Zen, Zed, Qiang, Azusa, Buzby, Zelda, Wisdom, Flute, Zhentou, Socretes, Fenemaso, Merlin, or Hekaet

DIRD BACKGROUNDS

Backgrounds that are most appropriate for Dirds include the outlander, the sage, and the far traveler.

The small tribes of Dirds are insular and remote, and few Dirds live away from their Plumages. In the Chult Forest of the Forgotten Realms, no more than a few dozen hundred Dirdan folk live away from the borrows of their families. Those that do are usually scouts, hunters, or battlers, constantly patrolling for outside threats.

DIRDS Traits

As a Dird, you have certain traits in common with your people. Being able to fly at high speed starting at 1st level is exceptionally effective in certain circumstances and exceedingly dangerous in others. As a result, playing an Dird requires consideration by your DM.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Age

Dirds reach maturity by age 4. Compared to humans, Dirds don’t usually live longer than 75 years.

Alignment

Most Dirds are good and rarely choose sides when it comes to order or chaos. Tribal leaders and battlers might be lawful, while explorers and adventurers might tend toward chaotic.

Size

Dirds are about 4 1/2, to 5 1/2 feet tall. They have broad, strong, lightweight bodies that weigh between 95 and 145 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Flight

You have a flying speed of 55 feet. To use this speed, you can’t be wearing medium or heavy armor.

Talons

You are proficient with your unarmed strikes, which deal 1d4 slashing damage on a hit.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common, Aarakocra, and Auran.