Harpies worldbuilding ideas (from a first person narrator)
Though often seen as divine agents in folklore, by scholars harpies are most commonly thought to have started from unethical experimentation by some prehuman civilization when most species considered civilized now cowered under the rule of mysterious dark forces.
Which often disturbingly leads to debate by humanoid races on "how much rights should they be recognized as having".
As I have stated in my past journals, I fear trying to pin down the definition of "person" to be one that will inevitably lead to evil and believe we should just strive to be honest in our dealings with all life we can communicate with.
Moving on...
Harpies, contrary to their appearance, can be both male or female , but it is the bird part that differs...and as anyone who has tried to determine the sex of birds without clear plumage differences. If you want to know a harpy's gender, ask them.
Harpies , shockingly to those who know them mainly by their nasty reputation, are some of the most unique in their magical quality amongst all life: their ability to easily lay eggs that hatch into completely different species without a dramatic curse being involved.
Harpies often gain beast of burden or surround themselves with guardians by laying eggs fertilized by an elemental spirit invited into the harpy's body. What hatches from this egg will be an animal completely nonharpy in nature but often with fantastic qualities. Several prized mounts of great leaders in history have been claimed to been born from a harpy/elemental coupling.
Harpies rarely consider these results of couplings their children any more than they would an unfertilized egg (which are often preserved by the harpies as emergency foodstores using clay, ash, salt, quicklime and dried plant matter), but can nevertheless be protective of them. There are tales of those abusing a harpy-borne beast gifted to them being tormented by harpies seeking justice.
On the matter of harpy breasts: functional and noticeable mammary glands seem to develop only in the largest and strongest of harpies greatly attuned to wind magic to support their muscles and endowments in flight. These individuals act as wet nurses or warriors to a harpy settlement, or playing both roles at different points of their lives . It can be a great benefit for young harpies to have this nutrition of harpy milk, but unlike true mammals they do not require milk and the bird-practice of regurgitated food of a parent will suffice.
(There are some unconfimed reports of more herbivorous harpy populations feeding their young excrement like some herbivorous mammals but this has not been verified.)
I find harpies fascinating creatures and while I believe we could learn much from each other, we should respect the privacy of those not currently socializing with other species and allow them to make the first contact. if not for moral reasons then only because history has shown them good at getting revenge
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I decided to do a thing building on harpies being reputed to give birth to race horses after mating with wind spirits.