Homebrew Tribe for Wings of Fire: Starwings
drifting high in the upper atmosphere of Pyrrhia and beyond, a Tribe of jet black dragons known as the Starwings. A tribe that splintered off from the Nightwings a long, long time ago, well before the age of the Darkstalker, odd, often mistaken for their Nightwing cousins, trafficking in knowledge and maps. Starwings differ physically from the Nightwings by their overly large wings which allow them to cruise happily at altitudes far above what other dragons would struggle to even reach. Starwings also have longer pointed snouts which allow for greater aerodynamics. The typical Starwing torso is quite narrow, with limbs that are typically quite spindly, though more muscular individuals are not uncommon. Tribe structure: Starwings completely lack any sort of monarchical structure, tending to stick with large familial clans, with the eldest female dragon serving as clan matriarch. young male Starwings, once reaching the age of maturity, tend to split off from their hatching clan in order to find a mate in another clan, typically joining the clan of their mate. Clans tend to number at about 150 individuals, if they get much larger, a chunk of 25 or so Starwings will split off to form their own new clan, likewise, clans that have become quite small can merge together with other smaller clans in order to form a larger, more stable clan. Starwings tend to remain cruising at high altitude for days at a time, only going to the surface to eat and drink briefly before riding the thermals back to higher altitude. the major exception is for the laying of eggs and the hatching and raising of dragonettes. Starwing clans raise their dragonettes in ancient stone keeps that were hollowed out for this purpose. these keeps are intermittently populated, going years or decades without use, only to suddenly be filled with over 100 dragons. A clan will inhabit a keep for 3-4 years until the dragonettes are all hatched and can do high altitude flight. once they are able, the clan departs the keep for the upper stratosphere, leaving empty and uninhabited once again. History: The Starwings became their own separate tribe from the Nightwings thousands of years ago. In the history of the Starwings, there has been only one Animus, that Animus was also the single greatest clan matriarch in their history. The great mother Antares served to carve out and lay claim to many of the rearing keeps used even today by the Starwings. She also created three animus enchanted greathelms for her three daughters. For her daughter Canis, the strongest of will, she crafted a spearhelm with a great blade. one that could project a burning white energy that causes the target to explode violently, this became known as Canis Wrath. For Subaru, the strongest of mind, she crafted a helm with a hollow tube, the tube uses animus magic to forcefully launch bronze darts that seek out the brains of the target, this became known as Subarus Judgement. For Scuti, the strongest of heart, and of body, she crafted a mighty helmblade that makes itself and its wearer utterly indestructible, able to cleave mountains in half when used from a high enough altitude, this helm became known by others as Scutis Guillotine, but was known as The Big Hammer by Scuti herself. This Helm was lost when 4 clans of Starwings were mistaken for Nightwings by Icewings during the war for Prince Arctic. This helm remained in the possession, but unable to be used, of the Icewings until late into the Sandwing war of succession. (for more info, see "Night of a million comets.") Starwing Combat tactics: Starwings utilize long bronze spike on helmets that stick out forward from their snout. they then proceed to drop down onto their targets from tens of thousands of feet above, where even the slightest flex of a talon can adjust their course by hundreds of feet. The idea is to kill their opponent with a single hit, possibly hitting them so hard they explode.
