Vosaik are vulture-like creatures native to open woodlands, foothills, and mountainous areas, particularly around Ashenya’s Bite. Wild populations are nearly nonexistent. The Empire of Trees uses the species for transporting covert communication, superseding Ekatosh’s Heraldry; a single vosaik will predictably traverse the distance between their nest and most reliable food source, and will perform journeys of thousands of spans without resting.
They don’t thrive in captivity; vosaik can be trained but never tamed. They cannot hunt while shackled, so any amount of food in a rookery is enough to compel them to return, lest they starve. Vosaik are intelligent enough to recognize their captors. They attack frequently and their beaks/claws carry festering toxins. Captive breeding is forced by putting males and females into cages together. Males seldom survive this.
Physically, vosaik are like many bipedal creatures, capable of manipulating their agile fourth toe so they can walk on flat ground or grip tree branches. Their wings are ribbony rather than properly feathered. A vosaik’s body is unbelievably light, yet still not light enough for traditional flight; their bones are made of organic kirēd, more buoyant in humid air.
Little is known about the habits of wild vosaik.
ID: A black-and-white digital illustration of a large vulture-like monster with one foot gripping a bar and the other uplifted, shackled. It has a partially exposed rib cage.