Plume Harpies (Comments and Criticisms welcome)

Something I had in mind. Feel free to share some fixes and improvements :3

-Plume Harpies-


Plume Harpies are a unique race of human-sized harpies that live in the northernmost regions of the Great Rocky Fields. For the majority of their life, they are incredibly plain and simple. Their feathers are gray, black, and brown,and they behave usually as harpies do. However, after they sexually mature, in intervals throughout their lives, their appearance starts to drastically change for an amount of time. Their dull feathers are replaced with larger, shinier, more colorful ones. Their wings appear larger, their tail feathers become much larger and more ornate, and their scalps are donned by a colorful feathery crest. For a month, they spend this special time looking for a mate (usually human), who would obviously prefer the visually astonishing appearance rather than the gray, dull one. If multiple females in a group don their mating plumage at the same time (common amongst siblings), they usually compete over who may get a potential mate. It's almost always once every year, but it varies from individual to individual. Some have been known to only change once every four years, while there have been reports of harpies donning this guise almost every other month! It usually takes a week or two for their plumage to replace itself, and it's almost always for a month that they are pretty.
Like most harpies, they are fairly voracious. They typically feed on small animals and tinies, but will often pick berries and fruits from trees with their talons and even gulp down small swarming insects that end up in their path. Due to their size, however, they are on the menu of larger predators, especially giant harpies, who would eat them just as a hawk would eat a sparrow. During their pretty month, they are considered easy targets, due to their bright appearance and drag-inducing plumes, so they always fly low and flank themselves with allies for protection.
They maintain their slang in this form, but it may be a chance to hear the worst insults spoken in the sweetest voice.

Concept doodle

Huh, an interesting concept! Especially the color changing!
And the human mates, that'd be......interesting...
I'd make a "I'd hit that" joke, but I'd be in the wrong section of the forum, huh.

Well, harpies are all female and go for mates of other races, and they're human-sized, so...

True enough.
Still, I'd be interesting.....

Quite a mixup from the norm. I like them.

Pendragon wrote:

Quite a mixup from the norm. I like them.

I second this

I like them as well. The pic helps a lot to get an idea of what they're like.

Something different indeed. I think they could use a little more depth to their physical differences though besides 'to attract a mate' because human males are likely to have sex with them regardless. I imagine that during the mating season, competition among the group would be a main focus, so they'd be using those grand and beautiful feathers to stand out more from their group than for being simply more noticeable by themselves?

Let's say that if they plumed normally once a year (or at least not as often as just a few months between) they could have the option of invoking the change by will, to beat the others at getting a potential mate while they still look dreary. That choice would be a gamble however, since they might not be able to do it more than once a year. She finds that later, she's the only one that doesn't change... while all the others do. : P Therefore there would be a few getting made fun of later and left out, while other patient ones would be better off (for mating)- or should they face unwanted predatory attention, their chances of survival would be switched around in favor of the less noticeable ones with better maneuverability. A balance that requires tact.

The dangerous social battleground of Felarya.

Gods help us if two end up with the same plumage...

It'd be the bloddiest cat (Errrrr, BIRD) fight of all time!

here is a question, do their personality's become more "pleasant" when heat? or still the same abrasive harpy personality?

asaenvolk wrote:

here is a question, do their personality's become more "pleasant" when heat? or still the same abrasive harpy personality?

It might become relatively less abrasive, although they'd probably still use their "slang."

Also, is this a mate for life kind of thing, or one of those one night stands?

DarkPuppet-guy wrote:

Also, is this a mate for life kind of thing, or one of those one night stands?

For harpies, it usually depends on how you perform. I had a discussion in the chat covering this kinda thing, harpies are like Amazons, they take males and mate with them and probably use them as barter too.
The only limit to how many males a harpy would have is how many they could keep at once, I would think.
It's probably best to get Karbo's verdict on it though.

when you have an all female population, a generally un-organized civilization, and have to fiercely compete for males you can't have a male harem unless you are some how supper effective.

As for Amazons, were reasonably sure that they actively existed, but really details about their actual civilization is very little to next to non existent. Much of what people "know" about them are from 3rd party souses of information and next to nothing about them selves from them selves.

I'll fix it up later when I can think of what to say o__o

asaenvolk wrote:

here is a question, do their personality's become more "pleasant" when heat? or still the same abrasive harpy personality?

I originally planned that, but it dawned on me that harpy-slang is more cultural than behavior (correct me if I'm wrong), although their tone may become sweeter, they'll still use the insults.

asaenvolk wrote:

unless you are some how super effective.

I'd have to say that harpies are pretty effective.

Made a couple changes, might have another go at it later.