Raptorans

Raptorans are unique among the common races for their ability to fly. In ancient times, the raptorans made a pact with the lords of the Elemental Plane of Air, gaining the ability to fly in exchange for pledging the finest warriors of their race to the service of the air elementals in various extraplanar battles. During the great war with the gods, the elementals called upon the raptorans for assistance,and afterwards the raptoran people were allowed to keep their flight as a gift for their service, with the caveat that they may be called upon again in the future.

Personality
Raptorans have a reputation for being deep thinkers who always weigh their options carefully. They’re notorious for treating strangers coolly, yet they’re also slow to judge and usually give newcomers ample time to prove themselves worthy of friendship. They are slow to anger but even slower to forgive an insult or injury.

Physical Description
Feathered wings are a raptoran’s singular identifying feature. When fully outstretched, they span 10 to 12 feet, although raptorans (when not flying) are more comfortable with them folded behind their backs. An interlocking series of ligaments allows raptorans to lock their wings in the outstretched position, enabling them to glide for long periods without tiring. The wing feathers are ordinarily white, with black-tipped feathers appearing more often as a raptoran ages. Raptorans tend to be thinner and slightly taller than humans, with most of their extra height in their legs; their arms are likewise somewhat longer. They average just over 6 feet tall and weigh around 150 pounds. Their legs end in bony talons that aren’t particularly sharp but have tremendous gripping strength. Raptoran hands are much like human hands, but each finger ends in a thick, almost clawlike fingernail. The race does not have facial hair, but downy feathers on a raptoran’s scalp can resemble hair when viewed at a distance. Some female raptorans have a row of more substantial feathers running from earlobe to earlobe across the back of the head and neck. Females can fan out this neck ruff to display it; male raptorans consider a well groomed neck ruff to be attractive.

Relations
Strangers who meet raptorans usually receive cordial but wary treatment. To a raptoran, any unfamiliar being is potentially an ally or an enemy, and she keeps her distance until she can be sure of a newcomer’s intentions. Other creatures often consider raptorans to be aloof and somewhat snobbish toward creatures that cannot fly. The truth of the matter is that while raptorans literally look down on land-bound creatures, that situation is more a matter of circumstance than of arrogance. Raptorans instinctively pity creatures that can’t soar on the winds, but they’re introspective enough to realize that not everyone shares the desire to fly.

Alignment
Raptorans love their freedom and tend strongly toward chaotic alignments. Their tribal structure and small communities reflect their individualism. Raptorans also favor good over evil. They dislike excess and never seek to dominate others or own more than they need. They stand ready to give a helping hand to others in need, as long as such help doesn’t entangle them in the affairs of far-off lands.

Raptoran Lands
A typical raptoran community lives either in spiraling towers built in a hollow or depression halfway up a canyon cliff, or in large communal dwellings excavated into the side of a cliff. Cliffs with overhangs and southern exposures are particularly comfortable for raptorans. If a canyon has a prevailing breeze that blows through it, raptorans regard that location as a particularly auspicious place to live. As such, many live in the sides of islands, and in ancient tower ruins.

Religion
The goddess Tuilviel Glithien, the Queen of Air and Night, is the raptorans’ primary deity. The raptorans call her Lady of the Silent Wings or simply The Lady. Tuilviel cherishes and protects all nocturnal birds. She is the patron of the hunt and of the family.

Language
Raptorans speak a fluid and lyrical tongue they call Tuilvilanuue. Ultimately derived from Elven but quite distinct in its development, Tuilvilanuue has many long, tongue-twisting words but simple grammar, relying on inflection to convey much of its meaning. Written Tuilvilanuue uses a simple form of the Elven script.

Names
A raptoran child receives a birth name from her parents, which serves to identify the child as she grows up. Sometime after the child reaches adolescence she acquires a nickname—occasionally from a flock elder but often a sobriquet that just seems to stick. As a matter of practice, only members of a raptoran’s flock may refer to her by her nickname, and even then they only do so when no strangers are present. Close friends and family members often continue to use a raptoran’s birth name as a mark of affection. A raptoran may reveal her flock nickname to someone outside the flock if she wishes, but no one else may do so. Sharing one’s flock nickname with an outsider is a mark of deep respect, trust, or affection. When a raptoran gains the ability to fly under her own power, she chooses an adult name for herself. In addition, a raptoran has a family name, which is often a compound of several descriptive Tuilvilanuue words.

Adventurers
As a rite of passage, when a Raptoran becomes an adult, they "leave the nest" until they gain the ability to fly, at which point they often return home. During this time, they find nothing better to do than explore the world around them.

Raptoran Racial Traits

 * Raptoran base land speed is 30 feet.
 * Medium: As Medium creatures, raptorans have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
 * Wing-Aided Movement: Raptorans can use their wings to help with movement even if they can’t fly yet. The extra lift from her wings gives a raptoran a +10 racial bonus on Jump checks.
 * Gliding (Ex): A raptoran can use her wings to glide, negating damage from a fall of any height and allowing 20 feet of forward travel for every 5 feet of descent. Raptorans glide at a speed of 40 feet (average maneuverability). Even if a raptoran’s maneuverability improves, she can’t hover while gliding. A raptoran can’t glide while carrying a medium or heavy load. If a raptoran becomes unconscious or helpless while in midair, her wings naturally unfurl and powerful ligaments stiffen the wings. The raptoran descends in a tight corkscrew and takes only 1d6 points of falling damage, no matter what the actual distance of the fall.
 * Flight (Ex): When a raptoran reaches 5 Hit Dice, she becomes able to fly at a speed of 40 feet (average maneuverability). A raptoran can’t fly while carrying a medium or heavy load or while fatigued or exhausted. Raptorans can safely fly for a number of rounds equal to their Constitution modifier (minimum 1 round). They can exert themselves to fly for up to twice as long, but then they’re fatigued at the end of the flight. Raptorans are likewise fatigued after spending a total of more than 10 minutes per day flying. Because raptorans can glide before, after, and between rounds of actual flight, they can remain aloft for extended periods (even if they can only use flight for 1 round at a time without becoming fatigued). When they reach 10 Hit Dice, raptorans have enough stamina and prowess to fly for longer periods. They can fly at a speed of 40 feet (average maneuverability), and flying requires no more exertion than walking or running. A raptoran with flight can make a dive attack. A dive attack works like a charge, but the raptoran must move a minimum of 30 feet and descend at least 10 feet. A raptoran can make a dive attack only when wielding a piercing weapon; if the attack hits, it deals double damage. A raptoran with flight can use the run action while flying, provided she flies in a straight line.
 * Pact with Wind Lords: Because of the ancient bargain raptorans made with powerful air elementals, raptoran spellcasters cast spells with the air descriptor at +1 caster level.
 * Unerring Direction: Raptorans have an instinctive sense of which direction is north, even when they are underground or otherwise unable to see the sky or other visual cues. Beyond the Material Plane, this ability doesn’t function.
 * Low-Light Vision: A raptoran can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. A raptoran retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
 * Weapon Familiarity: Raptorans treat the footbow as a martial weapon rather than as an exotic weapon.
 * +2 racial bonus on Climb and Spot checks. Raptorans have strong grips with both hands and feet, and their eyes are unusually keen.
 * Automatic Languages: Common and Tuilvilanuue.
 * Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan.
 * Favored Class: Cleric. A multiclass raptoran’s cleric class does not count when determining whether she takes an experience point penalty.

Notable Raptorans

 * General Vyliin - Led the raptoran army in the Cataclysmic God War