General Info: Arathlial are air spirits, taking the form of massive eagles. The largest Arathlial have wingspans of easily twenty-five feet. You know the eagles from Lord of the Rings? That massive.
They differ only from the form of eagles in the fact that they have great plumes of feathers that rise right from their head, equaling five in total at adulthood. While Arathlial are incredibly intelligent, they are not able to speak Common, nor any other language because of their beaks. As elemental spirits, however, they are able to use mindspeak as well or better than most Shinies, using moving images, full sentences, and even better grammar than some humans!
Each Arathli is born with two very special abilities. The most widespread of the two is wind manipulation, an ability that all Arathlial possess. The second ability that the Arathlial possess is that of 'Twistering,' or moving to another place rapidly by manipulation of mind and body. The Arathli attempting to do this will meld its own particles and those of anything touching it with the particles of the very air, and rapidly move to wherever they wish. The ability is most often practiced within the higher and more skilled ranks, but all Arathlial are born knowing how to Twister. Twistering without confident knowledge, however, may get one and one's bonded melded with the air forever, or at least until a competent Arathli corrects the mistake, but only at their own discretion.
Mating Info: The way of mating is simple. Females will lead their males in a chase through the skies, randomly turning around, changing air currents, whatever hits her fancy. Oftentimes she will determine who is wothy of pairing with out of those who can find her. Sometimes they will also call for physical fights and may or may not choose the victor. Shiny gifts are always appreciated ^^
Bonding Info: Clutches will be laid on high cliffs, far, far above the ground, as high as the mother can manage. Both mother and father are at the hatching, and one is always watching the nest. Once the klaxxon has been rung, the father will fly down to the ground beneath the cliff to await candidates. Candidates who wish to bond with the parents' grace offer the father gifts, and if he finds them acceptable, he will take up to three at a time up to the cliff where the eggs are hatching. Upon landing, the father will return the gifts to whom he had received them from, to let the hatchlings decide upon them. You do not have to offer the father anything and scale the cliff or ride some creature up, but without the parents' grace, the trespasser is in danger.
Once upon the cliff, the candidates are to stand in a loose circle around the eggs and lay their gifts before them. However, the Arathlial hatchlings usually do not even take a look at the gifts when they first hatch. Their first instinct is to fly, and fly they will, right off of the cliff. Most will be able to fly, but others, who may not be able to, well...
The hatchlings will rise back up, usually to land upon the cliff to mingle with the candidates and seek a bond. Candidates who feel unnaturally bold and brazen, worried, or are sure that they have the parents' grace, may try to stop one of the Arathli before it dives. The hatchling may do anything after that.
After all of the hatchlings have bonded, the mother will escort the unbonded candidates back to the ground. The hatchlings may fly to the ground as their father carries their bonded down, as their wing muscles are not developed enough to bear more than their own weight. It takes between six months to a year for hatchlings to reach full size from that of a mule.
Colors
North
The queens of the Arathlial are are the largest of all the Arathlial, only the largest Lords rivaling her wingspan. Her colors range from deep royal purple to a soft indigo, and in a rare while, an ice blue. They are very bold and inquisitive Arathlial, and watch out for everyone they know, especially their bonded and their clutchmates. Clutches range from 14-20. They rise maybe twice a year.
4 PSP
West
Wests are the quieter of the two Lords, very observant and intelligent even though they usually hide it well. It is very strange for Wests to be flashy and like attention. They range from deep reds to sometimes dark oranges...Just like the sunset.
2 PSP
East