These creatures take the forms of massive birds crackling with elemental power, and have never been seen within known Cahyali. Strygarii are colloquially referred to by their elemental natures; for example, a Strygarus attuned to lightning is more commonly called a thunderbird, and one attuned to fire is a firebird or phoenix. These can be misnomers, however, as Strygarii are not to be confused with avian elementals of similar appearances. They are far larger, and, if the legends are to be believed, far more destructive.

For the longest time not much was known about these Great Beasts, other than what came from dwarvish and human legends which speak of a great war known as the Stormwing Calamity. This war, fought between Strygarii and dragons in a time before mortal civilization really existed, left long scars on the world and drove dwarves and humans to migrate to the Cahyali known today.

However, recent research into Tzeporem culture, the native avian races of Cahyali, has allowed scholars to piece together more of these beasts history. These legends speak of these greats winged beasts who were shaped by primordial elemental energy long ago before civilization was even a thought. Over time descendants of these creatures came about, elemental birds such as the thunderbird and the phoenix.

The story then follows that over time the Strygarii simply couldn't maintain their existence on Cahyali, though the exact reason why is unknown, what is known is that they all disappeared. Millenia passed, and the dragosn came to rule the planet. This is where a proper legend begins.

The story goes that the birds of the Grand Murmuration were running out of food in the islands they had made their home, so they flew north to find more food. Here they came across these beings called the Kirin, horse-like creatures who could walk on air and brought rain to farms. The elemental birds, hungry and weary hunted the Kirin to extinction unaware of the curse this would bring upon them. This curse caused the bodies of the Grand Murmuration to swell and change becomes gigantic beasts with a grand hunger. This was the reemergence of the Strygarii.

Driven wild by hunger these beasts tore up the land, driving countless from their homes. As they tried to sate their need for food, one had they idea to consume a dragon, believing that it could soothe them. This was what would come to be known as The Stormwing Calamity.

The war eventually ended and the Strygarii rested in the new dominion, their hunger sated. From here the accounts of the story tend to differ from culture to culture but the basic premise is that some Strygarri, fearing another war fled to other planes, some to the Elemental Planes and some to the Kurago, and some stayed in Cahyali, beyond the borders of Esrior's Fold.

Though they have never been seen, the Tzeporem legends describe a type of Strygarii related to each of the birds in the Grand Murmuration. It is unknown whether more exist, but at minimum at one point these 9 did. To avoid confusion the following section will refer to the Strygarii in the format of [Nature of their magic] Strygarii: [Elemental counterpart].

[WIP]

The Walking Sun