Talak and Allora are a pair of Storm Fenra. Talak, on the left, is the leader of the current flight, and Allora acts as his partner. Coming in to their positions while still young, they've taken their responsibility very seriously making their outer demeanors some what cold and overly professional. While Talak has some reservations about his age in regards to his position, Allora goes above and beyond to ensure their flight keeps in line, often seeming too strict for her own good.
Like many other areas in the world of Etris, the region in which the storm fenra live is highly volatile. An ancient, mountainous forest with massive, towering evergreens, the region's terrain is already difficult enough to navigate, but that isn't what makes it so dangerous. The sky above the forest is in near-constant turmoil, churning and swirling with thick, black storm clouds. Unchecked, these storm clouds produce immense lightning storms and cause the area to be uninhabitable.
The storm fenra have made the region their home through careful management of the electricity that builds up in the air around their roosts. The storm fenra call this management Peren. Peren is a ritual that all soulmate pairs of storm fenra must participate in in order to discharge excess energy from the clouds and prevent unexpected lightning strikes that could start fires or kill unlucky fenra. The ritual itself is both a necessary activity and a rite of passage for storm fenra wanting to be accepted as adults. It can also be used as a lethal weapon against an enemy.
Peren requires a male and a female storm fenra to carry out, and each plays an important role during the endeavor. It begins with the female storm fenra circling inside the turbulent storm clouds to funnel electrons into a chosen location. Once a strong enough charge has been built up in the clouds, the male storm fenra will dive through the pooled energy his mate has created and ionize the air as he goes. The channel of ionized air he trails behind him creates a path for a bolt of lightning to jump from the clouds to a chosen target below. Male storm fenra can detect the moment that their mate's built up electric reservoir jumps from the clouds into their streamer, and must blink out of the way to avoid being struck by the lightning they create.
Storm fenra are fairly well-insulated against electricity by their specialized fur and feathers. This insulation allows them to build up a charge in their bodies that can be utilized at will, and also provides them some protection from the the electrical attacks of other storm fenra. Their insulation will not protect them from a full-powered lightning, strike, though. Failing the Peren ritual is a common cause of death for young storm fenra.
Storm fenra travel in groups, called flights, of around twenty-five members and follow the lead of a soulmated pair that has proven to be the strongest and most intelligent. There is a definite hierarchy within every storm fenra flight, and each pair knows their place in the order. Storm fenra are very traditional, and very few individuals seek to break out of the mold of this strict, ordered society. Those that do are banished, if not slain.
Storm fenra females are generally smaller and weaker than males, but are capable of storing a much larger electrical charge. They can transfer their stored charge to their male partners, and they also have the ability to discharge it entirely in one powerful blast of electricity in every direction. The second option is mostly used defensively. Females are also the only sex capable of building an electric charge in the clouds for the Peren ritual. Though females in general take on a secondary role in storm fenra society, providing support and tending to the young, the alpha female is a notable exception.
Male storm fenra are larger and more physically powerful than females. Males have the ability to teleport short distances (about 25 feet or less) if they have a strong enough electric charge in their bodies. They cannot teleport through or into solid objects, but readily displace gases or liquids when teleporting. Males can either discharge their stored charge all at once in every direction (a much weaker version than the females'), or they can concentrate it into aimed electric strikes.
The alpha female is the single most important member of a storm fenra flight. She is the symbol of their strength, and her constant support is vital to the alpha male's leadership. An alpha male will not remain in his position for very long without a strong female partner. Because of her importance and high esteem, the alpha female is expected to remain chaste. It would be a grave insult to the alpha female herself, and to her flight, if she was ever to become pregnant. Being pregnant makes a storm fenra female vulnerable and weak. This is not a state that an alpha female can ever afford to find herself in. It is possible for an alpha female to be a virgin for her entire life if she keeps her position and has not mated before attaining it.
The importance of the alpha female's position to a flight makes it an incredibly taxing position, but also potentially a very dangerous position. When a fight breaks out between two flights of storm fenra, it is the alpha female of the defeated group that suffers the most. Defeated flights are often assimilated into the stronger flight, and those that are not assimilated are slain or scattered. Victorious flights will always capture the opposing flight's alpha female alive if they are able. Captured alpha females are used to crush the morale of enemy storm fenra. The practice is also a symbol of the destruction of the defeated flight of storm fenra. An alpha female who is taken from her pack is almost certain to be violated by her captors, and then be forced to produce offspring for them. This is the ultimate insult one flight can inflict upon another, and the ultimate dishonor a dissenting member or group of members of a flight can inflict upon an unpopular alpha male.
The alpha male of a flight of storm fenra is top dog. He is the strongest and most intelligent male in the group, and all others in the flight follow his orders without question. While lower males do mate with their partners, it is a special duty of the alpha male to do his part to create strong offspring for his flight. While any female in the flight is fair game for his attentions except for his own partner, he will usually have a small group of two or three hand-picked females available to breed with. Often, one or more of these will be former alphas of enemy flights if his own flight is a particularly powerful and violent. Despite this, violent confrontations between flights tend to be rare for reasons other than disputes over territory, and they also tend not to become more serious than skirmishes or shows of strength
Alpha males must defend their position against any who seek to take their place. These fights are very violent, and it is not uncommon for them to end in death if neither combatant will concede to the other. Because of the risks involved, challenges for alpha status are fairly rare unless the current alpha has shown exceptional weakness. A male's partner must support him during a fight for alpha status by transmitting her stored charge to him for use during the fight, but she may not actively participate in the battle.
Because a female's ability to hold a charge is much more advanced than a male's, a pair of storm fenra must know each other inside and out. If the female transmits more charge than the male can retain, then the extra will be dispersed and wasted. If the male uses his powers too aggressively and drains his partner, then both will be more vulnerable. If timing is off for either fenra during a Peren, both risk death. Only the best pairs make it to the top.
I really love the character design on these. :) I mean, the fenra are all cute, but these are gorgeous. It must be the feathers. I'm a sucker for feathered things. ^^
I really love the character design on these. :) I mean, the fenra are all cute, but these are gorgeo
