Aarakocra

An aarakocra stands about 5 feet tall with a 20-foot wingspan. Midway along each wing is a hand of three fingers and a thumb; a long fourth finger braces the wing and locks for flight. The wing-hands cannot grip in the air but work almost like human hands once the wings fold. The talons on its legs fold back to reveal a second pair of hands. A bony breastplate anchors the flight muscles and adds some protection, but the rest of the skeleton is hollow and brittle.

The face mixes parrot and eagle, with a gray-black beak and forward-set black eyes that judge distance superbly. Males are usually red, orange and yellow, females brown and gray, though colors vary by tribe. They speak their own tongue and that of giant eagles; 10% also know common.

Aloft, an aarakocra uses its talons or heavy fletched javelins gripped in its lower hands. It carries about six in chest sheaths, each dealing 2d4 thrown or stabbing, and it suffers none of the usual penalties for aerial missile fire. The last javelin is always kept for stabbing.

Its favorite trick is a screaming dive from at least 200 feet with a javelin in each fist, pulling up at the last instant to strike at +4 for double damage. Its fragile bones make it shun grappling and ground fights; cornered, it bites for 1-3.

A tribe of 11-30 (1d20+10) shares one nest of woven vines lined with dry grass and claims about 10,000 square miles of hunting ground, its edges marked with bright pennants. The eldest male leads. A tribe larger than 20 also has a shaman, the next oldest male, who leads whistled hymns at sunset when each new month begins. Males hunt and collect gems and other shiny things. Females brood eggs eight months a year, crafting javelins and stone tools meanwhile; lying on their backs, they weave with all four hands at once.

A band of five, one of them the shaman, can call up an air elemental by chanting and dancing in the sky for three rounds. It will grant a favor but will not risk its life for them. Aarakocra are fiercely claustrophobic and never go into caves, buildings or other closed spaces by choice.

They shun other races, even neighboring tribes, and leave home only in extremity. Farmers may lose a stray animal to one, not from malice but because aarakocra cannot tell livestock from wild game. A traveler might hire one as guide or scout for a bright coin or gem.