Crimson eyes that long for blood,
Prowling through the jungle mud,
Harpy suffers, Harpy cries,
Yet another Harpy dies,
But still are Harpies born anew,
To live what they were cursed into.

Fiendish Harpy

Splinter - Draykh-Nahka

Set - Promo

Class - Flying Slasher

Size - These monsters were first produced by an especially incompetant batch of Gloridax scientists in an attempt to create a larger and more meaty chicken for the Brynn feedyards. Compared to the chickens that they were meant to replace, the Harpies are quite large, but the experiment was still declared an abysmal failure by the Gloridax High Council. When standing upright, a Harpy is about half the height of an average human, making their expressive human faces and huge bloodshot eyes a particularly repulsive sight to those they meet in battle. They never would have been useful as a food animal anyway, because much of their bulk is made of feathers, talons and other inedible parts.

Lifespan - Because of the hurried effort with which they were created, Harpies do not have great longevity. The original father and mother Harpies are presumed to have died within two years of their escape (or release) from the Gloridax science facilities. that was more than enough time to set the growth in motion that would ensure the survival of their race for many years to come. Because offspring of these monstrosities have been spotted in every Splinter except for Mortis, it is assumed that the original pair gave birth to no less than hundreds of young. Most of the first generation offspring have also now mated and begun producing litters numbering in the dozens. In a few years, it is possible that the Splinterlands will be overrun with squawking and slashing Harpies.

Habitat - The first Harpies had no home, but once they left the lab from which they came, they settled for a time in the forests that surround the oasis of Centrum in the Dragon Splinter. The tropical DNA used in their creation made them gravitate toward green and moist climates, so today the greatest numbers of them have made homes in the Jungles of ΛZMΛRÉ. Their temperaments are strikingly appropriate for the brutal jungles, where everything must hunt and fight to simply survive. The Harpies are also becoming a bit of a problem in the Eastern Wood of Anumün, where they are able to drink water from the River of Power, which makes them even stronger and deadlier. With the recent lifting of the Wizards’ Veil that hid the vast wilderness of Praetoria, entire flocks of Harpies have been spotted migrating there to stake early claims over the forests and jungles. The first settlers of the Praetorian lands will undoubtedly have to fight with the beasts before they can make comfortable homes.

Weapon - A Harpy’s weapons are few, but powerful. They have no hands, but the massive talons that double as feet are strong enough to rip through a rhino’s hide like a sword through silk. The mighty grip strength of these talons is enough to squeeze a rockshell crab into dust. The majority of Harpy attacks begin with the talons, but they almost always finish the job with their perfectly sharpened teeth. Teeth were never part of the plan in the creation of the Harpies, but serve as a reminder to the Gloridax that their genetic experiments are far from any kind of exact science, and they are even further from predictable. They know instinctively where to attack with these sharp teeth, always emerging from a flurry of shrieking feathers and going straight for an enemy’s throat or some major artery. They love the taste of blood; when it flows freely, the Harpies’ eyes become an even deeper shade of red as they drink.

Diet - They were created as something to be slaughtered and eaten, but the most bold and adventurous hunters in the world would never attempt to hunt a Harpy for its meat. Even the wild Lightning Dragons of Draykh-Nahka know better than to attempt chasing them for food; they are far too dangerous to be prey. Ironically, Harpies have emerged in most places near the top of the food chain. In the wild Jungle of ΛZMΛRÉ, they are known to team up into groups of five to ten and take on animals that are much larger and stronger than themselves, such as gorillas and sasquatch. Another of the negative results of their rushed creation is a very poor ability to heal and regenerate. To get the most from their own limited restorative abilities, Harpies must constantly eat whatever they can find. Animal biologists from Khymeria have estimated that a single Harpy eats its entire weight worth of food in any period of four days.

Allies - Harpies are naturally inclined to trust all creatures with feathers and to distrust all creatures with scales. They are also incredibly intelligent animals, able to learn, speak and cooperate. It has even been argued by some unpopular scientists that they have the ability to love. They have been known to make friends with individuals more than entire races. If somebody goes out of their way to assist a Harpy, every Harpy in the area is quickly informed and that person is thought of from then on as a Harpy friend. Being a friend of the Harpies is much better than not being one, as anyone who lives anywhere near the ΛZMΛRÉ Jungles can tell you.

Enemies - Because they have full understanding of the way they were created, every Harpy will always despise every Dragon in existence. This is why the Gloridax have cruelly designed the Fiendish Harpy card to be summoned from the Dragon Splinter alone. The hatred runs so deep that Harpies gain fury and strength whenever Dragons are around. This explains why Harpies are always so angry when they are summoned to essence combat. In the wild, they can sense their truest enemies from afar. If one of the Gloridax scientists responsible for the atrocity of their creation was ever wandering in the Harpies’ domain for example, every Harpy for miles around would instinctively converge on them until there was nothing left but a bloody pile of torn flesh and scales.

Pastimes - Harpies have created a system of life for themselves within the brutal chaos and suffering inherent in their cruel existence. They live briefly as monsters and die quickly in agony as their bodies basically fall apart, but they seem to make the most they can of this life. Each Harpy finds a mate as early as possible, then creates as many litters as they are able. They stay together as family units until the units are too large to function, at which point a new family unit begins to form in another territory. There have been very few Harpy friends who have been allowed close enough to witness it, but their lives in their home territories are full of caring, nurturing and looking out for one another. Harpies mourn the deaths of their kin and celebrate the birth of new offspring, not unlike the humans of ΛZMΛRÉ or Anumün.