The Aeq'or

While most feathered-folk are associated with birds of the woods, there are shore birds throughout Atlazan.  The aeq’or find shore birds the greater associates.  Sailors and fisherman, the aeq’or are at home wherever the sound of the ocean can be heard and salt spray can be felt.  Bulkier than most feathered-folk the aeq’or are used to hard work and ever-changing weather.  Akin in spirit to the kala’kai, but holding less business ambition, the two races get along quite well.


Of Salt And Sea
The aeq’or are fisherman and divers through-and-through.  Many live and work on boats or the piers they dock at.  Where the kala’kai speak in smooth, business-like tones the aeq’or speak in the rough brogue of the sea.  Slang runs rampant among aeq’or dominant settlements and drink is easy to find.  Their uncouth acts do not fool anyone, however.

The aeq’or are confident and knowledgeable.  When the sea is involved you can trust almost anything from the mouth of one of these feathered-folk.  Certainly if you wish to get somewhere by sea, they are the ones you turn to.  There are, also, no better shipwrights.  The kala’kai often contract their vessels from the aeq’or and it is even rumored that the Temtektaggre Empire has a slave camp of aeq’or to build their ships.


Treasure Hunters 
For some aeq’or the call of the open sea is not enough.  The desire to travel and adventure is overwhelming.  New sights must be seen and new things experienced.  These aeq’or make some of the most loyal friends and allies.  The bond of danger and the unknown is unlike any other, and the aeq’or treasure those who would share this with them even more than they treasure the experience itself.

It is not simply wanderlust that pulls the aeq’or, though.  The thrill of danger and adrenaline of near-death experiences is what they crave.  As a result the feathered-folk of the shore often are thought of as pirates and treasure hunters.  Why?  Because what better risk and thrill than that of searching for an ancient, protected treasure?  It is not greed that they follow old or untrustworthy maps, but what comes with the search for the treasures.  Truly it is the journey and not the destination.


Lighthearted Builders
Living on the shore is a rough life, and unlike the kala’kai, the aeq’or don’t build their homes as ships upon the ocean.  Instead the shore-folk build their businesses and dwellings among the dunes of the beach.  Naturally protected from the everyday wind and water, these settlements are not defended from the strong and, sometimes, sudden storms.  The result is a constant state of reconstruction.

One may think that the rebuilding of homes and loss of personal effects would make the aeq’or a stubborn lot.  This is not quite the case.  The aeq’or so value possessions but not vast amounts of them, and certainly nothing they cannot carry at a moment's notice.  This lends further to the adventuring life, but also to one where a house may be rebuilt any day.  Memories are much more important, and loss does not affect them long.