Anazazi

Physical Appearance And Structure

Anazazi are tall, thin humanoids. Long-feathered wings grow from either side of their bodies, attached at arms, torsos and legs, allowing them to fly at great heights under certain conditions(see Winged Flight, below).

Anazazi have almost humanoid facial features, with aqualine noses and high forheads. Their heads are surrounded by a crest of feathers ranging in color from white to dark brown, while their skins range from deep red to dusky brown.

They are omnivorous.

Anazazi hands and feet are double-jointed, with the inside toe of each foot opposable, like a thumb, allowing them to grip things with their feet.

Senses

Anazazi eyes are set further apart than Human eyes, giving them excellent peripheral vision. Because they evolved on a world with an atmosphere thinner than Earth's, their eyes are adapted to seeing in dim light(though not in complete darkness) and must wear dark glasses when in areas where the light levels are more Earth-normal. Anazazi without dark glasses in Earth-normal light are blinded and suffer a -15 penalty to their DEX/RS.

Anazazi hearing is keen in thin atmospheres and even sharper on worlds with higher atmospheric pressure, same as with their sense of smell.

Speech

Anazazi speak nearly all Human language and Neveleim fluently, with their own language bearing a surprising similarity to most Human languages.

Society And Customs

The most basic family unit is the clan, an extended family consisting of several generations of Anazazi. Clans are matrilineal, tracing their descent from the females of their clan, and the traditional ruling body of their society, prior to the War of Purification, has been a council of clans, headed by a popularly-elected leader referred to as the Sayer Of the Law; they now have a shared council with the Neveleim, who employ a similar clan structure to the Anazazi.

Their avian evolution colors their entire society.

Anazazi cities are built into the sides of mountains, with no streets, and landings and entrances at the tops of their buildings. In the place of traditional ground vehicles, Anazazi built flying machines, the skies of their cities filled with modern aircraft, aerodynes, ornithopers and winged beasts of burden.

They are unfamiliar with the concept of sailing on the water, seeing bodies of water only as pastures for their food animals.

Anazazi prefer to fight in the air, favoring plasma swords with double handguards-called nofohaz koru-wielded in pairs during hand-to-hand combat.

Typical Anazazi clothing are close-fitting breeches and tunics, the latter employing strap-type fasteners on the sides of the torsos and underneath the arms to accommodate the wings. The plumage of the wings-normally a darker shade of the color of the feathers on the crest-are often dyed to match the color of their clothes. Shoes are glove-like affairs, made of supple leather to afford their feet the greatest degree of freedom, especially when they are in flight.

The major exception to this rule is their military armor, which opens and fastens at the back, the wearer stepping into a suit of armor with his arms and wings extended, stepping the rest of the way into the suit, all this, again, an accomodation for the wings, the armor itself made in a way which contributes to the lift of the wing area.

Anazazi are honorable, placing the greater good of the clan and their society above their own interests. They are also a tolerant people.

Attitudes

In general, Anazazi are tolerant of those who act in an honorable, tolerant manner and places the greater good of others over her own self interest.

Having contributed to the near-destruction of their society through selfish, intolerant, dishonorable behavior, the Anazazi are pathologically afraid of those beings and/or races who display these attitudes and will go to extremes to either distance themselves from such people, or, if that isn't possible, to eradicate them utterly.

Special Abilities

Winged Flight. Anazazi can soar to great heights and fly great distances using their wings. An Anazazi can fly 1 meter ahead for every meter she is above the ground. She must either make a running start on open ground or be at least five meters above the ground when she starts flying.

The maximum distance an Anazazi can fly depends on the gravity of the planet, as shown below

Anazazi cannot fly on planets with gravities lighter than 0.5 G or heavier than 1.1 G.

Battle Rage: This is similar to the Yazirian ability of the same name.