Daekais are one of the seven original humanoid species but were later considered a race of the kais species. the other race being morkais. Hear it pronounced.
A race of kais, daekais are three to four feet tall and have large, feathery wings. Their eyesight is worse than even humans due to the jealousy, fear and deception that cloud their judgment. They are notorious for their short attention span and easy distractibility. Daekais are known as the most self-centered, greedy, ignorant and amoral thing alive. They are famous for attacking great birds and travelers near forest edges and mountains, with morkais interfering.
Daekais aren’t very smart. They can sometimes see that their thoughts and actions are self-defeating but can’t resist anyway. Jealousy and fear that cloud their judgment. The constant lying makes them suspicious of everything they hear. Daekais project their own motives, desires, and traits onto everyone around them. Their twisted thoughts manifest themselves on posture, bearing, tone of voice, gestures, expression, and general behavior.
Kais lack strength. Daekais have a healthy endurance and stamina due to flying but otherwise average constitutions. The airborne agility is very high but poor upon the ground. Daekais have fair dexterity but don’t develop much ability with anything except a sling or bow. Legends say that daekais are so cowardly that a whole group of them once fell dead when the god of courage appeared among them suddenly.
Appearance
Their large eyes are usually light brown or orange, like the preferred color of the gods who made them. Their teeth are poorly kept, yellowed, poisonous, and pointed. Hair is always a mess and is often black or brown and short to limit lice. Daekais posture in flight is good, but once upon the ground, they slouch and assume a sullen demeanor. They tend toward light brown skin.
Their poisonous claws are seldom fatal to the species unless striking many times. The poison makes people disoriented and weak. The poisonous teeth are more venomous and a single bite can kill all species except karelia and jhaikan. Daekais must steal clothing from morkais, querra or human children.
Habitat
Daekais prefer warmer climates and never build settlements, taking over morkais ones or abandoned castles or other ruins, often attacking others already in possession of one, whether this is tribe-on-tribe warfare for a whole settlement, or individuals within a tribe fighting for a building or room. They rule by force and possession, with no one keeping a place for long. Fights frequently break out and those who leave possessions behind will find them gone upon returning. Daekais are never allowed in joint settlements.
Magic
Daekais can’t become wizards because they can’t read the spells, possess a spell book long enough (someone else will steal it), or have the intelligence and dedication to master something intellectual.
Sorcerers are as likely to kill themselves and their allies as their intended target. They don’t live long for other reasons; they go power-mad and destroy allies on purpose; other daekais murder them from fear and envy; and other species/races seek out and destroy them.
All species acknowledge Llurien’s twenty-eight gods. The four gods of the orange sphere created daekais and heavily influence their outlook.
Moiryn, Goddess of Deception, Illusion, Lies, Theft, Intrigue, Cleverness
Daekais are never honest, even with themselves, and have no introspection. They admit to nothing and take no responsibility for mistakes, blaming others for poor results that they caused. Daekais have stolen every last possession; no one is safe, even their own children.
Neistrum, God of Greed, Possession, Money, Trade, Gambling, Gluttony
Neistrum inspires daekais’ love of possessions. If someone else has it, daekais want it. This desire makes them unable to produce anything on their own. They will trade with others but often don’t understand the market value. Daekais routinely gamble amongst themselves in games of chance.
Ronkainen, Goddess of Jealousy, Envy, Pride, Vanity, Corruption, Selfishness, Insecurity, Vice
Ronkainen’s influence makes daekais insecure, vain, selfish, and jealous of everyone and everything. They talk down to themselves and think everyone is better than them or better off. Daekais badly want to be admired and will strut and preen if in possession of something others badly want. A dead daekais will have their belongings seized in a mad frenzy by other daekais.
Everett, God of Fear, Death, Loss, Loneliness, Darkness, Night, and Dusk
Daekais are frightened of everything, even their shadows. This makes them keep others at a distance, causing loneliness they compensate for with possessions. Fear keeps them from venturing too far from home. A sense of loss fuels their insatiable greed. They are afraid of the dark.
They have no art and no history, even oral. All daekais of a given tribe dress, walk, and talk the same, have the same interests and tell all the same stories. Every tribe leader results from having the ability to repeatedly find, locate, and successfully lead an attack against those with great treasures to steal. If another daekais causes this instead, they become leader after a fight to the death.
Daekais tribes attack other tribes on sight. They know little of other daekais or species, including world events. They seldom travel more than five miles from their birthplace. Their names for settlements and land features are different. Daekais have no written tongue and seldom learn other languages except Antarian/common.
Daekais never engage in hand to hand combat except among themselves. They aren’t good at it, everyone else is better, they’d lose their aerial advantage, and they are too afraid. Most daekais have a dagger as a last resort. Amongst themselves, they fight with their fists. They usually attack with short bow, crossbow, or slings, and will occasionally resort to dropping rocks. Since they have few arrows, they often loot battlefields, including their own.