Mirkanian Avian

Mirkanian Avians, as is their only known informal name, are in essence birdpeople. They appear as humans covered in feathers, having a bird's head, wings on their back, limbs resembling bird feet as both their hands and feet, and large tailfeathers at the base of the spine.

Their only known natural habitat is Mirkai, and they are known for being homnivorous.

Origins

The Mirkanian Avian is not natural in origin. It is a creature of artificial genetic design, brought about at the whim of one man, Korten Draies, a prominent ruler in Old Mirkai, and the original Mirkanian Avian.

Korten's motives and mentality are irrelevant for now, but they amounted to him seeking to make himself appear as a hawkman. Due to the heavy focus placed upon research and biotechnology in Old Mirkai, it seemed a reasonable, if unusual task when Draies approached the Mirkanian Institute for Biological Study and asked them to shift their research to cross-species gene splicing.

Years passed as the Institute devoted every operational hour to fulfilling Korten's increasingly complex and demanding orders, and the man himself grew impatient as the researchers encountered hurdle after hurdle of unexpected sequencing errors and cell conflict. Even as the problems were solved, they only shed light on a quickly expanding web of unforseen difficulties in both the research and practical application of what was quickly becoming known as "The Moneypit", the project only drawing in larger and larger amounts of Cortesks as it grew.

In the meantime, Korten pursued an alternate attempt at changing his appearence that left him mentally unstable, due to failed rewiring of neural passageways. The cosmetic effect itself also quickly wore off, leaving him to once again invest his hopes in his genetics department.

Though it took several years and hundreds of billions of Cortesks, "The Moneypit" was finally finished. The technical specifics were and still are highly classified, due to feared manipulation of Mirkanian genetic structure, but what is known is that two variants were created. One which would include pre-progammed ambiguous cells to restructure a living human, and another which would be used in conjunction with an organic synthesizer to create new, "pure" creatures.

Draies had himself subjected to the first varisnt, becoming a genetic offshot of a Red-tailed hawk. He ordered this variant destroyed immediately after, so as to ensure that it wasn't used by people he considered "unworthy."

The second variant was used to great effect. Employing a large "factory" for organics, Korten, in conjunction with the Mirkanian government, created a new race of humanoid avians. Various subspecies were created from different genetic sources, though they were mostly Falconiformes, the one exception being a Crow-morph.

Korten attempted to ensure the Avians' dominance before their creation by specifying a series of ingrained genetic attributes and instinctual desires that will be revealed throughout this article as they become relevant.

Please note that despite the superficial resemblance, the Mirkanian Avian and the Falcanian are totally different species.

Taxonomy

{Important to this section is to know that the Mirkanian Avian equivalent of a traditional bird, or avian is called a "derivative", whereas the original avian in comparison with the Mirkanian Avian is called an "originator." A Mirkanian that is classed as a red-tailed hawk for example, would be a red-tailed hawk derivative, and a traditional red-tailed hawk in comparison would be called an "originator.")

Mirkanian Avians share the kingdom Animalia and the phylum Chordata with traditional avians, along with the class Aves, and the appropriate order, which is Falconiformes for every derivative with the exception of crow derivatives, which belong under the order Corvidae. They also share the same family, so a derivative of a red-tailed hawk would still be a member of the Accipitridae family. This grouping of the Mirkanian Avians with traditional avians stems from the fact that most Mirkanians consider themselves to be "true" birds, despite the physiology they share with humans.

The destinction between traditional and Mirkanian avians is made at the genus level. Mirkanian avians have the typical genus of their originators, preceeded by "homo-". As an example, a red-tailed hawk would have the genus Homo-buteo, and with the species as jamaicensis, would be Homo-buteo jamaicenses.

To help clarify and solidify the taxonomy, here are a few examples of Mirkanian Avians:

(Mirkanian) Red-Tailed Hawk

• Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
    • Class: Aves
      • Order: Falconiformes
        • Family: Accipitridae
          • Genus: Homo-buteo
            • Species: Homo-buteo jamaicensis

(Mirkanian) Osprey

• Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
    • Class: Aves
      • Order: Falconiformes
        • Family: Pandionidae
          • Genus: Homo-pandion
            • Species: Homo-pandion haliaetus

(Mirkanian) Carrion Crow

• Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
    • Class: Aves
      • Order: Passeriformes
        • Family: Corvidae
          • Genus: Homo-corvus
            • Species: Homo-corvus Corone

Appearance

The physical traits of a Mirkanian Avian are best described as a cross between a human and a traditional bird.

To begin with, the basic body frame is humanoid, consisting of a typical torso, two arms, and two legs, though with two wings protruding out the back where the shoulder blades are on a human. Almost all of a Mirkanian's body is covered with feathers, save for the hands, feet, beak and eyes. The color of the plumage and density varies by species, and the type of feather varies by position. The average height is about 6 feet 5 inches for males, and 6 feet 8 inches for females.

Both arms and legs end with a limb that resembles a typical bird's foot a great deal, covered in rough, scaled skin. The feet each have three long toes facing forward, and one toe facing back, all of them ending in talons that are about three inches long. The talons are hooked, and extremely sharp in all species except the crow derivative, in which they tend to be more blunt. Hands are built similarly, and both limbs are equally as flexible, allowing Mirkanians to grip objects easily with their feet.

A Mirkanian's head very closely resembles that of its traditional avian counterpart, though scaled to match the human-sized body. Consequently, the raptors have another weapon to complement their talons; their sharp, curved beak. It is excellent at its job, tearing flesh from prey (dead or alive).

The next important physical feature of a Mirkanian is its wings. Averaging at six to eleven feet in length per wing, depending on species, they tend to be very unwieldy when in an enclosed space, and the fact that they extend down to the backs of the knees on some species can make things like sitting in a typical human chair rather difficult. Despite this, the wings are quite strong, and a Mirkanian lying on its back poses no threat to its capability of flight.

The final aspect of a Mirkanian's appearence is its feathers. The body, arms, legs, and head of a Mirkanian are typically covered in a lair of soft "contour feathers", beneath which lies an insulating layer of down feathers. The down provides protection from cold and wet, and tends to be very pleasant to the touch. Other than this, a Mirkanian's wings are adorned with primary, secondary, and tertiary flight feathers. These are all long, stiff, and quite rigid, the shape and curve of each individual feather varying depending on its position on the wing. The tailfeathers, which extend out from the base of the spine down to the backs of the knees when folded, are stiff and rigid as well, and are typically spread out into a fan-like shape when in flight.

Physiology

Most internal systems that vary little between birds and mammals tend to be very human-like in Mirkanians. Some systems, however, are closer to that of birds, and those are listed here.

Digestive System

Functioning much like a typical avians', a Mirkanian's digestive tract does most of the work that a mammal's teeth would do, a neccessity as they can only tear flesh when ingesting it, not chew it. There are a few notable things about the Mirkanian digestive process. First of all, as with all birds, a Mirkanian excretes both solid waste and liquid waste together, with the liquid being in the form of uric acid, rather than urine. However, due to the merging of both human and avian systems, a Mirkanian also has a secondary digestive process for dealing with liquids. If an extreme of excess liquid is ingested by a Mirkanian, or a liquid that the body recognizes as toxic (including alcohol), it may be excreted in a manner similar to that of humans, though the liquid ends up closer to its original state than urine.

Finally, the appropriate carnivorous species of Mirkanians well also regurgitate pellets that contain material that cannot be digested. This is far less frequent than that which occurs in traditional avians, as Mirkanians are intelligent enough to know what they can and cannot digest.

Respiratory System

A Mirkanian's lungs, unlike a human's, aren't the only organs which air passes through when inhaled. Like an avian's respiratory system, the flow of oxygen in a Mirkanian can pass through many organs, and even their hollow bones, allowing oxygen to be delivered to muscles even when the individual is exhaling. This efficient method of breathing is critical to flight, which can be very exhausting.

Circulatory System

There's little difference between the circulatory system of a human, and that of a Mirkanian. Mirkanians posess typical four-chambered hearts, however, thier heartrate is much faster than that of a human. This is to aid in physically stressing tasks, such as flight.

Reproductive System

This is largely similar to that of a human's, though on the male Mirkanian the requisite organs are internal. This is largely due to keep a more aerodynamic profile. When aroused, however, the male's organ will emerge in a fashion similar to that of modern reptiles.

Diet

As with their habitat, a Mirkanian's diet is largely dependant on what its derivative was. Using, again, the Red-Tailed Hawk opposed to the Osprey, a Red-Tailed Hawk morph would prefer a more terrestial diet, such as rabbits, deer, and rodents. An Osprey on the other hand, would much rather have a fish.

There are a couple of exceptions to this, both regarding genetic modifications made by Korten. The first, referred to as The Craving, requires that a Mirkanian ingest human flesh. This will be discussed later, in its own section.

The second utilizes manipulation of the "belief gene", to give Mirkanians a level of respect for traditional avians that it approaches deification. As such, nearly all of the Mirkanian populace avoids eating birds, and they frown upon those that do eat them. It should be noted here, that morphs derived from avian-eaters such as peregrine falcons tend to rely on a more terrestial diet, similar to that of hawks.

The Craving

When Korten designed the Mirkanian race, he wanted to ensure they'd never be overtaken by humans. Therefore, he had a genetic craving for human meat (specifically, a certain sequence of genetic code and proteins that are present in the flesh of a human) created and installed into the Mirkanians. If a Mirkanian goes too long a period (about 6 weeks) without ingesting this protein/code combination, their adrenal gland begins to slowly produce more and more adrenaline. Given the already instinctual nature of a Mirkanian, this rush of adrenaline will, in effect, make them as beasts. They will live and kill as animals, until such time that they again ingest human flesh, wherein adrenaline will return to normal and they will regain thought.

Habitat

Though the current generation of Mirkanians inhabit floating cities known as Aeries, this does not mean they are incapable of surviving in the wild. When faced with the need to choose a natural habitat, almost all Mirkanians are predisposed to prefer an area suitable for their derivative species. For instance, a Red-Tailed Hawk morph would prefer an arboreal area close to wide plains or fields, whereas an Osprey morph would prefer an area next to a lake or an ocean.

This is not to say that a Mirkanian needs a certain habitat to live. Their sentience is such that they can adapt to any area where there is food and an appropriate temperature. If a region lacks this, they will simply move.