Austrech
Description
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The austrech is a large, vicious, flightless bird common to the Southern Threshold. It stands atop two muscular legs that grant much of its 9ft height. Each leg ends in three toes, tipped with razor-sharp talons capable of tearing flesh. The austrech’s body is covered in large feathers, its wings small and of little use. Its neck and head are bare of feathers, with scales running up the back of the neck onto the crown. The beak of the austrech is large, both heavy and sharp, a dangerous weapon against both prey and would-be-predators. Austrechs can weigh upwards of 500 lbs.
Habitat & Range
Austrechs are found in the open savannahs and deserts of the Southern and Southeastern Threshold. They once ranged further northward into the River Province, but have been driven out and are now not seen north of Thorns.
Behaviour & Reproduction
Austrech are relatively social creatures, forming small groups in which both males and females hunt together. They nest in immense mounds made of sticks, branches, and the stripped remains of previous meals, with each nest used by a large group of birds. Females typically lay clutches of 5 eggs once per year, which the parents take turns keeping warm for 2 months before they hatch. Provided food is plentiful, an austrech chick grows rapidly to adulthood, and the majority survive these early years… this makes the species incredibly prolific, though their numbers remain suppressed due to human antipathy.
Diet
Austrechs are carnivorous and capable of running at great speed, keeping pace with horses (though lacking their endurance). They attack by pouncing on and incapacitating prey with their talons, using their sharp beaks to kill their victims. Austrechs will also eat carrion, though they seem to enjoy the hunt, and will often kill far more than they can eat so they can return later to eat remaining carcasses.
Austrechs prey primarily on large or medium-sized animals: Cattle, goats, horses, Camels, and Yeddim are most common. The austrech is, in turn, hunted as prey by the leonine Simhata which share parts of their range. Austrechs will dine on humans if the opportunity presents itself.
In times when food is scarce, austrechs will devour their own eggs and young.
Cultural Significance
Austrechs are much reviled within their range due to preying on domestic animals (cows, goats, and horses) and humans… even the yeddim of desert caravans can come under attack. This dislike is particularly intense in Marukan, where austrechs are considered anathema to Hiparkes the god of Horses, hunted and slain wherever they appear... the Marukani claim jurisdiction to slay any austrech found within the Confederation of Rivers, though this is disputed as a violation of sovereignty by some other Confederation states. Austrechs are also hunted in Harborhead as they threaten local cattle, their elimination commanded by cattle god Ahlat, but the god responsible for the austrech is Bright Spearpoint, also God of the Southern Hunt... hunting expeditions by Ahlat's followers somehow prove prone to strangely high amounts of missteps and fruitless effort.
Austrechs are vicious, but can be domesticated and used as riding mounts or beasts of burden, even if they remain difficult to handle. Some desert tribes in the South use austrechs as their primary mounts... as such bird-nomads are often rivals of the Delzahn horse-nomads, this has made the Delzahn prone to featuring austrech meat at their larger feasts, a tradition maintained in Chiaroscuro. The Royal Army of Thorns maintained a large number of barded austrech cavalry, the result of breeding programs to produce creatures (known in Thorns as 'Battle Birds') more suited in temperament to carrying riders into battle, though they remain vicious and easily enraged. The battle bird cavalry of Thorns are said to have accounted well for themselves at the Battle of Mishaka, devastating the Marukan cavalry sent against them but suffering heavy casualties as well. Reduced in number and with many veterans slain at Mishaka, they crumbled in the face of the Mask of Winters some years later.
Austrech feathers are large and readily take to dyes, making them popular for use constructing oversized fans for markets on the Blessed Isle and An-Teng.
