Category:Falconry

Falconry is the art and practice of using flying creatures for hunting game. It is an ancient tradition, with roots predating the Primordial War, and some basic principles of the art are found in the Immaculate Texts, attributed to the Immaculate of Air Mela.

Though the art is named ‘falconry’, it is not restricted to falcons, instead encompassing a number of different flying predators. While each type of creature has different methods of hunting, size, and aptitudes, in general falconry involves strict training of the creature to carry out a variation of its natural hunting technique on command, the falconer taking the subsequent kill and rewarding the creature with food, be it a portion of the kill or some pre-prepared offering. Properly trained creatures can be used to attack prey far larger or more dangerous than they ever might naturally, though in such cases the falconer usually becomes directly involved in making the final kill.

The name of the art comes from the Diving Falcon, whose lightning-fast dive is considered difficult for a falconer to master. The vast majority of other creatures used in falconry are raptors, including Gyrkins and Rubytails. Golden Eagles are sometimes also used, though their size means they occupy the largest end of the falconry scale. Non-raptor species are less common, though there is a tradition of owl falconry in the North and many nobles enjoy using the vibrantly coloured Mospid for hunting.

Falconry is a demanding art to practice, requiring a prospective falconer to obtain a suitable creature, train it, house it, feed it, practice with it, and hunt with it on grounds large enough that a flying creature is able to hunt properly. All of this demands time and money, making the art generally rare amongst the common people. Many Dynasts of the Realm, having great wealth and leisure time, are major practitioners (Prince Sesus himself was a major patron of the art), and the noble courts of the Threshold are also often centers of falconry. In addition to simply aiding in the hunt, some falconers engage in competitions over who amongst them can have their creature take the largest prey, or the most, or perform the most complex maneuvers on command.