Eagle details (physical traits and capability)

[Miskord]

Flexibility is going to be key here. RP isn't a science, so just like coded limitations don't cover every possible scenario, neither will a set of rules that are implemented purely through RP. The best way to come up with good, realistic RP is to use the coded limitations that the game provides and then apply your own research and common sense when putting them into practice.

What I'm trying to say is that it doesn't really need to be exacting. A lot of these specifics will wind up being idiosyncrasies, so how much an injured wing will affect flight or whether your character likes fish prepared with rosemary or thyme is not something that anyone else can really tell you, and it won't necessarily apply to the next character. No one is going to be upset if you say that your character took five hours to fly somewhere when it should really have been six. The big picture is what matters for good story arcs.

I find consistency is a strong factor for smooth RP for me. I've felt frustrated to the point of lowering my desire to RP on a "talking wildlife" MUCK (where the animals are 'wild' but can talk and understand each other, sort of like Balto or Lion King) due to inconsistencies in things such as when certain species give birth and how fast they age. I had aged my wolf, for instance, appropriate to the IC:OOC time set as a standard on the MUCK, but another player did not age their wolf at all and as IC years went by, my wolf became elderly and feeble whilst theirs remained perpetually a young adult. It might seem a minor thing, but it disturbed the smoothness of RP for me. Yes, there is variance and I embrace it, but there needs to be a common, consistent baseline to go off of, too, at least for me.

[Blackclaw]

Consistency is a good thing, sure. To take your example of character aging, there are some segments in the info files that prescribe the ideal amount of RL time it would take to age an infant character up to an adult.

However, that just doesn't work for everyone. Maybe the character is embroiled in a plot that would be thrown off the rails if they were to follow the guidelines precisely, or maybe the character's player had to take a couple months off from playing the game due to RL concerns but doesn't want to miss out on a stage of their character's development!

The important thing here is to remember there are a lot of people playing this game along with you, people with their own RP preferences and goals. We try to strike a balance between consistency and an anarchic free-for-all with the programmed systems that are in place. They are there to provide that consistent baseline. However, to lean too far in either direction would ruin the fun of the game for half the people who play it. There has to be some measure of flexibility allowed.

[Miskord]

It should be simple enough to categorize information as "Most eagles could X, but some might not be able to" or "Few eagles could do Y, but most cannot and it takes special training, skill and focus for one to do so."

Other curious questions are popping in my head as I am pondering near future events ... how nimble and agile are eagle talons? Could they flay a fox they've hunted, or should that (ICly) absolutely require a being have hands and a knife?

As I ponder Miskord pondering other ways to help out for Lola's upcoming festival ... could an eagle scratch on wood or dip a talon in ink and scrawl lettering such that Miskord might be able to make signs for and about the festival? He could, of course, ask Lola or other fauns to make signs he could distribute, but would be good to know if he could do so himself. I would presume, even if they cannot write, that they can, at least, read signs as readily as they can speak.

[Skarlieth]

Just thought I'd put a little bit up here as well...
I have to admit, man-sized seems giant. I've been picturing Skar as smaller than the average Narnian Wolf and no where near as tall as a full-grown human. If it's decided otherwise, I don't mind but it seems that would be strange.
Strength-wise, eagles are able to hunt wolves, goats, and even deer. They can carry deer a short way when hunting. So while we might not be as big as some of the other beasts, we're pretty strong and can carry things likely heavier than we are. I'd guess that a large child through small adult would be pretty much our limit though... carrying things on our backs would probably be harder.
Also, this is just personal musing, but if a Beaver can prepare a meal with paws, an Eagle should be able to use a knife to flay a fox. Or if not the knife, then our talons should be dexterous enough to do so.
If anyone disagrees with me, these are just my opinions and I'm happy to listen to others

[Antheia]

The general rule on dexterity is 'does it have a thumb or something like a thumb'? Eagles don't really, so I would say no on a knife. I would also say no on flaying with claws, because flaying takes special skill even for people with thumbs AND the special knife made to the purpose, but another staffie can contradict me.

Keep in mind: Eagles also don't have much need to flay because they don't have much need for money. The reason you get 10,000 coins at the beginning is to help you train up and suit your character up with anything else it needs, not because most talking beasts need, use, or have much money. They don't. They are created with the capability to care for themselves and, with a very few exceptions, don't have many desires beyond the capabilities they have been given.

[Miskord]

Eagles living in towns like Bergdale need to pay rent, and targets to practice on in Sted Cair.

Real eagles weave large, heavy branches into massive nests standing on one leg and using the other to carefully arrange and even weave the branches into a carefully shaped and structurally sound nest which can weigh more than a ton in total (granted, they tend to build their nests up over generations, a bit similarly to how massive beaver dams are not built all at once, but gradually over generations), so please don't underestimate their dexterity. I would think Narnian eagles would, if anything, have at least as much dexterity as real eagles.

If all talking beasts wish to do is feed themselves and avoid interacting with other species, I'm not sure that's conducive to RP.

If the answer is no, then no, but I'm a bit confounded by the notion I hopefully mis-understood from you that talking animals wouldn't have any interest in having any life to share and interact with other Narnians beyond day to day survival from eating.

[Zayev]

As a wolf I hope I'm not interrupting an eagles thread. But I think Miskord unknowingly touching on an issue that's been idly debated for years among both players and staff. When I (not this character) first started playing this game it was common and accepted for wolves, eagles, even deer to use weapons, shoot bows, all that. And over the years this has be curtailed and limited to what we see today. Personally I have always been a proponent that creatures with claws should be able to flay, (well, at least creatures of a certain size, I'd doubt mice can worry through deer-hide, but they can use a knife if they want) In my real life experience flaying isn't all that difficult once learned and does not truly require a special knife, though some designs do make it easier. My main point has always simply been, just as humans must learn to control their hands to varying levels of skill for different reasons (playing music, typing, weaving on a loom, even holding a knife with skill, for fighting or cooking, ect) Sapient Beasts could do the same with their own digits, enough to flay or perform complex tasks, though granted, not perhaps as easily in some tasks as others with opposed thumbs .

All that said though, its not the main point I wanted to make

I don't think Antheia is trying to say species are insular and uninterested in outer species, but simply that they are likely uninterested in stockpiling grand amounts of wealth. Narnia is a simpler purer place than our world, and so there is not often the desire to 'Keep up with the Johnstons' as it were.
They have the ability to have what they need, and the ability to get additional coin to indulge in what individual character idiosyncrasies there might be. And are happy with that, I'd say they dont feel the loss of, for example, living in a house. In the early days of Zayevs character He referred to such things as 'Built things' and considered them with scorn, a testament to the weakness of species who couldn't dwell in the natural world. He has since learned different, though he still finds his own den under the pine tree preferable. I think that sort of things is what Anth may be referring to.

[Miskord]

I guess I am wrongfully griping about the staff leaving too much vague so its hard for me to understand, and haven't realized I am doing much the same. No, I don't want Miskord to turn into a gold-hoarding dragon, but I am conceiving that he wants to do more, live a new life now, work hard to be charitable to others. I am pondering some dark, shameful secrets he may be harboring from the war, and while he keeps them to himself for the purposes of avoiding dragging the new Narnia from its peaceful golden age to remind it of the horrors of the endless winter, I think he finds himself lending his wing to carrying out tasks, procuring items for Lola's festival, for instance, and refusing compensation for the items he purchases and the like. I think he may take a look at earning coin to donate to charity, to help him feel useful and make up for things he may have done in the past that he is not proud of.

[Zayev]

For something like an Eagle perhaps a good idea would be to head towards the marshes, fishing and selling the fish to Higgledrum is a good way of making coins. And eagles have those pesky wing things

[Antheia]

Zayev is right that I meant Talking Beasts don't have a need to accumulate wealth like humans in our world. Certainly, Talking Beasts would interact with each other, although Eagle nature being generally introverted as it is would be more 'speciesist' as we've been calling it-- more inclined toward its own species. Some species, like Fauns or Unicorns or Squirrels or Otters will be very open and excited to interact with whomever-- it would not even really occur to them that there would be a reason NOT to hang out with other species (with the exception of species known to be evil). Other species, like Wolves, Dwarves, and Eagles, will, to varying extents between both species and individual, prefer their own species because their own species understands their needs and worldview.

Another point: we actually do have a charity bin in the aethenaeum in Sted Cair which as been sorely neglected. You could put money pouches in there, or better yet put food and small useful items. Of course, doing things like fetching for Lola is great, too. Keep in mind that since Talking Beasts are so good at taking care of themselves, a lot of them might be willing to run errands for their neighbors for free anyway and it wouldn't be seen so much as charity as just What You Do When Someone Needs You.

We should also discuss your ideas about Miskord's regrets via page or in my office. They might be great, but there's also no reason to feel shame about killing something which is inherently evil like a Werewolf.

Eagles should not be paying rent. We are working to build a room to more accurately reflect their homespace-- a room full of eyries, essentially. It will almost definitely be in the Bergdale region. But you have no reason to pay rent regardless. If a Faun or Talking Beast were for some reason giving you space that you did not own, they would let you use it for free-- with a few exceptions, like maybe Apes. But again, they have no need to charge rent. If they have the extra space to be use, they are going to want to put it to use!