Rocs were huge birds of prey. They soared the skies, often above cloud level, riding thermals at incredible speeds between preferred hunting and nesting grounds. They lived on Oshmondu's highest peaks, but also lived on the ice caps, in the elmental plains of air and stone, and sometimes in other locations.

History

Rocs were originally subservient to the giants, since their creator Allfar the All-Father of giants brought them into being to challenge the dragons in the sky. When the war between giants and dragons ended, the rocs were freed and left to roam the world, where they rightfully took a spot at the top of the food chain.

Traits

Physiology

Rocs shared many parallels with common birds of prey such as eagles and hawks. Rocs however differed in several ways, most notably their size. They could grow to a size where their body from tip to tip could exceed 90 feet in length with wingspans stretching over 200 feet.

The sheer size of the rocs led many intellectuals to wonder how they could even lift their wings, let alone fly. Their feathers were impressively light, but their bones were truly wondrous. The largest were over three meters in length but could be carried by a child. They were very also durable considering their weight. However, some hours after a roc's death, the bones became much more heavy, even more so than average bird bones. This was because living rocs were connected to Allfar's magical fugue, which gave them energy pushing against gravity.

Reproduction and Growth

Most of the time, rocs lived alone. However, every once in a few decades, a male roc felt the urge to couple. He would soar across the mountains, looking for a mate. They visited the glorious nests of female rocs until they found a willing mate, with which they coupled. After the sexual act, the male left and returned to his nomadic lifestyle while the female kept the eggs for almost two years. She then laid between one and three eggs.

Children remained in the nest for a whole three years, during which time their mother fed them with pre-chewed and then raw meat. After this time, they learned to hover and fly for themselves, but still lived in the nest under their mother's protection. Female rocs usually left the nest around 15 years of age when they felt the urge to become independent and built their own nest. Males, however, were kicked out by their mother around 20 years old, when they became fertile and at first tried to mate with their mother. They had to fly out, find another sex partner, and begin their nomadic lifestyle.

Psychology

These large birds did not look for company. They stayed far away from almost everything else alive, including other member of their own species. A rock only felt safe when they had a clear overview over a situation, including seeing far in all directions. They either flew far above or just below the cloud cover and nested in very high locations, often the tips of large stone outcroppings, from where they could see the entire surroundings.

Male rocs were very paranoid and tried to stay as safe and inaccessible as possible, while females searched more for recognition of their own magnificence and sometimes even approached other sentiment beings in search of recognition.

Nesting

Male rocs were very isolationist and therefore built their nests in inaccessible locations with the most simple of materials. They spent most of their time flying, often just drifting far above the clouds. They ate while flying too, so they had very little use for a nest. A male switched nests at least once every year.

Females however were much more sedentary. As soon as they were of age and lived alone, they looked for a safe and comfortable location - usually on the bottom half of a cliff face, rather than on a high and windy peak - where they built a large and elaborate nest. They used stones and logs to build what could almost be called a house, sometimes even using clay and other materials to build thick walls. They used these nests as safe havens where they spent most of their time, raised their young in, and received visitors - both male rocs and sentient creatures coming to praise them. Female rocs also liked keeping some form of "treasure" at the very bottom of their nests.

Uses

There were often attempts from humanoid races to domesticate or just ride rocs. The birds were amply physically able to carry humanoids and could be an excellent form of transportation and warfare. However, because of rocs' independent, isolationist and haughty nature, it was very rare for people to actually succeed in winning a roc to their cause. Other creatures, such as wyverns, were much more adapted to this task than rocs.

Rock bones were exceptionally light and hard. However, their uses as a material were very limited because they could easily be cut but were difficult to work. Simple weapons such as spears could be made, however the high price and rarity of roc bones made this uncommon.