The Terpsichorean Sodality welcome the Grand Commodore

 The latest post over at Grand Commodore has a great number of Animal Men listed. I read it over, appreciating the Osprey Man and the Musk Ox man, among others.

Then it occurred to me that there was some overlap between the various Avian Animal Men and the Aviscaputs listed in The Terpsichorean Sodality of the Bird People, my entry for the False Machine Dungeon Poem challenge back in February 2021. These were less animalistic - and definitely more English - than HCK's Animal Men (as I even observed at the time!) But there's enough of the bird species used in TSotBP* that overlap with this new post that I feel I'd quite like to fill in the gaps.

Anyway, referring to the list of Sodality Members.

1. Hoopoe Tietjens.  [Hoopoe]
2. Picador Vansittart. [Magpie]
3. Raptora Uexkull.  [Kestrel]
4. Iolanthe Wrenfield. [Wren]
5. Lanner Coningsby. [Lanner falcon]
6. Urgulanilla Guillemot. [Guillemot]
7. St. John Goldfinch. [Goldfinch]
8. Clemency Yaffle. [Green woodpecker]
9. Gymkhana Dabchick. [Dabchick]
10. Monedulus Alleline. [Jackdaw]
11. Egret Dalziel. [Great white egret]
12. Hilarion Ptarmigan. [Ptarmigan]

Magpie Men already exist, as do Wren Men and Kestrel Men. For completeness, here are their entries.

Kestrel man

The animal man attack helicopters; hover and dive
A lot of people like their coats
Discourse tends to be sort of ratchet

Flying (don't need traverse to remain airborne), +d6 Damage when diving at least 15’

***

Magpie man

It’s not that you have to be a thief, it’s that skill and interest have a compelling channelizing effect
You are profoundly intelligent, however intelligence is orthogonal to impulse. Impulse may win out against reason. Desire often wins out against reason
You can sing beautifully; that’s one way to gain coins (them being shiny is less important than reputed)
Or you can do what people will expect you to do
Pica pica
Their mate-attraction is done a little bit more suavemente than most bird men

-1 Str, +3 Int, -3 Wis, +3 Cha, +3 to Bardic performance, Advantage to Pickpocket, Advantage to Lockpicking, Professional Skill: Numismatist (Int)

 ***

Wren man

Songs appeal to dilettantes
Attracted to the caves of the Bat Men and the Cave Swallow men; often serve them as heralds, troubadours, and auxiliaries. Despite enjoying insect man flesh, wren men often serve with antman armies, as well
Small-bird Napolewren complex**

-1 Str, +2 Cha, +2 to Bardic performance

 ***

And on the remainder from TSotBP.

Hoopoe man

Massive crrrrresssssst

Long elegant beak, which seems like it would be a bad idea to be on the wrong end of

Occasionally claims to be the king of the birds; this is amusing to eagles, offensive to swans and an affectation to most others

Probably never going to invent a religion, but pretty good at keeping one going (occasionally, one will turn out to be a particularly magnetic cult leader)

Flying, Animosity: Swan men, Advantage to Intimidate

 ***

Lanner falcon man

Fly best in straight lines, and take a lot of airborne prey - if kestrels are attack helicopters, they are interceptors

Like the savannah, great on a safari

Cooperative hunters, no glory boys here (by Raptors standards)

+2 Str, Flying, Copes well with the heat

***

Guillemot man

Cliff dwellers, highly fertile
Can attack water-dwellers in one-minute dives to surprising depths and swim 30' underwater
Mostly spend their time fishing and ignoring you

Some are black and white, some brown and white. The abstract curves of their patterns have led guillemots to develop a form of folk-art rather like dazzle camouflage 

 

Flying, Diving, -1 Cha  

*** 

Goldfinch man

Small, with red, white and black faces like exaggerated theatrical masks

Excellent singers and quick learners, frequently find a place as an artiste of some kind (sparrows are far more down-to-earth and easier to get on with backstage)

They know how popular they are, and how much the powerful like to keep them around - they are almost always adopting a social persona of some kind  

-1 Str, +2 Cha, +2 Int, +3 to Bardic Performance 

 ***

Green woodpecker man***

Sleek, red-headed. 
Thick beak, thick skull.

Better joiners than lumberjacks; they pair up with Beaver men to corner the woodworking industry. Vertical integration: tree-roots and tree-trunks!

Sounds like they're laughing at you, probably aren't

 

+1 Con, Flying, Affinity: Beaver Men, Can make a d4 attack that ignores light armour or breaks a wooden shield

*** 

Dabchick man

Small, dumpy
Like to live by lakes and other smaller bodies of water

Better in the water than on land, if not quite to penguin levels 

Beautiful chestnut throat and cheeks 

Have a reputation in some circles as being really good harbourmasters and lockkeepers. Have a reputation in other circles as being good smugglers.

-1 Str,  Flying, Advantage to stealth in water

*** 

Jackdaw man

Look faintly clerical and shabby, decent mimic, excellent for spy work in cosmopolitan settings
Social, but not always very talkative
Smaller than Crow men and Raven men, and less of a target for Swan men
A jackdaw man is reputed to have invented the first joke

+1 Cha, Flying, Choose 1 additional language, Suffers no disadvantages in ruins and tunnels

*** 

Great white egret man

Long tall white streak with thin legs and manic eyes. 
Will squint at you like a librarian then puncture you full of holes with a spear-sharp beak
Politely baffled by people who fish for a hobby. Utterly antisocial white fishing

Good with a harpoon, thinks tridents and eelspears are for losers

Flying, d8 beak attack with the reach of a polearm, Animosity: Frog men

*** 

Ptarmigan man

Undergo a personality shift with their winter plumage - from dowdy summer shyness to glacial winter hauteur
Not a frequent flier.

They taste delicious, and they know it.

Not afraid of thunderstorms

+2 Cha in Winter, -2 Cha in Summer 

*** 

I regret not making Urgulanilla Guillemot a Gannet.

I suspect that the Great white egret man would serve as a heron man also.

* Pronounced 'Tsot-Bop', if you must...
** Alas, a missed opportunity to discuss London architecture.
***I'd forgotten that these turned up in the Three Mile Tree.

The Falcons that Eat Dreams

 ...I dared not speak of the beak of the King's falcon, but well I knew
how it flew through my sleep as now; a slither of wings beats on my face and
brings a hot iron to my heart....

Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury, Charles Williams

The king is troubled by bad dreams and a unquiet spirit. The usual solution has failed, due to the lack of a nearby shepherd boy with anything like the degree of necessary musical talent. But an alternative has emerged from an unseen quarter.

The falcons of the Argelephantine Mountains are said to be swiftest of fowls. A dream moves as quick as thought; a dream need follow no road or path or any track along the ground; a dream is an elusive thing, fading at the break of day. Therefore that which must pursue them must be keen-eyed, swift and possessed of the power of flight. So the king's falconer reasoned.

He set to training his birds, hitting a number of snags along the way.  Inducing them to pursue dreams was a troublesome process. One attempt, involving quantities of opium smoke, may have made the falcons of the Royal Mews see dreams, but did not do so in such a way as spurred their raptor's instincts. 

An alternative was found; the falconer found a broken-hearted young page-boy - whose dreams are transparently obvious, near to the surface of the mind and (if transient) quite potent in their composition. He was induced by alternate beatings and bribes to recount his dreams over several dead rabbits, which were used in lures to train the falcons in the pursuit and taste of dreams. 

The process needed to be repeated several times; fortunately, the court is a place where many dreams can be found, and the falconer is a strangely charismatic and masterful man who was able to suborn more than a few servants and courtiers for his purposes. In time, the falcons took to the air and began to feed on dreams themselves, removing the need for rabbits. They have developed since a certain, disturbing fixed gaze (even by the standards of raptors) and faintly purple eyes; the falconer has taken to making them new hoods, with a layer of silver leaf. They turn on a gyre woven of maidens' hair. Rune-graven bells ring at their talons.

But the falcons did exactly what they were meant to: plunging and seizing the fell dreams out of the sky at twilight. The king sleeps soundly. The falconer basks in acclaim and royal gifts. The page-boys are both beaten and bribed less. 

Of course, the applications for this kind of oneiro-accipitrarian technique have not gone unnoticed. What else is a spell, that sits in and over the mind of a wizard, but a kind of dream? Could not the falcons have some wider use?

Terpsichorean Sodality of the Bird People

Over at False Machine, a 'dungeon poem challenge' has been set. I've been toying with some ideas for this, and they at least demand an airing - though I doubt they entirely offer 'the condensation of utility, beauty, meaning and originality into a functional and interesting micro-adventure. '

Without further ado.....

The Sodality buildings are principally of dull brick, partially sunk in the earth. The shape of the complex has been masked by flowerbeds, mounds and dense thickets. Thin chimneys and skylights are set into the buildings. Glazed tiles cover many of the surfaces. 

Aviscaputs, the bird-headed are neither unknown nor common to the local area.

A1 An entrance hall, with hatstands, fire-place and a long sideboard covered in crockery (some of it quite valuable). Two screens isolate one corner of the room.

Monedulus Alleline, a man with the head of a jackdaw, paces nervously.. If surprised he will jump. He may be reciting prayers. He will give a cold welcome to newcomers.

He is deeply worried about the coming rites, and dreads Vansittart's proposed alterations.

The kestrel-headed Raptora Uexkull waits behind the screens. She is very calm and will remain very calm, because she is pointing two flintlock pistols at you. (These are weapons of her own making, and have curving talons on the butts). She refers to Monedulus as 'Little Clerk' with exaggerated contempt. 

Her aim is to get you to surrender your weapons, and go to meet Tietjens to decide what to do with you.

A2 The kitchen. A comfortable, warm room with a large gilt samovar providing tea.

The wren-headed Iolanthe Wrenfield is trying to play cribbage with Patrick Hooke. This is not going well; Hooke is intimidated by her beak and is distracted by thoughts of his lover, Brand.

Iolanthe is trying to distract Hooke, and make his stay all the happier. She will offer newcomers black tea laced with rum, and offer spritely conversation.

Patrick Hooke is a strung-out man who has suffered a wreck on the river. Tietjens has decided that he cannot leave the Sodality until the week is out, as part of the ritual. He cannot play cards.

A3 A wood panelled room, with several large desks; numerous books lie about the room in careful piles.

Hoopoe Tietjens stands at a lectern; piles of paper surround him. The several pillars are studded with long paper strands - invocation, notes, more. Lanner Coningsby is probably lounging somewhere nearby.

Hoopoe Tietjens had the head of a Hoopoe; everyone else is in awe of his crest and long beak. He is the master of the Sodality and will insist on you staying on for the rites (he is reluctant to use force, but may do so all the same). He will offer you tawny port and thin biscuits, and ask searching questions. 

Tietjens is worried by the conduct of Vansittart but has a number of issues that concern him to attend to before then. In his lectern are a number of rare scrolls  - these are magical and spiritual dialogues, of startling interest. He carries a long hunting dagger. 

Lanner Coningsby contrasts a practiced languidness with the sharp eyes of a falcon. He is tending to an incense-burner and will chime in with the odd bon mot in response to Tietjens or anyone else who comes in.

A4 A reception room with several ornate chairs; an iron balcony overlooking the river. The tiles in the room depict the life of a female saint, culminating in her death in a marketplace.

St John Goldfinch is here, apparently talking to Clemency Yaffle. She is watching him carefully, whilst pretending to read.

St John Goldfinch has the head of a goldfinch, and is perpetually trying to groom himself. He is remarking upon the folly of casting the lots to arrange the rites. 

Clemency Yaffle dislikes Goldfinch. She is headed like a green woodpecker and carries a fowling-piece in a duffel-bag.

B1 A sandy cove, with the remains of a boat.

Evelyn Brand is a young woman who was wrecked here with Hooke. Her ankle was badly twisted, and he went in search of help a day ago. She has lit a small fire and survived on river water and smoked eel fillets. She has hidden as best she can from the Sodality.

Brand is trying to distract herself with a book of metaphysical poets. She will quote them at the first opportunity. 

B2 The Egret-headed Dalziel sits on the riverbank, apparently sketching in charcoal. He has exaggerated the forms of the bridge between A4 and B3 to rococo hideousness. He does not wish to be interrupted, and can get quite sharp. If pressed overlong, he may attempt a show of force.

B3 Antechamber dotted with stools. The double doors into the grand hall are shut. 

The guilliemot-headed Urgulanilla Guillemot is consuming a platter of marinated herring. She will attempt to draw in newcomers under her (metaphorical wing) asserting her generosity and the folly of Tietjens. She will offer you a glass of thin white wine laced with rowanberry schnapps, and is unwilling to take no for an answer.

Picador Vansittart is a magpie-headed man, apparently attached to a large pink gin. He is engaged in contemplation of an engraving, showing a nobleman of antiquity drinking from a cup shaped like a dragon. 

Vansittart wishes to alter the rites of the Sodality in his own image. He will happily debate the age and antiquity of the Sodality, and the folly of his colleagues. 

B4 Dormitory, divided by screens into two sections. It overlooks the river; two bathing-places have been sculpted from the riverside.

Gymkhana Dabchick sits at a dressing table, apparently contemplating an ivory statue of a hermaphroditic faun. She will happily tell your where she found it, and some of the cultural connotations of the coitusgeist. 

Hilarion Ptarmigan is dozing in the sunlight by the bathing place. The ptarmigan-headed man will wake if you approach, and ask what time supper is. By him is an empty plate and half a bottle of Madeira, which he will not offer to share.

C1 The great hall has been cleared of furniture: several paintings of mythic  or allegoric scenes remain on the walls. 

C2 Three trapdoors lead out of the great hall into a vestry. Long racks for clothes and storage chests abound. An altar in one corner contains ritual cleansing paraphernalia

C3 A concealed storage room where the furniture of the great hall has been placed. One coffer contains a quantity of silver plate, including a salt-cellar in the shape of a peacock.

The Rite of the Sodality

Over several evenings, the Sodality will conduct their rites. This involves a hymn to the Unknown God, followed by a series of dances and dialogues featuring a cast of distantly allegorical figures.
This begins and concludes in the great hall, but ranges through-out the sodality.

Lamp-lit King    Effects: Ornate lamp, crown, sword.

Movements: wide, deliberate, ornate.       Language and tone: hospitable, semi-liturgical.

Brimstone Cavalier Effects: plumed cap, sabre, pomander.

Movements: Swift, aggressive.     Language and tone: Impassioned, prideful, 

Maid in Red         Effects: Red Kirtle, sistrum.

Movements: poised, fluid.          Language and tone: Courageous, curt, steel-tongued. 

Grandmother of Dragons Effects: Mantle, torch, coin pouch

Movements: Slow, even-paced.    Language and tone: thoughtful, condescending, wheedling.

Brass Councillor Effects: brass-bound staff, fur-trimmed robes

Movements: long strides or absolute stillness.  Language and tone: long-winded, temperate.

Ash Wife      Effects: Pale grey-green cloak, gilt chains.

Movements: choppy, whip-like.       Language and tone: Insinuating, somewhat sing-song.

Reluctant Knave     Effects: Ornate jerkin, axe, dagger, wineskin

Movements: furtive, pained.        Language and tone: Low-pitched, embarrassed

Armed Ploughman         Effects: Pistol, scrip, staff.

Movements: straight lines, head erect.        Language and tone: Platitudinous, sincere.

Velvet Burgher Effects: ruff, sash, tall hat

Movements: distracted, unfocused.        Language and tone: mealy-mouthed soft.

Kindly Death         Effects: White metal circlet, chalice, long cloak.

Movements: twining, unobtrusive.       Language and tone: Deep-voiced, formal, polite.

Wasted Prelate Effects: Amulet, dusty robes, book. 

Movements: small steps, halting.    Language and tone: Thin-voiced, speculative, devotional, sorrowing. 

Messenger Effects: message pouch, whip, horn.

Movements: Swift, direct.           Language and tone: oddly modern, polemic.

Actions during the Rite

Outsiders may witness the Rite, but must remain silent. 

Picador Vansittart and Urgulanilla Guillemot will try to disrupt proceedings by forcing Sodality members out of character. Both may make deliberate mistakes, impertinent remarks or veiled seduction attempts. Minor magics are available to them.

Vansittart has obtained a exotic sabre as part of his costume. He may threaten others with this; he has not yet decided if murder will accomplish his aims. 

Hooke on his own is a target for the disruptors. If Hooke and Brand are united, they will put up a better defence (both afterwards will share a horror of birds). 

Coningsby, Yaffle and Alleline are the most dedicated to the orthodox Rite. 

Yaffle, Uexkull and Dalziel are the most likely to attempt violence as part of the Rite.

A List of Sodality Members

Together with their roles in the Rite, loose personality sketches and bird heads.

1. Hoopoe Tietjens.  [Hoopoe], Lamp-lit King, Generous, Intelligent but Inflexible
2. Picador Vansittart. [Magpie], Brimstone Cavalier, Innovative and Vicious
3. Raptora Uexkull.  [Kestrel], Maid in Red, Vivacious and Bloodthirsty
4. Iolanthe Wrenfield. [Wren], Grandmother of Dragons,  Kind but oblivious
5. Lanner Coningsby. [Lanner falcon], Brass Councillor, Irreverent and sardonic
6. Urgulanilla Guillemot. [Guillemot], Ash-Wife, Hedonistic and commanding
7. St. John Goldfinch. [Goldfinch], Reluctant Knave, Unfocused and arrogant
8. Clemency Yaffle. [Green woodpecker], Armed Ploughman, Dogged and unsubtle
9. Gymkhana Dabchick. [Dabchick], Velvet Burgher, Overfamiliar and earthy
10. Monedulus Alleline. [Jackdaw], Kindly Death, Worrisome perfectionist, loyal
11. Egret Dalziel. [Great white egret],Wasted Prelate, Envious, scrupulous
12. Hilarion Ptarmigan. [Ptarmigan], Messanger, Apathetic, gluttonous

Why are you at the Sodality?

1. A vintner has sent you to them with the matter of an unpaid bill.
2. The carpenter's wife hints darkly to you of their strange goings-on.
3. You know a wizard who will pay for the corpse of an Aviscaput.
4. Pavo Esterhazy has sent you to them with a letter of recommendation.
5. The local priest has asked you to take a message of goodwill.
6. A fisherman has lent out a boat, and it has not yet been returned.

Six Concepts in the Literature of the Rite

1. Repentant silence
2. The imminent and eternal desert
3. The sword in one hand, the trowel in the other
4. A timeless rose
5. Transcendental sight through constant purification
6. The constant note of horror and squalor

Costumes from the 1883 Cambridge Greek Play,
Aristophanes' The Birds.

All images found here.

I will post information on the inspiration for the above if requested in the comments. There is no intended Appendix N for the Sodality. Shouldn't even have posted the bird costumes, but they are good.

Harry Clarke Project: The Hawk-Dandy

Armour Class: as leather

Hit Dice: 4

Movement: twice that of a human, but they can fly.

Attacks: two elegant ritual blades, kept hidden under the robe. Charm spells, at the GM's discretion.

Damage: 2d6

No. Appearing: 1

Morale: 8

Treasure: rather little. The robe becomes rather less magnificent upon a Hawk-Dandy's death, the blades less sharp. Some Hawk-Dandies do keep trophies.

Alignment: Neutral

The Hawk-Dandy or Ornifopter appears as a comely young man stepping through thin air. He wears unfamiliar clothing, loose and robe-like, somewhat resembling feathers. Though it is largely unfamiliar, it nonetheless generally strikes the observer as being rather fine and costly. 

Hawk-Dandies dwell in the most impressive locations possible. If the Ornifopter is not poising artistically, or regarding others, or dropping a bon mot into a conversation, they will absent themselves. They dare not eat, groom or complete other personal tasks in the presence of others.They will in fact attempt to kill those that observe them bathing or dining. Pressing them for details of the same is foolish. 

This has meant that some see them as semi-divine, the equivalent of the Swan-Maidens that attend upon some in the Divine Realm. To intrude upon them would be an offence. To inquire after them would be fruitless. 

There is another account of the Hawk-Dandy. A Hawk-Dandy was once human - albeit a magically gifted one. Naturally, they attended one of the prestigious academies of magic. In such schools, there are those pupils that begin to focus less on their studies and more on the social scene and the possibilities fine clothes and delicate conversation can offer. More magic is focused on the self, upon image - and prestigious image at that. In time, a secret of magic becomes clear: your image can override the world around you. 

However, if you spend all your time looking cool, looking cool is about all your magic will offer to you: and you dare not stop looking cool. The student withdraws into the image and is consumed by it, becoming something of elegance and power - under narrow conditions. A Hawk-Dandy's former tutors regard them with pity and resignation, the way a chemistry teacher might regard a bright pupil now working for a notoriously vicious drug cartel.

The meeting of Hawk-Dandy with Hawk-Dandy often results in a duel. 

This has been a post for the Harry Clarke Project, started over at Cavegirl's Game Stuff. It is submitted under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/