Nalil 7, 5679

Gigantic birds hang high in the sky during the day. From what I understand, they search for prey, and swoop down when they spot something. We saw several flying between the sun and us this morning. I guess it makes it hard for prey to spot them. Dawn noticed them first, and pointed them out. One of them did swoop down toward us, but decided not to attack. It either thought us too dangerous, or was only curious about us. We later saw the birds swoop down toward something over the horizon, most likely something for them to eat.

Niahla’Sen suggested we go find the birds and get a closer look at them. We found them, gorged on several deer, and unable to take off. With beaks like eagles, slender necks like vultures, and wings longer than spears, they stood as tall as a person on their thick feet with long, sharp talons. They shrieked as we approached, and beat their wings in an attempt to intimidate. Most of their feathers were a bluish-black, but yellow feathers lined the top of the head and neck, fading to orange along the forward edge of the wings. Aside from the colors, the birds were grotesque, neither eagles nor vultures, and probably have a lifestyle just as strange. I do not find it too farfetched to imagine one of these birds trying to eat a person.

We killed one of the birds. Stretched out, each wing was the length of two spears, and some of the feathers were longer than my arm. The meat was actually much better than expected, and Tora’Sor managed to make a delicious pie for us to eat tonight, although I cannot guess when or where she got the flour for the dough. Seeing the truth in Dawn’s tale of the giant birds, Kellon is wondering about the giant bats she mentioned, and if those might be a bigger threat when we can’t see them in the dark.