Harpies

Harpies are the only halfbeast race with a non-mammalian animal’s attributes. They were created when the gods mixed the insulari with the golden eagles of the northern Ingenti Isles. Their torsos are relatively unchanged, as are their faces. Their arms, though, are replaced with the wings of eagles, and their feet with talons. All the hair on their bodies is gone, with fine golden feathers replacing it. Although they are widely thought of as beautiful by non-halfbeast races, the other halfbeasts (except for the sphinxes) shun them. This is because they have been forced to eat meat, their stomachs unable to digest plants. They always bless the animals they eat before killing them, and are as humane as possible, but that does nothing to dispel the ideas that the herbivorous halfbeasts have about them. This curse has led them to hate the gods more than any other race, practicing infernal magic just to spite them. Despite this, they bear no ill will towards other races, and in fact are the most open to outsiders of any halfbeast race. They rely greatly on trade, as their lack of hands limits their capacity for manufacturing. They organize themselves into an oligarchy formed from the members of the race considered by the people to be the wisest.