Overview
The Storm-Eagle is the cliff's own, and it is the size of a door, and it rides the storm the way a thing rides that was made for it. It is the highest thing that flies the high places, and it sees the small thing from the top of the weather, and the small thing is its, and the taking is the whole of the day. It carries a wingspan of 3.05 m, and the wings are wide as a door and long as the body is tall, and the door is the whole of the eagle's own.
Habitat
The Storm-Eagle keeps the high places — the sheer stone and the thin, cold air of Eaglepeak. It is the peak's own, and the peak is the eagle's, and the eagle keeps the peak the way the peak keeps its air. It needs three things: a rise of air that does not fail, a ledge wide enough for the talon, and a storm that does not end. It is settled at the peak with hunting-lines over the high places, and the nest is on the wide summit where the air is thin and the weather is the eagle's own. A Storm-Eagle that has not flown the storm in a season is called the one who forgot the door, because the door is the whole of the eagle's own.
Appearance
The Storm-Eagle is the wide, slow shape — broad across the wing, long in the body, with the head set high and the whole of it reading as one wide line from beak to tail. The male carries a wingspan of 3.05 m and 6 kg to 7 kg, the head white, the body dark, the beak hooked and the colour of bone; the female carries 3.5 m of wing, 7 kg to 8 kg, 46 cm wider than the male, the same white head, the same dark body, and the same eye. The feather is the coat, and the feather is the wing, and the feather is the whole of the life — the base plumage is a deep slate-grey across the body and the wing, and the head is a clean white that comes with the age, and the white head is the mark, because the white head that is clean is the white head the peak knows. The eye is the mark of the breed — large, dark, set forward, and built to see the small thing at a distance that the eye of the land beast cannot reach — and it does not glow, but it is the eye that sees the top of the weather. The beak is hooked and the colour of bone, and it is the taking, and the taking is the whole of the day. The foot has four toes — three forward, one back — and the toes end in the claw, long and curved and black, and the black claw is the whole of the answer. The white head is the mark of the line, and the door is the whole of the flight. The male carries the line in the head and the beak; the female carries it in the wing and the eye. Elders are marked by a white head gone full and clean and a wing whose tips have worn to a ragged, honest fraying — an old Storm-Eagle is one the peak still lets pass, because the peak that has let an old eagle pass once lets it pass always. The eagle wears no clothing, and the not-wearing is the whole of the eagle's own, because the eagle that is the peak's own does not wear the peak's own.
Behaviour
The Storm-Eagle is the wide, slow thing, and the slowness is the whole of the behaviour. It does not chase, and it does not fight, because the chasing is the whole of the waste, and the waste is not the eagle's own. It comes down the way a thing comes down that has already decided, and the deciding is the whole of the law, because the eagle that has decided is the eagle the small thing does not escape. It rides the storm the way a thing rides that was made for it, and the riding is the whole of the day, because the storm that is the eagle's own is the storm the eagle keeps. A female is the better hunter, and the better-hunting is the whole of the argument, because the female that hunts is the female the peak knows, and the male keeps the nest, and the nest keeps the female. The two signature quirks: the flight is long and slow and sure, on the current, with the wing barely moving — the barely-moving is the whole of the door — and the talon comes down the way a thing comes down that has already decided, and the coming-down is the whole of the taking.
Natural Weapons & Defenses
The talon is the whole of the answer, and the talon is the taking, and the taking is the day. It is long and curved and black, and the black is the whole of the claw, because the claw that is black is the claw the small thing does not escape. The wing is the defense, and the door is the whole of the defense, because the door that is wide is the door the eye does not measure. The eagle does not fight the small thing, and the small thing does not find the eagle, and the not-finding is the whole of the law, because the eagle that is the peak's own is the eagle the eye does not count. The beak is the second answer, and the hooked bone is the whole of the taking, because the beak that is hooked is the beak the small thing does not escape.
Magic Alignment
Innate only — no school. The Storm-Eagle has the Storm-Ride — the flight that rides the storm the way a thing rides that was made for it, and the riding is the whole of the day. It has the Top-Sight — the eye that sees the small thing from the top of the weather, and the seeing is the whole of the taking. It has the Door-Wing — the wing that is wide as a door and barely moves on the current, and the barely-moving is the whole of the flight. The eagle has no word, and the word is not the eagle's, and the not-being is the whole of the eagle's own.
Society
The Storm-Eagle is the pair thing, and the pair is the whole of the family. The male keeps the nest, and the female hunts, and the pair is the whole of the law, because the pair that keeps the nest is the pair the peak does not count. The nest is on the wide summit, and the summit is the whole of the home, because the home that is the summit is the home the peak keeps. There is no pack, and the not-having is the whole of the eagle's own, because the eagle that is the peak's own does not keep a pack, and the not-keeping is the whole of the law. A female is the better hunter, and the better-hunting is the whole of the argument, because the argument is the whole of the season.
Culture & Lore
The high folk count the eagle by the white head on the cliff. A white head on the cliff means the Storm-Eagle is home, and the home is the whole of the promise. A white head on the wing means the Storm-Eagle is hunting, and the hunting is the whole of the day. The cry is thin and high and it carries the way the wind carries, and the high places know the cry before the eye does, and the knowing-before is the whole of the law. The hunter does not take the nest, and the not-taking is the whole of the law, because the nest that is taken is the peak's own, and the peak's own is the peak. The old ones say the eagle is the peak's own, and the peak's own is the peak's door, and the door is the eagle's, and the eagle keeps it the way the peak keeps its air.
Home
They keep Eaglepeak, the single sheer peak of bare stone whose summit is wide enough to hold a nest, where the air is thin and the weather is the eagle's own. The peak is the eagle's own, and the eagle's own is the peak.
Relations
The Storm-Eagle is the peak's own, and the high folk keep their distance at the ledge, and the distance is the whole of the law, because the eagle that is the peak's own is the peak's own. The Eaglepeak's vantari keep the feather-promise with the eagle, and the keeping is the whole of the bond, because the eagle that is the peak's own is the one the peak keeps. The hunters of the high places take the small thing of the cliff and not the eagle, and the not-taking is the whole of the law. The Forgotten of the high places keep the eagle as the peak's door, and the keeping is the whole of the bond, because the door that is the peak's own is the one the peak keeps.
In the Story
In the current story, the Storm-Eagle is the door on the peak — the wide, slow thing Uaellaen writes about when the weather is the eagle's. The Forgotten keep their distance at the ledge, and the distance has held for two seasons. This season a white head crossed the peak at the hour the storm was not there, and the crossing is the whole of the warning, because the eagle that crosses when the storm is not there is the eagle the peak has not counted, and the not-counting is the whole of the loss. The peak is keeping the air, and the keeping is the page the camp has not been shown.