I think Galsic has done something quite brave here in showing Aerie's scars. It does, however, lead to something that bothers me considerably when it comes to anything that flies and that is the requirement for a serious bit of anchorage for both the wings and the muscles that power them. Let's do a bit of interpolation from here:
http://www.candlekee...les/avariel.htmand assume that the Avariel are very light boned. Taking note of this line:
'The hollow bones that enable them to fly make them frail, though their chests and shoulders are strong, powering their magnificent eagles' wings.'
It still bugs me that there is no mention of exactly how the wingroots are anchored. Before I continue, let me make it very clear that I am not - repeat,
not - knocking Galsic's interpretation of Aerie's scars. Where Galsic has drawn the scars directly above the shoulderblade, there is simply nowhere to anchor anything useful there. Allowing for the statements of strength and weight in the
DnD handbooks, I would expect the wingroots to stretch in a slight curve from the shoulders down as far as the waist. That way you have a lot of flexible bone underneath (the ribs) to create multiple anchorpoints and quite a lot of area to link the additional flight muscles to.
Of course, there is a downside; to have the strength in the flight muscles you need a good anchorpoint around the front (see the keelbone on a bird). Assuming that we don't want to get to quite that size (!), the muscle structure that an Avariel must have effectively rules out any female Avariel becoming a male teenage fantasy.
I've probably gone seriously OT here and before anyone demands that I illustrate what I preach, I can draw horses until the cows come home
, but I have no experience of drawing the human body as I've never studied it with a view to putting it to paper, as I have done with horses.
-Y-
A permanent LoR lurker.
- Tempest to me.
