Indrakai (5e Creature)

Medium beast, unaligned

Armor Class 13
Hit Points 45 (7d8 + 14)
Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft.

Skills Perception +6, Stealth +6
Senses passive Perception 16
Languages —
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)

Ambusher. The indrakai has advantage on attack rolls against any creature it has surprised.

Keen Sight. The indrakai has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

Flanged Feathers. The indrakai has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks while climbing.

Slippery. The indrakai has advantage on ability checks and saving throws made to escape a grapple.

Sure-Footed. The indrakai has advantage on Strength and Dexterity saving throws made against effects that would knock it prone.

The largest raptorial urvogels, the greatest of tricksters among the Pakardiant, and mascot of the firebird clade, indrakai (Archedolorakos indrakai) is one of the most well-known firebirds and among the most well-known of Pakardia's fauna. Initially evolved from a smaller species in the highlands, indrakai in a short period of time doubled in size to almost a meter at the hips and weighing between 150 and 200 pounds. Although firebirds as a whole are deeply significant to Pakardiant folklore, few are such a favorite character as Indrakai, even despite his more dubious actions.
King of the Firebirds. After the Dynastic Extinction 40 million years ago wiped out the large theropod clade that were Pakardia's dominant predators, a genus of firebirds, Archedolorakos, stepped up to the niche. Archedolorakos was the top predator for about 10 million years, from the wolf-sized and social A. lycornis to the half a ton A. orsetos. This reign however was not to last, as the northward movement of Pakardia not only made it feasible for fauna to island hop from Arvel and the Southern Islands, but also placed it within the territory of the Portal. This meant that a host of competitive species flooded Pakardia, from mammals taken during the Pleistocene harvests to dinosaurs, and pushed Archedolorakos to the fringes: A. lycornis were pushed out by wolves; the lowland species suffered competition from big cats; and the large bruiser species were outcompeted by the megaraptorans that would evolve into Pakardia's modern apex predator, the oritaku. This left the ancestor of the only remaining species of Archedolorakos found today, A. indrakai, who have seen great success despite the competition.
Though they cannot fly, indrakai do rely on large trees for safety, rapidly scaling the trunks with beats of their wings and their protractible talons serving as crampons. Home base is a large, roofed nest of intricately woven branches, though they can weave a temporary nest if on the edges of their territory. This skill is crucial for subadults as they wander before establishing a territory of their own. Indrakai is just as, if not more intelligent than karakai, with some naturalists arguing for their status as sophonts. Part of this is due to the intricately woven structures out of branches that seem to serve no purpose other than to alleviate boredom. Another part of this is their complex communication: although no cohesive language is recognized, indrakai display a wide variety of calls, most notably being the chilling howl similar to that of a loon but deeper in tone. Though they are the least social of firebirds, there is a great degree of teaching that goes into their 3 year childhood and they have been seen hunting in small groups, so perhaps indrakai is more social than given credit.
Silent Hunter of the Highlands. Indrakai are specialized ambush predators, feeding on a wide range of prey from large rodents and lagomorphs to the occasional ground sloth, although their favored prey is the trident deer and red elk which are extremely common in the forests of Pakardia. While they do explore other prey options seemingly out of bordem, indrakai seem to always go to deer as their staple prey. They prefer to strike from above, aiming their grasping talons for the lower back before rending the prey with bites to the neck. While indrakai are not common in the denser lowland forests and are almost entirely absent from the more arid southern coasts, they are the most abundant large predator of Pakardia's highlands by a significant margin. Oritaku are the dominant predators here, but they prefer much larger game than indrakai do on average. Red panthers do share overlap with range and sometimes prey, but generally prefer to stick to the wetlands, and while leopards are a problem in the lowlands, they are quite rare in the highlands perhaps due to competition from indrakai. Wolves aren't common in indrakai territory as they are almost exclusively found in the arid lowlands of Pakardia.
One predator alone is a great thorn in the side of indrakai in Pakardiant folklore, and that is the noasaur^[1] weochetu'ka. What's more surprising is that this is supported by actual accounts, as the two species seem to share a kill on sight opinion for the other, despite the firebird preferring deer and the noasaur preferring sloths and thescelosaurs. The rivalry does make literary sense from a cultural perspective, the elegant, agile, clever bird dancing around the thuggish, armored, dull noasaur, though the latter is much more equipped for a straight up brawl. Their rivalry is one of the most recognized and brutal in Pakardiant stories, most notable of which is how Weochetu'ka lost his arms: he once had the greatest arms of all beasts before he lost a test of strength to Indrakai, who gave the strength of their arms to humans for archery. This is why in folklore weochetu'ka rip the arms off humans before swallowing them whole, although the truth of the matter is that human shoulders are too broad to do so.
Great Trickster of Pakardia. In Pakardiant folklore, tricksters are beloved characters and firebird is one of the four great families of trickster spirits. Among firebird, Indrakai is the greatest of them all and as such, Indrakai is the greatest of tricksters. He is a mastermind who sees the laws of magic and nature as a challenge, ever pushing the limits but never breaking the rules themselves. It is said that Indrakai has helped mankind in many ways: as said above he took arm strength from Weochetu'ka to give humanity archery, but he also stole arm speed from Viper; and by stealing hair from the Sky Queen, Indrakai graced humanity with fire. However, Indrakai is not purely a hero: just as often he is vindictive if not downright malicious, and many of his tricks have brough great ills, most notable being what he did to Kaimerans' great spirit: all animals in Pakardiant belief have a great spirit, a god that personifies them, but a prank on the part of Indrakai almost destroyed Human, which was only forstalled when he put a piece of her shattered spirit into each of her bodies. This is why Kaimerans have their hereditary magic that lets them live so long, a soul that gives them a piece of divinity, and despite the heinous act of shattering our great spirit, Indrakai is generally seen as a protector and champion of Pakardia.