Alkonost

Alkonost

Bird of Happiness

These celestial creatures are the relatives of shedu, colourful birds with human heads (sometimes they wear colourful crowns or headdresses). They live throughout all Upper Planes and can have any good alignment, however they prefer Celestia, Elysium and Arborea, as these planes have great seas, which are necessary in alkonost lifestyle. Alkonost’s singing heals its allies and removes mental conditions such as charms and madness. Meanwhile, enemies hearing this song have their mind dazzled and ill intentions suppressed. Alkonosts live in communities, but in this groups they create stable pairs.

Surprisingly, alkonosts are amphibious and can survive high pressure of the deep sea. A flock of alkonosts creates a shared nest deep at the bottom of the sea. Their eggs are adapted to high pressure and low temperature and will burst if taken to the surface. When little alkonosts are hatched, their parents guide them to the coastal waters, while feeding them milk (apparently, these things also have the glands needed). After a month of living underwater, baby alkonosts come ashore and start learning to fly and talk.

Sirin

Sirin are alkonosts who have fallen to evil or neutrality. They prefer solitude, and their singing doesn’t heal. Instead, it kills especially weak creatures and charms others. It is not known where exactly Sirin raise their young (if they even do). Seas of the Lower Planes aren’t exactly great for children. Perhaps, Sirin have a way to reach the Seventh Sea?

Statistics: Creature Codex [PF1e]; CR12

Sources: Margarita and Jon Winter-Holt. This is a homebrew addition to the lore. Margarita notes: While this adaptation is heavily based on Slavic folklore and beliefs, I must warn you. The amount of actual information we have on pre-Christian Slavic deities is so minuscule that building any kind of lore out of it is impossible. However, there’s a lot of folk beliefs about things these deities are thought to represent.