S o n g s  o f b e a u t y .   .  .

by Barbara E. Curtis

"So . . . you seek something from me.?"
The silver-haired sage chuckled to himself
as he poured a cup of mulled wine for his
guest. "It must be quite important, for I
have very few visitors."

I don't doubt that,  Colin thought, recalling
the long miles of barren wasteland he
had crossed ot reach the sage's dwelling. It
had been hard going even for a ranger.
"People from the Northlands say that
you've studied animals and their behavior.
I need some advice. Some strange creautres
have made the main road into my
village their home, and for the past three
months they've been attacking innocent
travelers."

?Do you know what these creatures are
called?? D?driand asked, his tone a bit
more businesslike as he handed Colin the
cup of wine and sat in the carved chair
across from him.

?I think someone told me they were
called harpies,? the ranger said. ?I?ve never
actually seen one myself, but those few
who have seen them and lived to tell of it
after have said that a harpy has the face
and upper body of a hideous woman, and
the lower body and wings of a vulture.?

?Those indeed sound like harpies, my
friend,? D?driand said. ?Three months, you
say? You might have more of a problem
than you?ve bargained for ? they probably have claimed that area as their tribal
land.?
 

?Tribal land??

?I had not heard that there were any
harpies in the Northlands, but it?s possible
that they?ve moved north because their old
hunting lands have become depleted,?
D?driand said, intertwining his fingers
thoughtfully. ?If the entire tribe has settled
there, you have a definite cause for worry.
An average tribe consists of fifty to two
hundred members. They aren?t very
bright, but they?re smart enough to realize
there?s safety in numbers."

?Not very encouraging,? Colin grunted,
staring into his cup. ?How do you get rid
of harpies?"

?Drive them away,? D'driand replied. ?It?s
not easy, but far easier than trying to kill
them all off. At this point, you have one of
two choices: move your village to a safer
location, or show enough power that the
harpies will flee. They aren?t known for
their bravery."

"But I think we?re dealing with a very
small tribe. I haven't heard of any group
larger than a dozen."

"Tribes are rare,? D?driand said, ?but not
unknown. Harpies usually exist in smaller
packs, or ?screams,? and almost never hunt
in groups larger than twelve. In cases of
extreme necessity, however, harpies have
been known to band together in small
tribes. In fact, unless you had spent as
much time as I have studying the harpies,
you wouldn?t even know they were tribal
at all. Since their hunting grounds usually
spread over a five- to ten-mile radius, no
more than a dozen will ever been seen at
one time. Their lairs are grouped together,
but that?s all."

"Would the village be part of their hunting
grounds as well?" Colin asked.

"I'm not sure. Have any of the farmers in
your area lost grazing animals?"

"Jarlath, a farmer right on the edge of
the village, said that he lost about ten
sheep last week."

D'driand nodded. ?Just as I thought. Be
careful of grazing animals as well. Harpies
have voracious appetites and will eat just
about anything. The road into your village
probably has a lot of travelers on it daily,
so it presents an almost constant supply of
food. Men, women, children, beasts of
burden ? nothing is safe.? D?driand
stretched his feet out in front of him,
sighed, and continued. ?Harpies are
strictly carnivores. Oh, I have heard that
in times of famine harpies will eat vegetation,
but only when meat has been unavailable
for some time. They prefer fresh
meat, especially that of humans, humanoids,
and demi-humans. Elf is a particularly
rare treat, for reasons I shall explain
later. However, harpies could hardly be
termed fussy eaters and will eat just about
anything, including carrion.?

?If they have such ravenous appetites
and will attack anything to eat it, why
don?t they attack large groups?? Colin
asked. ?We have caravans passing through
on their way to Rhelmar by that road, but
I?ve never heard of even one harpy attack
on them.?

?As I mentioned before, harpies are
generally quite cowardly and won?t get
into a fight they don?t believe they can
win.?

?But there are so many females,? Colin
said. ?I?ve never heard of even one male
harpy. Do harpies live forever and never
need to reproduce??

?The males look like females; the only
difference between them are the actual
biological functions of reproduction,?
D?driand explained, taking Colin?s empty
cup to refill it. ?Despite the fact that all
harpies have the appearance of breasts on
their upper bodies, that is all it is: an appearance.
Harpies do not nurse their
young. Instead, young are fed in the same
manner as are bird fledglings. Actual roles
of males and females in the tribe are identical.
Both hunt and both care for the
fledglings. And harpies hardly live forever
? perhaps twenty-five or thirty years at
the most.?

?How much bigger will a tribe become??
?A healthy female becomes fertile by the
age of two and may lay as many as twenty
eggs in her lifetime, though only an average
of three may live to maturity. Many of
the eggs simply won?t hatch. If a harpy is
born with any obvious deformities, its
parents kill it shortly after hatching. If
there are more than one fledgling in the
nest, the stronger of them always kills the
weaker ones. The harpies see this as completely
natural; the weak have no right to
live. This works in the opposite way as
well: when a harpy grows too old and
feeble to hunt on its own, becomes crippled
or sickly, or is in any other way incapable
of taking care of itself for any
period of time, other tribe members kill it,
for it is a burden to the tribe.? D?driand
handed Colin the refilled cup. ?If left to
nature, a harpy tribe won?t become significantly
larger,? he added as he sat down
again.

?Well, I have a pretty good idea of what
they are and why they have been attacking.
? Colin said, pushing aside a stray wisp
of dark hair. ?Here?s the real question: how
do they attack??

?If they had been forced to rely on their
teeth, claws, and wits, they never would
have survived very long. Whatever evil
caused the harpies to be created also saw
to it that they were given a unique and
terrible attack. A harpy has a song that
would put all the birds of the world to
shame -- a song that makes listeners risk
life and limb to find the creature that
produces such a beautiful sound. Some do
resist the charm, but not many. Once they
are under the effect of the harpy?s song,
the victim seeks out the harpy that
charmed him and stays under the effect
even when he sees how ugly the harpy
actually is. The victim won?t actually engage
in combat since he does not realize
what has happened, but he may try to
persuade his companions that the harpy
means them no harm.?

"Can the charm be broken"?

?Yes; but there are only three ways I
know of doing so,? D?driand told him.

?First, if one of the victim?s companions is
unaffected by the spell, he might call out
to the victim and try to convince him of
the harpy?s intent, though there is no
guarantee that this will work. The second
way is for a sorcerer or holy man to cast a
spell to rid the victim of the charm or the
magic that caused it. The last way is to kill
the harpy itself.

?In case the song didn?t work, or if the
person has broken the song?s charm, there
is another way that a harpy can charm its
victim. More powerful than the song, this
way makes the victim see the harpy as a
beloved friend worthy of his protection. It
is a magical touch that sends a powerful
charm through the victim.?

?Can you use the same ways to break
this type of charm as with the songcharm?
?

?The only way to remove this type is to
kill the harpy responsible, for this charm
puts a stronger hold on the victim than the
song does.? D?driand picked up a fireplace
poker and began to stir the glowing embers.
?In this case, the person will physically
try to defend the harpy and thwart
any attempts to kill it, so this can be a
major problem. If you plan on taking a
group of people to defeat them, it would
be to your benefit to take those with elven
blood, for they have a natural resistance
to the powers of the harpy. This is why
harpies find them to be such a delicacy,
for elves are difficult to charm and are
therefore a rare treat.?

"If a person is under the effect of the
song-charm and is touched by a harpy,
does this strengthen the spell it has over
its victim?"

?No. The power isn?t cumulative. The
only way for a harpy to strengthen it to
that point is to break the song-charm and
then touch its victim. Harpies can break
the charm immediately ? all it takes is for
it to physically attack its victim. However,
it likes to wait until there is no one around
to help its victim and no chance for the
victim to escape once the charm has been
released. It disarm its prey first, and once
its victim is completely vulnerable, it attacks
and gains an early advantage.?

?If people have broken the charm once,
can they do it again later??

"Not exactly.? D?driand replaced the
poker and carefully placed another log on
the fire. ?However, those who have been
taken by harpy charm and have broken it
themselves seem to be more resistant to it
in the future. People cannot be charmed
by the same type of charm twice in one
battle."

Colin nodded. ?Good. I think I have a
good idea of how to defeat them.? The
ranger suddenly looked sad and stared
into his cup. ?Would that it was not sooner.
More travelers? lives could have been
saved. One thing was very odd. A few of
us ventured to find some of the missing
people; we found a few remains, but apparently
none of their belongings were
touched."

"That's very typical," D'driand said. "Harpies
do not care for treasure for treasure?s
sake. What use is it to them? They take
only one item from each victim back to
their lairs as a memento of the kill, for
having many items from victims is a sort
of status symbol in harpy society.

?If you went to a lair of a harpy, you
probably wouldn?t find much of value.
Most of their victims are wayward travelers
and pilgrims ? people who would
not have much of value in the first place,
perhaps a ring or a pouch of coins. Never
would you find gold, platinum, jewels, and
magical items of any worth or great
power. There is no reason for a harpy to
prefer a large gem over a tinderbox. A
harpy might take a small weapon such as a
dagger that it could carry and use in flight,
and may even make weapons out of the
bones of victims. Most likely what you
would find are worthless items: remains of
victims, dung, feathers, or whatever the
harpy might have dragged in for one
reason or another. They aren?t the cleanest
of creatures.?

The old man?s gray eyes lit up as he rose
to unlock an ornate wooden chest next to
him. ?I have something that might help
you on your most laudable quest. It will
help you far more than it will ever help
me.? He opened the lid and fumbled inside
the chest, taking out curious objects that
Colin longed to inspect but was polite
enough not to touch. D?driand stood and
handed the young ranger a bone scroll
case. Colin began to work the stopper
from the top of the case, but the sage
stopped him.

"Not yet,? he warned. ?Reading the scroll
inside will protect you and your companions
from the charms of the harpies ? but
take care! Time your reading well, for the
scroll?s power does not last forever.?
 

?I?ll do that,? Colin said with a grin, stuffing
the case into his pack. ?I cannot tell
you how much I appreciate your help, and
how much my people will appreciate it.
But I can?t stay any longer ? every minute
I am away is another minute for the harpies
to gain their hold.? He slung the pack
over one broad shoulder and handed the
sage a small pouch of coins. D?driand
walked with him in silence to the door. As
the ranger disappeared into the light fog
that had settled, he waved and called back,
?I?ll tell everyone what you?ve done for
them. Good-bye, and thank you!?

The sage waved back, but his expression
darkened as he turned back into his home.
and walked to the parlor. Next to the
hearth, a winged humanoid warmed its
hands by the fire. It turned and eyed the
sage suspiciously, and began to speak in a
garbled tongue that was filled with bird
cries and twisted human speech. ?What
did you tell the human about my people??
she asked.

"Doesn't matter,? D?driand replied, answering
pleasantly in the same odd language.
?I gave him a scroll that will make
him completely open to your charm,
Thanata. Your feathered folk will be able
to finish settling in as planned."
 

. . . Songs of death
by Ed Greenwood

?A foul creature, the harp,? Elminster
said, drawing on his pipe, and made flapping
motions with his hands to underline
the pun. I groaned obediently (the things I
do for the money!) and made sure the tape
recorder was on. ?It?s also called the siren,
you know,? he added grandly.

?Oh, really?? I replied with feigned astonishment,
and passed him the cookies.

He took one, bit into it, and thus heartened,
covered me with a fine spray of tiny
chocolate chip cookie particles (thank
goodness it wasn?t chip dip) as he began
the tale of the bard Melazzar and the
harpies of Dark Crag. Here?s an edited
version (without the cookie spray):
Melazzar of Waterdeep, now old and
respected, was once a young wanderer
learning his minstrelry about the inns and
taverns of the North. One fall, he was
traveling with a small caravan in the deep
woods betwixt Silverymoon and Triboar,
and during a late night around the campfire,
he drank far too much and wandered
off into the trees by himself, feeling very
ill. He was leaning against a tree, sweating
and feeling as if he might die, when he
heard a soft, unearthly maiden?s call from
the darkness beyond. Melazaar was astonished
and listened intently; it came again,
and from the fire he heard some of his
companions get up and come to investigate.
He crouched very still behind a tree
and watched four of his fellows go right
past him ? and was then very sick.

When he had recovered somewhat, he
followed, for the curious, haunting calls
continued ? from farther off in the forest,
it seemed. At length, the moonlight grew
stronger ahead, and Melazzar saw that
there was a small clearing. About it large
creatures seemed to be perched in the
trees ? it was hard to see exactly what in
the darkness ? and his companions stood
in the clearing looking about, swords out
and uncertain. Then a soft, feminine call
came from the tree above him, startling
Melazzar to no end. He stood immobile as
several of his fellows came towards the
tree, peering about and calling wary greetings.
Then the branches above danced as
something large spread wings and glided
out into the clearing; and Melazzar saw
other things launch themselves from the
trees about, angling down towards his
comrades.

?Look out!? he yelled, then. ?An attack!
Brorim! Helmar! They attack from the air!?
and he drew the knife from his belt. From
the air above came shrieks of anger and a
strange snarling, spitting speech ? and
hurled daggers that flashed in the moonlight
as they struck down the luckless
Brorim before Melazzar?s eyes. Helmar
was more fortunate; he got his blade up
and got under a tree, and his attackers
circled away. Across the clearing, however,
one of the merchants ? a fat man
called Yhelger ? was dragged into the air
in the grip of two of the flying creatures;
Melazzar saw with a shock that he seemed
not to want to resist them. Further, he saw
that these monsters had the faces and
forms of women, with the wings, claws,
and tails of birds!

There was a flash of light in the air
above the clearing, and another, and Melazzar
saw that the senior merchant in the
caravan, Crommor the Theurgist, had
arrived. The pyrotechnics was of his making,
and before it the creatures shrieked
and flapped away. Yhelger was carried
aloft with them, although Crommor was
gesturing and muttering like a madman.
Before the merchant disappeared above
the trees, a globe of radiance grew about
him from nothingness to a calm, steady
glow. "Follow that light!? Crommor roared.
?Head for high ground!? Helmar, Melazzar,
and all the others plunged into the trees,
crashing through branches and waving
their blades and staves.

They soon lost sight of Yhelger, and
Crommor rather grimly called off the
search. They buried Brorim and returned
to the camp to find the fire low. Crommor
said only, ?You stay up until morning, boy.
Helmar, stay with him and see he stays
awake. If you hear those calls again, play
on your harp loud, and sing, too ? anything
loud, mind; just make a noise!?

The calls did not come again that night,
and in the morning Crommor said, ?Now
we seek their lair ? we faced harpies last
night, and Yhelger is a dead man by now.
If we do not find the harpies now ? and
beware their touch! ? they will follow us
and attack by night, taking us a few at a
time. Come on!?

The entire band left mounts and wagons
and set off into the woods. Crommor
directed them towards a row of rocky
crags some miles away ? for that, he said,
is where their lair must be. And he was
right; in a rift between Dark Crag and the
next one, they found ten of the grotesque
creatures, and what was left of Yhelger.

The creatures rose into the air with
shrieks, but Crommor?s magic and the
hurled weapons of the caravaners felled
six harpies, and the rest fled. So Melazzar
first met harpies, and composed his first
ballad, which is generally considered
pretty bad ? but this is not surprising,
considering the difficulty of finding pretty
rhymes for ?Crommor? and ?Yhelger.?
When his tale was done, I questioned
Elminster closely about harpies in hopes of
passing on what I could to you, and this is
the result.

Notes

1. Harpy songs draw prey as follows: All
creatures who hear a single call are alerted
to further calls; they strain to hear
more, even if asleep. Such calls are typically
audible up to 190? distant; wind and
storm lessens or ends their effectiveness.
Upon hearing a second such call, creatures
must save vs. spells or proceed toward the
origin of the call. Creatures who are prevented
or restrained seek to win past such
restrictions, though they are not ?entranced.
? Any fighting that occurs angers
an allured victim, but he listens to warnings;
if he manages to investigate the calls
further, he will be normally alert. Only
one person can be affected by one harpy
at any one time, for this is a bond that
requires some concentration on the part
of the harpy. If the victim breaks the
charm, the harpy is free to charm another
victim. Saving throws against the lure of
harpy calls are made as follows:

+6 if the allured character is a bard;
+5 if the character is affected by
magical fear when the call is heard;
+4 if the character is experienced
with harpies ? having heard such calls
before and found out the source;
+1 if the character has, within the last
year, made a successful saving throw
against a harpy-touch charm;
-1 if character has, within the last year,
failed to save against a harpy-touch charm;
-3 if character is asleep or drowsy;
and,
-3 if character is warned about or has
never heard of harpies.

All saving throw modifiers are cumulative.
Note also that creatures under the
influences of feeblemind, stun, charm, and
confusion spells are immune to the effects
of harpy calls. This is true also of some
forms of insanity; although a kleptomaniac
is affected by harpy calls as normal, a
catatonic is immune to them. It is up to the
DM to decide which forms of insanity and
mental disorder are applicable.

If the save vs. spells is unsuccessful
against the song-charm, the victim falls
under the influence of the charm as described
above. The victim won?t directly
aid the harpy, for the spell cannot create
that strong a bond. A second save vs.
spells at -4 may be given if one of the
victim?s companions, not affected by the
charm, tries to convince the victim of the
harpy?s intent. This can only be done once
per individual affected. A remove charm
or dispel magic also work.

Bards instantly realize a harpy call for
what it is. A bard may have some suspicions
if he has never heard the call before,
since it is easy for the bard to distinguish
it from human singing or calling. As a
result, the bard still maintains his resistance
to the call. The musical playing and
singing of a bard of any level negates the
charming powers of a harpy call for all
who are within hearing range of the bard.

Any skilled singer can vocally negate
harpy calls with a 25% chance of success,
since sheer volume is often enough to
negate these effects. Such chances of
success increase by 5% for each previous
occasion upon which the singer has successfully
offset the effects of a harpy?s call.
In a like manner, the playing of a lyre of
building, the legendary Heward's mystical
organ, or any instrument of the bards
offsets harpy calls (the player need not be
a bard in such instances). Thunderclaps or
sounds of battle similarly disrupt the lure
of harpy calls, as does the deliberate use
of items such as a chime of opening, any
magical biwa or bell, a ring of human
influence, staff of command, rod of beguiling,
or rod of rulership. None of these
items, however, prevent charm effects
from a harpy?s touch. A ring of contrariness
prevents both the lure and the charm
of a harpy?s call from taking effect; a wand
of enemy detection reveals calling harpies
or harpies attempting to charm characters
by touch. Oil of disenchantment breaks a
harpy charm, but it won?t prevent the lure
of harpy calls.

Beings who are deafened, comatose, or
in a deep sleep or trance are immune to
the lure of harpy calls; as previously mentioned,
beings already under a charm or
hypnotic suggestion are similarly unaffected.
A harpy touch charm breaks such
existing charms or suggestions, but won?t
be useful in charming the character after
that point. Nevertheless, a harpy is allowed
a subsequent charm attempt in
such cases. Use of a ventriloquism spell or
a potion of ventriloquism gives a character
capable of imitating a harpy call a 70%
chance per round to offset harpy calls by
making counter-calls in the opposite direction.
This tactic always brings bewildered
and furious harpies to investigate. A silence
spell also prevents the effects of a
harpy song-charm. Note: harpies are themselves
immune to bardic or other magical,
musical charms or suggestions, and their
own ability to charm gives them a 90%
magic resistance to charm spells cast upon
them.

2. Harpies can cast charm monster by
touch; this is an act of will and of limited
natural magic, and is usable without limi-
tation. Touch-charm is more powerful
than a song-charm, and is therefore much
more difficult to accomplish. For a touchcharm
to be successful, the harpy must
get a firm hold on the intended victim ?
in other words, it must score a hit on the
victim two points over the required ?to
hit? number. No damage is taken when the
intent is to use a touch-charm, and a
harpy may make no other attacks or
actions while the charm is being attempted.

All target creatures are allowed a
save vs. spells to avoid charm effects by
touch, and any creature that saves against
or throws off a harpy?s charm becomes
immune to all subsequent charm attempts
(whether by the same harpy or another)
for 6-9 turns, as a harpy?s charm cannot
affect an aware, excited, and opposed will.
Harpies typically charm prey and get
such prey to freely allow the harpies to
carry them off to the harpy lair ? typically
along a circuitous route, involving
short ?hops? made at low altitudes, so that
observers won?t be able to follow the
harpies to their lair. Once a charmed victim
is in the lair, the harpy disarm him of
all obvious weapons, and there is a 50%
chance that it also searches for concealed
weapons or other items and removes them
as well. Other charmed victims, if any are
around while this is going on, remain
oblivious to the situation. Remember that
the charm is broken once any harpy
makes a physical attack upon the victim. If
a person under the touch-charm of a
harpy is carried bodily away by his companions
before the charm is broken, he
attempts to escape at the first opportunity
to find the harpy again. The only way to
remove this type of charm is by killing the
harpy that touched the victim. If the spell
is not broken, it wears off after one week.
Favorite prey among harpies include
shepherds or herdsmen: once the handlers
are taken care of, the livestock become
easy, plentiful prey. Such disappearances
are often blamed on bandits or raiding
brigands; as a result, searchers and posses
never expect to find the harpies actually
responsible. Only when the prey is safely
in the lair will a harpy attack and torture
it, thus breaking the charm. Harpies are
exceedingly cruel and enjoy inflicting pain,
but many activities described as torture by
survivors and observers are actually used
as training lessons for harpy chicks. Under
the guidance of their elders, chicks are
taught the various attacks and hunting
techniques employed by their species. For
example, a favorite tactic demonstrated to
chicks to teach them cooperation is the
slaying of prey between two harpies,
lifting it into midair and pulling it apart by
flying in opposite directions. Other tactics
include dropping rocks from above while
flying and raking prey with weapons
captured from earlier prey as they pass
over the victim. Large or especially powerful
prey is often carried to the lair under
the effects of the charm and dropped onto
the rocks below, to disable the creature

before the harpy moves to close combat
for its final attacks.

3. In battle, harpies often plummet and
rake with their claws, but prefer to drop
rocks or hurl weapons at their victims
from a safe distance. A harpy lights upon
its prey and bites only when the prey
appears disabled or weak. A harpy bite does 1-6 hp damage;
if a wound causes 2 + hp damage, it has a 3% chance of passing
on a blood, cardiovascular-renal, or connective-tissue disease of an acute, severe nature (see the DMG, pages 13-14).
Contact with harpy filth carries a 6% chance of contracting a parasitic infestation (see the DMG, pages 13-14).
Harpies
befoul only what they cannot take back to
their lair; they are sloppy, filthy creatures,
but they do not deliberately foul their own
lairs.
Harpies always try to cripple the wings
of flying prey before making other attacks
(they have no desire to fight an aerial
creature on equal terms), and usually
screech warnings and instructions to each
other during battle, secure in the knowledge
that their language is obscure and
difficult to translate. Harpies are dangerous
carnivores, but they are essentially
cowards. Many potential victims have
escaped their clutches by scaring the
harpies with displays of magic or a show
of superior force. Harpies overcome this
innate cowardice by hunting in packs
known as ?screams,? which number from
2-12 harpies. From this hunting pack, the
phrase ?a scream of harpies? has been
derived. Harpies have poor infravision (4?)
and only slightly better ultravision (6?); in
daylight, their sight is equal to that of a
man, although they notice movements on
the ground much more keenly when aloft.

4. Within a scream, female harpies lay
eggs if their numbers ever fall to four or
less. Within larger tribes, harpies pair off
normally, laying eggs when the tribe decreases
to fifty or less. If too many young
result during hatching, the weaker harpies
are slain by the other members of the
scream or tribe. When strengthening the
numbers of the scream or tribe, harpies
lay 1-3 eggs each, once every 40 days.
Only 30% of the freshly laid eggs are
fertile; these eggs must be sat on to keep
them warm (a task shared in rotation by
all of the adult members of the scream) for
11-20 days before they hatch. Eggs that do
not hatch after a month are devoured by
the members of the scream. Young harpies
are born with 1+1 HD, no ability to
charm, attacks of 1/1/1-2 hp damage; and
are unable to fly. The young are defended
with great ferocity by their parents and
are seldom molested by the rest of the
scream unless they appear deformed.
When harpy young are present, the
scream hunts almost endlessly so that the
chicks can grow rapidly and assist the
scream in hunting. A chick grows to its
full size and capacity of attacks, and develops
skill in its use of song and power to
hold prey under the influence of its
charm, in 1d4 + 14 days. A month after
its birth, the harpy gains the ability to
charm by touch. When the young harpy
finally learns to fly (a process that takes an
additional week or so and is characterized
by a comical series of hops and tumbles
about the lair), it makes its first venture
out of the lair. A harpy can always make at
least a few short flying hops before it ever
leaves the safety of the lair. Harpies are
clumsy fliers at best, since their flight is
often a matter of heavy flapping, short
swoops, and quick exhaustion if forced to
fly long distances.
Harpies possess maneuverability class C.
Young female harpies
are able to lay eggs of their own after they
are two years of age, and are known to
live up to 60 winters in extreme cases,
although their dangerous lifestyle usually
warrants a longevity of 12 to 20 years. If a
scream grows to more than a dozen, the
group breaks into two or more units. In
these circumstances, the newly formed
scream only remains within the territory
of the former scream if both are a part of
a larger tribe. Otherwise, the weaker
scream is driven from the territory to
establish its own lair.

<
Growth stages of a Harpy

Age	HD	#Att	Claws	Bite	AC	Fly	Charm(Song)	Charm(Touch)
Egg (once every 40 days)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Newborn	1+1	3	1/1	1	??	No	No
1d4 + 14 days	3	3	1-3/1-3	1-6	7	No	Yes	No
30 days	3	3	1-3/1-3	1-6	7	No	Yes	Yes
37 days (MM)	3	3	1-3/1-3	1-6	7	Yes	Yes	Yes
2 years (sexual maturity)	3	3	1-3/1-3	1-6	7	Yes	Yes	Yes

>

-
 

5. A harpy lair is frequently found in a
chasm, in a series of caves, or in a set of
ruins. When establishing a lair, harpies
seek a large, sheltered area that is safe
from the molestation of men, yet within
range of a well-stocked supply of food.
The area is usually situated so that it is
nearly impossible for prey to escape from
it on foot. Also, the lair is usually large
enough to allow harpies to fly about inside
it and has rock ledges, projections, or tree
limbs to provide a perch for each member
of a scream or tribe. Harpies tend to stay
in the same general area (a circle approximately
30 miles in diameter or a coastal
strip approximately 60 miles in length) and
learn the lay of the region and its natural
features so they can utilize the structure
of the land to ambush prey and to escape
and hide within in case of trouble.
A harpy lair is strewn with the bones of
harpy prey -- all sorts of creatures ranging
from livestock down to large rats,
although smaller prey is uncommon due to
the harpy's poor sight and limited dexterity.
Medium-sized creatures are a harpy's
favorite prey because they are easy
enough to charm and carry, and because
they provide a reasonably filling meal. The
discarded treasure of such prey (excluding
weapons) are often strewn about the floor
of the lair, for harpies have no use for
what they cannot eat. Some harpies, however,
have come to realize that the presence
of large quantities of shiny metals
draw more humans and demi-humans to
their lairs, and thus use the materials as
bait with which to trap the victim. Harpies
cannot easily grasp or carry individual
coins, or anything smaller than a chest,
staff, or statuette. They are fairly adept at
plucking at and snagging leather purses,
straps, baldrics, and-the like as they flap
past.

THE FORUM

Between the covers of DRAGON® issue #115,
in the article "Songs of Beauty," it was stated by
Barbara E. Curtis on page 51 that male harpies
". . . look like females; the only difference
between them are the actual biological functions
of reproduction." This didn't sound quite realistic
to me, so I checked with an old friend of
mine, Samanthalus the Mage. When I mentioned
the subject to him, he just snorted.

?You mean to tell me that you came up here
and interrupted important research on the
intelligence of the gray ooze just to ask me
about male harpies?!? he yelled. ?Everyone
knows that they reproduce the same way that
the Amazons do, by parthenogenesis. In this
process, the female ovum is produced diploid
instead of haploid, and doesn?t need to be fertilized.
The resulting creature is always genetically
identical to the parent harpy ? a clone.
Therefore, they are all female.

?Oh ? there is, however, one way that a male
harpy can be hatched,? old Sam corrected. ?By
use of her magical song, the harpy can cause
the ovum to become haploid and fertile. She
may then mate with an extremely strong hero
that she has charmed in order to attempt to
improve the gene pool of the race. A male
offspring of this type would be killed and eaten
at hatching. However, any female hatched of
this unholy union will have the characteristics
of a normal harpy but might be stronger than
average or better at fighting. Occasionally, she
will even have the spells of a witch doctor, up to
the ability of an Evoker/Curate. Any such crossbreed
would be extremely rare, since the harpy
would usually eat the hero first. Even rarer
would be a cross with a bard. Such a harpy
would truly sing a fearsome song!

?By the way, that sage D?driand must have
been charmed by the harpy Thanata he was
helping. Otherwise, he would not have said
things that were obviously wrong. Now, if you
will allow me, I must get back to my research!?
And off he went, muttering about stupid
questions.

Brian S. Chase
Beavercreek OH
(Dragon #121)
 

I read Brian Chase's letter in issue #121 and
would like to respond. I don't really believe [that
parthenogenesis among Amazons] is physically
possible (though I know very little about Amazons),
and if it is possible, too many people
would greet that statement the same way I
greeted it. I, personally, prefer to use a simpler
system, such as that presented in Piers
Anthony's Castle Roogna. I asked my friend,
Chaelmon von Zarovic, about male and female
harpies, hoping that his studies of magic would
have told him of something like this.

To this, he said: ?A-ha! Been reading that
magazine that has been coming here for the
past . . . what is it, eight months now? Well, be
sure to mention me! I?ve always wanted to get
my name in some publication, ever since my
half-brother Strahd got his name in that one
module, Ravenloft. . . .

"Not to dishonor Samanthalus, if he is as great
as claimed, or D?driand, even though he has
worked with harpies, but I believe they are both
wrong. Harpies reproduce as do birds, as they
have ever since wild magic caused their species
to come into being. However, harpies have
trouble keeping their race alive, as male harpies
are generally clean and gentle, and refuse to
breed with the foul and filthy female harpies.
Harpies can breed with other species to produce
young. Any species with wings, talons,
hands, or heads will do, as far as I know. There
is one restriction that I know of: Female harpies
must breed with a male or something resembling
a male in its natural form, so no dopplegangers
or succubi ? or even incubi, as their
natural form is that of a succubus ? will do.
There is a male harpy living in the Baralienesa,
the blessed plains of southern Valla, whose
father was a harpy and whose mother was a
centaur! Due to some magical quirk, male harpies
produce only male harpy children, and
females bear only female young. I hope this
clears up any questions you have about harpies?
breeding habits."

Andy Wright
Lincoln NE
(Dragon #125)
 

Chaelmon von Zarovic was feeding Andy
Wright a lot of bull (in issue #125). In some
animal species, it is possible for each sex to find
the other a pain at times. No species, however,
will refuse contact between sexes to the point
where breeding is interfered with (as von
Zarovic would have with harpies). And if male
harpies produce only male harpy children,
while female harpies bear only female young,
the two sexes could never produce any children
with each other.

Van Zarovic is correct on some points, though.
Harpies can breed with a wide variety of creatures,
mostly humanoids or birds. But they
follow the standard laws of crossbreeding
genetics. The case of the harpy follows: A human
and a bird (the vulture) were bred through
powerful magic to form the harpy (other bird/
man types may also have been formed depending
on the magic, bird, and humanoid used).
The harpy prefers to breed with other harpies,
but will mate with anything at least half-man or
half-bird. When bred with a pure breed, the
resulting child is similar to its crossbreed parent
(the harpy in this case). When bred with another
crossbreed (e.g., the centaur), the child
may resemble either parent or (rarely) both. In
either case, if the child is bred again to the same
species as its nonharpy parent, the grandchild is
usually a normal type of the nonharpy ancestry
(with an occasional trace of harpy traits). In the
case of harpies, such throwbacks rarely survive
since the harpies usually kill and eat them.

It is also true that the male harpy is clean and
gentle ? when compared with female harpies,
that is. The female harpy lays two to four eggs
at a time, but provides barely enough food for
one chick, which means that only the strongest
chick can survive. Since the female is slightly
larger than the male (a common trait among
large birds), the only time a male chick survives
is when all the eggs are male, which occurs one
out of eight times.

With a ratio of seven females for every male,
the adult male doesn?t need to hunt for food and
thus spends much of his time grooming himself
for the women (who usually henpeck him
anyway). He is kept out of any danger, and the
typical adventurer either doesn?t see him or just
assumes him to be a fleeing female. (The physical
difference is minor to the casual viewer as
the males also have large breasts.) However, the
male?s gentleness consists purely of an unwillingness
to put himself to unnecessary trouble or
danger while there are females who will do it
for him. The weak and helpless are no safer in
the hands of a male than a female harpy.

David Carl Argall
La Puente CA
(Dragon #130)
 

In the "Forum," issue #121, Brian Chase referred
to an article I wrote for the November
(#115) issue entitled ?The Ecology of the Harpy
? Songs of Beauty.? In his letter, he disagreed
with the statement I made that male and female
harpies are very much alike, especially in appearance,
except in reproductive roles. In
summary, he stated that harpies are parthenogenetic
(i.e., they clone themselves rather than
produce young from a male-fertilized, femaleproduced
egg). However, a harpy could mate
with a human male ?to improve the gene pool of
the race." Males produced from this union
would be killed shortly after birth; females
would be improved with better strength, fighting,
and perhaps more spells. A female born of
a bardic father might also have an improved
harpy-song. Mr. Chase also said that D?driand
the sage must have been charmed to give Colin
the ranger such faulty information. Though I
see the reasoning behind the argument, I do not
entirely agree and stand by my earlier statement
that harpies can be either male or female,
that the reproductive process is a simple mating,
and that there is little difference in looks.
Perhaps I was not specific enough and, with the
help of a friend, I will try to clear the matter up.

Harpies are avian and humans are mammals.
Such a cross would not only require the bypassing
of species, but of genus, family, and order.
Interbreeding within the species and sometimes
the genus are possible, but not without risk. In
some cases, such as the breeding of a horse and
a donkey to produce a mule, the resulting
offspring is healthy but sterile. Such offspring,
if this was the case, would only be improved for
a single individual, as even cloning would not be
possible. We are not entirely clear if interbreeding
among members of the same family is possible,
but we do know that interbreeding from
class to class is impossible.

This also assumes that the harpy and the
human have the same number of chromosomes.
There are good examples of devastating birth
defects due to a difference of even a small piece
of a chromosome! A difference would possibly
negate chances of successful fertilization and if
not, would surely either kill the fetus before it
was completely developed or produce one that
would not live more than a very short time after
birth, either dying on its own or being killed by
its mother or nest-mates.

Just for the sake of argument, we will assume
that harpies are mammals (which is not our
belief) and that they share the same number of
chromosomes as humans. Humans, elves, and
orcs are all bipedal, with two arms, two legs,
two hands, two feet, 10 fingers, 10 toes, etc.,
with minor size and feature differences. Interbreeding
is possible (though the inability of
elves and orcs to mate successfully is tribute to
the fact that while they are close enough to
humans to mate with them, there are enough
differences between the two to render it impossible
? a prime example of genetic selectivity).
Harpies, on the other hand, have wings, feathers,
bristly hair of the same material that the
feathers are made of, birds? legs, and talons.
The structure of the back alone is vastly different
to accomodate the wings that support the
body in flight. Not only are the structures
different, but the bones are as well. They would
have to be lighter than those of a human or else
the wings would have to be far larger to accommodate
the extra weight. Nor do harpies have
the same set of vital organs, etc. If physiologies
for elves and orcs do not allow for interbreeding,
why would a harpy and a human, vastly
different as they are, breed successfully?

Even if magic could be used to overcome all of
the natural impossibilities (harpies are, after all,
a magical race), there would be no guarantee
that mating with a human would produce a
superior harpy. The idea assumes that the
creature would inherit the best of both parents,
and this does not always happen. If such a
union was even remotely possible, there could
be as many detriments as improvements. One
that leaps to mind immediately is that while the
crossbred harpy might be stronger and better
at fighting (and perhaps more intelligent), it
would undoubtedly lose some of its inherent
magic. An example of this is the alu-demon,
which is certainly not as powerful as a succubus
when it comes to magic. If the charm ability of
the harpy is diminished ? even if the harpy is
stronger, fiercer, and smarter ? it would not
leave a sufficient attack mode to allow it to
survive very long. Humans, unlike harpies, are
not inherently magical, and if a harpy is looking
for a big, strong, hero-type, chances are that he
wouldn?t be a magic-user anyway. (A human?s
magic is learned, not inherited.) The harpy/
human offspring might also lose most, if not all,
of its ability to fly, having smaller wings and
heavier bones. A stronger, smarter, fiercer
harpy without much of its magic and limited to
the ground or short ?hops? in the air would
quickly become someone?s lunch. We also do not
think that a bardic father would help the harpy
?s song much, either. Like magic, singing is an
acquired skill. Although the talent for singing
could be inherited, harpy vocal chords are not
adapted for human speech. Even with the
human influence, they probably still would not
be entirely adapted. The charm of a harpy and
the charm of a bard are two entirely different
types of charm, anyway.

So why do harpies have humanoid faces and
upper bodies? Magical intervention is the clue.
The harpy?s charm/illusion is not as powerful in
respect to visual illusion, and requires a template.
In other words, if harpies looked like
normal buzzards, they would have great difficulty
conjuring up an illusion of a beautiful
human female, with nothing to work from.
However, since harpies have the face and the
upper body all they need to do is use their
magic to gloss over the ugliness a little and
improve what?s already there. The vision does
not usually go any farther than accentuating
what is there, except in certain rare individuals.
The bird?s body and wings are still there, but
the wings appear more graceful and the feathers
appear white, silver, or gold.

If there are indeed male harpies, why don?t
they appear as men? Simple: Adventurers,
merchants, and other travelers are usually men
who would be more distracted by a lovely
female, even if she were half-bird (perhaps
divine). Even a female adventurer would more
often be sympathetic to a woman in distress.
Male harpies, like females, have to live in the
real world, and a harpy that could not effectively
lure would not live very long. Both sexes
developed ?faces? and upper bodies as the
blueprints for the spell.

Getting to reproduction, it is almost impossible
to tell a male from a female avian by looking at
reproductive organs unless you get extremely
close (and only a dead harpy would let you get
that close!). A harpy?s reproductive organs, like
those of most birds, are not external. Female
and male birds are usually distinguished by
their coloration and there is no sexual differentiation
for coloring in harpies. Males and females,
having developed the same adaptations
for charming, and having no difference in
coloration or other external indications of
gender, do look the same.

Harpies mate as birds do, and usually do so
deep within their lairs where few others dare to
go. We can see where Samanthalus got the idea
that they were parthenogenetic ? its a common
misconception among sages today, given the
harpy?s lack of external sexual characteristics
and the fact that few men have ever seen harpies
mate. We can even see where he got the
idea that harpies mate with humans (but that is
merely an old wives? tale to frighten people).
Those who have dared to study the harpy more
closely have discovered the truth.

And D?driand wasn?t charmed ? he was just a
dirty rat.

Barbara Curtis
Watertown NY
William French
Potsdam NY
(Dragon #131)
 

In the argument about harpies [in issues 115,
121, 125, 130, and 131], the word "genetics"
occurs very frequently. In a world in which
humans can mate with demons, and ogres and
orcs produce young, the laws of genetics are
going to be changed, if they aren?t nonexistent.
Where do baby harpies come from? They come
from eggs, of course. A harpy lays an egg,
which hatches and grows into a bigger harpy.
People in primitive societies, magical or not, do
not know anything about reproduction, let
alone genetics. Remember that the populace of
the fantasy world of AD&D games does not
have electron microscopes or lab equipment of
any sort more complex than magnifying lenses.
All of those sages who argue about harpies
seem to have an awful lot of modern knowledge,
something that exists in 1988 Earth but
not in the far-away lands of fantasy. Harpies
could very well come from meteorites or from
trees, for all I care. In my campaign, matter isn?t
even composed of atoms.

Lucas McNeill
Shutesbury MA
(Dragon #134)
 

Although I agree with Mr. McNeill?s comments
(issue #134) that harpies could come from
meteorites or trees, his argument fails in at least
two points. The first is his linking the AD&D
game world to primitive societies. The second is
his assumption that an electron microscope is
needed for a knowledge of genetics.

Certainly most societies in the AD&D game
are less advanced technologically than the
majority of societies in this world. This does not
make them primitive. Most campaigns focus on
societies comparable to those in medieval
Europe, with some extending as far forward as
renaissance Europe and others extending back
to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and
Rome. Few center around the hunter-gatherer
cultures, which are referred to as primitive
societies. Even these societies stick to this foraging
pattern not because they are ignorant, but
because there is no need to change; food is
abundant and there is plenty of leisure time.
The cultures of Egypt, Greece, and Rome were
highly advanced, with impressive achievements
in agriculture, architecture, mathematics, science,
and philosophy.

The ancient Greeks? scientific achievements
were hindered not so much by the lack of
electron microscopes as by their penchant for
theorizing without regard for testing their many
hypotheses: This had more to do with their
cultural background than their technological
level. The medieval Europeans (who had a
different cultural heritage) were able to make
tremendous technological advances using the
same basic ideas and concepts of the ancients.
The difference was not in their intelligence but
in their mindset. As for primitive societies not
knowing ?anything about reproduction,? this is
ridiculous. Hunter-gatherer societies have at
least a basic understanding of both plant and
animal reproduction. To suggest that the ?more
advanced? agricultural societies have no knowledge
of reproduction is even more absurd.
Further, an understanding of genetics does not
require a microscope of any sort, much less an
electron microscope. Mendelian genetics was
developed simply by observing and conducting
breeding experiments with garden peas, experiments
that required no tool more advanced
than a pair of scissors.

Even though microscopes were not needed,
this does not mean that they were not available,
nor that AD&D game sages must limit themselves
to magnifying glasses. While the electron
microscope was not invented until the 1930s,
compound microscopes were in use by the late
16th century and lenses were developed by the
14th century. Moreover, fantasy sages have the
advantage of magic. Any society that is capable
of creating eyes of minute seeing or of developing
myriad information-gathering and detection
spells should surely be able to unravel the
mysteries of where harpies come from, Even
disregarding information-gathering spells,
enough magical items and spells exist for planetraveling
that a sage could come to this world
and gain ?an awful lot of modern knowledge?
even if an electron microscope would not function
in the AD&D game universe.

Timothy Koneval
Normal IL
(Dragon #143)