Diakk
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One of the most commonly-encountered creatures of the Grey Waste, the two species of diakka, the varath and carcene, fill the glooms, hunting most weaker creatures as prey.
Appearance
The two diakka breeds generally resemble one another , both appearing as feather-covered humanoids, with bird-like yet featherless faces. Both have small arms tipped with claws in lieu of wings, and the coats of both are made up of short, sickly-colored feathers, with colors ranging from pea green to grey to rust. Their legs, bills, claws, and faces are the only parts of their bodies not to be covered in plumage; their faces tend to be colored in a manner matching the feathers surrounding it, while their legs, claws, and bills are most often colored black, dark green, or maroon.
The species most often taking the position of leadership, the carcene, are the stouter of the two, usually standing only five feet tall. Their bills tend to be short, somewhat resembling a pelican's. The varath, being the less intelligent of the two, are usually the lesser class in diakka flocks. At eight feet tall but quite slender, they stand out greatly from the carcene, and their bills are longer, more similar to that of a stork in appearance.
Regardless of species, diakka as a whole tend to be cowardly and sneaky, dragging prey down in groups and using underhanded tactics to capture their prey. Living in flocks, such an action is fairly easy to accomplish, much as hyenas in packs. A diakka flock is organized under a single leader, or more rarely a pair, and this position is most often filled by a carcene due to their comparatively higher intelligence on average. However, there is no care or respect within a flock, the diakka working together purely out of convenience with one another. A diakka will never put itself at risk to rescue one of its own, and distinct diakka flocks will most often avoid one another for fear of attack by one side of the other.
Diakka are occasionally enlisted by night hags, put to work as servants or guards. Though each branch loathes the other, they participate in a relationship of this fashion out of a belief of mutual satisfaction. The diakka are slow enough that they rarely realize that such a relationship often ends up on the dinner table, as night hags find diakka meat a delicious staple of their diets.
Reference
- Planes of Conflict - Monstrous Supplement, pp. 10-11
