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These aren’t associated with a kingdom or a specific race. They are not tamed, but have more influence over the sky than anything else. Since the early days of Windemere, the variety of flying creatures has kept mortal kind grounded. Even casters have been leery about perfecting flight spells because being among the clouds is just asking for one of the many winged predators to make a snack out of you. So, how exactly do these creatures take one of the top spots of Windemere sky powers?
The reason is fairly simply. No matter what, you have to deal with these creatures when you travel. They may attack or interact with land and sea travel, but they will definitely get involved in something moving through their realm. From the largest dragon to the tiniest fairy, they have ruled the skies long before any of the land beings ever considered paying them a visit. Frankly, you don’t just show up and try to take over. So you will have many sky beasts that take offense to the intrusion. If not offense then knowing their aerial superiority and seeing an easy meal.
It doesn’t take long for one to realize that the existence of all these flying creatures is why the Windemere races spent more time on land and the sea. Even the thought of traveling through the clouds where ravenous dragons or territorial perytons live would make most people turn away from the idea. The only reason gnomes created their machines is because they rose their city first. Flying creatures have become used to cities, towns, and buildings floating in the sky. In fact, they will swiftly accept these changes and only attack if they are attacked first. So, the gnomes did the smart thing of raising Nevra Coil and then waiting a bit before using their machines outside of their own borders. Even then, they typically stay on a few routes that the local animals have allowed them to use.
Every sky creature has its own habits, so it’s difficult to put them into the same category and deem them the same. For example, a Pegasus would be friendly, a griffin may be cautious, and a peryton would be aggressive. Getting into the subspecies of some of the groups make it even more complicated. The best you can do is judge them by how high they go. Some don’t go very far above the trees while others spend most of their lives among the clouds. It’s really up to the individual to choose the best system because conversations about these beasts tend to be more specific.
Personally, I think they will always rule the sky. It doesn’t matter how many griffins are tamed or flying devices are created. The flying animals of Windemere are too numerous and varied to be overthrown.
Legends of Windemere 
When I read the second paragraph of the post in which you mention beasts ruling the sky, I thought about the gnomes, since they’re inventors who learned how to navigate the sky. And then I read on, and you mentioned how the gnomes work around these beasts. It’s interesting that the beasts will always rule this territory.
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Yeah. The gnomes had to design defenses for the air first. It’s not even big things to worry about, but a lot of flocks and swarms. Weapon Dragons can actually be the least scary thing up there.
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Still I wonder if someone or a group of someones will make more of a concerted effort to dominate the skies also, simply for the challenge. Who are the “Gastons” of the world who think they have an inalienable right to dominate, even if the beasts outnumber them?
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Gastons? I’m not sure I follow that since I thought he was just a hunter. The thing is that I don’t think any group will really try to dominate the skies. The gnomes are working on living there, but land and sea are a lot safer. Knocked out of a boat and you can swim away. Knocked off a griffin and it’s more likely that you plummet or get eaten by whatever your fighting. Even spells have trouble mimicking the full agility and grace of a natural flying creature.
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By Gastons, I meant the arrogant individuals who think they should dominate every area of life.
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Guess I never heard him used as the example. That’s a pretty standard villain thing though, especially in comics and tv. Just finished reading the Arlong story arc in One Piece and he definitely fits that mold too. For myself, Stephen Kernaghan sure has those tendencies.
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The skies look to be crowded. Don’t ask me to go into a cloud and meet a pissed off half elk and half bird.
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Peru tins can be pretty mean and territorial. Only a few people have ever managed to tame one. Usually by raising it from birth.
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I think avoiding them is a good idea. Even tame could be a problem. Those racks look dangerous.
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Peru tins? It was supposed to be Perytons, but I was typing fast on the phone before the bus brought the kid home. The hooves and antlers are certainly dangerous, but there are people who work with deer and eagles in our world. Just have to specialize in both, I guess.
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I thought Peru tins was an exotic name. 😀
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Weird how autocorrect used two words I don’t remember typing before.
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I just hope those flying creatures don’t get infected by a virus or be spelled by some powerful sorcerer, if they did, the movie The Birds would look like a day at the beach…
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Be pretty hard to enchant the entire world of flying creatures. You could do it with a single flock or region, but global would require god-like powers. Even casters as strong as Nyx and Trinity would probably die from the strain.
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It’s a wonderful environment you’ve created. There should be some place left unchallenged., and unexplored. It leaves faith that something new could still be out there.
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There are tons of unexplored wilderness in Windemere. Lots of islands in Cerascent and wide untouched expanses on the other continents. Gets tough fitting these in there since those on a quest don’t typically go to the unexplored regions. If there’s something there that they need then it’s already been checked out. Kind of a Catch-22 now that I think about it. Does a region that was once inhabited, but then cut off and lost to the centuries count as unexplored?
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I think it counts. If you think of the age of exploration, they were finding pyramids in South America, and such.
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True. The Great Cataclysm changed the face of the world too. So a lot of places were buried, moved, isolated, etc. One could say there’s still a period of re-discovery going on.
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Dragons, griffins, and pegasi — three excellent reasons not to fly above the tree line.
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Are Pegasi that dangerous?
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Well, more exotic than dangerous. But I still wouldn’t want one to kick me in mid-air.
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True. Best to always have a sugar cube on hand.
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