INTRODUCTION
The Great Nest Brood is the name given to the Harpy lair deep in the tree canopies of northwestern Ulthran. To look up at the incredible trees and to see the Great Nest to is to see death as it strikes from above. This area of Ulthran then is generally considered off limits and only the bravest or most foolhardy of people will travel there. The Harpies are a matriarchal society and are constantly at war with other Harpy groups for the power and dominance of the forest. The Champion Tisiphone comes from the Great Nest Brood and to date it is one of the largest and most feared Harpy territories in all of Ulthran. Each brood of Harpies will have their own distinct name and tribal customs, however few have witnessed them all and survived to tell the tale. Since the Eye of the Forest however, opened the magical border which had been sealing Ulthran away from the world, poachers have begun to hunt the Harpies for the prize of their feathers. When Harpies of the Great Nest catch poachers or prey that has been wandered too close to their territory, they like to hang, play with and finally consume.
CHARACTERISTICS
Ulthran's Female Societies
As a matriarchal society, the Harpies of Ulthran follow the will of their female leader, the Queen of the nest. Each brood of Harpy is controlled by its own Queen and there are periods where the Queens will fight one another in a display of dominance. The most powerful brood will receive tribute from all others, a great honor in Harpy society but one that does not generally last long, as new challengers will often arise.
The Harpies though are not the only matriarchal society within Ulthran however. To the south of the forest are the Amazon warriors, an entirely female society and military force with ancient practices and customs that have forged the amazons into a force of war. The Harpies, share that fundamental similarity however vary in almost all other ways as their society has scarcely developed from tribal living and almost hunter gather ways of life. Those with little experience of Harpies consider them brutish and harsh. The truth is that while Harpies push each other and fight constantly, they are fiercely loyal to their brood when challenged by an outside force and descend into self-squabbles whenever an internal challenge of weakness presents. Dominance and strength is very similar to the Amazon way of life, however the Harpies focus that on each other, rather than at an external threat or enemy. The citizens of Ulthran look to the Amazons as a source of support and comfort in trying times, but see the Harpies as a pest at all times.
HISTORY
The Current Age
Little is known about the older histories of the Harpies of the Great Nest Brood, at present they are considered the strongest of the covens and demonstrate that dominance to all others. Tribute pours in from other broods for fear of retribution due to the sheer size of Great Nests population. They have grown during the sealing of the nation becoming a force to be reckoned with for the unwary traveler through the north. This however all began to change when the borders of Ulthran began to open. With the barrier between the lands, poachers from the western nations started pouring in hearing stories of the fearsome Harpy. They were hunted for sport and for the prize of their feathers. Soft feathers that had the incredible property of turning sharper than the sharpest blade with a moment's notice. Harpy feathers have become a harvested resource and some smaller covens have disappeared from the forest entirely. Safety lies in large numbers. Tisiphone, the current leader of the Great Nest suffered at the hands of the poachers following a challenge from a particularly ambitious Harpy within her coven. Cesselia of the Fierce Talon brood had come to Tisiphone in adulation, begging for amnesty and sanctuary for she had been ousted from her home. Weakness generally means death within Harpy society but Tisiphone made the grave error of taking pity. This pity led others to question her strength and before long Cesselia returned the kindness Tisiphone had once shown her. She was fought and beaten, attacked by many of those who found her weak and cast out of the great tree canopy. On the ground she was taken by poachers who chained her for her feathers refusing to grant her the mercy of a quick death. The Champion endured as much as she could until one fateful night she found a method of escape killing all of her captors and returning back to the Great Nest for vengeance. Covered in the blood of her captors she erupted into the tree canopy and slaughtered those who had cast her from her home retaking her rightful place as Queen of the Great Nest.
The Ages yet to come
The histories of tomorrow are awaiting an author, one who would tell the stories of the heroes and events not yet known. The power struggles of the Harpy society mean that power today could mean death tomorrow, for Tisiphone she will never forget that her hold over the Great Nest will never be certain and so she looks to protecting them from the poachers and outside threats while keeping her eyes firmly on those that might challenge her in the future. However for now, those stories are unwritten and the outcomes unknown as the looming threat grows larger across Vathria. . .