Jong-li Nightingale

From MassiveCraft Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Jong-li Nightingale
Noimg.png
Fauna
Official Name Jong-li Nightingale
Common Nicknames Eastern Songbird, Mourning Bird
Classification Bird
Habitat Forests
Domesticated Yes
Current Status Uncommon

Jong-li Nightingales are exotic songbirds from The Far East that are known to sing a unique warbling tune that has long seen them connected to the afterlife, death, and mourning. Each group of Sihai has their own beliefs about the bird, and they are better known to Regalians as a songbird who refuses to sing when they are inside of a cage. Instead, they must be free and open in a space in order to let out their song.

History

The Jong-li Nightingale has been known to the Sihai since the dawn of their existence. In its early years, it was known as the Singer of Souls in Wai-lan, as it was believed that this bird spoke the word of the spiritual realm that existed after death. Iconography from the early era of the Sheng Empire attests to such a connection, as it showed the Jong-li Nightingale standing atop grave markers and speaking spectral words. In the millennia that followed, as the Sihai divided further and further, a variety of new beliefs and opinions on the animal formed, particularly on Zhong. The Beian Kingdom shed the negative beliefs of the past, and instead saw the animal and its call as one of peace and serenading silence. Heiyan Sihai carried on the old beliefs wholesale, while those of Jin-Lung instead restricted the animal to one of bad luck, and that acquiring its feather was seen as an omen of death. The bird itself and its call were instead a simple warning. The Huo-Chang came to see the animal’s wail as that of loss and sorrow at the way of war, something to be replicated in honor of the fallen dead, while at last, the Dexai Sihai came to view the animal as a maker of moving music, capable of inspiring much in those who heard it, as a way to account for all of the different beliefs about the avian.

Following the Cataclysm and raising of the Jade Wall, the Regalian Empire and Songaskian Masaya made contact with The Zhong Kingdoms. They soon learned of the bird, and as outsiders came up with yet another way to view the bird: as a valuable commodity capable of great and beautiful oral outbursts, before requiring rest and care within their cage. For a brief time, the animal was extensively traded with both foreign nations before the Sihai realized to their shock that the numbers they were exporting were actually reducing the bird’s entire local population. Therefore, to keep the animal alive, they ceased trading it for 100 years. Despite this, the foreign view of the bird rebounded back into the lands of Zhong, where it joined the pre-existing variety of interpretations of the animal. In 304 AC, trade involving the bird reopened, though the early craze for them had substantially died down. Today, the bird remains populous in many areas of Zhong, with a number in captivity, though few are now out in wider Aloria today.

Physical Appearance

The Jong-li Nightingale is a medium-sized songbird, with a wingspan of two to three feet and a height of two to three feet when standing upright. The bird’s head features a small conical beak, a pair of small dark eyes, as well as a plume of curled feathers around its head that are sleek down to the neck. This sleek look continues onto the rest of the animal’s body; onto its back, wings, and slightly puffed chest, all of which are covered in a coat of black feathers. Their sleek body is then supported on a pair of thin, pale-gray colored feet.

Diversity

Jong-li Nightingales have only one feature that distinguishes the different genders, and that is the smattering of color on their feathers. Males will have speckles of red along their chest, while females will have white speckles. Their species has an unequal gender ratio that slightly favors females.

Life Span and Development

Jong-li Nightingales are born in clutches of two to five pale beige eggs lacking speckles within the nest of their parents. When they hatch, they are covered in fuzzy black down, but rapidly mature into their full size and full feather growth within six months. Despite nests sometimes becoming quite crowded, Jong-li Nightingales remain in the nest for a full year, as it is by that point that their mental development catches up to their physical development. They then leave the nest and form their own with a mate, though those in captivity instead are often placed in new, seperate cages elsewhere and out-of-sight from their parents. The bird has a lifespan of thirty years, regardless of domestication.

Mental Overview

The Jong-li Nightingale has a calm, almost sleepy disposition, remaining motionless in its cage or on its perch with its eyes closed for hours at a time, lightly dozing in what Humans would equate to naps. However, at a certain point, they become highly restless and will flit around with enormous energy before erupting out into a long, thrilling, and unique call. However, they will not do this call until they are out in the open, as when they are in an enclosed space (like a cage), they will refuse to make the noise. This has resulted in training of the bird involving the leaving of their cage, though only for short amounts of time before the bird should ideally return to the enclosed space. This call has been identified as a repeated “Cou” sound, which repeats several times before ending in a unique arrangement of “La”s, “To”s and “Ee”s. Beyond these activities, the bird displays limited intellect and is easily domesticated if captured when young or trained from birth.

Territory and Groupings

Jong-li Nightingales are a curious bird in that, while they do not flock, they might as well, given that clusters of them live close together in the same area. In domesticated surroundings, this doesn’t happen given their nature, though it depends on the nature of the captivity.

Trivia

  • Jong-li Nightingales can live together in large cages, though no matter how big the space, they still seem to be aware that they are locked in a cage.
  • Jong-li Nightingales have been used as heraldry by many bandit factions over the centuries of Zhong settlement given their associations with death and loss.
  • Jong-li Nightingales and Saidiau do not get along well at all, the Saidiau too affectionate and active for the generally docile and unsociable Jong-li.

Accreditation
Writers HydraLana
Processors FireFan96, BillyTheScruffy
Last Editor HydraLana on 04/29/2022.

» Read more