16.13 Ornithology, specialisation for Druid professionals.

Two professions share certain aspects of specialisation with their brethren in the skies - the birds: the Druids and the Rangers. Members of these professions court empathy from a young age all across the animal kingdom and natural world and, while the flavour of their skillsets vary with the Druids pursuing the less aggressive Ornithology and the Rangers attaining the more belligerent Falconry, the method of attainment for both is the same.

The aspirant bird specialist must have reached the crowning skill level in the core professional/guild skill - Naturalism for the Animist/Druid and Forestry for the Ranger types. He or she must then be presented with five so-called 'specialist' birds, one each from five different Elders of the profession. These five birds are: the falcon, the crow, the carrier pigeon, the robin and the moon-owl. Since most of the bird-related skills require a mature and healthy bird to use, this presentation serves the dual purpose of also providing the new Ornithology/Falconry specialist with bird-friends ready, willing and able to ensure abilities can be used. The bird presented should not have been used for this purpose before.

Formal presentation is straightforward in principle but less so in practice. It requires the aspirant bird specialist to be PRESENTed with one of each of the five 'specialist' birds as listed above, by five different individuals. These five individuals must be elders of the profession, be that of rank Elder within their guild, of Guildmaster/Guildmistress status, or holding the profession without break for over an Avalon century. The presenter must have been present in Avalon for at least an hour for the current and previous week; no fairweather supporters! They must also be mutually designated FRIENDs and this friendship should, ideally, not be of the ephemeral variety - it should have endured for at least a few Avalon years.

At the point of presentation of the fifth 'specialist bird' the aspirant will not only have a fledgling menagerie of his/her own but will also be able to type PRESENTATIONS while holding all five in his/her inventory. This will review the five symbolic birds, inform of their presentation origins, and - if appropriate in all cases - bestow Ornithology or Falconry on the new specialist. You may type PRESENTATIONS at any time to review the bird-presentation status of your inventory, to watch the tally increase as respected fellows bestow their favour upon you. You will need to have in your inventory all five presented birds, loyal to you and kept as healthy as possible.

This first specialisation, Ornithology or Falconry, brings with it a wide repertoire of abilities, partly depending on one's profession and partly depending on one's woodland affinities (see HELP FORESTS and HELP AFFINITIES). It is also the first step on the path to the broader, more powerful specialisations for both Ranger and Druid professional: Sylvan Lore and Animism respectively. You will learn more about these mighty specialisations - providing you are a member of the appropriate guild - when the time is right. Exploration of the guild and city libraries can often prove quite illuminating when delving into the subtleties of bird rearing and sylvan/animist lore.

Back to section index