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Banya Birds

Banyas are the most common gypsy pet, and the most common fortune tellers, also. These birds are generally loyal, insightful, and beautiful- and all are very sensitive to the kernels of fortune that a meij wind brings. A Banya will only catch and interpret those fortunes that are meant for their caravan- except in the rare case that a gypsy who does not have a Fortunette possesses a Banya- in which case, a fortune to someone close to their master may catch in their lips.

Not all Banyas are equal, however. Some are known for their more general fortunes- others for their inability to translate the meij into very understandable language. There are many different breeds of Banya.

Fire Breed

Fire Banyas are normally red, orange, or deep gold in hue- or some combination of the three. Rarer Fires have a blue tint to their inner feathers, as well. Fires are mostly bred in Enallas, though long ago they lived in the salt mines far to the south. With the years of domestication and breeding, they have become a common breed, average in most ways, but extremely loyal. They tend to save their most dangerous and ill-fated fortunes for when they're displeased with you. These are the least likely to fly away.

Snow Crested Breed

Snow Crested are normally found in shades of purple, whites, blues, and sometimes icy greens, and are usually crested at the tips. These are not as commonly found, just for the sake that these are usually captured from the Highland-Gelm Mts., or the far easternly Stone Mts, rather than bred. Most Snow Crested are quite individual and hard to generalize their fortune-telling ability, however, most are found to have ill-tempers, and to produce better fortunes when they are unhappy. More likely to fly away.

Sea Loam Breed

Sea Loams are normally rather easy to distinguish in coloring, as their main feathering is always a shade of blue or green- however, they are sought after for their visual effects as their tips and accent colors can be any other shade imaginable. (Although other blues, greens, and purples are the most common.) Sea Loams are very durable, and get their name from how they can fly over very long, watery distances, living off the loam that floats to the sea surface as they migrate. Their fortunes are usually quite cryptic, but dependable. Known for far-reaching fortunes. Unlikely to fly away.

Creamy Peach Breed

Creamy Peaches is a general term for a basic, Aompor Plain or Sheulan Woods Banya that comes in a soft, gentle hue- often a pastel. The whiter ones are sometimes called Snow Heads, and the creamier colors sometimes called Gold Heads. These Banyas are incredibly affectionate, diverse, and usually quite dependable with their fortunes- although not consistent in how cryptic a message will be. Sometimes, these Banyas will give extremely basic fortunes- and other times, they will capture very strange kernels of information. Also, unlikely to give far-reaching fortunes. Only likely to fly away if they are ill-treated.

Fortune Breed

These extremely bright-colored Banyas come in either vivid gold or vivid gold and green, hailing from the Twiggle Forest solely. They are selfish birds that do not like to share a wagon with other fortune-telling animals- and they are unique in that they do not prophecize, but rather, help you find missing items, and every few weeks you may find that a Fortune Banya has left you a small gift or money on the floor of your wagon. They are ill-tempered, and it does not do well to displease them- except in the case of pairing them with other birds. It seems that the more company they have, the more often they will drop money, trying to prove to their master that they are the 'best' bird in your aviary. Extremely expensive, somewhat likely to fly away.

Lilas Breed

Lilas can be sometimes mistaken for other sorts of Banyas, in that they can come in practically any color. (Although paler shades are more common, and they always come in two colors each. No more, no less.) These Banyas are sought after as pets for non-gypsies as well, for their fortunes are much less cryptic than other breeds. They don't often give long-reaching fortunes, but are rather dependable and won't fly away very readily. These have been bred in Enallas, mostly, so they are quite domesticated.

Berzerker Banya

Banyas are wild by nature- only a few breeds are actually cultivated in captivity. This may seem cruel- but truly, it's a blessing to a Banya to be paired with a family- so that they might capture only those kernels of fortune that are meant for their masters. Some Banyas, when they have been wild for a great deal of time and have not been exposed to people, attempt to catch every single fortune that comes by on the meij winds, despite who they are intended for. In time, they become overwhelmed, and go insane. Berzerkers can be any breed- and are rarely sold. However, some gypsies prefer to have at least one Berzerker, for although they give garbled fortunes that are meant for multiple people,
they also steal items for their master and have been known to do interesting, bizarre things.

An animal that calls to the answer of the meij and becomes a fortuneteller when summoned is known as a Harkcall Familiar. They are different from regular gypsy familiars in that they only become fortunetellers after they have been called by the meij- not since birth.

A Harkcall can be any animal- although those with some natural disposition to the mystical respond best. They can be called by a number of means: by a magical artifact or a familiar whistle, or by being changed, tainted by the meij through a spell. Not all animals that have been magicked will become Harkcall- but enough to make it a normal occurance.

Once called, a Harkcall familiar will act somewhat like a Banya Bird- however, fortunes are far less predictable and solid- and often, these animals become somewhat confused about their roles, and will think themselves pets, or part of the family, and follow their masters about.

So, the way that Banyas are bred is by looking a genetics. Capital Letters are dominant breeds, and lowercase letters are recessive. All existing Banya will be assigned at random unless you know thier parents. They will get the initial coding for thier species, and then a coresponding coding.

So the chart applies::
A SeaLoam Banya with the coding LC, breeding with a Snow Crest with the coding Sl would get a breeding chart that looked like this::

a dice with the numbers one through four will then be rolled and the resuting baby banya will have the gentic coding for that square. This means that Fortune, Lilas, and Berzerker Banyas are going to become very rare... unless you breed fortunes with fortunes, and other recessive birds. That being said... in the case of two recessive traits in a square and/or two dominant traits in a square, another dice will be rolled to determine whether the dominant traits are the first letter or the second (an odd number means the first, and an even means the second).