Aviansie (race)

The Aviansie (sometimes referred to as Aviantese) are a race of humanoid avian creatures native to the world of Abbinah. Though the Aviansie exist as one species, many different breeds exist throughout their lineage. Each breed exhibits unique traits, often similar to other bird species found throughout Gielinor, including but not limited to hawks, owls, Phoenixes, and even unique, giant Aviansie such as Kree'arra. Despite this apparent diversity, pointing out breed-differences is generally seen as rude.

The Aviansie follow the young God Armadyl, who united the warring Aviansie tribes on Abbinah. It was Armadyl who brought the Aviansie to Gielinor during the Second Age, establishing an empire atop the floating Clan citadels, eventually leading them into the Gielinorian God Wars of the Third Age. A decision which later lead to the race's near extinction during Zamorak's destruction of Forinthry toward the end of the war. Only a fraction of the Aviansie race present on Gielinor survived this tragedy, and retreated back to Abbinah.

The Aviansie race slowly repopulated over the coming millennia, and eventually, with the death of Guthix at the beginning of the Sixth Age, a handful of Aviansie chose to return to Gielinor with Armadyl. Since their return, they have aided in the construction of the Divine Focus, aiding Armadyl in defeating his long term nemesis Bandos during The Bird and The Beast world event.

General information and Biology
Aviansies are humanoid avians. Just like birds they come in many different breeds and varieties, possibly due to past adaption to different islands and environments at Abbinah. All aviansies however share the same main treats; A humanoid form with two wings, talons, a beak, tail feathers as well as feather-covered bodies. These feathers vary in colour and size, with for example Kree'arra having what is in game described as giant sized feathers.

They tend to be about the same height as the average human. Though unknown it has been speculated that aviansie are however much lighter than humans. Mainly because of their ability to fly, which would require a light body. They also tend to have a similar livespan to that of humans, however exceptions like Kree'arra who has lived far longer also exist.

Aviansie mainly eat insects and critters of various kinds, an example is Tobi'it, an insect which is commonly used in delicacies. As farming is likely very hard on Abbinah, with the scarce amounts of water available, aviansie have a limited selection of edible plants available to them. It has been implied that the aviansie enjoy eating and cooking spicy food. Possibly originating from certain spices that they somehow have managed to grow in the dry enviroments of Abbinah.

Breeds
There exist several different breeds of aviansie, of which only a few are currently known. These differences originally spring from the difference in between the historical tribes of aviansies, before Armadyl united them.

The aviansie found in the God Wars Dungeon (except Kree'arra) all seem to be of a certain 'military' type, with hawk-like resemblances. It was also this breed of aviansie that mainly took part in the second World Event where they fought alongside many human Armadyleans. The hawk breed is also the one which appears most commonly in the Rite of Passage concept art, possibly pointing to that it is also one of the more common breeds at Abbinah.

Examples of other known breeds are the owl aviansie, like Taka'ra, and the crane aviansie, like Taw'Paak. There's also concept art, as presented on this wiki page, that shows off a couple of other aviansie species, including some hybrid breeds. It is likely that some of these may be featured in the Rite of Passage quest, which takes place on their homeworld Abbinah.

Religion
The aviansie have had two major religions; a spiritual mythology, which dominated before Armadyl's ascension, and Armadyleanism, which was established as Armadyl united the aviansie. It is unknown if any aviansie still follow the spiritual mythology, however there are known aviansie outcasts who do not practice armadyleanism and may still delve into it.

Modern Armadyleanism
The aviansie follow Armadyl, the God of Justice. Aviansie religion is therefore based on his values of peace, co-operation and justice. The aviansie strive for a world where different races can work and live together in peace. This might seem contradictory for a race that have supported their God in the Gielinorian God Wars as well as the Sixth Age battle against Bandos, both being events that resulted in a lot of blood being spilled. The aviansie and their leader motivates this with that to achieve a world where races co-operate and justice is applied, those who desire and strive for a world that goes against these values needs to be silenced. It is however important to note that aviansie won't start a battle unprovoked. This is examplified by Kree'arra's actions in The World Wakes. In this quest he states that the player has not wronged him and he therefore won't battle the player. He then tries to make the player leave, and only chooses to fight when all other possible options have been tried. As an Armadylean he views battle as nothing but a last resort and as a way to justice in the long run.

Many of the key points of aviansie religion can be found described in Armadyl's Book of Law and the Illuminated book of law. Within it is noted the wedding and last rites of Armadyleans, blessings and several guidelines called The Law of Armadyl that aviansies follows as part of their religion. This includes that it is honourable to resist a fight, that one should not let their 'vision be clouded by evil' but instead 'Look up, for the truth cometh from the skies' as well as the advice to remember that 'Peace shall bring thee wisdom; Wisdom shall bring thee peace'. These guidelines are most probably central to all aviansies' lives.

There are very few known holidays associated with Armadyleanism. Armadyl generally disencourages religious holidays in his name, and the only big holiday the aviansie celebrate is when entering a new year. The new year celebration is meant to symbolise that the aviansie have won over the harshness of their homeworld. Armadyl also holds one day a year for quiet contemplation and remembrance.

Spiritual religion
Before Armadyl ascended the aviansie believed in certain spirits that all governed either wind, rock or water. These spirits were seen as those who had created and guarded the world. Most probably this spiritual religion, like tribal religions in the real life world, was based on the elements of the surrounding nature and environment of the aviansie. Especially of importance was the winds which swept over and between the islands, the rocks which the islands were made of, and finally the scarce supply of water. This could explain why these were believed important enough to get certain spirits and why the religion was "created".

The aviansie also had a myth of creation related to this spiritual religion. The myth focused around the chief of Ba'Tieru; the spirit of the storms, his lover Do'Thari, a water spirit, and his lover's wife Mied, a spirit of the core. In the myth it is described how a fight between the different spirits created the world of Abbinah.

History
Important Note: Not much is known about the aviansie history, though there are bits and pieces spread throughout the game. Many pieces of information have also been recovered from different God letters, forum Q&As and the likes. Therefore some of the information stated here is subject to possibly (heavy) change if/once Abbinah/Rite of Passage is released into the game.

Early Abbinaan history
Aviansie history starts with their home world of Abbinah, a planet with a shattered core and floating islands surrounding it. The world is relatively close to Gielinor. It is unknown if the aviansies evolved at, were created by the Elder Gods at, or possibly came to Abbinah from another world. There have however been hints at that aviansies evolved from a previous form or race to grow wings as an adaption to life on Abbinah, where flying is a necessity to get around and survive.

Tribal societies were formed early in the aviansie history. This most likely happened prior to or during the First Gielinorian Age. Different tribes were formed and the aviansies split up as a race. Very little is known about the structure of these tribes, but it is known that most tribes had a certain role system. This system was unlike that of today where all tribes have certain roles. It has been confirmed the different breeds were even an effect of the tribal system where certain traits evolved from the certain environment and conditions of a certain tribe. This explains the great difference between the many breeds of aviansies today as there were numerous aviansie tribes, living on different groups of islands back at Abbinah. Back in this time the idea that different breed of aviansie were completely separate races was not uncommon.

Due to the limited resources available on Abbinah, especially the low supply of water, conflicts could often break out between the tribes. It is unknown how long these conflicts lasted, but towards the end of them the young aviansie Armadyl ascended to godhood using a currently unknown Elder Artefact which he found on Abbinah. This would come to be the starting point of a major reorganization of the aviansie society and religion, which had thus far been based on certain elemental spirits.

Reorganization of the aviansie society
Armadyl quickly gained a following among the aviansie, and his religion was now the dominant one among the race. Armadyl used his newfound powers to negotiate with the different tribes and managed to stop the war, which took him around a century. During the campaign to unite the aviansie Armadyl also explored new worlds, leading him to find Gielinor and the Staff of Armadyl. With this staff Armadyl grew considerably in divine power.

Armadyl also reorganized the aviansie society to make the tribes co-operate. The tribes were now ordered in a system of tiers. Each tribe got a certain set of tasks that would contribute to the race as a whole. The tribes that lived on the lowest flying islands now generally got more pragmatic tasks, while those on the islands furthest from the planet's core took on more scholary subjects. Though the race now worked together across the tribes and co-operation as well as peace was established instead of war, the tribes still look at each other with a bit of snobbery.

Arrival at Gielinor
Approximately 5-600 years after the aviansie united Armadyl started thinking of migrating the race over to Gielinor. This happened during the Second Age, when many followers of different Gods arrived at Gielinor. That Armadyl chose to lead the aviansie to Gielinor is logical; Gielinor offered much better living conditions for the aviansie than Abbinah did. Even though Armadyl was probably aware of Zaros' presence and empire-building, he judged that his kind would have a better life at Gielinor. Armadyl used his power to create flying islands for the aviansie to use as homes in this new world. One of these islands became his own base: the Empyrean Citadel.

Many, if not most or close to all of the aviansie left Abbinah for Gielinor during the Second Age. Most probably because Gielinor was a much more peaceful and resource-rich world than Abbinah. Here the aviansie didn't have to worry about the harsh storms, the hard to obtain water, or the chaos of crashing islands that made their lives more difficult on Abbinah. The aviansie believed that they had found a new home and many floating islands started filling the sky. The aviansie had little presence on the surface world.

It was also during this time that Armadyl came to gain his first non-aviansie followers. A couple of humans formed together to create a group called the Guardians of Armadyl. It is unknown if any aviansie too were ever part of this group, but it is not completely unlikely as the Guardians were tasked with something the aviansie had previously been responsible for: guarding the elder artefact that Armadyl had used to ascend, the Staff of Armadyl.

The God Wars and the slaughter
Armadyl and his aviansie had, as far as we know today, managed to stay out of the wars of the Second Age as Zaros had built and expanded his empire. This peace was however not to last. When Zamorak betrayed his master he started a course of events that pulled the aviansie into war.

Very little is known about the aviansie and Armadylean involvement in the God Wars. This even though the many different wars and battles raged for a period of no less than two thousand years. What we do know is that the aviansies most often formed alliances with Saradomin's forces during the battles if they didn't fight alone. It is probable that the aviansies and Armadyl tried to stay out of battle as much as possible, in part due to the beliefs of the Armadyleans. It's likely that the Aviansie desire to stay out of lasting conflict was one of the reasons they helped come up with the Godsword, a weapon said to be capable of killing gods.

The Godsword was a powerful weapon, smithed by the aviansie. Originally it had been Saradomin's idea to create it and he was the one who had created the lose alliance between himself, Bandos and Armadyl. He planned to use the weapon to deal a final blow to the at this time pushed-back Zamorakian forces. And ultimately Zamorak himself.

Due to a turn of events in the far north, in the mountain north of Trollheim, Saradomin's plan failed. The aviansie who had been transporting the sword were attacked by the Zamorakian general K'ril Tsutsaroth and his forces. Forced to retreat they hid in the nearby Temple of Lost Ancients and built up defences. Although the aviansies got reinforcements from the armies of Bandos, Armadyl and Saradomin, the battle kept raging back and forth. It's believed that during this time the godsword broke into several pieces, and the battle now became a free-for-all for the powerful weapon. Each faction had constructed their own hilt for the godsword as to control the weapon's power and now they wished to lie their hands on it.

While the battle continued in the temple Zamorak made a huge discovery that would come to finally end the war; he located the Stone of Jas, an incredibly powerful elder artefact. Using the stone's power he blasted the whole north-western part of the world, what was then known as Forinthry, into pieces, creating what is today called the Wilderness.

The explosion immediately killed tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands or even millions of combatants. Through one god's single act the aviansie race had become close to extinct. The aviansie choose a partner for life and therefore the far majority of mating pairs were broken when both male and female aviansie soldiers were killed in the explosion. Only a couple of aviansies survived, mainly those too young, too old or physically hindered to battle. These aviansies gathered what they could and returned to their old homeworld. It has been confirmed that Zamorak was not aware of that he close to made the aviansie extinct. .

Meanwhile Guthix, who had awoke from the massive damage that Zamorak had caused to the Anima Mundi, created his edicts. This resulted in the immediate banishment of all gods from Gielinor. Guthix's actions also caused the Temple of Lost Ancients to freeze completely, including all the combatants contained within it. It is currently unknown if Armadyl had already left before this, by free will, or if he too was forced out from Gielinor.

Post these events Armadyl traveled the universe, mourning his aviansie, which he believed had become extinct. He would not come to return to Abbinah again until a bit before the Fifth Age ended in Gielinor.

Recovery and Reunion
The aviansie slowly rebuilt their lives at Abbinah after the catastrophic event that had reduced their numbers to only but a fraction of what it had been before. They kept following the instructions and orders that Armadyl had given them. Some of them believed that Armadyl had fallen, while others believed, correctly, that he was still out there, somewhere.

It wasn't until many thousands of years later that Armadyl finally returned to Abbinah. At this time Taka'ra was the aviansie's leader, and according to him the reunion between the aviansie population and Armadyl was celebrated for no less than a whole year back at Abbinah.

It is likely that it was at around this time that Armadyl sent his chosen emissary, Taw'Paak, to Gielinor.

Return to Gielinor and victory over Bandos
A few years after his return to Abbinah Armadyl returned to Gielinor, as Sliske had just killed Guthix, destroying the later's edicts. Back at Gielinor Armadyl made contact with those of his followers which remained, including the aviansie in the God Wars Dungeon. He informed them of his return and probably also his plans for the future.

Soon after his return Armadyl got an invitation from Sliske to join the later's "Grand Ascendancy". Together with several other gods Armadyl witnessed how Sliske claimed to have the Stone of Jas, and evidently had captured Death as well as Strisath. Sliske then claimed that whoever of the gods has killed the most other deities by the next solar eclipse would be given the Stone of Jas. Shortly after having announced this he sets Strisath free, which makes Armadyl and most of the other gods teleport away from the dramatic meeting. Soon after the meeting Armadyl and Bandos started a six week long battle, with their caravans and followers fighting over an area covering the most parts of Misthalin and Asgarnia. Both of the Gods had constructed two massive towers just outside of Falador. At the top of each tower was except for the God itself also a powerful, potentially deadly, divine weapon, aimed at the opposite God. Bandos' weapon was called The Scarecrow while Armadyl's was named the Divine Focus. The weapon was to be powered by Divine energy that the previously mentioned caravans of each God gathered from wisps spread out over the lands.

The aviansie joined their God in the battle, and many human Armadyleans also chose to battle on Armadyl's side. A certain aviansie named Gee'ka, skilled in engineering, also created several huge, magical golems, that fought on Armadyl's side, both defending Armadyl's caravans as well as attacked Bandos' caravans.

After six weeks of battle the Divine Focus was fully charged. Armadyl's army had managed to charge the weapon faster than that of Bandos', and Armadyl fired the weapon at his enemy. Bandos was hit directly by the blast and came to be the first victim of the new war between the gods. His tower was laid in ruins. As a message to Bands' followers Armadyl took Bandos' war mace and smashed the god's head, which had now turned to stone, before leaving to return to Abbinah. He brought with him his aviansie, but left behind his tower and the Divine Focus.

Culture
Aviansie culture is best described as tribal. Though the tribes today work together for the greater good, tribalism is still strongly influencing their ways of living. Certain tribes often inhabit certain islands or groups of islands, and an aviansie's future profession and life is much depending on from which tribe and breed that certain aviansie comes from. This is examplified by the fact that in general the aviansie that live the furthest away from the core focus on more scholary subjects, while those closer to the core focus more on the pragmatic and practical sides of life. In this sense the aviansie society and therefore also their culture is still segregated.

The aviansie also have certain tribal rites which they follow. Currently only one of these rites is known; the Rite of Passage, which marks the step into adulthood for all aviansie. To complete this rite and be viewed as an adult aviansie amongst its kind he or she have to travel to the shattered core of Abbinah and fetch water. A task which may sound simply but most certainly isn't given the extreme conditions that are present at Abbinah. This rite will be central in the upcoming quest Rite of Passage.

Notable aviansies

 * Armadyl, an ascended aviansie, now a tier 4 God. Values Law, Peace and Order. He took part in the first God Wars and have recently defeated Bandos in the events of The Bird and the Beast.
 * Kree'Arra, a general of Armadyl. Fought in the first God Wars for Armadyl and lead parts of his army. He was one of the aviansies that was frozen in time at the end of the Third Age and that was not to be freed again until the end of the Fifth Age. He is now often challenged by human adventurers that wish to obtain a piece of his Armadyl equipment...
 * Taw'Paak, Armadyl's emissary. She was the first aviansie to return to Gielinor after Armadyl's reunion with his aviansie. She tries to recruit human adventurers to Armadyl's side.
 * Taka'ra, Armadyl's head warmage. He lead the tribes for ten years before Armadyl's reunion with his aviansie and has an important role among the aviansie.
 * Gee'ka, a skilled engineer. During the battle against Bandos she constructed magical golems that fought for Armadyl.

Quests and events that feature aviansie
This is a list of the known quests and major events in game that feature or will feature aviansies.


 * The World Wakes
 * Missing, Presumed Death
 * Rite of Passage
 * The Bird and the Beast

Trivia

 * The name comes from the word avian, meaning "bird".
 * Until the release of The Bird and the Beast, Taw'Paak, the emissary of Armadyl, was the only aviansie outside the God Wars Dungeon.
 * The Armadylean Head Warmage is based off a snowy owl, while others seem to be similar in looks. This could suggest that there are different 'breeds' of aviansie.
 * The aviansie may be based on the Chozo race of people from the Metroid franchise of video games produced by Nintendo. Both are a race of bird-like people, near extinction, and have a very primitive and tribal aesthetic to them.