Birdmen (Total War)

Birdmen are an ancient people, most of them being near-extinct. They were endemic to Vigjaro Glade, and would later develop into three distinct races: Wizzrobe, Fokka and Rito. The Wizzrobe especially were noted for their natural sensitivity to the Aura from which all mortal derive magical power.

Age of Myth
It's very likely that the most ancient Birdmen ancestors come from this era, as the Wizzrobe, their descendants, are confirmed as Firstborn. Not much else is known about this elusive species as the oldest archeological evidence only goes as far as the Wizzrobe and Fokka civilizations.

We can then deduce that at some point in time, this common ancestor must have split into two separate groups, one of them staying on the surface while the other hid deep beneath the earth. The cave-dwelling birdmen would eventually become the Wizzrobe.

Ancient Age
In this age, the Wizzrobe would begin to develop. Their civilization originated in the underworld of caverns beneath the surface of Hyrule, specifically below what would become known as Vigaro Glade. The Wizzrobe possess an innate sensitivity to Magic, perhaps due to living in close contact with magical crystal found deep underground. They were able to construct tools that harness its power to utilize magical power. However, unlike Hyruleans, they lacked the ability to directly interact with this force, and as such came to envy many of the surface dwelling peoples of Hyrule.

Roughly one thousand years after the fall of Kovalian civilization in the Gerudo Desert, c. 7000 BG, the Wizzrobe forged an underground civilization underneath northern Hyrule, subsiding off of underground beetles. They harvested magical crystals to power magical engines that bored through the earth, allowing them to construct grand cities, such as Byrna and Somaria. However, some magical calamity destroyed much of their civilization, forcing them to the surface, where they took up roles as teachers, scholars, and healers, offering their services to other peoples of Hyrule.

Circa 3400 to 3300 BG, Akkalans from Arcadia settled the area around Vigjaro Glade, unknowingly founding the settlement of Vigjaro atop the ancient wizzrobe cities of Somaria and Byrna. For centuries the Wizzrobe seemed little more than an Order of odd avian mystics operating out of the city Cathedral, highly regarded by the Akkalan commonfolk for their offer of free healing and education to all. In 2982 BG, the self declared Goddess of the Akkalans, Queen Hylia Nohansen, approached the Order, offering her immense knowledge and magical power to them in exchange for help in erasing all trace of herself from the minds and records of the Akkalan people. They agreed, and entered Hylia's service, secretly constructing a power base of arcane and martial might in the ancient halls of Somaria and Byrna over the centuries, patiently manipulating the Kingdom of Hyrule and waiting for the time that their goddess would reclaim her throne.

In this age, the Fokka people would also develop their civilization in the tall mountains found at the northern edge of the Gerudo Desert. There they came into contact with the Darknut Legion and formed a long-standing alliance with the Cliff Lords, becoming invaluable assets in their conquests and wars and earning citizenship in all Darknut cities. This way, the Fokka spread their reach to the Gerudo Cliffs and the southern end of the desert.

Yet another group of birdmen, the ones that would evolve into the Rito, flew up north, in the Great Sea, long after the Oshunites, Cobble Kingdom, Lokomo and Parella finished their various wars. These people were nomadic at first, flying from island to island periodically, and they were also split into various clans, not always being on friendly terms either. This would continue for many generations, until the advent of a Dragon that would become their guardian deity and unite them under one single banner. This would lead them to become one of the most active powers in the Great Sea.

Wizzrobe
Flightless humanoid avians similar to crows or ravens, the Wizzrobe are natives of the underground, possessing dark blue or black plumage, a powerful orange beak, and two bioluminescent green eyes to see in low light conditions. They subsist primarily on underground insects, preferring them even when having ready access to other food such as agriculture, and indeed often construct complex magical conservatories solely as ideal breeding grounds for their prey, trading off the produce to Hylians. Wizzrobes are naturally sensitive to the Aura, capable of sensing magical power and artifacts, but lack the ability to directly manipulate it as other firstborn, like the Akkalans and their Blood of the Gods. Wizzrobes are slow breeders, living for centuries if not millennia, and as such their numbers are quite low.

Fokka
Not unlike their magically-inclined cousins, the Fokka are avian humanoids that lost the ability to fly. They lost their wings entirely in exchange of more practical hands possessing digits. They don't have much of a connection with magic, but they are much more militarly advanced than the Wizzrobe. Their prowess won them the favor of many civilizations, but none more than the Darknuts. Their lifespans are much shorter compared to that of their cousins too, but still longer than that of the common Hylian. Their numbers are in the norm and they breed fairly consistently.

Rito
The Rito are perhaps the most humanoid ethnicity of birdman, yet also the only one who didn't lose the ability to use their wings for flight, or at least not fully. Some Ritos are unable to use their wings and are considered part of the "Flightless Clan" regardless of the clan of origin, and are thus relegated to more menial tasks. Most Ritos can fly very efficently however, probably having kept the ability with their more nomadic ways and need to traverse large bodies of water. Their lifespans and proportions are also much more humble than that of their cousins, resembling the Hylians much more closely than any other birdman ethnicity. They are very numerous in the Great Sea and breed often.