Solar Ibis

Solar ibis are beings of light sometimes called sun birds, or "winged luminaries" by the more scholarly inclined. They're tasked with guarding sacred places or items, although they sometimes also protect the living from places of incredible danger. Their appearance is always preceded by numerous small purple-winged birds with a splash of yellow on their crowns; these are avatars of the ibis that nest and congregate in areas it protects. The presence of these avatars is often the only way to track these reclusive and solitary creatures. Should the solar ibis choose to appear, these little birds scatter like wild fowl. The sun bird then manifests and bathes the area in a brilliant shower of light that can blind and startle unwary and unprepared creatures in its presence.

The solar ibis appears as a magnificent, large bird surrounded by a halo of brilliant light. Its black feathers shimmer with all the colors of the spectrum, casting glossy rainbows across its plumage. It has a keen sense of insight, which it uses to pass judgment as a whole on whether those before it are worthy to access what it guards. It punishes those it finds unworthy with its cleansing might.

Though considered sacred by most within the Mwangi Expanse, there are still some who hunt these glorious creatures; some seek the treasures that the ibis keep, while others seek the ibis themselves, dead or alive. Some believe that the feathers of a solar ibis, when burned, create an incense that can grant holy power to those that inhale it. Others believe that its bones and feet can be ground into a powder that can destroy demons and purify the undead.