Bird EQ (a.k.a. Why I hate songbirds)

[Fedaykin]

A pet peeve of mine has always been seeing a songbird on one or both shoulders of an individual, yet many of these individuals seem never play out these songbirds and they wind up becoming solely an item to bump up the length of your eq.  I'm not saying that everyone who has a songbird plays it out unrealistically, just that it happens quite often.

If you're going to be that guy, you know the freak who has to take his annoying little pet everywhere with him, please play it realistically.

Suggestions for individuals with songbirds:[/u]

Get to know your songbird. Too often people buy them and simply stick them on their shoulder as if the songbird would be perfectly okay with this.  So I pose to you with songbirds: Have you -really- gotten to know your songbird?  Did it grow to trust you so that its okay to sit upon your shoulder and not peck at your eyes when frightened?  You and this new pet of yours are going to have a relationship.  You must forge it!  It won't be automatic!

Give your songbird some personality. Maybe it gets scared around large crowds of people, maybe it freaks out when it sees a half-giant?  Maybe your damned songbird doesn't want to merrily sing!

Feed your songbird. This pet isn't just going to exist on its own.  If you're going to have a songbird, realistically you need to give it some food and water now and then, even if it means some extra sid out of your pocket.

Birds have to make #2 too. When this bird is endlessly sitting on your shoulder, remember that birds sometimes need to drop some excrement and don't typically wait for an opportune time to do so like the majority of humanoids.

Combat. If you take your songbird into battle, play it out realistically.  Better yet, never take your songbird into battle on your shoulder.  Its just stupid.  Really stupid. Honestly. (IMO)

Suggestions for the immortals:[/u]

New songbird battle code. If PC's are going to take their songbirds into battle they should suffer the consequences:

Songbird death. Songibrds should not be immune to deadly shots in the middle of combat.  I suggest that if an enemy's attack lands on your neck area, there should be a chance of the following happening:

The mul raider's slash slices through a grey, yellow-footed songbird sending a spray of blood and feathers into your face, blinding you!
You can't see a thing! (Very short blindness period follows)

Songbird turns on owner. A good suggestion from LoD if your songbird manages to get scared or knocked around:
A grey-feathered songbird gets jostled during combat, pecking at your shoulder.
A grey-feathered songbird slides its beak through the sleek, obsidian-eyed man's shoulder, resulting in a shower of blood.
-4 HP

Songbird gets knocked off or runs away Perhaps there could be a chance of the songbird leaping from it's PC owner's shoulder or getting knocked off then fleeing in random directions until it is fatigued.  I realize songbirds are not NPC's so this may be dificult to implement.

Edible songbirds. I haven't tested this out, but they really should be edible, perhaps even cookable if they aren't already.  There'd be nothing like killing someone then eating his pet bird.  Also if someone gets stuck without food somewhere, forcing them to make that choice between eating their pet bird to survive or risking death would be highly amusing!

*Note: This post said half in jest and parody, particulalry the suggestions for immortals, but the rest...not really, and spurred on by Sevendashseven's IRC complaint that forum was not blooming with activity today.  If you have a songbird, be wary. I'll be watching you...and your little bird too. :twisted:

[Gorobei]

Woah... -4 hp an a shower of blood (through an armored shoulder) created by a songbird?  That's the one thing in your post I disagree with.
If a songbird gets scared, it will fly away.  It will not attack.

Overall, great ideas.

[Fedaykin]

Well, not every shoulder is necessarily armored and it was just an example, heh.  I'm sure the armor could be taken into account, though.  However, that was within the half of the post that was really the joking part anyways.

[Delirium]

Some fun RP has been generated around songbirds, also giving you a chance to 'interact' with others that you normally wouldn't, through the pet.

However, fighting with a bird on your shoulder is ridiculous. So is treating it like yet another inanimate piece of jewelry. So is putting it up there and forgetting that it needs food and water and needs to crap every once in a while, and if you don't pay attention to it, the latter will be all over your nice silks. ;)

Hm, I can see some fun with that. "My deepest and most humble apologies, <Chosen Lord/Lord/Faithful Lord/Lord Templar>, I don't know why my songbird decided to jump on your shoulder and start pecking at your ear. Oh, what's that spot on your cloak? Oh, heh heh, it's bird shit, how lovely, I think it makes a nice fashion statement..."

[Bestatte]

Note: A bluejay WILL attack. Granted, they're not the most melodic of songbirds, but they do utter some pretty sounds when they're in a good mood.

Anectdote to support this:

Star: FatBelly, my cat
Supporting actress: Moi
Cast of thousands: A bluejay, a bluejay, a bluejay, a bluejay, a young bluejay, a young bluejay, a bluejay, a red-tailed hawk, a garter snake, a garter snake, and several squirrels that don't get credits because they already ate half my damned lawn.

Setting: The Backyard.

FatBelly insists on escorting me to the garden when I decide to pluck up the thick infestation of weeds.

Bluejays are chirping melodically in the maple tree overhead, red-tailed hawk watches from his perch on a Kentucky Coffee Tree behind the fence.

Enter squirrels.

Fatbelly freaks and berserks the squirrels, sending them flying up the trees. Maniacal movement upsets bluejays, who start diving toward the ground.

Fatbelly says, in sirihish, "DOOD!" and chases the jays, catching one deftly between her lovely little jaws.

Other jays dive-bomb Fatbelly. Fur flies. Jays subdue Fatbelly, despite her struggles to escape. Garter snakes yawn. Red-tailed hawk snickers. I panic.

Catching up to Fatbelly, I attempt a rescue. Jays turn their attention on me, diving for my head after I successfully wrest the still-flapping jay from Fatbelly's maw.

I set the young jay down and cover my head with my arm. Young jay lets out a haughty squawk before finally hopping to safety. Another young jay deposits its disdain on my shirt.

Fatbelly hisses. I hiss. Garter snake chortles. Hawk yawns. Other jays continue pecking both myself and Fatbelly, who is now tucked in the crook of my other arm.

I run her to the eave overhanging the back door and manage to get her and myself inside.

The backyard becomes peaceful once again.

[Shinigami]

Most songbirds on Zalanthas would -likely- have their wings pinioned to keep them from flying at all.  While this is an inhumane practice in our world, so would be most Zalanthan customs.  I have yet to see a songbird the size of a jay, though it's possible, it'd be horribly rare, most seem to be around the size of a finch-family bird (canary, society finch, etc.), not nightingales.  

These kind of birds are hellaciously hard to tame, but will stay -very- close to their human counterparts when they do bond with them.  They are easily spooked by others, and combat would almost guarantee they scurry/hop to the safest spot and stay there watching the silly humanoids dance.

As far as Jays attacking, yes, carnivorous scavenger birds have a beastial pack mentality that puts even gortok to shame.  Few people would attempt to tame a crow, raven, jay, or those damned things that always sound like they're laughing.  The name escapses me at the moment.  I should not expect them to be found as "songbirds"... though it is possible.  Many of them commonly gang up on larger creatures that they could not defeat alone... "Birds of a feather..."

-Shinigami, a longtime bird lover and trainer.

[House Rising Sun]

Birds are also extremely fragile, as are their hearts. Too much action at once, especially noises, will simply make 'em fall over dead. Balloons are a good example. And too much rough treatment (ie putting it in a pack and doing anything more than walking) could easily break its neck.

Oh yeah, and they more than "sometimes" crap on things. They always do. Every damn chance they get. So if you're gonna have one in public settings, you'd best have a cheap cloth draped over your shoulder, and a hat on. Especially if you wear nice clothes.

[Thirsty_McTandu]

*may have once had a character die to a songbird*
*won't go into details*

This parrot is stone dead!

Sorry, couldn't resist

[Canadian Beaver]

or those damned things that always sound like they're laughing.

Are you thinking of Chic-a-dee's?

Also as far as losing -4 hp from being hit in the shoulder, I'd think you should be rather lucky that's all you lost, the shoulder is a major area and if you have a songbird there, obviously you don't have a shoulder plate covering it.

Maybe there should be a different spot made specially for songbird's and/or patches so you can still wear a shoulder plate and have the bird or patch on top of it?

[Canadian Beaver]

And ya, reverse the quote and non quote stuff for the above. I messed up  :oops:

[creeper386]

Considering he's talking about big spooky birds... Probably a Mocking Bird. Maybe... I think those are normally fairly large birds and tend to sound like they are laughing... And tend to be abit of scavengers...


Creeper

[SykotikGith]

Actually, not to sound smart or anything, but he might be talking about a Mynah Bird. The call of the Mynah sounds eerily like a human laughing...also, you can teach them how to speak. They are pretty cool birds. If you want to know more, go to:

http://www.mynahbird.com/

There...enough of the smartness now...I'll go back under my rock.

[John]

Actually, he might of been talking about kookaburra's. They're always laughing. It's the only noise they make........well. When you cook them in the microwave they tend to make other types of noises. But I mean besides those noises.

[Cenghiz]

The parrakeets, the little parrotlike songbirds (aka canary parrots) are nice and fragile. I used to reproduce them for some easy coins. And touch the dominant female's..err... house, the place where her eggs are. She dives like an eagle, really does the diving thing and probably nicks your hand badly. She knows where's painful to peck.
I believe every songbird may attack.