Feng huang

A feng huang, sometimes called the oriental phoenix, was a magnificent avian creature. They were rarely found in the Prime Material plane.

Description
Feng huang were similar to phoenixes, but had larger wings and shorter bills and necks. Their brightly colored feathers included blue, green, orange, red, and yellow, with black and white stripes running the length of their bellies. Their tails were finned and their crowns were multicolored. Their voices sounded musical like flutes.

Personality
These creatures were aware of their magnificence. They were arrogant, aloof, and self-absorbed.

Combat
Like other phoenixes, feng huang generally avoided combat, but were extremely aggressive if provoked. They had a vast array of innate magic abilities that could be employed from a distance, such as fireball, flame lightning, fire storm, and fire quench, plus a variety of combat abilities.

If a feng huang was slain, its remains transformed into a jade egg that hatched into a new feng huang within less than one month.

Society
Like their phoenix cousins, feng huang tended to avoid contact with other creatures. They rarely visited the Prime Material plane, instead preferring to nest in several different planes of existence. They made their nests out of strands of gold and silver atop the enormous wu t'ung trees.

Due to their unpredictable behavior, the appearance of feng huang was equally associated with good and with bad fortune.

Ecology
Unlike other phoenixes, female feng huang reproduced by laying eggs normally. They laid one egg per year, but roughly only one in every 100 eggs ever hatched.

Feng huang enjoyed eating bamboo and wu t'ung flower seeds. They drank sweet liquids, such as honey-flavored water and fruit juices.

Notable Feng Huang

 * Misikin, an Officer of Qui in charge of overseeing all birds in the Fochu Peninsula.

Appearances

 * Test of the Samurai