"Overshadowing": Observations on the Protective Nature of Harpies

By Sophethia Korele of the Zoological Institute of Torin

As Torin has opened its gates to visitors from the other side of the Shimmering Sea, it has come to my attention that harpies have gained a reputation for being heartless and cruel elsewhere in the known world. This comes as an enormous shock to me as I have always known those insufferable, flea-bitten hags with wings as being quite the opposite of that hateful reputation. Indeed, harpies fight hard but they love even harder. My observations of their true nature, as a citizen of Torin (born and raised), follow:

Contrary to their negative reputation, harpies are actually extremely caring and protective, more so than any other species—they just have their own way of showing it. When a harpy adopts a human as their friend or family, they begin to do what is called “overshadowing”, or sometimes “henning”. In the same way that a hen overshadows the eggs in her nest, a harpy watches over and becomes fiercely defensive of her important persons. In some cases, their protectiveness crosses over into possessiveness where they start seeing their important persons as possessions. In the most extreme cases of possessiveness, the harpy may resort to swallowing her important person or persons out of a desire to be closer to them and to keep them to themselves.

While the relationship between the harpies and humans of Torin was tumultuous in the early years, a close bond has been forged over time, and it's been made even stronger as new generations of harpies have been raised in the care of humans. Torin is an example of the overshadowing behavior of harpies in effect, as the giant species hover protectively over the city as hens do their nest.