Height: 4' 6" (5' 6" standing straight as possible)
Weight: 90 lb (lightweight physiology for flight)
Hair: black
Eyes: black
Alignment: neutral good
Class: cleric (no deity, domains Good and Protection)
Weapons: dagger, club (short walking staff), flaming longbow, Captivating Song (Su)
Special Qualities: darkvision 60'
Character Flaws (from Unearthed Arcana): weak will, noncombatant (taking these flaws allows two bonus feats)
As a young adult, Devam (not his name at the time) realized he would soon be killed or driven out of the flock by his father to prevent breeding competition, so he may as well quit while he was ahead. He snuck into the small flock's collective treasure hoard, took the magic weapon he had long coveted, snatched the nearest random sack of loot, and fled for his life.
Devam, au naturale. My visualization of D&D harpies is somewhat different from that pictured in the Monster Manual, though it keeps to the word description; blast it all, harpies need feathers! Feathers are much more in keeping with a reptilian body than are batlike (mammalian) wings, though I held onto the membranous quality of his lower wings for the sake of their ability to curl up like a hand and tuck under a robe. No, that isn't something that should be covered, showing between his knees--that's his tail, much like a plucked chicken's tail, very similar to the one in the Manual picture.
Devam compared in size to a human, pictured in his usual walking crouch (he crouches even further when at rest, and remains on his feet rather than sitting). His wings are partially furled here--the wingfingers fold under at the upper two joints in each one, curling like a huge hand--which is how he usually carries them, held slightly away from his body for balance. He can straighten up for brief periods, standing up to 5' 6", but can't balance or move very well in that pose. He walks like the vultures in Disney's "Jungle Book," lurching and hopping, though he can move somewhat more smoothly for disguise purposes if he concentrates.
Devam's everyday wear. Five yards of cloth wrapped and pinned makes a servicable toga, easy to don and remove around very large wings. And I thought the Greco-Roman influence was great for a harpy, myself....Harpies don't normally clothe themselves (males have nothing to hide, as seen above, it's all internal as on a bird or reptile, though they do apparently nurse their young, to judge by every known depiction of harpy females), but for the sake of social sensitivities, this one goes about town clothed. He keeps his claws on hands and feet filed down as far as he can file them without cutting into the quick, in the interest of not harming other people by accident in daily interactions.
When necessary, Devam can do a fair job of hiding his nonhuman nature. Cloth gloves conceal his scaly hands and filed-down talons, and wrapped burlap "peasant shoes" bind his scaly toes and claws. His robe is specially fitted and padded on the back and sides, concealing the outlines of his folded wings and making their bulk look like a badly-hunched back. This disguise proves useful on those rare occasions when he might have to venture outside of his village and the encroaching city into places where people aren't quite so accepting.
Devam [age 85, equivalent to about 30 in human terms]
pronounced DEH-vam
Race: harpy
Beginning Stats:
STR 18
DEX 20
CON 14
INT 11
WIS 17
CHA 20
(power-rolled stats have been modified by harpy racial traits, yielding the values listed above)
Background: This campaign takes place in Greyhawk instead of Faerun, beginning in a village and nearby urban center of the DM's invention. The once-rural village (now surrounded by the outskirts of the city) is home to a tiefling and a drow, among others, and has little problem accepting a harpy as well; all are welcome so long as they behave themselves. I had to do quite a bit of improvisational imagining in the areas of harpy physiology and society, as no rulebook I found has much to say about this monster race. I decided harpies are similar to monotremes (warm-blooded egg-layers with mammary glands, though scaly/feathery instead of furry), their family structure is similar to that of lions, and at least twice as many females are hatched as males.
He was pursued, of course. Half delirious from severe wounds, in his confusion and desperation he sought refuge in a small humanoid village. That confused decision turned out to be a life-saver; the people surprisingly took him in and cared for him, and his few vindictive relatives chose to cut their losses and go home rather than face an entire settlement, especially one so near a fair-sized city.
Devam soon took his current "civilized" name, part of his efforts toward adapting to his new home as his desire for sanctuary converted to a desire to learn more about this strange way of living where it wasn't only the quickest and meanest who survived and prospered.
