Phoenix

Names: Fenix, Fire Bird, Royal Bird

Habitat: Mediterranean

Size: 8 foot wingspan

Diet: insectivorous

Reproduction: self-replicating

Society: solitary

Lifespan: 1,400 years

A chattering crow lives now nine generations of aged men,

but a stag's life is four time a crow's,

and a raven's life makes three stags old,

while the phoenix outlives nine ravens,

but we, the rich-haired Nymphs

daughters of Zeus the aegis-holder,

outlive ten phoenixes.

-Precepts of Chiron, Hesiod

aquilae narratur magnitudine, auri fulgore circa colla, cetero purpureus, caeruleam roseis caudam pinnis distinguentibus, cristis fauces, caputque plumeo apice honestante.

The story is that it is as large as an eagle, and has a gleam of gold round its neck and all the rest of it is purple, but the tail blue picked out with rosecoloured feathers and the throat picked out with tufts, and a feathered crest adorning its head.

-Pliny the Elder,"Naturalis historia," translated by Harris Rackham, 1940

arcanum radiant oculi iubar. igneus ora

cingit honos. rutilo cognatum vertice sidus

attollit cristatus apex tenebrasque serena

luce secat. Tyrio pinguntur crura veneno.

antevolant Zephyros pinnae, quas caerulus ambit

flore color sparsoque super ditescit in auro.

A mysterious fire flashes from its eye,

and a flaming aureole enriches its head. Its crest

shines with the sun's own light and shatters the

darkness with its calm brilliance. Its legs are of Tyrian

purple; swifter than those of the Zephyrs are its wings

of flower-like blue dappled with rich gold.

-Claudian,"Phoenix", translated by Henry Maurice Platnauer, 1922

A bird of Greek, Persian, and Egyptian mythology, the Phoenix is an 'immortal creature'—a statement which is only somewhat true. Associated with the sun, it 'returns to life' via a fiery blaze. A deceased Phoenix births a new, completely identical bird; reproducing through cloning, the animal must die for its offspring to be given life. Exceedingly rare organisms, most Phoenixes produce only one young; some may generate two perfect clones of themselves.

Called the "Royal Bird" for its coloration, these animals posses vibrant feathers of purple, yellow, and red. Thier plumage is not their only dazzling display—under the feathers is a glistening, gold, scaley hide; their legs are a smooth, cherry red, ending in rose-colored talons, and their eyes neon yellow, decorated with beady scales like lapis stones. Beautiful, unusually bright, and easy to spot, Phoenixes were coveted by the wealthy and elite as ornamental pets.