Titles: Grandfather Raptor, the Blood on the Wind, the White Harrier
Portfolio: Battle, birds, the hunt, the sky
Domains: Air (all subdomains), Runes (all subdomains), Trickery (Ambush, Deception subdomains), War (all subdomains)
Favored Weapon: Talon (kerambyit)

The association of large birds of prey with warfare is incredibly ancient, but every stern eagle, vicious hawk, and cruel falcon inscribed on war flags the world over has a common source. Despite the fact that predators (and not just birds, though Aaohi favors them above all others) are part of this god's purview, and are an essential part to the cycle of life, few consider Aaohi to be a god of nature. He embodies, however, the destructive imbalance of which nature is capable. While tranquil groves and calming coasts lie outside his scope, every animal population that becomes bloated, and then crashes, has Aaohi standing behind them. He pushes them to reproduce, to feed, to grow, and then gleefully punishes them for their failure to move with the winds when their inflated numbers dwindle to nothing.

So it is with humans—though, to mortals, Aaohi represents tribal warfare more than the sort of greed-driven conflict that civilized nations inflict upon each other. Aaohi is the god of the hunt and the kill, and all stalkers pay him in prayer so that the wind is favorable to them, their feet are swift, and they can clearly see the cues that ensure their success. Those who are fond of watching birds often write prayer strips with the appropriate symbols, and swear not to do harm to Aaohi's favorite creatures unless for the sake of hunger. The hunt is greater than all.

Aaohi appears as a tall, exotic humanoid with a pair of yellowish, marble-like antlers protruding from either side of a third eye in his forehead. This symbol of enlightenment anchors a translucent crest upon his angular, bald head, and in truth, has a darker purpose: Legends claim the eye forces Aaohi to always bear witness to every war, every hunt, every catch, and every kill. In ancient days, it is said, Aaohi had a glorious head full of feathery hair, but his negligence and disinterest in remaining in one place for too long allowed other, more sinister forces to intrude on his purview. To keep his portfolio pure, the other gods demanded that—if Aaohi would not stay put—he would be forced to see all, no matter where he was.

This initially drove Aaohi to despair, for his joy in flying through and above the clouds was tempered by his new distractions. For this reason, it is said, Aaohi created the Symbols of War, which became the name of his one and only holy text. The Symbols of War is a simple thing, rarely more than a few pages, and known (in one form or another) in the furthest places of the world. The text describes a series of runic forms that have become near-universal, transcending languages. It is said that Aaohi had a hand in encouraging the development of language so as to spread his text quickly, but he is not known to take credit for it; in fact, since that text was supposedly handed down to mortals, Aaohi does nothing to communicate to his followers or detractors. If he places symbols in the world purposefully, it is impossible to prove, let alone to correctly interpret them.

With the Symbols of War to organize battlefields, injured soldiers, and prisoners of combat, it is said that Aaohi found his awareness of all was much more manageable, once firm categories had been created for him to satisfy the other Divines' ultimatum. Less well publicized is the fact that with symbols comes a greater capacity for deception, essential to stalking your prey or defeating your enemy.

Dogma: Air feeds the body—directly and indirectly—as it fills the chest and breath, and fills the stomach with meat when predators sniff out the essence of their prey, carried by the wind. Thus, the bird is the ultimate expression of violent dominance for the purpose of survival, for not only does it hunt with the air, it hunts on the air. The predator is locked in a struggle, and so must use the wind and the wild to their advantage to trick their prey. As it is for the raptor, so it is for the talons of battle, who engage in a similar dance to protect their territory or expand it. The tribal war is sacred, chaotic but limited. It is defined closely by the symbols of war, which—in so defining themselves—illuminate proper behavior when engaged in conflict, so that the depravity and wastefulness of evil is not indulged.