Harpy

Harpies bear the upper torsos and heads of night elf women, joined to broad feathered wings and wicked talons. Despite their delicate, elven visage—which ironically grows more striking as they age—their nature is thoroughly savage. Originally roosting among the crags of the Stonetalon Mountains, they have aggressively migrated across Kalimdor, terrorizing the arid canyons of Durotar, the sacred boughs of Teldrassil, and the heights of Mulgore. Unlike the wild creatures they hunt, harpies do not live in harmony with nature; they despoil surrounding flora and fauna, turning their nesting grounds into foul, fetid middens littered with the picked-clean bones of their prey.

Night elf myth often claims harpies originated as treacherous handmaidens cursed by Queen Azshara before the Great Sundering, though no one can say for certain where they truly came from. Whatever their origins, harpies today operate as ruthless matriarchies, where aspiring queens must betray, slaughter, and torment rivals to maintain command.

Beyond rending flesh with razor-sharp claws, harpies command dangerous wind and lightning magic, channeling shrieking gales to batter foes from above. They are deeply cunning hunters capable of spoken language, occasionally trading scavenged oddities with subterranean creatures like kobolds in exchange for bright gems and shiny trinkets. Unwary explorers are sometimes beguiled by their elven forms, but physical contact carries grave danger: a harpy's kiss is venomous, rapidly inflicting a violent, wasting fever upon those foolish enough to let their guard down.