Wimmers are thought of as a "species", but in fact include several species of sapient avian-types corresponding to various types of waterfowl. Wimmers resemble large, man-sized versions of their non-morphic "kin", having wing-claws with which they may manipulate objects. Wimmers come in various types: terns, cranes, herons, pelicans, gulls, etc. Their appearance and abilities vary greatly according to the appropriate "sub-species".
Wimmers are generally found on coastal regions, which tends to preclude them from being found in significant numbers in Rephidim or the other major cities (with the exception of Nagai City or Bromthen City). They often have migratory habits, whole clans moving north or south with the seasons, and setting up alternate home-sites in each location. Wimmers are stereotypically expert fishers and boaters, and often skilled in scrimshaw.
Counting their heads and long necks, many varieties of Wimmers stand seven to eight feet tall, particularly those of the crane, heron or pelican variety. Gulls are closer to a range of five to six feet tall.
The "native tongue" of Wimmers is most commonly Vartan, being the easiest language for those with beaks, and Rephidim Standard is common as well. Wimmers migrating along the continent of Ai often know Imperial/Nagai, while those living on or near the continent of Ur are more likely to understand Babelite/Eeee, even if they can't speak it that well.
Wimmers as a "race" do not have a particular "racial culture". Wimmer culture is based around the cultures they adopt in the areas they inhabit, flavored by their own needs and tendencies. Like their non-sapient Terran counterparts, Wimmers are generally migratory, and therefore they have both summer and winter homes, typically in fairly remote locations, and not possessing significant wealth by the standards of outsiders. (Otherwise, their homesteads would be ripe for plunder in the off-seasons.)
PC Requirements: Inherent abilities vary according to the exact bird type.
One distinct species of Wimmer is that of the "Avarins", who are sapient analogs to Terran terns - on Earth, birds that have the longest migratory path of any known species, and their corresponding species on Sinai does quite a bit of moving around as well.
These birds have their main homeland on the island of Avarin, and thus they are often distinguished by this name as a matter of nationality rather than species. Species-wise, other people would most likely just call them "Wimmers", but the matter of species and nationality is often confused on Sinai.
The frigid island of Avarin, located off the north coast of Ur, is a frigid, ice-covered, inhospitable land, where the Avarins live primarily off of fish and other sea creatures during the summer months. During the winter, when it gets so cold that even they can't eke out an existence in the arctic, they fly (or sail) south to the Ur mainland, where they have alternate homesteads, and trade with the Ashdodites. They leave behind only their windbreaks and meager belongings in the arctic - It's unlikely that anyone will actually disturb them in their absence, since there are few who could survive in such an environment, but even if they do, it's hardly of great concern.
The Avarins have a lower to middling technology level - and that mostly consists of borrowed ship-building techniques from Babel, refined for their own purposes. If they have any access to magic at all, it is shamanistic magic - not refined, as that would require formal training, which would require a long time apart from the tribe, and funds that the Avarins generally do not have.
Their migratory habits dictate a lifestyle sparse in non-portable material goods, but rich in ancestral heritage, history, and stories recorded on bone and baleen, and a deep, intimate knowledge of the north. They have a close, conservative social structure, and tightly knit families. "Mavericks" are looked down upon as not contributing their part to the necessities of survival, and are fairly rare, but there may still be the occasional Avarin who, during his or her brief exposure to the outside world during the winter months, might actually decide to forego the journey back to the arctic region. Those who break away from the tribe in this manner are unlikely to be warmly welcomed back if they decide to try to rejoin later.
Although Avarins tend to live on the island of Avarin during the summer months, their southward migrations take them in many directions during the winter, as entire clans head toward different grounds. Most of these go southward to various parts of Ur, but some have treks that take them over to the Vykarin Wastes. (In fact, some "Avarins" actually live in the arctic circle over the northern part of the Vykarin Wastes, as they aren't terribly concerned about territorial particulars.)
PC Requirements: