Great Hawk

The Great Hawk is a significant legendary figure in Aeldari myth, considered as a noble bird of the Phoenix King Asuryan. With her came the summer winds and merry news and she is often associated with good fortune, prophecies and psychic powers. The Great Hawk is often depicted with the Crown of the Maiden, and is thought to be an associate of Lileath.

Overview
According to the Aeldari myths, the Great Hawk was Phoenix King Asuryan's noble huntress and a messenger who was entrusted with the most important and delicate of the Phoenix King's messages. She was superior to her male counterparts, the Falcon and the Hawk, both messengers of the gods too, and also consorts of the Great Hawk. The Great Hawk's noble birth and prestigous position as one of the foremost servants of the Phoenix King made her to hold authority over many other creatures and the legendary birds.

Song of the Great Hawk
Ever vigilant, Great Hawk resided on the pillars of the Halls of the Phoenix King and her piercing eyes uncovered the plots and disguises within her master's halls. Phoenix King Asuryan was very fond of Great Hawk and her dazzling suit of feathers but he wished that the Great Hawk could sing to him. Because even after all the skills and beauty that was granted to the Great Hawk, her voice was horribly piercing screech, no fit for singing. So Asuryan sent the Great Hawk to the White Orchard which was the court of the goddess of dreams and fortune, Lileath. There Great Hawk dressed as the Moon Goddess' handmaiden and was taught to sing with a voice so beautiful that even the thrushes, who were gifted with a beautiful voice, came to listen Great Hawks singing. The Falcon, consort of the Great Hawk, had too found his way into the White Orchard and after witnessing the beautiful voice he flew all the way to the Hall of the Phoenix King and told the Phoenix King how magnificently beautiful had the Great Hawk's voice become. Delighted of this, Asuryan called the gods into a great feast to celebrate the homecoming of the Great Hawk. When everyone were full of the treats in the Phoenix King's long table, Asuryan pet the Great Hawk and asked her to sing a song for all of the gods gathered there. But the Great Hawk pecked Asuryan's fingers and said:

O' Asuryan, mighty Phoenix King / I hear you'd like me to sing Why asketh you not lady Nightingale for a pretty song / or the Thrust for a rhyme long Have the Blackcap rehearse his lament / the Warbler would love a chat Old Crow to tell a story / or a blackbird to praise your glory Hear the swallows chirp in ceiling? / Even the bats are here for your pleasing But I'm not about to sing / not even for a Phoenix King

Enraged of the humiliation, Asuryan sent the Great Hawk away from his halls and took the Hawk in her stead as his foremost messenger. After a while Asuryan however asked the Great Hawk back from the White Orchard where she had gone to exile, because the Hawk was often away, playing with his frien the Falcon, never in Asuryan's reach when he needed to send a message.