Birds are more or less immune to capsaicin - they don't taste it as hot (Capsaicin has no negative effects their taste receptors). How do the Makani function when presented with spicy spicy things?
Bring on the heat. Relatively speaking, since like you say, birds have little problem with capsacin. They're going to win all the hot pepper challenges.
"Can I make a chicken makani? Do they eat chicken?"
Someone asked Warwolf and Warwolf asked me. So-
Makani are avian, but they are not a bird. It's like saying can I make my human be chimpanzee or ape based. It's really just a matter of feather colors. I get that asking to make a chicken is probably something cheeky, but there are hundreds of chicken breeds and some have Po colors and some have YaVei colors. Using bird refs is a good way to show colors, but using a chicken reference doesn't mean you've made a talking chicken. It just means you have a makani with a certain set of colors. You could say you're making a penguin makani, but you've really just made a black feathered Po with a white stomach.
As well, yes they can eat chicken. Their small island and their people are no stranger to famine and starvation. They will eat what they need to survive, provided it won't kill them.
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"How would a makani react to a gryphon in Groundling captivity?"
The gryphons are seen as guardians that kept the groundlings at bay, but also temperamental creatures that had no qualms with attacking makani as well. They are dangerous brethern, especially since the concept beyond A'keiyah is that they were the ones not ripped apart by gryphons at birth. The gryphons are a necessary danger that the YaVei proctected their people from when the beasts were temperamental, but also fed and managed to try and keep happy.
A makani would react in a way that is specific to that character, I'd imagine. Some makani are probably afraid of the gryphon if they are not Yavei. Some makani probably see it as an insult to their brethren to cage it. It would just depend on their opinion on the creatures.
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"Do they know what beds are?"
Yes. Their 'roosts' are literally just communal houses. Several large, soft pallets made of various materials. They'll sleep on their side or stomachs.
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Keep the questions coming as you have them.
It's hard to answer FAQ's if folks don't ask them.