Cranes

The Crane people can be generally compared to a blend of three-kingond Korea society and members of Gruiformes biological order and Ardeidae biological family.
Cranes are one of the twelve races of anthropomorphic birds that populate Yanìs, and are grouped in the subgenus of Anglers together with Albatrosses and Kingfishers.

Physically, they are of medium height and have a slender and frail physique, reaching an average height of about 5,5 feet. They have a long, S-shaped neck and a straight, pointed yellow beak that can reach up to 20cm. The plumage varies by habitat: specimens inhabiting vast, open wetlands tend to have whiter in their plumage than do species that inhabit smaller wetlands or forested habitats, which tend to be greyer. They don’t have wings and instead have fleshy, featherless legs (from knee down) and arms (from elbow down), both blackish or dark-fleshy and four-toed. Their chicks are born ovoviviparous, meaning they hatch within the mother's body, and families usually never have more than 3 or 4 chicks throughout their life.

The Crane people developed from a league of tribes and rapidly expanded their power from their original basin in the Hiuan River, a tributary of Sikuse. The first expansion can be linked to the area's morphology, mainly hilly and poor in arable lands. Once centralized, the new kingdom might not have been able to feed its population, and therefore, following migratory trends, they would have tried to raid and exploit the southern swamp lands and resources. As Kibaya expanded, the Red Panda people, their closest neighbors, became increasingly restless and aggressive, eventually trespassing south beyond Sikuse. The coming of Zantist asceticism, however, deeply affected the Crane people, who were amazed by such enlightenment and immediately followed his ethics. They were spontaneously led to accept annexation "under the same sky", even if at the time Red Pandas' territory created a geographical barrier with Kibaya. Unfortunately for the Crane people, Shino conquered them with a lightning assault against their capital, and Kibaya could not act to rescue them.

The Crane people's culture, above all literary and artistic, is very refined and developed, despite lacking in fighting skills. Hwarangs are the most famous institution of the Crane people, and it means "youngsters of flower": young nobles are trained before their maturity to become not only skilled warriors but also trained in art, music, medicine, politics, dance, and literature. A feature of the Crane people's culture is feng shui, following which residence sites are selected through geomancy, as they believe that any topographical configuration generates energetic lines.