Dungeons & Dragons/Monsters/Avariel

In many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Avariel are a race of winged elves. They are also known as the "winged folk" and the "al karak elam."

Publication history
The winged folk first appeared in first edition in Dragon #51 (July 1981).

The avariel (winged elf) appeared in the second edition book The Complete Book of Elves (1992). This appearance was reprinted as the "winged elf" in Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two (1995).

The avariel (winged elf) appeared in Races of Faerûn (2003).

Society
The avariel make their homes in open areas, and take immense joy in flying. They absolutely abhor and detest being inside, underground, or otherwise restricted from the open sky. The avariel are known for their fierce clerical tradition, as devout worshippers of the Seldarine sky goddess Aerdrie Faenya.

Avariel in the Forgotten Realms
The avariel are very rare in Faerûn, since they have been hunted nearly to extinction by various dragons. Avariel remain in any number in only one place — the Aerie of the Snow Eagles, a secluded mountain home in the north. Avariel maintain good relationships with aarakocra, and those in the Aerie of the Snow Eagles have recently reestablished contact with their cousins in Evermeet.

Computer and video games
In the PC game Baldur's Gate II, one of the NPCs that may join the protagonist on his quest is an avariel female called Aerie, who had been captured, had her wings sawed off, and been raised in a circus by a gnome.

More recently, in an expansion to the PC game Neverwinter Nights, one of the optional quests requires the player to free some avariel from an enchantment which keeps them trapped underground.

Costuming
The winning design for the 2005 Gen Con costume contest is an exquisite avariel designed by "Lady Rachel." The design and construction required over five years and 3,000 feathers on a mechanical frame.

Additional reading

 * Estes, James. "On Wings of Eagles." Dragon #233 (TSR, 1996).