"They are the cry that ends the silence, the truth that shapes the saga."
The @Sky-Speak Parrot is more than a mere messenger; they are the living, breathing pulse of Niflheimar, the sole reliable conduit for news across the vast, frozen waste. These colossal, intelligent avians, with feathers the color of volcanic rock and piercing, knowing eyes, are bred and trained in the secluded Aerie of Echoes. Imprinted from birth on specific flight paths between major settlements, they are living instruments of diplomacy, war, and culture.
The Protocol of the Message
The system is a sacred, unbroken ritual. The approach of a parrot is first signaled by a colored smoke plume rising from a settlement's watchtower: Vibrant Green for a formal announcement (a festival, a treaty, a succession); Pulsing Red for an immediate crisis (invasion, disaster, death of a leader). Upon seeing the signal, a Giant moves to the "Listening Perch" to receive the message. The parrot arrives, its wingbeats a deep, rhythmic BOOM, and delivers its message with uncanny clarity. The words are never its own, but a perfect, screeching recitation of the sender's exact words, a living missive that cannot be altered.
The Burden of the News
A Sky-Speak Parrot does not offer counsel or context. It delivers a stark headline—"SUN-SPLINTER HEIR WEDDING," "BRIDGE OF BONES COLLAPSED," "FROST-FANG HORDE GATHERS"—and departs. The power of its message lies in the void it leaves behind, a vacuum filled by dilemma and decision. It forces rulers to choose: between celebration and vigilance, between ambition and duty, between old grudges and new alliances. To hear a parrot's cry is to feel the weight of the entire realm settle upon your shoulders, a reminder that in Niflheimar, no giant rules alone, for the sky itself holds them accountable.