Sakawatari

The Sakawatari is the largest bird inhabiting The Abyss and has been described in murals and legends before its existence was confirmed by appearing near the surface, in recent years.

Description
The Sakawatari is a giant turquoise bird exceeding over 50 meters in length, from head to tail, with a green back and wings and a white belly. Its eyes are covered in a hard, black membrane. It has long, deep blue feathers extending from both its wings and its rear.

Its claws are over 1 meter long, making them ill-suited to grasping small prey. It also possesses an invisible flying membrane that allows it to detect The Force Field and is impervious to The Curse of the Abyss in the deeper layers, which would prove otherwise fatal. As this anatomy is ideal for The Abyss, outside of it, the Sakawatari can only travel as far as Orth.

To ascend, the Sakawatari closes its eyes and twists its body to gain speed, rising several hundreds of meters in one flap of the wings.

Its nest is believed to be located deeper than the 7th Layer, but it travels as far as the surface to hunt for food. Nothing is known about its spawning or its child-rearing habits. They are known to prey upon Hammerbeak and Hermit Rat.

Murals and legends claim it appears once every 2,000 years. Its appearance is believed to be a sign that the end of the cycle is approaching and is rumored to be the very same creature depicted on the murals from the cycle 2,000 years ago.