OK, first off – hello. Junco roped me into being her eight and I’m supposed to handle questions about Avian culture so she literally just dumped a pile of crap on my desk and said get on it.

So, I’m on it.

The first question is from Darla (is that your real name? Dar-la…I like it) anyway, Darla asks, “How does one become an Archer and why do you have them?”

Quick time out from our sponsers:

Darla: Waldo, I think we have to turn here!
Waldo: Girls have no sense of direction.
Darla: You know, you're starting to get on my nerves!

Great question Dar-la. Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to know that. It’s an ancient Sumerian secret. But I will tell you that not everyone can become an Archer. You have to be prepared for it and the only avians that are prepared are high ranking ones, mostly from Aves – but also Political. Rarely, but it does happen. So basically, if you’re not born into Aves, you’re an avian your entire life. Which can be quite long, hundreds of years. But that’s nothing compared to the Archers who can live thousands, if all goes well.

Lucan is the oldest Archer in the Band, but he is by no means the oldest Archer alive. As he is fond of saying, everyone has a boss.

Archers are the guys in charge, they run stuff. Tier and I run stuff too, but we only run our own men most of the time. If you become an Archer typically you’re put in charge of something. Most of the time it’s boring shit, like fliers. But some gigs are sorta cool, like Matthias who runs the Aves armory. And some positions are downright scary powerful, Like Lucan, Gib, and Rache who run Fledge and Aves, Clutch, and Justice Clusters respectively.

Ok, we got time for one more question. Seth asks, “Do you have a sorting ceremony to figure out which Cluster you’ll be in, like Harry Potter?”

First off, who the fuck is Harry Potter? I’m not sure of that, so I’ll skip that part and just give you the answer. No. There is no sorting. You’re born to your Cluster and there is no way to change. Period. That’s it. You are what you are.

OK, I’ve done my duty here tonight. So, see ya next time. You can read more about me and the avian culture in Fledge, I have some parts in Flight too. And of course, I’m huge in Range and downright steal the whole show in Return…but that’s still a secret, so shhhhh.

Ashur