Smitheria Choose a Perch, and Then They Choose You

Happy Smitheria Day, dear. Head for Cloudloft's crystal-lit caves, or the high ridges above Nova Reach, and wait for the updraft — that's where you'll find them.

It isn't an accident that they nest there. Those ridges throw up exactly the kind of air that makes a broad wingspan worth having, and Smitheria spend a good part of the day testing it. Long bodies, feathered crests, careful talons. From below they look graceful and a little remote, and that's the impression most folks come away with.

It's the wrong one. Smitheria are affectionate — they simply do it on their own schedule. A Smitheria picks a perch, and having picked it, picks the company that comes with it. There's nothing cold in that. It's just careful, and I've never once held carefulness against anybody.

To mark the day: four stickers are first-read rewards on this article, and four crystal updraft keepsakes are out — a wing-wrap plushie, a meringue crown, a feather balloon bouquet and a high-ridge music box, each at its own shop.

New stickers

Find them at this article's first-read rewards.

New items

Find them at Plushie Boutique · Species Plushies, Sunset Bakery · Pastries & Cakes, Balloons Aloft, and Beachcomber's Trove · Bric-a-brac.