Creation: Hua-zhen, a great being of fire, breathed steam to make the atmosphere; it wanted companions, so it made the avians in its image. So that this new race could flourish in many ways, the great Hua-zhen made four different types of avians: bat-winged, insect-winged, bird-winged, and fire-winged. Water fell from the cloud-homes of the avians to make the oceans, and Hua-zhen formed mud, and from the mud it shaped the sea people and the land. The fire-winged avians tried to amass too much power, and they challenged the supremacy of Hua-zhen. As punishment, Hua-zhen snuffed out their wings of fire. These avians fell to the land and became the race now known as the terrans.

Death: Avians live 120-150 years; when they die, they become heavy and fall from the sky and burn up like shooting stars. Avians are content with death because they believe that their soul rises up and becomes part of the wind. Some believe that in this form after death, they can help their living brethren control weather.

Purpose: The avians see themselves as a guardian species, looking out for the lesser and more vulnerable species on Doegum.

Religious Holiday: Wind Harvest, the first waking of the darkening after trading; a major feast is held with the new food traded from the terran farmers.

Core beliefs: Magic is part of the world made by Hua-zhen and is thus superior to technology.

Religious experience: Every avian, as a rite of passage into adulthood, must go inside a cloud and go into the center to be one with the atmosphere

Holy text: The Book of Hua-zhen, an ancient and well-preserved tome, is passed down through generations and tells the story of how the avians were given the glorious world of Doegum as their home.