Race:Rito

Rito is a playable race on Hyrule Castle. As one of the fourteen common races, any player can choose to make a Rito character.

Canonically, Rito have only appeared in The Wind Waker.

Character Creation Brief

Though they're distantly related to the sea-dwelling Zora, these bird-like people don't actually hail from Hyrule proper. Their home, Dragon Roost Island, lies east of Hyrule Bay, within the Eastern Sea, and can only be reached by boat or some other form of over-sea transportation. Protected by the guardian of skies, the dragon Valoo, most Rito have been gifted the power of flight from their protector. Born with only a beak, feathers, and talons, a Rito must pass a ritual known only to their race, involving a scale of Valoo, in order to gain their wings. However, once a Rito earns wings, he or she is able to travel to great heights and distances, tiring only from the longest of journeys.

A Rito begins with a PWC of 1/1/2, having a 2 in Courage. This starting PWC can be defied by using the Exception racial perk during character creation.

A Rito character can have up to three racial perks of choice. In addition to the general perks available to every race, a Rito can also choose from:

• Gale Aura: a defensive spell which momentarily surrounds the Zora in an vortex of wind
• Hookshot: a useful and powerful mechanic device useful for crossing large distances, costing two racial perk "slots"; it is occasionally used by Rito who haven't mastered flight
• On the Breeze: a trait which makes it easier for the Zora to gain Wind-based treasures
• Roc's Feather: a magical item which enables the holder to jump thrice their normal height, this feather is useful mostly for Rito who can't fly
• Shuttle Loop: a technique used by winged Rito to enter flight quickly, it can also be useful in combat
• Valiance: a trait which enables the Rito to start with more Courage-based treasures
• Winged Flight: a typical adult Rito has performed the ritual to grow these fully-functional feathered wings; this perk costs two perk "slots"

Recommended Origin

If you've never made a character before and intend to make a Rito, it is highly encouraged that you base your character on the following three origins. If you've made a character before, this example origin may provide inspiration for your character.

Every day of your life, you've lived grown up with your people on Dragon Roost Island, a peaceful mountain community rising up out of the Eastern Sea. Earlier in your youth, you succeeded in the ritual of your youth, ascending to the peak to confront Valoo and earn the wings you now treasure. The land of Hyrule is distant to you, almost a legend. Like some of your kin, you might yearn to leave your small, safe island to see a world filled with wondrous discovery and adventure...

A Rito of this origin begins with a PWC of 1/1/2. Its racial perks include Valiance and Winged Flight.

Physiology

While not vital information, the following includes further detail on the race's appearance and biology.

Rito are a two-gender race, though females are a notable minority. Females tend to have smaller stature and slightly more slender body and facial features, among other discernable differences.

Rito produce in the normal way of a two-gender race, and like Hylians, usually only have a single child at a time. It is assumed that this child is born from a hard-shelled egg, but whether or not that is true, a typical Rito will never say.

A Rito ages at a rate comparable to a Hylian, usually reaching a state of adulthood after 15-20, with the maximum expected age being around 100 years. An average adult Rito tends to be a few inches taller than the average Hylian, but due to a slender frame and bird-like hollow bones, usually weighs only a third of the weight of a comparable Hylian.

A Rito's body is colored in feathers, with human-like hair on the scalp. Males almost always have brown feathers and white hair, while females almost always have white feathers and brown hair. A Rito's Hylian-like eyes usually have red-irises, which center around a sharp beak replacing other races' mouth and nose. Rito have pointed ears like Hylians, but they are usually more subdued and less noticeable.

Rito who have gained wings have these wings function similarly to natural sleeves when not in use, wrapping around the Rito's arms. A Rito flies by slipping his hands into these "sleeves," thereby granting him full control of the wings and enabling him or her to fly.

Culture & History

While not vital information, the following includes further detail on the race's origins, development, and society.

The origins of the Zora race are mysterious, but it is widely believed they share a common ancestor with the vastly different Zora race. This is due largely to legends spready by the sparse Poes who have recalled their ancestors to look and act like Zora, despite the fact their descendants are blatantly Rito. Although most Rito revere the dragon Valoo, he did not create the race, but only grants them flight.

While Rito keep their race's history, no records stretch so far back to recount a time when they did not live upon their homeland, Dragon Roost Isle. For countless generations, the people have lived peacefully here, but were long isolated from the rest of the world. The mountain was easily defended from any type of invader, and even today routinely thwarts bandits and thieves originating from the Forsaken Fortress. It was until approximately a century ago that the great dragon Valoo came to the race, and forever changed their existance, by granting them the ability to fly like the birds they so resemble. Rito society has forever since revolved around this newfound ability.

Even in modern times, every Rito must face a mysterious trial involving one of the dragon's scales to gain his or her wings, as a coming-of-age ritual. The few who've never gained it usually don't live on the isle proper, or have bizarre mitigating circumstances. The Rito still know not why Valoo grants them this gift, or what will happen to their people once he leaves them. For now, he is justly revered as a god among the Rito, and his wisdom is praised by all who dwell on the island which has since come to be known as Dragon Roost. In the years since, Rito as a whole have not expanded far beyond their island, but have mapped perhaps more of the world than any other race. They discovered Hyrule and the Hylians, and still use ship and wing to scour the furthest reaches of the great seas.

With Ganon's recent invasion of Hyrule, his forces have stayed surprisingly distant from the sea and Dragon Roost, enabling most of the Rito to not be directly affected by his atrocities. Since then, the Rito as a whole have begun to use their wings to offer a parcel delivery system to Hyrule and other nearby lands, enabling the world to become significantly more connection through the exchange of letters and other information. Largely because of this, most other races erroneously believe them all to be postmen.