Warhawk Riders

The Warhawk Riders are the aerial hunters of the Wood Elves, bold spirits who have won the trust of the great warhawks (huge, fierce birds of prey that nest in the high crags above Athel Loren) and ride them to war through the open sky. From far overhead they watch the battle unfold, then fold their wings and plunge, the hawks striking with raking talons and tearing beaks while the riders loose arrows and stab down with spears, before beating back into the clouds long before the enemy can bring a weapon to bear. They fall upon war machines and archers, isolated commanders and vulnerable flanks, unravelling the enemy's plans from an angle no shield-wall can guard. Kindred spirits to their savage mounts, the Warhawk Riders share the birds' love of the hunt and the killing stoop, and they range far ahead of the elven host as scouts and skirmishers. To an enemy on the ground, they are a threat that comes without warning from the one direction no line can face, and is gone again before the alarm is even raised.