Lilinia or Lily is a young 'woman' from an older race of aliens that live on an tidally locked planet orbiting a small red dwarf star. She's my take on a scientifically plausible winged humanoid. I figured that if her atmosphere is dense enough, she could fly. 13 times Earth's atmospheric density should be enough. Venus is smaller than Earth and has a much denser atmosphere (50 times) so 13 is quite plausible.
Of course, we have winged creatures on Earth, but none of them resemble people. What, in Lily's environment would select for strong, human style legs? It turns out to be the atmosphere again. It's just dense enough for her to fly when it's cold, but when it heats up, and thins out, she has to walk.
Red dwarf stars are somewhat unstable so Lily's world is subjected to strong, unpredictable seasonal changes. Her people must often migrate without warning. They fly when they can and walk when they must.
Day to day life for Lily's people is dominated by the ever present sun. It provides life and valuable heat, but its unpredictability often provides too much or too little heat and lily's clan must pack up and move again. The sun doesn't just dominate their physical lives, it dominates their religion as well. They see their sun as God.
Because they are frequently required to relocate, they never got a chance to develop agriculture. Their lives are similar to the old Bedouin tribes of Arabia who migrate in search of water. They have domesticated winged animals to help carry their belongings. Humans might be tempted to call these pack animals dragons!
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This page last updated 24-Jan-2018