Bird riding

[Celedor]

The saddle would best resemble english riding. . .a small light pad mounted where neck joins torso, the stirrups hang to either side of the neck, feet in from behind them.

Two bronze rings have been set into the corners of the beaks, with leather loops.

Usual riding position is in the saddle, all the way leaned forward, holding the loops. (your torso flat against the back of the bird's neck)

Pulling left and right controls direction, pulling up or down results in climbing, diving or banking.

Took a lot to get used to it, and you've all tried riding sitting up on a soar, but the speeds are a lot faster, you doubt you could ride in that position for anything other than soaring. (So far, none of you have successfully made an attack on anything from bird back, except dropping a stone rather innacurately.)

[Celedor]

Think real world gulls when considering take off and landing sites.

They can clumsily/jerkily hover, take off and land almost vertically, land on water, flat land, or onto anything they can perch on with their claws, including peaks, assuming the stone is either large enough to land flat on, or small enough to grip. (And strong enough to hold their weight.). You have seen them perch on stout log walls for instance.

OTOH it is good to keep in mind that with riders they have issues. . .a gull can take off almost vertically with a rider, but it's slow and tiring. The risks of breaking a gull leg on a rough landing go well up with a rider also.

If you think in terms of being chased by someone on foot, jumping onto your gulls and flying off. . .expect to take a round or two of melee and a few rounds of missile fire getting away.

Doing stuff like that will also tire your gull signifigantly, with an impact on overall flight range.