: I have a race of winged characters in my story, but I'm struggling as to how and why? I know why; they're cool, and they have a deep yearning to be free and with the air, which'll be a

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In his novel The Broken God, author David Zindell features a race of Neanderthals on a non-Earth planet who were originally Homo Sapiens, but whose forebears genetically engineered themselves into Homo Neanderthalensis bodies (apparently retaining Sapiens brains and their own identities). "How" was advanced genetic engineering, and "Why" was never as far as I can remember explained in the novel -- but may be because they were seeking a simple life.

You would probably do just as well to say that their creators genetically engineered them simply as an exercise in esthetics. One of these days we may be capable of creating new species just because we want to, and someone is bound to create a beautiful species just "because" they can. Or for that matter, you don't need to explain Why -- the reason might very well be lost in the mists of time.

Let your imagination run wild! You might actually make the story turn around the possible reason for their creation, which is unknown, but finding out causes a turning point in something or someone. Perhaps their original purpose has been lost, but once it is found out it leads to the unlocking of an important concept.

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