Accursed Bird. Scarlet ibises are not inherently malevolent, and many visitors to the swamp assume they are natural, if overly large, birds. However, their beaks bestow unluck on those touched or struck by them. The ibises usually reserve their cursed attacks as retribution for themselves, but swamp dwellers sometimes plea for the birds' intercession on those who have wronged them. Scarlet ibises have keen judgment to determine the worthiness of these requests. Those who know about scarlet ibises and their terrible curses avoid killing the birds and typically warn others about the consequences of killing them. Less scrupulous folk instead encourage naïve travelers to destroy a scarlet ibis then pick off the travelers suffering from the aftereffects of combat with the birds.