[5e] Spell & Crossbones

[Queenie]

So... Caillou is a... bird? I have never heard of this race before.

 

[Unsung]

Too weird?

Kenku are one of the classic D&D monster races, albeit one of the more obscure ones. They're bird people, with clawed hands instead of wings. Originally they were hawk people, but in most recent depictions they look more like crows. Earlier in the thread Quickleaf mentioned that in the Caribbean they look like colourful tropical birds.

Birds-of-paradise are from New Guinea, but they're what I picture. http://www.birdsofparadiseproject.org/ Being related to crows as they are.

 

[Quickleaf]

So... Caillou is a... bird? I have never heard of this race before.

Kenku originated in Japanese myth and were introduced to D&D in the 1e Fiend Folio. They do not fly, and instead have powers of voice mimicry. In this campaign I've renamed them to "keeteel" (a contraction of parakeet + cockatiel), and played up their non-uniform tropical appearance since the Caribbean is home to a vast number of resident and migratory tropical birds. Et Voila!

Hah, Ninja'd by Unsung

[MENTION=6781406]Unsung[/MENTION] Not overboard at all. The retainers you worked up fit really well into your character's backstory and the campaign as well. Plus I had to laugh at the description of Verner the Kobold

EDIT: I have a bit of time today, so I'm writing up as many of your PC's enemies as I can. They are rather nasty

 

[Quickleaf]

I thought this might be a close approximation to Caillou's appearance...

 

[Unsung]

Aha, yes, very nice. Yes, let's go with that. You can't see the feathers that aren't black. A little sinister, but that's part of his schtick.

Is that an illustration from a Paizo book? There are a lot of those that I haven't seen the inside of.

 

[Queenie]

Not too weird at all, this is D&D after all!

I'm not really familiar with 1st Edition, I started at 2nd. That pic looks like a Skesis (?) from the Dark Crystal. Very cool. I imagine if they are in the world, Kat would at least know of their existence if not have seen or interacted with one? In other words, not completely rare? Or are they?

 

[Quickleaf]

[MENTION=8058]Queenie[/MENTION] That's funny, I was going to compare them to the critters in the Dark Crystal too!

I'd day in this campaign setting that Kenku are "rare but not unheard of." They don't have their own nation nor towns, and if they do have island colonies they keep their existence very well hidden. When they do turn up they tend to be the object of sailor superstitions...of which there are many about both lucky and unlucky birds...as well as "scientific curiosity."
[MENTION=6781406]Unsung[/MENTION] I'm not sure where that picture is from, probably a Paizo book.

Btw, Jay, when you get a chance you might replace your old character in the Rogues' Gallery with your new one. And may I suggest sticking with a teal color for your character's speech?

 

[Quickleaf]

Oh, one more thing [MENTION=8058]Queenie[/MENTION]: I nearly missed your OOC question since it wasn't in tags! To encourage our pace to move forward rather than get stalled out, I am fine fudging time a bit during these sorts of exploration and role-playing scenes. In this particular situation, we can imagine it as the world's longest arm wrestling match of epic proportions So feel free to have Katarina wander back into the tavern.

 

[Unsung]

Happily, on both counts.

 

[Queenie]

Excellent... I'm ready to get back into things!

Though my mom had surgery today and she's staying over, so we're doing a family movie night tonight and watching Peter Pan Live.

So, I'll be around after that. Which is, I think, 6pm or 5pm your time QL.