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Kenku
"HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE!" THE DESPERATE CRY echoed from the alleyway. Alton Tealeaf, fearless to a fault, dashed in as he drew his rapier. Quickly searching through the scattered litter, Alton discovered the source of the plea hiding behind a dumpster: a kenku. The bird-like creature was shrouded in dirty robes and what little he could see of the kenku's body was covered with black feathers. Alton could swear that the trickster's long beak was curving into a smile as a half dozen other kenku popped out of the dumpster. The flock descended on their prey.
--Malark Greycastle, The Trials of Alton Tealeaf
A myriad of sounds ranging from the gentle voice of a doting mother to the harsh barks of an angry dog echo from the dim lairs where kenku make their nests. The nests themselves are usually constructed from a mixture of refuse that they have found or shiny baubles that they have stolen or swindled. Kenku only return to their nests to sleep and are more often found among city streets begging for shinies or setting up ambushes.
Cursed Shame
The kenku were not always a terrestrial race. Long ago they soared through the air on magnificent wings and spoke only in the chittering calls of birds. They served a powerful master, but secretly coveted his treasures. They knew that others possessed glorious, shiny treasure as well and longed to speak to swindle away this treasure for themselves.
From the master's library they stole the secret of mimicking speech and flew away to beg for pretty things. Learning of their greed, the master cursed the kenku and twisted into the form they appear in today. No longer do they soar through the skies or live among the trees. Now the greedy birds must rely on their stolen voices to survive.
Birds of a Feather
The kenku are a social species and often band together into criminal organizations called flocks. Flocks span entire cities, though their stealthy nature means that few of the city's residents are even aware of them. Passing along secret messages, finding out information, ambushing a target, the kenku will do these things in exchange for objects that catch the light in just the right way.
The kenku aren't well liked by most city dwellers and understand that getting roughed up is likely to happen during an ambush, but killing a kenku is a mistake that someone makes only once. The flock does not take kindly to those who kill its members. The flock will find you. The flock will punish you.
Kenku Names
Kenku use sounds they have heard for names when they are referring to each other, many of which are difficult to write on paper. For interacting with other races, a kenku often has a second name that it heard from another creature. This may be a common name for another race or it may be something somebody called the kenku at some point such as "Thief", "Charlatan", or "Birdy".
A Shared Desire
More than anything else, the kenku desire to fly again. They will do almost anything to achieve this goal, and evil creatures have been known to take advantage of this with lies and half-truths. Such promises are now met with skepticism, but it is still not hard for someone to convince a kenku that they can help it fly. The kenku want to believe.
Kenku Traits
Your kenku character bears its curse in a manner similar to most other kenku.
Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age: Kenku don't live long by the standards of most races. A kenku is considered to be mature about a month after hatching and, if it's lucky, lives into its 30s.
Alignment: Most kenku are chaotic neutral due to their compulsion to take pretty things overcoming any respect for laws. Even so, a kenku's flock often has some important guidelines that are followed. They are not normally malevolent creatures, but when push comes to shove the kenku can be quite cruel.
Size: Kenku are just over 5 feet tall and weigh somewhere between 110 and 150 pounds. Your size is medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Mimicry: You can mimic any sounds you have heard, including voices. A creature that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check contested by your Charisma (Deception) check.
Flock Tactics: A creature has disadvantage on opportunity attack rolls against you if one of your allies is within 5 feet of that creature and that ally isn't incapacitated.
Languages: You understand, read, and write Auran and Common. You can only speak through the use of Mimicry. This means that your voice may change over the course of a sentence as you string together words from different people, but you can have a stable voice if you listened to one person for a long time. You have heard enough of all languages you understand to be able to speak them fluently.
Subrace: When the master's library was looted, some kenku studied the books more closely than others. The knowledge has subtly altered the kenku in different ways based on what their ancestors learned. You can be either a Silver Beak or Black Feather Kenku.
Silver Beak
As a silver beak kenku, you have practiced your mimicry extensively. This involved a lot of talking, often with creatures other than your brethren, and more than a few pranks. As such, you have achieved some minor insight into how to convince others of your sincerity. Silver beak kenku that prefer not to be directly involved with muggings will sometimes get jobs singing at local taverns. A few may ply their skills making deals to benefit the flock.
Ability Score Increase: Your Charisma score increases by 2.
Tricksy: You have proficiency in the Deception skill.
Ventriloquist: You can throw your mimicry, making the sounds seem to come from another point within 30 feet of you. A creature that hears the sounds knows that they are thrown if it figures out that the sounds are imitations.
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Black Feather
As a black feather kenku, you know that the gift of mimicked speech was not the only forbidden knowledge stolen from the master's library. This knowledge changed some kenku and their offspring so that they may hear the voices whispering just beyond the realm of the living.
When a kenku knows it is about to die, it often starts shouting out a description of its killer. It knows that the black feather kenku in its flock will be able to repeat this message and find the murderer. Black feather kenku often hold a high position within their flock because of this ability.
Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Final Message: You can mimic the words of the dead much like you can the living. You can use an action to touch a corpse that is not undead and speak the last sentence they spoke in a perfect imitation. This sentence can be no more than 25 words.
Ancestral Secrets: You know the spare the dying cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the dissonant whispers spell as a 1st-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the enthrall spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Art Credits
Kenku Attack
Zoltan Boros and Gabor Szikszai.
Creator
Willy DeWulfe, Parker Martin
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