#Maybe the Kenku

[vampyriclykoi]

right so i was thinking about changeling trinity again during college today, and thought about what her true form might look like so here it is digitised/refined, i guess

also if you guys have ideas for what races/classes the other rescue kids are pleasePLEASE let me know i’m so dry for ideas bro 😭😭

here’s the page i drew her on w annotations, i hope you can read them 🥲🥲

[animentality]

MY FIRST EVER DND CHARACTER- because everyone was asking.

Ahem *taps podium.

Rasp of Steel is a Kenku. His class is rogue, his subclass assassin, but really he's a jack of all crimes.

He was born to a Kenku flock in a densely populated city, and grew up in the criminal underbelly of its unscrupulous streets and seedy neighborhoods. He spent his childhood skulking about back alleys and shady markets with his fellow Kenku, scheming and plotting and seeking wealth and riches. Spying, stealing, intimidating, gambling, poisoning. Just an average Kenku upbringing.

But as he grew older, he found himself growing apart from his fellow Kenku, for one reason, and one reason alone.

Rasp of Steel is a daredevil, a thrill seeker, a desperado. He seeks the joy of the hunt, more than he cares for the gold pieces and the rare gemstones and beautiful jewelry. The journey over the destination. The race and the sweat and the feeling of running and chasing, over the finish line and the glory.

He does not commit crimes for money, but rather for passion.

Because it exhilarates him, and he seeks excitement and dare he even say it, adventure.

Rasp is very passionate about the art of crime. The pizzazz. The style. He is an artisan, crafting a performance against the system. He is always seeking bigger and better crimes, ones that he's never done before, sometimes even to the point where he fails because of his inexperience or his recklessness, resulting in harsher punishments. But he doesn't seem to mind being in and out of prison.

And as he entered adulthood, other Kenku began to gravitate away from him, disturbed by his strange disregard for treasure, his zealous and impulsive need for rebellion over reason.

So he began to leave the cities. Exploring, taking on odd and interesting jobs.

But ever since he left the cities, he has been alone.

Kenku are solitary by nature, when not around other Kenku. And he finds himself often regarded with distrust as he travels, causing him to shy away from social interactions, even with other thieves and spies and assassins.

The only long-standing relationship he has ever had...is ironically with an Aarakocra named Lazark.

A prison warden, who hates him about as much as Rasp likes him.

See, Rasp is an oddly humorous and light-spirited Kenku.

He is conniving and scheming, but he's also rather open-minded and cheerful. He has a dark sense of humor, without even realizing that others find it dark.

Lazark, on the other hand, is stern and humorless and ill-tempered. He has seen Rasp in and out of his prison a million times, and each time annoys him more than the last.

As Lazark shouts at him to get off the bars, to wash yourself, inmate, you smell disgusting, don't look at me inmate, Rasp just imitates his voice and repeats it back. It drives Lazark nuts, but Rasp thinks they're good friends.

He has mimicked Lazark's voice more than any other person he's met, and so many of his phrases are related to Lazark shouting at him not to do something.

And breaking narrative character for a moment...I just find that fucking funny, ok? My character's voice is literally the voice of the guy who hates him...but he has an affection for him, and he sees Lazark's hostility as a deeper bond they share.

Maybe it's because he spent most of his life being hated and seen as a suspicious, shady character. So being disliked, but passionately and single-mindedly, by one person, who recognizes him and sees him as a person (even if it's a hated person) is the closest thing he knows to friendship.

Because even though everything Lazark says to him is angry and literally shit like...get the fuck down from there, or stay in line, weirdo...Rasp just lights up because Lazark is talking to him!!! They are having fun together!!! They're hanging out!!! In this prison!!!! In which Rasp is supposed to be learning his lesson (but viewers, he is not).

Anyway.

So at the beginning of our campaign...Rasp is at a tavern because he was planning an elaborate escape plan from Lazark's prison...

But Lazark knew he was going to escape again, and he honestly didn't want to deal with it again. Rasp's escapes have always been a mess, whether he succeeded or failed, and his chances were about 50/50 anyway.

So he just did some paperwork and threw him the fuck out before he could even escape. And now Rasp is drinking his beer, mourning the fact that he never got to try this escape (but it was so nice of his best buddy Lazark to let him go early :) he must really like Rasp).

And he's wondering what he will do next.

it has to be something big that he's never tried before.

Some kind of crime, that'll take him places he's never been, meeting people he's never met before....

And SCENE.

EEEeeeeh.

Alright everyone, wrap it up.

This is what I've got.

Obviously, my friends and I haven't figured out our campaign yet, but...

I imagine I'll tweak my backstory for whatever it is.

But this is the gist of my son!

And I wanna draw him soon, because for pure aesthetic reasons, I want him to have a plague doctor mask.

For no particular reason, just because I like it, and have no backstory reason for it.

But uh...yeah

This was for all the lovely people who asked me what my character was.

This is him.

And he is waving at you excitedly...and you are shouting at him, because he is waving your own wallet at you.

[transmasc-rose]

My D&D group has been slowly working through Call of the Netherdeep for ages (it's hard to meet up consistently), and we're currently in chapter 4.

Where. They decided to split the party into three pieces and recruit the rivals so they can do All Three Pathways.

[magpie-rogue]

Phew, I finally finished this; just in time for our final game this Saturday after four years of this campaign! Just because this game is ending doesn't mean I will stop drawing Yulia or the other party members either :) They're very near and dear to my heart.

[chaotictoast]

Gloom hands in ToTK

[bean-cookies]

Shitty character idea: a Kenku who can only speak in quotes from the cult classic film "The Room".

His name? Tommy Oiseau. 🐦‍⬛

[aromantic-ghost-menace]

I have a Kenku body. I might die because I attempt to actually fly like an oversized bird and probably end up falling of a cliff or against a tree at high speeds with a levitation spell or other means in the process, but hell can you bet that I will have fun with that! And I might also paint myself red for the fun of it.

And add a pair of waxed on wings.

I won't be a sane birb

Ok, so you've been isekai'd to the dnd world and may or may not die due to the class you've been assigned. Better question. Are you human? (spinner wheel of all dnd5e species)

[sexyapostate]

Auntie Ethel's Race-Specific Vicious Mockeries

Because of this post by rpgchoices, I figured I'd compile all the other Vicious Mockery lines Auntiel Ethel can hit the player with. These don't include the origin companion specific ones. You can find those in the linked post.

DROW ELF

Filthy underscum!

Just another of Lolth's pretty harlots.

Slaver. Sadist. How dare you judge me?

DROW ELF (MALE)

Bare your throat, spider-bait.

Kneel, boy. Just like the matriarchs taught you to.

Bow to your betters, boy.

HALF-ELF DROW

Even the Underdark doesn't want you, half-breed.

Surprised you show yourself in public, abomination.

A half-drow? How grotesque.

DWARF

More beard than brains, the lot of you.

Bet you'd trade your friends for a trinket or two, gold-eater!

I'll squeeze that stone heart until it bleeds, dwarf.

DUERGAR DWARF

Bow your head, slave. You remember how, don't you?

Grey and useless as a stone comb.

Need a new master, illithid lover?

DRAGONBORN

Aww, where's your clan? Bet they'd exile you for that brainworm in a blink.

Bet that honour of yours shatters easy as your scales.

You foul-breathed little lizard!

GNOME

Disgusting burrow rat.

Bet your clan's happy you're gone!

Try laughing after I rip your throat out, gnome.

ELF 

Fancy yourself immortal? We'll see how long that lasts.

I'll show you what a true fey does, dearie.

Elves are so pretty. Pretty worthless!

HALF-ELF

I wonder which parent regrets you more, half-breed.

How revolting. Another thin-blooded mongrel. Half-elf. Half-human. All useless.

HUMAN

Another human rat infesting Faerûn.

A human! So desperate to be special.

Pity. That tadpole actually made you interesting.

HALFLING

No flabby dwarf's a threat to me.

Come closer, little softie. You'll be tender.

A tiny, sweet morsel. Just for me.

HALF-ORC

Come now, tusks-for-brains! Doesn't this make you angry?

All that bloodlust. A little tap, and I bet you won't know friend from foe!

Lumbering half-orc. Twice as ugly as your parents combined!

TIEFLING

I'll burn you alive and everyone will celebrate.

You're everyone's punching bag and no one's favourite.

I see the Hells spit out another tragic little tiefling.

These were included in the dialogue document and the races listed are exactly what's in the dialogue's trigger flags.

PLANAR (githyanki, warforged)

What kind of botched portal brought something like you here?

Are you lost, little one? Maybe your soul will make it back home.

I'll banish you for good, outsider!

RARE (aasimar, dragonborn, firbolg, genasi, githyanki, half-drow, half-orc, tiefling, triton, warforged, yuan-ti pureblood)

I'm one step closer to wiping your kind off Faerûn for good!

Freakish thing. I bet everyone stares when you walk by.

Not a lot like you. You'll be my prettiest trophy.

BEASTIAL (aarakocra, kenku, lizardfolk, tabaxi, tortle)

Think you're a person because you're walking on two feet? Adorable.

Can't wait to throw a collar on your neck and make you my familiar.

I'll tan your hide, beast!

BONUS: MINSC? FOR SOME REASON? I don't know why there seem to be unlabeled Minsc-specific Vicious Mockeries. Maybe Ethel played BG1/2 and just really hates him.

How quaint! The hamster has a pet.

Only evil here is what's inside you, ranger.

Go rub your rat, soft-skull.

[multiheadcanons]

DUNGEONS AND MERCENARIES

scout: scout is playing some kind of harengon fighter. maybe a ranger if snipes can convince him to do it. but he will always pick the harengon as his race. he likes the perks that come with it. generally a neutral good or chaotic good character. not particularly good, roleplay wise, but nobody can say he doesn’t try his damnest!

soldier: he’ll be an orc! he likes the orcs. he’s not gonna be anything that doesn’t stand at least 6 feet tall. might be a drow for some variation, but he will always, always be a barbarian, or a fighter. loves path of the zealot. and he loves path of the zealot because medic is always a wizard, so he never dies in battle. soldier always makes his characters himself, personality wise, so he’s always in character.

pyro: pyro switches between a homebrew faerie sorcerer and a centaur fighter, but they really focus on their homebrew faerie. both true neutral characters. they love that character so much it absolutely wrecks them. cannot imagine what they’re going to do if/when this character dies. the amount of love, care, and time they’ve put into this character is astounding. they do have another character in the works, but it takes them days to put a character together in the way they want them, so it’s not going very well.

demo: demo will be a human fighter. he doesn’t really know the game well enough to feel confident to do anything particularly fancy, especially knowing it’s a roleplay based game; but if you put a character sheet in front of him he’ll figure out how to play it. that’s the best way to break demo into the world of dnd. just start putting characters in front of him and say “you’re playing this now”. after a few sessions he really grows to enjoy it! it almost makes focusing on one character alone boring. loves visiting merchants and shops.

heavy: heavy will pick a chaotic good dwarf bard. that’s the point, right, of dnd? you become something you’re not? yeah, so he’s gonna play a dwarf bard. his name is grumley and he’s a bartending bard. his big move is he gets enemies drunk and lets the rest of the team obliterate them. one of the best players. he catches on quick, asks a lot of questions, gets way into his descriptions. heavy in a party is a guaranteed baffling method of killing the BBEG.

engineer: it takes a lot of convincing to get engie to join in on the campaign, and even convincing him means that he’s just gonna be at the table. if you don’t have a character set up for him he’s going to make a god awful amalgamation of a class and a race and a background and then not pay attention to any of it. usually opts for spellcasters, and leans towards warlocks, but he won’t turn his nose up to a martial class.

medic: medic will always, always be a wizard in the school of necromancy. from there, the race doesn’t matter to him. the background doesn’t either. it creates some very interesting characters, roleplay wise, but the doctor is one of the most solid and subsisting fighters in the party. but he will also disengage and run from a battle if he can. normally plays evil aligned characters.

sniper: meet your dungeon master. most would describe snipes as a cruel mistress of the tabletop realms he creates. and he puts a lot of thought and care into his campaigns. they are hard, they are unforgiving, but his party is hooked and obsessed. he’s definitely a hardass, but it’s really what makes his campaigns fun. it’s a crash course in earning your victories. and he gives respect to every character death. he might even shed some tears himself if he really liked your character.

spy: i find it funny that someone in the tags said that snipes would play a kenku ranger because to me spy would be playing a kenku ranger. but really a kenku anything. i think that spy playing a kenku would keep him engaged in the roleplay while also giving him opportunities to leave the table during roleplay heavy sections. it almost blows his cover in another one of snipes’ campaigns because of how much he enjoys playing kenkus. snipes makes an offhand mention about his affinity for them and spy’s response was “oh…. really, i just think the race is interesting…” but he’s pretty sure that didn’t fly (spoiler alert it actually did, snipes can’t fathom for a second that spy might actually enjoy dnd)

[marcussour]

EXU Divergence E02 random thoughts and bits

Liam's Time Cop's back again

Time Regulation 420.69 NICE

STR 21 at LVL 0, damn

Also, is just, here's a vestige, thanks Stormlord

Crokas just entered, fullthrotle, into the CR Pantheon of fav characters

"I was foolish enough to believe I understood this world"

How on earth both Liam and Jasmine manage to repeat their rolls, and these are nat 1 and 2

3 Nat 1s Liam, come on

"You succeed and do not die"

Seriously, coming out of a campaign that ended with literal legends like VM and M9 at lvl 20 fighting massive world ending threats and Bells Hells at a really high level fighting a literal god eater, and also how both Calamity and Downfall went, the fact that here, like Brennan said, a hike through the woods (and massive rainfall and ash, and the risk of starvation) might as well caused a TPK if it wasn't for some good rolls now and then, that's a change of pace if I've ever seen one

We love 2 lesbian matriarchs (halfling and goblin) who run a woodland community

Fiedra, the original elf on a shelf (or halfling in this case, but y'all get it)

Crokas my beloved, you absolute legend

Garen using all that dwarven know how to find the best booze, I feel seen

Incredible find by Garen

I said it before, in a Candela Obscura maybe, but they really should adopt the closeups for personal 1 on 1 conversations for the main campaign. I know it's way more people on the table and maybe that makes it more technically difficult, but I think it really adds more depth, especially when it's people on oposite sides of the table

Congratulations, heroes of the Divergence. Loved that D20 like interjection before the time skip towards the next day.

Fiedra one day: almost dies. Fiedra the next day: back into mischief. What an icon.

It tells a lot about Fiedra that she tries to keep Crokas kinda a bit at arms lenght with the whole "bodyguard". Like, babe, those are attachment and trust issues from *gestures everywhere*, I get it, and its really interesting

Great to see that the Roaches survived... also Keph, what the actual fuck

Oh, who's gonna be the one to take out Marlath eventually, because there's no way that piece of shit's gonna survive the campaign. Look, I'm a lawyer, I've seen motherfuckers like him for years, no loss there

Hey look, a tiefling, long time we haven't seen one -not counting Jester-.

A cleric named Luz, again, not subtle, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Was it Snowvale or Snowgrave pass?

What's a bureaucrat without a bureaucracy.

This whole little vignette of the construction of the wall and the bridge, and the difference between a ruler and a leader? incredible

I can imagine that the soldiers are actually like, level 1 or 2, maybe 3 or 4 the leader, but since our PC's are level 0, I can imagine what a challenge this will be

Great move by Erro

Love the excitement of everyone seeing their minis. I wish they would've shown them more on camera

Wonder if the exhaustion points are gonna matter in this battle or not

Oh no, just 1 point of damage for everyone

So that's were the title of the episode came from

They're so fragile at lvl 0, a couple of hits and Erro's already down

That kenku's another certified Brennan's little guys

Love that we already entered into "Seven Samurai" territory

Crokas becomes a storm avatar??!!!! Again, what a legend, going full Godzilla against the Strife Emperor's soldiers

RIP Luz (or maybe not?)

"To respect the free will of all beings means to respect when one has made themselves an obstacle to a kinder world"

WAY TO GO NIA! LVL 1 MOONWEAVER CLERIC!

There's my zoom for the minis!

"Change is coming... AND I AM CHANGE"

Both dragonborns are down now

FIRST LEVEL ROGUE!

Nice detail the portraits of the characters gaining color the moment they level up

Crokas with a nat 20 on the death saving throw, see, already a CR legend

Oh, interesting, Crokas is a monk, I though it was gonna be some kind of barbarian (also, he's level 1 and already doing badass monk shit)

Also, from the way they all reacted to Alex not remembering that Crokas was a monk, I assume that all of them settled for a class before the whole being level 0

Brennan and his love for British Bake Off

And Erro's a ranger (which I guess now makes sense of Brennan saying at the beginning of the battle that Erro approached the soldiers like a ranger)

Poor Garen, the only one that didn't level up

Oh, so that's why Matt's reacted with a "WHAT???" to that Nat 20 by Alex

Look at those babies calming Crokas

I know that it's just how the dice rolls, but the fact that it's Nia the one that has lost people dear to her in both episodes.

Oh, Fiedra making an appointment behind Torm's Hill in the forest, I think she's really gonna kill Marlath.

Fiedra raised Crokas? wow

Now it's Snowgrace pass

GIGANTIC MONK SHIT

Marlath's not only a bureaucrat and the worst kind of layer, he's also a fucking capitalist

"You have to beat a 6", "That's a 23"

Oh, that's amazing, I thought that they were gonna kill him, but they "just" cut his tongue.

So interesting that Matt took the option of not gaining a level.

Well, we're halfway through the story, and it's a clean break as any, even though we have the goal of finding Nia's family. Wonder how things will continue.

[vampyriclykoi]

so i’ve been trying to think about what ivan would be in a dnd au

i’ve decided it would probably be most fitting for him to be a battlesmith artificer and maybe a half-elf with a mark of detection? maybe just an elf, idk

actually that might be more fitting for enzo, because he’s the detective

anyway, no matter what i choose ivan to be (race-wise) i was thinking that, in this au, he and delroy would be a nice pairing. i’d like to think that delroy would go out and collect little bits and pieces for ivan’s inventions

[deconstructthesoup]

Some thoughts for a Dead Boy Detective D&D AU:

Edwin: He would absolutely be a School of Necromancy wizard. Everything about him screams wizard, and I think him being a necromancer who uses his abilities for good would be pretty in-character for him. In fact, we could even go one step further and say that he's a Reborn (who are essentially the D&D version of Frankenstein's Monster, and they are insanely cool and fun from a roleplay stance alone). Maybe he got brought back to life after some time in Hell, maybe he was able to bring himself back... there's a lot of possibilities there.

Charles: Oath of the Watchers paladin, hands-down. I know, most people tend to peg him as a fighter, but hear me out---first off, he canonically fights with a magical weapon, and you know it would be cool as hell for him to cast Smite with his cricket bat. Second off, his whole deal as a Dead Boy Detective feels very Oath-of-the-Watchers coded, since they're all about guarding the material world from extraplanar forces. And third... he's a punk. Paladins are punks. Also, he's gotta be an elf. Probably a wood elf instead of a high elf, but elf is non-negotiable when you're putting Charles I-Have-Cute-Pointed-Ears Rowland in a fantasy setting.

Crystal: Aberrant Mind sorcerer, kalshatar. Because, well... *gestures to her everything* yeah. Also, Crystal deserves to go full-on eldritch entity.

Niko: I personally think that she'd be an amazing College of Creation bard---and this might just be because that's my favorite subclass for my favorite class, and she's my favorite character, but she feels very bard to me, and College of Creation is all about seeing the beauty in the world, appreciating life, and making the most out of any situation, which fits our girl well. Also, I think that Niko would probably be the group's token human, which fits nicely with her being the only non-magical member of the Dead Boy Detectives in canon.

Monty: Circle of Stars druid, kenku. Theoretically, a kenku who could actually converse with people instead of just repeating what he hears, but... astrology crow. What do you want me to say.

Jenny: She was tricky, but I eventually decided that she'd be your classic tiefling rogue---specifically, a Soulknife rogue, with maybe a level or two of fighter thrown in there for good measure. Jenny gives off the vibes of a slightly older adventurer who's kind of grown cynical about the whole thing, but she's still tagging along with a younger, more starry-eyed crew because somebody needs to keep them alive.

Esther: Now, while the temptation to make her a Green Hag is very, very strong, I think that might be doing her a little bit too dirty. So, instead, she's a Circle of Spores druid and a Great Old One warlock, and while she is a regular human, she's done a lot of messed-up stuff to keep herself alive and young. I figured that Circle of Spores fits with her necromancy shtick (and also, y'know, Teeth Face), and GOOlock fits with her deal with Lilith.

The Cat King: Trickster Domain cleric, tabaxi. No-brainer, really.

The Night Nurse: Her whole deal strikes me as very Protector aasimar-coded, if not straight-up Celestial-coded. Also, she fits the criteria for a Grave Domain cleric to a T.

[margoteve]

KN8 vs DnD

Since I had yesterday an eventful DnD session, so here is what I think the characters themselves think of the game. Not what I think they should be (that's in the bracket). I'm open to discussion.

Kafka in high school probably was in DnD club, didn't own many books himself but relied on collections in the club room. Pretty good with homebrewing, knows all the rules. Had to put a pause on gaming after starting working in Monster Sweeper, tried to get his coworkers into it but it didn't exactly catch on. Was overjoyed to find a small group at the Third. While he plays a variety of classes and races for the campaign he probably would pick a paladin or a cleric. our of combat has horrible dice luck lol. (he probably gets monk/barbarian or to spice it up Blood Hunter. for race changeling maybe? Or tiefling?)

Hoshina - DMs worst nightmare. Min-maxes everything about his characters. Owned every book. (Thankfully from DM perspective) Due to his position as Vice Captain doesn't have much time to play, so only joins for oneshots. Fighter and or rogue. (Rogue/bard, I'd agree to figher/rogue multiclass as well.)

Mina - doesn't necessarily get the game, she only took notice of it because of Hoshina and she wanted to be seen as more sociable. Soshiro helped her create her Coffeelock build but it is very hard for her to play. Keeps forgetting about things. She played in one game and then gave up. (Warlock. It's the Eldritch blasts and Baku as her summon)

Iharu - never heard of the game until Kafka, thought it was for nerds but joined in for one game when Reno did but he gets distracted easily unless it's combat time. Stays to annoy Kikoru. He picks Barbarian. (Iharu is so straightforward he absolutely is a barbarian)

Reno - politely declined, joined one game once just to see how it is but it didn't take. Picked probably a druid. (IDK lol maybe sorcerer, or warlock? Druid???)

Kikoru - made fun of them, picked a fight with Iharu, so out of sheer spite/competitiveness joined the game, learned all the rules before the session. Min Maxes as well but tries to make it all more in tune with the character backstory she created (there's a 10 page long pdf document). Probably picked a sorcerer or paladin? (She is 100% barbarian, might multiclass, noble background?)

Aoi - paints minis as his hobby, very meticulous player. I think it be funny if he picked a bard as a purely support class without the popular meme aspect. Just play it as you should with high charisma for negotiations and difusing situations or distracting enemies. Pulled Kafka's poor ass out of Situations so often (fighter, next!).

Haruichi - to play in the ongoing theme for him in the manga - ranger. Joined the game to try and be more 'visible' picked not the best class. (Artificer or Ranger as well, Gloomstalker or Hunter the new rules fixed up the class, and he got a pretty shiny bow in the manga so going for Archery angle).

Minase - sorcerer, joined with Kikoru, doesn't talk much but has fun, pretty reliable player. Maybe picked kenku.

Hakua - doesn't really play but joins in for company and often does extra voices for DM.

Okonogi - the poor Forever DM Hosina terrorizes lol. (wizard)

[smonkledraws]

I'm going mildly insane over the concept of my dnd character Willow Whisp as a human... or well, drow, i guess. For reference, they are a kenku rogue, but i've realized in the year that i've played them that I don't really like drawing birds lol

so yeah, they have had a massive design change during the course of the campaign, also like massive personality shift. Its a long story, that i can and will talk about here (info dump incoming,, there's more pictures too)

Pre-campaign, Willow was an assassin that ended up working with an underground organization. They were on a job with a group within said organization called the Ruby Rift, who were like a family, but it quickly went sideways and they fled for their life, their beak being shattered in the escape (which is why they now wear the mask).

They were untrusting and deceitful (classic rogue stuff, I know), though they usually tried to hide behind a 'cute' façade. Rumours of a powerful goddess of death scared Willow into worship due to their constant... uh... liberation of souls from their meat sacks. Anyway, they just wanted to stay neutral with this goddess, or better yet, unnoticed by the goddess. But one thing they knew was intolerable to the goddess was necromancy, so they accepted those ideals as their own. The issue was that they didn't really see the difference between revival and necromancy (both bring someone back from the dead) and believed that any sort of revival meant that the soul was eternally under the possession of whoever resurrected them.

This didn't really pose an issue until maybe a month or two of travelling within the safety of their new group. At this time, they were beginning to let their guard down and really start accepting the party as friends (something somewhat strange to them). Our 'human' bard, Vincent, seemed to constantly partake is risky behaviour while they were travelling together, and Willow called him out on it, saying that he'll never be able to save his kidnapped fiancée if he dies before he gets to her. A short argument about risk and revival lead to another party member, the dragonborn Avoria, revealing that he was revived with no repercussions.

Willow was an assassin, who had killed people for money and survival. They were no stranger to death, and would welcome it when the time came. They were very strong-willed and saw revival as taboo and enslavement. Avoria was a friend, and the only way to free them from the entity that resurrected them was to kill him.

Fortunately, an NPC named Taiv managed to prevent any death that night, but the damage had been done and Taiv knew that Willow would likely continue to pursue Avoria's death. So he made a decision. He confronted Will, challenging them to a fight to the death the following night, and threatened to track Will down and kill them if they fled.

Willow would have fled had they not loved the group they were a part of. They knew that Taiv was stronger than them, and that they would probably die if they truly fought one on one. Honestly, they were on the road to change already but they just needed time. Their whole world-view was being challenged and one does not change that quickly.

The fight was like a test from Taiv. Taiv was looking for signs of change during the fight, but he couldn't find what he was looking for. And in front of the party, Willow was slain.

Their body was taken by the ocean, presumably by the entity that revived Avoria. So, Avoria begged the entity to release Willow, to revive them.

In the chill depths, a giant golden eye with a shattered pupil opened before the kenku. A resonating, thundering voice asked them who they were and who they served. Due to a conversation during their fight, Willow replied that they served themself, rather than serving the death goddess as they would have just a day prior.

Avoria managed to retrieve the kenku, whose feathers were now bleached white. Their eyes opened slowly as they were hauled from the water. The emu aarakocra named Moo hugged the soaking kenku with relief, crying Willow's name and begging for forgiveness for the events that unfolded. But, to everyone's horror, they merely replied in broken, stolen voices "Who's Willow?"

Kenkus are a cursed race, land-bound and silenced. They do not have voices of their own, only mimicking the speech of others or sounds of the surrounding environment. Up to this point, Willow had been using the voice of their beloved, Finnan.

But now, Willow was gone, their mask carried off by the sea. Before the party stood a kenku that had no memory. The face and voice of their beloved was stolen, and they were scared and confused. The party took care of the kenku as they recovered and eventually named themself Whisp (I felt like a fucking genius coming up with that one,, it was totally unplanned that their name would be like Will 'o wisp).

Whisp is reckless, and will put themselves between the party and anything that scares them. They reflect the caring people around them and reach out a hand to everyone and everything, much like how the party reached out to them.

I love them, but for a while its been difficult to rp them. Much like Whisp themself, I'm struggling to find a place for them in the group. I feel like the humanized version of them has really inspired me tho (which is great because I'm probably not going to be able to shove everyone together for another game for a while)

Anyway, thanks for listening to my ted talk, I'll be here forever in the abyss that is the time between D&D games

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

so about that Voices d&d party i mentioned. not sure about their races, i kind of want to make them all aaracockra, owlin, kenku, or avian-descended shifters just to keep the Theming up. as for their classes

The Broken - i think the most fun thing to do here would be to make him a Cleric and his god be the Princess. do you see the vision

The Cheated - Rogue energy. i think making him a Mastermind would be fun given his role as a ringleader during the Razor route

The Cold - Warlock with the Long Quiet as his patron - he seems to be more willing to go along with it than the other voices, actively encouraging the player to look into the mirror

The Contrarian - A BARD HES A BARD DO YOU HEAR ME HES A BARD!!!!!!!!!!!! but he took Counterspell as one of his Magical Secrets

The Hero - kind of has to be a Fighter doesnt he

The Hunted - SCOUT ROGUE. MECHANICALLY HE IS SUCH A SCOUT ROGUE. Skirmisher and Uncany Dodge are LITERALLY his fighting style do you HEAR me

The Opportunist - ...maybe another rogue honestly. all that backstabbing has to count for something

The Paranoid - shadow sorcerer... i think giving him innate power that he doesnt understand the source of would be great for his mental health (lying.) especially bc shadow sorcerer is tied to being able to stay alive when you should be dead

The Skeptic - Wizard, Warlock, or Bard, i dont know, hes the one i'm least sure on

The Smitten - Swords or Valour Bard. he sees himself as a dashing hero with a sword to match, but his strengths are NOT really in fighting, even if he is competent with it

The Stubborn - Barbarian, obviously, but i think he has 1-2 levels of Fighter for Unarmed fighting style.

[brodygold]

Golden Army: Dragon Heist Part 3

Part 2 here

The party caught their breath as the fight with the Kenku in the hideout ended. They'd had the numbers advantage, but the birds had put up a fight. Taking in the state of the warehouse, it seemed like this wasn't the only fight to take place.

Twelve human corpses lay across the floor, their leather armor torn from combat. Five of the men had tattoos of snakes on their necks.

"Looks like we found our guys," Brody noted.

"But what about the others? Who are they and where did they come from? And Floon and Renaer? Where did they go?" Ross questioned.

"Didn't one of the birds say 'tie the pretty boy up in the back room?' Maybe we should take a look around." Daniel suggested, out from his wolf form.

"Right. Kenku can only repeat what others have said. I want a full sweep of the building. Leave no tarp uncovered, bros!" Brody commanded, already on his way to open some nearby boxes.

"Yes Cap!" The others spread out going from room to room in search of the missing men.

It didn't take too long for Scott to find something. One of the doors on the first floor was broken off its hinges, the putrid smell of sour fish and vinegar from inside the room invading his lungs. Steeling his resolve, he entered the room, muttering under his breath.

As soon as he entered the room, he heard the sound of ragged breathing. Remembering what Brody had said, he lifted up the tarp in the room. Underneath the cloth sat a man with long red hair and wealthy clothing. He looked exhausted and smelled like the room.

"I found him bros. I found our guy!" He called out to the others, who came running.

"Are you okay, bro?" Brody asked, holding out his hand to help him up, which the man hesitantly took.

"I believe I am fine. I appreciate the rescue. You all may call em Renaer." The man looked shaken, his breath still ragged and forced.

"Could you tell us what happened Renaer? We've been tasked with finding your friend Floon." Grayden asked.

"Of course. We finished drinking around midnight when a group of Zhentarim jumped up on the streets and took us here. They think my father embezzled a large amount of gold while he was Open Lord and hid it somewhere under the city. They want to use an artifact called the Stone of Golorr to find it, which until recently was in the hands of another group called the Xanathar Guild. I heard that someone stole it though.

The Guild attacked the Zhentarim before they could interrogate me. I managed to hide but I heard them knock Floon out and take him away during the fight. I think they may have mistaken him for me." He bowed his head and looked away, seemingly guilty about all that had transpired.

"Do you know where this Xanathar Guild might have taken Floon?"

"I do not. I am not familiar with the criminal underworld of this fine city. Likely somewhere in the sewers?"

"Fair enough. So now what do we-"

"City Watch! Keep your hands where we can see them!"

"Captain Staget?"

"Renaer? What in the Gods's name are you doing here?"

"I was kidnapped by the Zhentarim. These fine folk saved me. Though I'm loathe to admit my friend has fallen into the hands of the Xanathar Guild." Henry waved at that.

"I see. Under these circumstances, I suppose I could overlook" he gestured around the room "all of this, at least whatever was your doing. Just leave these matters to the City Watch in the future please. Renaer, we will find your friend posthaste."

"Can do, sir. Good luck with your search." Brody said with a nod.

With that, Captain Staget and his men let the building, resuming their patrols.

"We're not really leaving Floon to them, are we Cap?" Ross asked, a concerned look on his face.

"Of course not bro. I just needed to get him to leave us alone." Brody smirked. "Now as I was saying, what's the plan?"

"We go into the sewers in search of their hideout of course." Renaer added, a determined look on his face.

"We? You want to come with us?"

"Absolutely not. We don't need to risk you getting hurt." Grayden said.

"Can you fight?" Henry asked.

"I was taught how to hold my own from a young age." Renaer picked up a rapier from a nearby corpse and struck an elegant pose.

"Not very well it seems..." Scott muttered.

"I don't see the problem with it. But you run at the first sign of trouble. Understood?"

"Crystal clear, sir."

"Good. Then let's take a trip to the sewers and find our missing guy."

To be continued...

Want to get on the mystical golden action yourself? Contact me, @goldenherc9 or @polo-drone-001