Name: Avis Tsukaka100 GP if you guess the creator of this new character correct.
I am making this as I am going to be playing a kenku in a new D and D RP I am joining, so want to be able to relate the adventures of my character here.
Known As: Stare
Age: 15
Race: Kenku
Height: 4ft 10
Weight: 90 lbs
Occupation: Kegareta / Belonging to Vitruvion (Beauty) of the Hollow
Kenku appearance and culture:
Kenku are a race of wingless, bird-like bipedal beings, taking the form of corvids - that being the crow family. Kenku stand at roughly 5ft to the head, and have a feathered body that covers most of their body, ending at the wrists and ankles. Their heads are those of birds, with long, often sharp beaks and black beady eyes. Their arms are formed much like that of a human, except ending in claws. Their legs also are built something like a bird, with a knee, then a lower joint for what would be the ankle and ending in a four clawed foot (one behind, three in front), essentially making them walk on thier toes, as any bird does. Below where the feathers end, at wrists and ankles, the skin black scaly form. They also have a short or medium size tail, with long tail feathers there that are usual stiff and the whole form is fan-shaped. Kenku also tend to be entirely black in colour, but there are variations of this based on the various corvids. White patches can appear, as can deep emerald from a magpie, indigo, greys and very dark violet. The most common colour change is on the head in form of a 'hood'. Kenku are light, owing to the partially hollow nature of their bones, owed from when they were birds, by their lore, and live shorter lives than the usual humanoid. They tend to die at age 40 or 50 and are considered mature when they reach 13 and can marry.
It is not known from where Kenku originate, but they believe they were sent to the earth by the god they simply call 'Kami' (or, 'spirit'), who they venerate according to a Shinto-like tradition. Their main population is situated off a small jutt of land on the northern end of Corone, and they come within the borders of Akashima. Origionally from Keribas, they came over when their home was destroyed by an enemy they simply call the Shadow, or 'Kage'. They are few and far between, coming to a population of just over 2000, it is thought, and live in close patriarchal groups, or 'flock' each under a partiarch known as a 'shogun'. The shoguns have a council amongst themselves who meet once every three months to discuss inter-flock matters, including law and trade deals.
Each flock is named after a member of the corvid family (magpie, rook etc). They run under a tight traditional system similar to feudalism, with the shogun and his officials, the 'dia', followed by the warrior class, the 'senshi,' then the merchants, artisans and other skilled professions, the 'shujuku,' and finally the common workers, the unskilled, or 'ippan'. An ippan can learn a trade, and thus become part of the shujuku, as can a person born into the shujuku become a senshi if he pays for his training. A shogun can only become one by inheriting the title, as it is passed down from father to favoured son or other male heir (a second son can gain succession over a first born if his shogun/father deems him more worthy). Most other beings are born into their class by what their father was. It is acceptable to marry outwith your class, but just so long as it is the male who is higher, and the difference is without one class below. Without the protection of a shogun a kenku is left without the protection of the kenku law, thus they are in a dangerous position, so it is in the best interests of a kenku to not lose it. Usually they will marry within their flock, but if they marry without, the female will join the flock of the male.
A kenku who has committed a crime - a thief, briber etc - will lose the protection of their shogun and be named 'kegareta' - dirty. They will either be put to death for the most serious of crimes (murder and treachery) or be sent out to the wilderness. Similarly a senshi or a member of the dia who has dishonoured his shogun can become disowned by his shogun and become part of the kegareta, as a 'ronin'. Ronin are treated somewhat better than the common members of the kegareta, often finding that they can be hired as mercenaries or unskilled part-time labourers. Any children they bear, however, will never be part of a flock, and thus remain in the kegareta, but children of a ronin can be called a ronin. In this way it has come to be that there is a small permanant population of the kenku people who are kegareta, and live outside of the law and protection of any flock. They live in small settlements together, a mixture of ronin, thieves and other law-breakers, unable to have any protection from the shoguns - thus, more often than not, these communities of kegareta become close as each others only defence, but they also live outside the law, and so any crime that happens amongst them usually goes unpunished, or punished to whatever degree the community feels fit.
Avis' Appearance:
Avis takes on the classic form of a kenku, with the dark glossy black of her colouring. She stands, however, a little under standard height, at 4ft 10 inches, and has a patch of deep purple feather markings running down the right hand side of her throat. Her eyes are a deep pitch black with many depths, which gave rise to her nickname. She usually wears a long brown or grey cloak, which covers her face, and beneath that a simple raggedy tunic. Tied to the tunic at the belt are several sharp daggers, pouches, and a book holder.
History:
Some time ago Avis father, Tsu Tsakaka, was a well-ranked senshi, born from a long line of warriors and dia members. He served the clan Rook, owing a deep loyalty to his shogun. When he was reaching his twenties he decided it was time to marry, and thus found the blacksmith's daughter, Cassis. He wooed her, and she was eager for the opportunity to live in the class of a senshi, and thus agreed. They married and shortly after had twin sons - Akka and Avin. Tsu gained to a higher rank, and all seemed well.
That was until the Rook Shogun and the Crow Shogun began to have arguments over border lands and farmland and trade. The argument excelled to such an extent that the Rook Shogun marched a small portion of his troops to the border to 'guard' it. Unfortunately they gained to a place that the Crow Shogun considered his/of his flock, and thus war was declared. The war was brutal, and forced and bloody, with many dying on either side. The Rook Shogun in his haste, began conscription, signing up all useful bodied men to form an army under his senshi. In this, however, he also called up the then 11 year old twins, sons of Tsu and Cassis.
The boys, being of near maturity and the sons of a loyal, and still living, senshi, were rushed to the battlefront, into a planned sneak attack. Hastily trained they were barely ready when they faced their first enemies, deep into Crow lines. Their attack with their platoon was decisive and direct, to bring down a caravan of supplies and they were told to kill everyone in their path. This was until they came across the daughter of the Crow Shogun hidden within the caravan, and the two boys could not do it. They allowed the girl to escape, and in doing so disobeyed direct orders and possibly caused the Rook flock to not win the war there and then.
The Rook Shogun was furious, and he threatened to kill the twins for treason. Tsu, however, came to beg for their lives, and him being of high rank, the boys' sentence was reduced to being named kegareta. Preparing to leave, the boys began to say goodbye to their father, mother and the then just born infant Avis, until the Shogun council called an emergency session. In it, the other Shoguns managed to bring an understanding between the Rook and Crow clans, binding the agreement with the future marriage of the Crow Shogun's daughter to the next Rook Shogun. This and a solid border was agreed on, so peace settled, and the boys managed to stay close by without anyone really recognising. That was, until one night when they visited, and Tsu abandoned his watch post for one half hour, and in that night the Rook heir was poisoned.
The culprit was never found, but Tsu was immediately arrested and blamed for the guilt as he had left his post. With the Rook Shogun's wrath gaining the entire Tsakaka family was declared kegareta, Tsu becoming a ronin. They ran and were accepted into the community of kegareta who were nomads and called themselves, 'The Watchers with No Master'. Tsu became something of a guard and fighter for them, and Cassis a fantastic baker. Thus, Avis grew up in a close community of thieves and liars and killers.
A few years later, when she was nearing her seventh birthday, her brothers, sadly, were within Rook lands on a scouting mission for the Watchers, and recognised. By anger or by law they were slaughtered there and then, and news only got back to the Tsakaka family after a rider found the bodies. Cassis was distraught, and entered into a period of deep depression, where her cooking got steadily worse, and Tsu himself was aging, now reaching the age of 38 himself. It was Avis who kept the family safe from the kegareta lawlessness, by firstly learning how to bake, and then eventually selling her own body.
By the age of 14, Avis was a strong individual, barely an adult yet able to defend herself well as taught by her father, bake excellent cakes and pastries, and use her body for her own benefit. When her father finally passed away at the good age of 45, and then her mother very shortly following, Avis made the decision to leave the Watchers and head into the rest of Althanas with skills and abilities of her own. She became known as Stare for the way she glared at people, and the nickname stuck. It stuck even when she got to the city of Beinost, which is where she currently resides, working in a bakery.
Skills:
Knife-fighting - expert
Baking - expert
Agility - expert
Survival - expert
Linguistics - beginner
Persuasion - intermediate
Crafting (able to make herself new crossbow bolts) - intermediate
Abilities:
Dark Stare - Up to three times per thread, Avis can stare at someone with a 'dark look,' causing them to pause whatever attack or action they were doing and be frozen with uncertain. Her look is so dark, penetrating and unpredictable that only the toughest of men and women are able to break away from it immediately, or even ignore it. The subject of her stare is stilled for a maximum of three seconds, however this is shortened to two seconds if the opponent is 3 levels above her own, and one second if the opponent is one second above her own. In that time the opponent cannot do anything except react as per abilities, giving Avis a chance to strike a blow or other.
Stealth - Avis is an expert at stealthing. Up to three times in a thread she can disappear into shadows, as if turning invisible. Her feathers merge with the darkness, and her form becomes all but one with it. It is not a magical ability, but rather a natural one, owing a large amount due to race.
Agility - Avis' agility is twice that of an average person. This includes running faster over short distances (8mph), jumping to higher heights/lengths (4m maximum in any direction) and dodging out of attacks. It is directly comparable to the agility of her opponent. If they have a higher agility (or similar) ability to her, she cannot dodge their attacks.
Equipment:
Weapons:
Two short steel daggers used for fighting.
One yew and iron hand crossbow with a dozen iron bolts.
Other:
Leather gauntlets.
A steel grappling hook.
Books.
Basic survival equipment.
Baking stuff.
I would like to please upgrade, using the first amount of GP that comes with a starting character, the iron daggers to steel.
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