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idea by: Florian Emmerich on the cover written by: Florian Emmerich & Katrina Bresnick Magdalena Grovebright enjoys her first flight. The writers advise you edited by: Rachel Savicki to hold on tight and let the warm plumage engulf you. In case of an sensivity consultation by: Maple Intersectionality Consulting emergency, exits are available to all sides. cover art by: Raluca Marinescu interior art by: Christina Kraus (Archimedes Quill) & Raluca Marinescu (Magdalena Grovebright, Kwii, Flaam, Errk, Kwarr, Garr, Asfa, Bash, Presemer, Swoosh, Wretch, Foudre & Hoshi) title treatment & box artifacts by: Joshua Mendenhall insignia of archimedes quill by: Nathanaël Roux character sheet by: Francita Soto layout by: Florian Emmerich & Nathanaël Roux playtesting by: @AyaGolender, Leah Jotundottir, Luke Holt, Madi Wander @timepatches, @REPieces, Saege Fhang, @VexxieHexxie Special Thanks Birds of Paradise would not have been possible without the help and advice of Anne Gregersen, who gave Magdalena Grovebright the shape and form you encounter today, Bryan Holmes and R P Davis who helped with their lore wisdom, Jacky Leung for guidance on the Waan Silkie, Kevin Harris and Blake, whose invaluable knowledge of lore and mechanics helped give these birds flight, and the wonderful DMsGuild community, which inspires us day in and day out. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT THIS BOOKLET 03 KENKU 17 AARAKOCRA 05 Chultan Cassowary 17 Baldurian Owl 05 Halruaan Macaw 19 Delimbiyran Flamingo 07 Icewind Penguin 21 Feywild Hummingbird 09 Thayan Hoatzin 23 Hellish Pitohui 11 Trackless Sea Seedeater 25 Nelanther Great Crested Grebe 13 Waan Silkie 27 Salt Jungle Bird-of-Paradise 15 ADVENTURER EXTRAORDINAIRE 29 SPELLS FROM THE KEEP 30 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, WIZARDS OF THE COAST, FORGOTTEN REALMS, RAVENLOFT, EBERRON, THE DRAGON AMPERSAND, RAVNICA AND ALL OTHER WIZARDS OF THE COAST PRODUCT NAMES, AND THEIR RESPECTIVE LOGOS ARE TRADEMARKS OF WIZARDS OF THE COAST IN THE USA AND OTHER COUNTRIES. THIS WORK CONTAINS MATERIAL THAT IS COPYRIGHT WIZARDS OF THE COAST AND/OR OTHER AUTHORS. SUCH MATERIAL IS USED WITH PERMISSION UNDER THE COMMUNITY CONTENT AGREEMENT FOR DUNGEON MASTERS GUILD. ALL OTHER ORIGINAL MATERIAL IN THIS WORK IS COPYRIGHT 2020 BY FLORIAN EMMERICH AND PUBLISHED UNDER THE COMMUNITY CONTENT AGREEMENT SampleFOR DUNGEON MASTERS GUILD file @poisonpotpress @sunsstepchild About this Booklet BIRDS OF THE WORLD For the subraces we chose birds found in this earthen realm that are loosely sorted by flying, for aarakocra, and There are so many wonders found in this realm. The true non-flying, for kenku, with some exceptions. We are the wonder is the variety of the beings who live here. What- first to admit that these decisions are arbitrary and we ever race they are, whoever they love or whatever they hope that this booklet inspires you to create your own believe in, I love them with all my heart. Though I have avian (or any other) subraces or even races. to admit, when I'm close to my feathery friends, my heart It was very hard to choose from the various birds, be it songbird, bird of prey or any other types. Some were beats faster. easily picked, like the bovine-esque Hoatzin, that, instead of flying, spends most of its time hopping from branch to —Magdalena Grovebright branch, and relies upon fermentation to digest its meals. Others choices were less obvious, like the Great Crested Grebes, who are loving and caring partners that court via ear reader, dance. All of these birds are equally loved by us and we can Thank you for your patronage! The text within only hope you’ll love them, too. this booklet is composed mostly from the D viewpoint of Magdalena Grovebright, adventurer CREATING YOUR CHARacTER extraordinaire. While other works about races within In order to create your own character, you need access Faerûn and elsewhere on Toril might take a step back to the aarakocra race, free either via the Elemental Evil to give you a bird’s-eye view, in this book we deliberately Player’s Guide or dndbeyond.com, and the kenku race, chose to hear about the world through Magdalena’s voice available either via Volo’s Guide to Monsters or and feelings alone. This enables us to portray the sense of dndbeyond.com (or similar virtual storefronts). wonder that is ever-present in the Forgotten Realms and allows for Dungeon Masters and players alike to easily For either race, substitute the normal ability score increase reach their own interpretations, so that everything fits you would get with the following: into your game. Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score SYSTEM ALTERNATIVES increases by 2. While we used fixed ability score increases traditional to Dungeons & Dragons within this booklet so that After that, all you have to do is choose one of the numerous Dungeon Masters and players would have easy access to subraces of aarakocra or kenku presented in this book to the character stats we think best suit these various avians, add to your character. we encourage players to explore alternative methods of creating characters. One option would be to raise one Florian Emmerich, Katrina Bresnick & Rachel Savicki ability score of your choice by 2 and another score by 1. Other resources you can access include Reimagining Racial Ability Scores by James Haeck on dndbeyond.com, or the Class Modifier Module on Gabe James Gabe's itch.io page. We encourage you to adopt their advice. Variety, after all, is a wonderful thing. Sample file Dear reader, Archimedes Quill With the Marpenoth of my life approaching, I thought about sitting down to chronicle my many adventures and expeditions. While I was already an avid scribe when I first set out into the great undiscovered and forgotten places of this world, oftentimes wonder overtook me and I found myself scribbling things down in the dead of night, with only the stars for my roof. I encountered many landscapes, secrets and folk, though nobody touched me as much as the hidden aarakocra and the misunderstood kenku. With some pride, I present to you all the encounters I have made so far. Some of them I sought out myself, while others occurred merely by chance. And while I could return to visit some of those newly made friends again, I can only wonder about what many others are up to now. While I have no proof, I am certain that aarakocra and kenku share common ancestry, though somehow the kenku seem to have made a transgression so dire that they have not even been able to atone for it over time, or so it seems. I hope you share my same excitement, not only about the wonderful creatures filling this very world, but for all the locales they inhabit. This world is so fantastical! Once I sort out all my notes I am sure to explore some more, until I reach my final Well met! adventure, may it be in a distant future. I have found this diary and dissected it in my small study within Maybe, dear reader, we may even find each other someday. I am Candle Keep. At times I have even undertaken strenuous travel eager to hear about all your adventures, as I am sure you have a to these places myself, though most of the time, I have been able lifetime worth of small wonders to draw from. to match Magdalena’s scripture with similar accounts, thereby confirming the veracity of the contents presented. While I can With love, readily vouch for the majority, some of the contents had me puzzled and, even as an aarakocra, I find them too fantastical to be true. —Magdalena Grovebright I am certain your scientific mind appreciates an alphabetical order, divided into aarakocra and kenku, rather than a chronological retelling, so I went ahead and did the heavy lifting for you and sorted it all out. At this moment in time, I am not certain what has become of Magdalena Grovebright, but I am confident that a sellsword of her expertise is currently on another adventure in a far away kingdom. May the gust of the winds always lift you up. —Archimedes Quill Sample file Magdalena Grovebright & Dagger It seems when Kwii’s kin came to this plane, they saw Baldurian Owl the plight of the downtrodden and knew that they could help. Now they dedicate themselves to Selûne, having a The Baldurian Owls have a soft spot for creatures that fondness for those who are cursed to wander the night. Kwii gathered a small group from her tribe and together need protection, especially those that wander the night. we were able to rescue the children. The elves, who call themselves Warriors of Sehanine, have wonderful secrets —Magdalena Grovebright of their own. BALDURIAN OWL TRAITS ost scholars believe that there are just a few major aarakocra settlements in the Your Baldurian Owl has the following racial traits. whole world. They would be overcome with Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score surprise if they knew that another one was increases by 1. M Touch of Selûne. Once per long rest, when you hidden right near Baldur’s Gate. successfully hit a creature with your talon attack, you can choose to deal radiant damage instead of the usual WARDENS OF THE NIGHT slashing damage. Additionally, when you use this ability, I was travelling near Baldur’s Gate when a group of the target of your attack is illuminated by a halo of wounded wood elves pleaded for my help. They called out, moonlight. The next attack roll made against that target begging me to aid them in their plight as a black dragon before the end of your next turn is made at advantage.