Quill

~ Character Sheet ~

Biography

Character Name: Quill

Character Level: 1

Race: Kenku

Gender: Cis Male

Alignment: Lawful Good

Deity: The Triad

Size: Medium

Feathers: Creamy white (think leucistic raven)

Eyes: Black

Height: 4'5"

Weight: 81 lbs

Age: 9


Appearance: Being a kenku and a young one at that, Quill is quite short, standing at only 4’5”, and proportionally still has some of his childlike plumpness (though he has begun to grow a little lanky). His body is covered in short, sleek, and unusual creamy white feathers that are almost always ruffled and browned with dust from playing and romping through Waterdeep. His beak, the exposed skin of his arms and legs, and his talons are instead a more pinkish white. Outside of his unusual feather coloring, though, Quill has no particularly distinguishable markings or injuries and is still too young to entertain the idea of a tattoo or piercing (at least, according to his adoptive mom). His eyes are entirely black.

Quill wears simple street clothing, including a forest green sleeveless shirt with a short collar and brown pants, while faded and frayed crimson cloth strips wrapped around the base of his talons and shins substitute for boots. In addition, the young kenku wears brown leather fingerless gloves that reach to just below his elbow which are blackened and charred, especially nearest to his hands (and which are worn to protect his arms from any magical blowback while casting). Over all this Quill dons a short dark purple hooded cloak kept pinned at his throat with a white clasp in the shape of a human hand with its fingers pointed up together (altogether being the symbol of the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors). Finally, the sorcerer keeps a small bag strapped across his chest down to his left side. The bag, made of gray leather, is etched with different arcane and astrological symbols and fastened closed with a silver clasp in the shape of a feather.


History: The earliest thing that Quill can remember is a flash of bright, pulsating light. Past that? Nothing. The unconscious kenku, as a child of only a few years, was found alone and unconscious in an alleyway in the Amn port city of Murann. It was a patrol of the Harbor Guard that found him. Its captain was a human man named Roser Graylight: a fervent member of the Harbor Guard, champion of the law, and, soon after, Quill’s adoptive father. Taking pity on the young if unusual kenku, Roser would decide to bring him home to his family. There, Quill would be nursed back to health, introduced to the rest of the household – wife Arli, son Brem and two daughters Kiha and Ris, and grandmother and matron of the family Kani – and, in the years that followed, raised among them as one of their own.

They were good years, too.

Despite his unexpected arrival and his unknown origin, the Graylight family were kind and gave Quill a childhood as good as any could hope for. He was taught much by Roser about the world, diligently raised by Arli, and grew close to Brem, Kiha, and Ris as they played throughout Murann, even if some of their neighbors would give the kenku funny looks. Quill’s favorite, though, was grandmother Kani. The elder Graylight, taking a liking herself to her “sweet little bird”, would spend many evenings with Quill and tell him all manner of stories about adventurers, good and evil, and the wonders of the wider world. In fact, it was Kani herself who gave Quill his name, as the sound of a quill writing on parchment was one of the only sounds the kenku could mimic after first being found.

It was only when he grew older that Quill discovered his magic. At first, they were small things. Nudging marbles off tables, changing the color of a handkerchief, or snuffing out his birthday candles without so much as a blow. Quill would keep it a secret from the rest of the family at first but, eventually, his brother and sisters found out. And they loved it. Their feathered brother’s little tricks and magical games were amazing to them and, with their urging, Quill gradually became more comfortable with his strange abilities. Not comfortable enough to tell any adults, though. But, for a few months at least, the kenku was more open with his magic, to the marvel of the other local kids, scowls from a few nosey neighbors, and the stare of a stranger. So, for the most part, Quill’s happy childhood went on. Even if things did start to get weird around the Graylight house. The feeling that Quill was being watched, Roser finding the back-gate lock smashed, Arli scolding her children for the strange mark at the corner of the house, or reports of a shadow skulking in a nearby alley by the Harbor Guard. Little weird things like that. For Quill, though, they had hardly meant anything at the time.

It was in the middle of a clouded night when the young kenku was almost kidnapped. Jolted awake by a thud in the house, Quill was confronted by a stranger when he left his shared bedroom to investigate. The man was broad, wore a long coat, and was concealed by a bronze mask in the shape of a long-beaked bird. It was in the struggle that followed that Quill, unable to call for his parents, tapped into his innate magic. Or at least tried to. Out of his control and with his body sizzling with arcane energy, everything would suddenly erupt into flames around Quill. The stranger would flee, though not before the kenku got a good kick in with his talon and gashed him across the face, and the kid’s frenzied squawks were enough to get the rest of the Graylight family out in time. The house was a total loss. It was also that night that Quill admitted to his magical abilities. That, and told his parents about the stranger. However, with his language difficulties and being a kid, the latter was taken as only a nightmare, though Roser and Arli were concerned about Quill’s magic. Not that they had any hard feelings about it, but they knew that with no control their adopted son was a danger to everyone, including himself.

It was only a few days later when Quill would board a ship bound for Waterdeep. There lived one of Roser’s brothers, a wizard named Garth Darkwood, who was a prominent member in the Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors. The kenku’s uncle promised to take care of his nephew and get him enrolled into the Order’s arcane academy. Even then the parting of Quill from his family was still bittersweet. The journey up the Sword Coast, however, was quick and without incident, and Quill has remained in the city ever since. Now an apprentice in the Order, the young sorcerer has gained greater control over his unstable magic and become a regular beaked face among the crowd of other spellcasters. Never forgetting that night in Murann, though, and knowing it was hardly a nightmare, Quill has also taken to trying to learn as much as he can about the masked man and, if only a little, about where he came from.


Personality: Having so far had an unusual childhood, at least for a kenku, Quill might come off as a surprise to many who expect a member of the usually chaotic and conniving race. The young kenku is kind, outgoing, and, as his adoptive grandmother would say, “sweeter than a heap of Berdusk fudge!”. He’s also as energetic and playful as any kid, if not pluckier in the face of unknown things and possible danger than one might hope for someone as small and young as the sorcerer. Endearing to a point, sure, but this also makes the kenku quite a handful at times. He can be childishly stubborn, reckless to the point of self-endangerment, and, even for a student of the arcane, more often thinks with his heart than his head.

This is especially true when it comes to the influence Quill’s adoptive father, a captain of the Harbor Watch in Murann, has had on the kenku and his convictions - he was raised to be a good boy and an upstanding member of society. Unnecessary or excessive violence? Bad. Stealing? Bad. Lying? Bad. Jaywalking? Never. Quill is moral almost to the point of fanaticism, for a kid at least, and sees the world in a stark contrast of black and white that’s usually based on the law vs everything else, but can also simply come from his own conclusions drawn from his parents’ teachings, the tenets of his arcane academy, or even the fairytales and adventure stories he loves dearly. The latter especially is at the heart of the kenku’s desire to master his magic and become an adventurer. Quill wants to do some genuine good in the world, just like his dad, and fighting evil monsters and saving the day seems like the best way to do that.

Finally, even with as much heart as Quill has, it’s also underlined by a deep insecurity. This stems from his sporadic, uncontrollable magic. The kenku is a lot of things – a member of an often feared and loathed race, someone who has no idea where they came from, and a kid with possibly incredible magic at his inexperienced talontips – and that terrifies him. Immensely. Learning to control his magic is certainly helping but, since the incident in Murann, it’s been worsened by a constant worry that someone or something is after him. And all that uncertainty is a lot for one little kid to deal with on his own.



Stats

Ability Scores:

Strength: 8(-1)
Dexterity: 16(+3)
Constitution: 14(+2)
Intelligence: 11(0)
Wisdom: 12(+1)
Charisma: 14(+2)

Class

Sorcerer 1 (Wild Magic)

Spells

Cantrips: Fire Bolt, Light, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation

Level 1: Chromatic Orb, Shield

Skills

Arcana, Deception, History, Persuasion, Sleight of Hand, Stealth

Proficiencies & Languages

Armor: None

Weapons: Daggers, Darts, Slings, Quarterstaffs, Light Crossbows

Tools: None

Languages: Common, Auran, Draconic, Elvish (Can only speak through mimicry)

Background

Cloistered Scholar (Reflavored to be more of an “arcane student”)

Feats

N/A

Gear

Weapons: 2 Daggers

Armor: Common clothes, Scholar’s robes (Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors cloak)

On Person: Component pouch, Belt pouch (29 gp, 5 sp, 8 cp)

Backpack: Bedroll, Mess kit, Tinderbox, Hempen rope (50’), Writing kit (quill, ink, folded parchment, and small penknife), Chalk, Abacus, Borrowed book (A Complete History of Magic Guilds, Orders, and Cults by Wilver the Unannounced), 2 Candles, 2 Glass bottles, Waterskin, 10 Days of rations

Starting gp: 10

Starting kit: Light crossbow, 20 bolts, component pouch, two daggers, explorer’s pack, scholar’s robes of your cloister, a writing kit (small pouch with a quill, ink, folded parchment, and a small penknife), a borrowed book on the subject of your current study, belt pouch

Bought: Chalk (1 cp), common clothes (5 sp), abacus (2 gp), 2 candles (2 cp), 2 glass bottles (4 gp)

Sold: Light crossbow (25 gp), 20 bolts (1 gp), 10 torches (10 cp)