Monstrous Race: Kenku

The flightless Aarakocra, the Shadow Aarakocra, the Cursed Aarakocra, but the race prefers the name Kenku, which means "cursed" in their native tongue. The Kenku stands below 5 feet tall, covered fully in dark and black feathers with the heads of ravens or similar birds. Their avian appearance stops at the arms as they lack wings, unlike their Aarakocra cousins. This atop of losing their speech makes the race a victim of ancient curses that continue to this day. Long ago, after the Aarakocra were defeated in the First Age, The Titan War, where they were the defenders for the Titan Caretaker, the Shadow Aarakocra split from the main race. The latter wanted nothing to do with the Godswar and ran far away, into the mountaintops of this new world, while the former decided to offer their services but not only to one of the sides of the conflict but to both. They wanted to play the long game by gaining wealth beyond measure by selling their services to the forces of good and evil. Of course, they were found out. Those in service of the fiends were executed, while those in the services of the gods were cursed. They lost their wings and their voices. Taking the name Kenku, they would wander the world as they cry into the heavens, never able to fly again. They found a way to survive with other races by mimicking their voices. They can never learn a language to speak it but they learn it to understand what is spoken or written (or write themselves), thus they must rely on those sentences and words they hear, remember them and mimic them to convey messages. This ability made many races not worth trying to communicate with the Kenku, while more entrepreneurial individuals saw an opportunity. If they can mimic the voice of someone, they could be spies for others, conveying conversations that took place between parties word by word. Thus, the race can find a place for themselves in the world.

On Tethys

While the race is still regarded as outsiders, since they were rediscovered in the Third Age, Kingdoms as there were no Kenku in the Old World, only in Azura and Arakhor, thus there are very few villages and towns of Kenku outside those continents. The most Kenku populated continent is Arakhor, as the featherly folk has a hard time living longer in the Azura desert. They tried to work with the people of Sailan in the Tailos colony but that was destroyed by The Second Divergence. There are still many Kenku in Hinleng. The biggest population is in a small nation they founded in the Fifth Age, Current Age called Gadaral, where they share words and conversations they heard, while buying (or stealing) every magical and technological way of flight for themselves.

First World

Kenku of the First World were noted blasphemers in the ancient times, thus the father of all giants plucked their tongues out and ripped their wings for daring to speak against him during a war between giants and humans. Their numbers were few in the First World, if any.

Kenku

Ability Score Increase Dex +2; Wis +1

Size Medium

Speed 30 ft.

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Age. Kenku have shorter lifespans than humans. They reach maturity at about 12 years old and can live to 60.
Alignment. Kenku are chaotic creatures, rarely making enduring commitments, and they care mostly for preserving their own hides. They are generally chaotic neutral in outlook.
Size. Kenku are around 5 feet tall and weigh between 90 and 120 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Expert Forgery. You can duplicate other creatures' handwriting and craftwork. You have advantage on all checks made to produce forgeries or duplicates of existing objects.
Kenku Training. You are proficient in your choice of two of the following skills: Acrobatics, Deception, Stealth, and Sleight of Hand.
Mimicry. You can mimic sounds you have heard, including voices. A creature that hears the sounds can tell they are imitations with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check opposed by your Charisma (Deception) check.

Languages. You can read and write Common and Auran, but you can only speak using your Mimicry trait.