Kenku

Mournful Wanderers

Out of all of the races in the Continent, the Kenku are perhaps the most tragic. Once upon a time they reigned over The Gold, fighting Gnoll tribes to retain hegemony over the waters and forests that dot the region. But that was long ago, before the Humans arrived. After many decades of war, humans bested the Kenku. Yet, rather than negotiate surrender, which the Kenku were adamant to uphold, a great wizard named Aisi , with Xiafeng, The First's blessing, cast a catastrophic curse upon them. They were stripped of all voice and flight, capable now of only mimicking the sounds they heard to form sentences. Since that day, Mankind has made slaves out of the Kenku, who labor tirelessly to build mankind's great works. This tragic fate is often quoted as a cautionary tale for other races; to illustrate what happens when 'The Bald Ones' win.
This is not to say that all Kenku are slaves. In the peripheries and corners of Oman, many small tribes of Kenku have formed, avoiding capture and attempting any kind of free life that they can muster. But even out there, the Kenku must struggle, as the Gnolls, long used to the scavenging life style, abuse and take advantage of the Kenku, whose oppression they remember well. This struggle has steeled the free Kenku of The Gold, and what used to be raids over innocent refugees has turned into a bloody, unending tussle for survival. This tension is so violent and permeating that even in the face of Omani authorities, the Kenku and Gnolls will rat out, attack, and even abandon each other.
Many Kenku that have escaped the harsh realities of their homeland live solitary lives, distrustful of all other races and societies. Most of these lonely wanderers spend a lifetime searching for meaning, and take jobs wherever they can get them, and which don't require a profound use of their voice. It is almost a universal custom for all 'Wild Races' to grant asylum -- or at least lodging and protection -- to any Kenku who comes upon their land. Many of these Kenku 'outsiders' have began to seek each other out and have begun developing a 'Hand Speak', which they hope will gap the chasm of communication between their kind and all other races. But Kenku back home have developed creative ways to overcome spoken language, such as Ke'Kant and Ambushi, which use the nature of sounds heard and repeated, rather than what the sound is, to communicate.

Naming Traditions

Family names

Kenku don't really have names as typically expected. Due to their loss of spoken language, they utilize other identifiers that are difficult to impossible for other races to understand. Those that live in the outskirts typically give themselves names from nearby societies.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Ke'Kant; Ambushi; Hand Speak

Common Myths and Legends

The Kenku Shanty

Diverged ethnicities

• Outsider

Related Organizations

• Esmer Cult

Related Myths

• The Kenku Shanty

Languages spoken

• Ambushi
• Hand Speak
• Ke'Kant

Related Locations

• The Gold

Kenku

Ability Score Increase +2 Dex, +1 Wis

Size Medium

Speed 30ft

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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 you make can tell they are imitations with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check opposed by your Charisma (Deception) check.

Languages. Common, Auran