Character Creation

Should anyone ask a Kenku as to what the feathered wizard heading towards the ruins of Arkasia was named, they would respond by opening their beaks and emitting a noise that sounds exactly like the pages of a book flapping around as though one were rapidly turning between pages. For the convenience of the races that have their own voice, he has come to be known as Pageflap. A few years back, however, he was called by the sound of a dagger meekly hitting a piece of armor, back when he was so unremarkable that no one had even bothered to translate his name.

Hatched into a flock of Kenku serving a mad wizard, the young Pageflap was among the guards defending his tower. Not being too strong, he was one at the first line of defense, pushed to the front in the hopes that he would be able to tire any wayward heroes enough for the stronger minions in the back to mop up. Knowing what he knows today, Pageflap can only question why the spellcaster among the party of adventurers storming the tower deemed him a worthy enough threat to remove from the battlefield through the use of a high level spell such as Gate.

Wherever it was that the spell sent him, he is not sure he was actually supposed to be sent there. He remember very little of what it was that he saw, but amongst the visions he recalled being around the ruins of an empire that had fallen before he was even hatched. Whatever the destination of the spell, in the end he was spat out where he was taken from with feeling like his head was cracked open and, mysteriously, like a wound on his very soul had slightly healed.

It was only days later, while he and the survivors of his flock were packing up to move on after the death of their master, that he noticed it. Though still as cursed as the rest of his kind to be unable to take to the skies with his own wings or sing with his own voice, the spark of creativity had begun leaking into his thoughts! His exhilaration was somewhat dampened upon the realization that the curse still held to his soul, he was not truly free from the curse that stole creativity from the Kenku and what he had was but a morsel. But this was an opportunity! He had his foot in the door and he hungered for more.

With no one occupying it any longer, and no one else interested in the arcane arts, The young Kenku began devouring as much knowledge of the Mad Wizard that he could consume. His frantic reading earned him his new name, as not only did he read up on spells, but any book he could get his feathers on. What small bursts of creativity he got made him just clever enough to consider taking an interest in history so as to use the creativity of those who had come before.

Weeks passed after he earned his new name, and he bid his flock goodbye, choosing to remain in the tower while the rest of the flock finished packing to head off towards the city in hopes of finding someone new to serve under an umbrella of protection. Knowing there was a possible cure to at least one of the curses, Pageflap no longer wished to be a minion to morally questionable masters. Rather, he would devote his life to his studies in the hope of finding a way to restore the Kenku race from the curse's grasp. Saying goodbye and vowing to find them one day to share the gift of creativity, Pageflap returned to the large (surprisingly undisturbed considering the adventurers) library at the top of the tower and spent the next few years reading.

And through this reading he learned the name of the ruined empire of Arkasia, a land he remembers visiting in a vision.

21 years ago Aegar Gornhill was a much different person than the half-elf you see before you. On any given day Aegar could be found in the small town of Orogun (about 2 days by cart south of Veolia) working as a member of the town guard. On his off time, Aegar was a family man. His human wife Daresh and their young daughter Lily lived within the town of Orogun on the northern (and wealthier) side of town. When Aegar earned his knighthood, he only knew of the honor and possible glory that comes with such a position. As well as the super cool battle-axe forged in the capital city of the Arkasian Empire (He knew it was forged there because of the large and intricate "A" carved into the hilt of the axe). It wasn’t until he realized that as a knight he was expected to protect people, did he start to understand the responsibility he had been charged with. With his young wife at his side, Aegar worked hard to build them the life they dreamed of. One day, Aegar received word that fighting had erupted in the capital city and that cracks had begun to form in the Arkasian Emprie’s government. He rounded up his finest men and made haste to their neighbor town of Veolia to the north.

As the men galloped into town on their horses they saw a horror they could not comprehend. Men, women, and children were laying dead all around the town. Their bodies contorted into grotesque positions due to being slain while running for their lives. To the east, Aegar and his men heard the screams of children. Upon their arrival, they found 6 barbarians with weapons drawn towering over 3 terrified people they knew to be townsfolk. Aegar rode up from behind the barbarians swinging down with his battle-axe cleaving 3 of them nearly in half. The remaining three were felled by the other members of his guard, whom were mere steps behind Aegar. Aegar dismounted his horse and reached a hand down to the smallest of the townsfolk, a child just 10 years old. Its okay little one, you are safe now Aegar said in a deep and booming voice as he smiled and tried to quickly wipe some freshly spattered blood off of his face. For the next few days, Aegar and his men fought fiercely to get the few townsfolk they could to safety. The child they saved on the first day, Iman, had become fast friends with Aegar. Aegar saw the same spark in his eyes that he saw in Lily’s. It had been nearly a fortnight since Aegar saw her last, and he prayed every night that they would be safe while he was gone.

When Aegar was sure that Iman and the others were safe, he and his men rode back to Orogun. Only stopping to rest when the horses seemed as if they might die from exhaustion. Upon his return. Aegar had a strange feeling of deja vu. They rode into the town square only to find piles of bodies burning where children once played. The building where he and his men would commune before their daily duties had been burnt to the ground. Aegar understood what had happened immediately and rode in full gallop to his home. As he entered his street he dismounted his horse and walked stealthily up to his home. As he opened his front door he fell to his knees. On the floor in the entryway of his home, his wife and child lay dead, savagely beaten. Aegar held their bodies for a full day until he could not cry anymore, and slowly he made his way back his horse and rode off into the woods. Behind him lie a life he felt he would never know again.

Today, Aegar is nearly an entirely different man than the one who lived in the town of Orogun. The smooth face of the knight he once had been is now covered in a long and very thick (and dirty) beard. He no longer wears the full plate armor provided by the empire, settling for simple leather armor and garments he has fashioned over the past 2 decades. A large battle-axe is strapped to his back, well worn but clearly as sharp as the day it was forged. Aegar mainly keeps to himself, living off in a small hut deep within the woods. He is known to frequent a local tavern, tended by a mountain dwarf named Barendd. Aegar usually keeps to himself, drinking alone in a corner until Barendd has to cut him off and help him back on to his horse before sending him on his way. Barendd is one of the few people Aegar trusts and talks to. As a regular patron and an irregularly large drinker, Aegar has been known to go off on long tangents about the life he once lived. without Aegar even trying, he has developed somewhat of a friendship with the dwarf, especially since Barendd revealed to him that they have shared some very similar experiences. While mainly living only for himself, Aegar has not forgotten the responsibilities entrusted in him as knight all those years ago. Aegar has begun a new search for meaning, hoping that soon he will find something to give him the drive to continue on.