Okay here's a quick timeline where each edition takes place.
1st Editon: End of 1357 DR 2nd Editon: End of 1367 DR 3(.5)rd Editon: 1372 DR progressing to the early part of 1376 DR 4th Editon: Begins in 1385 DR, set in 1479 and goes up to 1486 DR 5th Editon: Beings around 1489 DR
Does anyone have any idea as to what happened? If you have the description from the original source books from those previous editions of the Kenku maybe it can help piece it all together.
All I've been able to find is that Quorlinn, some lesser god created by some Non-Lawful Sky God, was rewarded with his own race to govern over after he went on a magical journey but he didn't really want them and saw them as a burden.
One consensus among certain groups is that they're not the same Kenku, but that's opinion.
Another common consensus is that the 5e Kenku stole something from a god as well as stealing a language that was forbidden to them, and the god took their wings and there their ability to have their own language. All their "speech" is accomplished by mimicry of things they hear. If they want to say something, they have to have heard the words to use, and sentences sound like splice recordings of different people.
I don't know if that latter lore is official. I see it everywhere, but I don't have the sourcebook related to the race.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
Ah. (I have that physical, not DDB. I assumed player race.)
It says a "master" and not a god. It says the Kenku have forgotten much about this master over the ages. That could seem like the 5e Kenku overlap the preceding edition Kenku in timelines, meaning (if true) that 5e has a different Kenku, unrelated to the prior edition.
I don't know for certain, but I think conflicts between editions go with the definitions of the edition in-use for the campaign.
EDIT: It also says that Kenku dressed in rags and pretended to be beggars to orchestrate the theft from their master, which may be part of their curse as well.
The player race source is what I cannot access. So, I don't know the differences between MM and that. I figure it rounds out the lore a bit more than the MM alone.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider. My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong. I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲 “It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
and as for using the books of 5e as the official fact with nothing more to add, it does leave out a lot of lore from previous editions. So this is either a gross over simplification or information is being lost as time trudges on. It'd be nice to have the lore dump from the other books.
I recently learned that that Winged Kenku use to be telepaths and liked to annoy and bother humans and other races just for the lols.
Do you think it in the realm of possibility that the Kenku are actually just messing with everyone as some elaborate scam?
I don't think there is an official story, so what I'm going to do is create a story for it and tie it in to one of my players Patrons. I'm hoping this will create some roleplaying conflict between an enlightened Kenku (long story) who wants to save his brothers and the player who is the warlock. I suggest that you just create a small backstory for what happened to the kenku since we really don't know anything
And I think the playing race is in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
Possible internal writers' memo: "We need some more races for this splat. Remember that raven race we put in some splat back whenever it was to please the furries with a thing for birds? Yeah, let's do them again, but flight isn't really balanced for the new system so nix that part."
Okay here's a quick timeline where each edition takes place.
1st Editon: End of 1357 DR
2nd Editon: End of 1367 DR
3(.5)rd Editon: 1372 DR progressing to the early part of 1376 DR
4th Editon: Begins in 1385 DR, set in 1479 and goes up to 1486 DR
5th Editon: Beings around 1489 DR
Somewhere between 2nd and 3rd edition the Kenku go from the Winged Kenku to the Kenku of Today
Does anyone have any idea as to what happened? If you have the description from the original source books from those previous editions of the Kenku maybe it can help piece it all together.
All I've been able to find is that Quorlinn, some lesser god created by some Non-Lawful Sky God, was rewarded with his own race to govern over after he went on a magical journey but he didn't really want them and saw them as a burden.
One consensus among certain groups is that they're not the same Kenku, but that's opinion.
Another common consensus is that the 5e Kenku stole something from a god as well as stealing a language that was forbidden to them, and the god took their wings and
theretheir ability to have their own language. All their "speech" is accomplished by mimicry of things they hear. If they want to say something, they have to have heard the words to use, and sentences sound like splice recordings of different people.I don't know if that latter lore is official. I see it everywhere, but I don't have the sourcebook related to the race.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
I'm pretty sure it is. It says in the MM.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
Ah. (I have that physical, not DDB. I assumed player race.)
It says a "master" and not a god. It says the Kenku have forgotten much about this master over the ages. That could seem like the 5e Kenku overlap the preceding edition Kenku in timelines, meaning (if true) that 5e has a different Kenku, unrelated to the prior edition.
I don't know for certain, but I think conflicts between editions go with the definitions of the edition in-use for the campaign.
EDIT: It also says that Kenku dressed in rags and pretended to be beggars to orchestrate the theft from their master, which may be part of their curse as well.
The player race source is what I cannot access. So, I don't know the differences between MM and that. I figure it rounds out the lore a bit more than the MM alone.
Human. Male. Possibly. Don't be a divider.
My characters' backgrounds are written like instruction manuals rather than stories. My opinion and preferences don't mean you're wrong.
I am 99.7603% convinced that the digital dice are messing with me. I roll high when nobody's looking and low when anyone else can see.🎲
“It's a bit early to be thinking about an epitaph. No?” will be my epitaph.
It seems real suspicious...
and as for using the books of 5e as the official fact with nothing more to add, it does leave out a lot of lore from previous editions. So this is either a gross over simplification or information is being lost as time trudges on. It'd be nice to have the lore dump from the other books.
I recently learned that that Winged Kenku use to be telepaths and liked to annoy and bother humans and other races just for the lols.
Do you think it in the realm of possibility that the Kenku are actually just messing with everyone as some elaborate scam?
I don't think there is an official story, so what I'm going to do is create a story for it and tie it in to one of my players Patrons. I'm hoping this will create some roleplaying conflict between an enlightened Kenku (long story) who wants to save his brothers and the player who is the warlock. I suggest that you just create a small backstory for what happened to the kenku since we really don't know anything
And I think the playing race is in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
Possible internal writers' memo: "We need some more races for this splat. Remember that raven race we put in some splat back whenever it was to please the furries with a thing for birds? Yeah, let's do them again, but flight isn't really balanced for the new system so nix that part."
The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting doesn’t have anything in the Abbreviated History section on the Kenku.
I enjoy writing, roleplaying, watching TVs and movies, and playing video games!
Currently playing the resident time lord in Las Aminour.
Want to check out my stuff? Here’s my campaign:
My Campaign