Kestrel Von Ether

Kestrel fell in love at an early age. And he continued to fall in love again and again and again as he grew. He was a loyal sort, a rare gem of a man who, while not without his flaws, you could count on to be stalwart and true. Those he fell in love with were less so. Collecting the pieces of a broken heart grew almost methodical. But he never grew jaded, nor any less likely to fall ankles over teakettle for the next object of his affections.

It was easier, of course, when he fell in love with something rather than someone. Possessions were forever. While not a materialistic man by any means he keeps his prize possessions close to his chest and they mean more to him than anything. That is what made it so easy to leave behind his family, his town, and everything he ever knew once he fell in love with the sea.

Very soon after his first voyage began, on a small trading vessel set out for the tropics, he fell in love again. So soon was it since his last discovery it left him lightheaded and even more prone to adoration than usual. It was for Ezra Proud, captain of The Lonely Albatross and the crew he had signed on with for the next five months.

Nothing ever came of his love for the captain, given that her husband was her first mate and Kestrel was never one for intruding on established relationships. Loving from afar was something he was used to. It may have continued on like that, Kestrel signing on for more and more jobs with Ezra, following her to the ends of the earth, if they hadn't been attached on their third voyage out by a nasty band of Pirates.

These weren't the kind of Pirates he grew up hearing stories about, with their code and their swashbuckling and robbing the rich. These pirates were not misunderstood but loveable rogues who had a disagreement with the government. These pirates burned down his home of the past two years and slaughtered the people he had broken bread with. They kept a select few of them alive, those who fought well enough or seemed spineless enough. Kestrel was the former. The other two were the later. Then there was Ezra.

These pirates, they had a particular way of dealing with the leaders of the ships they conquered. They strung her up, rigged her to the bow among the bones of those before her like a grim, living figurehead, and let the birds that followed them like a swarm of locusts peck away pieces of her. They fed and watered her enough for her to suffer an entire month. Kestrel was kept below deck, in the brig, hoping they could either convince him to join them or break him so he no longer cared. they saw the love in his eyes, he'd always worn his heart on his sleeve, and they knew how to make him hurt.

They put him right below Ezra where he could hear her sob and scream day and night. He listened to this strong, proud woman beg for death. In the end, that was what got him. It didn't break him like they hoped, all he ever wanted was to give her what she asked. And when she asked for death he clawed his way tooth and nail through their ranks so I could burn them down and give her sweet relief. It was an act of mercy. Of love. Kestrel would do great and terrible things for those he loved.

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As a child Kestrel grew up with his parents and three siblings in Tymanthar. They lid a peaceful life, normal, compared to the treatment some tieflings received in less receiving lands. He was free to devote himself to any he wished, though most often he doted on his younger siblings. It was on a visit to the coast that he fell in love with the sea and so his parents sent him off, knowing they might never see him again.

He ended up, after his wretched slaughter of the pirate galleon, in Candlekeep, where he took to the endless array of books like it was an oasis in a desert. He learned of many new loves in Candlekeep.