I am planning on writing a book that happens in a universe separate from Dungeons and Dragons universe but I want to have a character be a Kenku.


I know that they are copyrighted for use in other RPGs. But what about in books? Would I just have to change the race name, but can I keep all the attributes? The Kenku is going to be cursed to look like a human. They talk by mimicking things they hear. The main character is trying to fix the curse but doesn't know that the Kenku is a Kenku. The main character thinks the Kenku is a human cursed with some type of impaired speech which makes it hard to understand him.


How do I find what I am able to use and what I can't use? Would the be in the Open Gaming License? Or somewhere else? 



Is it possible to use creatures from an RPG (like Dungeons and Dragons) in writing a book without infringing on copyrights?