Birdie Calloway

Fan art of Birdie Calloway, by @HHL Illustrate.

**Birdie Calloway** is a fey woman and Fearne Calloway's mother. As a NPC, Birdie is played by Matthew Mercer.

## **Description**

### **Appearance**

Birdie is a faun, and she's often described as bearing a strong resemblance to her daughter (especially in the eyes), although she is visibly a little bit older, slightly shorter, and stockier. She has blue-green eyes and bushy auburn brown hair flowing down to her mid-back. When she was first seen by Bells Hells she was wearing a thick leather jacket and riding goggles.

### **Personality**

According to Dusk, Birdie is very kind. When she spoke with Imogen Temult through the *Sending* spell, she seemed to be cautious. Imahara Joe considered both her and Ollie nice and jovial.

Birdie appeared to be either exceptionally trusting or exceptionally pragmatic. She stated she knew nothing of Ira Wendagoth's past evil deeds and brushed them off as probably being done at someone else's behest, and said that although he had done bad things in the past, he was the only person who could help them save the Feywild. Later, however, it appeared that Ira might have tampered with some of both her and Ollie's memories, which might account for her attitude toward him.

## **Biography**

### **Background**

In the Feywild, Birdie was a member of the Calloway family, with connections with the Seelie Court. Although Morrigan the Fatestitcher wasn't a blood relative, she cared for Birdie when Birdie was young, acting as a grandmother toward her while the faun was keeping her home clean as payment for an old family debt incurred by another member; Morri provided guidance when Birdie had none and helped her figure out what she was good at.

The story she and her husband, the fey elf Oleander, told their daughter is that around 831 PD they met in a small village. Ollie was the member of a wandering troupe of musicians who used magic to affect the faerie environment in exchange for money; Birdie out fleeced him, and after his initial anger they started drinking together, liking each other. Ollie tried to convince her to join the troop, but in the end she was the one who convinced him, and he left the rest of the musicians. They fell in love and got married, eventually having Fearne.

The true story of how they met (regardless of how much truth there was about their lives in the former tale) was much darker: at some point Birdie became the lover of a powerful member of the Unseelie Court, Sorrowlord Athion Zathuda. During their time together, she indulged her darkest tendencies, and was infatuated by his promises and attention. Eventually, Birdie became pregnant, and the Sorrowlord organized her giving birth in Exandria during a flare of Ruidus. After that, Birdie's importance and relevance faded for him, but by then she had started to realize that she didn't love the Unseelie noble. She, in fact, had fallen in love with Ollie, who had been made prisoner (because of his dealings with the courts) in the Underbrush Prison in the Twilight Citadel. Although initially Birdie had met Ollie while she was still with Zathuda, after some time she realized she loved Oleander, and she explained her situation to him. He understood, and together they escaped Unseelie territory, taking Fearne with them and deciding to raise her as their child in common.

About seven years before the events of Campaign Three, the couple left to explore the Material Plane, becoming outcasts in the eyes of the displeased Lady Elmenore, Matriarch of the Seelie Court. Fearne's honorary grandmother Morri cared for the child after her parents left, telling that they had had to leave on a very important mission to save the Material Plane, and were travelling all over, sending postcards and letters to their family. The latest one Fearne had received had allegedly been sent from Aeor. Fearne later learned that Morri had created the cards herself.

The reason why Birdie and Oleander had left the Feywild was because, knowing that Fearne had been born under the light of the red moon, they decided to learn all tehy could about it. Ollie then had a vision of the moon following them, its redness eating away at the Feywild. When Ruidus suddenly began appearing in the Fey Realm, the Calloways discovered that Unseelie magic was being used to keep others from paying attention to it, and that the Unseelie Court was meeting with Exandrians to design a machine focused on Ruidus for an unknown purpose. The Calloways took its shiniest piece, the Moontide Crown, to disable it, and were now, with Ira Wendagoth, the Nightmare King, attempting to build a machine which Ira told them would gather information about the red moon to combat its danger. The Calloways left Fearne behind to protect her, and she grew up significantly older than expected. Birdie had feared that Morri would become attached to Fearne, and Morri's power was great enough to allow her to stretch time as she wished so that while Birdie had actually been gone for six years, Fearne experienced it as much longer.

Dusk told Fearne that at some point in the process of leaving the Fey Realm, Dusk had met the Calloways and joined them in their travels, getting separated from them when they arrived in Exandria. However, Fearne later learned that this was a lie and that Dusk had never met either of the Calloways.

### **Campaign Three: Bells Hells**

#### **"A Taste of Tal'Dorei" (3x25)**

In Bassuras, Bells Hells and their new friend Dusk discovered that not only did Dusk come from the Feywild, but she actually knew Fearne's parents. After she showed them the portraits she had of them, Imogen felt confident enough to try to contact them with her magic. She talked to Birdie, who at first didn't trust the message, making the sorcerer cast a second *Sending* making references to things Fearne and Dusk suggested, things that Birdie recognized. She told Imogen that she and Ollie were away from Bassuras, but would be returning in just a few days and would meet Fearne at "Joe's".

#### **"The Deathwish Run" (3x28)**

On the day of the meeting, as the party walked to Imahara Joe's they saw a skirmish crawler park and a female faun get off, dust-covered from travel, and go in. Only Ashton and FCG were there and she asked them to tell Joe that Birdie was there. Ashton shouted this to Joe. Outside, the rest of the party heard Ashton's shout, sending Fearne into a panic. Joe greeted Birdie, asking how many she was looking for this time, and Birdie responded that they were "getting real close," so she would take whatever they could spare. Fearne apprehensively entered, and they saw each other. Nervously tidying herself, Birdie ran up, grabbed Fearne, and lifted her into a hug. They lovingly and haltingly greet each other, but when Fearne said it had been 90 years, Birdie responded it had been close to six years. Fearne pointed out Dusk, saying Birdie knew her, but Birdie didn't think they'd met.

Suddenly, Dusk transformed into her true self: a changeling in black robes. Birdie, holding Fearne's hand, stepped back quickly but Dusk grabbed both of them. Birdie gasped out to Fearne, "You led them right to us."

#### **"Dark Portents" (3x29)**

Dusk told Fearne her parents were charlatans and grifters from the Seelie Court who stole the Moontide Crown from the Unseelie Court. Birdie admitted that what they took wasn't theirs, but didn't belong to the Unseelie either and was better in their hands being used for a good goal. Dusk revealed their true identify: Yu Suffiad, a changeling assassin sent to recover the Crown and recover or kill the Calloways. Imogen used *Detect Thoughts* to dive deeply into Birdie's mind and learned of her involvement with the Nightmare King, then questioned her about it. Birdie explained that although Ira might have done bad things in the past, he was the only person who could help them build a device to discern the true nature of Ruidus "and why everything's overlapping." They have about a month until the 21st to the 23rd of Fessuran, when there will be an apogee solstice. Morri was making them one of the things Ira needed to finish the device, the Weave Lens Fearne was sent to deliver to her parents. Yu eventually agreed to give them a month, after which the Calloways would return the Crown and accompany Yu back to the Feywild. As Yu left, Birdie pickpocketed Yu's ring which tracked Fearne's location.

Once Yu left, Birdie apologized to Imahara Joe and purchased several glowing blue arcane power sources. She then took the party to Hondir, a goblin scholar with the Grim Verity who was helping the Calloways and the two shared their research and knowledge with the party.

#### **At the hideout**

During the party's encounter with the brigand gang Fist of the Ruiner on the way out of Bassuras, Birdie was knocked unconscious but healed by her daughter. She was clearly shaken by Fearne's later suggestion that Fearne was given to Morri in return for a favor. Birdie and Ollie both repeatedly apologized to Fearne for having left her so long, saying they were only trying to keep her safe.

On a second encounter in the Calloway Layaway, Fearne decided to be friendly with her parents, not wanting to have a mean attitude in case it was the last time she saw them before the potential end of the world.

#### **"Fractures" (3x78)**

After Ollie's Squint warned him about the Layaway being about to be under siege, before the beginning of the apogee solstice, the couple and Hondir left and buried it. They went to the nearest fey portal and reached Ligament Manor, where Birdie took care of Morri, still recovering from her wounds after her battle against Zathuda and Gloamglut. When Bells Hells arrived, Birdie was very happy to see her daughter. They agreed to help the adventurers during their retreat in the Fatestitcher's domain.

However, Nana Morri told Fearne that her true heritage had required Morri's attention and that Birdie kept a deep, dark secret that Fearne deserved to know. Speaking with her might be illuminating. When Fearne asked about her own bargain with Teven Klask, Morri commented that Fearne and her mother were more alike than Fearne knew.

#### **"To Hurt Is to Heal" (3x79)**

When Fearne asked her mother about her mysterious secret she initially thought that Birdie had deals with fiends, like her, but the older faun ended up confessing that her deals were with the Unseelie, revealing that Sorrowlord Zathuda was the druid's biological father, but insisting that Ollie had been her father in every other way. After that conversation mother and daughter felt closer to each other.

#### **"The Eve of the Red Moon" (3x81)**

Birdie prepared breakfast for Bells Hells on their last morning in Ligament Manor, and praised Fearne's new appearance and powers. After exchanging promises with the druid about spending more time together in the future, the Calloways said goodbye to their daughter.

## **Character information**

### **Notable items**

* Shortsword with a faint magical aura
* Dark metallic ring that tracks Fearne's location. Pickpocketed from Yu Suffiad by Birdie

### **Abilities**

#### **Spells**

##### **1st level**

* *Charm Person*
* *Sleep*

##### **2nd level**

* *Invisibility*
* *Shadow Blade*

## **Appearances and mentions**

* *Exandria Unlimited*
	+ "By the Road" (E1x04), mentioned only
	+ "Exandria Unlimited: Kymal, Part 2" (E2x02), mentioned only
* Campaign Three
	+ "Heart-to-Heartmoor" (3x17), mentioned only
	+ "A Taste of Tal'Dorei" (3x25), via *Sending*
	+ "Hidden Truths" (3x26), mentioned only
	+ "A Race for the Prize" (3x27), mentioned only
	+ "The Deathwish Run" (3x28), first appearance
	+ "Dark Portents" (3x29)
	+ "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30)
	+ "Breaking Point" (3x31)
	+ "A Stage Set" (3x32)
	+ "A Desperate Call" (3x36), mentioned only
	+ "Night at the Ligament Manor" (3x46), mentioned only
	+ "The Aurora Grows" (3x49)
	+ "Embattled in Bassuras" (3x70), mentioned only
	+ "Fractures" (3x78)
	+ "To Hurt Is to Heal" (3x79)
	+ "The Eve of the Red Moon" (3x81)

## **Quotations**

* Yu Suffiad: Birdie Calloway, on the other hand, her whole life has been a liar and a thief.
Birdie: Thief, yes, I'll take that gladly. But liar, I am not. ... *(whispering menacingly)* If you touch a hair on Fearne's head, I will rip you asunder.

## **Trivia**

* Her name means "little bird".
	+ Her name and Morri's follow the pattern of names related to birds, as the Mórrígan is often associated with crows.
* Depending of her connection with the rest of the family, she might have siblings (adoptive or by blood), since Fearne has several uncles and aunts.
* Ira Wendagoth, the Nightmare King, recognized Fearne's "family essence" and later confirmed her identity watching her fight. Birdie and Ollie utilize power sources similar to those the Nightmare King used in his laboratory.
* She used to have a talent with plants, but she wasn't able to make anything grow properly in the Calloway Layaway until Ira brought fragments of gnarlrock that seem to give vitality to the vegetation around them.
* Nowadays Ollie sings only for her.
* She met Verna the Viper, a lagomore tinkerer who also comes from the Fey Realm and now works in Bassuras.
* She apparently used to be very bad at cooking, but her skills have improved.

## **References**

1. ↑ See "The Deathwish Run" (3x28) at 4:18:00.
2. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 0:25:41.  Birdie got sneak attack damage on Yu.
3. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 1:04:49.
4. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 0:38:09.  Birdie casts two 2nd level spells in one combat.
5. ↑ See "A Taste of Tal'Dorei" (3x25) at 1:01:43.
6. ↑ See "Embattled in Bassuras" (3x70) at 3:34:43.
7. ↑ See "The Deathwish Run" (3x28) at 4:21:12.
8. ↑ Birdie is said to be a little over six feet tall, but slightly shorter than Fearne, who is elsewhere said to be six feet tall.  See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 3:19:34.
9. ↑ See "The Deathwish Run" (3x28) from 4:18:17 through 4:21:30.
10. ↑ See "A Taste of Tal'Dorei" (3x25) at 0:39:33.
11. ↑ See "A Taste of Tal'Dorei" (3x25) at 1:13:05.
12. ↑ See "Hidden Truths" (3x26) at 3:40:22.
13. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 1:00:49.
14. ↑ See "Breaking Point" (3x31) at 1:02:12.
15. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 3:12:38.
16. ↑ See "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30) from 3:10:59 through 3:12:56.
17. ↑ See "To Hurt Is to Heal" (3x79) from 0:41:04 through 0:51:49.
18. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 0:22:29.  Although Fearne last saw her parents about ninety years ago (*See* "A Taste of Tal'Dorei" (3x25) at 43:29), only six or seven years had passed for those in Exandria's Material Plane.
19. ↑ See "Heart-to-Heartmoor" (3x17) at 0:42:27.
20. ↑ See "By the Road" (E1x04) at 0:51:30.
21. ↑ See "Hidden Truths" (3x26) at 18:08.
22. ↑ See "Heart-to-Heartmoor" (3x17) at 0:43:03.
23. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 3:14:33.
24. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) from 2:39:13 through 2:44:53.
25. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 3:13:02.
26. ↑ See "A Taste of Tal'Dorei" (3x25) at 0:41:07.
27. ↑ See "The Deathwish Run" (3x28) at 4:22:54.
28. ↑ See "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30).
29. ↑ See "The Aurora Grows" (3x49).
30. ↑ See "Fractures" (3x78) at 3:52:14.
31. ↑ See "Fractures" (3x78) at 3:49:19.
32. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 1:36:15.
33. ↑ See "Hidden Truths" (3x26) at 0:25:28.
34. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 1:56:01.
35. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 0:25:41.
36. ↑ See "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30) at 1:20:26.
37. ↑ See "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30) at 1:42:40.
38. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 0:14:30.
39. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 0:38:09.
40. ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 1:46:44.
41. ↑ See "Chasing Nightmares" (3x11) from 1:32:45 through 1:56:40.
42. ↑ See "Hidden Truths" (3x26) at 3:37:11.
43. ↑ See "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30) at 2:22:06.
44. ↑ See "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30) at 3:11:42.
45. ↑ See "The Eve of the Red Moon" (3x81) at 2:06:37.

**Art:**

1. ↑ Fan art of Birdie Calloway, by @HHL Illustrate (source). Used with permission.
2. ↑ Fan art of the Calloways with infant Fearne, by Ro Smith (source). Used with permission.
3. ↑ Fan art of Fearne and Birdie, by Cha Cha Rae (source). Used with permission.