Tony Cockatiel

A PC of the Nowhere Knots, Tony is an Aarakocra Cleric/Monk.

## Backstory (**SPOILER WARNING**)

Tony Cockatiel grew up poor in a rough town. His father left when he was very young, and all Tony had to remember him by was his leather jacket. The only person in Tony's life that he cared about was his Ma. He fell into a gang, who taught Tony how to fight with his hands. After a while he got pretty good at it. Tony started doing some jobs for a Mr. Freddie Parakeet, a local crimelord a la Al Capone. Tony started doing well for himself, intimidating local store owners into paying for "insurance", protecting high profile friends of Freddie, smuggling illegal goods and paying off local law enforcement. He could provide for his Ma, and for once she didnt have to break her back for him.

One day though, Freddie asked Tony to do a special kind of job. A hit job. Someone who stole from Freddie. Tony knew better than to ask questions, and showed up where he was told to show.

The target was a half-elf man. He was leaving from work, carrying a large box. Tony followed him for a while, waiting for an opportunity. But then Tony saw the half-elf man turn and go into a sort of makeshift hospital, and found dozens of sick people who were too poor to afford regular treatment. The half-elf man sets down the box he was carrying, and pulls out different vials of medicine. The man is a cleric, and he heals the sick.

Tony goes back to Freddie, and for once, he asks questions. The half-elf man didn't exactly steal from Freddie, as much as he refused to hand over the medicine, which could then be sold to those people at a profit. Tony refuses the job, tells Freddie he can forget it. Freddie says he won't.

One day Tony comes back home and finds his home ransacked. He calls out for his Ma, and finds her beaten bloody on the floor of the kitchen. Tony runs to find the half-elf man who agrees to help, and with his healing ability, saves Tony's Ma.

The half-elf doesn't even ask for a reward. Tony says he wants to do what the half-elf is able to do. The half-elf says, one day, and tells him where he could maybe learn the art. In the meantime, the half-elf knows a place where his ma could be safe. Then Tony and his Ma flee town.

Their new home is a monastery, and Tony gives up his leather jacket for a robe instead. He begins studying hand-to-hand combat there. He changes his ways, now seeking good instead of profit. After a while, the Monastery tells Tony it's time for him to go out on his own on a pilgrimage, which is customary for all monks there. Tony is told he must find a new wisdom to bring back home. He is told it will take time, and some never return at all. Tony dusts off his father's jacket and heads out into the world.

He heads out to the place the half-elf told him about, figuring the arts of a cleric would be a "new wisdom". The journey is long, though, and he realizes he can help people along the way. Tony does some adventuring-type jobs, only accepting a reward when the people can afford it. In one of these towns, he meets a particular group of adventurers, and falls in with them for a little while. He likes them. They're like the family he never had. Tony figures, what's the rush with the wisdom thing? He's helping people, and maybe that's good enough for now.