Editing Aerlynn Windsfriend

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[[File:2025_06_26_aerlynn_final.jpg|275px|thumb|right|In flight against a blue sky, a petite woman with hawk's wings flies upward, playing an instrument that resembles a mandola and singing through a big smile. She wears a brightly colored harlequin suit with bells dangling from her belt and her collar. Her flame-red hair is tied back into a thick braid that goes down her back.]]
==Demographics==
:'''Name''': Aerlynn Windsfriend
:'''Alignment''': Neutral
:'''Species''': Zephyr
:'''Homeland''': Mu
:'''Background''': Villager
:'''Profession''': Harlequin
:'''Appearance''': Tiny even by Zephyr standards, Aerlynn just barely reaches 4 feet (1,22m) tall and 70# (31kg). A natural and a trained performer, she’s demonstrative and extroverted enough, and takes up enough space, that it’s easy to forget how small she is. She moves with an easy, athletic grace. She is always fully in the moment, making full use of her expressive face, her bright hazel eyes, and her winning smile. Her waist-length hair is fiery red, mostly straight, and tied back. Her skin is a silky milk chocolate. Even if she’s not in costume, she chooses vivid colors and fine fabrics. The only exception is her generically brown hooded cloak, which keeps her warm and hidden from people who are interested in her for the wrong reasons. She speaks with the clarion voice of an operatic soprano, which can carry quite far if she wants it.

==Species Abilities==
*+1 save vs. CHA, PER
*+1 save vs. DEX (+2 when flying)
*+1 to-hit (missile weapons)
*Flight †
*Keen Eyesight (fine details within 1 mile)

==Professional Abilities==
:Musician
:Many Masks
:Level: 2
:Experience: 3,000
:Renown: 9%

==Mental & Physical Abilities (109 points)==
:Intelligence: 15
:Will: 12
:Perception: 15
:Charisma: 17
:Strength: 8
:Dexterity: 17
:Constitution: 10
:Speed: 15
:Hit Points: 14
:Languages: Zephyr, Atlantean

==Skills==
*Background
**Barter
**Haggling
*XP Skills
**Literacy
**Riding
**Sign
**Streetwise*
*Level 1
**Music (Virtuoso)
**Acting
**Juggling
**Legerdemain
**Oratory
**Net
**Shortbow
*Level 2
**Mounted Combat

:Spells: n/a
:Wealth: 50gp, 3sp, 5sp (276GP starting)
==Combat Abilities/Bonuses==
:*Armor: n/a
:*Weapons:
:*Net
:*Shortbow
==Equipment==
:*Harlequin's Costume*
:*Harlequin's Makeup Kit†
:*Horse, War (Light): bay mare named “Gallant”
:*Saddle
:*Saddlebags, 2
:*Bag, Feed, 2
:*Feed
:*Cloak, Hooded†
:*Low Boots†
:*Gloves, Leather†
:*Tent, Medium
:*Lantern
:*Tinder Box
:*Oil
:*Mirror (Metal)
:*Candle (12)
:*Mallet, Wooden
:*Quiver, Shortbow†
:*Arrows, 20
:*Waterskin, Quart†
:*Road Rations, Iron x7 (1 carried on person)
:*Pouch, Money†
:*Pouch, Belt†
:*Lute†
:†carried on person

==Backstory==
:Aerlynn’s passion was obvious even when she was hardly a fledgling. She sang along with birds, the wind, other Zephyrs, anything that sounded a note. She figured out harmony at a precocious age, and found her way around instruments remarkably well for her age. Sensing that she was special, the local maestro taught her to read music and left her with some incredibly difficult pieces, without remarking on them one way or another. Aerlynn didn’t know they were exceptional, only that she wanted to play them. She helped her parents run their store, learning how to buy and sell goods alike. She was good, but her heart wasn’t in it. Upon reaching adulthood, she left the aerie in search of fame and fortune, intent on crossing the sea.

:She had some sense of where the trade routes were from talking to sailors. She’d planned to fly from ship to ship until she found one that would take her to Atlantis. It didn’t quite work the way she planned. Some ships tried to capture or detain her, so she got good at talking her way out of a tough spot. Some ships shooed her away. Most begrudged her presence as long as she did work, which she mostly did up in the rigging. She learned a lot of skills from the sailors, and honed her ability to entertain them, learning their shanties and their ballads and their plays and their impressively blue jokes. When she finally arrived in port, she realized she’d been lied to. This was not Atlantis, but it was a place where the captain was convinced she’d sell for good coin. She escaped by the tips of her wings. As she looked for a safe place to land—there was no way that the captain was the only person who’d want to capture her—, her keen eyes spotted the unmistakable form of a giant, running from what looked like guards, but not like he knew where he was going. She buzzed the guards, distracting them, mocking them, and making them run into each other, and before they were able to reassert any sort of discipline she was gone. An old woman who saw her baffle the guards beckoned her into crowded store and gave her fair prices—after some quick, whispered haggling—on a harlequin suit and a cloak. “If you’re gonna perform like that, birdie” she cackled, “might as well get paid for it.”

:Newly bedecked, she sped for the giant Aesir, landed beside him, smiled her best smile, and said, “That’s the way out, good sir.” She indicated it with her thumb. “Looking for company?”