“For Karavox, I give up my roots.” —Rooney
| Player Name | Jeff |
|---|---|
| Languages | Aarakocra, Abyssal, Auran, Common, Draconic, Elvish, Infernal |
| Affiliations | Ruby Court |
| Aliases | Harbinger of Durzibethinus the Emerald |
| Date of Birth | 236 BR |
| Place of Birth | Pteris |
| Species | Aarakocra |
| Gender | Male (he/him) |
| Height | 5' 2" |
| Weight | 90 lbs |
| Eye Color | Emerald |
| Class | Ranger |
Rooney is an Aarakocra Ranger who, in the year 245 BR, played a vital role in ending the first Infernal Emergence by giving up his roots in exchange for the legendary battleaxe known as Karavox. This bargain left him unable to settle down in any single location for long, dooming him to fly from place to place across the realm in perpetuity until the year 826 PR when he touched an emerald egg in Isonhound. The egg hatched open, releasing an Emerald Drake as well as a surge of draconic magic. The magic altered Rooney, imbuing him with essence from an Emerald Dragon and creating a permanent bond with the Drake. The psionic voice of Durzibethinus revealed that the Drake's name was Smaragdos and that Rooney had been blessed with the power of an Emerald Harbinger. Long after giving up his place in the world, this new role filled the empty piece of him which he had relinquished to help save the realm all those years ago.
History
Rooney's tribe initially avoided conflict with Devils for the first few decades of the Infernal Emergence by taking to the skies. Following the unlocking of Kiston in 207 BR, however, Dragons of Tiamat flooded the realm and began aggressively competing for airspace. Since the skies were no longer reliably safe, some Aarakocra preferred their odds with the Devils and reluctantly returned to the land to face these fiends head-on.
Appearance
Rooney resembles a red-tailed hawk with sharp eyes that were originally gold, but shifted into an emerald color after being imbued with essence from an Emerald Dragon. He is short and lightweight with a wide wingspan, making him a natural flyer like most Aarakocra. While residing in Pteris, he wore breathable clothing comprised of desert tones matching the continent's terrain. Upon relocating to Isonhound, his garb became more regal and incorporated emerald hues suited to traversing forests as well as his role as a Harbinger of Durzibethinus the Emerald. His weapon of choice is a longbow overgrown with emerald geodes, which he keeps ready at his side to take down enemies from the skies.
Smaragdos
"His name is kinda hard to remember, so I've just been calling him Mickey!" —Rooney
Smaragdos is an Emerald Drake hatched from a Dragon egg that had been corrupted by Shadowfell energy and later purified by Durian using a Moonflower. This purification cleansed the egg of any lingering energy, but the corruption caused the egg to hatch into an Emerald Drake rather than a true Dragon. He has a powerful psionic bond with Rooney, obeying the Aarakocra's commands without need for any verbiage between them. Rooney frequently gets confused by Smaragdos' name and makes a habit of inventing new names for him, which Smaragdos does not mind as their bond does not depend upon the spoken word.
Trivia
- Rooney's greatest fear is Tiamat and one of his favored enemies is Dragons, ironic considering the close affiliation with Gem Dragons that he would cultivate later on.
- Rooney also played a role in the second Infernal Emergence, helping other Aarakocra with relocating displaced Quelmar inhabitants to refugee colonies such as Hilfe on the Elemental Plane of Air. Since he resided on an elemental plane throughout most of the conflict and the resulting "reboot" of Quelmar only impacted the Material Plane, Rooney is technically one of the very few creatures in Quelmar to have any memory of this second Emergence (however, he is likely too birdbrained to grasp the event's significance).
- Before Durzibethinus transformed him into a Drakewarden, Rooney was originally a Fey Wanderer. A fey deity had reincarnated him from the spirit of an animal companion named Ronin, moved by the red-tailed hawk's loyalty after watching him spend his life at the grave of his owner Aranwe.
- Rooney appears unaffected by natural death and aging as the result of a pact he made with an unknown entity—presumably one with some power over time and space—in order to obtain the head of Karavox. This could be because the pact required that he give up "the ability to put down roots in a single location" which, at least on a subconscious level, Rooney correlates with death due to Aranwe giving up his life to spend eternity with a Dryad woman amongst the roots of her tree.
