Birdie Calloway

Birdie Calloway is the mother of Fearne Calloway. As an NPC, she is played by Matthew Mercer.

Description
Birdie is an older faun with blue-green eyes and thick auburn hair that reaches her mid-back. She is stockier and slightly shorter than Fearne. Upon arriving from a skirmish-crawler trip to Imahara Joe's, she was wearing a heavy leather jacket, helmet, and goggles, and was coated with yellowish-gray dust.

Background
Birdie was raised by Morrigan, although they are not related. She grew up on the outskirts of both courts of the Feywild, although Fearne believed her parents were influential in the Seelie Court.

She met her partner, Oleander Calloway, when his traveling music troupe came through town and attempted to scam her. She tricked Ollie back, and the two fell in love.

Birdie and Ollie frequently traveled the planes, and wanted their child to be born on the Material Plane. They made a brief trip into the Verdant Expanse of Tal'Dorei, where their daughter, Fearne Calloway, came to life under the light of the flaring Ruidus, which they initially took to be a good omen, but after consulting with the locals, learned more about the folklore surrounding Ruidus. Upon bringing Fearne back to the Feywild, the light of Ruidus became visible in the Feywild for the first time. Birdie and Ollie were distressed by this, and began researching what this could mean. Ollie began having nightmares of the Feywild being consumed by the light of Ruidus, with Fearne at the maelstrom's center, and this recurring dream fueled their search. The Seelie court were dismissive of their plight, and they eventually became outcasts in the eyes of the displeased Lady Elmenore, Matriarch of the Seelie Court. They made their way to the Unseelie Court, where they found the court had begun receiving boons of some kind from the moon, and had somehow cloaked Ruidus so that it no longer appeared in the sky, so that less people would look into it. The Calloways discovered that the Unseelie Court was working people from Exandria to build a Malleus Key focused around the Moontide Crown. The Calloways stole the artifact and fled to the Material Plane, leaving Fearne in the care of Morrigan.

In their isolation, the Calloways sought out a research partner, someone they could trust had no allegiance to the courts and had the capability to build a device to help deepen their understanding of the crown and the unusual behavior of the moon. They allied themselves with Ira Wendagoth, as they knew he was outcast from both courts for his unscrupulous research. Over the next 6 years, the three of them worked on constructing a device within the Hellcatch Valley of Marquet, close to the city of Bassuras. The trio frequently worked odd jobs to acquire funding for buying materials for their research, Birdie often being hired for thefts due to her skills as a rogue. They made ties with an organization known as the Grim Verity, a group looking into phenomena associated with Ruidus and Ruidusborn, primarily through a goblin by the name of Hondir. They also would visit Imahara Joe once every few months to buy any spare arcane batteries he had for sale. Only one would visit his workshop at a time, never both simultaneously.

As they reached the conclusion of their construction, they realized that they needed a part that would be incredibly difficult to come by. They decided to contact Morrigan and ask her to create it for them. Morri completed this task and gave the item, an enchanted green gem known as the Weave Lens, to Fearne to give to her parents, not explaining what it does but telling her it's very important and part of what they need to save the world.

Campaign 3
Fearne and her friends Bells Hells met Dusk in Bassuras, Marquet. Dusk claimed to have met Birdie and Ollie in the Feywild and told the group that the couple taught Dusk about the Feywild and helped them return to Exandria. Dusk further claimed that they entered the Material Plane near Bassuras and were separated upon arrival. To help Fearne and Dusk reunite with Birdie and Ollie, Imogen Temult contacted Birdie over Sending and explained that Fearne and Dusk wished to meet her. Birdie was initially cautious of a stranger claiming to know her daughter but was overjoyed when Imogen clarified she was a friend of Fearne's and relayed information that only Fearne and Dusk would know. Birdie called out, apparently to Ollie, in her excitement about hearing from Fearne, but she did not comment on Dusk. She arranged for them to meet at Imahara Joe's workshop in a few days.

It was revealed shortly after that Dusk, an agent of Zathuda of the Unseelie Court, was secretly hunting Birdie and Ollie in their search for the Moontide Crown.

Birdie arrived via crawler at Joe's workshop as promised, and she was emotional to see her daughter so grown. She and Fearne were surprised to learn that they believe they were separated for very different amounts of time. When Fearne attempted to re-introduce Birdie to Dusk, Birdie did not recognize them, prompting Dusk to reveal their true form and grab both women. Horrified, Birdie told Fearne, "You led them right to us."

Bells Hells confronted "Dusk", who reintroduced themself as Yu Suffiad and explained that Birdie had stolen from the courts. Yu was sent to retrieve the artifact and execute the thieves. Birdie turned invisible and tried to flee, eventually breaking free from Yu's grasp and retreating deeper into the room. Bells Hells demanded answers to their myriad of questions, and Birdie admitted to stealing from the court. Birdie then broke her invisibility to stab Yu, and the party prepared for a fight, however conflict did not break out, as Orym confiscated Yu's sword and Chetney asked Birdie to explain herself so they would know who to trust. Birdie explained the circumstances of Fearne's birth, which persuaded Fearne to trust her mother enough to stab Yu. A brief scuffle broke out, in which Imogen read Birdie's mind, learning of her association with the Nightmare King, and Ashton restrained Birdie.

Upon the fight ending, Birdie explained in greater detail the appearance of Ruidus in the sky of the Feywild and their quest for answers, which led to them stealing from the Unseelie Court. Chetney brokered a deal between Yu and Birdie, granting the Calloways one month with the crown for their experiment. After some further discussion, all parties agreed to this and Yu left. Birdie then apologized to Joe for fighting in his shop and paid him for the repairs to Bell's Hells' crawler. She invited the party to come with her to meet Hondir.

Birdie led the party to Hondir's hideout, assuring Hondir that they were her daughter's friends and could be trusted. The two were horrified when the party explained what Ira was doing in Jrusar, saying they never knew anything about it. Hondir then explained to the group what they had been building and what their goal was. He explained his connection to the Grim Verity, and several other things. The party asked about Birdie's involvement in this, and she explained her history in more detail. Imogen recognized the description of the people working with the Unseelie court as Otohan Thull and other figures from her dreams. The group spoke with Hondir more, before agreeing to accompany Birdie and Hondir to the Calloway's hideout.

Birdie joined Bells Hells in fighting off the Fists of the Ruiner, after admitting to Fearne that when she traveled on her own, she was usually able to just avoid them. She was knocked unconscious, but quickly healed back up. At the hideout, she warned the party not touch the gnarlrocks Ira had set up.

Birdie, as well as her husband, were shocked realizing that Morri may have manipulated time to keep Fearne with her as long as possible, perhaps in exchange for the creation of the Weave Lens. After Ira took the Moontide Crown and teleported away, Birdie admitted she felt somewhat foolish for having been tricked by Ira. Imogen and FCG later, with his permission, looked into Ollie's mind and found it likely that Ira had been manipulating his, and likely Birdie's, memory. Fearne pulled both her parents aside shortly after and expressed her frustration with them and the fact that she felt as though she didn't really know them. Birdie sadly agreed that she was justified in feeling this way.

Later, Birdie, along with Bells Hells, made their way to Bassuras and, passing the Carmine Curtain, departed on her own business, expressing relief at their safe return from the Calloway Layaway and sharing her plans to stay low at the layaway. She hugged Fearne before saying goodbye.

Appearances and mentions

 * Exandria Unlimited
 * Campaign 3: Bells Hells
 * Campaign 3: Bells Hells