Tekstil is a tall, broad-winged male aarakocra with rust-red and cream feathers, a charcoal beak, and bright amber eyes. His powerful shoulders carry the easy strength of a working sailor, while his posture is distinctive, one foot always slightly lifted or angled as though he is balancing on a swaying deck. When he laughs or eats, his beak opens wide and reveals a surprisingly expressive tongue and a row of small, sharp-edged ridges along the inside of his beak. He wears battered chain mail beneath a salt-stained blue cloak, with a polished holy symbol tied near his breast feathers. His shield bears a crudely painted fish crossed out with a thick red slash.

Tekstil is bold, warm-hearted, and impossible to intimidate for long. He treats every shipmate as family and every coastline as a community worth defending. He speaks with absolute confidence about maritime matters, even when he is visibly guessing, and he has a habit of giving dramatic sermons about the dangers of fish. Beneath the bluster is a grieving survivor who is terrified that caring for another crew will only give the sea more people to take.

Tekstil was born among a high aarakocra rookery that nested on sea cliffs above a busy coastal harbor. His family served as sailors, signal watchers, and storm guides, using their wings to scout reefs and warn ships away from dangerous waters. Tekstil never cared much for navigation lessons, but he loved the rhythm of the deck, the snap of canvas, and the feeling of diving beneath a storm cloud before climbing into clear air again. He was strong, fearless, and spectacularly bad at remembering which fish were edible. His family died during a voyage that should have been routine. A colossal sea fish, driven mad by some unnatural influence, smashed through the hull and dragged the vessel into the deep. Tekstil survived by clinging to a broken mast until dawn, but every member of his family was lost. He refuses to call it an accident. To him, the fish was a murderer, and all fish are potential accomplices. In the aftermath, he swore an oath to protect sailors and coastal communities from the dangers of the sea. A wandering priest recognized the conviction in him and helped him become a paladin, teaching him that justice requires more than rage. Tekstil is still working on that part.