Awakened Owlbear

With the body of a powerful brown bear and the keen senses of an owl, the owlbear is a dangerous territorial predator, fearlessly attacking any creature that strays into its domain. Those who run afoul of an owlbear hear its terrifying screech only seconds before the massive creature is upon them, ripping them apart with deadly talons and a powerful beak. Although their origin is lost to time, owlbears are assumed to be the result of a magical experiment to make a more cunning predator. According to the legend, the wizard was too successful and ended up being the first victim of the beast. Today, owlbears can be found around the world, with a variety of features. While the most common subspecies looks like a brown bear with the features of a great horned owl, owlbears from the frozen north might resemble polar bears mixed with snowy owls, and in temperate rain forests they might resemble black bears with the heads of barn owls. Most owlbears live solitary lives, gathering only to mate and raise cubs, which are hatched from eggs. An owlbear’s territory usually extends to around 5 miles from its lair, with clear signs of its habitat appearing with 1 mile (clawed up trees, gigantic feathers, and shredded carcasses). The lair of an owlbear rarely holds anything of value, but some adventurers have found trinkets, coins, and even jewelry in the massive pellets of undigested bones these monsters leave behind. Awakened Owlbears are similar to their ancestors, though notably smarter due to more magical tampering. Very few are known to exist, but they are often well received once the initial fear of them is overcome.

You Might

Be seeking answers about your origin, or the meaning of life
Be used to people panicking when they first see you
Distrust large groups of people, particularly mobs, based on past experience

Others probably

Find you fascinating or terrifying
Assume you are a druid or ranger
Consider you an enigmatic or unpredictable, perhaps even dangerous.

Physical Description

Awakened Owlbears have the same resemblance as their ancestral counterpart, the Owlbear. The wizard's spell from their origin story, however, had its side-effect, which slightly shortened the race's size by a minuscule amount (cutting off about 3 to 5 inches from their normal build) when the second generation of Awakened Owlbears were conceived. This small blunder, however, doesn't change their ferocity and aggression, making them perfect fighters within skirmishing situations. Their origin race's reputation for being violent and mindless makes them heavily feared by many.

Society

Their society, like their intellect, is coarse and unrefined. It is entirely centered around surviving the wilderness, and as such, the biggest and strongest amongst the tribe the is usually considered the Chief. They are, however, beginning to learn through the trickles of information they get from the outside world. They aspire to become a great civilization, yet only time will tell if they can learn to build and carve out a kingdom within the Wilds.

Alignment and Religion

Many awakened owlbears follow their ancestors and are true neutral beings. Though some become angered that they have been removed from thier natural place and stray towards chaotic. Religion, though a new concept to awakened owlbears seems to be regularly adopted. Entering the Pantheon of the Wild or the Reformed Church of Life is very common for them.

Adventurers

Awakened Owlbears are thrust into the world with little prior knowledge of the world and no place to call home. This naturally pushes them towards the life of an adventurer. Wandering the world searching for answers, or a place to belong.

Names

Awakened Owlbears are not given names, they earn them. Titles such as "Defender of village", "He who killed the Crocodile", and "He who spilled the soup on the Chief" are common names. Chiefs are invariably named "Chief, protector among us"