Wyvern of the Waste
Hex 29.29
A great blood-red wyvern makes her lair in the tablelands (29.29). She has grown indolent with age, and spends most of her days lying on rocks. But her cunning and predator instincts remain as sharp as her stinger. When she takes to the sky to hunt, gnolls and dwarves run for cover but she prefers to prey on cattle and livestock. Her favorite tactic is to snatch prey in her talons and dash them against rocks. Unlike other predators of this wasted corned of the Burning Lands, the wyvern is never satisfied after a single kill. She relishes in annihilating herds, and has attacked cattle with her stinger after gorging herself until she cannot fly.
Despite the havoc she wreaks, both gnolls and dwarves honor the wyvern in their mythologies. Gnoll bards sing of ancient battles when warriors rode wyverns into battle, and sightings on the eve of conflict are considered auspicious. A popular dwarf chant tells of how in a dark hour, the wyvern will save them. She will turn her fury against the gnoll armies and scatter them across the desert.
A broken Janissary of Jahur named Jonah lies among her hoard. He lost his legs when she ambushed their caravan, and his remaining limbs have not been oiled in years. His mind and soul, however, remain intact. He will be very grateful for any assistance in returning to his beloved Jahur.
Hooks
- Has the wyvern ever laid eggs? Where is her mate?
- Why have all of these hardened dwarves and gnolls been unable to slay her after all these years?
- Did gnolls, or anyone else, ever ride her?
- Is she really the destined savior of the dwarves?
- What can Jonah offer his rescuers?
- What else lies in her hoard?