Discovering the Identity of the Bird Man - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Discovering the Identity of the Bird Man

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
justinmypants
Sep 17, 2010 5:34:29
Of course, spoilers if you don't know his identity yet.

Do any of the adventures reveal who the Bird Man is from the Lost Mines of Karak? I've skimmed through every SoW adventure and can't seem to find him mentioned anywhere. My party is about midway through Den of the Destroyer and have no clue as to who he is. The Barbarian of the party even mumbles every so often about how he wished he killed him. I was thinking about having the party come across an ancient temple of Bahamut in their travels and having the image of the Bird Man scattered through out murals on the walls. They might not figure out that that he is Bahamut himself, but hopefully they'll figure out that there is something special about him. But if SoW has a reveal already planned out, I don't want to jump the gun.
#2
nyteskie
Sep 17, 2010 10:32:36
The Birdman is outed in the opening scene of the very last adventure, Last Breaths of the Dragon Queen. The party meets with Bahamut in the City of Brass after the conclusion of the events of Test of Fire, and he appears as a 'kindly old man with long white hair' and 'robes that appear to be made of liquid platinum' with seven canaries 'orbiting him like a halo'.

I can't recall other than that if there are other places where he is outed as the Birdman in particular, but a little foreshadowing couldn't hurt. You also may want to save it until later in the Paragon tier, when the PCs are getting inklings that there is more to the githyanki invasion than meets the eye.
#3
justinmypants
Sep 17, 2010 10:48:09 Hmmm, not until the very end. I'll definately hold onto the temple idea for a good deal later in the game then. I'll have to try something a bit more subtle to show that it's a good thing they didn't try and kill him, lol. Maybe have a canary show up every now and again to draw their attention to a vital clue, or the chirping of birds to help lead them down the right path when they're lost.

Thanks a bunch.
#4
Misroi
Sep 17, 2010 16:13:46 I'm definitely toying around with having Amyria keeping a few canaries in her room in Sayre when the party meets up with her in Haven of the Bitter Glass. I figure that'd be a nice subtle way to reinforce the Bahamut imagery - or at least as subtle as D&D comes. ;)
#5
iamarogue
Nov 16, 2010 9:45:02 i admitedly haven't got though the entire adventure path, but i thought that the birdman was just a throw-back to older dnd days. i forget which book it is but in one of the old (1st ed or 2nd ed) books the birdman is listed as bahamut's alternate form.
#6
Misroi
Nov 17, 2010 16:35:37 You're absolutely right, rogue - this has been a canon alternate form for Big B for some time now. I'm not terribly familiar with 1E stuffs, but I believe that at least by 2E, this form had entered into the canon. However, it's also sufficiently obscure enough that not everyone knows that this is the form of Bahamut. I know I was floored when someone pointed to the Bahamut wiki and it referenced the description of the old man with the canaries.

Like many things in 4E, they're updating D&D for a contemporary view. It's almost 40 years of information distilled into the parts they want to use, freed from continuity.
#7
tibis
Nov 19, 2010 0:34:45 The SoW campaign I play in has its share of old-timers (me being one of them - I've been playing for nearly 30 years), so several of us recognised him OOC immediately. Additionally, one party member is a Paladin of Bahamut, so there was that chance to he'd recognise him IC. I think the DM suggested that it was a fairly common pose for itinerant hermits and sages, so they get harrassed less, and we decided our characters would believe that.

The canary alarm a short while later did get our characters wondering again though...
#8
slothboy
Dec 23, 2010 12:11:35
I'm definitely toying around with having Amyria keeping a few canaries in her room in Sayre when the party meets up with her in Haven of the Bitter Glass. I figure that'd be a nice subtle way to reinforce the Bahamut imagery - or at least as subtle as D&D comes. ;)

That's a good idea. I might also have my players occasionally find a stray canary feather after they have seen or done something that is to the benefit of Bahamut.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 justinmypants Sep 17, 2010 5:34:29	Of course, spoilers if you don't know his identity yet. Do any of the adventures reveal who the Bird Man is from the Lost Mines of Karak? I've skimmed through every SoW adventure and can't seem to find him mentioned anywhere. My party is about midway through Den of the Destroyer and have no clue as to who he is. The Barbarian of the party even mumbles every so often about how he wished he killed him. I was thinking about having the party come across an ancient temple of Bahamut in their travels and having the image of the Bird Man scattered through out murals on the walls. They might not figure out that that he is Bahamut himself, but hopefully they'll figure out that there is something special about him. But if SoW has a reveal already planned out, I don't want to jump the gun.
#2 nyteskie Sep 17, 2010 10:32:36	The Birdman is outed in the opening scene of the very last adventure, Last Breaths of the Dragon Queen. The party meets with Bahamut in the City of Brass after the conclusion of the events of Test of Fire, and he appears as a 'kindly old man with long white hair' and 'robes that appear to be made of liquid platinum' with seven canaries 'orbiting him like a halo'. I can't recall other than that if there are other places where he is outed as the Birdman in particular, but a little foreshadowing couldn't hurt. You also may want to save it until later in the Paragon tier, when the PCs are getting inklings that there is more to the githyanki invasion than meets the eye.
#3 justinmypants Sep 17, 2010 10:48:09	Hmmm, not until the very end. I'll definately hold onto the temple idea for a good deal later in the game then. I'll have to try something a bit more subtle to show that it's a good thing they didn't try and kill him, lol. Maybe have a canary show up every now and again to draw their attention to a vital clue, or the chirping of birds to help lead them down the right path when they're lost. Thanks a bunch.
#4 Misroi Sep 17, 2010 16:13:46	I'm definitely toying around with having Amyria keeping a few canaries in her room in Sayre when the party meets up with her in Haven of the Bitter Glass. I figure that'd be a nice subtle way to reinforce the Bahamut imagery - or at least as subtle as D&D comes. ;)
#5 iamarogue Nov 16, 2010 9:45:02	i admitedly haven't got though the entire adventure path, but i thought that the birdman was just a throw-back to older dnd days. i forget which book it is but in one of the old (1st ed or 2nd ed) books the birdman is listed as bahamut's alternate form.
#6 Misroi Nov 17, 2010 16:35:37	You're absolutely right, rogue - this has been a canon alternate form for Big B for some time now. I'm not terribly familiar with 1E stuffs, but I believe that at least by 2E, this form had entered into the canon. However, it's also sufficiently obscure enough that not everyone knows that this is the form of Bahamut. I know I was floored when someone pointed to the Bahamut wiki and it referenced the description of the old man with the canaries. Like many things in 4E, they're updating D&D for a contemporary view. It's almost 40 years of information distilled into the parts they want to use, freed from continuity.
#7 tibis Nov 19, 2010 0:34:45	The SoW campaign I play in has its share of old-timers (me being one of them - I've been playing for nearly 30 years), so several of us recognised him OOC immediately. Additionally, one party member is a Paladin of Bahamut, so there was that chance to he'd recognise him IC. I think the DM suggested that it was a fairly common pose for itinerant hermits and sages, so they get harrassed less, and we decided our characters would believe that. The canary alarm a short while later did get our characters wondering again though...
#8 slothboy Dec 23, 2010 12:11:35	I'm definitely toying around with having Amyria keeping a few canaries in her room in Sayre when the party meets up with her in Haven of the Bitter Glass. I figure that'd be a nice subtle way to reinforce the Bahamut imagery - or at least as subtle as D&D comes. ;) That's a good idea. I might also have my players occasionally find a stray canary feather after they have seen or done something that is to the benefit of Bahamut.