Kyrecliff Roost

Tengu Village: Kyrecliff Roost

Location

Perched atop jagged cliffs overlooking a winding river, Kyrecliff Roost is a natural fortress. Its position grants the Tengu a commanding view of the surrounding valley and a strategic advantage for both defense and trade. The cliffs are lined with narrow pathways and bridges, their construction a mix of Tengu ingenuity and scavenged materials.

Key Features

• **Aerie Spires**: Wooden and stone towers rise from the cliffs, serving as both lookout posts and homes. These spires are adorned with colorful banners and chimes that create a haunting melody in the wind.
• **Feathered Market**: A bustling trade hub where the Tengu barter in rare goods, exotic spices, and shiny trinkets scavenged or crafted. The market is a maze of stalls, each covered in vibrant canopies.
• **The Skycaller Shrine**: A sacred site dedicated to their patron spirits, represented by carved avian totems. The shrine doubles as a place for communal decisions and ceremonies, where the Tengu elders consult omens from the wind and stars.
• **The Cliff Walks**: Narrow wooden pathways connect the various parts of the village. Many are rigged with traps and quick-release mechanisms to prevent enemy advances.
• **The Hidden Roost**: An underground network of tunnels and caves that serve as the Tengu’s last line of defense and a repository for their most valuable treasures.

Tengu Society

• **Leadership**: The Tengu are led by Kael the Skycaller, a charismatic and cunning leader who claims to interpret the will of the wind spirits. Kael is both a spiritual guide and a shrewd negotiator, willing to take calculated risks to secure the village’s future.
• **Values**:

 * Ingenuity: The Tengu pride themselves on their resourcefulness, often crafting tools and weapons from what others consider junk.
 * Freedom: They view themselves as free spirits, disdainful of the kobolds’ servitude to Vyrra, which they see as subjugation.
 * Flight and Sky: Though unable to truly fly, their culture is obsessed with the skies, and they idolize creatures like griffons and rocs.

• **Relations**:

 * Kobolds of Vyrra’s Nest: They see the kobolds as clever but naive, criticizing their reliance on Vyrra. There is tension over hunting grounds and the Tengu’s raids on kobold trade caravans.
 * Surrounding Villages: Kyrecliff Roost maintains cautious trade with nearby human settlements, offering unique goods but guarding their secrets fiercely.

Key NPCs

• **Kael the Skycaller**: A visionary who combines spiritual authority with tactical acumen. Kael is willing to negotiate with outsiders but harbors a deep mistrust of Vyrra.
• **Tessa Sharpclaw**: A fierce warrior and Kael’s enforcer, she despises the kobolds and is eager to prove the Tengu’s superiority in battle.
• **Lorin Windwhistle**: A shifty trader who specializes in rare goods and rumors, often acting as the village’s liaison with outsiders.
• **Elder Nix**: A grizzled Tengu who serves as the keeper of Kyrecliff Roost’s oral history. Nix recalls old alliances and grudges, often stirring tension with their stories.

Adventure Hooks

• **Trade Dispute**: The Tengu block a key trade route used by the kobolds, demanding tribute to pass through their territory.
• **Stolen Artifact**: The Tengu are accused of stealing a relic sacred to Vyrra, escalating tensions between the two villages.
• **Mutual Threat**: Both the kobolds and Tengu face a greater danger—a marauding group of orcs or a magical beast—that forces them to cooperate.
• **Diplomatic Mission**: Vyrra sends the kobolds to negotiate peace—or a warning—with Kael, testing their diplomatic and tactical skills.

Possible Encounters

• **Cliffside Ambush**: The party is ambushed on the precarious pathways by Tengu scouts using ranged weapons and traps.
• **Skycaller’s Challenge**: To earn the Tengu’s respect, the party must pass a series of trials, including navigating the Cliff Walks, deciphering riddles, or enduring a ceremonial duel.
• **Market Intrigue**: While exploring the Feathered Market, the players uncover a plot involving smugglers or spies trying to incite a war between the Tengu and kobolds.