The Last Egg

Walkthrough

Getting the quest

From party level 9, Tibor, a Vistani egg-hunter, sits at a small fire on the landing of The Tsolenka Pass, just before the bridge, and waves you over as you come near. The roc of Mount Ghakis lays once in eleven years, this is the year, and he has a buyer paying 400 gp for the egg, split with whoever carries the sack. Meeting him starts the quest at Asked.

Step by step

1. Size up Tibor. "Who's the buyer?" gets nothing but "someone with a great deal of money and a long view". Insight DC 15 (one try) catches him rubbing two neat marks on his wrist: he isn't selling the egg, he's been told to fetch it, and a companion works out that the castle wants a roc. A miss costs nothing but the option.
2. Cross the bridge to the roc's shelf. By day (6:00 to 19:00) the Roc attacks anyone on the bridge (190 hit points at level 9; see The Tsolenka Gate). At night she isn't hunting, so cross after dark if you'd rather not fight the mother of the chick you're about to save.
3. The nest. On the shelf beyond the bridge, the roc's egg sits in a nest of whole pines. The egg only shows once you've talked to Tibor. It's hatching as you arrive.

   

   You can wrap it in Tibor's straw and take it, stand between the chick and the tower, or leave it. Taking it or standing guard both bring the count's people: the stone birds on the guard tower's parapet drop off it, and a man in a falconer's glove floats down among them. The Falconer thanks you for finding (or carrying) the master's egg and invites you to step back and live. Tibor won't meet your eyes.

4. Decide.
   • "(Step back and let him take it.)" The stone birds carry the screaming chick off toward the castle. Tibor pays you the 400 gp, says he's sorry, and that he was told what to say. The quest fails at Sold (Godrick -2, Liriel -2, Thistle -3, Wren -1), and Strahd's attention on you rises: he noticed who carried it.
   • "No." It's a fight on the shelf:
     • The Falconer (Vampire Spawn at 150 hit points), two Falconer's Hands (vampire spawn) and four Stone Birds (Gargoyle), 7200 XP whatever your level.
     • The spawn's claws grab (escape DC 13) and their bite heals them, so don't let anyone get pinned alone. The gargoyles fly in and out without drawing opportunity attacks.
     • Winning moves the quest to Defended.
5. Look at the nest again. The roc comes back, looks at you with one gold eye, and settles over her chick. She never comes for you again, on the bridge or anywhere. In the bones under the nest you find 300 gp and a wide leather belt with a buckle like a giant's fist: a Belt of Giant Strength (Hill Giant). The quest ends at Done (Thistle +3, Godrick +2, Liriel +2, Wren +2, Ratatouille +1).

Choices and endings

• Done (success): 300 gp, the Belt of Hill Giant Strength, and a bridge the roc no longer guards.
• Sold (failure): 400 gp, a chick for the count, and a note in Strahd's ledger against you.
• Tibor is gone from the landing after either ending, his fire kicked over with snow.

If you're stuck

• No Tibor? He only appears from level 9.
• No egg in the nest? It only shows once you've met Tibor.
• The quest stays at Defended after the fight. Go back to the nest and look at it again.

Rewards

• Belt of Giant Strength (Hill Giant)
• 300 gp or 400 gp, depending on how it goes

What your companions think

• Godrick Pendlebrook: -2 you handed the count a roc chick; +2 you kept the count's falconer off a roc's nest
• Liriel Dawnsong: -2 you handed the count a roc chick; +2 you kept the count's falconer off a roc's nest
• Thistle: -3 you handed the count a roc chick; +3 you kept the count's falconer off a roc's nest
• Wren Featherfoot: -1 you handed the count a roc chick; +2 you kept the count's falconer off a roc's nest
• Ratatouille: +1 you kept the count's falconer off a roc's nest

Fights

• The stone birds come down on the shelf with a sound like a quarry falling, and the falconer lands among them,…, in The Tsolenka Pass: Vampire Spawn, Gargoyle.

Journal

Related

• People: Tibor
• Places: The Tsolenka Pass
• More in The Tsolenka Pass: The Frozen Pilgrims, The Tsolenka Gate