Villain: Wingless (sentient airship/troll)
The troll king Vaengthos suffered humiliating defeat at the hands of the mere child princess Vilta. As he lay upon the cold earth regenerating, fearing what would befall him at the hands of the Hourglass Coven for his failure, Vaengthos found himself fusing with the magical airship
Wingless, his body lifting up and becoming one with its patchwork sails
. With her fair sister Retterfina’s head swapped with a calf’s head by the hags, Vilta took her father’s greatest ship and imbued it with fey magic, setting off on an adventure.
Though the twin sisters Vilta and Retterfina were as different as night and day, their friendship endured across grand adventures aboard the airship
Wingless. Together, they restored Retterfina’s stolen head, rescued Vilta’s princely beau, and rode the waves at the Shores of Dream. Witnessing their close bond and their unflagging heroism touched something deep inside the troll king’s tattered heart.
Vaengthos too wishes to be a hero, though he deeply misunderstands what is involved. He also wishes to reconcile with his brother Jaegreth who wanders the gloomiest reaches of the Feywild.
Sentient Airship. Wingless is a sentient chaotic neutral airship with an Intelligence of 8, a Wisdom of 9, and a Charisma of 16. It has hearing and darkvision anywhere onboard and within 60 feet of the ship.
The airship can speak and understand Common and Giant, but can only communicate by transmitting emotion to the pilot. The pilot acts as its attuned wielder for the purposes of resolving sentient item conflict (see DMG page 216).
Personality. Vaengthos is all bluff and bluster, quick to fly into a rage at a perceived slight to his pride, and easily manipulated into proving his worthiness. While he insists on maintaining a façade of terribleness around other monsters, he is also obsessed with the idea of being a hero. Inevitably, however, Vaengthos’ history of evil-doing gets the better of him; to determine the way his heroism is misplaced, roll on the table below.
Table: Wingless’ Misplaced Heroism
| d8 | Misplaced Heroism |
| 1 | More is always better – if I climb a taller mountain or kill more goblins than the barbarian, that makes me a bigger hero. |
| 2 | The most obvious villain must be defeated – even if there might be more to the story. |
| 3 | Issuing a challenge is the best way to be a hero – despite some conflicts being better resolved discretely or peacefully. |
| 4 | If everyone is cheering and praising the me at the end, then I am truly heroic. |
| 5 | Sure, nobody asked for my help, but a true hero must know what’s best for others. |
| 6 | All my friends are all aboard, and a hero does anything for his comrades… anything. |
| 7 | A hero never surrenders, never runs, and never compromises – even when discretion is the better part of valor. |
| 8 | Everyone can’t be a hero. It takes a special someone. Now that I know, I will show others the way, driving them toward heroism. |
Lair Actions. While part of the airship, Vaengthos can use lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), he takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; Vaengthos can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Everyone onboard the airship must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone and forcibly moved 20 feet in one direction of Vaengthos’ choosing.
- An invisible stalker appears in an unoccupied space within the patchwork sails, acting as an ally to Vaengthos. Only one such invisible stalker may be manifest at a time.
Destroying the Airship. The airship
Wingless has AC 13 and 300 hit points (see DMG page 119). If it is destroyed, Vaengthos is killed.
Forced into Form. Dispel evil and good cast upon the airship causes it to cease being sentient and forces the
spirit troll Vaengthos to manifest in an unoccupied space on the airship’s deck.
By New Moon’s Dark. On the night of the new moon, Vaengthos crawls from the airship’s sails in the form of a
spirit troll, his ghostly formed wrapped in patchwork rags resembling the patchwork of the sails. If the airship is aloft, the troll moves through the hull, falling down to the lands below. However, before dawn’s first light, the troll is levitated upward to the airship at the speed of 30 feet per round, whereupon he fuses with the ship. The spirit troll ceases to exist and the airship becomes sentient once more.
The Hourglass Coven. Vaengthos is terrified of the Hourglass Coven learning that he is still alive… in some form. He will betray anyone, make any false promise, and humble himself even before little children if he thinks it will keep him secret and safe from the hags.
If Granny Nightshade becomes aware of Vaengthos’ state, she knows a ritual which will undo the magic binding Vaengthos to the airship
Wingless, causing Vaengthos to manifest as a regular
troll. However, it must be performed aboard the airship at midnight. She would offer a great reward to anyone performing the ritual – perhaps even restoring years of life lost to a ghost or other magic.
Jaegreth Two-Headed. A misshapen and bitter
dire troll, Jaegreth wanders the most dismal places in the Feywild such as the Murkendraw or the swamps of Hither in Prismeer. Jaegreth’s two personalities are constantly at war – one a polite gourmand, the other an uncouth glutton. When his brother Vaengthos was declared the troll king, Jaegreth attempted to usurp his brother but his treachery was revealed. After suffering indescribable torments, Jaegreth was exiled from the troll lands. For long, he dreamed of the day that he could wring his brother’s neck with his own hands, but when he learned of Vaengthos’ “death” at the hands of princess Vilta while doing the bidding of hags, Jaegreth was driven mad. Depending on his mood, he seeks to punish children, torment hags, or lashes out at his “brother’s ghost.”
