Bwayes O’tamu is a weretiger living in the wreck of the Narwhal, a seafaring galleon mysteriously transported deep into Chult’s jungle. The ship now lies upside down, covered in barnacles and ivy.
Identity and Background
Bwayes is a male Chultan human weretiger with a neutral alignment. He is a cousin of Wakanga O’tamu, one of Port Nyanzaru’s merchant princes, and the two were close as children. The family resemblance is strong enough that characters who have met Wakanga can recognize the similarity when Bwayes assumes human form. He no longer uses his name regularly, having become reclusive over the years.
Current Situation
Bwayes lives in the captain’s cabin of the overturned Narwhal, which remains airy and well-furnished despite being upside down. He shares the wreck with a tribe of vegepygmies (one chief, twelve vegepygmies, and three thornies) in an unusual symbiotic relationship. Since Bwayes kills more prey than he needs and leaves the surplus for the vegepygmies, the community coexists peacefully. The vegepygmies occupy the damp, dark areas under the ship and in its hold.
Behavior and Interactions
Bwayes speaks Common and Vegepygmy, though he has forgotten much of his Common through disuse. When adventurers enter the Narwhal’s hex, his presence depends on chance: he may be out hunting (automatically detecting them before they notice him) or resting at the hulk.
If hunting, Bwayes tracks adventurers covertly out of curiosity rather than aggression. He is interested in meeting them and learning their purpose. He is willing to bring friendly characters back to the ship and will trade gems for wine. Without Bwayes’s presence, the vegepygmies are hostile toward visitors.
Knowledge and Services
Bwayes possesses valuable regional knowledge and may be one of several NPCs who can help characters locate Omu or understand the death curse if they cannot find this information elsewhere. He can provide specific directions to two locations:
- Needle’s Bones: Dragon bones in a grotto to the southwest (will guide characters there if asked nicely)
- Nangalore: Ruins of a garden palace between the River Olung and the Nsi Wastes, said to contain great treasure (will guide characters there but won’t explore it out of respect)