Earthwing the owl

Start-class article · First seen: s8 · Last seen: s16
Earthwing the owl
Earthwing · Terry's owl · Terry's familiar
Earthwing the owl — portrait.
Character
StatusAlive
First seens8
Last seens16
FactionSevryn's recruits

Earthwing is the miniature owl familiar of Terry Pynn, summoned by Find Familiar in session 8 with the help of a one-hour ritual that involved Terry humming the Macarena throughout [29]. The familiar is named in homage to the briefly-played Earthwing the Owlin (Chris’s session-3 cameo character), but is mechanically and narratively a separate entity, a Tiny celestial owl that lives in Terry’s shell when not flying. Earthwing was killed by a hidden marksman at the Black Vein Quarry approach in session 8 [30], then re-summoned the next long rest. He has scouted ahead at most party reconnaissance moments since, including spotting a third owlbear flank in session 11 [8], the candy cottage in session 13 [4], and the Eldwythe sewers across sessions 15 and 16 [5], [24].

Overview

Earthwing is a Tiny celestial owl summoned by Terry Pynn in session 8 [7]. He is the campaign’s most actively-used familiar. Terry sends him ahead of the party at almost every dungeon entry, scouting moment, or moral-grey reconnaissance. The owl’s senses (advantage on sight and hearing checks) saved Caelumn from being flanked by an unseen third owlbear in session 11 [8], and his sewer reconnaissance shaped the party’s route to the White Lantern Shrine skiff at the end of session 16 [9].

When not flying, Earthwing lives in Terry’s shell. The image of a tortle wizard with a small owl curled into his neck-aperture is one of the campaign’s signature visuals.

Etymology and the Owlin question

Earthwing is named in tribute to Earthwing the Owlin, a one-line cameo character introduced at the end of session 3 as Chris’s intended replacement for the deceased Cholmondeley. The Owlin was sent by Sevryn in a rice / Vietnamese conical hat, was characterised as edgy and a “snake eater”, and never formally entered play. By the start of session 4, Chris had switched to playing Terry Pynn the tortle bard instead.

The owl familiar bears the name as a quiet homage. Mechanically and narratively the two are unrelated. The Owlin was a humanoid PC. The familiar is a Tiny celestial summoned via the Find Familiar spell, with no in-fiction continuity to the Owlin’s character. Terry himself flagged the resemblance the moment Earthwing manifested:

“It looks remarkably similar to the Owlin that recently joined the party briefly. … I call him Earthwing.” — Terry, [10]

Summoning

Find Familiar requires a one-hour ritual with 10gp of incense burned over the course. Terry first attempted the ritual in session 8 at the campsite outside the Black Vein Quarry. The ritual succeeded with Terry humming the Macarena throughout in lieu of formal verbal components. The DM ruled this acceptable as in-character flair and awarded an Inspiration:

“Dallee a tu cuerpo a… Eeeh macarena I’m done. Guys, I’ve cast it.” — Terry, [11]

“Terry, go ahead and take an inspiration.” — Nick (DM), [12]

Earthwing has been re-summoned after each significant familiar dispel since.

Activities and contributions

Session 8 — quarry approach scouting and the first death

First flight. Terry sent Earthwing into the Black Vein Quarry to scout while the party held back at the entrance, with Hugo enabling shared vision [13]. Earthwing flew “near the roof flying along the roof basically” [14] at +5 to stealth and was about to fly back to report when an unseen attacker shot him out of the sky for 6 piercing and 8 necrotic damage [15]:

“It’s going to get shot out of the sky.” — Hugo, [16]

“It’s dead. It only has one HP.” — Terry, [17]

The attacker rolled a 20 on the contested stealth check, beating Earthwing’s +5 perception [18]. Terry deduced something invisible was on the ceiling, neither the fungal-zombies nor the Hollow Guardians. The shooter’s identity remains unknown.

Session 11 — owlbear ambush

When the owlbear ambush opened with two visible owlbears, Terry had Earthwing fly straight up 60 feet on his familiar’s turn:

“He’s gonna fly upwards to get a better perspective, maybe look out for other owlbears approaching above the trees.” — Terry, [19]

A Perception check rolled 20 spotted a third owlbear approaching from the flank [8], letting Terry warn Caelumn before the third owlbear could surprise him. The third owlbear did rush Caelumn moments later [20] but the party was no longer caught off-guard.

Session 13 — candy cottage approach

Terry’s between-session recap describes sending Earthwing through the cottage windows on arrival:

“Terry sends his owl, Earthwing, to scout through the windows.” — Terry’s recap, [4]

Inside the cottage, Terry suggested using the familiar to step on tile traps to clear them ahead of the party [21]. At one point during the smothering-rug fight, the party briefly lost track of the familiar’s position [22], with Ruin reminding the table “It is Earthwing”.

Sessions 15-16 — Eldwythe sewers

Earthwing was the party’s primary scouting tool through the Eldwythe sewers. In session 15, Terry sent him ahead with explicit understanding that scouting from a distance was the safer play after a near-confrontation:

“We should check out the other room. Earthwing can go ahead now as well. We’re not going to interrupt a short rest if we accidentally start a fight by luring people out with the owl.” — Terry, [5]

In session 16, Terry routinely “looked through the eyes of Earthwing” [23] to inspect rooms before the party entered them. Earthwing’s report identified the bio-gloom-fungal boss chamber [24], L286) and contributed to mapping the route that ultimately reached the seawater skiff [25].

Session 16 — “Terry Tingle”

The familiar’s bond-link perception was nicknamed by Terry himself during a session 16 mid-corridor pause:

“I’ve just… I’ve got my… Terry Tingle. … My Terry Tingle. … It works better than Peter Tingle, I think.” — Terry, [26]

Vazquez immediately trademarked the term (“terry tingle that’s uh trademarked by the way”, [27] and the party adopted it as shorthand for Earthwing’s at-distance senses.

Mechanics (per 2024 PHB)

  • Form: owl (Tiny celestial). Stats from the Find Familiar spell.
  • Senses: darkvision, advantage on sight and hearing Perception checks. Flying speed 60ft.
  • Action: cannot attack. Can take Help to grant advantage to an ally within 5ft of a target.
  • Telepathic link: Terry can see and hear through Earthwing within 100ft, as an action (“Yeah. I was warging.”, [28].
  • Dispel: drops to 0 HP and vanishes. Re-summoned via the same one-hour ritual.

The familiar is a campaign-load-bearing utility, not a damage-dealer. Terry does not send Earthwing into combat. The bird is for reconnaissance and the occasional dropped delivery.

Disposition toward the party

Loyal to Terry. Comfortable with the rest of the party but rarely interacts directly. Does not speak. Communicates with Terry telepathically via the familiar bond.

Status as of session 16

Alive, summoned, riding in Terry’s shell. Last spotted scouting the sewer outflow before the party boarded the skiff for the White Lantern Shrine [25].

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 8, line 1589-1619 — Find Familiar ritual succeeds during a long rest at the campfire; Terry hums the Macarena in lieu of formal verbal components and earns an Inspiration.
  2. ^ Session 8, line 1737-1798 — Sent in to scout the Black Vein Quarry; UAV flying near the cave roof; shot out of the sky by an unseen stealth-20 attacker for 6 piercing + 8 necrotic.
  3. ^ Session 11, line 1154-1166 — Flies up 60 feet during the owlbear ambush; passes Perception 20 and spots a third owlbear approaching.
  4. ^ Session 13, line 42 — Terry's between-session recap names Earthwing as the scout sent through the candy cottage windows.
  5. ^ Session 15, line 1542 — Scouts ahead in the Eldwythe sewers; "Earthwing can go ahead now".
  6. ^ Session 16, line 286-316 — Inspects the sewer boss room; "Terry Tingle" coined for Terry's familiar-bond perception sense (s16 L299-303).
  7. ^ Session 8, line 1589-1626 — Inline citation.
  8. ^ Session 11, line 1166 — Inline citation.
  9. ^ Session 16, line 286 — Inline citation.
  10. ^ Session 8, line 1590-1592 — Inline citation.
  11. ^ Session 8, line 1617 — Inline citation.
  12. ^ Session 8, line 1618 — Inline citation.
  13. ^ Session 8, line 1737-1745 — Inline citation.
  14. ^ Session 8, line 1756 — Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 8, line 1765-1767 — Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 8, line 1761 — Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 8, line 1767 — Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 8, line 1798 — Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 11, line 1154 — Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 11, line 1232-1238 — Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 13, line 278 — Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 13, line 1946-1956 — Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 16, line 1062 — Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 16, line 219 — Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 16, line 1603 — Inline citation.
  26. ^ Session 16, line 299-303 — Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 16, line 314 — Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 8, line 1788 — Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 8, line 1615-1617 — Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 8, line 1761-1767 — Inline citation.