Greetings fellow Age of Worms DMs,
So, my party did something I didn't expect. While running through Three Faces of Evil my bloodthirsty, chaotic party actually decided to let Theldrick go. In part this was due to the fact that they hate Balabar more than these cultists, and also because Theldrick poses a good argument for his actions not being illegal. Rather than just having Theldrick ride off into the sunset, I'm seizing the opportunity to spin him into a long-running antagonist that the party encounters throughout the campaign. One of the things my playes loved about the Shackled City campaign was the fact that Vhalantru developed into a nemesis over the course of many adventures. Thus far the only long-running character looks to be Allustan, and he's no villain!
So what I'm planning to do is have Theldrick involved in some way for the rest of the campaign, inserting him (or references to him) in each adventure, slowly building him up as a stumbling block and nemesis over the course of many adventures. Theldrick, to be frank, is exactly what I like in my villains: organized, intelligent, and articulate while still vicious and evil. So I'm going to have him be the visible face of the Ebon Triad throughout all the adventures. Here's what I've got so far:
Encounter at Blackwall Keep: My players have just helped drive off the Lizardfolk and are settling in for a night's rest at the Keep. Here I'm going to have the current person in charge of the Keep's forces spin a yarn to the players about an orc invasion some 20 years ago that was thwarted by the brilliant tactics of the Keep's commanding officer, Captain Theldrick. The idea here is that Theldrick was once an honorable member of the Free City's military force who was driven to ruthlessness by this orc invasion. From there he turns to Hextor, and then by extension into the Ebon Triad.
Hall of Harsh Reflections: I got nothin here. Help!
The Champion's Belt: Theldrick is in the Free City and is a guest of honor at the Champion's Games, sitting in the observation box with Raknian. In truth it was Theldrick who put all the pieces in play in order to nudge Raknian towards his dark path, and now he remains present to oversee the completion of the plot in the arena.
A Gathering of Winds: Again, I've got nothing. The only thing I've thought of is that perhaps the dragon's fang Theldrick wears around his neck belongs to Ilthane, but that's the clue and not the hook. Again, help!
Sadly, the next adventure has not hit my mailbox yet. Anyone have any suggestions about those two adventures, or general ideas on making Theldrick a bigger part of the ongoing campaign? Where do I let the party kill him off? I've got some ideas, but I thought I'd open it up to the floor.
There is a point in the campaign when it becomes apparent that the Ebon Triad is merely a pawn of Kyuss, and that their delusions of merging their gods are merely that - mad, sick, desperate delusions. I think it might make for a climactic resolution to your group's hopeful rivalry with Theldrick if, at some point, you engineer it so that the group can prove to him that he and the triad have merely been pawns of Kyuss. There's some interesting potential for him to even turn around and become a dark, anti-hero style ally of the group once he realizes he's been duped. After all, the faith of Hextor would be opposed to the mindless anarchy of a world ruled by Kyuss. Even if the group kills Theldrick, though, they could have the visceral satisfaction of witnessing his disillusionment if they're at least present for the moment when he realizes that he's only been a puppet in all of this. Then his death would be a high point, from which your group can then begin to confront the TRUE threat behind the Age of Worms.
In my opinion, you couldn't pick a better villain to be recurring than Theldrick; heartless and calculating with a mean streak, this is a villains villain.
I wouldn't go over the top to infuse him into every module though. A break from this guy might be in order on occasion.
I wouldn't go over the top to infuse him into every module though. A break from this guy might be in order on occasion.
The only reason I really want to include him, or at least a reference to him, in every adventure is because these adventures are taking 3-4 weeks of play each, and even if I only mention him once it's enough to keep him on the brain. If I only spend 5 minutes on him in one out of four sessions I doubt the players will get burned out.
I wouldn't go over the top to infuse him into every module though. A break from this guy might be in order on occasion.The only reason I really want to include him, or at least a reference to him, in every adventure is because these adventures are taking 3-4 weeks of play each, and even if I only mention him once it's enough to keep him on the brain. If I only spend 5 minutes on him in one out of four sessions I doubt the players will get burned out.
True.
Finding letters from him at various places will clue the PC's that their destinies are intertwined. A "Theldrick was here" stamp. It also allows you to insert information into the PC’s hands that they wouldn’t necessarily know… that kind of “inside information” is something that my players crave. It gives them the illusion of having the “upper hand” in a plot line, and gives me the opportunity to tell some of the behind-the-scenes story that this campaign is noted for, but often goes unnoticed by the PC’s.
The dopplegangers work for Raknian, right? I think I'm remembering correctly. Have evidence somewhere in the HoHR that links Raknian and Theldrik. It could be a letter of introduction that the head doppleganger carries, with Theldrick vouching for him to Raknian. You can play it that Theldrik knew the dopplegangers first, and hooked them up with Raknian at some time in the past.
Alternatively, the letter they find might be an assassination request to the dopplegangers from Theldrick for some enemy of his in Diamond Lake. You can weave it into your campaign any way you want to, but it would show that Theldrick was also working behind the scenes in Diamond Lake to make the place more to his liking, and that he's connected with Raknian's pals. A good high priest might be a likely target. You can decide whether the attempt was in the past (successful or not), or not yet carried out.
Alternatively, the letter they find might be an assassination request to the dopplegangers from Theldrick for some enemy of his in Diamond Lake. You can weave it into your campaign any way you want to, but it would show that Theldrick was also working behind the scenes in Diamond Lake to make the place more to his liking, and that he's connected with Raknian's pals. A good high priest might be a likely target. You can decide whether the attempt was in the past (successful or not), or not yet carried out.
Couldn't it also be an old assassination request against Balabar Smenk? Keep the players guessing who's working for who.
Couldn't it also be an old assassination request against Balabar Smenk? Keep the players guessing who's working for who.
Since the Ebon Triad was blackmailing Smenck into continuing to supply them in the Dourstone mines, that could be the perfect tie-in. Theldrick could have decided to go ahead and fix that little problem to the Triad's advantage; perhaps contacted his buddy Raknian, or the 'gangers directly, with a request to have one of the 'gangers come to DL in order to off Smenk and take his place. This would have placed a loyal ally in the "role" of a very wealthy and influential mine-manager, so I think it's just the kind of thing a man like Theldrick would have done, perhaps with some encouragement from the Faceless One. Then, when they find whatever clue it is you've designed for them, the PCs will have to wonder whether the current Smenk is the "real" one, which will of course be up to you.
Couldn't it also be an old assassination request against Balabar Smenk? Keep the players guessing who's working for who.
Wellllll, that would work, but...I already had Theldrick kill off Smenk. Basically, once the party let him go, Theldrick headed up to the surface, gathered some of the "Undercover" agents of the Ebon Triad, and brutally murdered him in the night in retribution for sending the party to investigate the Dourstone Mine. The party knows Theldrick did it, too; it was part warning, and part "thank you" to the party. With Smenk's death, the dwarf fighter got his clan's ancestral weapon back (which had fallen into Smenk's hands years ago), the party got the money Smenk owed them but had no intentions of paying, and one of the characters was released from indentured servitude.
So the party's currently not sure if Theldrick is friend or enemy, though they do know he's evil. I'm also thinking of throwing in a mini-encounter next session where one of the players is the subject of an assassination attempt by an undercover member of the Ebon Triad. The assassin was ordered to kill the party memmber by Theldrick, who recognized that the party would quickly become a threat. For this reason, I don't think I want for Theldrick to have any hand in the assassination plot in HoHR. Perhaps I might just leave him out of HoHR and instead play up the role of the Ebon Triad. I like the idea of a cult where anyone you meet could be a member, not just elite and powerful enemies (like the Cagewrights).
here's another way to spin Thedrick into the HoHR. If in your campaing Thedrick has ties through out free city, after Raknian contacts the mind-flayer, he contacts Thedrick to dispatch the PC's. Thedrick has an already established connection with the doppligangers, and he becomes the middle man.
Has an added connection, when the mind flayer investigates the party in the doppliganger head quarters, Thedrick is there also.
Just an update on how things went.
Last night the party spent most of the session interacting with soldiers and people at Blackwall Keep. During the dinner following the battle, the current commander revealed some fun little tidbits about Theldrick to the party. Twentysomething years ago, Commander Theldrick was in charge of the Keep's garrison. He was a devoted cleric (in my campaign, to the god of battle Terak from GR's Book of the Righteous) who had convinced many of the members of the garrison about his god's glory. Hordes of orcs flooded into Blackwall Keep, slaughtering innocents and kidnapping Commander Theldrick's wife, dragging her off to parts unknown (more on this in a moment). The orcs managed to seize control of the keep and hold it for three days. At that point, Theldrick rallied the remaining troops and re-took the Keep, slaughtering every last orc mercilessly. Believing that his god had abandoned him in his time of need, allowing orcs to kidnap his wife, Theldrick deserted his post and turned to Hextor (in my campaign, Naran).
This backstory has really intrigued my players for a number of reasons:
1) The party cleric worships Terak, and now believes Theldrick to be worse than a cultist -- he's a traitor to the faith!
2) The party's ranger is a half-orc, born about 22 years ago and native to the Diamond Lake region. I've not come out and said it, and probably won't for the rest of the campaign, but his mommy was, in fact, Theldrick's wife who was kidnapped by orcs. I'm going to drop clues over the course of the campaign, but I think the ranger already suspects.
3) In the night, the current commander in the Keep attempted to murder the party. Secretly a member of the Ebon Triad (converted by his old mentor and former commander of the Keep, Theldrick) he knows that the party could impede the Triad's efforts to bring on the Age of Worms. I've definitely instilled some paranoia in the party, who realizes that cultists of the Ebon Triad could be anyone, anywhere. Mwa ha ha.
Man, I love Theldrick.
I like the 'Theldrick butchers Smenk' idea. Having not read very far ahead, is there any repercussions to having this happen? My guys are going 1-on-1 with Theldrick next week.
In Gathering of Winds, Allustan has essentially outlived his use. So... use him in a big finale kind of way!
If you don't mind tarnishing Allustan's reputation, you could have the players find a note from Theldrick on Allustan--either Allustan has been working with him, or is being blackmailed, in either case, this will make your players suspect all the help Allustan has rendered unto them in the past.
You could also always just have Theldrick murder Allustan after the players so kindly rescue him... :)