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I believe the Invisible Stalker is only summoned when the globe is smashed, and it only stays around for something like 13 rounds, so if your party has already retreated across the lake it has likely already returned to the Elemental Plain of Air.
It seems unlikely to me that Dhorlot and Zenith would strategize. Once Dhorlot realizes his humping grounds have been pretty much cleared out, he might just pack up his treasure and go somewhere else, rather than wait for the heroes to return. Dhorlot seems to be interested in self-preservation.
As for Zenith, perhaps he now aimlessly wanders the empty halls babling his prophecies.
Zenith seemed kinda crazy to me. I'd leave him in his chair, mumbling to himself, until the PCs return.
The Invisible Stalker is summoned, so it would be gone by now.
I don't see Dhorlot as one that keeps up and wanders around the temple each day. I'd leave him happily sleeping in his chamber until the PCs return. Unless of course, some of the KT survived. If so, with the priests gone, they'd tell Dhorlot. I'd move some surviving KT to the guard post with instructions to immediately wake Dhorlot so he can deal with this pesky people.
For my campaign, all of the KT were dead and they fled Dhorlot. I had Dhorlot move to the temple room, taking his Fingerlings with him, for when the party returned. Seemed like a better room for him to fight in.
Every single KT is now dead. The only remaining creatures (besides Dhorlot and Zenith are the Fingerlings. So you would have Dhorlot stick around after all his potential "experimental material" had been devastated? Moving him to the main temple might be interesting, but the group is definately going to head straight for Zenith on their way back in so they will probably not want to engage the dragon with his groupies. I kind of want the dragon fight as I think Dhorlot is a pretty cool villian...the problem is that my party has a one-track mind and will try to avoid all confrontation that won't get them to Zenith.
Leave Dhorlot in the lake. When they try to get across, he can ambush them from below the surface. Fighting a black dragon in a lake is just plain wrong (ever play Forge of Fury?)!
I agree Zenith will just sit on his thrown or wander around and spout false prophesies until the next Underdark denizen shows up to worship him.
-c
Well. if you want a showdown with Dhorlot, move him to the temple room. You have to go through the temple to reach Zenith as I remember it.
I didn't give my players anyway to get Zenith peacefully. Eventually they touched him and that's when I had him attack.
When I ran this adventure my crew did the same - found Zenith before the black dragon (not bothing to look up his offical name) so I left it as that. My pc's were happy enought they got Zenith with only 2 almost 3 death's (1 heroic suicide included). The dragon is mearly interested in his breeding experiments- they're isn't much reason why he would hunt the pc's- I left the dragon be and decided to use him as a type of iconic NPC- his breeding experiements turn up periodically to challenge or help the PC's while they try and find their own identity. Since on occasion some leave the father and are intelligent enough to question their existence and purpose in the world- maybe a really smart offspring starts a church of bahamut or tiamat in the caldron region.
My Zentih was insane. He sat in his chair mumbling "doom" over and over no matter what anyone did. Occassionally, he'd lift his head, point at a PC and make a loud prophecy of some sort. Once Zenith was touched, that's when he attacked.
Since my Zenith was insane, no diplomacy roll was going to work. My group had a bard that tried to fascinate Zenith, ruling on the fly I didn't let it work. In hindsight, I wish I had. "Music to sooth the savage beast" and all that.
My party avoided Dhorlot altogether and were well enough off to force the issue of leaving with Zenith. Remember that upon leaving Bhal-Hamatugn, Zenith's attitude changes dramatically (as per hardcover pg146, first paragraph of "Back to Cauldron"). He's pretty much useless from there on and makes an easy target for Kravichak Riolgh to kidnap once the PCs return to Cauldron.
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If you're looking to take advantage of the Dhorlot fight (which I admit is very tempting) but looking for something that makes sense storywise and from Dhorlot's perspetive, I think the idea of having the dragon attack outside the temple is the best one.
With all Dhorlot's potential mates gone, and the evidence of the temple being ravaged, I don't think he'd hang around waiting for the PCs to come back - either in his lair or the temple. When I ran ZT, I had the temple complex as part of a much larger KT community (as suggested by the art and the boxed text describing the PC's approach). So given Dhorlot's libido, he might well hang around in the lake and co-mingle with other KT's in the area. You could make the combat less deadly by having Dhorlot attack the party only once they've arrived at the steps, or as they're entering into BH. Perhaps the fingerlings could attack the boat or waterwalking characters on the way over, and that's what alerts Dhorlot (who is distracted at the other end of the lake).
If you make the assumption there are more KT in the area, there might also be more warriors and the like. The temple could 'reload' with warriors set to defend Bhal Humatigan and Zenith - and then they might enlist Dhorlot to protect the temple (after restocking his harem).
That's another possible way to spin it. A straight out Dhorlot in the temple fight looks like fun too if you're less concerned about the motivations.
Every single KT is now dead. The only remaining creatures (besides Dhorlot and Zenith are the Fingerlings. So you would have Dhorlot stick around after all his potential "experimental material" had been devastated? Moving him to the main temple might be interesting, but the group is definately going to head straight for Zenith on their way back in so they will probably not want to engage the dragon with his groupies. I kind of want the dragon fight as I think Dhorlot is a pretty cool villian...the problem is that my party has a one-track mind and will try to avoid all confrontation that won't get them to Zenith.
I don't see Dhorlot possessing too much paternal instinct. He seems like the "fire and forget" type, to me. Moving his treasure to a safe place might be a concern, though.
~Qualdiar~