Death's Ride BBEG's motivations
by HåvardRay Allen wrote:
I've started a low level campaign in the Barony of Twolakes Vale which I hope can link into CM2, Death's Ride for the finale, but after re-reading the module I found myself wondering about the BBEGs motivations. Why did Ulslime make a "pact" with a "being from the Sphere of Death?" Why is Wazor helping him? Korbundar’s motivation seems to be simple greed as there's places in the text where treasures are moved to his lair. He is a dragon after all.Has anyone else thought about this?
Using two-lakes as the basis for a low level campaign at first is a pretty cool idea.
The motivations of the NPCs in the module are vague, which is good because we can make them into what fits the campaign. But its fun to discuss what the options can be.
My first question would be: Why Two-Lakes? The PCs are sent to investigate Two-lates by Ericall. If you want to tie things neatly together with that background, perhaps the main reason for opening a Gate to the Sphere of Death would be linked to wanting to use Two-Lakes as a staging area to force Ericall out of power? The forces of Entropy might seek to create an all out war between Alphatia and Thyatis over Norwold, or they could have other interests.
ULSLIME THE CHAOSAR
We don't know much about Ulslime, but he is a Chaotic Cleric. He could just be doing the bidding of his Immortal patron? But perhaps it would be more interesting to create something with more depth to it. Maybe Ulslime wasn't always an evil Cleric? He resides at the ruins of the Temple of The Stars. Did Uslime play a role in its destruction? Was the Hammer of Life something that the Temple of the Stars was able produce? Maybe Ulslime was an acolyte of the original Temple, but felt that he never recieved the recognition and respect he deserved? A kind of Anakin Skywalker storyline where he eventually sought out an Entropic Immortal? Or is this more tied to his own ambitions. Perhaps part of his path to Immortality, or at least a desire to conquer Norwold for himself, starting with Two-Lake?
WAZOR
He is said to be an official emissary of the Council of Wizards in Atlantis (Alphatia). It is possible that he is simply trying to aid Ulslime to use him to get rid of Ericall? Or maybe Wazor is not just a loyal Alphatian, but a follower of Alphaks who happens to be Ulslime's patron as well? Wizards could have many motives though.
KHORBUNDAR THE DRAGON
Khorbundar is a blue dragon. I agree that green could easily be his main motivation. He has been promised help to from Wazor to expand his lair to cover the entire island and he is interested in gaining as much of the barony's wealth as possible to add to his hoard. If you want to expand on this, maybe use some ideas from Bruce's articles about the Ceremony of Sublimation and Who's Who Among Dragons. Could Khorbundar have some rivals in nearby regions of Norwold? Or maybe a female dragon he is trying to court and impress with a larger lair?
THE TEMPLE OF STARS
I keep thinking about this. Why was it destroyed and why was the Hammer of Life divided into pieces and scattered in the swamps? Father Jarred of Skullheim might know about this. Could the destruction and defilement of the Temple the reason why it was possible to open the Gate to the Sphere of Death? The Gate is said to potentially threaten not just all of Norwold, but Thyatis (I presume the entire Known World) as well.
Has anything more been done with this elsewhere?
Just some initial thoughts!