D&D Adventures 3: Aboleth
The village of Lakeville has a secret known to all its citizens, but has been hid from the outside for generations. They have a secret, unlikely benefactor: An Aboleth named Xyillathyxxrihyll, at least as the smartest in the village recorded the name that way, but they usually just call her Zill.
The village is founded in an odd location, an area surrounded by mountains and by a lake. According to tales passed by generations, it used to be a swamp home to a black dragon, who captured some humans and halflings and forced them to servitude. Escape was impossible through the steep mountains under the dragon’s watchful and merciless eyes and the myriad monsters that were called to the mighty creature’s foul presence.
After an unknown amount of decades, the villagers started hearing a voice in their head, asking questions, getting to know them and more importantly, not mentioning any of it to the dragon or his goons. The voice started giving the villagers instructions to form a rebellion: Teaching them magic, helping them create food and weapon stocks, providing them locations and time to train. Rest depends on who you hear it from: Some say that a mighty creature killed the dragon, others say villagers set a mighty trap that brought down stalactites down on it, few even claim that the rebel villagers managed to topple the dragon’s minions and the dragon’s pride was so hurt by losing to villagers, it threw itself on stalagmites and killed itself.
One way or the other, the dragon was killed and slowly, the foulness eroded. With the voice’s help, which revealed itself to live under the water, they turned the area into a pleasant location where they could sustainably live. She then started teaching them more about the outside world and the dangers they might face: From waylaying monsters outside the mountains to cunning merchants in the big cities. Finally, she used some kind of magic to shape the very earth, allowing them to make paths to reach the outside world and trade.
As far as the villagers were concerned, she was an angel. Over time, multiple calamities stuck: Disease, monsters attacks, bullying bandits and more — and each time, she helped them fight back. She also taught them to be self-reliant and not overestimating gods: It was okay to pray or pay tribute now and then, but she always mentioned how petty gods actually were, showing examples when she could. When Time of Troubles happened, the village understood once more how right she was.
One day, Zill announced it was time for something grand. She summoned the party to a cave under the lake, who were all raised in the village, possibly sometimes trained by the Angel Voice herself. There, she revealed herself: An Aboleth. She explained what the Aboleths are and that she was an outcast for she had a very different approach. After ages of being in the material plane, she saw the strength of friendship, how good triumphs over evil. Starting a “pragmatic experiment” to be good, she started to grow an attachment to the satisfaction of doing good and eventually came to embrace her new nature. However, the other Aboleth had found her location. They posed a threat to Lakeville but also to the world and she had a plan to stop their evil, but she needed help.
She first asks the party to leave the village for some ingredients to craft special weapons for each of the party. These weapons are special that they stop an aboleth from respawning. Zill hopes that in the face of a threat they never considered before, certain death, the aboleths will leave material alone.
In truth, the story is a bit different. It is true that Zill saw the power of good, but she never embraced it: She merely saw how gullible “the good” were and how exciting the story of “an aboleth turned good” is. That said, she isn’t entirely lying: The weapons do stop an aboleth’s respawning. However, they also absorb their “life energy” (interpret it as you wish) and once the weapons are close to the owner of Aboleth Stone, an artifact she secretly crafted with the materials the party provided, the power is passed to the wielder of the stone. The more aboleths they hunt, the stronger Zill becomes. Her plan is to become powerful enough to challenge lesser divine beings to absorb their power and transcend into godhood. While she doesn’t care about “divinity” as a concept, she recognizes the power.
Will the party realize what they are doing? Will one of the aboleths they face reveal the truth? Will they or others try to manipulate them? Maybe the power of multiple aboleths combined will start to warp material plane around Zill, bringing in elements from the Far Plane.
This could be a full-fledged campaign from brand new toons to epic levels. It can also be plugged into any level: Maybe Zill thinks the party is ready only when they reach a certain level. It could also be the case that the party passes by and Zill reaches out after sensing their potential over the local villagers who aren’t adventurer material.
