FR: Silver Marches, Orcus, & Orc Invasion

[Nightfall]

Well to give you a background, according Dragon 331, which I believe is the first Demonicon article done by James Jacobs, Pazazu goal is to corrupt the entire Material Plane. The reason is he feeds on the corruption of Good and all that comes from the idea "The Ends justify the means." While he does rule the skies of the Abyss and has a small layer as well, he primarily fields and keeps very close tabs on the Material Plane. He uses small cults to feed his need for influencing and corrupting others. He also employs (as you might guess) a number of fiendish and evil-aligned avians to promote his agendas, but always in the background. His cults often pose as good-aligned cults dedicated to a forgotten, unknown, or little known/understood god. They usually seek out adventures, particular the lawfully good kind, and try to persuade them to call on the favor of their patron. Pazazu will be very circumspect about his agenda, primarily giving the adventurer something he might need in the future or current situation but with maybe a twisted favor, like "Go kill a pig." For no reason. But it serves to start down a dark path obviously.

Frazzy, on the other hand (The mighty Fraz'urb'luu), seeks the destruction of the Material Plane. He does so very circumspectly also, using cultists to summons demons in his name as well as twist some to serving him by decieving them about some promised reward. (Frazzy usually eats the soul of the one that ends up being sacrificed to him after seeing their reward in the afterlife was for nothing.) Mostly seeks to annihilate all mortal beings as well as regain his holdings on his former domain. His staff, the source of his control for his plane, got broken and is now hidden in various spots. Frazzy thought might be inclined to do the Age of Worms, simply because it would help destroy the Material Plane. Something I'm sure he'd love.

Eltab is indeed in the East BUT he could still have unknown cultists and/or servants in other places. He was, after Graz'zt, Orcus and Demogorgon, a fourth player according FR lore. Plus he's no longer bound to Thay, merely bound to the Material Plane at the moment.

Demorgorgon's Troggy and Lizardfolk would serve pretty well and even a few Kenku might serve him, to spite their former master. (Pazuzu though is mostly at war with Graz'zt.)

I'm glad to help Felon. Next to Scarred Lands, Demon Princes are my next favorite thing.

 

[Psychotic Jim]

Hmm... A plot for an orc invasion... a single big event does not strike me as enough to unite a horde of orcs. But the combination of many smaller events that coincidentally happen in close proximity of each other, that might do the trick. It might be good to combine all of the above plots. Why they all happen so close together could be anyone's guess. Perhaps the work of your Ebon Triangle, or something deeper. Synchronicity has an odd way of working like that. Here's a few ideas:

1. Orcus is supplanting Yurtrus, as above, by promising to animate the bodies of slain orc horde warriors. However, he is just playing along with Gruumsh. Orcus is not animating the bodies of the slain orc warriors with their souls; rather he's just using pure negative energy. Orcus is using all of the orcs souls to power an ascension to godhood while simultaneously stealing divine power away from the orc pantheon, starting with Yurtrus.
If you want to involve the drow, Orcus could be doing all this in preparation for vengeance on Kiaransalee, who killed him and stole his portfolio long ago.

2. A divine champion of Gruumsh appears to unite the orc clans all over Faerun to find the most cherished, fabled artifact in orc legend: the eye of Gruumsh he lost in fighting Corellon. It now is supposed to be lying somewhere deep within the Silver Marshes.
If you want to use Dungeon adventures, later on down the line you might use a modified version of "Throne of Iuz", from Dungeon #118. In that adventure, the best warriors of the orc tribes have gathered to restore a great artifact, an unholy demonic throne, to their evil patron. They are led by a powerful orc shaman and a corrupt giant, monstrous toad. You could alter the adventure to the throne belonging to one of your main demons of the Ebon Triad.

3. Perhaps because of #2, the formidable gray orc civilization that appeared in the Orcgate Wars (see Races of Faerun) has somehow returned. Just as evil as normal orcs but cannier, more organized, and driven by religious fervor, these gray orcs and their clerical might act as a source of unification for all orc kind. Using top magics and gates, the gray orcs are gathering their orc kindred from all over Faerun and beyond. Alustriel and her companions see the gravity of the situation. They have busied themselves trying to make treaties with any nearby nations they can for a greatest war against the orcs Faerun has ever seen, leaving plenty of opportunity for the players to get involved.
How the grey orc got here is a mystery. Perhaps a fool mage opened a portal to the world the grey orcs first came from. Or they could be pretenders, such as the githyanki trying to soften up Faerun's defense in preparation for their own incursion.

 

[Nightfall]

*likes idea #1 himself...but then anything involving Orcus works for him*

 

[Felon]

Great ideas. I am already using number one after a fashion, using the souls of slain orcs to power Orcus' ascension (also goes a long way to making the battle with orcs scarier).

The Throne of Iuz suggestion is pure gold. I forgot to mention it, but I'm making the aspect of Orcus into an avatar of the horde (from the DMG II), allowing him to unite some other creatures under his dominion. If the PC's are too high-level to be scared by a CR 9 aspect by then, I can always slap on some war hulk levels.

 

[Nightfall]

Well that or perhaps Warchief would be another option. Heck add both!