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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest 6801718" data-source="post: 7203554">If you like the idea of a fiendish villain, you could put an interesting twist on things.  Perhaps the barbarians disturbed an ancient prison for a demon or devil.  The fiend isn't free yet, but courtesy of a crack in that prison it can send it's influence out.  The barbarians may not even be aware that they damaged a magical prison.  They just have to deal with the fiend's minions constantly coming to the mountain to free it.  Thus they protect the surrounding lands from a great evil but the don't know how to stop it.  Now the demon has taken a hold of the barbarian ruler.  The fiend is influencing his mind, driving him to darker deeds.  The fiend's minions are making life difficult for the barbarians by ensuring the animals they hunt and the crops they grow become scarce and ruined.  So the influenced ruler drives them to more dishonorable deeds in the guise of preservation of his people.  Thus the barbarians are ordered to take captives, like the women or children, but don't really like to do so.  So the captives are unharmed as the barbarians try to figure out what to do, protect the captives or follow their leader.  Now the barbarians are in a desperate position, as they don't want to dishonor themselves or their once great leader but they don't want to hurt the captives with forced marriages or forcing children to be warriors.  So when the PCs find them, they are in dire need of help as well.  You can also use abberations instead of fiends.  Mind Flayers are known to control people's minds.  So perhaps they need surface slaves to help them make the big push to invade the surface.  The Mind Flayers live deep in the mountains and are looking to expand their surface influence.  Though the barbarians constantly battle them and interfere.  So now they control the barbarian leader and look to drive the barbarian tribe apart.  The women and children captives aren't really for forced marriages and preserving the culture, they are being herded off as slaves for the Mind Flayers.  The party discovers that the captives are actually thralls now and have to figure out how to save them.  So either way, the party either has to figure out how to restore the fiend's prison or drive out the Mind Flayers.  Both big problems.  So it depends on what your group takes to as a desired enemy.</blockquote>

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