Scenario seed - What would you do?

[Tonguez]

At some point before coming to power the King & Queen gave birth to a grossly deformed child which the King ordered to be thrown into the bottom of a deep cave. It was but through feindish magic survived and was nurtured to become the monstrous maneating abberations (literally i've built it as a Feindish Aquatic Otyugh Barbarian-Pirate). His name is Saveao otherwise called the Sea Terror because he lives in a cave next to the ocean

Now the King is dying and his sons (including one of the PCs as the ninth of twelve (ie a ounger son)) are looking towards who will take his crown. The eldest brother attempted to slay the 'Sea Terror' and for his trouble was eaten by Saveao but not before he learnt who Saveao really was and revealed that their father was dying.

Saveao has thus decided to travel to the Royal enclosure and stake his legitimate claim as First Born and thus heir to the throne.

What happens next? How does everyone react, how do the PCs get involved?

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Bribe the DM.

 

[Corsair]

What alignment is the PC?

 

[Festivus]

So nobody really knows he's coming, just shows up some day and says "I am the rightful aire to the throne", likely met with laughter (or really terror as people would run from the abberation). The family would likely order him slain on the spot as well... not much of a survival chance. If I was a smart otyugh (not many of those), I would instead send messages, which the king would deny and the family would disbelive, declaring his right to the throne, and that he would demand his rightful place or begin taking citizens for his own kingdom to be reformed... signed, the Sea Terror.

The PC's hook, the royal family member in the party decides to avenge his brothers death, and end this mockery of the family name, or perhaps at the fathers insistance, would head out.

Unless you were planning this to be the big reveal, keeping the BBEG shadowy at first might be fun for building suspense.

 

[Tonguez]

The Sea Terror is level 12 whereas the party average is level 8, and despite using Otyugh as the base creature it is not an Otyugh outright and is intelligent (Int 16). The King has an idea of who the Sea Terror really is and was the one who sent her eldest son to face 'it' as she wished to be rid of shame.

The Sea Terror knows of his origins (he was often told the story as he was nurtured) and does have his own retinue of sea monsters (things with tentacles), sahuagin and an old Skum Cleric (the one who raised him).

When the Sea Terror announces his claim - either by showing up or by sending a message, the queen will of course deny it.

Her PC son is a fighter and officer in the military, he is lawful tending towards good (although we tend not to dwell too much on alignmnet) and there is a paladin in the party.

I was thinking of having another brother sent out to face the menace and for his severed head to be sent backwith the Sea Terrors claim somehow attached (I like the image of his dead head talking so may use that).

I wont reveal what the Sea Terror is until later - as I said his retinue inckludes other tentacledsea monsters

It would be easy of course for this to be a straight out fight but I'm intrigued by what might happen if the Sea Terrors claim was proven as valid